IT is our Christian Priviledge that sometimes we May, and when Spectacles of Mortality lye before us (as now) it is our Christian Duty that we should take a View of the Top of Ta­bor; even whilst we dwell upon this our Native Calva­ry, mount up our Thoughts, and fix our Meditations on the Thrones in Heaven, whilst we have our Con­versations on Earth: 'Tis true, the Excellency, Glo­ry, and Splendor of Heaven, no finite Brain, no cre­ated Understanding can possibly perceive or com­prehend according to its full Proportion; for it is a Fruit of our Fall with Adam, and an Inseparable Adjunct of this mortal and unglorified State here be­low, concerning things Coelestial, That what we know we know it but in part. Yet as a tender affectionate Father by giving of his Child a Glimps of some Rich and Orient Pearl, makes the Child big with De­sire and Impatient for a full Sight thereof, and a grasping of it in his own Hand: So our Heavenly [Page 2]Father full of Compassion to the Sons of Men, though he detains from the Eye of our Sense a full Comprehension of that Glorious State while we are in the body, yet now and then, he is pleased to give us a glimpse, to let fall in his Word some Sparkles of it, that he may Inflame our Affections, and set our Faith on Tip-toes, that so we having the Eyes of our Souls within the Vail, in this Valley of Tears and Troubles, may always be refreshed with the very Remembrance of those Glories that are about His Throne. A Telescope is an Instrument of Man's Invention, that he may take a better View than his weak Eyes of themselves can have, of those splendid Lamps that so much beautifie the Cope of the near­est Heavens: Whereto the Apostle seems to allude, when he tells us that we can only behold the things placed above this Region of our Mortality, as through a Glass: Such a Glass, such a Telescope, is this my Text, which gives a general Description to us of that great and unexpressible Glory which the Saints have, who are glorified with God in Heaven. There were some indeed called Chiliacts, whom later days by ex­position of the Name, have stiled Millinaries, who looking for a New Heaven on this Old Earth, would have these words understood of the Church Mili­tant: But I could produce a Cloud of Witnesses to make good his Words, who tells us it is not imagin­able that any Company of Men, any Congregation of Saints, should ever be found on Earth of so un­mixt a Purity, and so exact Perfection as is here de­scribed. [Page 3]The words then must be understood of the Church Triumphant, as clearly appears from the 2d. ver. of this Chapter, which testifies, That the Throne about which the Seats of these Elders stood, was fixed not on Earth, but in Heaven. And round a­bout the Throne were four and twenty Seats, &c.

From what hath been said, you see my Text is a true Jacobs Ladder, on which our Souls in their Medi­tations may ascend from Earth to Heaven.

And in this Ladder I shall remark to you five most beautiful Rounds, or Staves, which in plainer Terms I would call the Parts of the Text. First, The transcen­dent Excellency of those Places in which the Saints were made Conspicuous to St. John, 24 Seats. 2dly, The Transcendent Dignity of the Persons upon those Seats, they were Elders. 3dly Their Posture, they were sitting; the Saints of God were represent­ed to St. John in the same posture our Creed describes the Blessed Jesus, sitting in Heaven, to express their permanent, perpetual, and unalterable Rest; they are at Quiet, they are at Ease, without Molestation, without Trouble, and that to all Eternity. 4. Their Vesture, clothed in White: Whence we note, that however Foul-mouths may bespot it, yet White Ray­ment is the fittest, most comely and significant Ha­bit for those that wait at God's Altars, yea, for them too to be represented in, that sit about his Throne. 5thly. Their Ornament; And they had upon their Heads Crowns of Gold. We in England borrowed our Proverb from the Latines, That The End Crowns the [Page 4]Work; give me leave here too to borrow from a Latine Author, the Observation, That a Crown ends my Text; importing that the greatest Men, Kings on Earth, can have no greater Glory than to be Saints in Hea­ven; And Saints on Earth, shall have so much Glory as to be Kings in Heaven. And being met to Cele­brate the Funeral of a Person, Great Indeed, Great in his Descent, Great in his Worth, Great in the Fa­vour of his Prince, and (what is best of all) Great in the Favour of God.

I shall not doubt with all your Approbations to determine his Earthly Coronet is changed into an Heavenly Crown, and so the Text and the Occasion will friendly conclude alike.

