"John Gower lieth right sumptuously buried, with a garlande on his heade, in token that in his life-time he did freshly flourish in literature and science. On the wall where his bones have their resting-place, there be painted three maidens, having crownes on their heades, holding devices in their handes, whereupon is thus written.

CHARITIE.

66 Thou, of our God, the only Son,

Save him who rests beneath this stone."

MERCIE.

"Oh Jesus kinde! thy mercie show

Unto his soul who lies below."

PITIE.

"For pitie's sake, dear Saviour keepe

His soul, who underneath doth sleepe."

This ancient and remarkable tomb has been recently repaired and renewed by a descendant of the poet. It was difficult to linger beside it without paying some tribute to his memory.

Father of English verse- -it is not meet

That thou, unhonor'd of the Muse shouldst lie,

The brinded lion couching at thy feet,

And fix'd on vacant space, thy marble eye.

On thine own tomes thy head is pillow'd fair,

A sculptured garland round thy temples wreath'd,

Yet dearer still would be one simple air

From the warm heart of fond affection breath'd.

The lyre that thou didst wake, should do its part
To soothe thy list'ning shade with filial strein,
As still the sea-shell in its grateful heart

Prolongs the murmur of the parent main.

Armorial bearings round thy tomb are strewn,
And arch and buttress prop its lofty height,
And graven foliage frets the time-worn stone,
And guardian angels stay their hovering flight,

Yet if thou hadst that music in thy heart,

That still, small voice, which God's own children know,

And by such prompting aid did act thy part,

And soar triumphant from this world of woe,

How will all pageants that we offer here
Fade like the dust upon the eagle's wing
When heavenward soaring at the noontide sphere,
He hails the glories of Creation's king.

1380

THOMAS A KEMPIS.

THIS devout man, so distinguished by the depth and power of his religious writings, was born at Kempis, a small town in the diocese of Cologne, Germany, in the year 1380. He was early impressed with the love of a Saviour, and the vanity of those pleasures that awaken the passionate pursuit of men. At the age of nineteen he entered on a life of retirement, and became eminent for his application to study, the force of his eloquence, and fervor of his charity.

In person, he was of the middle stature, with a keen and piercing eye. After his ordination as priest, he was faithful in clerical labors, but shrank from promotion, and avoided conspicu

In

ous stations, preferring the quiet humility of a contemplative life. Submission to every form of established discipline, and untiring diligence, were features of his character. In those early days, before the invention of printing, when written works were exceedingly scarce and expensive, deep students were forced to great labors in transcribing necessary treatises. this occupation, as well as in the work of composition, Thomas à Kempis exhibited an indefatigable industry. Besides a great mass of copied manuscripts, his original writings are published in three large folio volumes. He retained to a great age, not only his intellectual faculties unimpaired, but the use of his eyesight in perfection, without the aid of spectacles. He died in peace and hope, in his ninety-third year, on the 8th of August, 1471.

His life of seclusion, admitted of few events, but by his writings he will connect himself with remote posterity. Among these, the most remarkable is "The Imitation of Christ," which was composed at the age of sixty.

It passed through nearly forty editions in the original Latin, and more than sixty translations

have been made of it into different modern languages. While pure religion retains a place in the soul of man, it will continue to be studied and admired. The celebrated Dr. Chalmers in speaking of this work of Thomas à Kempis, says: "We know of no reading that is more powerfully calculated to shut us up unto the faith, none more fitted to deepen and to strengthen the basis of a sinner's humility, and so reconcile him to the doctrine of salvation in all its parts, by grace alone, none that by exhibiting the height and perfection of Christian attainments can better serve the end of prostrating the inquirer into the veriest depths of self-abasement, by the humbling comparison of what he is, with what he ought to be. The severities of Christian practice which it urges on the reader, are in no way allied to the penances and self-infliction of a monastic ritual, but are the essentials of spiritual discipline in all ages, and must be undergone by every man who is transformed by the Holy Ghost, from one of the children of this world to one of the children of light. The utter renunciation of self, the surrender of