The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Volume 3

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 Cæsar unto thy self.

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, Guilfordiæ natus,Oxoniæ educatus, temporibus Mariæ Reginæ proNitida conscientia tuenda Tigurinæ vixit exulVoluntarius: Postea presul factus, sanctissimeHanc rexit Ecclesiam per 16 an. Obiit secundo dieFebr. 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 Ætat. 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, Cantabrigiæ educatus,Primo minor Canonicus, secundo Præbendarius, tertio Archidiaconus.Nordovici, et demum 28 Nov. An. 1573. factus est SacellanusDominæ Reginæ, et Decanus hujus Ecclesiæ, in quo loco per 16Annos 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 Curiæ Cons. Epatus 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 honestusAnno milleno C quater cum septuagenoAnnexis binis instabat ei prope finisSeptima cum decima lux Maij sit numerataIpsius 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 aia 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 Theologiæ Doctor,Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Christi OxoniensisPrimum alumnus inde Decanus, exindeEpiscopus, illinc huc translatus, etHinc in cœlum, 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.