In memory of
the
Hon. JOHN WORTHINGTON
who died"
April 25th MDCCC
in the 81st year
of his age..
There’s not a day but to the man of thought
Betrays some secret, and throws new reproach
On life, and makes him sick of seeing more.
Then welcome death;
Death of all pain the period, not of joy.
The Hon. John Worthington’s epitaph is from Edward Young’s Night Thoughts (Night 9).
We have seen Young’s work often on these stones, but this is the first time I have encountered this particular passage. It is representative of Young’s recurring themes, that for the wise and religious person (I.e., the man of thought), life is to be held in contempt and is even sickening, and death is to be welcomed as marking the end of all pain. As devotional expressions of faith go, it is a weighty passage but appropriate for a prominent individual’s grand table-tomb.
I am deeply indebted to my friends Al and Betsy McKee not only for this fine image, but also for their research into historic probate records for Springfield. Worthington’s probate document clearly shows that he owned a copy of Night Thoughts (valued at 33 ¢), as well as Watts poetry, two Bibles, the New England Primer, and Pope’s Works — among many other religious and historic volumes.
It is plausible, and I would suggest likely, that John Worthington made a note of this passage in his copy of Young, and requested it for his gravestone. How I would like to find that copy, to look for a little tick-mark or manicule in the margin!
