Chapter V (6)

In the Years of his Childhood he had languish'd under the Disease of his Country, the Rickets; after which notwithstanding many have been become strong and active Men; but whether any have attain'd unto very great Years, the Disease is scarce so old as to afford good Observation. Whether the Children of the _English_ Plantations be subject unto the same Infirmity, may be worth the Observing. Whether Lameness and Halting do still encrease among the Inhabitants of _Rovigno_ in _Istria_, I know not; yet scarce twenty Years ago Monsieur _du Loyr_ observed, that a third part of that People halted: but too certain it is, that the Rickets encreaseth among us; the Small-Pox grows more pernicious than the Great: the King's Purse knows that the King's Evil grows more common. _Quartan_ Agues are become no Strangers in _Ireland_; more common and mortal in _England_: and tho' the Ancients gave that Disease[301] very good Words, yet now that Bell makes no strange sound which rings out for the Effects thereof.

[301] +Asphalestatos kai rheistos+, _securissima et facillima_.
Hippoc. Pro Febre quartana raro sonat campana.

Some think there were few Consumptions in the Old World, when Men lived much upon Milk; and that the ancient Inhabitants of this Island were less troubled with Coughs when they went naked, and slept in Caves and Woods, than Men now in Chambers and Feather-beds. _Plato_ will tell us, that there was no such Disease as a Catarrh in _Homer's_ time, and that it was but new in _Greece_ in his Age. _Polydore Virgil_ delivereth that Pleurisies were rare in _England_, who lived but in the Days of _Henry_ the Eighth. Some will allow no Diseases to be new, others think that many old ones are ceased and that such which are esteem'd new, will have but their time: However, the Mercy of God hath scatter'd the Great Heap of Diseases, and not loaded any one Country with all: some may be new in one Country which have been old in another. New Discoveries of the Earth discover new Diseases: for besides the common Swarm, there are endemial and local Infirmities proper unto certain Regions, which in the whole Earth make no small Number: and if _Asia_, _Africa_, and _America_ should bring in their List, _Pandora's_ Box would swell, and there must be a strange Pathology.

Most Men expected to find a consumed Kell, empty and bladder-like Guts, livid and marbled Lungs, and a wither'd _Pericardium_ in this exuccous Corps: but some seemed too much to wonder that two Lobes of his Lungs adher'd unto his Side; for the like I had often found in Bodies of no suspected Consumptions or difficulty of Respiration. And the same more often happeneth in Men than other Animals; and some think in Women than in Men; but the most remarkable I have met with, was in a Man, after a Cough of almost fifty Years, in whom all the Lobes adhered unto the Pleura,[302] and each Lobe unto another; who having also been much troubled with the Gout, brake the Rule of _Cardan_,[303] and died of the Stone in the Bladder. _Aristotle_ makes a Query, Why some Animals cough, as Man; some not, as Oxen. If Coughing be taken as it consisteth of a natural and voluntary motion, including Expectoration and spitting out, it may be as proper unto Man as bleeding at the Nose; otherwise we find that _Vegetius_ and rural Writers have not left so many Medicines in vain against the Coughs of Cattel; and Men who perish by Coughs die the Death of Sheep, Cats and Lions: and tho' Birds have no Midriff, yet we meet with divers Remedies in _Arrianus_ against the Coughs of Hawks. And tho' it might be thought that all Animals who have Lungs do cough; yet in cetaceous Fishes, who have large and strong Lungs, the same is not observed; nor yet in oviparous Quadrupeds: and in the greatest thereof, the Crocodile, altho' we read much of their Tears, we find nothing of that Motion.

[302] So _A. F._

[303] _Cardan_ in his _Encomium Podagrae_ reckoneth this among the _Dona
Podagrae_, that they are deliver'd thereby from the Phthysis and
Stone in the Bladder.

From the Thoughts of Sleep, when the Soul was conceived nearest unto Divinity, the Ancients erected an Art of Divination, wherein while they too widely expatiated in loose and inconsequent Conjectures, _Hippocrates_[304] wisely considered Dreams as they presaged Alterations in the Body, and so afforded hints toward the Preservation of Health, and prevention of Diseases; and therein was so serious as to advise Alteration of Diet, Exercise, Sweating, Bathing and Vomiting; and also so religious, as to order Prayers and Supplications unto respective Deities, in good Dreams unto _Sol_, _Jupiter coelestis_, _Jupiter opulentus_, _Minerva_, _Mercurius_ and _Apollo_; in bad unto _Tellus_ and the Heroes.

[304] _Hippoc. de Insomniis._

And therefore I could not but take notice how his Female Friends were irrationally curious so strictly to examine his Dreams, and in this low State to hope for the Fantasms of Health. He was now past the healthful Dreams of the Sun, Moon and Stars, in their Clarity and proper Courses. 'Twas too late to dream of Flying, of Limpid Fountains, smooth Waters, white Vestments, and fruitful green Trees, which are the Visions of healthful Sleeps, and at good Distance from the Grave.

And they were also too deeply dejected that he should dream of his dead Friends, inconsequently divining, that he would not be long from them; for strange it was not that he should sometimes dream of the dead, whose Thoughts run always upon Death; beside, to dream of the dead, so they appear not in dark Habits, and take nothing away from us, in _Hippocrates_ his Sense was of good Signification: for we live by the dead, and every thing is or must be so before it becomes our Nourishment. And _Cardan_, who dream'd that he discoursed with his dead Father in the Moon, made thereof no mortal Interpretation: and even to dream that we are dead, was no condemnable Fantasm in old _Oneirocriticism_, as having a Signification of Liberty, vacuity from Cares, Exemption and Freedom from Troubles unknown unto the dead.

Some Dreams I confess may admit of easie and feminine Exposition; he who dream'd that he could not see his right Shoulder, might easily fear to lose the Sight of his right Eye; he that before a Journey dream'd that his Feet were cut off, had a plain Warning not to undertake his intended Journey. But why to dream of Lettuce should presage some ensuing Disease, why to eat Figs should signifie foolish Talk, why to eat Eggs great Trouble, and to dream of Blindness should be so highly commended, according to the _Oneirocritical_ Verses of _Astrampsychus_ and _Nicephorus_, I shall leave unto your Divination.

