Augustus John Cuthbert Hare

“ A great contrast will be seen by those who have travelled on the Continent, in the country churchyards of Germany or Switzerland, where the simple crosses which mark the resting-place of the dead are like beacons of hope and comfort, and the inscriptions tell in beautiful and appropriate words their short tale of life and death, and remind us how the dead are only gone home before us. In these resting-places mourners may linger and meditate on the happy change for those who are gone, and are not reminded of any earthly cares or sorrows by the sight of their graves. ”

“ Death draws a veil alike over the virtues and vices of life. Let us hope and pray.—M.
To him Life was a long combat, Death a glorious victory.—M.
Weakness yields to strength,—the Creature surrenders to the Creator.—M.
Death is the shadowy twilight which is the presage of a fadeless dawn.—M.
Death is a goal never, a gate ever.—M.
Death brings a long night of dreamless slumber, awakening to an endless morn.—M.
"Seed sown in the field of God, to ripen unto immortality." ”

“ In a recent tour on the Wye and among the villages of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, I have often stopped to examine the Epitaphs in the churchyards. It is sad to see bow unsuitable, how almost ludicrous, many of them are. It is not only that they are devoid of beauty, but that they are calculated to drag down the minds of the survivors; chaining them to the recollection of the sufferings which their departed friends endured in their lifetime, harrowing them by the repetition, and in the end holding out no lesson to be learnt, no comfort to look to, no hope of rest in another world. ”

“ Death is the messenger of peace,
And calls the soul to heav'n.
"As Jesus died and rose again
Victorious from the dead;
So his disciples rise and reign,
With their triumphant Head.
"Together to their Father's house
With joyful hearts they go,
And dwell for ever with the Lord,
Beyond the reach of woe."
"Oh! fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know ere long,—
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong."
Longfellow.
Cease to weep, the strife is over,
Pain and anguish are no more ”

“ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."—1 Cor. xv. 20–22.
"When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."—1 Cor. ”

“ In many places the poor are in the habit of bringing a book, which contains a collection of these churchyard rhymes, to the rector of their parish, in order that he may assist them in choosing one for the monument which they intend to set up. In this case the clergyman has the power of trying to persuade the people to be content with a text of Scripture, or even with the name of their friend and the date of his death, instead of rhyme; but in spite of this we see our churchyards rapidly filled with absurd and almost pagan trash. ”

“ This lasting monument of his grief, and in memorial of his love for her precious dust, her husband has erected.
"Ye shall haste to heaven together."
The poor do not need long Epitaphs,—they do not care for any depth of meaning or poetry of expression; the more simple the words and thoughts, the more suited are they to their minds, and the more does the Epitaph come home to their hearts. ”

“ Perhaps it is that such a lesson comes more solemnly and forcibly in a place where everything reminds us of the end of life, and the destruction of all this world's hopes and aims. Perhaps it may be caused by the memory of the lives and deaths of those whose graves they mark, or from the affection with which they have been regarded. however this may be, it is certain that epitaphs on churchyard gravestones have been one of the means by which God is pleased to warn, and rouse, and teach His people. But how can this be done, when the epitaph only conveys all that is offensive to the mind ”

“ Watts.
"Oh weep no more for him that's gone
Where sin and suffering ne'er can enter,
But on that great High Priest alone,
Who can for guilt like ours atone,
Your own affections centre."
Huie.
"He came to the Cross when his young cheek was blooming,
And rais'd to the Lord the bright glance of his eye;
And when o'er its beauty death's darkness was looming,
The Cross did uphold him, the Saviour was nigh."
"There is a world of death beneath our feet;
There is a world of life above our heads:
Here ruins, graves, dry leaves, fall'n blossoms meet ”

“ The benefits which result from this publicity may be seen in the instances which have oftentimes occurred, when in worldly and unbelieving hearts, which have seemed impervious to any ray from the light of God's truth, an impression has been made by the words of a simple Epitaph in a country churchyard, which the reading of many wise books, and the teaching of many wise men, have failed to convey. ”

“ Even so is man, whose thread is spun,
Drawn out, and cut, and so is done:
The rose withers, the blossom blasteth,
The flower fades, the morning hasteth,
The sun sets, the shadow dies,
The gourd consumes, and man he dies."
The Epitaph on "Elizabeth," by Ben Jonson, is already well known:—
"Wouldst thou hear what man can say
In a little? Reader, stay. ”

“ In childhood's hour it breathes around,
'The fairest flowers are faded found.'
In youth, it whispers as a friend,
'Reflect upon thy latter end.'
In manhood, louder swells the cry,
'Remember thou art born to die.'
In age, it thunders on the blast,
'O, man! ”

“ Is it because it is a mercantile and busy nation, because it prides itself upon being free from the frivolities of France and the romance of Germany, that its churchyards, instead of being "God's-acre,"—thought of and remembered as consecrated ground, and looked upon as the home of the dead,—should be allowed to run wild, uncared for and neglected ”

“ Some of the extraordinary and amusing Epitaphs into the use of which people have been led, either by ignorance or a taste for satire, are so curious, that it may be well to insert a few of them here. Many of these are still remaining upon the gravestones or tablets where they were originally placed, and some of them are already well known from their having appeared in different Archæological Magazines or other Periodicals.
Few are better known than the famous Epitaph at Pewsey in Wiltshire:—
"Here lies the body of the Lady O' Looney, great niece of Burke, commonly called the Sublime. ”

