Note 201 — PART THE SECOND. (continued 2)
Reading edition
An elegant monument, erected above the grave of thirty-nine sailors, whose bodies were subsequently found, was erected in the churchyard of Portsea, to commemorate the melancholy loss of the Royal George. We subjoin the interesting epitaph, which is inscribed on black marble, in gold letters.
"READER, WITH SOLEMN THOUGHT SURVEY THIS GRAVE, AND REFLECT ON THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF THY FELLOW MORTALS; AND WHILST, AS A MAN, A BRITON, AND A PATRIOT, THOU READEST THE MELANCHOLY NARRATIVE, DROP A TEAR FOR THY COUNTRY'S LOSS."
At the bottom of the monument, in a compartment by itself, are the following lines, in allusion to the brave Admiral Kempenfelt:
"'Tis not this stone, regretted chief, thy name, Thy worth, and merit shall extend to fame: Brilliant achievements have thy name imprest, In lasting characters, on Albion's breast."