Chapter XXXVI: Section XI (1)

_Biographical Sketches continued—Littel—Pyle—Hepburn—Rastrick—Browne—Keene—&c._

9. _Thomas Littel_, _D.D._ He is supposed to have settled here, as one of our officiating clergy, pretty soon after the revolution; but whether as vicar and principal minister of the town, or as Lecturer, or in an inferior station as the Vicar’s curate, we cannot positively say. It is certain however that he soon succeeded as vicar or chief minister of the town, and continued in that situation for a great many years. Though a Doctor in Divinity, he is supposed not to have stood high among his brethren and contemporaries as a scholar, a preacher, or as a divine; but there were traits in his character that were of no unamiable cast, especially in regard to his attention to the edification of the common people. In more recent times he would probably have been deemed a methodistical clergyman, which is not mentioned here as dishonourable to his memory, but rather the contrary, as it is the opinion of the present writer, that if a _reasonable portion_ of methodism were imbibed by the clergy, it would render their ministry more popular, and prove of material advantage to the lower orders of their auditors. In Dr. Littel’s time, a great many of his hearers, of the poorer classes, as it would seem, became desirous of improving themselves in religious knowledge; and the course that appeared to them most likely, or the best for attaining that object was to establish private meetings for free discussion, or serious conference. Whether they had been led to this from something of the kind that existed among their dissenting neighbours here, we are not able to say; but it is certain that such exercises are much more common among dissenters than among churchmen. However that was, it seems they were not disposed to put the plan in practice without consulting Dr. Littel, who was then vicar of St. Margaret’s and chief minister of the town: and it does not appear that he urged any material objection, or gave them any serious discouragement. But he was aware that it would not be safe or proper for him to countenance such a measure without the privity and permission of his diocesan. He accordingly applied to _Dr. Moore_, who then filled the see of Norwich, and who, in his answer, dated September 10. 1697, appeared no way hostile to the measure, provided it were properly conducted; though he said, however friendly he might be to the design, yet he did not find he had any power by law to constitute and authorize such assemblies. Nevertheless he consented to allow the experiment to be here tried, under certain regulations. This episcopal letter is on the whole a very curious document, and not dishonourable to his lordship’s memory; but it is too long for insertion here. He cautioned them to avoid all discussions about state affairs, and whatever might tend to give umbrage to government; and he advised them to meet in small rather than large companies: which advice was probably adhered to. However that was, the intended measure was soon put in practice. For six or seven years the meetings seem to have been kept in private houses, under certain general regulations. But in 1704 the plan was further matured, new rules of conference were drawn up, {1010} and the meetings afterwards were generally if not constantly kept in the Vestry of St. Margaret’s Church, till the death of Dr. Littel, which happened in 1732. The Society then languished and dwindled away, so that in the year 1744 it was reduced to six members, whose names were Colins Banister, James Cowell, Joshua Edwards senr. Adam Holditch, John Lee, and William Rayns: It appears to have been dissolved soon after, having existed about fifty years; and for a long time no memorial of it remained, except in some old papers which fell into the present writer’s hands accidentally. This Society had formed a library, a catalogue of which it also in this writer’s possession. What became of the books at last, does not appear. We know of nothing more creditable to the memory of Dr Littel, than the countenance he afforded to those serious people. It is supposed that his successor in the Vicarage of St. Margaret did not also succeed him as the patron of this Institution.

