Francis Blomefield

“ Where is the Starr, the hope of Sussex name? Henry Fitz-Walter's, that bright shining beame? What men't you Fates, so sone his life t'assault? Was there in him, such noted heinous fault? Death is the debt, that every one must pay, To blame you are, that tooke him now away, He was the hope to raise up noble blood, Which long had been, and might yet long have stood, In him is cut off all that noble fame, Which hundred years hath houlden in that name, This is our joy, that joys he doth possesse, And is a Starr now fix'd in heav'nly blesse. ”

“ The proofs I speak by us have oft been seen, The proofs I speak to thee are not unknown, Thy God thou know'st most dread and sovereign Queen, A world of foes of thine hath overthrown, And hither now triumphantly doth call Thy noble grace, the comfort of us all.
Dost thou not see the joy of all this flock? Vouchsafe to view their passing gladsome chear, Be still (good Queen) their refuge and their rock, As they are thine to serve in love and fear: So fraud nor force, nor foreign foe may stand Against the strength of thy most puissant hand. ”

“ I give thee here this small and slender wand, To shew thou shalt in quiet rule this land.
Then Juno spake, whose gift was a purse curiously wrought.
Is Juno rich? no sure she is not so, She wants that wealth that is not wanting here, Thy goods get friends, my wealth wins many a foe, My riches rust, but thine shine passing clear.
Thou art beloved of subjects far and nigh, Which is such wealth as money cannot buy.
Farewell, fair Queen, I cannot give thee ought, Nor take away thy good that is so bound: Thou canst not give that I so long have sought, Ne can I hold the riches thou hast found. ”

“ In 1307, King Edward departed this life, a prince of great renown, to whose heroick mind, God gave a body answerable in beauty and goodly presence, so that for his virtue, wisdom, and valour, by due desert, he was reputed a fit King for, and a chief honour to, his kingdom; a King to whom this city in a particular manner is obliged, both for the ample liberties that he first gave them, and for that peace and concord that he restored, by settling all their old discords, by which means, great increase, and much prosperity, immediately followed in this place. ”

“ What sailh your Lordship, my Lord Michael? know that I require not of the King that which is his, but that which he (drawn thereunto by you, or by the counsel of such as you are) withholds from other men, upon none of the justest titles, and which (as I think) will never do him any good: as for you, if the King's hinderance be the thing you weigh, why did you so greedily accept of a thousand marks by year, at such time as he created you Earl of Suffolk? ”

“ Not to insist upon the delight and pleasure that many take in historical affairs, which, though it may be decried and run down by some, yet it must be acknowledged, that History is the light of truth, and life of memory, as the great Orator formerly observed; and if there be nothing more in it, experience teaches that by recording the lives and actions of the good, those that come after them are thereby encouraged to imitate their virtues, for nothing so much incites the mind of man, to an emulation of others, as the report of the noble actions of them that have gone before them ”

“ He was free from covetousness, and so much above a bribe of gratuity (for favours done) as no person ever durst tempt him with one. He was in his religion no bigot or Puritan, and professed more to affect moral virtues, than nice questions and foolish controversies: if he was defective in any thing, it was that he could not bring his mind to his fortune, which though very great, was far too little for the vastness of his noble designs, which were only for the glory and ornament of his country, and may well be excused. ”

“ Why art thou slack, whilst no Man puts his Hand, To raise the Mount where Surrey's Tower must stand? Or who the Groundsil of that Work doth lay, Whilst like a Wand'rer, thou Abroad dost stray, Claspt in the Arms of some lascivious Dame, When thou shouldst rear an Honour to thy Name ”

“ Such Charity thro' his whole Life was shown, As made the Wants of other, seem his own, His Soul so truly Brave, he knew no fear, Ev'n Death it's self, made no Impression there, Tis true he yielded, but Death lost the Prize, For he but stoop't, that he might higher rise. ”

“ The gentlemen who had been thus misused, endeavoured to stir up the Earl to execute a greater number of them, and constrained him to say openly,
"There must be measure kept in all things, and especially in punishment with death, we ought to beware that we do not exceed: I know well such wicked doings deserve no small revenge; and that the offenders are worthy to be most sharply chastised: but yet how far shall we go? shall we not at last shew some mercy? is there no place for pardon? what shall we then do? shall we hold the plow our selves? ”