He was willing to quit the World alone and altogether, leaving no Earnest behind him for Corruption or After-grave, having small content in that common Satisfaction to survive or live in another, but amply satisfied that his Disease should die with himself, nor revive in a Posterity to puzzle Physick, and make sad _Memento's_ of their Parent hereditary. Leprosie awakes not sometimes before forty, the Gout and Stone often later; but consumptive and tabid[305] Roots sprout more early, and at the fairest make seventeen Years of our Life doubtful before that Age. They that enter the World with original Diseases as well as Sin, have not only common Mortality but sick Traductions to destroy them, make commonly short Courses, and live not at length but in Figures; so that a sound _Caesarean_[306] nativity may out-last a Natural Birth, and a Knife may sometimes make Way for a more lasting Fruit than a Midwife; which makes so few Infants now able to endure the old Test of the River,[307] and many to have feeble Children who could scarce have been married at _Sparta_, and those provident States who studied strong and healthful Generations; which happen but contingently in mere _pecuniary_ Matches, or Marriages made by the Candle, wherein notwithstanding there is little redress to be hoped from an Astrologer or a Lawyer, and a good discerning Physician were like to prove the most successful Counsellor.

[305] _Tabes maxime contingunt ab anno decimo octavo ad trigesimum
quintum_, Hippoc.

[306] A sound Child cut out of the Body of the Mother.

[307] _Natos ad flumina primum deserimus saevoque gelu duramus et undis._

_Julius Scaliger_, who in a sleepless Fit of the Gout could make two hundred Verses in a Night, would have but five[308] plain Words upon his Tomb. And this serious Person, tho' no _minor_ Wit, left the Poetry of his Epitaph unto others; either unwilling to commend himself, or to be judg'd by a Distich, and perhaps considering how unhappy great Poets have been in versifying their own Epitaphs: wherein _Petrarcha_, _Dante_, and _Ariosto_, have so unhappily failed, that if their Tombs should outlast their Works, Posterity would find so little of _Apollo_ on them, as to mistake them for _Ciceronian_ Poets.

[308] _Julii Caesaris Scaligeri, quod fuit._ Joseph. Scaliger in vita
patris.

In this deliberate and creeping Progress unto the Grave, he was somewhat too young, and of too noble a Mind, to fall upon that stupid Symptom observable in divers Persons near their Journey's End, and which may be reckoned among the mortal Symptoms of their last Disease; that is, to become more narrow minded, miserable and tenacious, unready to part with any thing, when they are ready to part with all, and afraid to want when they have no Time to spend; mean while Physicians, who know that many are mad but in a single depraved Imagination, and one prevalent Decipiency; and that beside and out of such single Deliriums a Man may meet with sober Actions and good Sense in _Bedlam_; cannot but smile to see the Heirs and concern'd Relations, gratulating themselves in the sober Departure of their Friends; and tho' they behold such mad covetous Passages, content to think they die in good Understanding, and in their sober Senses.

Avarice, which is not only Infidelity but Idolatry, either from covetous Progeny or questuary Education, had no Root in his Breast, who made good Works the Expression of his Faith, and was big with Desires unto publick and lasting Charities; and surely where good Wishes and charitable Intentions exceed Abilities, Theorical Beneficency may be more than a Dream. They build not Castles in the Air who would build Churches on Earth; and tho' they leave no such Structures here, may lay good Foundations in Heaven. In brief, his Life and Death were such, that I could not blame them who wished the like, and almost to have been himself; almost, I say; for tho' we may wish the prosperous Appurtenances of others, or to be an other in his happy Accidents; yet so intrinsecal is every Man unto himself, that some doubt may be made, whether any would exchange his Being, or substantially become another Man.

He had wisely seen the World at home and abroad, and thereby observed under what variety Men are deluded in the pursuit of that which is not here to be found. And altho' he had no Opinion of reputed Felicities below, and apprehended Men widely out in the Estimate of such Happiness; yet his sober Contempt of the World wrought no _Democratism_ or _Cynicism_, no laughing or snarling at it, as well understanding there are not Felicities in this World to satisfy a serious Mind; and therefore to soften the Stream of our Lives, we are fain to take in the reputed Contentations of this World, to unite with the Crowd in their Beatitudes, and to make ourselves happy by Consortion, Opinion, or Co-existimation: for strictly to separate from received and customary Felicities, and to confine unto the Rigor of Realities, were to contract the Consolation of our Beings unto too uncomfortable Circumscriptions.

Not to fear Death,[309] nor Desire it, was short of his Resolution: to be dissolved, and be with Christ, was his dying Ditty. He conceived his Thred long, in no long course of Years, and when he had scarce out-liv'd the second Life of _Lazarus_;[310] esteeming it enough to approach the Years of his Saviour, who so order'd his own human State, as not to be old upon Earth.

[309] _Summum nec metuas diem nec optes._

[310] Who upon some Accounts, and Tradition, is said to have lived 30
Years after he was raised by our Saviour. _Baronius._

But to be content with Death may be better than to desire it: a miserable Life may make us wish for Death, but a virtuous one to rest in it; which is the Advantage of those resolved Christians, who looking on Death not only as the Sting, but the Period and End of Sin, the Horizon and Isthmus between this Life and a better, and the Death of this World but as Nativity of another, do contentedly submit unto the common Necessity, and envy not _Enoch_ or _Elias_.

Not to be content with Life is the unsatisfactory State of those which destroy themselves;[311] who being afraid to live, run blindly upon their own Death, which no Man fears by Experience: And the Stoicks had a notable Doctrine to take away the Fear thereof; that is, in such Extremities, to desire that which is not to be avoided, and wish what might be feared; and so made Evils voluntary, and to suit with their own Desires, which took off the Terror of them.

[311] In the Speech of _Vulteius in Lucan_, animating his Souldiers
in a great Struggle to kill one another. _Decernite Lethum et
metus omnis abest, cupias quodcunque necesse est._ All Fear is
over, do but resolve to die, and make your Desires meet Necessity.

But the ancient Martyrs were not encouraged by such Fallacies; who, tho' they feared not Death, were afraid to be their own Executioners; and therefore thought it more Wisdom to crucify their Lusts than their Bodies, to circumcise than stab their Hearts, and to mortify than kill themselves.

