happily withstood the trials which awaited him. The night before his execution, besides writing letters of farewell to his wife, containing the most practical advice for the conduct of her life, he appears to have spent the time in writing verses on his condition, and among others this couplet, On the Snuff of a Candle.
Cowards may fear to die; but courage stout,
Rather than live in snuff, will be put out.
And the following verses, perhaps, for an epitaph on himself:
Even such is time, that takes on trust
Our youth, our joys, our all we have,
And pays us but with earth and dust;
Who in the dark and silent grave,
When we have wandered all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days!
But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
The Lord shall raise me up, I trust!
His execution was appointed on Lord Mayor's day, that the pageants and shows might divert the attention of the people; but those pageants have long since been forgotten, while this tragedy is still remem-
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