10. _Thomas Pyle M.A._ Of the birth-place and the early part of the life of the rev. T. Pyle, whose name is still mentioned with veneration by the few who remember him as a preacher, we have not been able to obtain any account. So rapid is the neglect or the forgetfulness of oral tradition! From his epitaph we learn indeed that he was born in 1674. About the year 1698, he was examined for ordination, at Norwich, by the celebrated and truly honest William Whiston, at that time chaplain to bishop Moore, who has stated in the interesting Memoirs of his Life, that Dr. Sydal and Mr. Pyle were the best scholars among the many candidates whom it was his office to examine. It is probable that he was ordained upon the title of one of the curacies of St Margaret’s parish, as he married, in 1701, a Mrs Mary Rolfe of an affluent and respectable family in Lynn, and in the same year he was appointed by the Corporation to be minister or preacher of St. Nicholas’ Chapel. He published some political Sermons in the years 1706, 1707. and especially in the year 1715. In these discourses he vindicated and enforced those principles to which we are indebted for the expulsion of the Stuarts, and for the elevation of the Brunswick family to the throne. About the same period he became generally known as the author of a very useful Paraphrase on the Historical Books of the Old Testament, and another on the Acts, the Epistles and the Revelation of the New Testament. Soon afterwards he enlisted himself as a writer in the Bangorian Controversy, and was a strenuous and able advocate of the civil and religious principles of Bp. Hoadly. He appears to have been on terms of particular friendship with some of the greatest and best men in the Church of England, such as Dr. Sam. Clarke, Mr. Jackson of Leicester, Dr. Sykes, Bp. Hoadly, Dr. Herring, afterwards abp. of Canterbury; and equally so with some eminent dissenting ministers, particularly Dr. Sam. Chandler and Mr. Rastrick of Lynn. Many years after his death his youngest son, the rev. Philip Pyle, published several volumes of his “Sermons on plain and practical Subjects.” His writings are characterised by a perspicuity and manly sense, rather than by any elevation of style, or by a graceful negligence; and yet in the delivery of his sermons, so impressive was his elocution, that both in the metropolis and in the country, he was one of the most admired preachers of his time. The flowing lines were sent to him on his Sermon preached at Lincoln’s Inn, May 4th. 1735, on Gen. III, 19.

What sounds are these! What energy divine,
What master-strokes in every precept shine!
While from thy lips the warm expression breaks,
What heart but melteth as the preacher speaks!
Thy voice is nature, and thy diction clear,
It strikes like music on the listening ear.
—“Vain foolish man to murmur at thy fate,
The bounteous hand of heaven still leaves thee great;
Still makes thee first of beings here below,
Still gives thee more of happiness than woe.
To lazy indolence this world may seem
A barron wilderness; an idle dream;
Thistles and brambles to the slothful eye,
But roses to the hand of industry.
’Tis sordid avaries, with her sneaking train,
Ambition, who torments herself in vain,
Th’ unnumbered lusts that prey upon the mind,
Fix the primeval curse on human kind.
By their brow’s sweat their bread the labourers earn,
But then no passions in their bosoms burn:
Soon as the evening shade the day-light close,
Unbroken slumbers crown their soft repose;
And when the morning dawn salutes their eyes,
Anteus-like, with double vigour rise.
No stings of conscience! no remorse from sin!
They feel the noblest paradise within;
Content serene, that sunshine of the soul,
With her warm beam invigorates the whole;
Her blossom, health! her fruit, untainted joy!
Nor pain nor death her relish can destroy;
In unpolluted streams her pleasures flow,
No weedy passions in her bosom grow.”
—Thus faintly have I sketch’d thy glorious plan;
Which fills, improves, adorns the inward man.
Still urge thy generous task, to cleanse the mind,
Till from the dregs of passion ’tis refin’d;
To prune each vice, each folly of the age,
Each wild excrescence of this earthly stage.
Tho’ old in goodness, to the world resign’d,
Still want thy heaven to give it to mankind.
Religion’s friend! and virtue’s strongest guard!
That heaven alone such merit can reward,
Its joys approach no tongue but thine can tell;
Doubt not to taste what thou describ’st so well.