From the first General of the Text, the Transcen­dent Excellency of those Places in which the Saints were made Conspicuous to St. John, I must denote unto you Three eminent Circumstances: First, Their. Names, Seats. 2dly. Their Situation, Round about. 3dly. Their Number, Their Names. Twenty Four. First, their Names, Seats; So indeed our English Translation renders it, and so the Vulgar, with respect, I presume, to the fol­lowing word Sitting: But Cornelius a Lapide, Beza, Complutensis, Regius, with our own Learned Hamond, and a Multitude more, express them by the Name of Thrones, according to the Original, and agreeable to the Title our Blessed Lord gives them, St. Matthew the 19th. where telling his Disciples it is equally im­possible for a Camel to be squeezed through the Eye of a Needle, as for a Man whose Heart is swelled [Page 5]with pride of, and enlarged with desires after Riches, to enter in at the straight Gate of Eternal Life. At which Doctrine whilst the Disciples stood mute and astonished, St. Peter breaks silence, and saith, But we have forsaken all and followed thee, and what shall we have therefore? What Reward, what Compensation shall be given us for this? To whom our Saviour makes Reply, ver. 28. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye who have followed me in the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the Throne of his Glory, you also shall sit upon Thrones. Oh the high Dignation of God! and oh the high Dignity of Man! Men are advanced to Thrones, and that with God in Heaven; what Imperial Majesty like this? But to come closer, these Thrones or Seats were about the Throne, of whom? of the Blessed Jesus certainly, who is stiled in the Book of Wisdom Copartner with his Father in his Throne of Glory, and so is the Holy Ghost; the Glory of these three is equal, the Majesty Coeternal, the Godhead all one and the same, and therefore, the Throne upon which they are here represented, is but one also. Well therefore was that Portion of Scrip­ture chosen by our Church for the Epistle on Trini­ty Sunday, but of the three Christ is chiefly, say the most Orthodox Interpreters, intended in the Repre­sentation; and therefore it follows in the 3 d ver. That he which sat on the Throne was to look upon like a Jasper and a Sardine Stone, and there went a Rainbow round about the Throne, in sight like unto an Emrald: The Rainbow fairly emblematizeth, the Reconcilia­tion [Page 6]which Christ wrought with God for Man, be­ing at the first, placed in the Clouds as a Sign of the Covenant of that Reconciliation: And it appeared here in sight like unto an Emrald, more fully to ex­plain that Christ was meant, in whom, and from whom, we have our Spiritual Life. The Emrald be­ing of a most comfortable Colour, and making all things look most fresh and lovely that are about it. And all Divines I have met with, have discerned the Face of Christs Divinity in the Green and Lasting Colour of the Jasper, and the Face of his Humanity, in the Sardine-stone, which is of a Fleshly hew and complection: All put together, shew that it is Christ's Throne that gives Denomination to the other; and his sitting upon that Throne, that makes the Saints so Glorious. The other in the circumference, deri­ved their names and splendor from the Throne that stood in the Center, and that leads me to the second Circumstance in the first General of the Text, their situation round about. Situation. The Glorified Saints were made conspicuous to St. John sitting in Heaven, not in a square nor angular, nor, as some contend it, in a semicircle, but in a compleat and exact Circle, which of all others, is the most perfect and most capacious Figure, well translated in our English Round about: Round about the Throne of Christ; from whom Beams of Glory are darted circumferentially, and their Angle of Incidence being straight and directly level to the Angle of Reflection, the Glory must needs glance upon all: For Mathematicians tell us, [Page 7]that the Center is Perpendicular to every Point of the Circumference. Christ's Throne is represented here in the midst of the other, as the Tabernacle of the Congregation the Symbol of God's Presence amongst the Jews, set forward in their March (Betoke Hama­kanoth) in the midst of the Camp. And the Psalmist's saying, Promise unto the Lord and keep it all ye his Rounds, or all that are round about him, as we ren­der it, hath Relation, say Interpreters, to that En­camping of the Israelites in the Wilderness: And hereto it is thought also, our Saviour alludes, where he promiseth, That when two or three are met together in his Name, he will be in the midst of them. And where­soever Christ is in the midst, these that are round a­bout him must needs (like the Woman that touched the Hem of his Garment) draw Vertue from him. For as the Children's sitting round about the Table, argues their mutual participation of their Father's Love; so the Saints sitting round about the Throne of Christ, proves the Communication they have in their Saviours Glory, with which they shine above. Shine! Yes, and that with the same Glory that Christ himself shines withal. How, the same? Not by way of Reflection as the Stars borrow their Light of the Sun, but in their Measure, with the same Essential Beams: Otherwise the Saints would be so far from shining about Christ, that they must vanish, and dis­appear in his Presence as the Stars do at the rising of the Sun. Again, I cannot but observe, that this Glo­ry of Christ is communicated to the Saints glorified, [Page 8]in a due Proportion, but not in an equal Measure un­to all; though they all surround the Throne, yet there is more than one Round about that Throne: There are higher and lower Rounds of Saints, as well as of Angels, in Heaven. Imagine several Vessels of several scantlings cast into the Ocean, of which some hold a Pint, some hold a Pottle, some hold a Gallon, they will all be filled, but yet a respect must be had unto each of their Capacities. Thus filled indeed are all the Saints in the Beatifical Vision, but it is in the Apostles Phrase according to the Measure of the Ful­ness of which they are capable: And yet you believe, when both are in the Sea, it is as true Water that fills the Pint as that which fills the Pottle: No more is it a different Image which we stamp on a Penny from that, which is stamp'd on a Shilling, the Image of Caesar is on both, and may be applyed by the meanest Logi­cian to prove that there is a True community of the same Glory, but no Equality, which a good Bishop once of this Diocess reports thus; In Heaven there is one Life, one Felicity of all, but divers Measures. Our Heaven begins here on Earth, and even here, varies in Degrees, one Christian enjoys God above another, as his Grace his Faith is more. And Heaven will be still like it self, not another above from this beneath: He that improved five Talents was more recompen­sed, than he that improved but one, yet both reward­ed with their Masters Joy. And why should we incur the check our Saviour gave to his Disciples, asking, Who shall be greatest in the Kingdom of God? Let us all [Page 9]strive to get a Place about the Throne; What would we more than to be Happy? Though some may shine like the Sun, others like the Moon, others like the Stars, and one Star may differ from another Star in Glory, yet all about the Throne shall shine, and that for ever and ever: Nor, need any despair of Room in Heaven, of having a Seat about the Throne, though the Text mentioneth but four and twenty, the Third Particular or Circumstance to be spoken to. Their Number twenty four: Their Number. This is a finite and cer­tain Number, put for an uncertain and infinite, which is most frequent in the Holy Scriptures, nor was there need of mentioning more Seats than El­ders. Who these Elders were, and why no more, you will see by and by: In my Fathers House, saith Christ, are many Mansions; Many, how many, Oh Blessed Jesus? Nay, that no Tongue can tell, and therefore he expresseth them by a Word, indefinite, to shew that they are Infinite. Gods Hand unto his Children is not scant, like Isaac's, he hath more Bles­sings in store than one: For the Welcome, recorded by St. Matthew, is general to all, Come ye Blessed of my Father, receive the Kingdom prepared for you; A King­dom larg enough for all, no fear of straightness there, where St. John whilst yet in the Spirit, beheld and saw a great Multitude, which no man could number, of all Na­tions, and Kindreds, and People, and Tongues; And of all these saith St. Paul, Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved: And of this Num­ber were the Elders in the Text most certainly; which [Page 10]naturally brings me to the Second General.

