Ivi INTRODUCTION.
been found in his pocket after his death,* we ought not to complain that the poem is among the lost books of the world. Having had £500 left to him when he was very young, I he had always been prosperous, being the wealth- iest man in Roxbury, where the people were generally well- to-do. He was the owner of a large quantity of land, and at the time of his death his property was appraised at £1560. I05. id.,X which was a considerable sum in this country at that early date. He interested himself in town affairs, and headed the list of those who entered into an
- These verses are thus given by Mather (Magnalia, Bk. ii. p. 17.)
In the old manuscript lite in "The Sutton Dudleys," p. 37, there is a somewhat different version : —
" Dim Eyes, Deaf Ears, Cold Stomach, /Iie-v My Dijfolution is in Vietu. Eleven times Seven near liv'd have I, And now God calls, I xvilling Die. My Shuttle's yJiot, iny Race is run, My Sun is fet, my Day is done. My Span is nieaj'ur'd, Tale is told. My Floiver is faded, and grotvn old. My Dream is vanifJi'd, Shadotu's fed. My Soul xvith Chri/i, my Body Dead. Farewel Dear Wife, Childreii and Friends, Hate Herejte, make Blcffcd Ends. Bear Poverty, live with good Men ; So fJiall we live with Joy age 71. Let Men of God in Courts and Churches xvcitch OWe fuch as do a Toleration hatch, Lefl that III Egg bring forth a Cockatrice, To foifon all with Herejte and Vice. If Men be left, and otherwife Combine, My Epitaph's, E Ss'D wa ILtbcvttnc"
t " Sutton-Dudlejs," p. 24.
X Suftblk Probate Records, Lib. ii. Fol. 134.
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