Page:A History of Horncastle from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.djvu/79

60 who was curate at the time of Mr. Clarke's death, and afterwards Rector of Little Cawthorpe near Louth.

An upright stone, the head forming an inverted overhanging arch, ornamented with dog-tooth pattern (copied from a panel in the church pulpit), has the inscription: "W. H. Milner, Vicar of Horncastle, died October 3rd, 1868, aged 64." Within the arch is a Calvary Cross, on the steps of which are these words "He that believeth in Me hath everlasting life." On the base, of the stone is a quotation from the Burial Service," Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord, &c." Near this a massive decorated cross bears the inscription: "Robert Giles, Vicar of Horncastle, died July 12th, 1872. Jesu, Mercy." This is an exact reproduction of a granite cross in Willoughby churchyard, erected to the memory of the late Archdeacon Giles, the vicar's brother.

A grass grave, surrounded by a kerb, has resting upon it a full-length plain Latin cross, along the arms of which is inscribed "Jesu Mercy." Surronding the kerb is the inscription "Arthur Scrivenor, M.A., Vicar of Horncastle, born January 13th, 1831, died August 27th, 1882." "Never resting, never tiring, in the endless work of God;" the latter words being a quotation from Dr. Mansell's Life of Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford and Winchester.

Very near the last tomb is the grave of the wife of the late Vicar of Horncastle, Prebendary E. F. Quarrington, now Rector of Welby, near Grantham; the plain slab bears the inscription "At rest, Nov. 25, 1888."

The following biographical notes may not be without interest. The Rev. T. J. Clarke was a remarkable man; born in this neighbourhood, in a humble rank of life (his widowed mother occupying a cottage in Woodhall, where, to his honour, he frequently visited her, and supported her, during his vicariate), he was apprenticed as a boy to a tradesman in Leeds. A lady upon whom he attended, as she made purchases in the shop, noticed his intelligence; the result being that she sent him, at her own expense, to be educated at a good school, and, in due time, assisted him to enter at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took Double Honours, and obtained a Fellowship. He was afterwards appointed to the Vicarage of Penrith, Cumberland, thus coming under the notice of the Bishop of Carlisle, who, as Patron, presented him to the Vicarage of Horncastle, on the death of Dr. Madely in 1845. With Mr. Clarke's arrival in Horncastle it was felt that a new era in church life had begun. He threw himself with characteristic energy into every kind of work, and at one time had 3 curates. To him was due the erection of Holy Trinity Church, and a great multiplication of Church services. The old vicarage, a poor house close to St. Mary's churchyard, was pulled down, and he rented the house in South Street, with extensive gardens, which afterwards became the residence of Major Armstrong and now occupied by Mrs. Howland. Notwithstanding his heavy parochial work Mr. Clarke (as the present writer can testify) kept up his classical and mathematical studies. He was also devoted to music, and a very skilful performer on the flute. Although these were relaxations from his more serious parochial labours, the amount of mental work involved eventually told upon his health, and in the 8th year of his vicariate it became perceptible, even in his pulpit utterances, that his mind was affected. He had married a Cumberland lady, but all her care and attention was unavailing; he gradually collapsed into a condition of melancholy, scarcely roused by anything except the music of his piano. The end