of our churchyards, which was
certainly very much needed. Culpable neglect, it may be added, was
sometimes shown in the admission of jesting or profane epitaphs. The
inscription on Gay's monument in Westminster Abbey is a well-known
example. One other instance, in illustration, will be abundantly
sufficient. Imagine the carelessness of supervision which could allow
the following buffoonery to be set up (1764) in the cathedral churchyard
of Winchester:--

Here rests in peace a Hampshire grenadier
Who kill'd himself by drinking poor small beer;
Soldier, be warned by his untimely fall,
And when you're hot, drink strong, or none at all.[967]

In Wales, and in a few places in the south and west of England, the
custom still lingered of planting graves with flowers and sweet herbs:--

Two whitened flintstones mark the feet and head;
While there between full many a simple flower,
Pansy and pink, with languid beauty smile;
The primrose opening at the twilight hour,
And velvet tufts of fragrant camomile.[968]

Pepys makes mention of a churchyard near Southampton where the graves
were accustomed to be all sown with sage.[969]

Before leaving the subject of church fabrics and their immediate
surroundings, some little mention should be made of the effort made at
the beginning of the century to supply the deficiency of churches in
London. 'After some pause,' writes Addison, in one of his Roger de
Coverley papers, 'the old knight, turning about his head twice or thrice
to take a survey of the great metropolis, bid me observe how thick the
City was set with churches, and that there was scarce a single steeple
on this side Temple Bar. "A most heathenish sight!" said Sir Roger.
"There is no religion at this end of the town. The fifty new churches
will very much mend the prospect, but church work is slow, very
slow."'[970] That growth of London, which was to bring within its vast
embrace village after village and hamlet after hamlet, was already fast
progressing, and in the early part of the century had greatly
outstripped all church provision. Dean Swift, it is said, has the credit
of having first aroused public attention to this want. In a paragraph of
his 'Project for the Advancement of Religion,' he had said 'that five
parts out of six of the people are absolutely hindered from hearing
divine service, particularly here in London, where a single minister
with one or two curates has the c