His Willingness to leave this World about that Age, when most men think they may best enjoy it, tho' paradoxical unto worldly Ears, was not strange unto mine, who have so often observed, that many, tho' old, oft stick fast unto the World, and seem to be drawn like _Cacus's_ Oxen, backward, with great Struggling and Reluctancy unto the Grave. The long Habit of Living makes meer men more hardly to part with Life, and All to be Nothing, but what is to come. To live at the rate of the old World, when some could scarce remember themselves young, may afford no better digested Death than a more moderate Period. Many would have thought it an Happiness to have had their Lot of Life in some notable Conjunctures of Ages past; but the Uncertainty of future Times hath tempted few to make a Part in Ages to come. And surely, he that hath taken the true Altitude of things, and rightly calculated the degenerate State of this Age, is not like to envy those that shall live in the next, much less three or four hundred Years hence, when no Man can comfortably imagine what Face this World will carry: And therefore since every Age makes a Step unto the End of all things, and the Scripture affords so hard a Character of the last Times; quiet Minds will be content with their Generations, and rather bless Ages past, than be ambitious of those to come.

Tho' Age had set no Seal upon his Face, yet a dim Eye might clearly discover Fifty in his Actions; and therefore since Wisdom is the grey Hair, and an unspotted Life old Age; altho' his Years came short he might have been said to have held up with longer Livers, and to have been _Solomon's_[312] Old Man. And surely if we deduct all those Days of our Life which we might wish unliv'd, and which abate the Comfort of those we now live; if we reckon up only those Days which God hath accepted of our Lives, a Life of good Years will hardly be a Span long: the Son in this Sense may out-live the Father, and none be climacterically old. He that early arriveth unto the Parts and Prudence of Age, is happily old without the uncomfortable Attendants of it; and 'tis superfluous to live unto grey Hairs, when in a precocious Temper we anticipate the Virtues of them. In brief, he cannot be accounted young who out-liveth the old Man. He that hath early arrived unto the measure of a perfect Stature in Christ, hath already fulfilled the prime and longest Intention of his Being: and one Day lived after the perfect Rule of Piety, is to be preferr'd before sinning Immortality.

[312] _Wisdom_, cap. iv.

Altho' he attain'd not unto the Years of his Predecessors, yet he wanted not those preserving Virtues which confirm the Thread of weaker Constitutions. Cautelous Chastity and crafty Sobriety were far from him; those Jewels were Paragon, without Flaw, Hair, Ice, or Cloud in him: which affords me an Hint to proceed in these good Wishes, and few _Memento's_ unto you.

Tread softly and circumspectly in this funambulous Track, and narrow Path of Goodness: pursue Virtue virtuously; be sober and temperate, not to preserve your Body in a sufficiency to wanton Ends; not to spare your Purse; not to be free from the Infamy of common Transgressors that way, and thereby to ballance or palliate obscure and closer Vices; nor simply to enjoy Health: By all which you may leaven good Actions, and render Virtues disputable: but in one Word, that you may truly serve God; which every Sickness will tell you, you cannot well do without health. The sick Man's Sacrifice is but a lame Oblation. Pious Treasures laid up in healthful Days, excuse the Defect of sick Non-performances; without which we must needs look back with Anxiety upon the lost Opportunities of Health; and may have cause rather to envy than pity the Ends of penitent Malefactors, who go with clear Parts unto the last Act of their Lives; and in the Integrity of their Faculties return their Spirit unto God that gave it.

Consider whereabout thou art in _Cebes_ his Table, or that old philosophical Pinax of the Life of Man; whether thou art still in the Road of Uncertainties; whether thou hast yet entred the narrow Gate, got up the Hill and asperous Way which leadeth unto the House of Sanity, or taken that purifying Potion from the Hand of sincere Erudition, which may send the clear and pure away unto a virtuous and happy Life.

In this virtuous voyage let not Disappointment cause Despondency, nor Difficulty Despair: Think not that you are sailing from _Lima_[313] to _Manillia_, wherein thou may'st tye up the Rudder, and sleep before the Wind; but expect rough Seas, Flaws, and contrary Blasts; and 'tis well if by many cross Tacks and Veerings thou arrivest at thy Port. Sit not down in the popular Seats, and common Level of Virtues, but endeavour to make them Heroical. Offer not only Peace-Offerings but Holocausts unto God. To serve him singly to serve our selves, were too partial a Piece of Piety, nor likely to place us in the highest Mansions of Glory.

[313] Through the Pacifick Sea, with a constant Gale from the East.

He that is chaste and continent, not to impair his Strength, or terrified by Contagion, will hardly be heroically virtuous. Adjourn not that Virtue unto those Years when _Cato_ could lend out his Wife, and impotent _Satyrs_ write Satyrs against Lust: but be chaste in thy flaming Days, when _Alexander_ dared not trust his Eyes upon the fair Daughters of _Darius_, and when so many Men think there is no other Way but _Origen's_.[314]

[314] Who is said to have castrated himself.

Be charitable before Wealth makes thee covetous, and lose not the Glory of the Mitre. If Riches increase, let thy Mind hold Pace with them; and think it not enough to be liberal, but munificent. Tho' a Cup of cold Water from some hand may not be without its Reward; yet stick not thou for Wine and Oyl for the Wounds of the distressed: and treat the poor as our Saviour did the Multitude, to the Relicks of some Baskets.

Trust not to the Omnipotency of Gold, or say unto it, Thou art my Confidence: kiss not thy Hand when thou beholdest that terrestrial Sun, nor bore thy Ear unto its Servitude. A Slave unto Mammon makes no Servant unto God: Covetousness cracks the Sinews of Faith, numbs the Apprehension of any thing above Sense, and only affected with the Certainty of Things present, makes a Peradventure of things to come; lives but unto one World, nor hopes but fears another; makes our own Death sweet unto others, bitter unto our selves; gives a dry Funeral, Scenical Mourning, and no wet Eyes at the Grave.

If Avarice be thy Vice, yet make it not thy Punishment: Miserable Men commiserate not themselves, bowelless unto themselves, and merciless unto their own Bowels. Let the Fruition of things bless the Possession of them, and take no Satisfaction in dying but living rich: for since thy good Works, not thy Goods, will follow thee; since Riches are an Appurtenance of Life, and no dead Man is rich, to famish in Plenty, and live poorly to die rich, were a multiplying Improvement in Madness, and Use upon Use in Folly.

