Page:The parochial history of Cornwall.djvu/395

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ST. EARTH
353

She was born Aug. 19, 1701; married July 22, 1731;

died Nov. 30, 1749.

M.

Conjugis opt. dilectissimæ

H.M.L.M.P.C.

Maritus amantissimus

juxta cum Deo visum deponendus.

The six letters stand for, Hoc Marmor Loco Monumenti Poni Curavit.

Mr. Collins died in October 1755, and was buried under the same stone, but without any additional inscription. Mr. Edward Collins was the eldest son of John Collins, Esq. of Treworgan, in St. Erme, and brother of Mr. John Collins, Rector of Redruth. He studied for some years at the Temple, with the view of being called to the bar, and it is said that he became a clergyman from principles of conscience.

Mr. Collins retained uniformly through life the respect of all around him; he appears to have been a man of learning and of taste, but of austere manners. I have heard from one who was present, that Mr. and Mrs. Collins meeting accidentally, at a neighbouring gentleman's, a lady who was not of the Established Church, they refused to hold any conversation with her.

Their only son, Mr. John Collins, Vicar of Ledbury in Herefordshire, supported the reputation derived from his father. He distinguished himself as a man of letters on various occasions; one of the editors of Shakspeare left his library to Mr. Collins, in gratitude for assistance afforded him, and there may be found a very curious note at the conclusion of Troilus and Cressida, in the edition by Johnson and Steevens, with Mr. Collins's name subscribed.

The next Vicar of St. Earth was Mr. Symonds, who acquired the living through a curious combination of circumstances. Mr. John Stephens, the principal merchant at St. Ives, and agent for the Earl of Buckinghamshire in the ma-

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