A NARRATIVE Panegyrical Of the Life, Sickness, and Death, OF GEORGE, By Divine Providence, Lord Bishop of DERRY IN IRELAND: As it was delivered at his Funerals in the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (commonly called Christ Church) in Dublin, on Friday the 12th of January, Anno Domini 1665/6.  
By R. Mossom, D. D. and Dean of the said Cathedral Church.  
London, Printed by Tho. Newcomb, and are to be sold by Timothy Garthwait at the King's Head in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1665/6.   

A Narrative Panegyrical of the Life, Sickness, and Death, of George Lord Bishop of Derry; who departed this life at Dublin, on Friday the 29th day of December, Anno Dom. 1666/5.  
Men, Brethren, and Fathers,  
IN Conformity to the ancient practice of the Primitive Saints, and the continued Custom of Christ's Church, we are here met in this present Congregation, to perform the Funeral Rights due to the Body and the Memory of the Right Reverend Father in God, George, by Divine Providence, Lord Bishop of Derry, lately deceased. A Bishop he was by Divine Ordination; Lord Bishop, by Royal Commission. This our Elisha's double Mantle of Honour; so well consistent are these two, A Lord Spiritual, and the Spirit of the Lord; which Spirit of the Lord, may make the Honour immortal, and yet not the Person. For that, whereas Men of high Dignity, either in Church or State, are (for their Light and Influence) aptly called Stars; I may say of the Right Reverend Personage, whose Funerals we celebrate: I may say of him in a better sense than Lipsius did of Origen, Stella, utinam non caduca! A Star he was, I wish he had not been a falling one! But why should I thus wish? seeing he is advanced by his fall; for in an happy exchange of Mortality for Glory, this Star is become sixth, fixed in the Firmament of Heaven, the Society of the Blessed; leaving behind him on Earth, the character of O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for that he was a Blessed Assertor of Loyalty; a Blessed Champion of the Faith; a Blessed Patron of the Poor; a Blessed Father of the Church; and therefore now a Blessed Saint in Heaven: The memory of whose name shall be venerable to all Posterity in the Annals of the Church's Worthies.  
Waving what might be said of his ingenuous Education; his Academical Degrees; and those esteems in Oxford, which brought him to Lambeth: Made Domestic Chaplain to the then Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, lately Martyred; of whom, in the Church, and in the Tower; he had a Precedent suitable to his Principles, of being actively zealous, and patiently resolute in the King's Cause, and in the Church's Service: Waving all these, I begin my Commemorations of him, where I first began mine Acquaintance with him; and that was, not long after the Death of Charles the First, King and Martyr.  
Our first meeting was in the Fiery Furnace of the Church's Persecutions (and of those things I may speak the more knowingly, Quorum magna pars fui, as having then a great share with him in those Sufferings) though indeed such was the Power of Divine Providence, restraining the fury of those Flames, that they scorched not his Garments, nor an Hair of his Head perished; notwithstanding he stood in the face of the then prevailing Factions, and was daily threatened with Surprise and Imprisonment. For some years, he hovered, like Noah's Dove, over the Waters of Confusion; sometimes Preaching in the Country, and sometimes in the City; sometimes in private, and sometimes in public, as he found opportunity offered to promote Piety, and persuade Loyalty: At length Divine Providence receives the Dove into the Ark; an House is provided near Fleetstreet in London, and in the House an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an upper Room is prepared, after the manner of Primitive Devotion; which upper Room becomes an Oratory, fitted for the Preaching of the Word, and Administering the Sacraments, with a constant use of the Public Liturgy of the Church.  
And here I cannot but recount with joy, amidst all this Funeral Sorrow, what were then the holy ardours of all fervent Devotions, in Fast, and Prayer, and Solemn Humiliations; Ay, in Festival and Sacramental Solemnities. O the lift-up praying, and yet sometimes downcast weeping eyes of humble Penitents! O the often extended, and yet as often enfolded arms of suppliant Votaries! Upon days of Solemnity, O how early, and how eager were the People's devotions! that certainly, then, if ever, the Kingdom of Heaven suffered Violence; so many, with Jacob, wrestling with God in Prayer, not letting him go till he gave them a Blessing; and no Blessing would answer the importunity of all these, but that Sovereign Blessing of these Kingdoms and Churches; a King restored to His Throne, and that King, Charles the Second; restoring with His Throne, both Churches and Kingdoms. And now the Shepherd which kept this Flock, even in the midst of Wolves; that Priest that then served at the Altar, amidst all the variety of State Confusions, Instructing, Supporting, and Encouraging, by Precept, by Pattern, and by Prayer, it was Dr. George wild, afterwards by Divine Providence Lord Bishop of Derry, the Personage deceased.  
And whereas some good Obadiahs did then hid and feed the Lords Prophets, it was his care to communicate to others relief, what himself received for his own support. Many Ministers Sequestered, many Widow's Afflicted, many Royalists Imprisoned, and almost Famished, can testify the diffusive bounty of his hand, dispensing to others in reliefs of Chariry, what himself received of others in Offerings of Devotion.  