Persons lightly dip'd, not grain'd in generous Honesty, are but pale in Goodness, and faint hued in Sincerity: but be thou what thou virtuously art, and let not the Ocean wash away thy Tincture: stand magnetically upon that Axis where prudent Simplicity hath fix'd thee, and let no Temptation invert the Poles of thy Honesty: and that Vice may be uneasie, and even monstrous unto thee, let iterated good Acts, and long confirm'd Habits make Vertue natural, or a second Nature in thee. And since few or none prove eminently vertuous but from some advantageous Foundations in their Temper, and natural Inclinations; study thy self betimes, and early find what Nature bids thee to be, or tells thee what thou may'st be. They who thus timely descend into themselves, cultivating the good Seeds which Nature hath set in them, and improving their prevalent Inclinations to Perfection, become not Shrubs, but Cedars in their Generation; and to be in the form of the best of the Bad, or the worst of the Good, will be no Satisfaction unto them.

Let not the Law of thy Country be the _non ultra_ of thy Honesty, nor think that always good enough which the Law will make good. Narrow not the Law of Charity, Equity, Mercy; joyn Gospel Righteousness with Legal Right; be not a meer _Gamaliel_ in the Faith; but let the Sermon in the Mount be thy _Targum_ unto the Law of _Sinai_.

Make not the Consequences of Vertue the Ends thereof: be not beneficent for a Name or Cymbal of Applause, nor exact and punctual in Commerce, for the Advantages of Trust and Credit which attend the Reputation of just and true Dealing; for such Rewards, tho' unsought for, plain Vertue will bring with her, whom all Men honour, tho' they pursue not. To have other bye Ends in good Actions, sowers laudable Performances, which must have deeper Roots, Motions, and Instigations, to give them the Stamp of Vertues.

Tho' human Infirmity may betray thy heedless Days into the popular Ways of Extravagancy, yet let not thine own Depravity, or the Torrent of vicious Times, carry thee into desperate Enormities in Opinions, Manners, or Actions: if thou hast dip'd thy Foot in the River, yet venture not over _Rubicon_; run not into Extremities from whence there is no Regression, nor be ever so closely shut up within the Holds of Vice and Iniquity, as not to find some Escape by a Postern of Resipiscency.

Owe not thy Humility unto Humiliation by Adversity, but look humbly down in that State when others look upward upon thee: be patient in the Age of Pride and Days of Will and Impatiency, when Men live but by Intervals of Reason, under the Sovereignty of Humor and Passion, when 'tis in the Power of every one to transform thee out of thy self, and put thee into the short Madness. If you cannot imitate _Job_, yet come not short of _Socrates_,[315] and those patient Pagans, who tir'd the Tongues of their Enemies while they perceiv'd they spet their Malice at brazen Walls and Statues.

[315] _Ira furor brevis est._

Let Age, not Envy, draw Wrinkles on thy Cheeks: be content to be envied, but envy not. Emulation may be plausible, and Indignation allowable; but admit no Treaty with that Passion which no Circumstance can make good. A Displacency at the Good of others, because they enjoy it, altho' we do not want it, is an absurd Depravity, sticking fast unto human Nature from its primitive Corruption; which he that can well subdue, were a Christian of the first Magnitude, and for ought I know, may have one Foot already in Heaven.

While thou so hotly disclaim'st the Devil, be not guilty of Diabolism; fall not into one Name with that unclean Spirit, nor act his Nature whom thou so much abhorrest; that is, to accuse, calumniate, backbite, whisper, detract, or sinistrously interpret others; degenerous Depravities and narrow-minded Vices, not only below S. _Paul's_ noble Christian, but _Aristotle's_[316] true Gentleman. Trust not with some, that the Epistle of S. _James_ is Apocryphal, and so read with less Fear that Stabbing Truth, that in company with this Vice thy Religion is in vain. _Moses_ broke the Tables without breaking of the Law; but where Charity is broke the Law it self is shatter'd, which cannot be whole without Love, that is the fulfilling of it. Look humbly upon thy Vertues, and tho' thou art rich in some, yet think thy self poor and naked, without that crowning Grace, which thinketh no Evil, which envieth not, which beareth, believeth, hopeth, endureth all things. With these sure Graces, while busie Tongues are crying out for a Drop of cold Water, Mutes may be in Happiness, and sing the _Trisagium_[317] in Heaven.

[316] See _Arist. Ethicks_ Chapt. of Magnanimity.

[317] Holy, Holy, Holy.

Let not the Sun in _Capricorn_ go down upon thy Wrath, but Write thy Wrongs in Water: draw the Curtain of Night upon Injuries; shut them up in the Tower of Oblivion,[318] and let them be as tho' they had not been. Forgive thine Enemies totally, and without any Reserve of Hope, that however, God will revenge thee.

[318] Even when the Days are shortest; alluding to the Tower of
_Oblivion_ mentioned by _Procopius_, which was the Name of a
Tower of Imprisonment among the _Persians_: whosoever was put
therein he was as it were buried alive, and it was Death for any
but to name it.

Be substantially great in thy self, and more than thou appearest unto others; and let the World be deceived in thee, as they are in the Lights of Heaven. Hang early Plummets upon the Heels of Pride, and let Ambition have but an Epicyche or narrow Circuit in thee. Measure not thy self by thy Morning Shadow, but by the Extent of thy Grave; and reckon thy self above the Earth by the Line thou must be contented with under it. Spread not into boundless Expansions either to Designs or Desires. Think not that Mankind liveth but for a few, and that the rest are born but to serve the Ambition of those, who make but Flies of Men, and Wildernesses of whole Nations. Swell not into Actions which embroil and confound the Earth; but be one of those violent ones which _force the Kingdom of Heaven_.[319] If thou must needs reign, be _Zeno_, King, and enjoy that Empire which every Man gives himself. Certainly, the iterated Injunctions of Christ unto Humility, Meekness, Patience, and that despised Train of Vertues, cannot but make pathetical Impressions upon those who have well consider'd the Affairs of all Ages, wherein Pride, Ambition, and Vain glory, have led up the worst of Actions, and whereunto Confusion, Tragedies, and Acts denying all Religion, do owe their Originals.

[319] _Matthew_ xi.

Rest not in an Ovation,[320] but a Triumph over thy Passions; chain up the unruly Legion of thy Breast; behold thy Trophies within thee, not without thee: Lead thine own Captivity captive, and be _Caesar_ unto thy self.

