A goodly body of Tories, on more solemn purpose, followed Prior to his grave in the South Cross of Westminster Abbey, on the 25th of September, 1721. Jacobite Atterbury, Dean of the Abbey, as well as Bishop of Rochester, was looked for, but he was conspicuous by his absence. Two days after, the bishop wrote to Pope:――‘I had not strength enough to attend Mr. Prior to his grave, else I would have done it to have shew’d his friends that I had forgot and forgiven what he wrote on me.’ The offence thus condoned lay in the sting of an epigram purporting to be an epitaph on the prelate, who, for the nonce, was supposed to be dead. The lines ran thus:―― [Sidenote: _EPIGRAMMATIC EPITAPH._] Meek Francis lies here, friend. Without stop or stay, As you value your peace, make the best of your way. Though at present arrested by Death’s caitiff paw, If he stirs he may still have recourse to the law; And in the King’s Bench should a verdict be found, That, by livery and seizin, his grave is his ground, He will claim to himself what is strictly his due, And an action of trespass will straightway ensue, That you without right on his premises tread, On a simple surmise that the owner is dead. That Atterbury was actively engaged this year on behalf of the Chevalier is now well attested. In April, the bishop in London wrote to James:――‘Sir, the time is now come when with a very little assistance from your friends abroad, your way to your friends at home is become safe and easy.’ Of this there is earnest iteration. Late in December, James wrote to the bishop a letter which Atterbury received the next month at the Deanery by a messenger. Atterbury’s king thanked him for past service, and allured him with a prospect of ‘a rank superior to all the rest.’ The eventful year was supposed to be at hand. [Sidenote: _ARREST OF JACOBITES._]