To the Memory of Constance, the Wife of
Ah! stranger, had it been your lot to know
The worth of her whose relics sleep below,
In silent sorrow o'er this grave you'd bend,
And mourn the wife, the Christian, and the friend.
Constance was charitable, wise, and fair;
Faith rul'd her heart, and piety her air.

In life and death supported by your God,

So may you rest in peace beneath the sod.

On an Infant.

Like the fair flow'r, whose pallid bloom decays
Before the summer sheds its genial rays,
God will'd, fond parent, that this bud of thine
Should shoot in early spring, and then decline.
But not for ever. Mourn not-skies will fall,
Earth sink-thy infant will survive them all.

We have received several other Epitaphs, but we cannot, in the present Number, find room for them all. The remark of our anonymous correspondent is perfectly just, that most of the Epitaphs we meet with are remarkably deficient in "Christian character." It is true, that, in so short a composition as an inscription on a grave-stone, it is not easy to bring forward the prominent doctrines of our religion in all, without making all nearly alike; and, moreover, it is not, we trust, to be supposed that the Christian doctrines are rejected, though they are not expressed. A Christian epitaph, however, to be really good, should have a Christian character; at least, we have a right to expect that it should contain nothing contrary to Christianity; that there should be no light quibbles and jokes on sacred things; that there should be no false, unscriptural hopes; no foolish praise of the wit, and beauty, and learning, and talents of the dead-all the pride of which seems to crumble to nothing when we think of a grave-stone, and a coffin, and a shroud. If, indeed, the gifts of Providence are applied to the purposes for which they were given, then will they

have been real blessings; but they are not, inthemselves, the subjects of monumental praise. Our Church, in her burial service, has taken from Scripture the best of epitaphs

"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."

We should be obliged to our Correspondents, too, to recollect, that we are not asking for such inscriptions as might adorn the walls of Westminster Abbey, but for epitaphs for a country churchyard. V.

Epitaph in Areton Church-yard, Isle of Wight.

To the memory of

ELIZABETH WALBRIDGE,
Who died May 30, 1801,
Aged 31 years.

"She being dead, yet speaketh."

Stranger! if e'er, by chance or feeling led,
Upon this hallow'd turf thy footsteps tread,
Turn from the contemplation of the sod,
And think on her whose spirit rests with God.
Lowly her lot on earth; but HE, who bore
Tidings of grace and blessings to the poor,
Gave her His truth and faithfulness to prove,
The choicest treasures of His boundless love-
(Faith, that dispell'd affliction's darkest gloom,
Hope, that could cheer the passage to the tomb,
Peace, that not hell's dark legions could destroy,
And love, that fill'd the soul with heavenly joy.)
Death of its sting disarm'd, she knew no fear,
And tasted Heav'n, e'en while she lingered here.
Oh! happy saint-may we like thee be blest;
In life be faithful, and in death find rest.

Epitaph in Memory of Mrs. Judith Rochford, who died at Milton, near Lymington, in the Year 1818.

Almighty Goodness, stedfast to its trust,
Oft pours its heaviest trials on the just,
To teach mistaken man how slight the worth
Of all the blessings he can share on earth.

When those depart who, like our sainted friend,
Have borne their faithful witness to the end,
And in their death, as in their lives, approve
The sacred image of a Saviour's love :

How luminous the track they leave behind!
How pure the lustre of a pious mind!
The bright example cheers the pilgrim's way,
It opens to his view eternal day;

And Faith is seen above the clouds to rise,
On angel wing, triumphant to the skies.
Beneath the shade of this secluded spot,
The pious Judith bless'd her humble lot;
In wisdom meek, in tenderness refin'd,
In sorrow patient, and in pain resign'd.
Her greatest pleasure, next to holy prayer,
(For that was still her first, her fondest care,)
Her greatest pleasure was to heal distress,
Console the poor, and soothe the comfortless.
While bounty filled her hand, her voice bestow'd
The Word of Truth to light the mourner's load.
To such she lov'd to speak of Him who gave
Himself a sinful world condemn'd to save;
And in her death declar'd, with sweet accord,
“Bless'd are the dead, when dying in the Lord."

