Hail! This stone marks the spot Where a notorious sot Doth lie; Whether at rest or not It matters not To you or I. Oft to the "Lion" he went to fill his horn. Now to the "Grave" he's gone to get it warm. _Beered by public subscription by his hale and stout companions, who deeply lament his absence._ On a gravestone in the churchyard of Eton, placed to the memory of an innkeeper, it is stated:-- Life's an inn; my house will shew it: I thought so once, but now I know it. Man's life is but a winter's day; Some only breakfast and away; Others to dinner stop, and are full fed; The oldest man but sups and then to bed: Large is his debt who lingers out the day; He who goes soonest has the least to pay. Similar epitaphs to the foregoing may be found in many churchyards in this country. In Micklehurst churchyard, an inscription runs thus:-- Life is an Inn, where all men bait, The waiter, Time, the landlord, Fate; Death is the score by all men due, I've paid my shot--and so must you. In the old burial ground in Castle Street, Hull, on the gravestone of a boy, a slightly different version of the rhyme appears:-- In memory of John, the Son of John and Ann Bywater, died 25th January, 1815, aged 14 years. Life's like an Inn, where Travellers stay, Some only breakfast and away; Others to dinner stay, and are full fed; The oldest only sup and go to bed; Long is the bill who lingers out the day, Who goes the soonest has the least to pay. The churchyard of Melton Mowbray furnishes another rendering of the lines:-- This world's an Inn, and I her guest: I've eat and drank and took my rest With her awhile, and now I pay Her lavish bill and go my way. The foregoing inscriptions, comparing life to a house, remind us of a curious inscription in Folkestone churchyard:-- In memory of REBECCA ROGERS, who died Aug. 22, 1688, Aged 44 years. A house she hath, it's made of such good fashion The tenant ne'er shall pay for reparation, Nor will her landlord ever raise the rent, Or turn her out of doors for non-payment; From chimney money, too, this call is free, To such a house, who would not tenant be.