Near this Place LIETH THE BODY OF ANDREW MARVELL, ESQUIRE, SO IMPROVED BY EDUCATION, STUDY, AND TRAVEL, THAT JOINING THE MOST PECULIAR ORACES OF WITH A SINGULAR PENETRATION AND STRENGTH OF JUDGMENT, AND EXERCISING ALL THESE IN THE WHOLE COURSE OF HIS life, HE BECAME THE ORNAMENT AND EXAMPLE OF HIS AGE! BELOVED BY GOOD MEN, FEARED BY BAD, ADMIRED BY ALL, THO' IMITATED, Alas! BY FEW, AND SCARCELY PARALLELED BY ANY. BUT A TOMBSTONE CAN NEITHER CONTAIN HIS CHARACTER, NOR IS MARBLE NECESSARY TO TRANSMIT IT TO POSTERITY: IT IS ENGRAVED IN THE MINDS OF THIS GENERATION, AND WILL BE ALWAYS LEGIBLE IN HIS INIMITABLE WRITINGS. NEVERTHELESS, HE HAVING SERVED NEAR TWENTY YEARS SUCCESSIVELY AND THAT WITH SUCH WISDOM, DEXTERITY, INTEGRITY, AND COURAGE, THE TOWN OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL, FROM WHENCE HE WAS CONSTANTLY DEPUTED TO THAT ASSEMBLY, LAMENTING IN HIS DEATH THE PUBLIC LOSS, HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT OF THEIR GRIEF AND GRATITUDE. HE DIED IN THE 58TH YEAR OF HIS AGE, ON THE 16TH OF AUGUST, 1678. Heu fragile humanum genus! heu terrestria vana! Thus have we collected, from a variety of sources, and` reduced into narrative, all that we can find authentically recorded of ANDREW MARVELL, a man who united, in an eminent degree, the wit, the scholar, the disinterested and incorruptible patriot. The modern political maxim, that "every man has his price," did not apply to Marvell. It is surprising that an individual, so highly gifted, and who made so considerable a figure in his day, found no contemporary biographer to record the memorials of his life; and this is the more to be regretted, as it would have furnished many interesting anecdotes which are now buried in oblivion. It must, however, be remem bered, that Marvell lived at a very critical period, and being prominently placed in office, and possessing considerable influence, during the Commonwealth; this may be a reason why we hear so little of him afterwards. Besides, he seems to have been, from the united testimony of his contemporaries, a man of retired habits, and reserved conversation, except amongst his most intimate friends, with whom he was lively, facetious, and instructive. The following imitation, by Marvell, from SENECA, (Traged. ex Thyeste, Chorus 2.) is highly characteristic of his own mind, and shows the absence of ambition, and love of retirement: "Climb at Court for me that will- All I seek is to lie still. Settled in some secret nest Thus when without noise, unknown, Mr. JOHN AUBREY, who personally knew Marvell, says that "he was of a middling stature, pretty strong set, roundish faced, cherry cheeked, hazel eyed, brown haired. In his conversation he was modest, and of very few words. He was wont to say, he would not drink high, or freely, with any one with whom he would not trust his life." Mr. CooкE informs us, that “Marvell was very reserved among those he did not well know, but a most delightful and improving companion among friends. He was always very temperate, and of a healthful constitution to the last." Mr. GRANGER, in his "Biographical History of England," observes, that "Andrew Marvell was an admirable. master of ridicule, which he exerted with great freedom in the cause of liberty and virtue. He never respected vice for being dignified, and dared to attack it wherever he found it, though on the throne itself. There never was a more honest satirist: his pen was always properly directed, and had the same effect, at least upon such as were under no check or restraint from any laws, human or divine. He hated corruption more than he dreaded poverty, and was so far from being venal, that he could not be bribed by the king into silence, when he scarcely knew how to procure a dinner. His satires give us a higher idea of his patriotism and learning, than of his skill as a Poct." CAPTAIN EDWARD THOMPSON, who published his works, says, but upon what authority we know not, that "Marvell was of a dark complexion, with long flowing black hair, black bright eyes, strong featured, his nose not small; but altogether a handsome man, with an expressive countenance: he was about five feet seven inches high, of a strong constitution, and very active; he was of a reserved disposition among strangers, but easy, lively, facetious, and instructive, with his friends." The following character of him, is supposed to have been written by SHEFFIELD, Duke of Buckingham:"While lazy prelatos lean'd their mitred heads On downy pillows, lull'd with wealth and pride, (Pretending prophecy, yet nought foresee,) MARVELL, this island's watchful sentinell, Stood in the gap, and bravely kept his post: When courtiers lewd in wine and riot slept; 'Twas he th' approach of Rome did first explore, And the grim monster arbitrary power, The ugliest giant ever trod the earth, We him; and with deep sorrows wail his loss: Mr. CHARLES CHURCHILL has the following lines on the character of Marvell: "Tho' Sparta, Athens, and immortal Rom • Yet shall our MARVELL's spotless virtue rise, And teach succeeding children of the north, Mr. MASON, in his sweet and elegant Ode to Independency, thus alludes to Marvell: "As now o'er this lone bench I stray Thy fav'rite swain oft stole along, Far from the busy throng. Thou heard'st him, Goddess, strike the tender string, With beauty's praise, or plaint of slighted love : To loftier flights his daring genius rose, And led the war, 'gainst thine and freedom's foes. And shrinks beneath the wound.* In awful poverty his honest muse Walks forth vindictive through a venal land; In vain oppression lifts her iron hand; He scorns them both, and arm'd with truth alone, It appears that in 1765, the late Mr. THOMAS HOLLIS had some thoughts of publishing a complete edition of Marvell's Works. The following list was then drawn out for that purpose, by the learned printer Mr. BOWYER:--1. Flecnoe, an English Priest-Instructions to a Painter, 1667. • Alluding to Marvell's castigation of Parker, before mentioned. |