With such talents, and with such connections, it cannot easily be accounted for, that Mr. Pyle should remain during so long a life in a situation of comparative obscurity. Sir Robert Walpole was the member for Lynn; and both the political and religious opinions of Mr. Pyle were calculated to recommend him to queen Caroline, who then impartially dispensed the dignities of the Church. Perhaps the spirit of the man was not thought sufficiently accommodating for an introduction to a court; or, like the late Dr. Ogden of Cambridge, from some deficiency of external polish, he might be deemed not producible. A passage in Abp. Herring’s Correspondence with Mr. Duncombe seems to be decisive on this point. “Tom Pyle is a learned and worthy, as well as a lively and entertaining man. To be sure his success has not been equal to his merit, which yet, perhaps, is in some measure owing to himself; for that very impetuosity of spirit, which, under proper government, renders him the agreeable creature he is, has, in some circumstances of life, got the better of him, and hurt his views.” {1015a} From whatever cause, with the exception of a Prebend of Salisbury, which he received from Bp. Hoadly, he was only in succession Lecturer and Minister of Lynn St. Margaret, and vicar of Lynn All-saints—all truly but a poor and paltry pittance for such a man, and from a church which had such immense abundance of good things to bestow; most of which too were actually bestowed on far unworthier objects.—The following Letters which passed between Mr. Pyle and Abp. Herring are highly characteristic and interesting.

“My Lord,

In the universal acclamation of joy for your Grace’s promotion to the
Primacy of all England, may the feeble voice of an old man be heard,
the short remainder of whose life, will pass off with a pleasure that
nothing could have given, but seeing at the head of the Church, a
Prelate so affectionately attached to the interests of Truth, Virtue,
and Liberty.

I am, my Lord, your Grace’s most dutiful Servant.
THO: PYLE.”

* * * * *

“Dear Sir,

Your kind wishes for me give me spirit, and make my heart glad, for
in good faith, I have been teazed and terrified with this exaltation;
and thus much I will venture to say for myself, it sha’nt make me
proud, it sha’nt make me covetous, it sha’nt make me ungrateful or
unmindful of my Friends, but it frights me, and I fear has robbed me
of the most precious thing in life, which is Liberty, but I will
assert as much of it as I can, and not be for ever bound to the
trammels of a long tail and ceremony, which my soul abhors.

I saw S—. Ch—r the other day. I really affect and honour the man,
and wish with all my soul that the Church of England had him, for his
spirit and learning are certainly of the first class; and I regard
him the more because he resembles you and your manner. You talk of
age and all that, but if I may judge from your letter, your eyes are
good, your hand is steady, and I am sure your heart is warm for your
friends, and those good things you mention, Truth, and Virtue, and
Liberty, but that sort of warmth will certainly go to the grave with
you and beyond it.

I am, Dear Sir, your affectionate Friend,
Tho: CANTUAR.” {1017}

Kensington. 17. Dec. 1747.

From the part which Mr. P. took in the Bangorian Controversy, and the terms of particular friendship on which he was known to live with Bp. Hoadly, we may be very sure that there subsisted between them a frequent correspondence. Copies of two of the letters that passed between them are now in the hands of the present writer. He has no reason to suppose that they ever have been published, or are likely to be so, unless they appear on this occasion. Thinking it highly probable that a sight of them cannot fail of gratifying many of his readers, he takes the liberty without further ceremony to introduce them in this place; not at all apprehensive that their contents will any way disparage the memory of either of the memorable personages by whom they were originally written,