“ My body I will to be buried within the parish church of Chigwell, without pomp or solemnity, at the feet of Thomazine my beloved wife, having only a marble stone laid upon my grave, with a plate of brass molten in the stone an inch thick, having the effigies of a bishop stamped upon it, with his mitre and crosier-staff, but the brass to be so rivetted and fastened clear through the stone as sacrilegious hands may not rend off the one, without breaking the other ”

“ Such was the infection, that dogs and ravens, which fed on the dead carcasses, swelled and died; so that the people dared eat no beef: this also was noted not without great wonder, that young heifers and bullocks followed the cows, and sucked them as if they had been calves, and apple and pear trees, after their fruit was ripe, began to blossom again, as if it had been April: the cause of this murrain was thought to proceed from the abundance of grass the earth threw out after the drought, and the greediness of the half-starved cattle feeding thereon. ”

“ I have had friends, yea and familiar friends, and peradventure servants, that have been Papists, with whom I have borne, but I call God to witness I am none, I utterly defie the Pope and all his religion, and I hope to be saved only by my faith in Jesus Christ; and I utterly abhor all men's traditions, and if at anytime I did give countenance to any Papist, whereby any good man was offended, or the church, I ask them mercy, there is no man doth allow better of this religion than I do. ”

“ The Customs of the Manor are these: the copyhold descends to the eldest son; the fine is at the lord's will; the tenants can fell timber on the copyhold, plant, and cut down on the waste without license; it gives no dower; it hath liberty of free-warren, weyf, strey, and all other privileges, except the leet, return of writs, office of coroner, clerk of the market, and assize of bread and ale, all which were excepted, when it was sold to Sir Drue Drury, who after his purchase sold off his part of the demeans, and settled the rent charge of 10l. ”

“ No foreigners that keep shop in Norwich shall take any more apprentices, till they buy their freedom, unless his own or wife's children. And no freeman shall take apprentices under seven years, nor without inrolling them in the chamber, within a year and a day, before the mayor, on forfeiture of his freedom, and every apprentice, when his time is out, shall be free, paying to the chamber a noble, and to the sheriffs a noble. ”

“ The mayor is to be clerk of the market, and no other clerk is to enter: the recorder is to be an officer for life, and may exercise the office by himself, or deputy, who shall be called the town-clerk, and upon the death, or removal of a recorder, the mayor, burgesses, and commonalty, must choose a new one in eight days, who is to be sworn before the mayor, and in his absence to have a deputy. The recorder and mayor are to be named by commission, justices of the peace for the burgh, and the mayor of the preceding year is to be sworn coroner, by his successour. ”

“ Be you either married man or wife, If you have brawls, or contentious strife; Or otherwise, at bed or at board, Offended each other in deed or in word, Or since the parish-clerk said Amen, You wished yourselves unmarried again, Or in a twelvemonth and a day, Repented not in thought any way, But continued true in thought and desire, As when you joined hands in the quire ”

“ It seemeth strange to see such strangers here, Yet not so strange but strangers know you well, Your vertuous thoughts to gods do plain appear, Your acts on earth bewray how you excel: You cannot die, love here hath made your lease, Which gods have sent, and God saith shall not cease.
Vertuous desire desired me to sing, No subjects suit, tho' suitors they were all, Apollo's gilts are subject to no king, Rare are thy gifts that did Apollo call, Then still rejoice sith god and man say so, This is my gift, thou never shalt have woe. ”

“ Joseph Paine and Felix Forby, persons much beloved by the commons, were sent for, and Mr. Forby made a speech at the market cross, to dissuade them from their proceedings and to go home, but they would not, alleging that all freemen were bound by their oaths to support their mayor, and keep him in the city during his year: and now being got to such a number, they openly avowed they were for the King, that they would purge the bench and common council, and pluck the round heads out, and put such honest men in, as would go to church and serve God. ”

“ This year, in the parliament at Westminster, was a statute made, which sets forth, that 'whereas of time not long past within the city of Norwich, and the counties of Norfolk, there were no more but six or eight atturnies at the most, coming to the King's courts, in which time great tranquility reigned in the said city and counties, little trouble or vexation was made by untrue and foreign suits: And now so it is, that in the said city and counties, there be fourscore atturnies or more, the more part of them having no other thing to live upon, but only his gain by the practice of atturneyship ”

