Show AAL A ash 1111 1 M W Z ZI I 1 q J I 1 V S LZ 4 0 0 A a V ka eu I 1 A R I 1 W x h 1 77 7 Z M I 1 ea ir i aw 01 1 1 ac cl A by ELMO SCOTT WATSON E CENT press dispatches carried the news that dr R william 11 rothwell of 0 pawtucket paw it L I 1 hits has caused to bo be cut on a huge boulder in R grove rove cemetery in that city where tie he will be burled tills this inscription tills this Is on me known as an ever eer generous host doctor rothwell has said this la Is on me so etiny times while paying the check that lie fonts it to be his last word when lie he dies die he says he wants no mourning a amling ing his friends and lie he believes hel lees that the fat familiar illar words on his tomar tombstone t one will br bring ng smiles n iles to tt them em instead of sorrow the rhode island doctor Is not the first to write ills his own epitaph and to do d lt it in a half jesting mood per ter snaps baas t the lie most famous of till nil american e epitaphs was written by that first great american benjamin njamin Re franklin at the age of twenty three it was the body of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN printer like the cover cove of tin an old cold book and f its lettering and gild in ing 9 liea here f food 0 0 d for worms yet the work it itself s e if shall not be lost for it will as he be believed appear once more in a new and more beautiful edl edition tion corrected and am amended saied by the author nis ills wishes were not respected by falls family who thought that some other epitaph than this which reflected hla his career as a printer would be more appropriate in the case of robert louis stevenson however it was different and upon sons monument in samoa appear these beautiful lines which he wrote under the wide and starry sky dig the grave and let me I 1 lie is glad did I 1 live and gladly die and I 1 laid me down witha with a will this be the verse you grave forme tor ne here he iles where he longed to be home la is the sailor home from aea ea and the bun hunter ter home from th the h hill 1 I the self chosen epitaphs of two other er famous men are nearly as well known hilaire belloc the historian chose for his when I 1 itin am gone may only this be said i HI inis were scarlet but bla bin books were read on the tomb of the poet gay in westminster abbey appears this cou couplet which he be wrote life Is in a jest and all things show it I 1 thought so EO once and now I 1 know it A walk through annold an old cemetery will reveal some interesting facts I 1 about the things which people wish to have known about them after they are gone gone especially Is this true of the epitaphs wi written litten during the colonial days in america and the early days of the republic many of thern them warn the friend who Is passing of the certainty of death and judgment in some come cases the passerby passer by to Is hailed balled as passenger instead of friend BS as wit perhaps the strangest tombstone in the world shown in the photograph above stands in highgate cemetery in london england it Is a marble piano erected to the memory of my beloved husband harry thornton thorndon Thorn lon age 38 36 A genius who died oct 1918 his epitaph also includes this stanza from a poem by the composer puccini sweet thou art sleeping crad craded ed on my heart safe in gods cods keeping while I 1 must weep apart ness the following front from a cemetery in N X J dated 1781 stop passenger here lie ile the remains of a woman who exhibited to 10 the world a bright constellation of the female virtu virtues eg on that memorable day never to be forgotten when a british foe invaded this fair village and ailred even the temple of the deity this peaceful daughter 0 of heaven retired to her hallowed apartment imploring heaven for or the pardon dofher of her aner enemies nies in that as estred red moment she one w was a by the bloody hand of a british ruman ruffian dispa dispatched abed c like her divine redeemer through g h a path of blood to her long wished tor for native skies elites A good example of the combined historical and admonitory epitaph la Is found on the monument of ellhu yale founder of yale colage which reads under this tomb lyes interred Inter rd el ellhu abu yale of place gronow esq born esth april 16 1648 48 and dyed the alth of july 17 1721 ged aged 73 72 y rs born in america in europe bred in africa travelled and in asia wed where long he lived and thrived in london died much good sortie some ill III he be did so hope alls even and that hta his soul gercys gone to heaven you that survive and read take care for this most certain exit to prepare where blest in peace the actions a of the jut just smell sweet and blossom in the silent dust many of the colonial epitaphs were longwinded long ong winded afra affairs Irs butane but tha arl prize z e goes to the brass tablet dated 1778 which appears on the walls of st peters the oldest church to in bermuda it reads read to the memory of george forbes M U 0 whom living A singular complacency of manners manner joined with many useful talents talent an and d eminent virtues re lenderd nen ader derd d highly estimable blessed with a convivial disposition in the cheerful hour of social festivity he shone and an agreeable companion ever a assiduous e in furthering good humor and the enjoyments enjoy ments of sociality friendly to mankind his endeavors to mitigate the evils of life walh t V bore himself with temper and philosophy were not alone confined to the healing art long exercised by him with much reputation but were likewise exerted in composing differences restoring friendships interrupted and promoting peace harmony and mutual good understanding among his fellow men having acquitted himself with approbation p p r 0 bation in the beveral e r a I 1 relations tons of ufa life As an he ha had lived respected and beloved so go he died lamented and regretted for those virtues and many others which tho not en registered on this tablet are forever en graven on the loving memory of his surviving friends lie ile died jany ath 1178 aged 63 years if the epitaph chosen by the rhode island doctor seems a bit flippant he has lins plenty of precedent for or this 8 kind of jesting john R kippax a chicago man haa bus made a collection of unusual epitaphs some borne of which would seem to be more appropriate for or a joke book boob than a graveyard there ts Is the epitaph of eleven cleven year old mary june jane in a cemetery in cape slay N J which rends reads she was not smart she was not fair air but hearts with grief for or her are swell sw ellin ln and empty stands stand I 1 her little chair she sh died of eaten aati n bermelin w a ter melin in the town of burlington in the same state appears this one here iles the body 0 of mary ann lowder she burst while drinking a lits powder called from this world to her heavenly rest real she ah should uld have walt waited ed till til it effer vescee sir mr klappas Is the authority for this one although he be does not say where it may be founds found here lies iles the body of deacon aps bps beeer e r whose mouth did reach from ear to car stranger tread lightly oer t the he so sod d tor for tt it he be bapes youre gone b by 7 co cod d this one comes from connecticut here lies iles cut down like unripe fruit the wife of deacon amos shute she died die d of drinking too much coffee anny donnina eighteen forty A similar slin flar one over the he grave of a former slave who lived in savannah ga tells the passerby passer by that here lies iles old Somi died a eating hominy in 59 anno domini t in an indiana graveyard there it if this brief record of a tragedy here lies 1 I killed by a sky oky rocket in my eye in an ohio cemetery Is an In scrip tion often quoted which reads under this sod mod and under these thene trees aleth the body of solomon pease iles hes not in this hole but only hla his pod poa he shelled out his soul and went up to his bin god what could be more appropriate than this one written for or a long island N f carpenter no wonder he be sawed short abort lifes pan for long ions he be was waa a nall irig roan man brief and to the point to Is this from schenectady N Y tie lie rot got a fishbone fish bone tn in his throat and then he be sang an ange angel note cota I 1 and here ts Is an old epitaph date un an known which in these modern days of motor cars and reckless drivers should be a warning to nil all of us aspeci a 11 la Is it recommended that pedestrians ans paste this in your hat I 1 here lies iles the body of william gray who died maintaining hta his right of way lie he was right dead right As ho ha sauntered along alone but hes just es as dead As an if hed been wrong |