70 



EPIS1OL.E OBSCURORUM VIRORUM. EPITAPH. 



to bring the plot into a narrower space, in order to 

 make it more distinct and lively. He therefore 

 inserts it in the course of the story, but so skilfully, 

 that we expect it in this very place ; and it not only 

 serves as a key to what 1ms gone before, but prepares 

 us for wliat is to come, viz., the passion of Dido. In 

 this way, the episode becomes an essential part of the 

 whole, as it must necessarily be, if it is of any impor- 

 tance to preserve the unity of the poem. So with 

 the tale in Wieland s Oberon ; it appears incidental, 

 but explains to us the reason of Oberon's singular 

 interest in the fate of Huon. In epic poetry, there 

 is much more room for the episode than in dramatic, 

 where the poem is confined to a present action. The 

 term episode has also been transferred to painting, 

 especially historic painting, in a sense analogous to 

 that which it has in poetry. 



EPISTOL^E OBSCURORUM VIRORUM (Let- 

 ters of obscure Men in the double sense of obscure); 

 a collection of satirical letters, which first appeared 

 in 1515, pretending to be written by well known 

 clergymen and professors in the countries on the 

 Rhine, particularly of Cologne, in barbarous Latin, 

 in which, together with theological controversies on 

 different topics, were contained sharp satires on the 

 excesses of the clergy of that time. The celebrated 

 Ulrich von Hutten, with other men of learning, took 

 part in this work. Oldest edition, by Aldus Manu- 

 tius (Cologne, 1505, 4to). In 1517, these letters 

 were numbered among the prohibited books by a 

 papal bull. They have been lately republished, in 

 1826. This was undoubtedly one of the most inte- 

 resting publications of its time. 



EPISTYLIUM. See Architecture. 



EPITAPH (from the Greek iv,r<i<p,i,, from i<r/) 

 upon, and -ratpoi, tomb) ; the inscription on a tomb- 

 stone. The Greeks applied this name to those 

 verses which were sung in memory of a deceased per- 

 son, on the day of his funeral, and on the anniversary 

 of this day. An epitaph should be characterized by 

 brevity and truth. Nothing can be farther from its 

 nature than the long-winded stories on tombs, often 

 as untrue as they are long, and which differ from 

 common prose in nothing but an arbitrary division 

 into long and short lines. The Germans have a 

 proverb, "He lies like a tombstone, and is as impu- 

 dent as a newspaper." The English are peculiarly 

 addicted to long epitaphs, relating a whole life, with 

 a catalogue of the merits of the deceased. An Eng- 

 lish churchyard affords much food for reflection. It 

 is plain, that the form of an epitaph should corrp 

 spond with the character of the subject of it. The 

 epitaphs of men who have performed great actions, 

 known to the whole world, or who have made dis- 

 coveries in science and art, which are acknowledged 

 by their age, should be as simple as possible, consist- 

 ing of little else than their name, which is, of itself, 

 enough to bring up a whole history to the memory 

 of the reader. Long panegyric and reflection are 

 out of place here. Who would not prefer, on a 

 tombstone erected to Washington, the single name 

 Washington, to any attempt to point out his merits? 

 The column erected to the memory of general Mas- 

 sena, who is buried in the cimetiere de I'Est, in Paris, 

 contains only the word Massena. And simplicity is 

 equally essential to give effect to the record of the 

 gentle virtues of domestic life. 



We will here give a few epitaphs deserving of 

 remembrance. One of the happiest is that of Sir 

 Christopher Wren, in St Paul's, London, of which he 

 was the architect : 



SI monumentum quarts, circumspice. 

 " if you ask for his monument, look around." 

 Mercy's epitaph on the field of battle at Nordlingen 

 ifi also very appropriate. It is, 



Sta, viator; herocm calcas. 



" Stop, traveller I 'tis a Uero thou treadest on." 

 The marchioness of Santa Cruz caused a monument 

 to be executed by Canova, for IHT daughter, intending 

 it to cover also her own remains, with this inscrip- 

 tion : 



Mater inftliclssima^fitite et sibl. 

 "The most unhappy mother To her daughter and herself.' 1 



Count Tessin, governor of Gustavus III. of Sweden, 

 ordered the words 



Tandem felt*. 

 " Happy at last," 



to be inscribed on his tomb. The following is Sir 

 Isaac Newton's epitaph : 



Isaacum Newton, 

 Quern immortalem 



Testantur Tempus, Natura, Coslum, 



Mortalem hoc Marmor 



Fatetur. 



"This marble acknowledges Isaac Newton mortal, whom 

 time, nature, and heaven prove immortal." 



The following couplet by Pope was intended for 

 Newton's monument: 



Nature and nature's law lay hid in night; 

 God said, LetNewton be and all was light. 



M. Ducis wrote the following epitaph on his friend 

 J. J. Rousseau, buried on the island hi the lake of 

 Ermenonville. 



Entre cespeuplierspaisibles, 

 Repose Jean Jacques Rousseau. 

 Approchez, ccsurs droits et sensibles, 

 Votre ami dort sous ce tombeau. 



" Among these quiet poplars, reposes Jean-Jacques Rous- 

 seau. Approach, true and sensitive hearts ! your friend 

 sleeps under this tomb." 



One of the simplest and saddest is that of pope Ad- 

 rian, written by himself: 



Adrianus, Papa, VI., hie sit'usest, 

 Qui nihil sibi injelicius 



In lita, 



Quam quod imperaret, 

 Duxit. 



" Pope Adrian VI. lies here, who experienced nothing 

 more unhappy in life than that he commanded." 



The following epitaph, by doctor Johnson, on a cele- 

 brated musician, is extremely happy : 



Phillips, whose touch harmonious could remove, 

 The pangs of guilty power and hapless love, 

 Rest here, distressed by poverty no more ; 

 Find here that calm thou gav'st so oft before ; 

 Sleep undisturbed within this peaceful shrine, 

 Till angels wake thee with a note like thine. 



Here is also a fine epitaph, by Pope, on Mrs Cor- 

 bett, who died of a cancer in the breast : 



Here rests a woman, good without pretence, 

 Blest with plain reason and with sober sense, 

 No conquests she, but o'er herself desired, 

 No arts essay'd, but not to be admir'd. 

 Passion and pride were to her soul unknown, 

 Convinc'd that virtue only is our own ; 

 So unaffected, so composed a mind : 

 So firm, yet soft ; so strong, yet so retin'd ; 

 Heaven, as its purest gold, by tortures tried, 

 The saint sustain'd it but the woman died. 



But the finest we have evei read is the simple inscrip- 

 tion in St Anne's church, at Cracow, dedicated by 

 count Sierakowski to the illustrious Copernicus : 



Sta, sol, ne moveare. 

 "He commanded the sun to stand still." 



The very words of Scripture, which were used as a 

 pretext for the persecution of the great truth which 

 he discovered, are here employed to form his 

 epitaph. 



Epitaphs, notwithstanding the solemn circum- 

 stances with which they are associated, have not 



