[201] An elegant monument, erected above the grave of thirty-nine sailors, whose bodies were subsequently found, was erected in the churchyard of Portsea, to commemorate the melancholy loss of the Royal George. We subjoin the interesting epitaph, which is inscribed on black marble, in gold letters.
"READER,
WITH SOLEMN THOUGHT
SURVEY THIS GRAVE,
AND REFLECT
ON THE UNTIMELY DEATH
OF THY FELLOW MORTALS;
AND WHILST,
AS A MAN, A BRITON, AND A PATRIOT,
THOU READEST
THE MELANCHOLY NARRATIVE,
DROP A TEAR
FOR THY COUNTRY'S
LOSS."
At the bottom of the monument, in a compartment by itself, are the following lines, in allusion to the brave Admiral Kempenfelt:
"'Tis not this stone, regretted chief, thy name,
Thy worth, and merit shall extend to fame:
Brilliant achievements have thy name imprest,
In lasting characters, on Albion's breast."
[202] In the terms of peace concluded with America, the loyalists, who adhered in their allegiance to Great Britain, were not sufficiently remembered, considering the sacrifices they had made, and thus had the misfortune of being persecuted by America, and neglected by England.
[203] This event occurred in the year 1756.
[204] Private correspondence.
[205] The celebrated statuary who executed the noble monument to the memory of Lord Chatham, in Westminster Abbey.
[206] See Task, book iv.
[207] Private correspondence.