“My Lord,

You may remember that when by your kind aid the affair of M—m was
concluded in my Son’s favour, I presented my humble (and said it
should be my last) petition to you, begging of you to be pleased to
bestow on him a living that might consist with M—m, and that you were
so good as to promise to give him any living you had not then engaged
to dispose of otherways.—An incident has lately arisen of such a
nature, as, I am sure will excuse my repeating the above-named
request to your Lordship, with the utmost earnestness.—My Lord, Mrs.
Bilk the D. of N—ch’s W. with her husband’s good liking, and out of
the esteem she has long had for me and mine, and especially for my
son Ph—. has been pleased to propose him as a H. for her niece, the
only child of Mr. Arrowsmith: such a proposal from one who can and
will make a considerable addition to the very good fortune that the
young lady’s father can give her, is a great proof of her esteem for
my son, who has been much with her from his childhood: and what she
requires on my part is that I use my interest in your lordship, and
mention her as joining with me to beg of you to confer a handsome
living on my Son. This will crown all the instances of your
beneficence towards me.—I want words to express the joy with which a
happy success in this affair would carry me thro’ the small remainder
of my life, and make me yield it up to its bounteous Author; or to
describe the tearing anxiety that would accompany a disappointment
from your refusing what I humbly ask.—Wherefore I beg of your
lordship to make me feel the beginning of that satisfaction I have
already in view by such a reply to this petition as may be pleasing
to the excellent friends I am herein concerned with, and so highly
obliged to, and to the heart of an old servant who has loved you all
his life, and served you as well as he could (would to God it had
been better) & will love you till death and beyond it. I am,

my Lord, yours &c. T. P.”

* * * * *

“Dear Sir,

6. Feb. 1752,

You cannot rejoice more sincerely at any good that falls on any part
of your family than I do: tho’ you may feel it more paternally. In
answer to what you propose, I first say that I was 75 years old on
the 14th of last November. What may happen God only knows. But if
it shd be both physically and morally in my power to serve your Son,
you may depend upon it without the force of the strong expression you
make use of. For my own inclination will in such case do it. And
the regard I have for the D. of N—ch (and his lady, tho’ unknown,
only by report) and for Mr. Arrowsmith, to whose faithful services
and exemplary behaviour I was long ago a witness at Stretham, will
not at all abate but increase the inclination. I cannot suppose that
by what you say you can mean such a living as would make void
M—lksham which your son told me was worth 250_l._ per ann. for that
would be to {1020} . . . entirety a valuable living very hardly
obtained; but one that would be an handsome addition to his income.
And this must be one within the canonical distance. Nor do I suppose
that the chapter of Salisbury will ever enter into measures for an
exchange of Mlkshm &c. I wish you would tell me freely what you
understand by an _handsome_ living, assuring you of my sincere
disposition to do any thing in my power agreeable to _your own_
wishes. I have without doubt several good livings in my patronage.
But you must remember that when you mentioned your request for your
son Ph. first, I told you of engagements, and I now tell you that
since that, I have not had one vacancy, as far as I can recollect, of
a living in Wilts of about 130_l._ per annum. I think myself obliged
to speak plainly, that nothing may be expected from me that I cannot
pretend to perform. I have, and have had, for some years, two
absolute engagements upon me for two of my best livings or such of a
secondary sort as will be accepted of till better fall. And I am
very sure, you are not the man that would say a single word to me
towards the immorality of falshood or breach of promise. And I have
the very same opinion of the goodness of heart of those worthy
persons who have entered into this affair with you. As to actual
vacancies, it is our duty not to wish for any by death. And they are
very uncertain, and improbable to happen during the remainder of my
life, tho’ my health is surprisingly better than it was in my younger
days. With all these considerations of my age, and the precarious
condition of all human affairs, if you will take my word, you will
find me if alive, as sincere a Friend, as you yourself can wish to
find.

Your affectionate &c. B. W. {1021}

Mr. Pyle, as was said before, obtained the lectureship, and became the preacher at St. Nicholas’ chapel, and one of the ministers of the town in 1701. In that situation he continued till 1732, when he succeeded Dr. Littel as vicar of St. Margaret’s. This situation he held till 1755, being no longer capable of discharging the duties annexed to it. He accordingly gave in his resignation, both to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and also to the Mayor and corporation of Lynn, early in the Summer of that year. How his resignation to the former was worded we know not, but his resignation to the latter, of which we have obtained a was expressed in the following words: and addressed to the elder _Cary_, then in the second year of his mayoralty.—