[320] _Ovation_, a petty and minor kind of Triumph.

Give no quarter unto those Vices which are of thine inward Family; and having a Root in thy Temper, plead a Right and Property in thee. Examine well thy complexional Inclinations. Raise early Batteries against those strong Holds built upon the Rock of Nature, and make this a great Part of the Militia of thy Life. The politick Nature of Vice must be oppos'd by Policy, and therefore wiser Honesties project and plot against Sin; wherein notwithstanding we are not to rest in Generals, or the trite Stratagems of Art: that may succeed with one Temper which may prove successless with another. There is no Community or Common-wealth of Virtue; every Man must study his own Oeconomy, and erect these Rules unto the Figure of himself.

Lastly, If Length of Days be thy Portion, make it not thy Expectation: Reckon not upon long Life, but live always beyond thy Account. He that so often surviveth his Expectation, lives many Lives, and will hardly complain of the Shortness of his Days. Time past is gone like a Shadow; make Times to come present; conceive that near which may be far off; approximate thy last Times by present Apprehensions of them: Live like a Neighbour unto Death, and think there is but little to come. And since there is something in us that must still live on, join both Lives together; unite them in thy Thoughts and Actions, and live in one but for the other. He who thus ordereth the Purposes of this Life, will never be far from the next, and is in some manner already in it, by an happy Conformity, and close Apprehension of it.

_FINIS_

POSTHUMOUS WORKS

1712

REPERTORIUM:

Or, some Account of the Tombs and Monuments in the Cathedral Church of Norwich, in 1680.

In the Time of the late Civil Wars, there were about an hundred Brass Inscriptions stol'n and taken away from Grave-Stones, and Tombs, in the Cathedral Church of _Norwich_; as I was inform'd by _John Wright_, one of the Clerks, above Eighty Years old, and Mr. _John Sandlin_, one of the Choir, who lived Eighty nine Years; and, as I remember, told me that he was a Chorister in the Reign of Queen _Elizabeth_.

Hereby the distinct Places of the Burials of many noble and considerable Persons become unknown; and, lest they should be quite buried in Oblivion, I shall, of so many, set down only these following that are most noted to Passengers, with some that have been erected since those unhappy Times.

First, in the Body of the Church, between the Pillars of the South Isle, stands a Tomb, cover'd with a kind of Touch-stone; which is the Monument of MILES SPENCER, LL.D. and Chancellor of _Norwich_, who lived unto Ninety Years. The Top Stone was entire, but now quite broken, split, and depress'd by Blows: There was more special Notice taken of this Stone, because Men used to try their Money upon it; and that the Chapter demanded certain Rents to be paid on it. He was Lord of the Mannor of _Bowthorp_ and _Colney_, which came unto the _Yaxley's_ from him; also Owner of _Chappel_, in the Field.

The next Monument is that of Bishop RICHARD NICKS, _alias_ Nix, or the Blind Bishop, being quite dark many Years before he died. He sat in this _See_ Thirty Six Years, in the Reigns of King _Henry_ VII. and _Henry_ VIII. The Arches are beautified above and beside it, where are to be seen the Arms of the _See_ of _Norwich_, _impaling_ his own, _viz._ a _Chevron_ between three _Leopards_ Heads. The same Coat of Arms is on the Roof of the _North_ and _South Cross Isle_; which Roofs he either rebuilt, or repair'd. The Tomb is low, and broad, and 'tis said there was an Altar at the bottom of the Eastern Pillar: The Iron-work, whereon the Bell hung, is yet visible on the Side of the Western Pillar.

Then the Tomb of Bishop JOHN PARKHURST, with a legible Inscription on the Pillar, set up by Dean _Gardiner_, running thus.

Johannes Parkhurst, _Theol. Professor_, Guilfordiae _natus_,
Oxoniae _educatus, temporibus_ Mariae _Reginae pro
Nitida conscientia tuenda_ Tigurinae _vixit exul
Voluntarius: Postea presul factus, sanctissime
Hanc rexit Ecclesiam per 16 an. Obiit secundo die_
Febr. 1574.

A Person he was of great Esteem and Veneration in the Reign of Queen _Elizabeth_. His Coat of Arms is on the Pillars, visible, at the going out of the Bishop's Hall.

Between the two uppermost Pillars, on the same Side, stood a handsom Monument of Bishop EDMUND SCAMLER, thus.

_Natus apud_ Gressingham, _in Com._ Lanc. SS. _Theol. Prof.
apud_ Cantabrigienses. _Obiit AEtat._ 85. _an._ 1594 _nonis_ Maii.

He was Houshold Chaplain to the Archbishop of _Canterbury_, and died 1594. The Monument was above a yard and half high, with his Effigies in Alabaster, and all enclosed with a high Iron Grate. In the late Times the Grate was taken away, the Statue broken, and the Free-stone pulled down as far as the inward Brick-work; which being unsightly, was afterwards taken away, and the Space between the Pillars left void, as it now remaineth.

In the South-side of this Isle, according as the Inscription denoteth, was buried GEORGE GARDINER, sometime Dean.

Georgius Gardiner Barvici _natus_, Cantabrigiae _educatus,
Primo minor Canonicus, secundo Praebendarius, tertio Archidiaconus_.
Nordovici, _et demum_ 28 Nov. _An._ 1573. _factus est Sacellanus
Dominae Reginae, et Decanus hujus Ecclesiae, in quo loco per 16
Annos rexit_.

Somewhat higher is a Monument for Dr. EDMUND PORTER, a learned Prebendary, sometime of this Church.

Between two Pillars of the North Isle in the Body of the Church, stands the Monument of Sir JAMES HOBART, Attorney-General to King _Henry_ VII. and VIII. He built _Loddon_ Church, St. _Olave's_ Bridge, and made the Causeway adjoining upon the South-side. On the upper Part is the Atchievement of the _Hobarts_, and below are their Arms; as also of the _Nantons_, _viz._ (_three Martlets_) his second Lady being of that Family. It is a close Monument, made up of handsom Stone-work: And this Enclosure might have been employ'd as an Oratory. Some of the Family of the _Hobarts_ have been buried near this Monument; as Mr. _James Hobart_ of _Holt_. On the South-side, two young Sons, and a Daughter of Dean _Herbert Astley_, who married _Barbara_, Daughter of _John_, only Son of Sir _John Hobart_ of _Hales_.