Notwithstanding that Wing of Providence which was over him for his protection, yet did he sometime suffer Surprise and Imprisonment; but Nubecula fuit, cito transivit, it was a small cloud and soon passed over; and if at any time the Persecution was so hotly pursued, that his mouth for a while was stopped, yet even then, (as Maldonat says of John Baptist, that Miraculum non fecit, magnum fuit; John indeed did no miracle, yet was he himself a great Miracle) so may I say of this then Loyal Doctor, Concionem non fecit, magna fuit; when he Preached no Sermon, yet was he himself in the pattern of Patience and Piety, a good Sermon.  
After this, when His Majesty's safe Return (the Universal joy of these three Kingdoms) did at once open the Subject's hearts, and the Church's doors to Loyalty, and the Liturgy together; then did the deceased leave his private Oratory, in exchange for the public Temple. And sure I am, such was the strength of his merit and interest, as could undoubtedly have procured him preferment in England, equal to that he had in Ireland: Yet this I know, when he had in his deliberate choice, whether to accept of the Bishopric of Derry, or some other of equal Dignity, that which would have been the Argument of another's refusal, was the very reason of his choice, even the difficulty of the service; as zealously intending what might promote not so much his Dignity, as God's glory; not so much his advantage, as the Churches good; or rather indeed, in the Churches good, seeking his best advantage, as having an eye (with Moses) to the recompense of reward.  
And now beholding him taking his leave of his London-friends, in his farewell design for Derry, methinks I see St. Paul encompassed with those devoted ones of the Church of Ephesus, taking his farewell bound for Jerusalem (Acts 20.) Some are sighing, some are weeping, all are sorrowing; Sorrowing for this especially, that they believed they should see his face no more. Sure, the good Man did here undergo an hard trial, much like that of St. Paul's: And had he not had an Heroic Piety, cheerfully to encounter difficulties and dangers, he had certainly been entangled with his friends embraces; but his love to Souls brings him to Derry, where he hath left this testimony of honourable fame, That he was faithful in his office to God, the King, and the Church. In his constant Preaching, he fed the People's Souls, and not their Humours; and in his Pastoral Discipline, he struck at their Pertinacy, not their Persons. He did aedificare, but not in ruinam (in the words of Tertullian) he did edify, but not to ruin, as do too many with their edifying Sermons (falsely so called) who teach Sedition and Schism, under the mask of Religion and Zeal, which the more home they Preach, the more hurt they do.  
This we too sadly know, the deceased Bishop, Taper-like, consumed himself to give light to others; so that, to all contemners of his Ministry, and opposers of his Pastoral charge; to them, I say, Behold, not the dust of his feet, but even the carcase of his body is cast off against you. For, for your sakes it was that his heart became troubled with cares, and his spirit wasted with studies, and thereby his body the sooner brought to its Grave.  
After, almost, five years' continuance in his Episcopal charge, as the duty of his place, in service to the King and Church did require, he repairs to Dublin to attend the sitting again of the Parliament, in which himself was a Peer; and at his entrance into the City, he brought death in his face, which not long after seized his heart; some sensible decays he had, to which his sprightly Genius would not stoop, but bore up with cheerfulness till Christmas Eve, intending the service of Pulpit and Altar, of Sermon, and Sacrament, at St. Brides on Christmas-day, and sitting up late in preparation for that intended Service, he was seized with the first Paroxysm of his sickness, as a summons of Death, who now laid siege to the Citadel of his Heart. And thus though he died not standing in the Pulpit, yet he died studying of the Sermon; and blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. He was then upon his duty and guard, when by Death encountered; which encounter hath thus far only prevailed, to a conquest over the outward man: His pious Soul being on the Friday following, translated by the ministry of Angels from the Militant state of Christ's Church on Earth, to that state which is Triumphant in Heaven.  
Now before we close, give me leave to reflect a while in some pertinent observations upon the Life, and Sickness, and Death of the deceased. (1.) In a review, reflecting upon his Life, I observe, his days were like the Sun's revolution, in a continued sphere of heavenly virtues: And that to give you a Summary of his Religious conversation, were to do with Christian piety, what Florus did with the Roman History, In brevi tabella totam ejus imaginem amplecti, draw its full Portraiture in a short Table; for indeed he was no Mercurial Statue, to point out the way, and not walk it himself; no, but rather he was like the Angelical Star, at the Birth of Christ, which declared Christ born to the Magis, and went along with them to him; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the words of St. Basil (on Psal. 63.) He was a Preacher in Life, as well as in Doctrine; in Pattern, as well as in Precept.  
Again, I observe, such were his frequent Fast and Prayers, that wheresoever he did reside, if he had not time and place, opportunity and conveniency for God's public Worship, he either made his Chamber a Chapel, or the House a Temple; the Church's Prayers being still a part of his constant Devotions.  
