In 1534 an act was passed for rebuilding those parts of the city which were laid waste by the late fires; by which it was enacted that if the owners of such void grounds should, by the space of two years after proclamation made by the mayor for all persons to rebuild or enclose their grounds, neglect to rebuild on such ground, or sufficiently enclose the same with mortar and stone, then it should be lawful for the mayor, etc., to enter on such vacant grounds, and hold and retain them to their own use and their successors’ use for ever, discharged of all rents and outgoings whatsoever, provided that, within two years after such entry made, they either rebuild or enclose them as aforesaid.
If, in giving an account of the state of society in the middle ages, we were to omit from our enumeration of causes the vast influence of the clergy of the church of Rome, we should present a very imperfect view of the subject. The priests dominated over the minds of men for many centuries, and their influence either for good or evil pervaded all classes of society. This influence caused the erection of monasteries, nunneries, priories, and friaries, nineteen in number, in Norwich before the 16th century. Monastic institutions were originally beneficial to society. In the dark ages, they preserved learning to some extent, and were houses of refuge for the destitute. No doubt there were many good self-denying men and women amongst the monks and nuns, who did some service to the poor who then abounded in the land. But in time the monasteries sunk for the most part into dissolute confraternities; stupid and sleepy, where not vicious; and banded together against the liberties of the nation; and there were constant broils between the monks and the citizens in Norwich.
The king having entirely renounced the authority of the church of Rome, and assumed the title of Head of the Church of England, caused a very strict inquiry to be instituted into the state of all monastic institutions. This inquiry resulted in their suppression, more for the gratification of the monarch’s avarice than from his desire to benefit his subjects; and most of the monks in Norwich and Norfolk, as well as in other parts of England, were sent adrift with small pensions. The king, indeed—in revenge for being excommunicated by the pope—suppressed 1148 monasteries in England, whose revenues amounted to £183,707 yearly. He either seized the property for himself or divided it amongst his favourites, and the Duke of Norfolk obtained a great part of it in Norwich. The dissolution of those ancient institutions caused a great deal of poverty; the priests were driven out homeless over the land, and the poor had no houses of refuge and no means of relief.
In 1538, Thomas Cromwell, lord privy seal, the king’s vicegerent, sent injunctions to all bishops and curates, charging them to take care that an English bible of the largest size be placed open in each parish church, for every one to have recourse to. The open bible was generally read in this city and elsewhere, and this, no doubt, promoted the reformation of religion. In spite of the tyranny of kings, the domination of priests, and the superstition of the people, the Reformation still advanced, and the national mind was emancipated by degrees from ancient thraldom.
In 1545, one Rogers, of Norfolk, was condemned and suffered martyrdom, for opposing the six articles of an act passed for abolishing diversity of opinions in religion. This act inflicted the penalty of death upon those—1st, who by word or writing denied transubstantiation; 2nd, who maintained that communion in both kinds was necessary; 3rd, or asserted that it was lawful for priests to marry; 4th, or that vows of chastity might be broken; 5th, or that private masses are profitable; 6th, or that auricular confession is not necessary to salvation.
The king died on the 28th January, 1546; and his exequies were celebrated here with great pomp, as appears from the chamberlain’s account; though what good he ever did for the city it would be hard to say. He was a king who spared no man in his anger and no woman in his lust. In his reign, 72,000 persons were hung for political offences or for the crime of poverty as a warning to others. The “Merry England” of those days was in fact a terrible country to live in. Men were beaten, scourged, branded with hot irons, and killed without mercy or limit.
Edward VI. was proclaimed king on January 28th, 1546; and on February 25th, his coronation was celebrated with much pomp in Norwich, where great rejoicings took place. Six large guns were fired on Tombland; the populace were treated with plenty of beer; and bonfires were lighted in several of the streets. There was a grand procession with a pageant, in which the king was represented by an effigy of king Solomon.
On March 8th, 1546, Edward VI., and the executors of his deceased father, granted to the mayor, sheriffs, citizens, and commonalty, the hospital of St. Giles’ in this city, now called the Old Men’s hospital, with all the revenues belonging thereto for the maintenance of poor people dwelling therein, all which the late king had promised to give them at the request of the citizens, a short time before his death.
Norwich has always been noted for its civic feasts and good cheer; and Bale, writing at this time (1549), in his “Continuation of Leland’s Antiquities,” says:—
“Oh, cytie of England, whose glory standeth more in belly chere than in the searche of wisdome godlye, how cometh it that neither you nor yet your ydell masmongers have regarded this most worthy commodytie of your countrye? I mean the conservacyon of your antiquyties, and of the worthy labours of your learned men. I thynke the renowne of such a notable act would have much longer endured than of all your belly banquettes and table triumphes, either yet of your newly purchased hawles, to keep St. George’s feast in.”
And again he says:—
“I have been also at Norwyche, our second cytie of name, and there all the library monuments are turned to the use of their grossers, candelmakers, sope sellers, &c.”
Small credit is here given to the city for the patronage and promotion of intellectual pursuits.
In 1549 the city was the scene of an insurrection resembling that of the Jacquerie in France, and the War of the Peasants in Germany. The facts of this local rebellion were simple enough. The poor people objected to the enclosure of waste lands, in the neighbourhood of Attleborough and Wymondham, by the nobility and gentry, who had been put in possession of the abbey lands, which had been previously appropriated for the use of the poor, who still considered that they had a right of commonage on the waste lands and open pastures. The rebellion commenced at Eccles, Wilby, Attleborough, and the neighbouring villages, the inhabitants of which were enraged at Mr. John Green, lord of the manor of Wilby, who had enclosed that part of the common belonging to his manor, which had from time immemorial been open to the adjoining commons of Hargham and Attleborough, and in which the people had enjoyed all rights of intercommoning with each other. The people continued quiet till Wymondham fair, on July 7th, when they collected in large numbers. The leaders of the movement, accompanied by a large number of others, went to Morley, about a mile from Wymondham, and laid open the new enclosures; and on returning to Wymondham, they destroyed all the fences by which the commons and wastes were enclosed. John Flowerdew, of Hethersett, incensed at the destruction of his fences, gave forty pence to a number of the country people to throw down the fences of Robert Kett, alias Knight, whose pasture lay near Wymondham Fairstead. They carried out his wishes to the full, and on the following morning returned to Hethersett, where, at Kett’s instigation, they laid open other enclosures of Flowerdew’s. After this, the rioters appointed Robert Kett and his brother William, a butcher, to be their captains, and the movement soon assumed the form of an organized rebellion. The numbers of the rebels quickly increased, and marching on Mousehold Heath, they took possession of the mansion of the Earl of Surrey; and thence proceeded to lay siege to the city. They held courts of justice under a large tree, called the “Oak of Reformation:” and having augmented their numbers to 16,000 from the citizens, and strongly fortified their camp, they summoned the city to surrender. For months they maintained hostilities, and the country round was pillaged and laid waste, until at length they gained an entrance to the city, and took the mayor and several councillors prisoners to their camp. A strong force was thereupon sent down for the defence of the city, under the Marquis of Northampton, and a regular battle was fought at the base of the hill on St. Martin’s Palace Plain. In this engagement Lord Sheffield was slain; and the rebels, having forced the Marquis to retreat, plundered the city, and set fire to it in many parts. In short, all attempts to quell this violent insurrection were ineffectual, till a large army, which had been raised to proceed against the Scots, was ordered to march to the relief of Norwich, under the command of the Earl of Warwick, who arrived under the city walls on the 23rd of August. On the following day, after making an ineffectual offer of pardon to the insurgents, on the condition that they should lay down their arms, the king’s troops commenced their attack; and having made several breaches in the walls, and forced open some of the gates, they soon entered the city, and took possession of the Market Place. In the midst of this scene of blood, the king’s ammunition carriages, having entered apart from the main body of the army, were captured by the enemy, but were soon retaken by a detachment from the Market Place. A large body of the rebels still remaining in the city now made a lodgement on Tombland, and through their superior local knowledge, greatly annoyed the soldiers by posting small parties at the angles of the different streets leading to the Market. The Earl of Warwick, however, brought out his whole force to scour the city, and the rebels, after setting fire to their camp, were obliged to quit their post on the hill and retreat to Dussyn’s Dale, on Mousehold, resolving to finish the business by a general engagement in the valley.
