Literary Cadet And Rhode Island Statesman

REV. DR. RIPPON.

Most of our readers are probably well acquainted with the name of the celebrated clergyman whose name is at the head of this article. The Doctor has contemplated a work of almost unequalled magnitude;—a work which must be exceedingly interesting.

The Doctor, through life, has devoted himself to piety and philanthropy—and as a preacher, has maintained a degree of eminence not always attained. He is a Baptist, and the only one now residing in London, of that denomination, who bears the title of Doctor of Divinity. We copy the memorial, presented by him to the Right Honourable Anthony Brown, Lord Mayor of London, because it affords a succinct account of the magnitude, and design of the work.

BUNHILL FIELDS BURIAL GROUND.

Mr. Favell claimed the attention of the Court for a few moments, whilst he presented a petition, regarding the above sacred and venerable spot, which was the property of the Corporation of London, and which had now been, for near two centuries, the depository for the remains of all the learned and pious characters that had departed during that period. He might enumerate many names that shone conspicuous in religious history, particularly the celebrated John Bunyan; but that was unnecessary, for the ground was more particularly remarkable as being the spot where were interred the bodies of thousands of the unfortunate individuals who suffered by the dreadful plague of 1666. The petition he had to present was from a very venerable Baptist Minister, the Rev. Dr. John Rippon, the only one of that persuasion, he believed, bearing the title of Doctor now in London. This gentleman was a great scholar, and an antiquarian of vast research, and he had, after years of labour, completed a work of considerable magnitude, containing a complete history of this interesting spot, with the names, characters and biographical sketches of all the important persons whose remains had been deposited there: in fact it was a book that would prove interesting to the country at large; and all he asked was permission to dedicate his work to the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London. He would now move that the petition be brought up and read.

The petition was then handed in, and it being a very curious document, we give it verbatim:-

To the Right Honourable Anthony Brown, Esq. Lord Mayor, the Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Common Council assembled:

The Memorial of John Rippon, of Dover-place, in the New Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, D. D. F. A. S.

Showeth—That your Memorialist many years since contemplated writing the History of Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, in the City Road (an estate which has been for nearly two centuries in the hands of the City of London) and of publishing the same, with the Biography of several hundred of the most eminent and learned persons who have been interred there since the year 1665, when the same was consecrated and enclosed with a brick wall, at the sole charge of the City of London, in the Mayoralty of Sir John Lawrence, Knight.

That with a view to such object, and particularly in order to avail himself of the fullest means of research as to the families and interments connected with that cemetery, your Memorialist first of all proceeded to obtain a copy of the Register of Burials from the time of its commencement in the year 1718, which your Memorialist was enabled to accomplish under the friendly auspices and permission of Mr. Wm. Montague, the then Keeper of such burial ground, and your Memorialist, with his own hand, and by the dictation of his son, Mr. John Rippon, then a lad, then penned from the said Register, an Alphabetical and Chronological Copy of all Burials there, and down to the year 1790, consisting of nearly forty thousand names.

That in furtherance of such your Memorialist's design, he devoted two half-days of time weekly during several summers, aided by his said son and several other persons, in obtaining and copying all the inscriptions then visible on the several thousands of tombs and monuments placed in such ground, for the accomplishment of which, and in the brushing, washing, cleansing and digging up of many hundreds of them which had either become nearly obsolete or had sunk below the surface of the earth, vast labour and expense were incurred.

That the only aid which your Memorialist and his said son have ever obtained in their research, has been afforded to them by the use of a very scarce and small publication of inscriptions, printed in 1717, by Mr. Richard Rawlinson, an antiquarian, and by Mr. John Strype's improved and enlarged edition of
"Stowe's Survey of the City of London,"
printed in 1720, both of which works, nevertheless, only contain about 150 inscriptions, and many of which have long since mouldered into dust.

That in order to the precise identity of all such monuments, and particularly of those nearly obsolete, most of which were monuments for persons of the greatest learning and celebrity, who have ever been deposited there, your Memorialist then also identified the situations of every one of the monuments then erected and standing, and at the same time corrected every manuscript inscription taken, and inserted thereon, with his own hand, its exact situation, according to certain numbers, then recently placed on the walls, for the purpose of future ascertainment of places of interment.

