...Westminster Abbey, where a monument, bearing the following inscription, is erected : — " Life is a jest, and all things show it ; I thought so once ; but now I know it. GAY, Of manners gentle, of affections mild ; In wit a man ; simplicity a child : With native humour...

..."Why," said Tom, "it's pleasant to have old notions confirmed as often as possible — • Life is a jest, and all things show it ; I thought so once, but now I know it* What an ass that fellow must have been who had that put on his tombstone, not to have found it out...

...compliment, there an irreverent sneer, and on one—Gay's monument—an irreligious scoff:— " Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, but now I know it." We have before us a thick folio volume by Tolderoy,—a collecVOL. VI.—NO. I. 11 tion of such epitaphs...

...Pope de faire graver sur son tombeau pour épitaphe les deux vers suivants : " Life is a jest, and ail things show it ; I thought so once, but now I know it." " La vie est une farce, et tout le fait biea voir, Je le pensais jadis, et je le sais ce soir ! " ,...

...Shakspeare ; and I road the irreverent epitaph of Gay, fhe author of the "Beggar's Opera," * • " Life is a jest, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it." i Near by, also, I saw the monument to David Garrick, which Charles Lamb justly censures for its frivolous...

...So fades the blossom on its early bed, When storms and tempests sear its tender head. 657. Life is a jest, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it. JOHN GAY. 658. My life ! my love I my precious babe I How dear thou wast to me, That Mother only knows...

...to come—until arrived at years of discretion, when I suppose I shall exclaim,— " Life's a farce, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it." Well, thank goodness, the castle party are on the wing, and I wish them joy of their drive home, with...

...painful emotions of remorse, which only serve to feed melancholy, and nurse despondence. ' Life's a jest, and all things show it ; I thought so once, but now I know it.' Too much care cankers the soul, and incessant labour undermines the stoutest constitution. So, too...

...unimproved. John Gay's monument is on the left of this, with those foolish lines as an epitaph: "Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought so once, but now I know it." It seems unjust to let this worthless couplet remain as an indication of the poet's character, whose...

...as my own soul ' — if a stone should mark his grave, to write on it these lines : — ' Life is a jest, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it.' ' There is none like you, living or dead,' were Gay's last words to his ever kind friend. Pope wrote...