Part 17

Somewhat more than a year and half after the last date, we find the same business still employing the attention of our gentlemen. Hence, in our volume of Extracts, the following passage occurs.—“December 23rd. 1710. Order’d that alderman Bagg, with the town clerk, be desired to wait upon Mr. Wodehouse at Lexham, and endeavour to ascertain the lands late in his lease from St. Mary Magdalen’s Hospitall, and enquire after what other lands there are in Dunham and East Lexham for which no rent is paid.” {897} How they succeeded, or how the inquiry finally turned out, does not appear. But it is pretty certain that the Hospital and poor pensioners there, have never owed much obligation to the Wodehouse family; and but for the interference of the corporation, this charity, in all probability, had long ago been alienated and lost. Let this therefore stand on record among the good and worthy deeds of our body corporate.

The origin of the appointment of _Watchmen_ for this town, is a circumstance that seems to be very little known here: but from the following hint in our volume of Extracts, it seems to be now of near 90 years standing.—“Feb. 3. 1719–20, Order’d that a Letter be sent to the members of parliament, to gett a clause incerted in the act now about passing for night watches for the city of _Westminster_, in favour of this corporation to have the like regulation.” It seems probable therefore, that Lynn had its night watchmen as early as the city of Westminster, and of course earlier probably, than most other places in the kingdom. Somewhat more than two months after the last date, the following circumstance is memorized in our book of Extracts—“April 6. 1720, Mr. John Cary junr. is elected Master of the Writting School, and aldermen Berney and Scarlet, governors and inspectors of the said schoole.” This school still exists; but who are its present governors and inspectors we have not learnt. They may be supposed to be expert _penmen_, or good judges of penmanship. On the 23rd. of the following December, it was “ordered that a book be prepared to register all the Acts of our Common Councell that pass the seale.”—This book of _the Acts of our Common Council_, though not quite so interesting as the book of _the Acts of the Apostles_, may nevertheless contain some very curious passages, which might be very useful for this work, could we have been favoured with a sight of it. But it is supposed to be a book of _secrets_, and so not accessible to the uninitiated and unprivileged. Containing now the acts of near 90 years, it may be presumed to be, by this time, rather bulky.

In the spring of 1722, our book of Extracts speaks of the Blockhouse being let on lease to one Quash. The reason of noticing this here, is, because the passage alluded to shews that one of the gates of the town anciently stood there, and bore the name of _St. Agnes_.—The passage reads thus:

“April 4th. 1722, Ordered that a lease be made to Wm. Quash, mariner, of the messuage called the Blockhouse, in North End, being formerly _St. Agness Gates_, for the terme of 99 years, at 10_s._ per annum, from Lady Day last, he putting the same into repair, and so keeping it as a dwelling house during the said terme, and leaving the same in tennantable repair at the expiration, excepting to this corporation the common way and passages as usual through the same.”

On the 23rd. of the following November, according to the Hall Books, it was “ordered that the tolls for the carriage of goods through the two gates be suspended for one year, from Lady Day next.” This shews that toll was formerly paid for the passage of goods through our gates; but we have not learnt the reason of the suspension of that payment now for one year. It was a measure, no doubt, which some circumstances were thought to render necessary, at least by way of experiment. Its country and commercial connections had long given Lynn a bad name, for its extortioning spirit, and exorbitant exactions; and it is probable that the town had suffered on that account: this might therefore be an expedient used, along with others, for the purpose of retrieving its character. Whether it promoted that object in any degree, or proved of any material benefit to the town, we have not been able to discover.—Under the date of March 1. 1722–3, (or 1723, as we reckon) the following short note or hint occurs in our book of Extracts—“Market Tolls declared to be the Mayor’s.” By which it would seem that there were before some doubts entertained here upon this subject, and that it had never been fully settled, till now, to whom those tolls belonged.

In the following August, the resentment of the Hall, was excited in a very high degree against Dr. Browne the physician, for having set up, on some occasion, a kind of competition for precedence with the very Mayor himself. This daring deed is thus memorized in our book of Extracts—“August 29. 1723, Ordered that a Letter be written by the Town Clerke to Dr. Wm. Browne, to acquaint him with the resentment of this corporation of his affront to the mayor (Richd. Harwich Esq.) justices and gentlemen of this corporation, by an undue precedence he assumed and persisted in, on Monday last.” [also] “that the Letter now written by the Town Clerke, on that occasion, be sent to Doctor Browne.”—Things must have been then queerly situated at Lynn; especially between the mayor and Dr. Browne. What effect the Town clerk’s Letter had upon the doctor, we have not been able to discover. But we have always understood that there was never any great cordiality between him and the corporation. He resided here long after this, and afterwards removed to London, where he received the honour of _knighthood_, and became _president of the Royal College of Physicians_, to the no small gratification of his vanity, of which he had a most enormous portion. He has been spoken of as a good physician, but beyond that, or out of the line of his profession, he is not known to have acquired much respectability. In one thing he seemed more fortunate than his contemporary Hepburne; for he died _rich_, and the other _poor_. Hepburne’s numerous patients were, it seems, more liberal in _feasting_ than in _feeing_ him; whereas Browne would not have been satisfied with that sort of liberality. He was the grandfather of our present parliamentary representative, Sir Martin Browne Folkes, baronet. {901a}

