button to main menu  Gents Mag 1849 part 1 p.378

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Gentleman's Magazine 1849 part 1 p.378
own affecting expression, under the soul-touching truth "that they who are wise unto salvation know feelingly when they have done best that their best works are worth nothing." With a reverence therefore for intellectual greatness, especially when devoted, as its mighty powers ever were, to the advantage and instruction of mankind, Mr. Stanger was further desirous that an appropriate memorial should be placed inside the church, to perpetuate the resemblance of one who, as characterized in the heartfelt panegyric of one of his noble admirers, was so "splendid an instance of a poet, a philosopher, an historian, and even a statesman, chastened and yet elevated by the spirit of the gospel." This, it was especially felt, would be a dignified tribute of regard in the place where his genius, by giving to the things and objects around an interest beyond their own, had sanctified the locality in the associations of his sympathetic and admirimng fellow-countrymen. With this object a subscription was opened for the purpose of defraying the cost at the estimated expense of 400l. in Caen stone of a tomb and effigy. Subsequently, however, it was decided upon that the figure should be sculptured in the beautiful though more costly material of Carrara marble, at the increased charge of 1,100l. A numerous list of subscribers, (whose subscriptions, however, being far from sufficient to cover the entire expense of the monument, have left a considerable deficit, which, it is understood, will fall upon the munificent restorer of the church,) anxious to mark their sense of the genius and virtues of the man, having been obtained, the execution of the memorial was confided to the celebrated sculptor Mr. Lough, whose liberality of feeling, under the circumstances, has entitled him to no little applause, and from his hand has thus proceeded the monument of one who occupies so prominent a place in the history of the literature of his country.
The situation selected for it is in the south aisle of the chancel, opposite the door, and close to the oaken screen which separates the chancel from its southern aisle. The altar tomb is of Caen stone, the sides of which are divided into five square compartments or panels. Four of these have their centres enriched with carved leaves of different kinds, surrounded by double foliated circles, and the corners of each panel are likewise decorated with ornaments of the same description on a smaller scale. The centre of the middle panel alone displays a vacant shield, intended for the armorial escutcheon of the deceased, and the ends of the tomb, devoid of other embellishment, are filled only with the inscription and lines hereafter recorded. On the top reclines upon a couch, the head and shoulders supported on double tasseled cushions, the full-length effigy, clad in academic robes, of the late laureate. The left hand rests upon the bosom, and the face, turned towards the spectator, wears an expression of meditation, as if musing on the contents of the open volume, which, in the intensity of mental abstraction, has, together with the hand that held it, dropped listlessly by the side. The position best adapted for viewing the figure is in the first seat next the wall, on the left-hand side after passing the chancel door. From thence, in the judgment of those relatives and friends by whom he was most intimately known, the features and character of expression are beheld with the most truthful effect, and this is especially the case when the low-arched door that leads into the aisle is opened, and a ray from the sun, streaming in upon the gloom, casts a brilliancy across the chancel and its aisles, and, bringing into bold distinctness and relief the prominent lineaments of the face and figure, a picture is displayed, which for concentrated beauty and effect is eminently affecting. The west end of the tomb bears this inscription:
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