On August 27th, being re-enforced by a newly-arrived detachment of troops, the Earl marched out of the city to attack the rebels, to whom he again offered pardon, provided they would quietly lay down their arms; but, confident in their numbers, they refused to capitulate. A bloody conflict ensued, but the rebels, being unaccustomed to the discharge of artillery, were soon in confusion. Of this the Light Horse took advantage, and advancing to the charge, drove the rebels from the field and pursued them with great slaughter. Over 3000 were killed, and about 300 of the ringleaders were afterwards executed. The gates of the city suffered much damage during this insurrection. The rebels set Bishop’s gate on fire, with some of the houses in the street, and those belonging to the Great Hospital. Pockthorpe, Magdalen, St. Augustine, Coslany, and Ber Street gates, shared the same fate. When the disturbances ceased, the repair of the city generally was commenced, and especially of the gates. Outside Magdalen Gates a gallows was erected, at which place and at the cross in the Market Place 300 rebels were executed. Two, styled prophets, were hanged, drawn, and quartered, their heads being placed on the towers, and their quarters on the gates.
Robert and William Kett were tried in London for high treason and rebellion, and convicted. On November 29th, they were delivered to Sir Edmund Windham, High Sheriff of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, to receive punishment. Robert was conveyed to Norwich, and being brought to the foot of the castle, was drawn up to a gibbet erected at the top, and there left hanging alive till he died by famine; and his body, being entirely wasted, at length fell down. A similar sentence was executed upon William, who was suspended alive upon the top of Wymondham steeple. This fearful rebellion having been thus brought to an end, the citizens, after the departure of the kings troops, began to repair the damages to the walls and gates. Unhappily, however, their trials were not yet over, for the late disastrous occurrences were followed by such a scarcity and dearness of provisions, that the corporation issued an edict, requiring all the wealthier inhabitants to find corn for their own households elsewhere, so that their poorer neighbours might have the exclusive benefit of the city markets.
The Princess Mary was proclaimed here on July 18th, 1553, and was the first English Queen in her own right, and the people of Norwich and Norfolk rushed to her standard, impelled by the memory of Kett’s rebellion. The queen was a bigoted Roman Catholic, and in her reign popery was revived in its worst form, associated with all the atrocities of the most sanguinary persecution. Protestants were gathered like fuel for burning; and as for the Puritans, no fate could be too severe for them.
In March, 1556, William Carman, of Hingham, was burnt in Lollards’ pit, outside of Bishop’s Gate. He was charged with being an obstinate heretic, and actually having in his possession a bible, a testament, and three psalters in the English tongue.
On July 13th, of the same year, Simon Miller, merchant of Lynn, and Elizabeth Cooper, a pewterer’s wife, of the parish of St. Andrew, were burnt together in Lollards’ pit. On August 5th, Richard Crashfield, of Wymondham, Thomas Carman, William Seaman, and Thomas Hudson, were burnt for heresy in the same place.
On July 10th, 1557, Richard Yolman, a devout old minister, seventy years of age, was burnt for heresy. He had been curate to that learned and pious martyr, Mr. Taylor, of Hadleigh.
As if a judgment had come on the country for such atrocities, the quartan ague and a new sickness soon afterwards raged so violently, that it was said that “fire, sword, and pestilence,” had swept away a third part of the men of England; and it is recorded that ten of the Norwich aldermen fell victims to the latter scourge.
During this short reign, the city was afflicted by the presence of those merciless persecutors, Bishop Hopton and Chancellor Dunnings, at whose instigation several martyrs to the reformed religion were burnt here in 1557 and 1558. Happily the career of this bigoted, blood-thirsty, priest-ridden queen, was cut short, and a new and brighter era dawned upon the nation.
This queen ascended the throne on Nov. 7th, 1558, and was proclaimed here on the 17th of the same month. She was a zealous promoter of the Reformation. The form of worship used in the churches was similar to that in the time of Edward VI.; but the protestants were almost as intolerant in this reign as the Romanists had been before, though they claimed the right of private judgment; and the principle of toleration was not recognised for centuries by any church, or sect, or party.
In 1561, on the Guild day, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Earls of Northumberland and Huntingdon, with many other nobility and gentry, dined with the Mayor, William Mingay, Esq., in St. Andrew’s Hall, which could scarcely contain the company and their retinue. The entertainment is said to have been very magnificent, and the expense of the feast amounted to 32s. 9d.
In 1565, the prosperity of the city, which had begun to decline, was again revived by the settling here of 330 Flemings and Walloons, who had fled from the Netherlands, from the rigid persecution under the sanguinary Duke of Alva. In 1570, by the fostering encouragement of Queen Elizabeth, the number of these foreign settlers had increased to 3925, and by the introduction of bombazine, and other manufactures, they contributed much to the wealth and prosperity of Norwich.
During the long reign of Elizabeth, numerous conspiracies were formed for the re-establishment of Popery, and in 1570, John Throgmorton, Thomas Brooke, and G. Redman, were hanged and quartered here for having joined in these traitorous enterprises. In 1572, the Duke of Norfolk and several other noblemen were attainted and beheaded for similar offences, at London, York, and other places. The Duke not only espoused the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots, but even offered to marry that Roman Catholic Princess.
In 1574, a rumour was spread of invasion by the so-called invincible Armada. Norwich, towards the general defence, exhibited on its muster roll 2120 able men, of whom 400 were armed; the total number enrolled in the whole county of Norfolk, being at the same time, 6120 able men, of whom 3630 were armed. Happily there was no occasion for their services, the Armada being destroyed by a storm at sea.
