Ixviii LIFE OF IZAAK WALTON. [1662, 



reverend and learned divine, who professed to imitate George 

 Herbert." "The Synagogue " was first printed in 1640; and 

 Walton says, in the following lines, that he admired that poem 

 before he knew its author personally, with whom he must, there- 

 fore, have become acquainted between the years 1640 and 1655 : 



'To MY REVEREND FRIEND THE AUTHOR OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 

 SIR, 



I LOV'D you for your Synagogue before 



I knew your person ; but now love you more, 



Because I find 

 It is so true a picture of your mind : 



Which tunes your sacred lyre 



To that eternal quire 



Where holy Herbert sits 



(O shame to profane wits !) 

 And sings his and your anthems, to the praise 

 Of him that is the first and last of days. 



These holy hymns had an ethereal birth, 

 For they can raise sad souls above the earth, 



And fix them there, 

 Free from the world's anxieties and fear : 



Herbert and you have pow'r 



To do this : every hour 



I read you, kills a sin, 



Or lets a virtue in 



To fight against it ; and the Holy Ghost 

 Supports my frailties, lest the day be lost. 



This holy war, taught by your happy pen, 



The Prince of Peace approves. When we poor men 



Neglect our arms, 

 Ware circumvested with a world of harms. 



But I will watch and ward, 

 And stand upon my guard, 

 And still consult with you 

 And Herbert, and renew 



My vows, and say, Well fare his and your heart, 

 The fountains of such sacred wit and art. Iz. WA.' 



On the 1 7th of April 1662, Walton again became a widower, 

 by the death of his second wife, Anne Ken. The event took place 

 in her fifty-second year at Worcester, and is thus recorded by her 

 husband in his family Prayer-Book : " Anne Walton dyed the 

 1 7th of April, about one o'clock in that night, and was buried in 

 the Virgin Mary's Chapel, in the cathedral in Worcester, the 2oth 

 day." As no particulars respecting her decease are known, it is 

 doubtful how far Walton was prepared for his misfortune by her 

 previous illness. He was warmly attached to her, and in 

 the following pathetic epitaph, which he placed near her remains, 

 he bears the strongest testimony to her talents and virtues : 