In the Middle Isle, under a very large Stone, almost over which a Branch for Lights hangeth, was buried Sir FRANCIS SOUTHWELL, descended from those of great Name and Estate in _Norfolk_, who formerly possessed _Woodrising_.

Under a fair Stone, by Bishop _Parkhurst's_ Tomb, was buried Dr. MASTERS, Chancellor.

Gul. Maister, _LL. Doctor Curiae Cons. Ep==atus_ Norwicen.
_Officialis principalis. Obiit 2 Feb. 1589._

At the upper End of the Middle Isle, under a large Stone, was buried Bishop WALTER _de_ HART, _alias le_ HART, or LYGHARD. He was Bishop 26 Years, in the Times of _Henry_ VI. and _Edward_ IV. He built the Transverse Stone Partition, or Rood Loft, on which the great Crucifix was placed, beautified the Roof of the Body of the Church, and paved it. Towards the North-side of the Partition-Wall are his Arms the _Bull_ and towards the South-side, _a Hart in Water_, as a _Rebus_ of his Name, _Walter Hart_. Upon the Door, under the Rood Loft, was a Plate of Brass, containing these Verses.

_Hic jacet absconsus sub marmore presul honestus
Anno milleno C quater cum septuageno
Annexis binis instabat ei prope finis
Septima cum decima lux Maij sit numerata
Ipsius est anima de corpore tunc separata._

Between this Partition and the Choir on the North-side, is the Monument of Dame ELIZABETH CALTHORPE, Wife of Sir _Francis Calthorpe_, and afterwards Wife of _John Colepepper_, Esq.

In the same Partition, behind the Dean's Stall, was buried JOHN CROFTS, lately Dean, Son of Sir _Henry Crofts_ of _Suffolk_, and Brother to the Lord _William Crofts_. He was sometime Fellow of _All-Souls_ College in _Oxford_, and the first Dean after the Restauration of his Majesty King _Charles_ II. whose Predecessor, Dr. _John Hassal_, who was Dean many Years, was not buried in this Church, but in that of _Creek_. He was of _New_ College in _Oxford_, and Chaplain to the Lady _Elizabeth_, Queen of _Bohemia_, who obtain'd this Deanry for him.

On the South-side of the Choir, between two Pillars, stands the Monument of Bishop JAMES GOLDWELL, Dean of Salisbury, and Secretary to King _Edward_ IV. who sat in this _See_ Twenty five Years. His Effigies is in Stone, with a _Lion_ at his Feet, which was his Arms, as appears on his Coat above the Tomb. On the Choir Side, his Arms are also to be seen in the sixth Escocheon, in the West-side over the Choir; as also in S. _Andrew's_ Church, at the Deanry in a Window; at _Trowes_, _Newton-Hall_, and at _Charta-magna_ in _Kent_, the Place of his Nativity; where he also built, or repair'd the Chappel. He is said to have much repair'd the East End of this Church; did many good Works, lived in great Esteem, and died _Ann._ 1498 or 1499.

Next above Bishop _Goldwell_, where the Iron Grates yet stand, Bishop JOHN WAKERING is said to have been buried. He was Bishop in the Reign of King _Henry_ V. and was sent to the Council of _Constance_: He is said also to have built the Cloister in the Bishop's Palace, which led into it from the Church Door, which was cover'd with a handsom Roof, before the late Civil War. Also reported to have built the Chapter-house, which being ruinous, is now demolish'd, and the decay'd Parts above and about it handsomly repair'd, or new built. The Arms of the _See_ impaling his own Coat, the Three _Fleur des Lys_, are yet visible upon the Wall by the Door. He lived in great Reputation, and died 1426, and is said to have been buried before S. _George's_ Altar.

On the North-side of the Choir, between the two Arches, next to Queen _Elizabeth's_ Seat, were buried Sir THOMAS ERPINGHAM, and his Wives the Lady JOAN, _etc._ whose Pictures were in the Painted-Glass Windows, next unto this Place, with the Arms of the _Erpingham's_. The Insides of both the Pillars were painted in red Colours, with divers Figures and Inscriptions, from the top almost to the bottom, which are now washed out by the late whiting of the Pillars. He was a Knight of the Garter in the Time of _Hen._ IV. and some Part of _Hen._ V. and I find his Name in the List of the Lord Wardens of the Cinque-Ports. He is said to have built the _Black Friars_ Church, or Steeple, or both, now called _New-Hall Steeple_. His Arms are often on the Steeple, which are an Escocheon within an _Orle of Martlets_, and also upon the out-side of the Gate, next the School-House. There was a long Brass Inscription about the Tomb-stone, which was torn away in the late Times, and the Name of _Erpingham_ only remaining. _Johannes Dominus de Erpingham Miles_, was buried in the Parish Church of _Erpingham_, as the Inscription still declareth.

In the North Isle, near to the Door, leading towards _Jesus Chappel_, was buried Sir WILLIAM DENNY, Recorder of _Norwich_, and one of the Counsellors at Law to King _Charles_ I.

In _Jesus Chappel_ stands a large Tomb (which is said to have been translated from our Ladies Chappel, when that grew ruinous, and was taken down) whereof the Brass Inscription about it is taken away; but old Mr. _Spendlow_, who was a Prebendary 50 Years, and Mr. _Sandlin_, used to say, that it was the Tombstone of the _Windham's_; and in all Probability, might have belonged to Sir _Thomas Windham_, one of King _Henry_ VIII.'s Counsellors, of his Guard, and Vice-Admiral; for I find that there hath been such an Inscription upon the Tomb of a _Windham_ in this Church.

_Orate pro a==a_ Thome Windham, _militis_, Elianore, _et Domine_
Elizabethe, _uxorum ejus, etc. qui quidem_ Thomas _fuit unus
consiliariorum_

_Regis_ Henrici VIII. _et unus militum pro corpore, ejusdem Domini,
nec non Vice-Admirallus_.

And according to the Number of the Three Persons in the Inscription, there are Three Figures upon the Tomb.

On the North Wall of _Jesus Chappel_ there is a legible Brass Inscription in Latin Verses; and at the last Line _Pater Noster_. This was the Monument of _Randulfus Pulvertoft custos caronelle_. Above the Inscription was his Coat of Arms, _viz. Six Ears of Wheat with a Border of Cinque-foils_; but now washed out, since the Wall was whiten'd.

