11426.4011), FEB 14 1912 MRRIDGE, KASS Robert Nithington m Boston ngton, J. WRIGHT, Printer, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. LDYË + Ë། ADVERTISEMENT. THE compiler of this work having, for a long series of years, derived considerable amusement from visiting the "silent mansions of the dead," and transcribing therefrom such inscriptions as he deemed most worthy of preservation, is induced to offer the produce of his industry to the public, in the hope that it may prove neither uninstructive nor unentertaining in the perusal. But while he humbly claims some merit for the large portion of original matter that will be found exclusively in these volumes, he cannot withhold his obligations from the more early collectors, Toldervey, Hackett, and others, from whose labours he has derived many valuable additions, which, from the perishable nature of the originals, are, with the subjects they commemorate, falling hourly into oblivion. The editor has preferred the melange to that of a classification of subjects, and if he shall thereby occasionally beguile the serious of a smile, or the volatile of a few moments' steady reflection, |