Queen Elizabeth made a progress through Suffolk and Norfolk, from the 16th to the 22nd August, 1578. She came on horseback from Ipswich to Norwich, though she had several coaches in her train; and she lodged in the Bishop’s Palace. For several days she was entertained by splendid pageantries, principally allusive to the trade and manufactures of the city. Whilst here she dined publicly in the North Alley of the Cathedral Cloister, and often went a hunting on horseback, and to witness wrestling and shooting on Mousehold heath. The city records contain full details of the pageantries on the occasion of the royal visit. In no other city was the Queen received with greater cordiality and pageantry than in Norwich. The corporation, the inhabitants, the clergy, with the nobility and gentry of the county, contributed largely to afford the royal lady as pleasant and costly a reception as should be pleasing to her as a spectacle, and demonstrative of exuberant loyalty. This joy was soon turned into mourning; for, says a record known as the Norwich Roll, “The trains of Her Majesty’s carriage being many of them infected, left the plague behind them, which afterwards increased and contynued, as it raged about a year and three quarters.” Nearly 5000 fell victims to this dreadful malady.
In 1578, Matthew Hamond, of Hethersett, wheelwright, a heretic and blasphemer, being convicted of reviling the queen and of denying the authority of the Scriptures, the Godhead, the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the existence of the Holy Ghost, was set in the pillory on May 13th, and both his ears were nailed. Afterwards, on May 20th, he was burnt in the castle ditch. In 1587 and 1588 Francis Knight and Peter Cole, of Ipswich, were burnt in the same place for their deistical sentiments.
The Reformation was not only stayed, but thrown backward by this arbitrary, despotic queen. Though she was well disposed to reformation in the abstract, yet the fear of popish influence and a jealousy for her ecclesiastical authority over the church, made her act in the spirit of the worst excesses of popery. She persecuted all who disputed her authority in religious matters. In vain did the exiles return, hoping for peace and “freedom to worship God.” The expulsion of a multitude of clergy, who refused to conform to many impositions, and the many hardships suffered by the puritans, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk, evinced that no concession was to be expected from her. Her great idol was perfect uniformity. To enforce it, she passed many laws, which made nonconformity worse than felony, and she treated the Puritan as a rebel against all authority, both human and divine. A beautiful “Memorial” of the ministers of Norfolk is still preserved in vindication of their loyalty, and in advocacy of greater liberty of conscience. The result of it, however, was that seven or eight of them were suspended in Norwich. But instead of this being the means of stopping the progress of Puritanism, the sincere inquirers after truth were incited by such harsh measures to fresh investigations, and more emboldened to declare their views.
In 1582, on a second return made of the strangers settled here, they were found to be 1128 men; 1358 women; 815 children, strangers born; 1378 children, English born; in all 4679. The whole population was about 15,000, and the citizens continued to return burgesses to parliament from time to time, but not so frequently as in former reigns. During this reign William Kemp, a comic actor of high reputation, and greatly applauded for his buffoonery, danced a morris dance all the way from London to Norwich in nine days, and was accompanied by crowds of people as he passed on from town to town. When he arrived in Norwich he was very kindly treated by the citizens, who turned out to meet him in large numbers.
Norwich Pageants were celebrated during the middle ages, and occupy a large space in the records of the corporation. Books of the several companies relating to the pageants have been lost except that of St. George, but some additional information has come to light on the subject. A series of extracts were made early in the last century from the Grocers’ book, showing the proceedings and expenditure of that company in regard to their pageants from 1534 to 1570, and also the versions of the plays in 1533 and in 1563. All the plays of that period were called mysteries or miracle plays, and were founded on bible history. The play was performed in a carriage called a “House of Waynscott, painted and builded on a cart with fowre whelys.” Painted cloths were hung about it, and it was drawn by four horses, “having head stalls of brode inkle with knoppes and tassels.” The vehicle had a square top with a large vane in the midst, and one for the end, and a large number of smaller ones. The company was evidently unable to afford the cost of four horses in 1534; only one was hired, and four men attended on the pageant with “Lewers.” One of the plays was called “Paradyse,” and was performed by the Grocers and Raffmen. It begins much in the same manner as the Coventry play, with God the Father relating the planting of the garden of Eden, the creation of man and placing him there, and God’s intention to create woman. The other characters are Lucifer, Adam, and Eve, who exhibit the incidents related in Genesis. Of the good taste or propriety of these entertainments any observation is needless. They formed a remarkable feature in the life of the middle ages, and show the childishness of the people. The dialogues in all these plays are puerile doggerel.
Few of the citizens of Norwich could make any pretensions as to birth, whatever they might say about their birth-place. Among the natives of this city of obscure parentage may be mentioned Thomas Legge, LL.D., who was educated in Trinity College, where he was fellow, as also at Jesus College, till he was chosen by Dr. Kaye as second master of Kaye’s College. He was Dean of the Arches, one of the Masters of Chancery, twice Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and thirty-four years Master of Kaye’s College. Justus Lipsius eulogised him as a very excellent antiquary, and as an oracle of learning. He was a great benefactor to this college, bequeathing £600 for the building of the east part thereof, besides several lesser liberalities. Thomas Bacon, the fifteenth Master of Gonville Hall, had done great damage to it, and left it in debt; but Dr. Legge and his two successors repaired all losses, acting not so much like the masters as the stewards of the house. Dr. Legge was the author of two tragedies, namely, “The Destruction of Jerusalem,” and “The Life of King Richard III.,” which last was performed before Queen Elizabeth, with great applause, in St. John’s College Hall. The doctor died July 12th, 1607, leaving the college his heir, and he was buried in it, so that he left his native city only the barren honour of his name.
John Kaye, or as he is sometimes called, Caius, was born at Norwich in 1510, and studied in Gonville Hall, Cambridge, from which he removed to travel abroad. He took his degree of M.D. in the University of Padua. In the reign of Edward VI. he was appointed principal physician at court, a place which he enjoyed under both the Queens Mary and Elizabeth. The College of Physicians of London elected him one of their Fellows, and he presided over that body several years. Being very rich and desirous to promote learning, he procured a charter from Queen Elizabeth dated 1565, to turn Gonville Hall into a College; and he endowed it with the greater part of his estate. He lived as an ornament to his profession till July, 1573, when he died, aged 63, at Cambridge. He wrote the “Antiquities of Cambridge,” an excellent book; and he presented it to James I. as he passed through his college. The King said, “Give me rather Caius de Canibus,” a work of his as much admired, but hard to be got. He was master of his college for some time, but in his old age he resigned that office to Dr. Legge, a fellow commoner in his college, and a native of Norwich.
Archbishop Parker, a native of Norwich, flourished in this reign, and was a great benefactor to the city. He was born August 6th, 1504, being the son of William Parker, a wealthy citizen. He was educated at the Grammar School here, and in 1520 he was sent to Corpus Christi College, where he took his degrees of B.A., M.A., and D.D., before 1538. The Queen afterwards appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, and he was very active in persecuting the Puritans here. He was the author of many works which showed much learning. He died on May 17th, 1575, and was buried in Lambeth Chapel.
This was a very eventful period in the annals of the city. The century opened with storms and inundations in the physical world, heralding commotions in the political world. On April 9th, 1601, a sudden storm of hail and rain passed over the city, whereby the upper part of the Cathedral spire, which had been lately repaired, was beaten down. It fell on the roof of the church, which it broke through, doing great damage to it as well as to the walls of the choir. The spire was split on the south-east side from top to bottom.