That in the midst of your Memorialist's pursuit and prosecution of such intentions relative to the said history, and after the preparation of the biography of several hundreds of the most learned and eminent persons interred in such ground, it pleased DIVINE PROVIDENCE sorely to afflict him in his bodily health, insomuch that he was for a long time in imminent danger, and his life was despaired of; and he was also assailed by other considerable family afflictions, which became the occasion of the said work being then laid aside and abandoned by him.

That your Memorialist's said son, with a view to the final completion of such work, has, since the year 1790, continued to obtain and copy a continued Alphabetical and Chronological Register of the Burials there, down to the end of the last year (1826,) and hath also continued, from time to time, down to the same period to obtain and copy verbatim et literatim all the inscriptions which have been subsequently placed on the same, and all additional monuments which have been erected; and he hath likewise, within the last three months, identified the present situation of every tomb, head and foot stone, that is now standing there with a view to the preparation and publication of a Map of the said ground, and of its said intended History.

That all of such inscriptions, with their respective places of situation, additions, and variations, have been ascertained and examined up to the present time, designating the same as they now appear, or have appeared, and that too lineally; and also pointing out the characters of letter in which they are cut; whether in Old English, Capital, Italic, Roman, German Text, or otherwise, and showing whether inscribed in words at length, or contracted, and how contracted; and the same have been bound in six large quarto manuscript volumes in alphabetical order.

That in the course of such labor and examination several hundreds of tombs and head stones were found to be, and have since become quite defaced, unintelligible, and incapable of future identity or use; nevertheless, great numbers of them have, during the series of years in which your Memorialist and his said son have continued their researches and investigation, been capable of identity by them, and can now by their said manuscripts be pointed out to the descendants of the families of any such of them who have not become extinct, or who, by receipts for premiums paid, and other proofs of title in them, may have just right to their appropriation and use; but without which however, your memorialist submits that the same will ever hereafter be worse than useless, as such monuments occupy several hundreds of places which, in common justice, ought to be used and appropriated for the benefit of the public, and the increase of the annual revenue of the city of London, which would be produced from the employment thereof.

That your Memorialist and his said son, are consequently, able, by their said manuscripts to point out and identify all such tombs and other monuments, as have long been, or are now incapable of identity by any persons, except themselves, and they can likewise distinguish therefrom, if necessary, all such of them as have not been interred in, or used within the last three generations, whereby the just rights of the public may be ascertained and preserved, the eminence of the most renowned depository of the dead in all Europe continued and increased, and the annual revenue of the City of London arising from that estate must be greatly augmented.

That it is the intention of your memorialist and his said Son, to publish an elegant map of the ground, containing the names of all the persons upon whose tombs and monuments inscriptions are now visible, in the situations which they occupy, according to the numbers placed on the walls, and likewise to publish the said History, and Inscriptions in chronological and alphabetical order, to be interspersed with the biography of the most distinguished persons whose remains have been deposited there, together with great numbers of their portraits, autographs, arms and other embellishments, executed by the first artists.

It is also intended to publish the said History by subscription, and in parts, and to dedicate the same, if permission be granted, to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London.

The Rev. Dr. Rippon stood at the Bar during the reading of the petition. He is of very venerable appearance, apparently on the verge of eighty.

The reading of the memorial being concluded, the Reverend Doctor was asked by his Lordship whether he had any thing to add to what was contained in his memorial? To which the Doctor thus replied:-

"My Lord,—I have to apologise personally to your Lordship for not being able, exactly at the present moment, to lay a copy of the work alluded to at your Lordship's feet. I have nothing further to say, my Lord."

Mr. Favell moved that the memorial be referred to the Committee of City Lands, for them to inquire into the same, and report thereon.

The motion was agreed to nem. con.

A work of a similar nature was once contemplated by the Reverend Timothy Alden, and actually commenced in which he was to give a minute description of all church yards, in the New-England States, together with the epitaphs that adorned them, but finding it would be too arduous a task, he abandoned it, and contented himself with giving the epitaphs only, of the most distinguished and eccentric individuals. His work was comprised in seven or eight volumes, and was one of the most complete humbugs that was ever imposed upon human credulity. Doctor Rippon's book, will however, beyond a doubt, be well worth the attention and patronage of a discriminating and candid public.