The transcendent Dignity of the Persons placed upon the Throne; They were Elders. But alas, their Number was small, they were but twenty four, answer­able to their Seats. I have read, That under this Num­ber St. Jerome understood the Jewish Division of the Old Testament into twenty four Books: Others have thought here meant, The Distribution of the Sons of Aaron into twenty four Classes, by King David: Others say, That the Saints in Heaven, were represented here under the Form of the Governours in the earthly Jerusalem, ancient­ly composed, as the Jews relate, of twenty four Rectors or Heads of the twenty four Quarters of High Streets of the City. But herein I willingly close with Primasius, That the Catholick Congregation of all Churches which issue from the Ʋniting of Jews and Gentiles, when the whole Body, whereof Christ is Head, fitly joyned together, and compacted by that which every Part supplyeth, shall have its Consummation in Eternal Bliss and Glory, is here set forth by the Twelve Patriarchs, the Founders of the Jewish, and the Twelve Apostles the Founders of the Christian Church, in Robes of Purity, and with Crowns of Glory; They making up our number of twenty four, by whom principally, and chiefly, the Saints of the whole World were converted. And therefore being such glorious Instruments, it hath pleased the Holy Ghost to make them Representatives of the Church, which Christ hath redeemed unto God by his Blood, out of every Kindred, and People, and Tongue, and Nation; and placed about his Throne of Glory. And now these [Page 11]Representatives, are here stiled Elders, First, Nega­tively, not in respect of Age, for there are no Gray Hairs in Heaven; the Soul waxeth not old when in the Body, much less when in its Glory: No Elders in the Resurrection; Children that died in their Cradles, shall then step over to Perfection of Age, and old decrepid Bodies, be restored unto Strength and Vigour, both made Perfect in the full measure of the Stature of Christ; Young or Old, Maim'd or Perfect whilst in the Body, at the Resurrection, we shall all arise in the vigorous and flourishing Age which Christ himself arose in, and that was about thirty three: We are told by some, That all the An­gels that have appeared under both Testaments, have ap­peared in such an Age. And others say, that this our Saviour meant, in that saying of his, That in the Re­surrection, we shall be like the Angels of God. But second­ly, and positively, they are stiled Elders in respect of their Dignity, to shew the Honourable and Venerable Estate of the Saints in Heaven. Elders is a Title of Ho­nour, and hath been in all Nations and Languages, given unto Men Eminent in Place, both in Church and State. Thus the Representatives of the Majestick People in Old Rome, had the Name of Senators, which signifies Elders. Thus the Judges of the great Jewish Sanhedrim were stiled (Zekenim) Elders. Nor doth that known Title of Aldermen, by which we dignifie the Governours of our Metropolitan Towns and Ci­ties bear any other signification, which in right Or­thography should be Eldermen. Nay Bishops, and Su­perintendants [Page 12]of the Christian Church, are frequent­ly in the New Testament expressed by the Name of Elders too. But perhaps there is more than an Expres­sion of Dignity aimed at in this Title of Elders when ever applyed to the Saints in Heaven, even to inti­mate who they are that shall have a Place there, (viz.) Such as walk in the good old Ways, and maintain the good old Truths of the Prophets and Apostles. Without doubt that which in Religion is most Ancient, is most True, and Divine: Of whatsoever it may be said, It was not so from the Beginning, may well be rejected for spurious and forged. It cannot be concluded to be from him that is the Ancient of Days, but from the spirit of No­velty, who endeavours to make men change their Religion as they do their Fashion, that he may plunge as many as he can in the same Damnation with him­self; but for them who hold fast the form of words received, who contend for the Faith anciently deli­vered, who keep close to the good old Path of Righ­teousness, and Religion, My other three Generals in the Text do tell them, There are Seats about the Throne prepared, White Garments of Honour and Purity fitted and made ready, and Crowns of Gold held forth; to all which having spoken something in the opening of the Text, I pass them over, and shall now pass on to a new, but sadder Subject.

It is Comfortable and Glorious for a Christian to consi­der the Joys of Heaven; but when it is remembred that be­fore his Entrance into them, he must twice put off the Old Man, once with its Lusts of the Flesh, and afterwards with [Page 13]the Flesh of Mortality, it is a putting Mirrh into his Wine; to remember that we must all lye down in the Dust, and in the Dishonour of the Grave, is a great allay to all Delight we have in the Expectation of the Glories above. But none can reverse the Sentence, no Man can escape the Doom, Witness the Spectacle before us.

