Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/612

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL JUNK 26, im


EPITAPHIANA.

KING THEODORE OF CORSICA : WILLIAM HAZLITT. Being the other day in the churchyard of St. Anne, Soho, now trans- formed into a well-seated garden, I tran- scribed the following inscription. It is on the west wall of the remarkably ugly brick tower, facing the street :

Near this place is interred

Theodore, King of Corsica,

Who died in this Parish

December XI th , MDCCLVI.

Immediately after leaving

The King's Bench Prison

By the benefit of the Act of Insolvency,

In consequence of which

He registered his Kingdom of Corsica

For the use of his Creditors.

The Grave, great Teacher, to a level brings Heroes and Beggars, Galleyslaves and Kings ; But Theodore this Moral learn'd ere dead. Fate pour'd its lessons on his living Head : Bestow'd a Kingdom, and denied him Bread.

It is on a stone tablet, with a radiated crown over the inscription, which is in capitals, with a globe above all.

Just below Theodore's tablet is a plain headstone, placed flat against the tower wall, thus inscribed :

On the Northern side of

This Ground

Lie the Remains of

William Hazlett [sic]

Painter, Critic, Essayist.

Born at Maidstone, April 10 th , 1778.

Died in Soho, September 18 h , 1830.

Restored by his Grandson,

February, 1901.

D. J.

SOUTH CAROLINA EPITAPH. The following epitaph, given me many years ago, is said to be on a tombstone at Cheraw, South (Carolina :

-My name, my country, what are they to thee ? What whether high or low my pedigree ? Perhaps I far surpassed all other men ; Perhaps I fell below them all what then ? Suffice it, stranger, that thou seest a tomb. Thou know'st its use ; it hides no matter whom. The stone bears no name or date.

T. F. DWIGHT. La Tour de Peilz, Vaud, Switzerland.

GOWER FAMILY EPITAPH. The following epitaph in Beaumaris Churchyard, to a son and daughter of Richard Gower, gent., who died in 1681 and 1682 respective! v, may be of interest :

. Here in their | tender infancy | a brother and a ister lye one | womb to them a I being gave and


this same earth | a resting place | short was their | Race but long their rest God | soonest takes whom he loves | best.

R. B R.

DINTON EPITAPHS. The following bio- graphical epitaph I copied from a stone in the churchyard of Dinton, near Aylesbury, where Simon Mayne, the regicide, was buried :

To the Memory of Samuel Paine, who died

February 21st, 1849, aged 80. I've plodded thro' life's weary way, In various callings of the day. A ploughboy first, in Suffolk born, I turned straight furrows for the corn, In days when farmers lodged their men, And held their conduct under ken. The Squire's chariot next I drove ; By industry to rise I strove. I then, alas ! engaged an Inn, Temptation strong to vice and sin. Ere long I left the revel scene, For purer ways and more serene, And village children next did train, And aimed subjection to maintain, To God, to Parents, Pastors, Masters, And guide them thus thro' life's disasters. Now my works in death are ended ; Worthless all with error blended. In penitence and faith, O Lord ! I lean on Christ, the incarnate Word. At the Archangel's thrilling blast, Oh ! take me to Thyself at last.

In the same churchyard is a similar inscription, though not so long, and de- scriptive rather than biographical : To the Memory of Henry Wootton, Farmer, of this Parish, who died on the 15th day of June, 1857, aged 89.

I've ploughed my land and sown it too ;

I 've cleaned it, clrest, and drain'd it thro'.

My Landlord sends me word to quit ;

To him in duty I submit.

He bids me seek another soil

In pastures green and free from toil,

And tells me thro' His Son to stand,

The occupant of better land,

No matter whether clay or sand.

At first I thought it hard to leave ;

My heart 's now changed, I cease to grieve.

In Christ's my faith ; I hope to rise

And reap my harvest in the skies.

RICHD. WELFORD.

JAMES NEWTON, BOOKSELLER. The fol- lowing inscription is to be found upon a large stone slab (evidently the top of an altar-tomb) in Throcking Churchyard, Hert- fordshire. It lies partly buried in the turf near the south door :

Hie sepultus est Jacobus Newton, Civis et Biblioppla, Londiniensis, qui natus est Maii xviii. Anno Dom. 1691, et mortuus est Junii xxviii. Anno Com. 1749. ^Etatis suss 69.

I have not been able to learn anything respecting James Newton, nor where he