In 1724 and 1725, the decayed, unsafe, and dangerous state of the river and harbour, which had been much complained of for many years before, continued still to engage the attention of our rulers, as appears by the following memoranda in the Hall records—“August 3. 1724; this day _Col. Armstrong’s_ Report concerning the river, with severall maps, &c. were brought into this House.” again—“Jan. 4th. 1724–5; To apply to Parliament for reviving the Extinct Powers for Commissioners concerning the navigation of the river Ouze.” again—“Febr. 3. appointed a Comittee to state, settle, and consider of proper ways and means, by tonnage upon goods imported, to raise 2500_l._ per annum, stipulated to be employed in amending and restoring the navigation of this harbor.”—again {901b}—“June 7th. 1725; Ordered that _Mr. Badslade_ be paid 20_l._ for his disbursements for printing the severall schemes, cases, and answers, relating to this navigation.”

In the latter part of 1726, an affair came on between the corporation and one _Henry Southwell_, a freeman, which ended rather disgracefully to the former. They seized a quantity of coals belonging to him, under pretence of their being foreign bought and foreign sold; for which he brought an action against the Town Clerk, which the corporation defended. They proceeded further, and actually disfranchised Southwell. Upon which he procured a mandamus, and obliged them to restore him to his freedom. This must have been not a little mortifying to them. They thought they had him entirely in their power, and could master him; whereas the mastery, in fact, belonged to him, and it so turned out that they were in his power: so that like the Irishman, {902} they _caught a Tartar_, and thereby brought themselves into a most humiliating dilemma, and exposed themselves to the ridicule and derision of the whole country. The Hall-records notice and memorizet his affair as follows: “Nov. 16th. 1726; ordered that the suit brought by Henry Southwell, a freeman, against Edw. Bradfield, Town-clerk, for seizing a parcell of coales, fforeign bought and fforeign sold, which came into this port in a ship, Wm. Coverdale, master, a foreigner, for Wm. Taylor, fforeigner, be defended, at the publick charge—and that Hen: Southwell be disfranchised for his collouring bargains and sales, contrary to his Oath of ffreedom, and using opprobious words (in his Letters) to the corporation, unless he shews good cause to the contrary, upon due notice to him for that purpose to be given.”—again—“Febr. 3rd. 1726–7. Ordered that Mr. Hen: Southwell, appearing and shewing no sufficient cause to the contrary, be disfranchised the freedom of this burgh, and he is disfranchised accordingly.”—again—“April 29th. 1728. _Ordered that the former order_, _made for discharging Hen_: _Southwell of the freedom of this burgh_, _be made void_, _and that he be restored again_, according to the direction of a peremptory mandamus, issued out of his majesty’s court of King’s Bench, to the mayor, aldermen, and common councell for that purpose directed: and the said Hen: Southwell appearing, was sworn, and found pledges.”—This might have taught our corporation a very useful lesson, and been a standing warning to them never more to act in so arbitrary a manner, or attempt to extend their power beyond its due bounds.

Being now come to the close of this reign, it may be proper here just to mention some of the principal events by which it was distinguished. Among them the first in order of time was the _rebellion_ in 1715, in favour of the pretender; which, though it was suppressed early in the ensuing year, was far from being eradicated from the minds of the people. The malcontents were long after very numerous in the kingdom, and ever busy in forming new plots against the government, of which that wherein bishop _Atterbury_ was concerned seems to have been the most formidable. The seasonable discovery of it prevented its being productive of much mischief, except to the conspirators themselves, some of whom paid very dear for the share they had in it; particularly Layer and Atterbury. The former was hanged and quartered, and the latter banished his country for ever.