If Honourable Birth, and Ingenuous Education, if Wit and Learning, if Courage and Greatness, if Loyalty and Piety, if any thing could have given Immunity, have gone for a good Plea, have put in a Bar against a Sad Day, this sad Scene of Sorrows had not been the Entertainment of this Assembly, nor we at this time with Sorrow in our Faces, met to Celebrate the Obsequies, who have so often met with Joy in our Countenances to welcom the Arrival amongst us, of the Right Honourable ROBERT Earl and Vis­count YARMOƲTH Baron of PASTON.

Of whom to speak fully and satisfactorily, is fitter for a History than a Sermon. But though I cannot draw his Image in full Proportion, yet some Glimpses I shall give you of his Vertues, that they may find a Place in your Memories, and live in your daily Imi­tation.

It is expedient, nay expected, that somethings should be said, though all cannot. For my own part, he was pleased to give me so intimate Acquaintance with him, and that so filled me with just Arguments of his Praise, that I am more at a loss to determine, what to leave out, than what to say. Therefore be­gin I would, but where shall I begin, or how shall I make an End? they seem alike difficult. But to pur­sue [Page 14]my proposed Method, I will begin with that from which he took his Beginning, his Descent.

He was Great in his Descent; His Descent. At this Quintilian ad­viseth us to begin, when we commend to Posterity the Memory of a Friend that's dead. And I can pro­duce many Authors that say that St. Luke begins here, when he speaks the Praise of St. John Baptist: But this is the Work of an Herauld, not a Preacher, and the Escoucheons speak enough, if I be silent. They speak him a Branch of an Honourable Stock, a Gentleman of an Ancient Race, whose Family ever flourished in the First Rank of Norfolk Gentry, and is now admit­ted into Alliance with the Blood Royal: Whose Name came into England three Years after the Con­quest: Lord Cokes Collection of the Pedigree of the Paston Family. Mss. The First of them was Wolstanus Paston, who was Buried at Backton, and after translated with Wil­liam de Glanvill his Cousin, to Bromhall-Abby, Foun­ded by the said William.

This Family was possessed of the Mannors of Pa­ston and Edingthorp, in the time of Richard the 2d. In the Year 1314 there was a Grant to Clement Paston to have a Chaplain in his House, a thing very rarely al­lowed by Authority, and without it, never.

In the 8th. Year of Henry the 6th. William Paston was made Judge of the Common Pleas, to whom the King granted as a special Mark of Favour 100 l. and 10 Marks a Year, with two Robes more than the or­dinary Fee of the Judges.

This Judge married the Daughter and Heiress of Sir Edmond Berry, by whom he had the Mannors of [Page 15] Oxnead and Marlingford, and divers other Lands in Norfolk. William Paston Kt. the 8th. Son of the Judge, married Anne the Daughter of the Duke of Somerset. After this I find, Sir John Paston by several Adventures there, atchieved great Reputation in France, and was chosen to be on the Kings Side in the Days of Edward the 4th. at the great Turnament against the then Lord Chamberlain and others; and was sent to conduct the Kings Sister, when she was to be married to Charles Duke of Burgundy.

Why should I name another Sir John Paston who was appointed, amongst others, to receive the Prin­cess Catherine from Spain, afterwards married to King Henry the 8th. From which King there is a Letter of Thanks to be produced, to Sir William Paston, for his Care in his Preservation of the Emperors Vice-Admi­ral, and other Matters of Courage and Prowess.

I will but name Clement, the Son of Sir John Pa­ston, who being Captain of a Ship in a War with France, brought the French Admiral St. Blaukert home with him, and kept him Prisoner at Castor, till he ransomed himself with seven thousand Crowns. He was Pentioner to four Kings and Queens, and in his declining Years, built Oxnead-House, and lived in it till Fourscore years Old: One of his Daughters was married to Thomas Earl of Rutland Kt. of the Garter. This Clement was called by King Henry the 8th his Champion; by the Protector in Edward the 6th's time, his Souldier; by Queen Mary, her Seaman; and by Queen Elizabeth, her Father; And what need of more?

This minds me of the Father of our deceased Lord, who was a Kt. and Baronet, whose Fame both at Home and Abroad was as great as his Original, and who left in the Place he lived in, a fresh Memory of his great Parts, and Abilities, and lasting Monuments of his Travels and Foreign Acquaintance. His Mo­ther was the Lady Catherine Bertue, Daughter to the late Loyal, Valiant, and thrice Noble Earl of Lindsey, whose Renown shall flowrish as long as our Chroni­cles shall remember us of Edg-hill Fight, where he be­ing General, valiantly fought, though with the loss of his Life, the Battel of his Soveraign.

No wonder then our Lord was so great, so eminent an Assertor of Majesty and of the Religion in the Church of England as established by the Law, as a late Dedication justly stiles him, when sprang from such Progenitors; From two Families mixt with the Noble Blood of many others, neither of which was ever sullied with Faction or Rebellion, taunted with Error or Schism, or blackned with Irreligion or A­theism; and to a Mind inclined to Vertue, it avail­eth much to be born well.

The Place in which he was born was Oxnead; Lift up thy Head then, Oh Happy Oxnead; yea, grow Proud, and boast that it can be said, This Good, this Great and Noble Lord was born in thee. More Reason hast thou for thy Ostentation in this, than any of the seven Cities had, which challenged and laid claim unto the Birth of Homer. But bar thy Gates against Men of Levelling Principles, who deny all Deference [Page 17]and Honour to such as this Lord in his Descent, whose Veins were filled in succession of many Ages with Heroick and Generous Blood. The glorious De­serts of Honourable Parents are no small Patrimony, and ought to be had in Reverence and Esteem. But as for me, I must confess, I have much more delight, much more satisfaction in blazoning the Vertues of any Man than his Arms; I hasten therefore to the Greatness of his Worth, which shall be my second General upon this Occasion.