At the Entrance of St. _Luke's Chappel_, on the Left Hand, is an arched Monument, said to belong to one of the Family of the _Bosvile's_ or _Boswill_, sometime Prior of the Convent. At the East End of the Monument are the Arms of the Church (_the Cross_) and on the West End another (_three Bolt Arrows_,) which is supposed to be his Paternal Coat. The same Coat is to be seen in the sixth Escocheon of the South-side, under the Belfry. Some Inscriptions upon this Monument were washed out when the Church was lately whiten'd; as among the rest, _O morieris! O morieris! O morieris!_ The _three Bolts_ are the known Arms of the _Bosomes_, an ancient Family in _Norfolk_; but whether of the _Bosviles_, or no, I am uncertain.

Next unto it is the Monument of RICHARD BROME, Esq. whose Arms thereon are _Ermyns_; and for the Crest, _a Bunch or Branch of Broom with Golden Flowers_. This might be _Richard Brome_, Esq. whose Daughter married the Heir of the _Yaxley's of Yaxley_, in the Time of _Henry_ VII. And one of the same Name founded a Chappel in the Field in _Norwich_.

There are also in St. _Luke's Chappel_, amongst the Seats on the South-side, two substantial Marble and cross'd Tombs, very ancient, said to be two Priors of this Convent.

At the Entrance into the Cloister, by the upper Door on the Right Hand, next the Stairs, was a handsom Monument on the Wall, which was pulled down in the late Times, and a Void Place still remaineth. Upon this Stone were the Figures of two Persons in a praying Posture, on their Knees. I was told by Mr. _Sandlin_, that it was said to be the Monument for one of the _Bigots_, who built or beautified that Arch by it, which leadeth into the Church.

In the Choir towards the high Altar, and below the Ascents, there is an old Tomb, which hath been generally said to have been the Monument of Bishop WILLIAM HERBERT, Founder of the Church, and commonly known by the Name of the Founder's Tomb. This was above an Ell high; but when the Pulpit, in the late Confusion, was placed at the Pillar, where Bishop _Overall's_ Monument now is, and the Aldermen's Seats were at the East End, and the Mayor's Seat in the middle at the high Altar, the height of the Tomb being a Hindrance unto the People, it was taken down to such a Lowness as it now remains in. He was born at _Oxford_, in good Favour with King _William Rufus_, and King _Henry_ I. removed the Episcopal _See_ from _Thetford_ to _Norwich_, built the Priory for 60 Monks, the Cathedral Church, the Bishop's Palace, the Church of S. _Leonard_, whose Ruins still remain upon the Brow of _Mushold-Hill_; the Church of S. _Nicolas_ at _Yarmouth_, of S. _Margaret_ at _Lynn_, of S. _Mary_ at _Elmham_, and instituted the _Cluniack_ Monks at _Thetford_. _Malmsbury_ saith he was, _Vir pecuniosus_, which his great Works declare, and had always this good Saying of S. _Hierom_ in his Mouth, _Erravimus juvenes, emendemus senes_.

Many Bishops of old might be buried about, or not far from the Founder, as _William Turbus_, a _Norman_, the third Bishop of _Norwich_, and _John_ of _Oxford_ the fourth, accounted among the learned Men of his Time, who built _Trinity_ Church in _Ipswich_, and died in the Reign of King _John_; and it is deliver'd, that these two Bishops were buried near to Bishop _Herbert_, the Founder.

In the same Row, or not far off, was buried Bishop HENRY _le_ SPENCER, as lost Brass Inscriptions have declar'd. And Mr. _Sandlin_ told me, that he had seen an Inscription on a Gravestone thereabouts, with the Name of _Henricus de_, or _le Spencer_: He came young unto the _See_, and sat longer in it than any before or after him: But his Time might have been shorter, if he had not escaped in the Fray at _Lennam_, (a Town of which he was Lord) where forcing the Magistrate's Tipstaff to be carried before him, the People with Staves, Stones, and Arrows, wounded, and put his Servants to Flight. He was also wounded, and left alone, as _John Fox_ hath set it down out of the Chronicle of S. _Albans_.

In the same Row, of late Times, was buried Bishop RICHARD MONTAGUE, as the Inscription, _Depositum Montacutii Episcopi_, doth declare.

For his eminent Knowledge in the _Greek_ Language, he was much countenanc'd by Sir _Henry Savile_, Provost of _Eaton_ College, and settled in a Fellowship thereof: Afterwards made Bishop of _Chichester_; thence translated unto _Norwich_, where he lived about three Years. He came unto _Norwich_ with the evil Effects of a quartan Ague, which he had about a Year before, and which accompany'd him to his Grave; yet he studied, and writ very much, had an excellent Library of Books, and Heaps of Papers, fairly written with his own Hand, concerning the Ecclesiastical History. His Books were sent to _London_; and, as it was said, his Papers against _Baronius_, and others transmitted to _Rome_; from whence they were never return'd.

On the other Side was buried Bishop JOHN OVERALL, Fellow of _Trinity_ College in _Cambridge_, Master of _Katherine_ Hall, _Regius_ Professor, and Dean of St. _Pauls_; and had the Honour to be nominated one of the first Governours of _Sutton_ Hospital, by the Founder himself, a Person highly reverenc'd and belov'd; who being buried without any Inscription, had a Monument lately erected for him by Dr. _Cosin_, Lord Bishop of _Durham_, upon the next Pillar.

Under the large Sandy-colour'd Stone was buried Bishop RICHARD CORBET, a Person of singular Wit, and an eloquent Preacher, who lived Bishop of this _See_ but three Years, being before Dean of _Christ_ Church, then Bishop of _Oxford_. The Inscription is as follows:

Richardus Corbet _Theologiae Doctor,
Ecclesiae Cathedralis Christi Oxoniensis
Primum alumnus inde Decanus, exinde
Episcopus, illinc huc translatus, et
Hinc in coelum_, Jul. 28. _Ann._ 1635.

The Arms on it, are the _See_ of _Norwich_, impaling, _Or a Raven sab._ Corbet.

