hey exhibit; because, without
previously participating the truths upon which these general
attestations are founded, it is impossible to arrive at that state of
disposition of mind necessary to make those epitaphs thoroughly felt
which have an especial recommendation. With the same view, I will
venture to say a few words upon another characteristic of these
compositions almost equally striking; namely, the homeliness of some of
the inscriptions, the strangeness of the illustrative images, the
grotesque spelling, with the equivocal meaning often struck out by it,
and the quaint jingle of the rhymes. These have often excited regret in
serious minds, and provoked the unwilling to good-humoured laughter.
Yet, for my own part, without affecting any superior sanctity, I must
say that I have been better satisfied with myself, when in these
evidences I have seen a proof how deeply the piety of the rude
forefathers of the hamlet, is seated in their natures; I mean how
habitual and constitutional it is, and how awful the feeling which they
attach to the situation of their departed friends,--a proof of this
rather than of their ignorance or of a deadness in their faculties to a
sense of the ridiculous. And that this deduction may be just, is
rendered probable by the frequent occurrence of passages according to
our present notion, full as ludicrous, in the writings of the most wise
and learned men of former ages, divines and poets, who in the
earnestness of their souls have applied metaphors and illustrations,
taken either from Holy Writ or from the usages of their own country, in
entire confidence that the sacredness of the theme they were discussing
would sanctify the meanest object connected with it; or rather without
ever conceiving it was possible that a ludicrous thought could spring up
in any mind engaged in such meditations. And certainly, these odd and
fantastic combinations are not confined to epitaphs of the peasantry, or
of the lower orders of society, but are perhaps still more commonly
produced among the higher, in a degree equally or more striking. For
instance, what shall we say to this upon Sir George Vane, the noted
Secretary of State to King Charles I.?

His Honour wonne i'th' field lies here in dust,
His Honour got by grace shall never rust:
The former fades, the latter shall fade never
For why? He was Sr George once but St George ever.

The date is 1679. When we reflect that the father of this