"_God takes those soonest whom He loves the best._"--Where shall we find
the origin of this expression, so frequently occurring on tombstones in
almost all parts of the country? Or how far back can it be traced? The
following, in Rainham church, Kent, is of the year 1626:
"Here slepes my babe in silence, heauen's his rest,
For God takes soonest those he loueth best."