Mr. Clark also placed a tablet in front of the building where
the porch stood, with the following inscription:--"The _Porch_ of
this House, which projected ten feet into the highway, was, in the year
1792, removed for the safety and accommodation of the public.
"Here the last accents flowed from Cowley's tongue."
We received the substance of this information from the venerable Mr.
Clark himself, in the year 1822, about which time there appeared, in
the _Monthly Magazine_, a view of the original premises, from a
drawing by the late Mr. Samuel Ireland. The above view was taken by
a Correspondent, in the summer of 1828, and represents the original
portion of the mansion. Cowley's study is here pointed out, being a
closet in the back part of the house, towards the garden.
How delightfully must COWLEY have passed his latter days in the rural
seclusion of Chertsey! How he must have loved that earthly paradise--his
garden--who could write thus for his epitaph:
From life's superfluous cares enlarg'd,
His debt of human toil discharg'd,
Here COWLEY lies, beneath this shed,
To ev'ry worldly interest _dead_;
With decent poverty content;
His hours of ease not idly spent;
To fortune's goods a foe profess'd,
And, hating wealth, by all caress'd
'Tis sure he's _dead_; for, lo! how small
A spot of earth is now his all!
O! wish that earth may lightly lay,
And ev'ry care be far away!
Bring flow'rs, the short-liv'd roses bring,
To _life deceased_ fit offering!
And sweets around the poet strow,
Whilst yet with life his ashes glow.
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