“ Death for the living,
Sin has brought us;
The ways of sorrow
It has taught us.
But life to the dead
The Saviour gave;
So strong to help us,
So true to save.—A.
Jesus, Saviour, Thou beholdest
All the Souls that cling to Thee;
Thou the joys of heaven unfoldest,
By Thy wounds on Calvary.
Trusting only in Thy mercy,
Man can never fear the grave;
Thou art ever nigh to help him,
And Thine arm is strong to save.—A.
"Lo! ”

“ See His face, and weep no more,—
For in heav'n they all rejoice."
"Ere sin could blight, or sorrow fade,
Death came with friendly care,
The opening buds to heaven convey'd,
And bade them blossom there."
Hever Church, Kent.—Coleridge.
"Within this grave an infant, nine months old,
Is laid in trust.—God takes His purest gold
First to Himself.—We all are but as flowers,
That spring and grow, and fade in a few hours."
Gloucester Cathedral.
"Why, mother, will you longer weep? ”

“ On stones innumerable appears the Good Shepherd, bearing on His shoulders the recovered sheep, by which many an illiterate believer expressed his sense of personal salvation. One, according to his Epitaph, sleeps in Christ ”

“ A large collection of ludicrous, as well as of panegyrical and moral, epitaphs, was published in two volumes, by T. Webb, in 1777, to which collection I am indebted for several of the above.
The "Reverence due to Holy Places" gives the following examples. The first, near the west end of Winchester Cathedral; the second, in the graveyard of the fine parish church of Yatton, Somersetshire. It is only by the exposure of such scandals that we may hope to effect their non-appearance in future. ”

“ Why one More and no more may well lie here alone,
But here lies one More, and that's more than one."
St. Bennet's, Paul's Wharf, London. The epitaph on Shakespeare, in the church of Stratford-on-Avon, is well known, though it has generally been misprinted. ”

“ He gave thee, He took thee, and He will restore thee;
And Death has no sting, for the Saviour has died."
Bishop Heber.
"Let no proud stone with sculptur'd virtues rise,
To mark the spot wherein a sinner lies ”

“ Among these is the Epitaph of "Florens Caldwell, Esq., and Mary his wife:"—
"Earth goes to earth, as mold to mold;
Earth treads on earth glittering in gold;
Earth as to earth returne ne'er should,
Earth shall to earth goe e'er he would;
Earth upon earth consider may;
Earth goes to earth naked away;—
Earth tough on earth be stout and gay,
Shall from earth pass poor away.
Be merciful and charitable,
Relieve the poor as thou art able.
A shrowd to thy grave
Is all thou shalt have."
St. Martin's, Ludgate. On a tombstone, inscribed without a name, is the following, given by Webb ”

“ No man can tell his time or breath.
I might have died as soon as then,
If I had had physicians men."
Calstock, Cornwall.
"Pain was my portion,
Physic my food,
Groans was my devotion,
Drugs did me no good.
Christ was my Physician,
Knew what way was best,—
To ease me of my pain,
He took my soul to rest."
St. John's, Clerkenwell. These lines are in the churchyard of St. Mary, York, on a tombstone raised to the memory of a young maid, who was accidentally drowned Dec. 24, 1696. The inscription is said to be penned by her lover ”

“ Her only trust, a Saviour's precious blood.
The friends of Jesus death assaults in vain,—
With whom to live is Christ, to die is gain."
"How blest the righteous when he dies,
When sinks a weary soul to rest ”

“ This inscription has had its effect. The bones still rest undisturbed, and it has probably preserved them from a journey to Westminster Abbey.
It may not be out of place to add here two remarkable foreign inscriptions:—
On an ancient monument of whitish marble, in the "New Church" at Amsterdam, are engraved a pair of slippers of a very singular kind, with the two words Essen Uyt, which mean "exactly." The story is, that a man tolerably rich, and who dearly loved good eating, took it into his head that he was to live a certain number of years, and no longer. ”

“ But Christ's blest voice doth bid rejoice,
Waking from all below, of suff'ring, grief, and woe."
C. L.
"Bury the dead,—and weep
In stillness o'er the loss;
Bury the dead,—in Christ they sleep,
Who bore on earth His cross ”

“ They would write better if they could, but they cannot. It is a want of this kind which this little book is intended to supply. However inefficient this attempt may be to supply the deficiency, I hope it may be the means of stirring up others to take the work in hand, who will be better able to carry it out. ”

“ Large is his debt who lingers all the day;
Who goes the soonest has the least to pay."
Llangollen Churchyard. "In memory of Alexander Layton, Master of Defence. 1679.
"His thrusts like lightning flew; but skilful Death
Parry'd them all, and put him out of breath."
St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, London.
"Hic jacet Tom Shorthose, sine tomb, sine sheets, sine riches,
Qui vixit sine gown, sine cloak, sine shirt, sine britches."
St. Alban's Churchyard.
"Here lies father and mother, and sister and I,—
We all died within the short spase of one short year. ”

“ He also will hear their cry, and will save them."—Ps. cxlv. 18, 19.
"The Lord preserveth all them that love Him."—Ps. cxlv. 20.
"The righteous hath hope in his death."—Prov. xiv. 32.
"Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."—Prov. xxvii. 1.
"The dust shall return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."—Eccles. xii. 7.
"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces;
"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ”

“ On Mary Arundell.
"Man to the marigold compar'd may be,
Man may be liken'd to the laurel-tree,
Both feade the eye, both please the optic sense,
Both soon decay, both suddenly fleet hence.
What then infer you from her name but this,—
Man fades away,—man a dry laurel is [1] ."
Dulse Churchyard, Cornwall.
↑ Alluding to the fact that the letters of her name spell this sentence. Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Epitaph on himself:—
"The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer,—like the covering of an old book, its contents torn out, and stript of its lettering and guilding,—lies here, food for worms ”