411 412 413 VI. On Mrs. CORBET1, who died of a Cancer in her Breast. So firm, yet soft, so strong, yet so refin'd, I have always considered this as the most valuable of Pope's epitaphs; the subject of it is a character not discriminated by any shining or eminent peculiarities, yet that which really makes, though not the splendour, the felicity of life, and that which every wise man will choose for his final and lasting companion in the languor of age, in the quiet of privacy, when he departs weary and disgusted from the ostentatious, the volatile, and the vain. Of such a character, which the dull overlook and the gay despise, it was fit that the value should be made known, and the dignity established 2. Domestick virtue, as it is exerted without great occasions or conspicuous consequences in an even unnoted tenor, required the genius of Pope to display it in such a manner as might attract regard, and enforce reverence. Who can forbear to lament that this amiable woman has no name in the verses 3 ? If the particular lines of this one writing on the subject of a general inscription be examined it will There is scarce one line taken be that in which only Virtue heard a lady of great beauty fourth line, that it contained 2 'The best subject for epitaphs is private virtue; virtue exerted in the same circumstances in which the bulk of mankind are placed and which therefore may admit of many imitators.' JOHNSON, Works, v. 265. Ante, POPE, 396. In the north aisle of St. Mar- Miss Molly Aston, according to Mrs. Piozzi. John. Misc. i. 258. an unnatural and incredible panegyrick. Of this let the ladies judge. VII. On the Monument of the Hon. ROBERT DIGBY, and of his Sister 414 'Go! fair example of untainted youth, Just of thy word, in ev'ry thought sincere, Who knew no wish but what the world might hear: Of softest manners, unaffected mind, Lover of peace, and friend of human kind: Go, live! for heav'n's eternal year is thine, 'And thou, blest maid! attendant on his doom, Steer'd the same course to the same quiet shore2, 'Yet take these tears, Mortality's relief, 'Tis all a father, all a friend can give!' This epitaph contains of the brother only a general indis- 415 criminate character, and of the sister tells nothing but that she died 3. The difficulty in writing epitaphs is to give a particular and appropriate praise. This, however, is not always to be performed, whatever be the diligence or ability of the writer, for the greater part of mankind 'have no character at all,' have little that distinguishes them from others equally good or bad, and therefore nothing can be said of them which may not be applied with equal propriety to a thousand more. It is indeed no great panegyrick that there is inclosed in this tomb one who was born in one year and died in another; yet many useful and amiable lives have been spent which yet leave little materials for any other memorial. These are, however, not the proper subjects of poetry, and whenever friendship or any other motive obliges a poet to write on such subjects, he must be forgiven if he sometimes wanders in generalities and utters the same praises over different tombs. 416 The scantiness of human praises can scarcely be made more apparent than by remarking how often Pope has, in the few epitaphs which he composed, found it necessary to borrow from himself. The fourteen epitaphs which he has written comprise about an hundred and forty lines, in which there are more repetitions than will easily be found in all the rest of his works. In the eight lines which make the character of Digby there is scarce any thought or word which may not be found in the other epitaphs. 417 418 The ninth line, which is far the strongest and most elegant, is borrowed from Dryden'. The conclusion is the same with that on Harcourt, but is here more elegant and better connected. VIII. On Sir GODFREY KNELLER. In Westminster-Abbey, 1723 2. 'Kneller, by heav'n, and not a master, taught, to analyse the characters of others, Thou wilt have time enough for To Mrs. Anne Killigrew, 1. 14. Kneller has petitioned the Doctors' Commons to pull down my father's monument [in Twickenham Church].' She wished to set up in its stead 'a large one to Sir G. and herself with both their figures.' Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), x. 177, 201. He adds that Kneller on his deathbed 'said, "By God, I will not be buried in Westminster." I asked him why? He answered, "They do bury fools there." He desired me to take down my father's monument, for it was the best place in the church to Now for two ages, having snatch'd from fate 'Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie Of this epitaph the first couplet is good, the second not bad, 419 the third is deformed with a broken metaphor, the word crowned not being applicable to the honours or the lays, and the fourth is not only borrowed from the epitaph on Raphael, but of very harsh construction 2. room (she cried), For I am very large and very wide.' Pope's Works (E. & C.), x. 179. 'Being unable to get the spot in Twickenham Church which he desired, Kneller left money for his monument in Westminster Abbey.' Dict. Nat. Biog. xxxi. 242. ['He is said to have been buried in the garden of his manor at Whitton, now Kneller Hall (in the parish of Twickenham); but of the place of his interment there is no trace.' Cobbett's Hist. of Twickenham, pp. 65, 386. His burial appears in the Twickenham Parish Church Register, Nov. 7, 1723. Ib. p. 64.] I 6 'Pope laid a wager that there was no flattery so gross but Kneller would swallow. To prove it, Pope said to him as he was painting:"Sir Godfrey, I believe if God Almighty had had your assistance the world would have been formed more perfect." "Fore God, Sir," replied Kneller, "I believe so." WALPOLE, Anecdotes of Painting, 1782, iii. 207. For other versions of this story see Warton's Essay on Pope, ii. 463 and his Pope's Works, ii. 357. Pope wrote to him on Feb. 18, 1717-8-I really believe (from the conviction I have how much better you make things than Nature herself) that even a Man in love would think his Mistress improved by you.' Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), ix. 511. Gay laughed at him in Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece:· 'Kneller amid the triumph bears his part, Who could (were mankind lost) anew create; What can th' extent of his vast soul confine? A painter, critic, engineer, divine!' 2 In The Universal Visiter, p. 215, the sentence ran :-' the fourth wants grammatical construction, the word dying being no substantive.' According to Hawkins (Life o Johnson, p. 539), Johnson's criticism was productive of the total erasure of the epitaph, which had long been objected to as being a very indifferent imitation of Cardinal Bembo's distich on Raphael :— "Ille hic est Raphael, timuit quo sospite vinci Rerum magna parens, et mo riente mori."' [The monument, now in the south aisle of the choir, is placed so high, that the inscription cannot be read.] 420 IX. On General HENRY WITHERS. In Westminster-Abbey, 17291. 'Here, Withers, rest! thou bravest, gentlest mind, For thee the hardy vet'ran drops a tear, 'Withers, adieu! yet not with thee remove 421 The epitaph on Withers affords another instance of commonplaces, though somewhat diversified by mingled qualities and the peculiarity of a profession. 422 423 The second couplet is abrupt, general, and unpleasing; exclamation seldom succeeds in our language, and I think it may be observed that the particle O! used at the beginning of a sentence always offends*. The third couplet is more happy; the value expressed for him by different sorts of men raises him to esteem: there is yet something of the common cant of superficial satirists, who suppose that the insincerity of a courtier destroys all his sen ''The prose epitaph in the Abbey on his monument [east cloister] is an expansion of these lines.' Pope's Works (Elwin and Courthope), iv. 387. "In The Tatler, No. 46, it is said that Mr. Withers gives his orders with the familiarity, and enjoys his fortune with the generosity of a fellowsoldier.' 'Now pass we Gravesend with a friendly wind, [Blackwall, More visited than either park or GAY, Mr.Pope's Welcome from Greece, |