“Sir, A long decline of life, and absolute incapacity of attending on
such a ministry as that of Lynn, calls upon me to resign it to some
hands able in due manner to discharge it to the good-liking and
satisfaction both of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich and of the mayor
and corporation of Lynn. But I cannot nor ought to do this, without
paying my just and most grateful acknowledgements to yourself, Sir,
with the former magistrates, and the rest of the gentlemen of your
Body, for the favours they have, for a long tract of time conferred
upon me, and in particular for their tender and generous indulgence
towards me in these last years of my age and infirmities. I request,
Sir, you will please to make your hand the conveyor of this only
return left in my power of thankfulness to them, accompanied with the
sincerest wishes of every kind of good that can finish the welfare
and prosperity of an ancient, generous, and loyal society; wishes
from the heart of yours and theirs most affectionate humble Servant

THO: PYLE.”

May 28th. 1755.

This Letter is supposed to have been dated from _Swaffham_, where, on account of its healthy situation, he resided the two last years of his life; and where, if we are not mistaken, he also died on the last day of the ensuing year. He was buried in the Church of Lynn All-Saints, where a latin epitaph honourable to their memories, is inscribed on the stone that covers the remains of him and his wife. She died the 14th of March 1748, aged 66: and he died the 31st. of December 1756, aged 82. This was 58 years after the commencement of his ministry. He was succeeded in his pastoral charge at Lynn by the late _Charles Bagge D.D._ whose ministerial as well as literary character must have been widely different from his; and yet it does not seem to have made any mighty difference as to the audience, who, it is presumed, went on much as before, praising the successor in terms very similar to those they had been wont to apply to his predecessor. Thus it often happens after the departure of eminent men, both in the church and in dissenting congregations.

11. EDMUND PYLE D.D. was the eldest Son of the former, and a native of this town. In piety and inflexible integrity he is supposed to have been much inferior to his father; and the same was probably the case as to literary attainments, theological knowledge, critical skill, and ministerial talents: but he was certainly a man of no mean parts, as many of his letters that are still extant sufficiently evince. He was educated at Cambridge. When he went into orders, or where he officiated immediately after, does not appear; but in 1732, upon the death of Dr. Littel, and the appointment of his father to be his successor, he then succeeded to the vacant place, and became the lecturer, or assistant preacher and minister of this town; which situation he held till the year 1751, when he resigned in favour of the late Mr. Vann Eyre, and became chaplain to _Bp. Hoadly_, and a Prebendary of Winchester. After the Bp’s death, which happened in 1761, he is supposed to have resided during the remainder of his life at his prebendal house in that city, and to have died there in 1776. At Lynn he was deemed proud and unsociable, which character he, probably, might deserve, for we have sufficient evidence that even the gentry of this town, for the most part at least, stood so very low in his estimation as not to deserve his associating, or holding any communication with them but what was unavoidable: which to be sure was not altogether commendable, considering that he stood to those very people in the relation or character of _one of their pastors_. But it is certain that he could at times divest himself entirely of every appearance of superciliousness and reservedness, and behave towards those whom he esteemed in a very free, familiar, engaging and entertaining manner. Of this his letters still extant are a very good proof, {1024} and the same is corroborated by the testimony of some of his contemporaries who long survived him. His two brothers, _Thomas_ and _Philip_, who were much younger than he and lived long after him, though not inferior to him in point of piety and moral worth, were yet thought to be much so in point of acumen, or quickness of intellect, and literature. They had also three sisters, all well spoken of, and that is supposed to have been all the family their father left.

