Page:Reflections among the monuments.pdf/20

 gracious, build thyſelf an everlaſting monument, of gratitude in our ſouls Let it ſtand conſpicuous and indelible, not on outward tables of ſtone, but on the very inmost tables of our hearts.

What a poor ſubſtitute for a ſet of memorable actions, is poliſhed alabaſter, or the mimicry of ſculptured marble! The real excellency of this bleeding patriot is written on the minds of his countrymen: it would be remembered with applauſe, ſo long as the nation ſubſiſts, without this artificial expedient to perpetuate it.—And ſuch, ſuch is the monument I would wiſh for myſelf. Let me leave a memorial in the breaſts of my fellow creatures. Let ſurviving friends bear witneſs that I have not lived to myſelf alone, nor been altogether unſerviceable in my generation. O! let an uninterrupted ſeries of beneficent offices be the inſcription, and the beſt intereſts of my acquaintance the plate that exhibits it.

Let the poor, as they paſs by my grave, point at the little ſpot, and thankfully acknowledge,——"There lies the man, whoſe unwearied kindneſs was the conſtant relief of my various diſtreffes; who tenderly viſited my languiſhing bed, and readily ſupplied my indigent circumſtances. How often were his counſels a guide to my perplexed thoughts, and a cordial to my