The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 11Dryden, John
General
The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 11
Dryden, John
English literature
_This is an ancient and distinguished family in Norfolk. See
Bloomfield's topographical account of that shire_.
So fair, so young, so innocent, so sweet, }
So ripe a judgment, and so rare a wit, }
Require at least an age in one to meet. }
In her they met; but long they could not stay,
'Twas gold too fine to mix without allay.
Heaven's image was in her so well exprest,
Her very sight upbraided all the rest;
Too justly ravished from an age like this,
Now she is gone, the world is of a piece.
EPITAPH
ON THE
MONUMENT
OF
THE MARQUIS OF WINCHESTER.
John Powlet, fifth Marquis of Winchester, was remarkable for his steady
loyalty to Charles I. He garrisoned for the king his fine castle at
Basing, and underwent a siege of two years, from August 1643 to October
16th, 1645; on which day it was taken by Cromwell, by storm, after
having been defended with great gallantry to the very last extremity.
The Marquis had written, in every window of the house, with a diamond,
the motto _Aymez Loyaulté_. The parliamentary leaders, incensed at this
device, burned down this noble seat, (a conflagration which Cromwell
imputes to accident,) and destroyed and plundered property to the amount
of L. 200,000. The Marquis himself was made prisoner. The particulars of
this memorable siege were printed at Oxford, in 1645; and Oliver's
account of the storm is published in Collins's "Peerage," from a
manuscript in the Museum. The Marquis of Winchester survived the
Restoration; and, having died premier marquis of England in 1674, was
buried at Englefield. This monument, upon which our author's verses are
engraved, is made of black and white marble; and a compartment underneath
the lines bears this inscription: "The Lady Marchioness Dowager, in
testimony of her love and sorrow, gave this monument to the memory of a
most affectionate, tender husband." On a flat marble stone, beneath the
monument, is the following epitaph: "Here lieth interred the body of the
most noble and mighty prince, John Powlet, Marquis of Winchester, Earl
of Wiltshire, Baron of St John of Basing, first Marquis of England: A
man of exemplary piety towards God, and of inviolable fidelity towards
his sovereign; in whose cause he fortified his house of Basing, and
defended it against the rebels to the last extremity. He married three
wives: the first was Jane, daughter of Thomas, Viscount Savage, and of
Elizabeth his wife, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Darcey, Earl of
Rivers; by whom he had issue Charles, now Marquis of Winchester. His
second wife was Honora, daughter of Richard Burgh, Earl of St Alban's
and Clanricarde, and of Frances, his wife, daughter and heir of Sir
Francis Walsingham, knight, and principal secretary of state to Queen
Elizabeth; by whom he had issue four sons and three daughters. His last
wife, who survived him, was Isabella, daughter of William, Viscount
Stafford, second son of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl
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