But of all the occurrences of this reign the South Sea scheme, or grand bubble, as it is sometimes called, was that which proved most disastrous and calamitous to the nation. This memorable scheme was laid before the House of Commons by the South Sea Company, along with another from the Bank of England, in 1719, for reducing all the public Funds into one, in order to discharge the national debt, on some valuable consideration to be granted them, &c. After much debate and contest, it was determined in favour of the South Sea Company, and their proposals were accepted on Feb. 1. 1719–20. An Act afterwards passed both Houses for that purpose, which received the royal assent in April following. Upon the proposals being accepted, stock rose gradually to a prodigious height; to 310 per cent. even before the bill received the royal assent; in a few days to 340, then to 400, and before the end of May to 500. In short, what by the artifices of the managers, and the credulity of the people, eager to grasp the riches now held out to them, by the 2nd. of June it got up to 890, and continued rising and falling till it amounted to above 1000. Nothing was now minded but the business of stock-jobbing. Exchange Alley, where these affairs were transacted, was in a continual hurry, and thither crowds of all ranks and qualities daily resorted. The desperate, who ventured first, were generally gainers, whilst the more wary, who came in later, were many of them great sufferers: so that the _wrongheads_, (as the saying then was,) had the better of the _longheads_. A spirit of gaming thus prevailing in the nation, many projects were set on foot, which obtained the name of _bubbles_, and were evidently the progeny of the grand bubble. They were near 100 in number, and it was reckoned that almost a million and half was won and lost in them. A proclamation was issued against them on the 11th. of June, and they were soon after entirely suppressed by order of the Lords Justices.

As to the South-Sea Stock, it continued to rise till about the end of August. It then began to fall, and fell faster than it rose; so that by Michaelmas-day it sunk to 150. In December it underwent a parliamentary enquiry, which induced _Knight_, the South-Sea Company’s treasurer to abscond. In the end, parliament applied to the relief of the sufferers the estates of the sub-governor, deputy-governor, directors, &c. And also that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, _Aislabie_. They were also incapacitated from sitting or voting in either House of Parliament, or holding any office or place of trust under his Majesty, his heirs, or successors. The following Summer an Act against the directors received the royal assent, and shortly after another _for restoring the public credit_. The share _Walpole_ had in settling this distracted affair, and restoring public credit, brought him into great favour at court, and facilitated his promotion. He was now made chancellor of the Exchequer, and first Commissioner of the Treasury, and continued prime minister to the end of this reign, and fifteen years after; to the no small benefit, no doubt, of many Lynn freemen, whatever may be said of the nation at large.

This reign was also distinguished by those memorable religious controversies which sprung from the novel or unfashionable opinions advanced and maintained by Clarke, Whiston, Peirce, Hoadly, and others, and which wrought a considerable revolution in the minds of a great many, both in the church and among the dissenters. The athanasian trinity was given up by numbers of our most learned countrymen; the nature of the kingdom of Christ, with the measure and extent of the obedience due to the civil magistrate, became better understood; the injustice and iniquity of imposing human creeds, or articles of faith, were more fully evinced; in short, the English nation is supposed to have been thenceforth more generally and accurately acquainted with the principles of civil and religious liberty, the claims of conscience, and rights of man, than at any former period. Of late years, however, we are thought to have made no advances on these grounds, but rather to have been moving in a retrogressive direction; so that our favourite word _liberty_ itself would seem to be in danger of losing its wonted meaning, and becoming a vague, or rather an obsolete term in our language. Nor will the violent hubbub lately raised, by Lord Sidmouth’s illiberal, illconditioned, illfeatured, illdigested, and deservedly reprobated bill, be sufficient to invalidate this opinion.

The effects of the above-mentioned controversies extended even to this town; and the elder _Pyle_, who was then at the head of our established clergy, as well as the elder _Rastrick_, who was at the head of the dissenting interest here, were both actually brought over to what was deemed the heterodox side of the question. They were men of considerable eminence and learning, and had been both educated at Cambridge; for Rastrick was originally one of the established clergy, and had been for sometime vicar of Kirkton near Boston, before he left the church and joined the dissenters. But we will say no more of them here, as we shall have occasion to bring them forward again in our biographical sketches. The king died suddenly, at Osnaburgh in his German dominions, on the 11th of June 1727, and was succeeded by his only son, George prince of Wales, which brings us to the end of this section.

SECTION VI.

_A view of the state of things in this town during the reign of George II.—his accession attended with no inauspicious circumstances_; _and his reign_, _on the whole_, _happy and prosperous—recital of some of the most notable and prominent acts of our municipality in the earlier part of it—account of certain subsequent proceedings and occurrences_.

