The grave of William Hazlitt in the churchyard of Saint Anne's Church, Soho.
William Hazlitt was a literary, art and drama critic and essayist born in Maidstone in 1778. He was a friend and associate of many of the great figures of the nineteenth century including Wordsworth, Coleridge, the Lambs and Stendhal. He had fallen out of fashion by his death in 1830 and was buried in the churchyard of St Anne’s, Soho. Following a lengthy appeal led by Tom Paulin, his grave was restored with a new memorial in 2003 and unveiled by Michael Foot. The inscription (legible in the photograph) reads: ‘Here rests / WILLIAM HAZLITT / Born April 10, 1778. Died 18 September 1830. / He lived to see his deepest wishes granted / as he has expressed them in his Essay / ‘On the Fear of Death’ / Viz: / ‘To see the downfall of the Bourbons / And some prospect of good to mankind’ / (Charles X / was driven from France 29th July 1830) / ‘To leave some sterling work to the world’ / (He lived to complete his ‘Life of Napoleon’) / His desire / That some friendly hand should consign / him to the grave was accomplished to a / limited but profound extent: on / these conditions he was ready to depart / and to have inscribed on his tomb / Grateful and Contented / He was / The first (unanswered) Metaphysician of the age / A despiser of the merely Rich and Great / A lover of the People, Poor or Oppressed / A hater of the Pride and Power of the Few / as opposed to the happiness of the Many / A man of true moral courage / Who sacrificed Profit and present Fame / To Principle / And a yearning for the good of Human Nature / Who was a burning wound to an aristocracy / That could not answer him before men / And who may confront him before their Maker / He lived and died / The unconquered Champion / of / Truth, Liberty, and Humanity / ‘Dubitantes opera legite’ / This stone / is raised by one whose heart is / with him in his grave.’
Size: 4914px × 3265px
Location: St Anne's churchyard, Soho, London, England, UK, Europe
Photo credit: © UrbanImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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