On MARY Countess Dowager of PEMBROKE. Time fhall throw a dart at thee. Take another Epitaph of Ben Johnson's, on a beautiful and virtuous lady, which has been deservedly admired by very good judges. Underneath this ftone doth lie As much virtue as could die; Mr. Pope has drawn the character of Mr. Gay, in an Epitaph now to be feen on his monument in WestminsterAbbey, which he has closed with such a beautiful turn, that I cannot help looking upon it as a master-piece in its kind, as indeed are most of the productions of that furprifing genius. On Mr. GAY. Of manners gentle, of affections mild; age: With native humour temp'ring virtuous rage, There is fomething fo tender and moving, and fuch a ftrain of paternal and filial affection in Mr. Pope's Epitaph on Dr. Atterbury, that we shall give it a place among thefe examples, tho' the Critics, perhaps, will object to its being a true Epitaph. On Dr. FRANCIS ATTERBURY, Bishop of Rochester, who died in exile at Paris, 1732. [His only Daughter having expired in his arms, immediately after she arrived in France to fee him.] DIALOGUE. She. Yes, we have liv'd-one pang, and then we part! He. Dear fhade! I will: Then mix this duft with thine-O fpotless ghoft! -He faid, and dy'd. I fhall conclude thefe examples of the serious kind with an Epitaph written by Mr. Smart, to the memory of Master ***, who died of a lingering illness, aged eleven. Henceforth be every tender tear fuppreft, From grief to blifs, from earth to heav'n remov'd, That heart o'er which no evil e'er had pow'r ! That.difpofition, fickness cou'd not four! That patience, heroes might have own'd with pride! And in th' eleventh winter died a MAN. Amongst the Epitaphs of a punning and ludicrous caft, I know of none prettier than that which is faid to have been written by Mr. Prior on himself, wherein he is pleafantly fatirical upon the folly of those who value themselves on account of the long feries of ancestors through which they can trace their pedigree. Nobles and Heralds, by your leave, Here lie the bones of Matthew Prior, The fon of Adam and of Eve: Let Bourbon or Nassau go higher. Of the fame caft is that written by Mr. Pope on one who would not be buried in Weftminfter-abbey. Heroes, and kings! your distance keep, Who never flatter'd folks like you : The following Epitaph on a Mifer contains a good caution and an agreeable raillery. Reader, beware immod❜rate love of pelf: Here lies the worst of thieves, who robb'd himself. But Dr. Swift's Epitaph on the same subject is, I think, a mafter-piece of the kind. EPITAPH on a MISER. Beneath this verdant hillock lies We shall give but one example more of this kind, which is a merry Epitaph on an old Fiddler, who was remarkable. (we may fuppofe) for beating time to his own mufick. On STEPHEN the Fiddler. Stephen and Time are now both even ; Stephen beat Time, now Time's beat Stephen.. We are now come to that fort of Epitaph which rejects Rhyme, and has no certain and determinate measure; but where the diction must be pure and strong, every word have weight, and the antithefis be preferved in a clear and dire oppofition. We cannot give a better example of this fort of Epitaph, than that on the tomb of Mr. Pulteney, in the cloysters of Westminfier-Abbey. Reader, If thou art a BRITON, Behold this Tomb with Reverence and Regret : DANIEL PULTENEY, The kindest Relation, the trueft Friend, Induftrious by Habit, He gain'd a complete Knowledge of the State of Britain, In most the backward Fruit of tedious Experience, Abroad, in the aufpicious Reign of Queen Anne, At Court independent, In the Senate unbiass'd, At every Age, and in every Station: He made no other Distinction of Party, Gentle, humane, difinterested, beneficent, He feared none he could create in the Caufe of Britain. Reader, In this Misfortune of thy Country lament thy own: The Lofs of fo much private Virtue That poignant fatire, as well as extravagant praife, may be conveyed in this manner, will be feen by the following Epitaph written by Dr. Arbuthnot on Francis Chartres; which is too well known, and too much admired, to need our commendation. HERE continueth to rot The Body of FRANCIS CHARTRES, In fpite of AGE and INFIRMITIES, In the undeviating Pravity of his Manners, In Accumulating WEALTH: For, without TRADE OF PROFESSION, He was the only Person of his Time When poffefs'd of TEN THOUSAND a year; Think not his Life ufelefs to Mankind; A confpicuous PROOF and EXAMPLE, By his bestowing it on the moft UNWORTHY OF ALL This fort of Epitaph may alfo admit of humour and ridicule, as will appear by the following on a boon companion who is fuppofed to have loft his life to obtain his friend a borough. |