s Tomb,
Oh! oh! quoth the Devil, 'tis my _John-a-Combe_.

This sarcastical Piece of Wit was, at the Gentleman's own Request,
thrown out extemporally in his Company. And this Mr. _John Combe_
I take to be the same, who, by _Dugdale_ in his Antiquities of
_Warwickshire_, is said to have dy'd in the Year 1614, and for whom
at the upper End of the Quire, of the Guild of the Holy Cross at
_Stratford_, a fair Monument is erected, having a Statue thereon cut
in Alabaster, and in a Gown with this Epitaph. "Here lyeth enterr'd
the Body of _John Combe_ Esq; who dy'd the 10th of _July_, 1614, who
bequeathed several Annual Charities to the Parish of _Stratford_,
and 100_l._ to be lent to fifteen poor Tradesmen from three years to
three years, changing the Parties every third Year, at the Rate of
fifty Shillings _per Annum_, the Increase to be distributed to the
Almes-poor there."--The Donation has all the Air of a rich and
sagacious Usurer.

_Shakespeare_ himself did not survive Mr. _Combe_ long, for he dy'd
in the Year 1616, the 53d of his Age. He lies buried on the North
Side of the Chancel in the great Church at _Stratford_; where a
Monument, decent enough for the Time, is erected to him, and plac'd
against the Wall. He is represented under an Arch in a sitting
Posture, a Cushion spread before him, with a Pen in his Right Hand,
and his Left rested on a Scrowl of Paper. The _Latin_ Distich, which
is placed under the Cushion, has been given us by Mr. _Pope_, or his
Graver, in this Manner.

INGENIO _Pylium_, Genio _Socratem_, Arte _Maronem_,
Terra tegit, Populus maeret, Olympus habet.

I confess, I don't conceive the Difference betwixt _Ingenio_ and
_Genio_ in the first Verse. They seem to me intirely synonomous
Terms; nor was the _Pylian_ Sage _Nestor_ celebrated for his
Ingenuity, but for an Experience and Judgment owing to his long Age.
_Dugdale_, in his Antiquities of _Warwickshire_, has copied this
Distich with a Distinction which Mr. _Rowe_ has follow'd, and which
certainly restores us the true meaning of the Epitaph.

_JUDICIO Pylium_, Genio _Socratem_, &c.

In 1614, the greater part of the Town of _Stratford_ was consumed by
Fire; but our _Shakespeare_'s House, among some others, escap'd the
Flames. This House was first built by Sir _Hugh Clopton_, a younger
Brother of an ancient Family in that Neighbourhood, who took their
Name from the Manor of _Clopton_. Sir _Hugh_ was Sheriff of _London_
in the Reign of