He died at the residence of his son-in-law, the Reverend William Hawkins, prebendary of Winchester Cathedral, in 1683.

Bishop Jebb has judiciously said of his _Lives_: "They not only do ample justice to individual piety and learning, but throw a mild and cheerful light upon the manners of an interesting age, as well as upon the venerable features of our mother Church." Less, however, than any of his contemporaries can Walton be appreciated by a sketch of the man: his works must be read, and their spirit imbibed, in order to know his worth.
OTHER WRITERS OF THE AGE.
George Wither, born in Hampshire, June 11, 1588, died May 2, 1667: he was a voluminous and versatile writer.

His chief work is _The Shepherd's Hunting_, which, with beautiful descriptions of rural life, abounds in those strained efforts at wit and curious conceits, which were acceptable to the age, but which have lost their charm in a more sensible and philosophic age.

Wither was a Parliament man, and was imprisoned and ill-treated after the Restoration.

He, and most of those who follow, were classed by Dr.Johnson as _metaphysical poets_.
Francis Quarles, 1592-1644: he was a Royalist, but belongs to the literary school of Withers.