He was Great in his Worth; His Worth. And here oh for the 2 Pencil of an Apelles, that I might be able to promise a Draught something worthy the Original.

The only Commendation of his Picture would be its Likeness to him; and this puts me in mind to say something of his Face, which will be ever before me, which God had adorned with an exact Symme­try and Pleasant Countenance, so that every Look was a Prevailing Argument to beget Love and Ad­miration in the Beholders. But the Cabinet is not so Beautiful as the Diamond that shines in its Bosom; And it will please me, and profit you most, to speak of his Intellectual Worth, whereof I might mention as many Branches almost as I have Minutes left for the Remainder of my Discourse. To avoid Prolixity what I can, I will reduce all to these; His Friendship, his Affability, his Learning, his Prudence, his Magnani­mity.

His Friendship towards Men was as general as his Ac­quaintance with them. Friendship. He was of a Nature so Kind, so [Page 18]Sweet, so Courting all; of a Disposition so Prompt, so ready, so chearful in receiving all, that he had no Enemies except such as deserved no Friends. Where he placed Affection and allowed of Intimacy, his Friendship (let my Experience give its Grateful Testi­mony) was as firm, as immoveable as a Rock; It was not all the starch'd Stratagems of Politick Heads, nor crafty Artifices of pretending Admirers, that could un­settle him to his Friend. He was very unapt, very un­easie to hear Ill of those, of whom himself had con­ceived Well. It was a Disease to him and made him Sick to have an Accusation brought against any whom he had set his Love on; the Accuser in thi kind always lost himself, but our Good Lord kept his Friend: Nothing would make him desert his Friend, unless it were his Friends deserting him and his Ma­jesties Sevice.

For this he shak'd off many, or rather they shak'd off themselves, and yet pretend to be as true Servants to the King as himself was, or he that speaks; but ob­serve, they'l serve the King, as the Fanaticks say they serve God, not according to the Ancient Institutions of Religion, but their own Way, according to their Hu­mour. So these pretend to serve the King, but not ac­cording to the Ancient Fundamental Laws of the Realm; and if they were let alone, they would, I fear me, do the Kings Business their own Way too.

2 His Conversation was always pleasant, unaffected towards his Betters, familiar towards Inferiors, undis­sembled towards any, Assability. and of easie Access towards [Page 19]all; and to none more freely than to the Clergy of the Church of England, whom he loved, whom he welcomed, and to whom he opened his Embraces al­ways, upon the very account they were such. He gave Respect to the Lowest, Honour to the highest; al­ways begging the Bishops Blessing upon his Knee, That he would pray to God for him.

He was of so great Comity and Civil Ʋrbanity, that as it is said of him in the Comedian, Never any de­parted Sad out of his Presence, unless it was to depart; and as the same Comedian speaks it too, None ever came at him, but they might learn something from him.

His Learning was very Comprehensive, extending 3 to whatsoever was worthy by a Gentleman to be known; nay, I must say, it was profound too, Learning. for he dived into the Bottom of whatsoever he set himself to enquire into. He was no Smatterer or superficial Sciolist, but had digested the whole Encyclopedy of Arts and Sciences, and was fully accomplished with all that from Studies at home or Travels abroad, could be expected in a Person of his Rank. He was, if not initiated, yet perfected in the Rudiments of Learning, under that most Eminently Learned, and fully Expe­rienced Schole-Master Dr. Richard Busby, at St. Peters Colledge in Westminster; and that Master hath often, and to this day will, (for as I take it, he yet lives, and long may he live to the Good of after Ages) tell how Pregnant this Young Plant was, and what great Hopes he gave of succeeding Fruit. From thence he went, and en­rolled his Name in Trinity Colledge in Cambridge, [Page 20]where he heightned his Parts by such Exercises as were suitable to his Quality, and perfected them by Conversation. And leaving there a Good Name be­hind him, he cross'd the Seas, and after some few Months spent in the Court of France, where he recei­ved many Remarks of Favour from the King and Queen, he returned well skilled in the Lingua, and fur­nished with a keen and sharpned Wit; with a Wit ve­ry Great, but Innocent; very Smart, but Harmless.

His Discourses were well imbelished with quaint Stories, and witty Jests, and yet never did he spend his Jest to lose his Friend; and, what is not usually met with, though he was generally full of Discourse, yet was he always inoffensive, and never impertment.

In Poetry he was very dextrous, and when he re­peated any thing out of the Greek, Latin, French I­talian, or other Poets, which he did frequently, it was hard to say whether the Author or he made the Sense. And when any began any thing out of the Ancient or Modern Historians, he seldom failed to go on and to tell what followed: So happy was he in his Memo­ry, even to Admiration: Nay the common Obser­vation failed in him, and he was a remarkable Excep­tion to that General Rule, That a great Wit, and a good Memory, are seldom accompanied with a sound Iudgment.

