^T. 69.] LIFE OF IZAAK WALTON. Ixix 



EX TERRIS 



M. S. 



HERE LYETH BURIED SO MUCH AS 



COULD DYE OF ANNE, THE WIFE OF 



ISAAK WALTON ; 



WHO WAS 



A WOMAN OF REMARKABLE PRUDENCE, 



AND OF THE PRIMITIVE PIETY ; HER GREAT 



AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE BEING ADORNED 



WITH SUCH TRUE HUMILITY, AND BLEST 



WITH SO MUCH Christian meekness, as 



MADE HER WORTHY OF A MORE MEMORABLE 

 MONUMENT. 



SHE DYED ! (Alas, that she is dead !) 

 THE 17TH OF April 1662, aged 52. 



Study to be like her. 



A draught of this epitaph in Walton's own hand is written in 

 his Prayer-Book before mentioned, which tends to prove that it 

 was composed by himself, but the alterations in the manuscript 

 are rather curious. The words " Ex terris M. S." do not occur ; 

 the article "the" between "of" and "primitive piety" is an 

 interlineation, upon which Mr Bowles has remarked that the 

 alteration seemed " designedly to imply that her piety was that 

 primitive piety which the reformed Church of England professed ; 

 therefore the correction was important." " Alas, that she is 

 dead ! " was originally " Alas ! alas ! that she dyed ; " and though 

 Walton substituted " is dead " for " died," he did not omit the 

 second interjection. 



It must not escape observation that Dr Morley was Bishop 

 of Worcester at the time when Mrs Walton died in that city ; and 

 as neither Walton nor herself appear to have had any relations 

 there, it is reasonable to suppose that they went to Worcester on a 

 visit to him. If this conjecture be correct, it is easy to imagine 

 the happiness which the meeting afforded to all the parties. 

 Every wish of Morley's heart must at that moment have been 

 realised. The cause in which he had suffered was triumphant ; 

 the monarch for whose sake he had undergone poverty and 

 privation filled the throne of his ancestors ; the Church of England, 

 which had been threatened with destruction, was again re-estab- 

 lished ; and he himself had reaped the reward of his virtues and 

 consistency, by being raised to a situation of the highest dignity 

 in her service. Dr Morley was, however, regularly, and almost 

 daily in the House of Lords from December 1661 to the middle 



