TOLD BY THE TOMBS
when James Kirkpatrick, the brilliant soldier-administrator of Hyderabad, was, in 1805, laid in his grave in the North Burying Ground, a grave which is lost among the crowding tombs, whose inscriptions have in many cases been rendered illegible by weather stains and the wear of time. According to the "Bengal Obituary," KirkPatrick's tomb bore an inscription similar to that on a monument which was placed in St. John's Church, which reads as follows:—
To the memory of
LlEUT.-COLONEL JAMES ACHILLES KlRKPATRICK,
Of the Honourable East India Company's Military Establishment
of Fort St. George,
Who, after filling the distinguished station as Resident
at the Court of Hyderabad upwards of nine years,
And successfully conducting during that period various
important negociations,
Died at Calcutta, 15th October, 1805, aged 41 years,
This Monument is erected by his afflicted father and brothers.
Transcendent art! whose magic skill alone,
Can sofien rock, and animate a stone,
By symbol mark the heart, reflect the head,
And raise a living image from the dead!
Cease from these toils, and lend the chisel's grace
To filial virtues courting your embrace.
These relate his pride, his transport, and relief;
A father's tears commemorate with grief I
Still while their genial lustre cheers his breast
Emits a ray that points to blissful rest :
Hope built on Faith, affection's balm and cure,
Divinely whispers, "Their reward is sure." (J. K.)
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