Chapter I: Front Matter

_PRESS NOTICES OF THE FIRST EDITION_.

'We cordially recommend Mr. Ritchie's book to all who wish to pass an
agreeable hour and to learn something of the outward actions and
inner life of their predecessors. It is full of sketches of East
Anglian celebrities, happily touched if lightly limned.'--_East
Anglian Daily Times_.

'A very entertaining and enjoyable book. Local gossip, a wide range
of reading and industrious research, have enabled the author to
enliven his pages with a wide diversity of subjects, specially
attractive to East Anglians, but also of much general
interest.'--_Daily Chronicle_.

'The work is written in a light gossipy style, and by reason both of
it and of the variety of persons introduced is interesting. To a
Suffolk or Norfolk man it is, of course, especially attractive. The
reader will go through these pages without being wearied by
application. They form a pleasant and entertaining contribution to
county literature, and "East Anglia" will, we should think, find its
way to many of the east country bookshelves.'--_Suffolk Chronicle_.

'The book is as readable and attractive a volume of local chronicles
as could be desired. Though all of our readers may not see "eye to
eye" with Mr. Ritchie, in regard to political and theological
questions, they cannot fail to gain much enjoyment from his excellent
delineation of old days in East Anglia.'--_Norwich Mercury_.

'"East Anglia" has the merit of not being a compilation, which is
more than can be said of the great majority of books produced in
these days to satisfy the revived taste for topographical gossip.
Mr. Ritchie is a Suffolk man--the son of a Nonconformist minister of
Wrentham in that county--and he looks back to the old neighbourhood
and the old times with an affection which is likely to communicate
itself to its readers. Altogether we can with confidence recommend
this book not only to East Anglians, but to all readers who have any
affinity for works of its class.'--_Daily News_.

'Mr. Ritchie's book belongs to a class of which we have none too
many, for when well done they illustrate contemporary history in a
really charming manner. What with their past grandeur, their present
progress, their martyrs, patriots, and authors, there is plenty to
tell concerning Eastern counties: and one who writes with native
enthusiasm is sure to command an audience.'--_Baptist_.

'Mr. Ritchie, known to the numerous readers of the _Christian World_
as "Christopher Crayon," has the pen of a ready, racy, refreshing
writer. He never writes a dull line, and never for a moment allows
our interest to flag. In the work before us, which is not his first,
he is, I should think, at his best. The volume is the outcome of
extensive reading, many rambles over the districts described, and of
thoughtful observation. We seem to live and move and have our being
in East Anglia. Its folk-lore, its traditions, its worthies, its
memorable events, are all vividly and charmingly placed before us,
and we close the book sorry that there is no more of it, and
wondering why it is that works of a similar kind have not more
frequently appeared.'--_Northern Pioneer_.

'It has yielded us more gratification than any work that we have read
for a considerable time. The book ought to have a wide circulation
in the Eastern counties, and will not fail to yield profit and
delight wherever it finds its way.'--_Essex Telegraph_.

'Mr. Ritchie has here written a most attractive chapter of
autobiography. He recalls the scenes of his early days, and whatever
was quaint or striking in connection with them, and finds in his
recollections ready pegs on which to hang historical incident and
antiquarian curiosities of many kinds. He passes from point to point
in a delightfully cheerful and contagious mood. Mr. Ritchie's
reading has been as extensive and careful as his observation is keen
and his temper genial; and his pages, which appeared in _The
Christian World Magazine_, well deserve the honour of book-form, with
the additions he has been able to make to them.'--_British Quarterly
Review_.

* * * * *

EAST ANGLIA.

_PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS_
AND
_HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS_.

* * * * *

BY
J. EWING RITCHIE.

* * * * *

'Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem.'

MATTHEW.

* * * * *

_SECOND EDITION_,
REVISED, CORRECTED, AND ENLARGED.

* * * * *

LONDON:
JARROLD & SONS, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C.
1893.