James I. was proclaimed king on March 24th, 1602; and soon after he was seated on the throne he granted a general pardon to the mayor, sheriffs, and commons of this city, for all past offences. The local occurrences were not very important during this reign of 23 years. There were, however, great disturbances between the citizens and Dutch strangers respecting trade rights and privileges.
In 1602, the plague raged with unusual fury in this country. As many as 30,578 persons died in London, and 3076 in Norwich. This visitation was attended with so great a scarcity of food, that wheat sold for ten, rye for six, and barley for five shillings per bushel. In the summer of 1609, the city was again visited by the plague, though but few died of it.
At the assizes held August, 1617, a dispute arose between Sir Henry Montague, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, and John Mingay, Esq., then Mayor, concerning precedence. This was occasioned by the indiscretion of Sir Augustine Palgrave, Sheriff of Norfolk, who had imprudently informed the Chief Justice that it was his right to sit in the chair at the preaching place in the Green yard, with the Mayor on his left hand. This the Mayor opposed, resolutely asserting his right to the chair; and the Chief Justice as resolutely insisted, being misled by the information of the sheriff. But this matter was afterwards set right, and the sheriff was obliged to acknowledge his error, after having been severely reprimanded by the Judge for misleading him. On the next day, a contest of the same kind happened between the High Sheriff and the Sheriffs of Norwich; when, to prevent any disputes of the like nature in future, it was determined that only the High Sheriff should attend the Judges when they are upon the county business, and only the Sheriffs of Norwich when they are on the city business.
Charles I. was proclaimed king, on March 1st, 1625. The mayor of Norwich, stewards, justices, sheriffs, and aldermen, were present at the ceremony.
On March 31st, 1625, Charles I. was proclaimed in Norwich, and on May 13th following, Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl-Marshal of England, was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Norfolk, and of the city of Norwich, and county of the same.
On October 19th, 1625, the citizens petitioned the king to be released of taxes, on account of their poverty and the ravages of the plague; and in 1641, the citizens petitioned Parliament, to be discharged from paying £2500 assessed upon them, on account of their great poverty and the impossibility of raising the money.
In 1626, writs of quo warranto were brought against the mayor, &c., for refusing to furnish two ships of war demanded of them; and the corporation, on the trial, which took place in 1629, obtained a verdict in their favor, having proved that they neither used nor usurped any privileges but what their charters warranted. During this contest the city raised a sum of money, and presented to the king by way of loan, as settled by the lord keeper, lord treasurer, comptroller, and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, who came hither for that purpose.
In 1627, an order arrived for levying 250 foot soldiers in the city of Norwich and county of Norfolk, of which number the citizens were ordered to furnish 25; but they would raise no more than 17, that being their full proportion.
During this reign the plague raged with great violence in the city and county. On July 12th, 1625, the king issued a commission to the mayor, &c., to scour the city ditches, to remove all nuisances in and about the city, to repair the walls and turrets, and to tax all residing in the several wards, according to their ability, toward the work; it being thought very necessary, in order to stop the plague which had been brought from Yarmouth, and begun to spread here. The mayor had previously requested the bailiffs at Yarmouth to order all the wherrymen to carry no infected persons dwelling in their town to the city. Constables of every ward gave notice that no person coming from London should be entertained without notice given to the aldermen of their ward; and watch was set at every gate, day and night, to hinder all persons coming from infected places entering the city, and the carriers were commanded to bring no such persons, nor any wool whatever. Notwithstanding all this caution, the plague began to spread, so that on July 23rd, the aldermen of every ward appointed “Searchers” in each ward, to be keepers of such persons as were suspected of being infected. The bellman warned all the citizens to take their dogs and swine outside of the walls, on pain of being killed. On July 30th, the watch of the gates ceased, it being known that the plague raged within the city. Twenty-six persons died of it in that week; and before August 11th, it had so much increased, that it was resolved that every alderman should have power to send his warrants to the city treasurers to relieve the infected persons; and the plague abated that very week. Orders were issued that the doors of all persons who died of the disease should be nailed up and watched. Every one who begged about the streets was whipped, because all the poor were then relieved, so that no one had any excuse for begging for food.
In 1634, under date of March 23rd, a letter signed by the king, was directed to the mayor, sheriff, and aldermen, requiring their constant attendance at the sermon preached every Sunday morning, either in the Cathedral or Green yard, and that they would be there at the beginning of the service, after the manner observed in the city of London; and that none be absent without the consent of the bishop. On this point a court was held, and it was ordered that the mayor and court should constantly meet at the Free School, and thence proceed to church agreeably to his majesty’s instructions; the king having great regard for their spiritual welfare.
The first parliament of the reign of Charles I., in 1625, has been severely censured on account of the penurious supply which it doled out for the exigencies of a war in which its predecessors had involved the king. Nor is the reproach wholly unfounded. A more liberal proceeding, if it did not obtain a reciprocal concession from the king, would have put him more in the wrong. But the Puritans in parliament formed a majority, and were determined not to vote money without a redress of what they deemed to be grievances. The king finding he could not obtain the supplies he required from the House of Commons, determined to rule without a parliament, and to raise money by some other means. Hence the contests between the king and the parliaments, which were often called and soon dissolved. This served only to aggravate the embarrassments of the crown. Every successive House of Commons inherited the feelings of its predecessor, otherwise it would not have represented the people. The same men, for the most part, came again to parliament more irritated and difficult of reconciliation with the sovereign than before. Even the politic measure, as it was fancied to be, of excluding some of the most active members from seats, by nominating them sheriffs for the year, failed of the expected success because all ranks partook of a common enthusiasm.
In 1642, July 12th, the parliament voted and declared the necessity of recourse to arms, and on the 29th of the same month, Moses Treswell was apprehended for attempting to enlist men into the king’s service, after having been forbidden to do so by the corporation. The citizens supposing that this act would be deemed a declaration against their sovereign, ordered a double watch to be set in every ward, and a provision of all military stores to be made. They received a letter from the parliament thanking them for their great services in sending up Captain Treswell, and exhorting them to raise the militia, and to prevent anyone from levying troops within their jurisdiction without consent of parliament. Soon afterwards, the king issued proclamations requiring the assistance of his subjects against the rebels, but no regard was paid to them in Norwich. On the other hand, the magistrates ordered a general muster of the trained bands and volunteers, and put the city into the best state of defence, fearing an attack from the gentlemen of Norfolk and Suffolk who had declared for the king. As a further proof of their zeal they sent fifty Dragoons for Colonel Cromwell’s regiment, which composed part of the troops under Lord Grey of Wark, raised for the preservation of the peace in the associated counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Huntingdonshire. As soon as these had marched, the magistrates raised a hundred more dragoons, and to mount them, gave orders for seizing the horses of those citizens who favoured the cause of the king, and who were called malignants. On March 13th, the city raised fifty more Dragoons, and on March 26th, 1643, a hundred men were ordered to be raised and sent to Cambridge to re-enforce the associated army. The weekly contribution levied by parliament on the county was £1250 in the following proportions: Norfolk £1129, Norwich £53, Lynn £27, Yarmouth £34 16s. 5d., Thetford £5 11s. 9d. On April 2nd, being Easter day, Captain Sherwood marched to Lynn with a hundred volunteers to secure that town from any sudden surprise by the king’s forces. On August 12th, a meeting of the associated counties was appointed on account of the danger with which the city was threatened by the approach of the enemy, and the castle was ordered to be fortified. Lincolnshire was also admitted amongst the associated counties. Lynn was garrisoned by the forces of the parliament, and fortified at the expense of the Association. On November 18th, four of the Court, representing the Association, were fined £10 each for want of expedition in collecting the proposition money, and the Earl of Manchester ordered the immediate assessing and levying of such sums of money as should have been raised by any edict of parliament. This stringent commission was carried out by force of arms.
