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On the eastern end of the tomb is engraven the following, almost obliterated by the hand of time :—
Why should my fancy any one offend,
Whose good or ill on it does not depend ;
'Tis at my own expense except the land
(A gen'rous grant) on which my tomb doth stand ;
This is the only spot that I have chose,
Wherein to take my lasting—long repose,
Here, in the dust, my body lieth down:
You'll say it is not consecrated ground :
I grant the same; but where shall we e'er find
The spot that e'er can purify the mind ;
Nor to the body any lustre give ;
This more depends on what a'life we live.
When the trumpet shall begin to sound,
'Twill not avail thee where the body's found.
A MORAL.
Blessed are they, and only they,
Who in the Lord their Saviour die ; Their bodies wait redemption's day,
And sleep in peace where'er they lie.
The western end bears the following:—
Death ! why so fast ? pray stop your hand, And let my glass run out its sand: As neither Death nor Time will stay, Let us improve the present day.
Why start you at that skeleton ?
'Tis your own picture which you shun :
Alive it did resemble thee;
And thou, when dead, like that shall be.
Bat though Death must have his will,
Yet old Time prolongs the date, Till the measure we shall fill,
That's allotted us by fate. When that's done, then Time and Death Both agree to take our breath.
The Scripture sentences were selected by Mr OUiver, and the verses are the production of his muse. About ten yards from the tomb a variety of flowering shrubs were |
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