The Wise settling Affairs in the County, must make his 4 Enemies confess he neither wanted Judgment nor Prudence, Prudence. nor Conduct; by which he reduced things to a much better Condition than he found them; brought many back unto their Loyalty, confirmed [Page 21]others in it; and when the Times looked grim upon him, stopt the Career, and put Spoaks into the Cha­riot-wheels of those that drove Iehu-like towards a Commonwealth. And though in Popular Appearances, the Kings Friends and his with Tricks and Artifices have been outnumbred, yet he had Gold always to set against their Dross, and with his Weight much outdid their Number in all Elections.

But I am not willing, no not to mention our then Divisions and Confusions, when we seem'd all broke in Pieces, each fixing upon other Names of Reproach, even then by advancing the Kings Honour and In­terest, he gained the Affections of the Loyal Party, made them all his own, and at his death left the Num­ber of them almost double to what he found them.

Thus by his Prudent Management, he acquired great Fame to himself, great Peace to the County, and great Satisfaction to all Good and Honest Men. Nay here­by, even whether they would or no, he took possessi­on of many Hearts, to the Admiration of all that would not love him: Would not love him, did I say? Yes, 'tis true, some did not, they lov'd not him, that did not love the King, they lov'd not him that did not love the Church, and his Service to the King, and the Church, he valued more than he did their Love. Sure I am, they did not love him that vilified his Per­son, lessened his Parts, undervalued his Prudence, and reproached his Religion; That mercilesly and un­christianly, without colour of the Laws of Man, or Conscience towards God, pierced the Sides of his [Page 22]heartiest Friends to give him a Wound, a Stab. When his Friends for his Sake must be taken into Custody, and squeezed in an Arbitrary Skrew, or Hands as harsh and cruel: They persecuted his Friends for his sake, and with double Spight prosecuted him, because he owned them for his Friends; but to proceed. When Men in great Place began to write after the Copy of Forty One, when Accusations were invited, Calumny rewarded, nay, managed with great Art and Power, Then was this Noble Peer threatned with an Im­peachment, Articles, as the Common Vogue went, were ready; and such was the height of Malice, that his Friends were to be made, yea, forced to be Witnesses against him. Then was he threatned with a Stone-doublet (as the ruder Language of Norfolk phras'd it, with Confinement in the Tower, as the finer Phrase of London stiled it.) Yet, in all this, I ne­ver saw him daunted, his Countenance fall, or his Courage fail. He out-brayed his Enemies with his Innocence, and even then was more than usually constant in the House of Peers, to testifie, that he was not by all the Noise they made, broke into any Af­frightment for Shame or Fear of what he had done.

And when his Enemies, 5thly. like Aesop's Viper, had lick'd the File till their Tongues bled, Magnanimity. he remain'd invul­nerable. They accused him for going about to sub­vert the Fundamental Laws and Liberties of the People, the way by which great Stassord fell, and Can­terbury, who both, in their Stations, like this Noble Lord, supported nothing more: For the Rule is sure, [Page 23]the Axiom infallible, To defend the Kings Prerogative is the best way to secure the Peoples Liberties, nay Lives. But then, such is the blind Zeal of Malice, He must be impeach'd for Invading the Kings Prerogative, the Honour and Maintenance whereof was dearer to him than his Life. Nay themselves had just before, made, his advancing it too High, his Crime. Their own Surmises were the Bills of Accusation; but the Splen­dor of his Integrity to the King and Government, soon dispersed all these Clouds, and set him in a high­er Sphear, as we shall hear presently.

I have read that Hippasus the Pythagorean, being asked after his Advance, what he had done, made Answer, I have done nothing yet, for no man envies me. They that do Great things, as this our Lord did, can­not escape the Tongues and Teeth of Envy; but if Envy be the Accuser, there is no defence for Inno­cence; if Calumnies must pass for Evidence, the bravest Heroes, the best Men in the World, shall al­ways be the most reproached Persons.

Well! in despight of all they said, and of all they did, this Magnanimous Heroe remain'd firm in his Worth, unblemished in his Honour, and, what I must speak to as my third General, unshaken, and therefore Great in his Loyalty.

Here I heartily wish that Speech he made, To justi­sie the Succession of the Crown in its Lineal Descent, when 3 so many were made against it, had passed the Press, [...]. it would loudly have proclaimed his Parts and Loyal­ty together.

His Loyalty, which he brought into the World with him, which he derived from his Ancestors, Loyal Blood running in their Veins through all Successions: This he improved in his Education, it being (to my knowledge) the great Endeavour of his forementio­ned Schoolmaster, even in the worst of Times, to plant Loyalty in the Hearts of the Youth under his Tuition and Care, where he found kind and apt Ground. This (his Loyalty I mean) he consummated by his own Judgment and Approbation: he thought of nothing, he valued nothing that concern'd him­self, when the Kings Honour or Interest fell in his way.

His Father yet alive, and his Domestick Circum­stances very streight, out of his Superfluities (shall I say) yea, Necessities, he supplied his Majesty with Money whilst in Exile; Nay, I had it from himself, That he borrowed to give, fearing his Soveraign might Want.

His Father being dead, at his First Step into Pu­blick Affairs, when he entred the Honourable House of Commons, and took his place as Burgess for Rising-Chase in this County, the First Parliament after his Majesties most Happy Restauration, he was the Mem­ber, he the Person, that moved and put to vote, A Supply proportionable to His Majesties Great Necessities at that Time; upon which, that Parliament, to their Eternal Honour be it spoken, gave the King, Two Millions and an Half of Money.