12. _George Hepburn_ (_or Hepborne_) _M.D._ He is supposed to have settled here about the commencement of the last century, as a physician; in which character he soon acquired high reputation, so as to be placed at the head of the profession in this part of the kingdom for near if not quite half a century. He was the favourite physician of Sir Robert Walpole the then prime minster of this country, with whom he spent much of his time at his princely seat at _Houghton_: and he was also employed in the same capacity by the principal nobility and gentry of this county. Very striking and diverting anecdotes are related of him during his long residence in these parts: but they are hardly proper to be inserted in the present memoir. He was certainly a very eminent and distinguished physician. His posthumous fame is not yet extinguished, as he is still remembered and mentioned, with the utmost respect whenever the conversation leads to the recollection of our eminent men of the last century. His reputation in the latter part of his life was become so very considerable that he was seldom to be found at home, being almost always attending one or other of the great families in the country. The town-practice consequently devolved upon the two other physicians, _Browne_ and _Lidderdale_, both of whom were skilful and judicious practitioners. But as he lived to a very advanced age, it so happened that his eye sight gradually failed, and he became quite blind some years before he died. Having a large family to maintain, and being perhaps during his extensive practice not very economical, he would towards the close of life have been reduced to great difficulties, had it not been for two pensions which he then very seasonably obtained; one from _George_ II, through the interest and friendship of Mr. _Pelham_, of 100_l._ a year; and the other from Dr. _Maxwell_, a rich relation of his own, of double that sum; which placed him above want, and rendered his situation tolerably easy and comfortable. In Walpole’s life time, and during his long premiership, while Hepburn was at the height of his fame, and in extensive practice, there might be no obvious or urgent season for befriending him and making provision for him in a similar way; otherwise it cannot well be supposed that that minister would have neglected it. But now the case was altered; the once celebrated and much sought physician was become old and blind, and no longer capable of following his profession, and gaining as theretofore the means of supporting himself and family. Something therefore was to be done for him, or he would sink into penury and want. It has been reported that though his practice was extensive, yet his fees were but moderate, considering the length and expence of his journeys, with the great attendance often required by his patients. So that his not dying wealthy was less owing to his improvidence and want of economy or frugality, than to the ungenerous and niggardly conduct of his patients or employers. Correspondent with this is said to have been the experience of others of our physicians since his time, particularly the late Dr. Hamilton, who never could boast of the great liberality or munificence of our opulent families, altho’ he was for some time our only physician. In short, this writer does not recollect having ever heard that any physician grew rich here by his practice, however extensive, unless it was Sir W. Browne, and it is generally understood and allowed that he really could do things which most other people could not. Dr. Hepburn died in 1759, at the very advanced age of ninety. He was a North Briton, as were also many, if not most of our eminent physicians. We have not been able to ascertain in what part of North Britain he drew his first breath, but rather suppose it to have been in East Lothian, and at, or near Haddington. {1030} Nor have we been able to discover at what university he was educated, but think it most probable it was that of Edinburgh, where so many eminent men of the same profession have been since educated. Dr. H. was twice married, first in 1693, to one of his own country-women, who died in 1707, aged 30. There were several children by this marriage. He afterwards married again, and his second wife was a Lynn woman. By her also he had some children, two of whom at least survived him. But they were remarkably and vastly inferior, in point of genius and capacity, or intellectual endowment, to those of the first marriage. His eldest daughter married a Mr. Young, and was the mother of the late Miss or Mrs. Dorothy Young, a lady of distinguished intellectual and literary talents. Another daughter became the wife of Dr. _Lidderdale_ an eminent physician who settled here in the early part of George the second’s reign; and died here, in 1766, much regretted, as he is said to have stood high in the public estimation. The other daughter by the first wife lived single; but was a very extraordinary character, and stood unrivalled all her life time among the wits of this town. Her keen sayings, and stinging repartees are still fresh in the recollection of her surviving cotemporaries. Between her and her father’s daughters by his last wife there was a most striking and humiliating contrast: they being but little distant from idiocy.

