: VI. 289 On MRS. COEBET, who died of a cancer in her breast." "Here rests a woman, good without pretence, The saint sustain'd it, but the woman died." I have always considered this as the most valuable of all Pope's epitaphs the subject of it is a character not discriminated by any shining or eminent peculiarities; yet that which really makes, though not the splendour, the felicity of life, and that which every wise man will choose for his final and lasting companion in the languor of age, in the quiet of privacy, when he departs weary and disgusted from the ostentatious, the volatile, and the vain. Of such a character, which the dull overlook, and the gay despise, it was fit that the value should be made known and the dignity established. Domestic virtue, as it is exerted without great occasions, or conspicuous consequences, in an even unnoted tenor, required the genius of Pope to display it in such a manner as might attract regard and enforce reverence. Who can forbear to lament that this amiable woman has no name in the verses? If the particular lines of this inscription be examined, it will appear less faulty than the rest. There is scarce one line taken from commonplaces, unless it be that in which only virtue is said to be our own. I once heard a lady of great beauty and excellence *** 289 In the north aisle of St. Margaret, Westmister. (See Maitland's 'London,' fol. 1789). This epitaph was first printed in D. Lewis's 'Miscellaneous Poems,' 8vo. 1780, p. 89, where it is called "Epitaph on Mrs. Elizabeth Corbett," An attempt has been made to show that it was really written on a Mrs. Cope (a Caryl by birth, and great friend of the poet's), who died in 1728, after an operation described as one of the most terrible ever performed. (The Athenæum' of 22nd July, 1854.) The operation was for "a cancer in her breast." 200 Mary (or Molly) Aston, daughter of Sir Thomas Aston, Bart, Her sister Margaret was the wife of Gilbert Walmsley, so nobly and affectionately remembered by Johnson in his 'Life of Edmund Smith.' (See this edition of Johnson's Lives,' vol. i. p. 471.) object to the fourth line, that it contained an unnatural and incredible panegyric. Of this let the ladies judge. VII. On the Monument of the Hox. ROBERT DIGBY, and of his sister MARY, erected by their Father the Lord Digby, in the Church of Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, 1727. "Go! fair example of untainted youth, Of modest wisdom, and pacific truth: Composed in sufferings, and in joy sedate, Lover of peace, and friend of human kind; And thou, blest maid! attendant on his doom, Go, where to love and to enjoy are one! Yet take these tears, Mortality's relief, And till we share your joys, forgive our grief: "Tis all a father, all a friend can give!" This epitaph contains of the brother only a general, indiscriminate character, and of the sister tells nothing but that she died. The difficulty in writing epitaphs is to give a particular and appropriate praise. This, however, is not always to be performed, whatever be the diligence or ability of the writer; for the greater part of mankind have no character at all, have little that distinguishes them from others equally good or bad, and therefore nothing can be said of them which may not be applied with equal propriety to a thousand more. It is indeed no great panegyric that there is inclosed in this tomb one who was born in one year and died in another; yet many useful and amiable lives have been spent, which yet leave little materials for any other memorial. These are, however, not the proper subjects of poetry; and whenever friendship, or any other motive, obliges a poet to write on such subjects, he must be forgiven if he sometimes wanders in generalities and utters the same praises over different tombs. The scantiness of human praises can scarcely be made more apparent than by remarking how often Pope has, in the few epitaphs which he composed, found it necessary to borrow from himself. The fourteen epitaphs which he has written comprise about a hundred and forty lines, in which there are more repetitions than will easily be found in all the rest of his works. In the eight lines which make the character of Digby, there is scarce any thought, or word, which may not be found in the other epitaphs. The ninth line, which is far the strongest and most elegant, is borrowed from Dryden. The conclusion is the same with that on Harcourt, but is here more elegant and better connected. VIII. On SIR GODFREY KNELLER. In Westminster Abbey, 1723. “Kneller, by Heaven, and not a master taught, Living, great Nature feared he might outvie Of this epitaph the first couplet is good, the second not bad, the hird is deformed with a broken metaphor, the word crowned not being applicable to the honours or the lays, and the fourth is not only borrowed from the epitaph on Raphael, but of a very harsh construction. IX. On GENERAL HENRY WITHERS. In Westminster Abbey, 1729. "Here, Withers, rest! thou bravest, gentlest mind, For thee the hardy veteran drops a tear, And the gay courtier feels the sigh sincere. Withers, adieu! yet not with thee remove The last true Briton lies beneath this stone." The epitaph on Withers affords another instance of common places, though somewhat diversified by mingled qualities and the peculiarity of a profession. The second couplet is abrupt, general, and unpleasing; exclamation seldom succeeds in our language; and I think it may be observed that the particle O! used at the beginning of a sentence always offends. The third couplet is more happy: the value expressed for him, by different sorts of men, raises him to esteem; there is yet something of the common cant of superficial satirists, who suppose that the insincerity of a courtier destroys all his sensations, and that he is equally a dissembler to the living and the dead. At the third couplet I should wish the epitaph to close, but that I should be unwilling to lose the two next lines, which yet are dearly bought if they cannot be retained without the four that follow them. X. On MR. ELIJAH FENTON. At Easthampstead, in Berkshire, 1730. "This modest stone, what few vain marbles can, May truly say, Here lies an honest man: A poet, blest beyond the poet's fate, Whom Heaven kept sacred from the Proud and Great: Foe to loud praise, and friend to learned ease, Content with science in the vale of peace. Calmly he looked on either life; and here Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear; From Nature's temperate feast rose satisfied, Thanked Heaven that he lived, and that he died." The first couplet of this epitaph is borrowed from Crashaw." 201 The modest front of this small floor, Believe me, Reader, can say more Than many a braver marble can: Here lies a truly honest man. CRASHAW: An Epitaph upon Mr. Ashton, a conformable citizen. The four next lines contain a species of praise peculiar, original, and just. Here, therefore, the inscription should have ended, the latter part containing nothing but what is common to every man who is wise and good. The character of Fenton was so amiable, that I cannot forbear to wish for some poet or biographer to display it more fully for the advantage of posterity. If he did not stand in the first rank of genius, he may claim a place in the second; and, whatever criticism may object to his writings, censure could find very little to blame in his life. ΧΙ. On MR. GAY. In Westminster Abbey, 1732. "Of manners gentle, of affections mild; With native humour tempering virtuous rage, And uncorrupted, ev'n among the Great: As Gay was the favourite of our author, this epitaph was probably written with an uncommon degree of attention; yet it is not more successfully executed than the rest, for it will not always happen that the success of a poet is proportionate to his labour. The same observation may be extended to all works of imagination, which are often influenced by causes wholly out of the performer's power, by hints of which he perceives not the origin, by sudden elevations of mind which he cannot produce in himself, and which sometimes rise when he expects them least. The two parts of the first line are only echoes of each other; gentle manners and mild affections, if they mean anything, must mean the same. That Gay was a man in wit is a very frigid commendation; to have the wit of a man is not much for a poet. The wit of man and |