In 1643, it having been agreed between the English and Scotch commissioners that £100,000 should be immediately advanced to the Scots, to enable them to put their army in march for England, an order was sent down to Norwich for levying £6000, part of the said sum in the following proportions; in Norwich, £265; in Yarmouth, £174; in Lynn, £132; in Thetford, £27 18s. 9d., and the remainder in the county of Norfolk.
By order of the Court, on March 9th, 1644, seven pictures, taken from St. Swithin’s Church, the Angel and Four Evangelists from St. Peter’s, Moses and Aaron and the Four Evangelists from the Cathedral, and other paintings, were publicly burnt in the Market Place. A committee was appointed to “view the churches for pictures and crucifixes,” in consequence of which, these over-zealous Reformers committed all kinds of outrages and excesses by destroying monuments in the churches, and burning valuable paintings, as stated by Bishop Hall in his “Hard Measure,” a pamphlet on the proceedings of the Puritans. On Christmas eve, 1645, the mayor issued orders to all the city clergy commanding them neither to preach, nor to administer the sacrament, in their respective churches on the day following, and to the inhabitants, charging them to open their shops as on other days; so little did the Puritans in that age understand the principles of toleration.
In 1648, a petition was presented to the mayor, &c., signed by 150 persons, praying for a more speedy and effectual reformation, and complaining that their faithful ministers were discouraged and slighted; the ejected ministers countenanced and preferred; old ceremonies, and the service book constantly used, and the directory for worship almost totally neglected; and further praying, that the ordinances against superstition and idolatry might be put in strict execution; “so, shall the crucifix on the cathedral gate be defaced, and another on the roof of the cathedral neere the west door in the inside, and one upon the free school, and the image of Christ on the parish house of St. George at Tombland be taken down, and many parish churches more decently made for the congregations to meet in.” The mayor, John Utting, paying little regard to this petition, was sent for to London, and Mr. Alderman Baret put in his place. After he was gone, the common people, having a great affection for the mayor, went to the committee house, then on the site of the present Bethel, where the gunpowder was kept, and set fire to ninety-five barrels, which killed and wounded about one hundred persons and greatly damaged the adjacent buildings. For this outrage six of the perpetrators were hanged in the Market Place.
On January 30th, 1649, King Charles was beheaded at Whitehall. Soon after the death of the king the House of Commons published a decree to forbid the proclaiming of Charles Stuart, eldest son of the late king, or of any person whatsoever, on pain of high treason; and afterwards enacted that the kingly office should be abolished as unnecessary, burdensome, and dangerous; and that the state should be governed by the representatives of the people without king or lords, and under the form of a Commonwealth.
In 1650, on discovery of an intended insurrection in Norfolk in favour of King Charles, which was to have broken out on October 7th, several of the conspirators were apprehended and tried at the new hall, in Norwich, before three judges, commissioned by the parliament for that purpose. Their sitting continued from December 20th to December 30th, and they condemned twenty-five persons, who were all executed, some of them at Norwich and others in different parts of Norfolk.
On June 24th, 1654, an ordinance was published for the six months’ assessment for the maintenance of the armies and fleets of the Commonwealth, at the rate of £120,000 per month for the first three months, and £90,000 per month for the rest. Towards each monthly payment of the last sum, Norwich raised £240 and Norfolk £4660. On August 29th, an ordinance was issued for ejecting scandalous and insufficient ministers and schoolmasters; whose qualifications were to be tried by commissioners appointed for that purpose in every county. In consequence of this ordinance many able divines in the kingdom were ejected from their livings, and their places filled by such as best suited the views of the ruling party. During the Commonwealth, the city was put in defence against the royalists, the castle was fortified for the service of Cromwell, the goods of the bishops and clergy were sequestrated, the bishops palace was sacked, the cathedral and churches were plundered and defaced, and Bishop Hall was turned out and driven into retirement at his palace in Heigham, which is still in existence, being used as a tavern called the Dolphin. He died there and was buried in the old church in Heigham. We shall speak more at length of this distinguished prelate in our notice of “The Eminent Citizens” of the 17th century.
On the death of Oliver Cromwell, which happened on September 3rd, 1658, the mayor of Norwich, like the mayors of other towns, received letters from the privy council, notifying that event and the election of his son Richard Cromwell to the dignity of Protector, and commanding him to proclaim the said Richard protector of the three kingdoms, which was done accordingly on the seventh of that month. The new protector’s honours were, however, but of short continuance; for in the month of April, 1659, the army obliged him to dissolve the parliament which he had convoked, and soon afterwards deposed him from his high office. During the fatal contentions respecting the prerogatives of the crown and the privileges of parliament, the city suffered less than might have been expected, and Norfolk less than many other counties.
The citizens, tired of strife and commotion, were among the first to hail the return of monarchy in the person of Charles II., who was proclaimed here on May 10th, 1660, and the sum of £1000 was presented to His Majesty, on behalf of the city, by the mayor, who received the honour of knighthood. In 1663 the king granted to the city the charter by which, with little interruption, it was governed till 1835, when the municipal act came into force. In 1670, Lord Howard presented the corporation with a noble mace of silver gilt, and a gown of crimson velvet for the mayor. In 1671, the king and queen and many nobles visited the city, and were entertained in grand style at the palaces of the bishop and the Duke of Norfolk.
In 1682, a majority of the corporation surrendered to the king the charter which he had granted them nine years before, and in lieu of it a new one was substituted not so favourable to the city; the king having reserved the right of removing magistrates of whom he did not approve.
In 1687, by the mandate of James II., ten aldermen and nineteen councillors were displaced; but the arbitrary conduct of that monarch soon brought about his ruin, and when Henry, Duke of Norfolk, rode into the Market Place at the head of 300 knights and gentlemen and declared for a free parliament, the corporation and citizens responded with loud acclamations. After the glorious revolution of 1688, the first charter of Charles II. was restored to the city, and the aldermen who had been removed were reinstated in their offices.
William and Mary, king and queen of England, began their reign on February 13th, 1688, and during their reign the city flourished exceedingly, and the country in general was prosperous.
