EPITAPHS,

COLLECTED FROM

HOLY WRIT, AND OUR BEST AUTHORS ON
SACRED SUBJECTS.

By . . S. and F. S. M.

ARRANGED AND EDITED BY G. B. CHALONER

Praises on tombs are trifles vainly spent:
A man's good name is his best monument.

OTHECA

London:

ATCHLEY & CO.,

MONUMENTAL AND DECORATIVE PUBLISHERS,

106, GREAT RUSSELL ST., BEDFORD SQ., W.C.

141. k. 257.

NELSON AND CO., PRINTERS,

OXFORD ARMS PASSAGE, ST. PAUL'S,

LONDON.

PREFACE.

HE publishers of this little work have been so

frequently requested to recommend a work upon Epitaphs, that they are induced at length to present the following to the public as a repertory of inscriptions suitable for tombs and monuments.

The objects proposed to be attained were, to produce a work in which appropriate inscriptions should be so arranged as to be readily found for every emergency, whilst it should also represent the literature of our churchyards and cemeteries.

Care has been taken to select a large number of epitaphs from existing monuments in all parts of the country; for it is right to conclude that those which have already been adopted in circumstances of bereavement are best calculated to express the

feelings of survivors. Many of these were written by authors of repute; and a considerable number have been added from Holy Writ. Hence it is believed that this collection of epitaphs will be found to combine the expression of genuine feeling and piety to God, with the language of true poetry.

Memorials of the dead are amongst the most authentic records of history. They bring us face to face, as it were, with the actors in events which have long passed; and, with equal power, among the funereal relics of ancient times, the monuments to valour, piety, and genius in Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's, and the cemeteries throughout the country, vividly impress the mind with the reality of scenes which by the aid of such memorials only can be adequately imagined or described.

Epitaphs preserve reminiscences of worthy life and character beyond the generation in which they appear. As tributes of affection, and sources of instruction, they come home to the human breast, and have ever been favourite subjects for contempla

tion to the meditative mind.

Scattered among

flowers, trees, and evergreens, their gentle and monitory influences tend to move the soul to virtuous resolves, attract man to Christ, and draw the longing weary heart to desire the bliss of that land "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."