A monument for the Payne family, with the following liues on a child: Silent grave, to thee I trust These precious piles of lovely dust; Till a father asks for room. A little westward from the last, a very strong tomb and monument of fine white marble, with this inscription: In memory of Dame Abigail Lawrence, late Wife of Sir John Lawrence, Knight and Alderman here interred, was this Tomb erected. She was the tender Mother of 10 Children, the 9 first, being all Daughters, she suckled at her own Breast, they all lived to be of Age, her last a Son died an infant. She lived a married wife 39 years, 23 whereof she was an exemplary Matron of this City, dying in the 59th year of her Age, being June the 6th 1682. On the north side the altar on the east wall, a small old monument of marble, with three columns, entablature, and two arches, under that northward, five figures, and the other two in a kneeling posture. This is to the memory of Sir Andrew Jud, alderman and Skinner; lord mayor in 1550, and founder of the almshouses in the square; with the following inscription: To Russia and Muscovia, To Spayne, Guinny, without Fable, Bothe Mayre of London and Staple. The Commenwelthe he norished So worthelie in all his dayes, That ech State full well him lov'd, Three Wives he had, one was Mary, Fower Sunes, one Mayde had he by her, Annys had none by him truly; By Dame Mary had one Dowghtier. On the north side the altar, a very spacious noble tomb of marble, with the figure of a man in armour carved, lying at full length; the palms of his hands conjoined over his breast, under two arches supported by six marble columns, and their entablature; at the feet of the figure a flower de lis, all fenced in with strong iron rail; and at a small distance from the head of the tomb, with a Latin inscription to the memory of Sir William Pickering, who died in 1574, aged fifty-four. He had served four princes, Henry VIII. in the field, Edward VI. as ambassador to France, Mary I. as ambassador to Germany, and Queen Elizabeth. He is said to have aspired to the person of the latter; being, as says Strype, in his Annals, "the first gentleman of the age, for his worth in learning, arts, and warfare." A fine monument to the memory of Sir Thomas Gresham. On the north wall, near the east end of the church, a handsome black and white marble monument, of the Ionic order, with enrichments of seraphims, festoons, &c. with a long Latin inscription in gold letters to the memory of William Finch, Esq. On the north wall, a little westward from the last, an old spacious marble monument, adorned with three columns, entablature and pediment; and under the cornice of the west arch, the carved figures of a man and seven children in a kneeling posture, and those of two women under the east arch; with this inscription: I am sure that my Redeemer liveth; and that I shall rise out of the Earth in the latter day; that I shall be cloathed again with this skin; and see God in my flesh; yea, I my self shall behold him not with other, but with those same eyes. Here lyeth the Body of William Bond, Alderman, and sometime Sheriff of London; a Merchant-Adventurer, and most famous in his age for his great Adventures both by Sea and Land. Obiit 30 of May, 1576. Flos Mercatorum, quos terra Brittanna creavit, Ille Mari multum passus per Saxa per Undas Magnanimum Magnanimum Græci mirantur Jasona vates Hic jacet Argolico Mercator Jasone Major. Et freta multa scidit magis ardua phasidos undis; Flos Mercatorum Gulielmus Bondus humatur. T On the north side of the church, a spacious black and white marble monument, adorned with columns, entablature and pediment, of the Corinthian order; also the figures of himself reposing in his tent, attended by soldiers, and a servant waiting with his horse; this inscription in gold cha racters: Memoria Sacrum. Near this place resteth the Body of the worthy Citizen and Soldier, Martin Bond, Esq; Son of William Bond, Sheriff and Alderman of London. He was Captain, in the Year 1588, at the Camp at Tilbury, and after remained chief Captain of the Trained Bands of this City until his death. He was a Merchant Adventurer, and free of the Company of Haberdashers; he lived to tire Age of 85 years, and died in May 1643. His Piety, Prudence, Courage, and Charity, have left behind him a never dying Monument. Quam prudens hic Miles erat quam nobile pectus Sacla referre queant nec meminisse parem. Patruo bene Merito Gulielmus Bond Armiger posuit. On the north side, and near the west end of the church, a very spacious marble monument, with columns and entablature, of the Corinthian order; also two arches, under the westward of which