PREFACE.

SOON after the Writer came to his parish, one of the first objects to which he directed his attention was his Church-yard, over which he resolved to exercise the greatest vigilance ;— and that every future inscription might be rendered as subservient as possible to his ministry, he would not allow any Epitaphs to be inscribed, which in sentiment or expression were unworthy of the consecrated ground they were designed to occupy. To preserve a churchyard, so beautifully situated, and so much frequented, from inculcating error, led to the preparation of the work, from which he trusts his Clerical brethren will derive all the assistance they may require. It will, he believes,

17

B

supply them with those short and striking inscriptions, the want of which he had so long and often experienced, and save them the trouble of that research which has occupied so much of his time and attention. While it has been his endeavour to furnish them with a work in which will be found Epitaphs adapted to every case of bereavement, he cannot but hope that it will be found a valuable addition to the Christian's library, as its contents cannot fail to interest his feelings, and deepen the serious impressions of his mind. Though it has long occupied the time and attention of the writer, yet is it very far from being executed in the way he could have wished for a work of such acknowledged utility and importance. He has, however, the happiness of reflecting, that instead of indulging only in fruitless regret over the Epitaphs which have too long disgraced our churchyards and cemeteries, he has done what he could to remedy the evil, which has been so

long, so justly, and so universally complained of.

Though much assisted by the improved poetry of the present day, yet greater difficulties were found than were anticipated, and more time and labour than it was supposed such a work could require. It would be unreasonable to expect that so many Epitaphs should be all equally good, particularly when it is considered from what numerous and various sources they have been derived, and what alterations it was necessary many of them should undergo. Of some it must be admitted that they cannot be read as "Voices from the Tombs," nor was it desirable that every one should be of that character. A volume of Epitaphs would indeed be incomplete if it did not contain at least some few inscriptions, by which survivors might express their affection for the deceased, or their hope of being re-united in heaven. If, occasionally, a few lines in blank verse are met with,

which may not, perhaps, ever be used as memorials, the writer would remark that they were inserted to give, from their originality of thought or beauty of expression, a diversity to the selection, and to increase the general interest of the work to the serious reader. All that the writer ventures to hope is, that they will be found truly scriptural, and that there will be but little in the harmony of the verses that can offend the ear of the Christian, whose eye and heart are upon the truth. For a work undertaken for the public good, and attended with so much difficulty, the writer may surely deprecate the severity of criticism, and claim some little indulgence for defects, of which he is not insensible. Considering that Epitaphs should be characterized by poetic beauty, by good sense, by tender feeling, and by that harmony with the Scriptures which is essential to religious truth; and how every book of this kind has disappointed public expectation, the writer cannot but see that he

has engaged in a work he could never expect to be perfect. But he could not urge his clerical brethren to the persevering and conscientious discharge of an important duty, without, at least, attempting to give them all the assistance in his power, and he trusts his design will be approved, whatever defects may appear in its execution.

Of the various Epitaphs which will be found in this work, and of which very few have ever been inscribed, some are to be read as expressing the feelings of surviving friends; some as the testimony of the dead to the " ' goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," others as a direct voice from the tomb-the voice of one "who being dead yet speaketh." Reflections on the uncertainty of life-the nearness of death-the shortness of time-the duration of eternity-the worth of the souland the importance of true religion, chiefly guided the writer in making this selection, and led him to pass over many beautiful verses ap