| Show AL ir MAO aa F 4 pal 4 AMP Z 01 PT K ava 7 aai H M kaj 0 X axam 4 i 2 ap 1 ISM 7 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON press dispatches carried tho the news that dr william P rothwell of pawtucket it R I 1 has caused to be cut on a huge boulder in oak grove cemetery in that city where he will be burled this inscription tills this la Is on me known us nn an ever eve generous host doctor rothwell has said this Is on me so many times dines while paying the check that lie wants it to be his last word when lie he dies he says he fie wants no mourning among ills his friends and he believes vint that the fai millar words on ills his tombstone will bring smiles to them instead of sorrow the rhode island doctor Is not the first to write his fits own epitaph and to do it in a half jesting mood per lialis imps the most fanous famous of nil american epitaphs was written by that first great american benjamin franklin at the age of twenty three it was the body of BENJAMIN BENJAIMIN FRANKLIN printer like tho the cover of an old boox book and f its lettering and gild ing ine here food for worms iet tet the work itself shall not be lost for it will as he believed appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition corrected and amended by i the author ills dig were not respected by fits family who thought that some other epitaph than this which reflected his career as a printer would be more appropriate in the case of robert louis stevenson however it wits was different and upon Steven sons monument in samoa appear these beautiful lines which lie he wrote under the wide and starry sky I 1 dig big the grave and let me lie glad did I 1 live and gladly endly die and I 1 laid me down with a will this be the verse you grave tor for rie here he lies where he longed to be home Is the sailor home from sea and the hunter home from the hill the self chosen epitaphs of two other famous men are nearly as well known 1111 alre belloc the historian chose for tits his when I 1 am gone may only this be said tits ilia sins were scarlet but his books were read on the tomb of the poet gay in westminster abbey appears this couplet which lie wrote life la Is a jest and all things show it I 1 thought so BO once and now I 1 know it A walk through an old cemetery will reveal some interesting facts about the things which people wish to have known about them after they are gone especially Is tills this true of the epitaphs written during the colonial days in america and the early days of the republic mcp many of them warn the friend who Is passing of the certainty of death and judgment in saine bamo bomo cases the passer by Is hailed na its passenger instead of friend as wit perhaps the strangest tombstone in the world shown in tile 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 age 35 A genius who died oct 1918 11 his epitaph also includes this stanza from a poem by the composer sweet thou art sleeping cradled on my heart safe in gods keeping while I 1 roust must weep apart ness the following from a cemetery in eilzabeth N J dated 1781 stop passenger here lie the remains of a woman who exhibited to the world a bright constellation of the female virtues on that memorable day never to be forgotten when a british foe invaded this fair village and fired even villace tile the temple of the de deity ty this peaceful daughter of heaven retired to her hallowed apartment imploring heaven tor for the pardon of her enemies in that sacred moment she ans by the bloody hand of a british ruffian dispatched like her divine redeemer through a a path of blood to her long loner wished for native skies A good example of the combined historical and admonitory epitaph I 1 Is found on the monument of ellhu yale founder of yale tale colage which reads under this tomb lyes ives interred Inter rd ellhu yale of place gronow esq born jtb april 1618 1648 and dyed the ath of july 1721 aged 73 years norn born in america in europe bred in africa travelled and in asia wed where long lone he lived and thrived in london died much good some bome ill he did so hope bope alls even and that his soul gercys gone gane to heaven you that survive and read take care for this most certain exit to prepare where blest in peace the actions 4 of f tile the just smell sweet and blossom in the silent dust many of the colonial epitaphs were longwinded long winded affairs but the prize goes to the brass tablet dated 1778 which appears tip pears on the walls of st peters the oldest church in bermuda it reads to the memory of george forbes at M D whom living A singular ic complacency om p laceney of man manners joined with it h m many any useful talents rind and eminent virtues lenderd Ren derd highly en blessed with a convivial disposition in the cheerful hour of social festivity lie ile shone and an agreeable companion ever assida ous in furthering good humor and the enjoyments enjoy ments of sociality friendly friend Y to mankind mank nd tits his endeavors to mitigate the evils of 0 life which I 1 h 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 in th the several relations of life As he had lived ived respected and beloved S he died lamented and regretted for those v virtues aes ues and many others which tho thal not en registered on this tablet are forever brever en graven on the oving loving memory of his surviving friends lie died jany ath 1178 aged 63 years if the epitaph chosen by the rhode island doctor seems a bit flippant he has plenty of precedent tor for this kind of jesting john R kippax a chicago man has made a collection of unusual epitaphs some of which would seem to be more appropriate for a joke book than a graveyard there Is the epitaph of eleven year old mary jane in a cemetery in cape may N J which reads she was not smart she sha was not fair but hearts with grief for or her are a swell wellin ln and empty stands her little chair she died of batin wat watermelon ermelin in the town of burlington in the same state appears this one here lies the body of mary ann lowder she burst while drinking a powder called from this world to her heavenly rest she should have waited till it effer vescee mr kippax Is the authority for this one although lie does not say gay where it may be found here lies iles the body of deacon speer whose mouth did reach from ear to ear stranger tread lightly oer the sod for if he be bapes youre gone by cod this one comes from connecticut here lies iles cut down like unripe fruit the wife of 0 deacon amos shute she died of drinking too much coffee anny dominy eighteen forty A similar one over the grave of a former slave who lived in savannah ga tells the passerby passer by that here lies iles old rastus died a eating hominy in 69 59 anno domini in an Ind indiana latia graveyard there la Is this brief record of a tragedy Ile here reIles lies I 1 killed by a sky rocket in my eye in an ohio cemetery la Is an inscription often quoted which reads under this sod and under these trees lieth the body of solomon pease lies hes not in this hole but only his pod ile he shelled out his soul and went up to his god i what could be more app appropriate rop than tills this one written for a long island N Y carpenter no wonder he ha sawed short lifes span for long he was a man brief and to the point Is this from schenectady N Y ile he got a fisli bone in his him throat and then he sang an angel note and here la Is an old epitaph date unknown which in these modern days of motor cars and reckless drivers should be a warning to nil of us Is it recommended acco mended that pedestrians paste this in your lintl hat I 1 here lies the body of william gray who died maintaining his right of way ile he was rl arsht dead right As ha sauntered along dut but hes just as dead As aa it if hed been wrong |