In 1697 the coin was regulated afresh, the old money being called in and recoined, for which purpose, mints were established in various places, among others one in this city, which coined £259,371. The quantity of coin and plate brought in here to be coined was 17,709 ounces.
We may here give the statements of two eminent writers respecting Norwich and Norfolk in this century. Sir Thomas Browne, jun., in 1662, wrote as follows about the city and county:—
“Let any stranger find me out so pleasant a county, such good ways, large heaths, three such places as Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lynn, in any county of England, and I’ll be once again a vagabond and visit to them.”
And he wrote so with good reason. Few, if any, of the cities of England then contained more handsome buildings, or presented so good an appearance as did the old city of Norwich, while only London and Bristol surpassed her in the extent and importance of their commerce. Lord Macaulay, in his graphic History of England thus describes the state of the city in the 17th century:—
“Norwich was the capital of a large and fruitful province. It was the residence of a bishop and of a chapter. It was the seat of the manufacture of the realm. Some even distinguished by learning and science had recently dwelt there, and no place in the kingdom, except the capital and the universities, had more attractions to the curious. The library, the museum, the aviary, and the botanical gardens of Sir Thomas Browne were thought by the Fellows of the Royal Society well worthy of a long pilgrimage. Norwich had also a court in miniature. In the heart of the city stood an old palace of the Duke of Norfolk, said to be the largest town house in the kingdom out of London. In this mansion, to which were annexed a tennis court, a bowling green, and a wilderness extending along the banks of the Wensum, the noble family of Howard frequently resided. Drink was served to the guests in goblets of pure gold; the very tongs and shovels were of silver; pictures of Italian masters adorned the walls; the cabinets were filled with a fine collection of gems purchased by the Earl of Arundel, whose marbles are now among the ornaments of Oxford. Here, in the year 1671, Charles and his court were sumptuously entertained; here, too, all comers were annually welcomed from Christmas to Twelfthnight; ale flowed in oceans for the populace. Three coaches, one of which had been built at a cost of £500 to contain fourteen persons, were sent every afternoon round the city to bring ladies to the festivities, and the dances were always followed by a luxurious banquet. When the Duke of Norfolk came to Norwich he was greeted like a king returning to his capital; the bells of St. Peter’s Mancroft were rung, the guns of the castle were fired, and the mayor and aldermen waited on their illustrious citizen with complimentary addresses.”
Dr. Hall, Bishop of Norwich, the first English Satirist, was a noted character in this century. He was born July 1st, 1574, in Bristow Park, within the parish of Ashby de la Zouch, in Leicestershire. He was educated by a private tutor till he was fifteen years of age, when he removed to Cambridge, and was admitted to Emmanuel College, of which he was a chosen scholar, and took the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His satires were published in 1597, 1598, and 1599, and added greatly to his reputation by their pungency and classical style. They equal the satires of Juvenal and Persius on similar themes, and in lashing the vices of the age.
Dr. Hall, in 1624, refused the bishopric of Gloucester, but in 1627 he accepted that of Exeter, holding with it in commendam the rectory of St. Breock in Cornwall. At this time he seems to have been suspected of a leaning to the Puritans, and it must be allowed that his religious views were more consonant with theirs than with the lax Arminianism of Laud. But at the same time, Dr. Hall was a zealous supporter of the church.
On November 15th, 1641, he was translated, by the little power left to the king, to be Bishop of Norwich, but having joined with the Archbishop of York and eleven other prelates, in a protest against the validity of such laws as should be made during their compulsory absence from parliament, he was ordered to be sent to the tower, with his brethren, on the 30th of January following. Shortly afterwards they were impeached by the Commons for high treason, and on their appearance in parliament were treated with the utmost rudeness and contempt. The Commons, however, did not think fit to prosecute the charge of high treason, having gained their purpose by driving them from the House of Lords, and Hall and his brethren were ordered to be dismissed; but upon another pretext they were again sent to the tower. In June following, Hall was finally released on giving bail for £5000! He returned to Norwich, and being received with rather more respect than he hoped for, in the then state of public opinion, he resumed his duties, frequently preaching to large congregations, and enjoying the forbearance of the predominant Puritan party till April, 1643, when the destruction of the church was contemplated. About this time, the ordinance for sequestrating notorious delinquents having passed, and our prelate being included by name, all his rents were stopped, his palace was entered, and all his property was seized. A friend, however, gave bond for the whole amount of the valuation, and the bishop was allowed to remain a short time in his palace. While he remained there, he was continually exposed to the insolence of the soldiery and mob, who demolished the windows and monuments of the cathedral. At length he was ordered to leave his palace, and would have been exposed to the utmost extremity, if a neighbour had not offered him the shelter of his humble roof. Some time afterwards, but by what interest we are not told, the sequestration was taken off a small estate which he rented at Heigham, to which he retired. The house in which he lived, now called the Dolphin Inn, is still standing, and should be carefully preserved as a memorial of a great and good man.
Bishop Hall, in his tract Hard Measure, has given a most touching account of the treatment he experienced. He says in his tract “The Shaking of the Olive Tree:”—
“It is no other than tragical to relate the carnage of that furious sacrilege whereof our eyes and ears were the sad witnesses, under the authority and presence of Linsey, Tofts the sheriff, and Greenwood. Lord, what work was here; what clattering of glasses, what beating down of walls, what tearing up of monuments, what pulling down of seates, what wresting out of irons and brass from the windows and graves, what defacing of armes, what demolishing of curious stone work which had not any representation in the world, but only of the cast of the founder, and skill of the mason; what toting and piping upon the destroyed organ pipes, and what a hideous triumph on the market day, before all the country, when, in a sacrilegious and profane procession, all the organ pipes, vestments, both copes and surplices, together with the leaden crosse which had been newly sawn down from over the green yard pulpit, and the service book and singing books that could be had, were carried to a fire in the public Market-place; a lewd wretch walking before the train in his cope trailing in the dirt, with a service book in his hand, imitating in an impious scorne the tune and usurping the words of the litany formerly used in the church. Neer the publick crosse all these monuments of idolatry must be sacrificed to the fire, not without much ostentation of a zealous joy in discharging ordinance to the cost of some who professed how much they longed to see that day.”
The good bishop’s sufferings did not damp his courage, for in 1644, we find him preaching in Norwich whenever he could obtain the use of a pulpit; and with yet more boldness, in the same year he sent A modest offer of some meet considerations in favour of Episcopacy addressed to the Assembly of Divines. During the rest of his life he appears to have remained at Heigham, unmolested, performing the duties of a faithful pastor, and exercising such hospitality and charity as his scanty means permitted. He died, September 8th, 1656, in the 82nd year of his age, and was buried in the church of St. Bartholomew, in Heigham. In his will, he says:—
“I leave my body to be buried without any funeral pomp, at the discretion of my executors, with the only monition that I do not hold God’s house a meet repository for the dead bodies of the greatest saints.”
He left a family behind, according to Lloyd, of whom Robert, the eldest son, was afterwards a clergyman, and D.D. His wife died in 1647. His prose works were published at various periods in folio, quarto, and duodecimo. They were collected in a handsome edition of 10 vols., octavo, by the Rev. Josiah Pratt, and are his best memorials. The “Meditations” have been often reprinted. As a moralist, he has been called the British Seneca.