“ The rebels, puffed up with the death of the Lord Sheffield, who was a person they greatly feared, by reason of the character he had for his great courage, making an alarm on every side, got into the city every way they could, and so overcharged the forces with numbers, being above twenty thousand to fifteen hundred, that they caused the Marquis and his people to give way, and forsake the city; every man making the best shift he could to save himself, either by speedy flight, or by hiding themselves in private places, as woods, groves, caves, and such like. ”

“ Mary the Virgin, and is a regular building, 45 yards long, having a nave, two isles, chancel, south porch, and vestry, all leaded; a square tower, with a spire of wood covered with lead, on its top, and in it five bells, a clock and saints bell.
In the south isle is an altar tomb for Mr. Robert Clark, who died June the 18, 1685, aged 59. But is Clark dead ? What dost thou say, His Soul's Alive, his Body here doth lie, But in a Sleep, untill the Judgment Day, And live he shall unto Eternity. Men Say he's dead, I say so too, And e're a while, they'll say the same of you. ”

“ Which homage, mighty Queen, accept, The realm and right is thine, The crown, the scepter, and the sword, To thee we do resign, And wish to God, that thou mayest reign, Twice Nestor's years in peace, Triumphing over all thy foes, To all our joys increase. ”

“ Brother Richard of Poringland or Porland, was born at the village of that name near Norwich, and was educated in this convent. He was famous both for his holy life and great learning, being of a ready wit, solid judgment, and polite discourse; which talents, by diligent application and hard study, he so much improved, that he had deservedly the dignity, as well as the knowledge, of a doctor in divinity, being made professor of that faculty in this his convent, where his constant custom was to teach the young friars on working days, and to preach to the people on Sundays and holidays. ”

“ It appears at this time, that the bailiffs paid the fee farm rent of the city, so that oftentimes it was an office of expense, when the rents and tolls did not answer well, for which reason there was a law made, that for the future no man should be compelled to serve the office above once in four years, and that nobody should merchandise above a year and a day in the city without being compelled to take up his freedom, for which he was to pay a fine of 40s. ”

“ My Lord elect, there is a great abuse in the diocese of Norwich, in taking the first fruits of all benefices vacant in it, and it displeaseth both God and man, because it proceeds from a root of covetousness. Wherefore I exhort you for the safety of your soul, that for the benefit of the churches of your diocese, you would not continue it, because it ought entirely to be laid aside. ”

“ Why do we, to frail Life such Glory give, When Marbles make Men after Death to live, And tho' these stones were silent, yet the Tongues Of Prophets, People, & the Poor, in throngs Shall freely speak, and tell Posterity, Here rest their Friends, Patterns of Piety. ”

“ Farewell O Queen, farewell O mother dear, Let Jacob's God thy sacred body guard: All is thine own that is possessed here, And all in all is but a small reward.
For thy great grace, God length thy life like Noy, To govern us, and eke thy realm in joy. ”

“ It seems they were dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the emblem of which is on the master's stall, and a shield of Spencer's arms in a bordure adorned with crowns.
On the other stalls are divers emblems, as a woman playing on a harp, a monk thrusting a sword through a unicorn's head: which is on the woman's lap; two cockatrices, and three monks, one holding three arrows, another a staff, his bag at his girdle, and cowl at his back, and the third holds a sword. Two monkeys in monks habits playing upon bagpies. A monk thrusting out his belly and blowing a trumpet, his hinder part is a lion. ”

“ Our grace or foile doth in your judgement lye, If you mislike, our griefs do grow on heap: If for small things we do great favour find, Great is the joy that Norwich feels this day: If well we weigh'd the greatness of your mind, Few words would serve, we had but small to say.
But knowing that your goodness takes things well, That well are meant, we boldly did proceed: And so, good Queen, both welcome and farewell, Thy own we are, in heart, in word, in deed.
The boy thereupon flung up his garland, and the Queen's Highness said, This devise is fine. ”

“ For as the Queen's Highness was appointed to come unto her coach, and the lords and courtiers were ready to mount on horseback, there fell such a shower of rain (and in the neck thereof came such a terrible thunder) that every one of us were driven to seek for covert and most comfort, insomuch that some of us in boat stood under a bridge, and were all so dashed and washed, that it was a greater pastime to see us look like drowned rats, than to have beheld the uttermost of the shews rehearsed. ”

“ In lieu whereof, receive thy subjects hearts, In fixed faith continually thine own: Who ready rest to loose their vital parts, In thy defence, when any blast is blown, Thou art our Queen, our rock and only stay, We are thine own to serve by night and day. ”