The reign of George II. commenced upon the arrival of the news of his father’s demise, which was very shortly, and within a few days after that event had taken place. He was proclaimed in London on the 15th of June, and at Edinburgh and Dublin on the 19th of the same month. His accession was attended by none of those untoward appearances which beclouded that of his predecessor. All the lords and others, the late king’s privy councellors, were sworn of his privy council, the former ministry retained their places, and Walpole held the premiership for fifteen years longer; nor was he displaced at last through any dislike or prejudice which the king had imbibed against him or his service, but by the persevering and prevailing exertions of the opposition party, headed by _Pulteney_, who forced him to resign, contrary to the desire or inclination of the sovereign. His administration has been much censured, for its systematic corruption. But that corruption never extended so far as that of certain heaven-born ministers of more recent times; and it was certainly employed for much better purposes. His aversion to war, and constant endeavours to avoid it, cover a multitude of his sins: and it was probably not so often as most people imagine that this country has been favoured with better ministers than Sir Robert Walpole.

The reign of George II. may safely be pronounced, on the whole, one of the most happy and prosperous in the annals of this country. The principles of civil and religious liberty were then favoured at court, and recognized by the sovereign, as what had seated his family on the throne. Protestant Dissenters he considered as some of his best friends and most faithful subjects; nor did his ministers and courtiers ever presume to treat them with coolness and disrespect, or pretend to entertain any doubt or suspicion of their loyalty, or their attachment to the king and constitution, according to the principles laid down at the revolution. In short, this reign will be contemplated with no small pleasure by the sons of freedom, as a period when an open attachment to civil and religious liberty, or the real rights of man, subjected no one to the suspicion, or imputation, of being a traitor to his king and country. How far the same may be said of our situation for the last twenty years, is a question of which we shall not at present enter upon the discussion.

One of the first notable acts of our municipality, after the commencement of this reign, may be presumed to be that of addressing the throne, by way both of condolence and congratulation; the former on the death of the late sovereign, and the latter on the happy accession of his successor. But as no copy of this address has fallen in our way, we cannot form any judgment of its tenor or merit: only we are informed that our cities and boroughs, in general, did then actually send up such addresses; and it is not to be supposed that the same was neglected or omitted at Lynn, especially as the prime minister himself was one of its representatives. This address, no doubt, was sufficiently loyal, but whether or not so eloquent and sublime as those sent up in the reign of queen Anne, must now be left among the uncertainties, or, perhaps, even among the inscrutables.

Not long after, or in the course of the autumn of that same year, as it would seem, the mayor, (Mr. Tho. Allen) according to one of our manuscript narratives, issued _an order to prohibit the barbers to shave on Sundays_; for which we may be pretty sure his worship had not many thanks from that fraternity. How far this order was obeyed, or did contribute to the reformation and benefit of the town, we have not been able to discover. The wisdom and utility of such measures appear very questionable, and it is doubtful if they have ever answered any very good purposes, as they seem to be ill, or not at all, calculated to convince people of the evil of the conduct or practices against which they are directed. Some of our mayors, of more recent days, have taken upon them to issue similar orders, at the commencement of their mayoralty, but they have seldom, or never, thought it proper or expedient to enforce them throughout, or to the end of the year.

Mr John Goodwin, the mayor of the ensuing year, (1728–,) distinguished himself, according to the same narrative, in another way, by setting down a stone-cistern at the end of the Fish-Shambles, and also endowing one of the Almshouses in broad Street for one poor man with two shillings a week.—His successor, Mr. Andrew Taylor, distinguished himself still differently: for, as the same narrative words it, “He did abundance of good, as he thought, by taking away guns and killing of dogs; but was a friend to the Church, which he seldom troubled.” That is, if we rightly comprehend the meaning, he was, in talk, a mighty zealot for the Church, though he seldom would condescend, or deem it worth his while to honour it with his presence: which, to all thinking and discerning people, was a sure sign and clear proof that all his noisy zeal was nothing but mere pretence, to answer some mercenary or hypocritical end; and but for which he in reality cared no more for the church than the most heathenish or irreligious of his neighbours.

How many such churchmen as this Andrew Taylor have been mayors of this town since his time, it is impossible to say; but that numbers of them have pretended to be very stanch and zealous for the Church, while they seldom attended its stated service, or public worship, is very certain. That there were none of this description among the present members of the Hall seems much to be wished; and especially that a truly and christian spirit towards those of other denominations was more visible and predominant among them; which yet is suspected not to have been altogether the case at the formation or establishment of the Lancastrian school, and in some subsequent circumstances relating to that event. But this is not the proper place to make these matters the subjects of inquiry, investigation, or animadversion. {912}