Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-10-19


quisitely touching epitaph which Frank
Inns biographers state was "written by
him many years previous to bis DEATH"
with the intention OF having it placed upon
his tomb when he had passed to "that un-
discovered country from whose mysterious
bourne no traveller re turns" 1t Is as fol-
lows: --r.
aThe Body ..s Il.
Benjamin Franklin, Printer,
(Like the cover of an old book,
.a Its contents torn out,
And stript of its lettering and gilding,)
Lies here food for worms,
Yet the work itself shall not be lost,
For it will (as he believed) appear once more
In new
And more beautiful Edition,
Corrected and Amended
Bye .
The Author.
/ was disappointed in not finding this
epitsph on Franklin's tomb, as would be
thousands who might visit the spot where
reposes all that was mortal of the great
American printer, philosopher and states
man.
SIMILAR EPITAPHS.
This epitaph by Franklin has provoked a
good deal of discussion, some writer's con-
tending that its author was Indebted to
earlier epitaphs of a similar technical char
acter for the ideas it embodies. Stephen
CoIlett, a. M.-dlidS Reuben Percy, alias
Thomas Byerley- lin his "Relics Of Liters-
ture," published 1928, cites two "Epitaphs"
of an earlier date, which, he thinks, proba-
bly, suggested the idea to Franklin:
"THE WORLD.
The worlds Book, writ by tn eternal Art
fho Ia kPr- mana heart
IT'S falsely printed, though diyinely peRR'd,
And all the ErrGta viii appear at tn end"
"Tho Worlds Pristing Hoaise, our words, our
thossShts,
Our deeds are characters of several sizes;
Each Soul is q C5mpstor, Of whose faults
The Lerites are C5rreetors; Heaven Rerises;
Death is the common Press, from whence being
We're gather'd, Sheet by Sheet, and bound for
Heaven" 20
Now these so-called epitaphs are actually
excerpts from the "Diyine Fsncies" OF
Francis Quarles, who fourished some two
centuries ago. They contain q similar idea
it is true, but the concluding point, which
constitutes the chief beauty of Franklin's
inscription, is here absent or lacks his hap
py application. Not 80, however, in the
epitsph on Commodore Trunnion in Smol
let's "Peregrine Pickle" (vol. iii. chapter
viz which appeared as early as 1851, snC
which Franklin had in all probability reaC
and enjoyed: ~
Foundered in a fathom and half,
The Shell FL
Hawser Trunnion, ESQ.,,
Formerly Commander of Squadron
In His Majesty's service.
Who broachd 20 at five p. NJ. 0ctr. K,
In the year of his age
.ThreescOre and nineteen.
He kept his guns always loaded,
And his tackle ready manned,
And never showed his poop to the enemy,
Except when he took her tow,
But his shot being expended,
His match burned out,
And his upper works decayed,
He was sunk
By DEATHS superior weight Of metal TX
| Nevertheless,
He will be weighed again
| At the Great Day,
| .. His rigging reftted,
| And his timbers repaired,
| And with one broadside
| Make his adversary
| Strike in his turn"
| But the epitaph to which we may sup
| pose Franklin TO have been immediatel
ind ebted for the idea he has so thorough
made his own, is one said to have bee
written by an "Eton Scholar" upon booE
seller, not less celebrated than the gres
| American printer. 1t is reproduced in
work published in London Ia 1903, entitled
"Travels of Four Years and Half in th
United States Of America, 1913 1902" sn
is as follows;
"Vite volume peract0,
| Hic fms jacob ToNLoN,
| PerpOliti SOsiOcum principis:
| Qui, velut ObstetriX musarum,
In lucem edidit
| Feliees ingenii partus.
| Lugete, scriptOFum chorus,
| Et frangite calamos;
Tile vester, nlGrgine erusus deleterI
| LSed haze pOstrema inscriptio
| Huie primo mOrtis p0giaG
| = IBlprimdtur,
| In preIo sepRichre commissus,
1pse editor careat titulo;
| Hic jacet biblIopola,
Folio Vite delapso,
Expectans N0Uen Editionem
| .s-- AUctioreHR ct EmeHdatiorem."
Is there such an inscription as this; an
if so, who was the HEton Scholsr'' an
when did he write it? Whatever claims
originality Frsnklin's epitaph does posses
and one does not look for much in mo
tuary inscriptions-it is most elegant an
perfect in its composition. l subioin fh
following technical summary of the cha
acter of the nlustrious American typ
grapher: ,.........s sf
HE was the = of his profession,
The type of honesty,
| The I of all. ..,.1
| And although the ~ of death
| Has put a to his existence,
Every OF his life
Is without q D."
1t was fayorite quotation of DR.. Fran
Inns father in the old candle shop: "See
thou man diligent in business, he shs
stand before kings" No man ever live
more diligent in business than Beniam
Franklin, and no man ever stood with mo
of the dignity Of upright manhood befo
kings. $500 > .t.
AN ANECD0TE,
This morning read in newspaper 9
snecdote OF Franklin, which heightened n
desire to visit his grave and look upon Il
spot where lies the body of man WI
could place duty SO far above personal il
H..a +