Sir Thomas Browne flourished in this century in Norwich, as a Physician. Dr. Johnson wrote a memoir of him, from which we learn the following particulars. He was born in London, in the parish of St. Michael, in Cheapside, on October 19th, 1605. Of his childhood or youth there is little known, except that he lost his father very early; that he was, according to the common fate of orphans, defrauded by one of his guardians; and that he was placed for his education at the School of Winchester. He was removed in 1623 from Winchester to Oxford, and entered a gentleman commoner of Broadgate Hall, which was soon afterwards endowed and took the name of Pembroke College, from the Earl of Pembroke, the Chancellor of the University. He was admitted to the degree of B.A., January 31st, 1626–7, being the first man of eminence who graduated from the new college, to which the zeal or gratitude of those that love it most can wish little better than that it may long proceed as it began. Having afterwards taken his degree of M.A., he turned his attention to physic. He practised it for some time in Oxfordshire, but soon afterwards, either induced by curiosity or invited by promises, he quitted his settlement and accompanied his father-in-law, who had some employment in Ireland in the visitation of the forts and castles, which the state of Ireland then made necessary. He left Ireland and travelled on the Continent, and was created an M.D. at Leyden. About the year 1634 he is supposed to have returned to London; and the next year to have written his celebrated treatise, called Religio Medici, or, “The Religion of a Physician,” which excited the attention of the public by the novelty of paradoxes, the dignity of sentiment, the quick succession of images, the multitude of abstruse allusions, the subtlety of disquisition, and the strength of language. At the time when this book was published the author resided at Norwich, where he had settled in 1636, by the persuasion of Dr. Lushington, his tutor, who was then rector of Burnham Westgate, in West Norfolk. His practice became very extensive, and in 1637 he was incorporated Doctor of Physic, in Oxford. He married in 1641, Mrs. Mileham, of a good family in Norfolk. He had ten children by her, of whom one son and three daughters survived their parents. In 1646, Sir Thomas Browne published his “Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors,” which passed through many editions. In 1658, the discovery of some ancient urns in Norfolk, gave him occasion to write “Hydriotaphia, Urn-burial, or, a Discourse of Sepulchral Urns;” in which he treats with his usual learning on the funeral rites of ancient nations, exhibits their various treatment of the dead, and examines the substances found in the Norfolcian urns. To this treatise on Urn-burial was added the “Garden of Cyrus; or, the Quincuxial Lozenge, or Network Plantation of the Ancients, Artificially, Naturally, Mystically Considered.” He doubted the Copernican hypothesis, on the same ground as some divines distrust the Cuvierian system of Geology, as opposed to Genesis. These were all the tracts which he published, but many papers were found in his closet. Of these, two collections were published in 1722, and all his works were issued in a cheap form by G. H. Bohn, and are in the Norwich Free Library. To the life of this learned man there remains little to be added, but that in 1665 he was chosen Honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians, as a man “Virtute et literis ornatissimus,” eminently embellished with literature and virtue. In 1671, he received at Norwich, the honour of Knighthood from Charles II., a prince, who, with many frailties and vices, had yet skill to discover excellence and virtue, to reward it with such honorary distinctions, at least, as cost him nothing.
Sir Thomas Browne, in 1680, wrote a Repertorium, or Account of the Tombs and Monuments in the Cathedral Church of Norwich. The basis of the work was a sketch hastily drawn up twenty years previously on the information of “an understanding singing man,” ninety-one years old, in order to preserve the remembrance of some of the monumental antiquities which barbarous zeal had destroyed. The reckless character of these ravages has thus been exhibited in a description made on the spot and at the moment, by one who suffered in his person, property, and health.
Thus the knight lived in high reputation, till he was seized with a colic, which, after having tortured him for about a week, put an end to his life at Norwich, on his birthday, October 19th, 1682, having completed his 77th year. Some of his last words were expressions of submission to the will of God, and fearlessness of death. He lies buried in the Church of St. Peter Mancroft, within the rails at the east end of the chancel, with this inscription on a mural monument, placed in the south pillar of the altar:—
M. S.
HIC SITUS EST
THOMAS BROWNE, M.D.
ET MILES.
Ao 1605. LONDONI NATUS
GENEROSA FAMILIA APUD UPTON IN AGRO CESTRIENSI ORIUNDUS.
SCHOLA PRIMUM WINTONIENSI, POSTEA
IN COLL. PEMBR.
APUN OXONIENSES BONIS LITERIS
HAUD LEVITER IMBUTUS.
IN URBE HAC NORDOVICENSI MEDICINAM
ARTE EGREGIA, ET FŒLICI SUCCESSU PROFESSUS,
SCRIPTIS, QUIBUS TITULI, RELIGIO MEDICI
ET PSEUDODOXIA EPIDEMICA ALIISQUE
PER ORBEM NOTISSIMUS
VIR PIENTISSIMUS, INTEGERRIMUS, DOCTISSIMUS;
OBIIT OCTOBR. 19, 1682.
PIE POSUIT MŒSTISSIMA CONJUX
Da DOROTH. BR.
Mr. Simon Wilkin, F.L.S., in a supplementary memoir, states that Dr. Browne steadily adhered to the royal cause in perilous times. He was one of the 432 principal citizens, who, in 1643, refused to subscribe towards a fund for regaining the town of Newcastle. Charles II. was not likely to have been ignorant of this, and he had, no doubt, the good feeling to express his sense of it by a distinction which was, no doubt, gratifying to Sir Thomas Browne. Sir Thomas is supposed to have lived in the last house at the south end of the Gentleman’s Walk, where the Savings’ Bank now stands. Blomefield asserts that he lived where Dr. Howman then lived, (1760) and that he succeeded Alderman Anguish in that house; and Mr. Simon Wilkin says that he ascertained by reference to title deeds, that the last house at the southern extremity of the Gentleman’s Walk, Haymarket, belonged, in Blomefield’s time, to Dr. Howman. This house was for many years a china and glass warehouse, and tradition has always asserted it to be Dr. Browne’s residence. The last occupier was Mr. Swan, and the house was pulled down to make room for the Savings’ Bank. It contained some spacious rooms. In the drawing room there was, over the mantel-piece and occupying the entire space of the ceiling, a most elaborate and richly ornamented carving of the royal arms of Charles II., no doubt placed there by Sir Thomas to express his loyalty, and to commemorate his knighthood. In Matthew Stevenson’s poems, 12mo, 1673, there is a long poem on the progress of Charles II. into Norfolk, in which the honour conferred on Browne is thus noticed:—
“There the king knighted the so famous Browne,
Whose worth and learning to the world are known.”
