Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth,
A youth, to Fortune and to Fame unknown:
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
Large was his bounty and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery (all he had) a tear;
He gained from Heaven ('t was all he wished) a friend.
No farther seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode
(There they alike in trembling hope repose),
The bosom of his Father, and his God.
[Illustration: Man on horseback riding past a church-yard (graveyard).
The sky is cloudy; the church steeple stands in the background.]
Notes.--John Hampden (b. 1594, d. 1643) was noted for his resolute
resistance to the forced loans and unjust taxes imposed by Charles I. on
England. He took part in the contest between King and Parliament, and was
killed in a skirmish.
John Milton. See biographical notice, page 312.
Oliver Cromwell (b. 1599, d. 1658) was the leading character in the Great
Rebellion in England. He was Lord Protector the last five years of his
life, and in many respects the ablest ruler that England ever had.