Again, I observe, his Charity that was greatly diffusive, even into all the Three Kingdoms, having his poor Widows, his necessitous Gentlemen, young Scholars, and puny Catechists, all his continued Pensioners; some in London, some in Cambridge, some in Oxford, some in Dublin, some at Glascow, some at Derry, some at Faughen; indeed, what place did he ever come into, or could well send into, that did not taste some influence of his bounty? The whole sum of his Charity (besides the charge of his Buildings) hath been computed by them that best know it, 500 l. per annum. And observe, that which speaks his goodness hugely ingenuous, when he gave any thing of his Purse, in a contribution of Charity, he gave something also of himself in a compassionate pity; ay, and something of his Office too, in a Benediction or Prayer.  
In the Will which he made, there are indeed many Legacies, but none to gratify the rich, most to relieve the necessitous; some indeed are Honorary, such as that of his giving to the Library of St. John's College in Oxford, many of his best Folio's, with an 100 l. towards the building their Founder's Tomb: Ay, and that his Charity might not die with him, he desires in his Will, that what could be spared from the charge of his Funerals (which he ordered to be decent and not pompous) might be disposed of for the relief of the poor. Thus the deceased dying in the Lord, rests from his labours, and his works follow him: So that great no doubt, is his gain in Heaven, who is entered into the joy of his Lord; but sure I am, great is ours, and the Church's loss on Earth, which thousands in both Kingdoms do bewail; His number of endeared Friends, outvying that of most men's common acquaintance. O how many are ready to say of him, taken from them by Death, what St. Jerome said of Nepotian, O, avulsa sunt viscera mea! O, my Bowels are torn from me! Ay, in a louder accent of sorrow, how many are there (poor Souls) who cry out, Auulsa sunt alimenta mea! Oh, my Bread, my Food, and so my Life is taken from me by his Death! Such was their maintenance and supplies administered from his hand of Bounty and Love.  
And observe, what is not to be buried in silence, his devotions so zealous, were all a Vestal Flame, a Virgin Piety, not defiled with the ravishments of the Flesh, or the impurities of the World; he had espoused himself to Christ, and therefore engaged in no other marriage, then that of his Soul, in love to Jesus, according to that which was his frequent and fervent ejaculation, O bone Jesus, esto mihi Jesus! O good Jesus, be thou a Jesus to me!  
Here then away with that scandalous reproach cast upon Episcopacy by Schism and Sedition, as if forsooth, by some strange enchantment and charm, to be made Lord Bishop, were to unmake a good Man, and a good Minister. Here we see that scandalous reproach perfectly confuted, and were it not too too impudent, this and many other deceased Precedents, as well as other surviving examples might wholly silence it. Sure I am, beyond all contradiction, we have seen Dr. Wild, and the Bishop of Derry, one and the same in Piety, in Charity, in diligent Preaching, holy Living, hospitable House-keeping, and all other the commendable qualifications of a good Man, and a good Bishop.  
To draw to a close, reflect we upon the last scene of all his Labours, his Sickness, and Death; know then, he having received, not long before, the Blessed Sacrament of the holy Eucharist, his preparation for death was no sickbed task; and therefore did he rather meet his dissolution, then fly it. He was none of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, those strange sort of men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉—. He lived as one expecting Death, and died as one assured of Life. He felt not retinacula animae, no pull-backs of the Soul, to hold him from Christ, either from love of enjoying the World, or fear of leaving it: So that being in firm Peace of Conscience, and full Hope of Glory, when I minded him of the approaches of Death, he did with much Pathos of Devotion, utter that our Saviour's prescribed Petition, Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven. Ay, Thy will, O God, be done (says he) In hac terra mea— This my Earthly Body, smiting upon his Breast.  
Again, quickening his Devotion from the Mystery of the Church's Festival, Christ come in the Flesh, as being come the desire of all Nations, he pathetically broke forth in a pious descant upon the Prophet's words concerning the Messiah, Hag. 2.7. That he was Desideratus cunctis Gentibus, desiderium omnium Gentium, & sum desiderabilis, evidencing by the Pathos of his expressions, That Christ was indeed the chief desire and delight of his Soul: Which holy Flame was kept alive on the Altar of his Heart, in continually renewed Devotions, till his prevailing sickness closing his Breath, the holy Flame mounted up with his Soul to Heaven, there to become Seraphic in Glory.  
Thus (God having granted what he so earnestly desired, his sense and understanding quick unto the last) in a sweet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indeed, this servant of the Lord did departed in peace, without any struggle of Body, or of Soul (In articulo mortis, in the minute of his dissolution) as having already begun his eternal rest. And well it is I am come to his rest; I question else where I could have stopped, being carried away with love and zeal upon so dear a Subject.  
But now I am at a pause, I remember well we are to perform Funeral Rites due to the Body, as well as the Memory of the deceased; so that I will only add this, As for you, who are his Friends (and who is not a friend to so eminent a Virtue and Goodness, so excellent a Piety and Charity?) Let me prompt you to this service, and I shall readily comply with you in the performance, that our Hearts and Affections may make him a Tomb, and our Lives in imitation write the Epitaph; and if you please, let the Inscription be, those words of the Apostle, Christ is our Life; And so, when Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory.  
Halleluiah.  
FINIS.