Sometime after this, he entertained the King, Queen, and Duke, and all their Nobles and Servants in Attendance, a Night in Oxnead-House, where was prepared a most Sumptuous Supper, which cost him three times more than Earls Daughters had hereto­fore unto their Portions: Provisions superabundant­ly Plentiful, and all Accommodations answerable. Thus, as it is said Araunah did to David, did he as a King give unto the King. Nor can I omit to remark from his own Mouth, that the King had no sooner put himself under his Roof, but he told this Honour­able Baronet, That he was now Safe in the House of his Friend.

The Tables being spread and Sideboards richly a­dorned with Plate, the King took Notice of some more Remarkable Pieces, which gave occasion to Sr. Robert to tell him, That his House was once better fur­nished, and he could have welcomed his Majesty with greater Plenty of it, had not a Blew Ribbon that attended on his Majesty with a White Staff, plunder'd it from his Father by Trunks full. Here the King diverted himself with a delightful View of the House and its Situation, and what he found within: Left many Gracious Ac­knowledgments of Kindness from his Host, and next day took his Leave. But not long after, as an hono­rary Reward, his Majesty by Letters Patents changed Sir Robert Paston into Viscount Yarmouth Baron of Paston, the Ancient Seat of this Family; and so he quali­fied him for what in a short space he put into his Hands, his own Vicegerency, and made him Lord [Page 26]Lieutenant in this County of Norfolk: In the Conduct whereof his unusual Diligence, and unexpected Zeal in Publick Affairs, begat Wonder and Admiration in most, and by his great Care and noble Designs for his Majestics Interest and Service, he soon made him­self great and dear to the King his Master.

I have often heard him tell with great Complacen­cy, The Free Access he had unto his Majesty upon all Oc­casions: What a Kind Ear his Majesty gave unto all his Addresses. Proud of nothing, that ever I observed, but that great Trust and Confidence his Majesty placed in him. Proud! And well he might; for when all others frowned upon him, the King smiled, and Pu­blickly Embraced him in the House of Lords more than once, declaring, He had found him Trusty and Faithful: Nay, some that hear me, heard the King say, That whatsoever Service and Respects they shewed the Lord Yarmouth their Lord Lieutenant in this City, he took it done to himself, or to that purpose. In a word, such was his Loyalty, he valued not his Ease, though his Body was unwieldy; he spared not his Cost, tho' his Pocket did not overflow; he regarded not his Health, though for many years it hath not been much, when Publick Occasions called him forth to his Princes Service.

But whatever Wonder and Admiration all this had raised, it soon passed into the natural Daughters of Envy, Suspicion, and Detraction; into the Spirit of Ob­loquy and Slander, and brought upon him great Vex­ation and many Troubles.

Envy, that l [...]ke the Fire of Vetruvius broke out upon him, and might with the very Ashes have buried an­other, enclined and enspirited him with the more real and greater Vigour.

And now though his best Actions had an ill Name, and an ill Sense put upon them by others, yet his Ma­jesty, who sees as an Angel of God, made better Con­structions of them, and as a further Testimony of his Royal Favour, gave him another Title yet more Honourable, and made him Earl of Yarmouth, and so restored him to that Fame and Reputation in which his first Procedures had invested him.

And because both the Daughters of Envy have blown upon it, I will be his Assertor, That great was his Love to the Ancient, Loyal, and Honourable Cor­poration of Norwich, because the Members of that Body (generally speaking) loved the King.

This one Qualification was enough to Entitle an Enemy to his Love: But I am sure they found him their Friend, and manger the blasts of Calumny, the New Charter shall remain a Token of it. I must say, he spared no Cost, no Pains, as themselves can witness, to make the World believe that he loved them. Most of the Tables in his House have been often spread to­gether for their entertainment, and all his Friends em­ployed to bid them welcome. Nay, his very Sleep, to my knowledge, was often broke to find out ways how best to serve them. And he commended the Care of the City with his last Breath to all his best Friends, and the Blessing of God, who takes care for their Re­putations [Page 28]as for their Lives; and by the Orders of his Providence confutes the Slanderer, that the Acti­ons of the Just may be had in Everlasting Remem­brance: Therefore the Mouths of Slanderers stopt, the Memory of our Lord shall be Embalmed in Ho­nour; And so I am methodically almost at unawares brought to my last General, his Piety.

4 He was great in the Favour of God, great was he in his Piety: Piety. Such was his Piety, that he always, whatsoe­ver Business happened, opened and shut the Day with the same Key of Prayer in private unto God, and sel­dom mist, whatever Company he had, Publick Ser­vice in his Chappel, where, without regard to his Ease of Body, or greatness of Quality, I never saw him o­therwise than Kneeling at Prayers, and Standing at Hymns, well knowing, that the first resembles our Fall with Adam, and must be humble; the other puts us in mind of our Rise with Christ, and so must be a Posture of Praise and Thankfulness.

And what, in this profane Age, wherein Men ge­nerally neglect it, or if not, only take it to qualifie themselves for some Place or Preferment, will hardly be believed, yet can be proved by many Witnesses. What great strictness he did use, what holy Prepara­tion he did make when Sacrament days came, (and to him they never came too often:) He always sequestred himself from all Business and Company a day before at the least: And these were his own words, That he feared that Act of Parliament which designed so much good, would in time take away the Reverence due to that Holy [Page 29]Ordinance, and make it a formal thing only to be done of Course: But it was not so with him, for as my instru­ctions tell me, he received this Holy Communion as his Viaticum just before his Passover, not long before his death, with as much Comfort as Devotion.

