This eccentric gentleman was possessed of considerable property, and was a native of Gloucestershire. His grave and coffin were made under his directions more than a twelvemonth before his death; the inscription on the tablet on his coffin, and the lines placed upon his gravestone, were his own compositions. He gave all necessary orders for the conducting of his funeral, and five shillings were wrapped in separate pieces of paper for each of the bearers. The coffin was of singular beauty and neatness in workmanship, and looked more like a piece of tasteful cabinet work intended for a drawing-room, than a receptable for the dead. Near the great door of the Abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester, says Mr. Henry Calvert Appleby, at the bottom of the body of the building, is a marble monument to John Jones, dressed in the robes of an alderman, painted in different colours. Underneath the effigy, on a tablet of black marble, are the following words:-- JOHN JONES, alderman, thrice mayor of the city, burgess of the Parliament at the time of the gunpowder treason; registrar to eight several Bishops of this diocese. He died in the sixth year of the reign of King Charles, on the first of June, 1630. He gave orders for his monument to be raised in his lifetime. When the workmen had fixed it up, he found fault with it, remarking that the _nose was too red_. While they were altering it, he walked up and down the body of the church. He then said that he had himself almost finished, so he paid off the men, and died the next morning. The next epitaph from Newark, Nottinghamshire, furnishes a chapter of local history:-- Sacred to the memory Of HERCULES CLAY, Alderman of Newark, Who died in the year of his Mayoralty, Jan. 1, 1644. On the 5th of March, 1643, He and his family were preserved By the Divine Providence From the thunderbolt of a terrible cannon Which had been levelled against his house By the Besiegers, And entirely destroyed the same. Out of gratitude for this deliverance, He has taken care To perpetuate the remembrance thereof By an alms to the poor and a sermon; By this means Raising to himself a Monument More durable than Brass. The thund'ring Cannon sent forth from its mouth the devouring Flames Against my Household Gods, and yours, O Newark. The Ball, thus thrown, Involved the House in Ruin; But by a Divine Admonition from Heaven I was saved, Being thus delivered by a strength Greater than that of Hercules, And having been drawn out of the deep Clay, I now inhabit the stars on high. Now, Rebel, direct thy unavailing Fires at Heaven, Art thou afraid to fight against God--thou Who hast been a Murderer of His People? Thou durst not, Coward, scatter thy Flames Whilst Charles is lord of earth and skies.