are the figures of the deceased and nine children; and under the eastward those of his wife and seven daughters, all in a kneeling posture, with the fol lowing inscription: Within this monument lyeth the Earthly Parts of John Robinson, Merchant of the Staple in England, free of the Merchant Taylors, and and sometime Alderman of London; and Christian his Wife, eldest Daughter of Thomas Anderson, Grocer... They spent together in Holy Wedlock 36 years, and were happy (besides other worldly Blessings) in 9 Sons and 7 Daughters. She changed her mortal Habitation for a Heavenly, on the 24th of April 1592, her Husband following her on the 19th of Feb. 1599. Both much beloved in their lives, and more lamented at their deaths; especially by the Poor, to whom their good Deeds (being alive) begot many Prayers, now being dead, many Tears. The Glass of his Life held 70 Years, and then ran out. To live long and happy is an Honour, but to die happy a greater Glory; both these aspired to both. Heaven, no doubt, hath their Souls, and this House of Stone their Bodies, where they sleep in Peace till the Summons of a glorious Resurrection awakens them. Near this is a grave stone, with an inscription on a brass plate: Here underneath lyeth the Body of Elizabeth Robinson, Wife of John Robinson, and Daughter of Sir Richard Rogers, of the County of Dorset, Knight, who had Issue one Son and a Daughter, and died the 23d of October 1600. Christ is my Life, Death is my Gain; From Earth to Heav'n remov'd to be. Elizabeth Robinson, Here are also several plated grave stones. Among the modern monuments, are the following : Walter Bernard, Esq. alderman and sheriff of London, died 1746, aged fifty-one years. Richard Backwell, Esq. son of alderman Backwell, who was ruined in his property by Charles II. Peter Gaussen, Esq. and family. Major-general George Kellum, who served with great ho nour under William III. and John Duke of Marlborough. Died 1732, aged seventy-three, &c. Here also is the monument of Francis Bancroft, who, in the state of a lord mayor's carver, or such like office, in a course of years, by oppression, usury, and living upon people deceived by his great promises to remember them liberally liberally in his will, amassed 28,000l. and upwards, forgot his promises, neglected his poor relations, and left all his fortune, after a few annuities were expired, in trust to the Drapers' Company, to found and maintain an alms house and a school at Mile End, and to keep this his monument in good and substantial repair; within which he is embowelled and embalmed, in a chest or box, made with a lid to fall down, with a pair of hinges without any fastening; and a piece of square glass in the lid just over his face. It is a very plain monument, nearly square; and has a door for the sexton, on certain occasions, to go in and clear it from dust and cobwebs; but the keys of the iron rails about the monument, and of the vault door, are kept by the clerk of the Drapers' Company. The minister had twenty shillings for preaching a sermon once a year in commemoration of Bancroft's charities; on which occasion the almsmen and scholars attended at church, and were, by the will of the founder, entertained with a good dinner at some neighbouring public house. The sexton had forty shillings a year for keeping the monument clear of dust *. At the entrance to the Square are the almshouses founded by Sir Andrew Jud, for six poor men, or women, and endowed with 10l. per annum, out of which each person was to receive a weekly allowance of 7d, and the surplus to be laid *It is worthy of remark that this Bancroft, by informations and summoning the citizens before the lord mayor, upon the most trifling occasions, and other means not belonging to his office, pillaged both rich and poor, the former of whom, rather than lose time in appearing before the magistrates, gave money to get rid of this pest of the citizens; these means, in addition to the numerous quarterages he obtained from the brokers, &c. enabled him to amass considerable sums of money. But by these and other mercenary practices, he so incurred the hatred and ill will of the citizens of all ranks, that the persons who attended his funeral cbsequies, with great difficulty saved the corpse from the indig nation of the enraged populace. Whatever might have been Bancroft's idea of the metempsichosis, he had entertained a notion that he should return to life within a given period; and therefore had given the above particular directions concerning his tomb and coffin. The time arrived, and his troublesome body still rotted; therefore the precat tions were discontinued. Entick. 5 out |