As the disease increased upon him, he composed himself for his
departure; and calling upon Dr. Birch to give him the holy
sacrament, he desired his children to take it with him, and made an
earnest declaration of his faith in Christianity. It now appeared
what part of his conversation with the great could be remembered
with delight. He related, that being present when the Duke of
Buckingham talked profanely before King Charles, he said to him, "My
lord, I am a great deal older than your grace and have, I believe,
heard more arguments for atheism than ever your grace did; but I
have lived long enough to see there is nothing in them; and so, I
hope, your grace will."

He died October 21, 1687, and was buried at Beaconsfield, with a
monument erected by his son's executors, for which Rymer wrote the
inscription, and which I hope is now rescued from dilapidation.

He left several children by his second wife, of whom his daughter
was married to Dr. Birch. Benjamin, the eldest son, was
disinherited, and sent to New Jersey as wanting common
understanding. Edmund, the second son, inherited the estate, and
represented Agmondesham in parliament, but at last turned quaker.
William, the third son, was a merchant in London. Stephen, the
fourth, was an eminent doctor of laws, and one of the commissioners
for the union. There is said to have been a fifth, of whom no
account has descended.

The character of Waller, both moral and intellectual, has been drawn
by Clarendon, to whom he was familiarly known, with nicety, which
certainly none to whom he was not known can presume to emulate. It
is therefore inserted here, with such remarks as others have