At Worth Church, Sussex, near the south entrance is a headstone,
inscribed thus:
In memory of John Alcorn, Clerk and Sexton of this parish,
who died Dec. 13: 1868 in the 81st year of his age.
Thine honoured friend for fifty three full years,
He saw each bridal's joy, each Burial's tears;
Within the walls, by Saxons reared of old,
By the stone sculptured font of antique mould,
Under the massive arches in the glow,
Tinged by dyed sun-beams passing to and fro,
A sentient portion of the sacred place,
A worthy presence with a well-worn face.
The lich-gate's shadow, o'er his pall at last
Bids kind adieu as poor old John goes past.
Unseen the path, the trees, the old oak door,
No more his foot-falls touch the tomb-paved floor,
His silvery head is hid, his service done
Of all these Sabbaths absent only one.
And now amidst the graves he delved around,
He rests and sleeps, beneath the hallowed ground.
Keep Innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right,
For that shall bring a man peace at the last. Psalm XXXVII.
38.
There is an interesting memorial of an aged parish clerk in Cropthorne
Church, Worcestershire, an edifice of considerable note.
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