 | Household Verses |  |
220
JOHN EVELYN.
A true philosopher! well taught to scanThe works of nature, those of art to prize;
The latter cordially to patronize,
But to the first, their Author, and their plan,
Giving that homage of far ampler span
Awarded by the good, the great, the wise:
A hearty lover of old household ties;
And, to crown all, a Christian gentleman!
Such wert thou, Evelyn, in a busy age
Of restless change, to dissipation prone;
And, at thy death, upon thy coffin-stone,
Hast left this record, worthy many a page,
That “all not honest,” on this mortal stage,
“Is vain! and nothing wise save piety alone! ”
Evelyn is buried at Wotton, under a tomb of freestone, shaped like a coffin; with an inscription thereon, by his own direction, stating that, “Living in an age of extraordinary events and revolutions, he had learned from thence this truth, which he desired might be thus communicated to posterity; That all is vanity which is not honest! and that there is no solid wisdom but in real piety!”
| Household Verses | |