Had I not Been too long already, I would branch his Piety into as many Particulars as I did his Worth; But why should I mention the Parish Church at Ox­nead, where he lived, which he adorned and beauti­fied? Why should I speak of the Chappel in the House, which he built and consecrated to the Service of God? Why should I mind you of that Rich and Noble Plate he furnished God's Altar with? were I si­lent they should remain, as Jacobs Pillars, lasting Mo­numents of his Piety, and to the Generations yet to come, the Stones out of the Walls shall speak his Praise, as the Noble Fabrick of the Free School in North-wal­sham, plentifully endowed, doth to this.

And the weekly Lecture maintained there by the Bounty of his Ancestors, hath transmitted the Ho­nour of their Piety down to us: Let the Tongues of the Poor, the Relief of the Widdow, the Succour he gave the Fatherless, the Clothing of the Naked speak his Charity. Indeed he was made up of Pity and Ten­der-heartedness, of Christian Kindness and Compas­sion.

As to that Charity which implies Forgiveness of Inju­ries, he was most Eminent: Injuries and Ʋnkindnesses at present made deep Impressions, gave sudden wounds to his tender Heart, where all things were so [Page 30]contrary, but upon his recollecting of himself, whe­ther they were by mistake or out of Malice, it was the same thing, or the same nothing in his Account or Memory.

I told you how Tenacious his Memory was, but if it were to lay up an ill turn, it took no hold, but let that slip into Forgetfulness. After some (as I inti­mated) had set to work all their Engines, and like the Roman Retiaries spread their Nets to entangle him, whom otherwise they could not destroy: He often protested to me, Though he feared not their Contrivan­ces, yet he heartily forgave the Contrives. And when I saw him last, he repeated the Saving with this Addi­tion, So far he forgave them, that he had forgot the Par­ticulars. And at his very Hour of Death, it seems, de­clared, He was in perfect Peace and Love with all the World, and so was ready to resign his Soul to God that gave it, his Life to God who had preserved it with particular Marks of Favour and Providence; None of the least whereof, was that wonderful Rescue, which was effect­ed for him by no less than a Divine Hand, when on the ninth day of August, about eight years ago, a knot of Villains beset him in the Night, shot five Bullets through the Coach, and one into his Body, but pro­ved not Mortal: For which Deliverance he kept an Anniversary Thanksgiving upon that day unto his death, and now keeps a Jubile with his Deliverer for evermore.

But you'l ask, Had this good Lord no Faults? was he all Vertue, all Sweetness, all Goodness? I answer, He had [Page 31]Infirmities, he was no Angel; yet let not that Custo­mary Sin, contracted in his younger time, of Swear­ing, be his Reproach, for he hath often bewailed it, and with abundance of Tears in his Sickness about four years since lamented it in himself, and ever since utterly abhorred it in all others: I have seen him shake his Head, sit Uneasie, and at last withdraw, when he hath heard some Young men extravagantly imbel­lish, or rather imboss their Discourse like a Face with Carbunkles, with wicked and unprofitable Oaths. He did it more than once, when last amongst us. He had his Failings, and indeed were it not for some Grains of allowance given, in what Pieces could there be weight? in none of Mortality, surely; but they are impure Flies that feed upon other Mens Sores; and they have too much Corruption in themselves, that love to hear of the Corruption of others.

His Faults, Frailties, Sins and Infirmities, so much by him bewailed, and through his True Repentance buried in the Grave of Christ, in whom was his Strength and Hope, his Faith and Salvation, I doubt not but your Christian Charity will think fit to bury with him in a deeper Grave, the Grave of Oblivion, whilst his Vertues shall live and flourish, and find a per­petual Monument in every one of your Hearts.

And here now I bespeak my Excuse for not insisting much upon the great Affections he bore unto all his Relations: None understood Relations more, non observed them better. I left it to the last, because my Instructions tell me, after he commended his Soul [Page 32]to God in the Church her Prayers (which during his whole Sickness, he devoutly heard twice in his Cham­ber every day) he gave Counsel, and administred Comfort to them about him, his dear Consort, his beloved Children, his respected Servants, as if they had been the sick and dying Persons, and he the well and sound.

He received with great desire the Absolution of the Church, from the mouth of the Minister, who sate up all night with him, and some few hours after: A­bout eight a Clock in the morning, fetching one single Sob, he died, and sweetly reposed himself in the Bosom of the Blessed Jesus.

He died a Good Christian as he had lived like a Gen­tleman, his own wish, and often repeated Expression: He died a True, and Loyal Protestant, a sound Mem­ber of the Church of England; he departed in her Faith, which they of Rome call Heresie, and they of Geneva, Popery.

His Death was such as Augustus used to wish for himself, an Euthanasia, a Civil, Easie, and Well-Natur'd Death. Thus was he taken from our Eyes, in the same manner the Jews say Moses was, by a Kiss of Gods Mouth; A Death indeed, but Gentle and Se­rene, without Trouble and Amazement, without Impatience and Temptation: And in the very Point of Death, he seemed to taste of the Sweet of Eter­nal Peace, that Happy Rest of the Life Above, where he sits among them, That are about the Throne, clothed in White, with a Crown of Gold upon his Head: And [Page 33]let it be our Care so to live, that every one of us may have a Place, within the Rounds there, to sing Eternal Halelujahs to him that siteth upon the Throne; To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, Three Persons and One God, be all Blessing, and Honour, and Power, and Glory, for Ever and E­ver. Amen.

Glory be to God on High!