Towards the upper End of the Choir, and on the South-side, under a fair large Stone, was interred Sir WILLIAM BOLEYN, or BULLEN, Great Grandfather to Queen _Elizabeth_. The Inscription hath been long lost, which was this:

_Hic jacet corpus_ Willelmi Boleyn, _militis,
Qui obiit_ x _Octobris, Ann. Dom._ MCCCCCV.

And I find in a good Manuscript of the Ancient Gentry of _Norfolk_ and _Suffolk_ these Words. _Sir_ William Boleyn, _Heir unto Sir_ Tho. Boleyn, _who married_ Margaret, _Daughter and Heir of_ Tho. Butler, _Earl of_ Ormond, _died in the Year_ 1505, _and was buried on the South-side of the Chancel of Christ Church in_ Norwich. And surely the Arms of few Families have been more often found in any Church, than those of the _Boleyn's_, on the Walls, and in the Windows of the East Part of this Church. Many others of this noble Family were buried in _Bleckling_ Church.

Many other Bishops might be buried in this Church, as we find it so asserted by some Historical Accounts; but no History or Tradition remaining of the Place of their Interment, in vain we endeavour to design and point out the same.

As of Bishop JOHANNES _de_ GRAY, who, as it is delivered, was interr'd in this Church, was a Favourite of King _John_, and sent by him to the Pope: He was also Lord Deputy of _Ireland_, and a Person of great Reputation, and built _Gaywood Hall_ by _Lynn_.

As also of Bishop ROGER SKEREWYNG, in whose Time happened that bloody Contention between the Monks and Citizens, begun at a Fair kept before the Gate, when the Church was fir'd: To compose which King _Henry_ III. came to _Norwich_, and _William de Brunham_, Prior, was much to blame. See _Holingshead, etc._

Or, of Bishop WILLIAM MIDDLETON, who succeeded him, and was buried in this Church; in whose Time the Church that was burnt while _Skerewyng_ sat was repair'd and consecrated, in the Presence of King _Edward_ I.

Or, of Bishop JOHN SALMON, sometime Lord Chancellor of _England_, who died 1325, and was here interr'd, his Works were noble. He built the great Hall in the Bishop's Palace; the Bishop's long Chappel on the East-side of the Palace, which was no ordinary Fabrick; and a strong handsom Chappel at the West End of the Church, and appointed four Priests for the daily Service therein: Unto which great Works he was the better enabled, by obtaining a Grant of the first Fruits from Pope _Clement_.

Or, of Bishop THOMAS PERCY, Brother to the Earl of _Northumberland_, in the reign of _Richard_ II. who gave unto a Chantry the Lands about _Carlton_, _Kimberly_, and _Wicklewood_; in whose Time the Steeple and Belfry were blown down, and rebuilt by him, and a Contribution from the Clergy.

Or, of Bishop ANTHONY _de_ BECK, a Person of an unquiet Spirit, very much hated, and poison'd by his Servants.

Or likewise, of Bishop THOMAS BROWNE, who being Bishop of _Rochester_, was chosen Bishop of _Norwich_, while he was at the Council of _Basil_, in the reign of King _Henry_ VI. was a strenuous Assertor of the Rights of the Church against the Citizens.

Or, of Bishop WILLIAM RUGGE, in whose last Year happen'd _Kett's_ Rebellion, in the Reign of _Edward_ VI. I find his Name, _Guil. Norwicensis_, among the Bishops, who subscribed unto a Declaration against the Pope's Supremacy, in the Time of _Henry_ VIII.

Or, of Bishop JOHN HOPTON, who was Bishop in the Time of Queen _Mary_, and died the same Year with her. He is often mentioned, together with his Chancellor _Dunning_, by _John Fox_ in his Martyrology.

Or lastly, of Bishop WILLIAM REDMAN, of _Trinity College_ in _Cambridge_, who was Archdeacon of _Canterbury_. His Arms are upon a Board on the North-side of the Choir, near to the Pulpit.

Of the four Bishops in Queen _Elizabeth's_ Reign, _Parkhurst_, _Freake_, _Scamler_ and _Redman_, Sir _John Harrington_, in his _History of the Bishops_ in her Time, writeth thus; _For the four Bishops in the Queen's Days, they liv'd as Bishops should do, and were not Warriours like Bishop_ Spencer, _their Predecessor_.

Some Bishops were buried neither in the Body of the Church, nor in the Choir; but in our Ladies Chappel, at the East End of the Church, built by Bishop WALTER _de_ SUTHFEILD, (in the Reign of _Henry_ III.) wherein he was buried, and Miracles said to be wrought at his Tomb, he being a Person of great Charity and Piety.

Wherein also was buried Bishop SIMON _de_ WANTON, _vel_ WALTON, and Bishop _Alexander_, who had been Prior of the Convent; and also, as some think, Bishop _Roger Skerewyng_, and probably other Bishops, and Persons of Quality, whose Tombs and Monuments we now in vain enquire after in the Church.

This was a handsom Chappel; and there was a fair Entrance into it out of the Church, of a considerable Height also, as may be seen by the out-side, where it adjoined unto the Wall of the Church. But being ruinous, it was, as I have heard, demolished in the Time of Dean _Gardiner_: But what became of the Tombs, Monuments, and Grave-stones, we have no Account: In this Chappel, the Bishop's Consistory, or Court, might be kept in old Time, for we find in _Fox's Martyrology_, that divers Persons accused of Heresy were examined by the Bishop, or his Chancellor, in St. _Mary's_ Chappel. This famous Bishop, _Walter de Suthfeild_, who built this Chappel, is also said to have built the Hospital not far off.

Again, divers Bishops sat in this _See_, who left not their Bones in this Church; for some died not here, but at distant Places; some were translated to other Bishopricks; and some, tho' they lived and died here, were not buried in this Church.

Some died at distant Places; as Bishop Richard Courtney, Chancellor of _Oxford_, and in great Favour with King _Henry_ V. by whom he was sent unto the King of _France_, to challenge his Right unto that Crown; but he dying in _France_, his Body was brought into _England_, and interr'd in _Westminster-Abbey_ among the Kings.

Bishop WILLIAM BATEMAN, LL.D. born in _Norwich_, who founded _Trinity-Hall_, in _Cambridge_, and persuaded _Gonvil_ to build _Gonvil-College_, died at _Avignon_ in _France_, being sent by the King to _Rome_, and was buried in that City.

Bishop WILLIAM AYERMIN died near _London_.