“ And therewithall the black infernal spreets, Ran out of hell, the earth so trembling then, And like young lads they hop'd about the streets, The satirs wild, in forme and shape of man, Crept thro' the woods, and thickets full of briars, The water nymphs and fraries straight appears, In uncouth forms and fashions strange to view:
The hags of hell that hatefull are of kind, To please the time had learned a nature new, And all those things that men can call to mind, Were glad to come and do their duty thro'. ”

“ Where Princes sitting in their thrones, Set God before their sight, And live according to his law, And guide their people right, There doth his blessed gifts abound, There kingdoms firmly stand, There force of foes cannot prevail, Nor fury fret the land. ”

“ And tho', O Queen, thou be'st a Prince of peace, Yet shalt thou have me fastly sure at need, The storms of strife, and blustering broils to cease, Which forreign foes or faithless friends may breed, To conquer, kill, to vanquish and subdue, Such feigned folk as love, to live untrue. ”

“ The Mayor's Oration to the Queen, Englished.
If our wish should be granted unto us by the Almighty, what humane thing we would chiefly detire: we would account nothing more precious (most royal Prince) than that the bright beam of your most chaste eye which doth so chear us, might peirce the secret and strait corners of our hearts. ”

“ Whom as he acknowledgeth the vessels of his mercy, so by his goodness together with the consolation and strength of his spirit, he doth bring them to the happiness of eternal life. Which our petition that good and merciful God grant may be ratified, in establishing your Majesty and governance of your kingdom with spiritual wisdom and understanding, in preserving the same full many years, and induing your Majesty's subjects more and more with true knowledge of him, for his Son's sake, our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. ”

“ The which we hope will be so much the more acceptable to your Majesty, because the goodness of God towards your Majesty is most lively drawn out of the history of the innocent and most godly Joseph, whom neither policy nor desire of bearing rule, but constant faith, godliness of a Christian heart, and heavenly vertue by God's singular mercy delivered from the bloody conspiracy of his bretheren and fear of death, brought unto high dignity and royall kingdom. ”

“ The fretting heads of furious foes have skill, As well by fraud, as force to find their prey, In smiling looks doth lurk a lot as ill, As where both sterne and sturdy streams do sway, Thy self, O Queen, a proof hast seen of this, So well as I poor Hester have I wis. ”

“ All the faith, study, and obedience, which are due to so great a Prince, as hitherto we have most willingly imployed, so will we always most diligently perform the same; and if at any time any chance should happen (which fortune, God turn from us) that the state of thy blessed Majesty, or of this flourishing realm should come in danger, or the worthiness thereof be in hazard, we do not only profess the effusion of all our goods and substance, but also the putting forth and brunt of our strengths and bodies therein. ”

“ Such a Lord is our great God, that can frame all things to the best, and such a sovereign Lady we have, that can make the crooked paths streight where she cometh, and draw the hearts of the people after her wheresoever she travelleth. So from Master Revet's her Highness came to my Lord North's, who was no whit behind any of the best for a frank house, a noble heart, and weil ordered entertainment. And there was an oration made by a gentleman of Cambridge, with a stately and a fair cup presented from the University, all the ambassadors of France beholding the same. ”

“ This Hospital of poor men is most famous, which will be a monument of princely vertue and beneficence amongst all posterity, instituted by the most mighty King Henry your Highness's father, confirmed with the great seal by the most noble King Edward your brother, but by your Majesty, which deserveth no less praise, of late notably increased and amplified by the lands and possessions of Cringleford, that you may not now worthily rejoice so much in other's ornaments, as in your own vertues. ”

“ Thus you see, a shew in the open field, is always subject to the sudden change of weather, and a number of more inconveniences. But what should be said of that which the city lost by this cause, velvets, silks, tinsels, and some cloth of gold, being cut out for these purposes, that could not serve to any great effect after? Well there was no more to say but an old adage, that man doth purpose, but God doth dispose, to whose disposition and pleasure the guide of great matters is committed. ”

“ God hath indued us abundantly, we come not therefore but for that which in right is our own, the hearts and true allegiance of our subjects, which are the greatest riches of our kingdom; whereof, as we assure ourselves in you, so do you assure yourselves in us of a loving and gracious Sovereign. Wherewith was delivered to the mayor, a mace or scepter, which he carried before her to her lodging, which was in the Bishop of Norwich his palace, about two miles distant from that place. ”