Early in October, 1673, Evelyn went down to the Earl of Arlington’s, at Euston, in company with Sir Thomas Clifford, to join the royal party. Lord Henry Howard arrived soon afterward, and prevailed on Mr. Evelyn to accompany him to Norwich, promising to convey him back after a day or two. “This,” he says, “as I could not refuse I was not hard to be persuaded to, having a desire to see that famous scholar and physician, Dr. T. Browne, author of the Religio Medici, and Vulgar Errors, &c., now lately knighted.” After arriving in Norwich, Evelyn says:—
“Next morning I went to see Sir Thomas Browne, with whom I had some time corresponded by letter, though I had never seen him before. His whole house and garden being a paradise and cabinet of rarities, and that of the best collections, especially medails, books, plants, and natural things. Amongst other curiosities, Sir Thomas had a collection of the eggs of all the foule and birds he could procure, that country (especially the promontory of Norfolk) being frequented, as he said, by severall kinds, which seldome or never go further into the land, as cranes, storkes, eagles, and a variety of water foule. He led me to see all the remarkable places in this ancient city, being one of the largest, and certainly, after London, one of the noblest in England for its venerable Cathedralle, number of stately churches, cleanesse of the streets, and buildings of flints so exquistely headed and squared, as I was much astonished at; but he told me they had lost the art of squaring the flints in which they once so much excelled, and of which the churches, best houses, and walls are built. The Castle is an antique extent of ground which now they call Marsfield, and would have been a fitting area to have placed the ducal palace in. The suburbs are large, the prospects are sweete, with other amenities, not omitting the flower gardens, in which all the inhabitants excel.”
At that time the hamlets of Thorpe, Lakenham, and Heigham, were all fields or cultivated grounds and gardens, and the city was interspersed with gardens.
Samuel Clarke, D.D., was the son of Edward Clarke, one of the Aldermen of Norwich, where he was born in 1675, and where he was educated at the Grammar School, his father being at that time one of the representatives of the city in parliament. In 1691, he was entered as a student in Caius College, Cambridge, where his great capacity for learning was soon developed, and where he became distinguished as a metaphysician, mathematician, and divine. He was the author of many works, the chief of which was a “Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God.” Upon his entering into holy orders, he became Chaplain to the learned Dr. Moore, Bishop of Norwich, with whom he lived in great esteem, having the advantage of the fine library of that prelate. In 1704, he was called to an office worthy of all his learning, namely, that of lecturer on Mr. Boyle’s foundation. He preached sermons concerning the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion, which will always be highly esteemed. Soon afterwards, he was presented to the living of St. Bennet’s, near Paul’s Wharf, London, and where he constantly preached without notes. In the same year he translated the Optics of Sir Isaac Newton into elegant Latin, which was so acceptable to that great philosopher, that he presented £500 to the divine, being £100 for each of his children. He was soon after made one of the Chaplains in Ordinary, and in 1709, Queen Anne presented him to the Rectory of St. James’, Westminster, when he went to Cambridge and took his degree of Doctor of Divinity. He died on May 17th, 1729, aged 54 years.
In 1683 died the Rt. Hon. Robert, Viscount of Yarmouth, Baron of Paston, Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk and Norwich. He was buried at Oxnead. His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. John Hildeyard, LL.D., then rector of Cawston, and it was afterwards published. At page 27 there is the following passage, referring to the deceased viscount:
“Great was his love to the ancient, loyal, and honourable corporation of Norwich, because the members of that body, generally speaking, loved the king; they found him their friend and, maugre the blast of calumny, the new charter shall remain a token of it. He spared no cost nor pains, as themselves can witness, to make the world believe that he loved them. Most of the tables of his house were spread together for their entertainment, and all his friends employed to bid them welcome; nay, his very sleep was ofttimes broken 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.”
Happy corporation, that had such a friend; but Blomefield says,
“Whatever the Dr. (Hildeyard) might think of it, the effects of the new charter now began to be too visible, for Mr. Nic Helwys was chosen mayor, and eleven common council in room of those eleven of the sixty common council appointed by the charter, which were not qualified; but such choice was of no force till confirmed by the king, who sent a letter under the privy seal, dated at Windsor, May 17th, signifying by the Earl of Arundel that he approved of them, and the names of the two elected sheriffs were signified to the Lord Lieutenant, and that they were persons of loyalty, and therefore they desired his lordship to give his gracious Majesty information thereof in order to his approbation.”
John Cosin, D.D., was born in this city in 1594, and finished his studies in Caius College, Cambridge, where he took his last degrees. When he entered into holy orders he was presented to a Prebendary in the Cathedral Church of Durham, and appointed Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire. But the civil wars breaking out, and he being an active Papist, he was obliged to seek refuge abroad till the Restoration in 1660, when he returned, and was promoted first to the Deanery of Peterborough, and then to the Bishopric of Durham. He died at Durham, aged 78, in 1672.
John Pearson, D.D., was the son of a Clergyman in Norwich, where he was born in 1613. He received the first rudiments of learning at Eton, whence he was removed to King’s College, Cambridge, where he finished his studies, and took his degrees. His first ecclesiastical preferment was a Prebendary of Salisbury; and soon afterwards he was chosen Rector of St. Clements, East Cheap, where he remained till 1660, and where he wrote his learned explanation of the Creed. At the Restoration, he was appointed Archdeacon of Surrey, and afterwards he was promoted to the See of Chester, where he continued till his death, in 1686.
John Goslin, a native of Norwich, flourished in the 17th century. He was first Fellow and then Master of Caius College, in Cambridge, Proctor of that University, and thrice Vice Chancellor thereof, a general scholar, eloquent Latinist, and a rare physician, in which faculty he was Regius Professor. He was a great benefactor to Catherine’s Hall, but left his native city only the honour of his name. He died in 1625.
The Rev. John Carter was an eccentric character in the city during this century. He was born at Bramford, in Suffolk, in 1594, and became upper minister of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, which position he held from 1638 to 1653. He preached three extraordinary sermons before the corporation, preparatory to the guild day festival in 1644, 1647, and 1650. The title of the first is “The Nail Hit on the Head, and Driven into the City and Cathedral Wall of Norwich;” of the second, “The Wheel Turned by a Voice from the Throne of Glory;” and the third, “A Rare Sight; or, the Lyon Sent from a Far Country, and Presented to the City of Norwich in a Sermon upon the Solemne Guild Day, June 18th, 1650.” The third sermon fills 150 pages, is the length of several modern sermons, and must have occupied two hours and a half in the delivery; a terrible long grace to a guild day dinner. It is ornamented with many wood cuts, among which is the lion in various attitudes, couchant, guardant, rampant, passant, &c., giving the preacher opportunities of displaying his knowledge of, at least, the terms of heraldry, and sarcastically to apply them to the magistracy. He says:—
“In one respect, your city arms do very well befit you. It is a lion with a castle over it. Many of you can be like lions, very courageous, so long as you have a castle over you for protection and countenance; but take away the castle, and who will expose himself to danger? What a sordid thing is this! There is a lion couchant, but never did I hear of a lion crouchant, or current, a fearful and dastardly lion. Who among you will strike down a disorderly ale-house, if the brewer that serves it be an alderman, a rich man, or a friend?”
The rest of the discourse is replete with coarse expressions, biting sarcasms, and party prejudices, not likely to have edified, and much less to have pleased the congregation.