Collection of Epitaphs AND Monumental Enscriptions, ANCIENT AND MODERN, WITH AN EMBLEMATICAL FRONTISPIECE. Why all this toil for triumphs of an hour? YOUNG. LONDON: PRINTED FOR G. & W. B. WHITTAKER, 13, AVE MARIA LANE, 11426,43,8 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY BEQUEST OF MRS. MARY DALTON AUG. 1, 1928 Printed by C. 3kuinam, Carlisle. 0753 PREFACE. HAVING always derived a particular pleasure from a walk among the tombs, the Author became in early life a collector of Epitaphs. A recent tour through GREAT BRITAIN, and the ISLE of MAN, enabled him to enlarge the collection, by the insertion of several inscriptions of great merit, that convey fine moral thoughts in the style and spirit of genuine poetry; many of them were never before published, and are correctly copied from the monuments on which they are inscribed: a few are taken from the works of our most popular Poets, which certainly do no discredit to the authors whose names they bear. If some pieces of inferior merit, as far as regards poetic composition, have been admitted into the collection, they are, at least, entitled to the praise of being moral and instructive, however they may offend the ear, or the taste, by the inharmony of their numbers, or the coarseness of their diction. They express sentiments that are calculated to make a useful impression on the heart, and dispose the mind to ponder on the brevity of life, on the imperfections and unsatisfactory nature of our enjoyments, and on the instability of all earthly possessions. They tell us, that "Though we wade in wealth or soar in fame, Earth's highest station ends in-Here he lies!" As the Author has endeavoured to make it a useful and instructive collection, he is not without hopes that its general merit is such as will secure it a favorable reception from the public, and dispose the reader to consider the time usefully spent in its perusal. |