Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/188

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NOTES AND QUERIES. tn s. iv. SEPT. 2, 1911.

left hand he holds an open book, from which he appears to be reading. The pedestal is of black Belgian granite ; on the front is a medallion of Boswell, and the two sides depict scenes from the life of Johnson. It also contains the following inscription : Samuel Johnson

LL.D.

Critic, Essayist, Philologist,

Biographer, Wit, Poet, Moralist,

Dramatist, Political Writer, Talker.

Born 1709 Died 1784.

The gift and handiwork of

Percy Fitzgerald, F.S.A.,

and erected by

The Rev a S. Pennington, M.A.

Rector of St. Clement Danes

1910.

Lichfield. On 19 September, 1908, a statue of Boswell was unveiled by Sir Bobertson Nicoll in St. Mary's Square, in close proximity to that of Johnson. It was designed and sculptured by Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, and presented by him to the city of Lichfield. The face is copied from the portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and the figure from a sketch by Langton. Around the top of the pedestal are fixed medallions of five friends Burke, Garrick, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and Mrs. Thrale. Below are panels representing scenes in which Bos- well and Johnson took part ' In the Hebrides,' ' Admission to the Club,' and ' Supping at the Three Crowns.'

Canterbury. Sir Henry Irving unveiled a memorial to Christopher Marlowe, poet and dramatist, on 16 September, 1891. It is placed on the site of the old Butter Market, at the lower end of Mercery Lane, near Christchurch Gate. The memorial is sur- mounted by a bronze statue of the Lyric Muse, below which are niches containing figures representing ' Tamburlaine the Great,' Malta.' On the pedestal is inscribed :
 * Faustus,' ' Edward II.,' and ' The Jew of

Christopher Marlowe Born at Canterbury 1564 Died at Deptford 1593.

The memorial was erected by subscrip tions, chiefly raised among members o the literary and dramatic professions. I was designed and executed by the lat< Mr. Onslow Ford, R.A.

Bristol. In 1840 a monument to Chatter ton was erected close by the church of St Mary Redcliffe. It was "placed at the north west angle of the churchyard, between the tower and the north porch, but has sine been removed to the north-eastern angle o the churchyard, opposite the school whicl Chatterton attended. It was designed bj

fr. S. C. Fripp, Jun., of Bristol, and is thus escribed :

" It is pentagonal in plan, raised upon three graduated steps ; from the base it is divided ertically into three compartments, the lowest lied with an inscription, with buttresses at the ngles, the space between each being occupied y a deep niche. In the central niche is an open croll, inscribed ' The Poems of Rowley.' The anopies of these niches and the buttress-tops are ichly carved with flowers and figures of grotesque nimals. The third compartment is formed of ve small pillars, with ogee arched heads and; arved spandrils, and a central pillar supporting tie statue of Chatterton, which crowns it. He is epresented in the dress of Colston's School, -here he was educated, and from his left hand alls down a long scroll, inscribed, ' Ella, a Tra- edie.' "

On the panels are the following inscrip- ions :

1. To the memory

of

Thomas Chatterton.

Reader! judge not. If thou art a Christian, >elieve that he shall be judged by a superior ower : to that Power alone is he now answer- able.

2. A poor and friendless boy was he to whom.. [s raised this monument, without a tomb : There seek his dust, there o'er his genius sigh, Where famished outcasts unrecorded lie :

Here let his name, for here his genius rose To might of ancient days, in peace repose ! Here, wondrous boy I to more than want consigned, To cold neglect, worse famine of the mind : All uncongenial, the bright world within, To that without, of darkness and of sin, He lived a mystery died. Here, reader, pause ; Let God be judge, and Mercy plead the cause. (Stated to be from the pen of the Rev. J. Eagles.)

3. A Posthumous Child.

Born in this parish Nov. 20, 1752. Died in London Aug. 24, 1770. Mb. 18.

4. Admitted into Colston's School Aug. 3, 1760-

Dunelmus Bristoliensis 1768. Rowlie 1469 1769.

On the base beneath the first inscription:

Erected by Subscription

A.D. 1840.

Helpston, Northamptonshire. In 1867 an unpretentious memorial was erected to the Peasant Poet, John Clare, in the centre of his native village. The base is square, and the upper part cylindrical, terminating with a cone and a carved stone finial. The four sides of the base are thus inscribed : (Front:) This Memorial

is erected to perpetuate the memory of

John Clare the Northamptonshire

Peasant Poet

A native of this village.

Born July 13, 1793. Died May 20, 1864.