13. WILLIAM BROWNE M.D. afterwards Sir _William Browne_, _Knight_, F.R.S. and _President of the Royal College of Physicians_. Though he has been already noticed repeatedly in the course of this work, yet as he made so conspicuous a figure here in his day, and our materials relating to him not being yet exhausted, he seems justly entitled to a place among these biographical sketches. He was born about the beginning of the year 1692. The place of his birth we have not been able to discover, but think it to be at some distance from this town. We have understood that he was introduced here by the means and under the patronage of the Turner family, to which he became afterwards implacably hostile. His settlement here must have taken place at an early period of his life; for his name was enrolled among our free burgesses in February 1718; which must have been some time, perhaps two or three years, after he had first taken up his residence here. Yet he seems to have previously resided and graduated both at Cambridge and Oxford, for he denominated himself _M.D. of both Universities_. However that was, he appears to have soon got on fast in the way of his vocation, so as to obtain a large share of popularity and practice, especially among the middling and lower orders of the community, which he is said to have turned to very good account. And he is understood to have made much more of his patients, in the pecuniary way, than Hepburn was able to make of his among the higher orders. Having become the popular physician and favourite, or what we may call the man of the people, he grew quite regardless of the favour and good opinion of the gentry or higher classes. As to the gentlemen of the corporation, he held them very cheap, and treated them at times with the utmost disdain, looking upon them as his inferiors, and taking precedence of the very mayor himself, which gave no small umbrage, as was observed before, at page 900. This took place as early as the year 1723: and this hostility to the body corporate appears not to have undergone any abatement during the remainder of his residence here.—Before we proceed further we will beg leave here to subjoin the account given of him in the _Encyclopedia Londinensis_, the substance of which is as follows—

“BROWNE (_Sir William_,) an eminent physician, settled originally at
Lynn, where he practised with great success and profit. Having
acquired a competency by his profession, he removed to Queen Square,
Ormond Street, London, where he resided till his death, which
happened March 10, 1774, at the age of eighty two. By his will he
left two prize medals to be annually contended for by the Cambridge
poets. By his lady, who died July 25, 1763, in her 60th year, he had
one daughter, mother to the present Sir Martin Browne Folkes, bart.
Sir William Browne was a very facetious man, and the active part
taken by him in the contest with the licentiates, in 1768, occasioned
his being brought on the stage, in the farce of the Devil upon two
Sticks. Upon Foote’s exact representation, of him, in this farce,
with his identical wig and coat, tail figure, and glass, stiffly
applied to his eye, he sent him a card, complimenting him in having
so happily represented him; but, as he had forgot his _muff_, he had
sent him his own. He used to frequent the annual ball at the ladies
boarding school, Queen square, merely as a neighbour, a good natured
man, and one fond of the company of sprightly young folkes. A
dignitary of the church being there one day to see his daughter
dance, and finding this upright figure stationed there, told him he
believed he was _Hermippus ridivivus_, who lived _anhelitu
puellarum_, ‘by the breath of girls.’ At the age of eighty on St.
Luke’s-day, 1771, he went to Batson’s coffee-house, in a richly laced
coat, embroidered waistcoat and band, and fringed white gloves, to
shew himself to Mr. Crosby then lord Mayor. A gentleman present
observing that he looked very well, he replied, “he had neither wife
nor debts.” When he lived at Lynn, an extremely censorious pamphlet
was written against him, which he nailed up against his house door,
for the gratification of all who chose to inspect it. A great number
of lively essays, both in prose and verse, the productions of his
pen, were printed and circulated among his friends, Among those
written during his stay in Lynn were, an Ode in imitation of Horace,
ode 3, lib. iii, addressed to Sir R. Walpole, on his ceasing to be
minister. The Pill Plot; to Dr. Ward, a quack of merry memory, then
in the town; written Nov. 30. 1734. He also translated from the
latin original, Dr. Gregory’s Elements of Catoptrics and Dioptrics,
to which he added 1. a method for finding the foci of all Specula, as
well as the Lenses universally, as also magnifying or lessening a
given object by a given speculum, or lens, in any assigned
proportion. 2. a Solution of those Problems which Dr. Gregory has
left undemonstrated. 3. a particular account of Microscopes and
Telescopes, from Mr. Huygens; which was published at Lynn. His other
works are, 1. Opuscula varia utriusque Linguæ Medicinam, 4to 1765—2.
a Farewell Oration, 1768, 4to—3. Fragmentum Isaaci Hawkins Browne
completum, 1769, 4to—4. Appendix ad Opuscula; six odes, 1770, 4to—5.
A proposal on our Coin, to remedy all present and prevent all future
disorders 1774, 4to—6. A New years Gift, 1772—7. Corrections in
verse, from the father of the College, 4to—8. Speech to the Royal
Society, 1772—9. An Eulogy and address, 1773—10. a Latin version of
Job, left unfinished, 4to.”

