Cathedral," gives the following epitaph on Dr. William Cole, Dean of Lincoln, who died in 1600. The upper part of the stone, with Dr. Cole's arms, is, or was lately, in the Cathedral, but the epitaph has been lost:

Reader, behold the pious pattern here

Of true devotion and of holy fear.

He sought God's glory and the churches good.

Idle idol worship he withstood.

Yet dyed in peace, whose body here doth lie

In expectation of eternity.

And when the latter trump of heaven shall blow,

Cole, now rak'd up in ashes, then shall glow.

Here is another from Lincoln Cathedral, on Dr. Otwell Hill :

'Tis OTWELL HILL, a holy Hill,

And truly, sooth to say,
Upon this Hill be praised still

The Lord both night and day.
Upon this Hill, this HILL did cry
Aloud the scripture letter,

And strove your wicked villains by

Good conduct to make better.

And now this HILL, tho' under stones,
Has the Lord's Hill to lie on ;
For Lincoln Hill has got his bones,
His soul the Hill of Zion.

The Guardian, for 3rd Dec., 1873, gives the

ollowing epitaph as being in Lillington Church,

Dorset, on the grave of a man named Cole, who

died in 1669:

Reader, you have within this grave

A Cole rak'd up in dust.

His courteous Fate saw it was Late,

And that to Bed he must.

Soe all was swept up to be Kept
Alive until the day

The Trump shall blow it up and shew

The Cole but sleeping lay.

Then do not doubt the Coles not out

Though it in ashes lyes,

That little sparke now in the Darke

Will like the Phoenyx rise.

Our next example was inscribed in Peterborough Cathedral, to the memory of Sir Richard Worme, ob. 1589:

Does Worm eat Worme?

Knight Worme this truth confirms, For here, with worms, lies Worme, a dish for worms. Does worm eat Worme? sure Worme will this deny, For Worme with worms, a dish for worms don't lie. 'Tis so, and 'tis not so, for free from worms

'Tis certain Worme is blest without his worms.

On a person named Cave, at Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire, we have the following epitaph

Here, in this Grave, there lies a Cave.

We call a Cave a Grave:

If Cave be Grave, and Grave be Cave,
Then, reader, judge, I crave.

Whether doth Cave here lie in Grave,

Or Grave here lie in Cave;

If Grave in Cave here buried lie,
Then Grave, where is thy victory?

Go reader, and report, here lies a Cave,

Who conquers Death, and buries his own Grave.

In Bletchley, ob. 1615, on Mrs. Rose Sparke :-

Sixty-eight years a fragrant Rose she lasted,
Noe vile reproach her virtues ever blasted;
Her autumn past expects a glorious springe,
A second better life more flourishing.

Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a
Rose.-Eccles. xxxix., 13.

From several punning epitaphs on the name of Rose we give one more specimen. It is from Tawton Church, ob. 1652, on Rose Dart :

A Rose springing Branch no sooner bloom'd,
By Death's impartial Dart lyes here entombed.
Tho' wither'd be the Bud, the stock relyes

On Christ, both sure by Faith and Hope to rise.

In Barnstaple Church, ob. 1627, on Grace Medford, is an epitaph as follows:-

Scarce seven years old this Grace in glory ends,
Nature condemns, but Grace the change conmends;
For Gracious children, tho' they die at seven,
Are heirs-apparent to the Court of Heaven.

Then grudge not nature at so short a Race;

Tho' short, yet sweet, for surely 'twas God's Grace.

On a punster the following was written :

Beneath the gravel and these stones,

Lies poor JACK TIFFEY'S skin and bones;
His flesh I oft have heard him say,

He hoped in time would make good hay;
Quoth I, "How can that come to pass ?"
And he replied, "All flesh is grass!"

Manrland Epitaphs.

EVERAL of the churchyards in the Isle of

Man contain monuments of more than local interest, and will repay a careful inspection. The ancient graveyard of Kirk Braddan,

surrounded with beautiful trees, and situated in a secluded spot not far distant from the busy town of Douglas, is the most celebrated. It not only contains numerous modern tombstones of unusual interest, but some Runic monuments of importance which have given rise to some strange stories, and suggested a theme for the poet and a study for the antiquary.

An old time-worn stone near the chief door of the church attracts much attention. It states

Here underlyeth ye body of ye Reverend Mr. PATRICK THOMPSON, minister of God's word forty years, at present Vicar of Kirk Braddan. Aged 67 anno 1678. Deceased ye 24th of April 1689.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the stone was prepared eleven years prior to the death of the vicar.

Some of the gravestones bear records of