Rockingham Mausoleum
The plinth, side 3 (rear)
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Image courtesy of John-Paul Draycott |
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depository for his principles; that their energy should not depend upon his life, nor fluctuate with the intrigues of a court, or with capricious fashions among the people; but that by securing a succession in support of his maxims, the British constitution might be preserved, according to its true genius, on antient foundations, and institutions of tried utility. The virtues of his private life, and those which he exerted in the service of the state, were not, in him, seperate principles. His private virtues, without any change in their character, expanded with the occasion into enlarged publick affections. The very same tender, benevolent, feeling, liberal mind, which, in the internal relations of life, conciliated the genuine love of those who see men as they are, rendered him an inflexible Patriot. He was devoted to the cause of Freedom, not because he was haughty and intractable, but because he was beneficent and humane. A sober, unaffected, unpresuming piety, the basis of all sure morality, gave truth and permanence to his Virtues. He died at a fortunate time, before he could feel, by a decisive proof, that virtue like his must be nourished from his own substance only, and cannot be assured of any external support. Let his successors, who daily behold this monument, consider that it was not built to entertain the eye, but to instruct the mind. Let them reflect, that their conduct will make it their Glory, or their Reproach. Let them feel, that similarity of Manners, not proximity of Blood, gives them an interest in this Statue. |
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REMEMBER. RESEMBLE. PERSEVERE. |
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Ink Amera |
(C) David 12/4/2009 |
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