John Bacon, the sculptor, who died in 1799, ordered in his will the following inscription to be placed over his grave:

"What I was as an artist seemed to me of some importance while I lived; but what I really was, as a believer in Christ Jesus, is the only thing of importance to me now."

THE COTTAGE GARDEN DIRECTORY.-APRIL.

To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor. SIR,

DIRECTIONS have already been given for doing the principal spring work; what, however, has hitherto been neglected, must be now done with all speed.

In the beginning of the month transplant peas to fill .up. the vacancies in rows of early kinds. Peas are the most productive when they have rods to support them: place, at least, double the number of rods on the sunny side of the rows to what are used on the opposite. Transplant beans into the

"

drills made for late potatoes. Planted at the distance of eighteen inches apart, they will not prove detrimental to the crop. Where successive crops of brocoli are wished for, the following kinds may be recommended: early purple, a tender sort, bears in November, when it is sown in the first week of this month; the cream-coloured, sown in the second week, bears in March; the sulphur, sown at the same time, bears in April; and the latest green, or Danish, which, sown in the last week, will survive the severest winter, and will head in May. Sow German borecole, early and late York, and sugar-loaf cabbage, in the first week. Early Dutch and stone turnips, to supply the table in June: a little radish seed sown along with them will generally protect them from that destructive insect the fly, which devours the radish in preference to the turnip; but, should this precaution prove ineffectual, dust the plants over with a little fresh slacked lime. Sow athungham and orange carrot, also celery, for the chief crop; the best kinds are the upright Italian and the solid upright. Sow a few kidney beans in the last week: the Battersea and Canterbury dwarfs are depended on by market gardeners, and do not require rods; the scarlet runners are more lasting bearers, but, excepting in very warm situations, should not be sown till next month. Sow sweet herbs: the finest thyme and rosemary plants are raised from seeds. Šow rhubarb seed in a rich deep soil; if possible, procure the kind known to seedsmen by the name of rheum hybridum. Rhubarb is much superior, and comes in earlier, when blanched, which is easily done by covering the beds six inches thick with light litter, or straw. Pinch off the runners from strawberries as often as they are reproduced. Finish planting deciduous trees as soon as possible. Transplant "evergreen trees and shrubs; and, should the weather prove dry, water them. Prune evergreens,

making use of a knife; nothing is more unsightly than the large leaves of laurels, &c. cut in two in the middle with a pair of shears, or dead stumps, produced by careless pruning, projecting beyond the leaves. Do not shorten the shoots of the laurustinus. When it is necessary to thin the shrub, take out the branches from the place whence they are produced. Whenever the clay on grafted trees cracks, carefully replace it. Propagate flowers by dividing the roots, by slips, cuttings, offsets, and seeds.

Observations.

The following are the names of a few hardy kinds of flowers, which are raised from seeds, and are proper for a small garden :

Annuals. Adonis, mignionette, marigolds of various kinds, sweet peas, Venus' looking-glass, Venus' navel-wort, poppies of different kinds, Lobel's catch-fly, Tangier peas, annual stocks, candy tuft, lupins of different sorts, nasturtium, convolvulus major and minor, sweet sultan, sun-flower of different sorts, hieracium, linaria, astragalus, prince's feather, China-asters, zinnia of different kinds.

Biennial and perennial. Columbines, Canterbury bells, French honeysuckle, stocks of different sorts, wall-flower, sweet-william, tree primrose, polyanthus, Greek valerian, campanula of different kinds, sweet and starry scabious, scarlet lychnis, rose-campion, catch-fly, speedwells, hollyhocks of different kinds, everlasting peas.

Many gentlemen, who reside in the country, have done great kindness to cottagers, by giving them plants and seeds, and by allowing their gardeners to propagate a few young fruit trees for them, and advising them where to plant them.

Birmingham, March 5, 1824. 1

E. W. B.
A young Nurseryman.