"The death of my cousin Wandesford," said Lord Strafford, "more affects me than the prospect of my own; for in him is lost the richest magazine of learning, wisdom, and piety that these times could boast."
J.H.M.
Bath.
Steele's Burial-place (Vol. ii., pp. 375, 441.).—I have been able to get the following particulars respecting Steele's burial-place. Steele was buried in the chancel of St. Peter's church, Caermarthen. The entry stands thus in the Register:—
"1729.
"Sep. 4. Sr Richard Steel."
There is no monument to his memory in St. Peter's Church; but in Llangunnor church, about two miles from Caermarthen, there is a plain monumental tablet with the following inscription:—
"This stone was erected at the instance of William Williams, of Ivy Tower, owner of Penddaylwn Vawr, in Llangunnor; part of the estate there once belonging to the deservedly celebrated Sir Richard Steele, knight, chief author of the essays named Tatlers, Guardians, and Spectators; and he wrote The Christian Hero, The Englishman, and The Crisis, The Conscious Lovers, and other fine plays. He represented several places in parliament; was a staunch and able patriot; finally, an incomparable writer on morality and Christianity. Hence the ensuing lines in a poem, called The Head of the Rock:—
'Behold Llangunnor, leering o'er the vale,
Pourtrays a scene t' adorn romantic tale;
But more than all the beauties of its site,
Its former owner gives the mind delight.
Is there a heart that can't affection feel
For lands so rich as once to boast a Steele?
Who warm for freedom, and with virtue fraught,
His country dearly lov'd, and greatly taught;
Whose morals pure, the purest style conveys,
T' instruct his Britain to the last of days.'"
Steele resided at White House (Ty Gwyn, as it is called in Welsh), a clean farm-house half way between Caermarthen and Llangunnor church, which is situate on a hill commanding extensive views of one of the prettiest values in Wales. A field near the house is pointed out as the site of Steele's garden, in the bower of which he is said to have written his "Conscious Lovers." The Ivy Bush, formerly a private house, and said to be the house where Steele died, is now the principal inn in Caermarthen.
WM. SPURRELL.