3G0 HEFRT KTRKE WHITENS REMAINS. 



occasion and the place must not only regnlate the tenor 

 but even the style of an inscription : for what in one 

 case would be proper and agreeable, in another would 

 be impertinent and disgusting. But these rules may 

 always be taken for granted, that an inscription should 

 be unaffected and free from conceits ; that no sentiment 

 should be introduced of a trite or hackneyed nature ; and 

 that the design and the moral to be inculcated should be 

 of sufficient importance to merit the reader's attention, 

 and insure his regard. Who woald think of setting a 

 stone Tip in the wilderness to tell the traveller what he 

 knew before, or what, when he had learnt for the first 

 time, was not worth the knowing ? It would be equally 

 absurd to call aside his attention to a simile or an epi- 

 grammatic point. Wit on a monument is like a jest 

 from a judge, or a philosopher cutting capers. It is a se- 

 vere mortification to meet with flippancy where we looked 

 for solemnity, and meretricious elegance where the occa- 

 sion led us to expect the unadorned majesty of truth. 



That branch of inscriptive writing which commemo- 

 rates the virtues of departed worth, or points out the ashes 

 of men who yet live in the admiration of their posterity 

 is, of all others, the most interesting, and, if properly 

 managed, the most useful. 



It is not enough to proclaim to the observer that he is 

 drawing near to the reliques of the deceased genius, — 

 the occasion seems to provoke a few reflections. If tliese 

 be natural, they will be in unison with the feelings of 

 the reader, and, if they tend where they ought to tend, 

 they will leave him better than they found him. But 

 these reflections must not be too much prolonged. They 

 must rather be hints than dissertations. It is sufficient 

 to start the idea, and the imagination of the reader will { 

 pursue the train to much more advantage than the writer j 

 could do by words. j 



Panegyric is seldom judicious in the epitaphs on puhlic 

 characters ; for if it be deserved it cannot need publica- 

 tion, and if it be exaggerated it will only serve to excite 

 ridicule. When employed in memorizing the retired i 

 virtues of domestic life, and qualities which, though they 



