_Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke_ (Vol. iii., p. 262.).--Although
J. H. M. has concluded that William Browne was not the author of this
epitaph, because it is not to be found amongst his _Pastorals_, it would
nevertheless appear that the lines are rightly attributed to him, if the
following extract may be relied on:
"The well-known epitaph of the celebrated Countess of Pembroke, the
sister of Sir Philip Sidney, has been generally ascribed to Ben Jonson.
The first stanza is printed in Jonson's poems; but it is found in the
manuscript volume of poems by William Browne, the author of
_Britannia's Pastorals_, preserved in the Lansdown Collection, British
Museum, No. 777., and on this evidence may be fairly appropriated to
him, particularly as it is known that he was a great favourite with
William, Earl of Pembroke, son of the Countess."--_Relics of
Literature_: London, Boys, 1823, p. 60.