begin or how shall I make an End they seem alike difficult But to pursue 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 Vniting 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 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 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 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 YARMOVTH 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
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 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 POSTSCRIPT READER IT not being in may Power to keep this Sermon any longer from going abroad I thought good to Advertise Thee now thou hast perused it that there is nothing omitted nor added to what was said in the Pulpit But having there not said all that was in my Papers I present thee with this Postscript to shew thee That the Five Corporations in the County of Norfolk as earnestly strove to have a Share in this most Noble Peer as those Cities intimated in the Sermon did to have a Right to the Birth of Homer Thetford The First that called him Hers was Thetford who chose him her Representative in that Happy Convention that brought in his Gracious Majesty whose Reign God grant may be Long and Prosperous out of his almost Twenty Years Exile where this Honourable Lord then Sir Robert Paston offered up his First Fruits of Loyalty in putting it to Vote as I am credibly informed What Day should be set for his Sacred Majesties Restauration His Majesty being set upon the Throne our Noble Earl served in the succeeding Parliament for Rising Rising where as the Sermon tells thee he put the Vote for two Millions and an half For which he was celebrated in a Peotical Pamphlet under the Character of Maximillian Paston The Honourable House of Commons having that Bill sent it up by him to the House of Lords at whose Bar he presented it to His Majesties own Hand and that Night received Thanks for it from the Kings own Mouth Not many Years since he made a Visit to Kings-Linne Kings Linne where he was welcomed with a most extraordinary Reception and Magnificent Feast and upon their Invitation given him he honoured that Loyal Town with taking up his Freedom amongst them Yarmouth enjoyed him several Years their Lord High Steward and gave him when admitted Yarmouth a Reception answerable to that Character and made him a very Noble Present Norwich was as near in Service and Affection to his Person as it stands in Situation to his House Norwich took all Occasions of manifesting their High Esteem of him always gave him a Welcom in a Body when he came into the County Four times chose his Eldest Son William Lord Paston now Earl of Yarmouth their Burgess in Parliament and at last Vnanimously resigned their Charter to their Most Gracious Soveraign by the Hands of this Noble Lord and his Son Whose Affections are as great to that City as his Fathers were And in Memory of their many Obligations to his Father and himself is pleased to own himself their present Recorder It were but just here to tell thee with what Courage this Young Gentleman in all those Parliaments opposed the then growing Faction who as it now appears had then contrived a most Bloody Conspiracy against the Sacred Life of our King and his Royal Brother together with all that dar'd when they were in the height of their Ruff appear to be Loyal But being to give the Just Praise of the Dead I shall only tell thee that the whole County of Norfolk shewed at once the Value and Honour they had for this our deceased Lord when in their Address from Thetford Assizes 1682. to his most Sacred Majesty to Congratulate his Royal Highness the Duke of York's Return to Court the whole Body of the Gentry subscribed their Thanks for setting this Lord in Lieutenancy over them owning the Happiness of the County to the Prudent Management of this their Loyal Lord Lieutenant Thus died our Noble Earl upon the 8th of March 1682. who was born upon the 29th of May. 1631. As if Nature had eminently designed him to follow his Soveraign in all Future Services Whose Birth was on the same Day in the Year preceeding He lived most Beloved of all and died by all most Lamented and with great Appearance and Concourse of all Degrees of Men was Honourably Interred at Oxnead WHERE GOD GIVE HIM A JOYFUL RESURRECTION FINIS ERRATA Page 27. line 3. for enclined read enlivened The same Page line 4. for real read zeal