merely much but the best part of the wholesome influence of that
communion between living and dead which the conjunction in rural
districts of the place of burial and place of worship tends so
effectually to promote. Finally, let us remember that if it be the
nature of man to be insensible to vexations and afflictions when they
have passed away, he is equally insensible to the height and depth of
his blessings till they are removed from him. An experienced and
well-regulated mind, will not, therefore, be insensible to this
monotonous language of sorrow and affectionate admiration; but will find
under that veil a substance of individual truth. Yet upon all men, and
upon such a mind in particular, an Epitaph must strike with a gleam of
pleasure, when the expression is of that kind which carries conviction
to the heart at once that the author was a sincere mourner, and that the
inhabitant of the grave deserved to be so lamented. This may be done
sometimes by a naked ejaculation; as in an instance which a friend of
mine met with in a church-yard in Germany, thus literally translated:
'Ah! they have laid in the grave a brave man: he was to me more than
many!'

Ach! sie haben
Einen Braven
Mann begraben
Mir war er mehr als viele.

An effect as pleasing is often produced by the recital of an affliction
endured with fortitude, or of a privation submitted to with contentment;
or by a grateful display of the temporal blessings with which Providence
had favoured the deceased, and the happy course of life through which he
had passed. And where these individualities are untouched upon, it may
still happen that the estate of man in his helplessness, in his
dependence upon his Maker, or some other inherent of his nature shall be
movingly and profitably expressed. Every Reader will be able to supply
from his own observation instances of all these kinds, and it will be
more pleasing for him to refer to his memory than to have the page
crowded with unnecessary quotations. I will however give one or two from
an old book cited before. The following of general application, was a
great favourite with our forefathers:

Farwel my Frendys, the tyd abidyth no man,
I am departed hens, and so sal ye,
But in this passage the best song I can
Is _Requiem Eternam_, now Jesu grant it me.
When I have ended all myn adversity
Grant me in Paradys to have a mansion
That shedst Thy bloud for my redemption