AN EPITAPH UPON THOMAS Late LORD FAIRFAX.  Written by a Person of HONOUR. 

1.  

Under this Stone doth lie  
One Born for Victory.   

FAirfax the Valiant, and the only he,  
Who e'er for that alone a Conqueror would be.  
Both Sexes Virtues were in him combined,  
He had the fierceness of the manliest mind,  
And all the meekness too of Womankind.  
He never knew what Envy was, or Hate;  
His Soul was filled with Worth and Honesty,  
And with another thing quite out of Date,  
Called Modesty.    

2.  
He ne'er seemed Impudent but in the Field, a place  
Where Impudence itself dares seldom show its Face.  
Had any Stranger spied him in a Room  
With some of those he had Overcome,  
And had not heard their Talk, but only seen  
Their Gestures and their Mien,  
They would have sworn he had the Vanquished been.  
For as they bragged, and dreadful would appear,  
Whilst they their own ill luck in War repeated,  
His Modesty still made him blush to hear  
How often he had them defeated.   

3.  
Through his whole Life the part he bore  
Was wonderful and great,  
And yet it so appeared in nothing more,  
Than in his Private last Retreat:  
For 'tis a stranger thing to find  
One Man of such a Glorious mind,  
As can despise the Power he has got,  
Than Millions of the Sots and Braves,  
Those despicable Fools and Knaves,  
Who such a pother make,  
Through dulness and mistake,  
In seeking after Power, and get it not.   

4.  
When all the Nation he had won,  
And with expense of Blood had bought  
Store great enough he thought  
Of Fame and of Renown,  
He then his Arms laid down,  
With full as little Pride  
As if he had been of the Enemy's side,  
Or one of them could do that were undone.  
He neither Wealth nor Places sought,  
For others, not himself he fought;  
He was content to know,  
For he had found it so,  
That when he pleased to Conquer, he was able,  
And leave the Spoil and Plunder to the Rabble.  
He might have been a King,  
But yet he understood  
How much it is a meaner thing  
To be unjustly Great, than Honourably good.   

5.  
This from the World did Admiration draw,  
And from his Friends both Love and awe:  
Remembering what he did in Fight before.  
His Foes loved him too,  
As they were bound to do,  
Because he was Resolved to fight no more.  
So blest of all, he died;  
But far more blest were we,  
If we were sure to live till we could see  
A Man as great in War, as Just in Peace as he.   
FINIS.