442 Notes on Gardens near Lancing. 



tomb is placed, and with the permission of his landlord, with 

 whom he was on the most friendly terms, he built a summer- 

 house there, and afterwards the tomb, an oblong square, 1 2 ft. 

 by 6 ft. and 4 ft. high, brick on the sides, stone at the two ends, 

 covered with a stone slab, and surrounded by an iron railing. 

 In the summer-house the miller used to delight to sit and muse 

 on the distant prospect, with his tomb in the foreground ; and 

 even after he became blind with age, which was several years 

 before his death, he was led there every day by a little girl who 

 read to him, and acted as his nurse. The tomb was built nearly 

 thirty years before the miller died ; and he, as some other men 

 have done, had his coffin made about the same time ; he had it 

 placed on castors, and it was nightly wheeled under his bed, 

 and brought out again in the morning. Being in very good 

 circumstances, he left 20/. a year to keep the tomb and the 

 summer-house in repair; but having left the funds which were 

 to produce this sum in the hands of his grand-daughter, 

 though this lady is said to have 300/. a year of her own, yet 

 not one farthing of the 20/. has been expended on the summer- 

 house or the tomb. In consequence of this neglect for up- 

 wards of forty-nine years, the summer-house is so completely 

 destroyed, that not even a single brick remains ; while the tomb, 

 as will hereafter appear, is in such a state of dilapidation, that 

 the whole of the inscription on it cannot be read. We pur- 

 posely avoid giving the name of this lady, in the hopes that 

 she will yet do her duty. 



When the miller died, the clergyman of the parish could not, 

 consistently with his profession, read the burial-service over the 

 body ; but he was kind enough not to interfere in the matter, 

 and the service was read in a distinct and audible voice, as 

 Miss Oliver informed us, by the little girl who had led the 

 miller about, in the presence of between 2000 and 3000 people 

 who had assembled on the hill round the tomb. The little 

 girl, whose name was , has been dead some years. 



The following is a copy of the inscriptions on the tomb : — 



On the Top. 



FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE BODY OF 



JOHN OLIVER, 



WHEN DECEASED BY THE WILL OF GOD. 

 GRANTED BY WILLIAM WESTBROOK RICHARDSON, ESQ., 1766. 



For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.- — 

 Cor., xiii. 22. 



The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ; 

 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. — 

 John, i. 17. 