From the above sketch the reader will perceive that Sir William Browne was a person of no common cast, or ordinary genius. Men of his sort are not to be seen every day: and when they do appear they are sure to attract observation, and are apt to make a stir wherever they happen to fix their residence. Sir William was at the head of the party which opposed the ruling body here for most part of his long residence in this town: and he appears to have acted his part with no small skill and dexterity, and with considerable effect. When the squabble assumed any thing of a literary aspect, Dr. Pyle seems to have been his chief opponent. At other times he had the whole corporate body at him, and it must be said that he generally defended himself and repelled the attacks of the whole host of those philistines very stoutly and successfully. There is great reason to believe that the opposition which he and his friends so long maintained here, was often of real and not small service to the town. At the contested election in, 1747, he bore a very conspicuous part, as appears from Dr. Pyle’s Letter already quoted. The part he acted on that occasion is supposed to have laid the foundation of that intimacy between him and Mr. Folkes which issued in an alliance between the two families, by the marriage of that gentleman with Sir William’s only daughter and sole heiress. The issue of that marriage is our present Sir Martin; and Sir Martin’s Lady is the daughter of that same Sir John Turner, between whom and Sir William Browne there was such inveterate and sworn enmity. After the Church was rebuilt in 1747, great complaints were made of the unfair disposal of pews, &c. so as to exclude in a great measure the common people from the privilege of sitting within hearing of the minister. Sir William was one of those who set their faces against this grievance. How far he and his coadjutors succeeded in obtaining redress does not appear. But whether they succeeded or not, the part they then acted was proper and praise-worthy. Our worthy knight, no doubt, performed many other deeds that were equally commendable, and others, it seems, that were not so. Among the leading traits of his character have been reckoned undaunted assurance and consummate vanity. {1037} He died at his house in Queen Square, whence his grandson, Sir Martin, had his remains brought down to Hillington, and there buried in the family vault belonging to that gentleman’s ancestors. His Epitaph, or monumental inscription he had prepared long before he died, and had an elegant engraving of it set up conspicuously in one of his own apartments. It was in latin. This writer has seen a transcript of it long ago, but has not been able to get a sight of it lately. According to a rough draught of a translation of if, which he has now before him, he understands that the beginning of it would read as follows, in English.—

“Sacred to the memory of Sir William Browne, knight, President of the
Royal College of Physicians, London, and F.R.S. one who much pursued
study and business, and by God’s help surmounted the knowledge of
Physic; and every night and day, as his strength would allow,
cheerful to give health to mankind. Even that labour was pleasure to
him. Alas! to be beheld thus doing no more! Yet asserting that he
lived happily, well content, his time fulfilled; as a guest fill’d
with life he departed, being a man who thought nothing belonging to
mortals foreign from him. He died the — day of — in the year — aged
—. He was born on the birth day of Cicero, the 3rd of January
1692—Country! O be perpetual! and free! Let my soul be with
Christosophists, viz. with Newton, Boyle, Locke; far from mad-men,
and from some sort of wisemen — — —” {1039}

14. _Thomas Lidderdale_ M.D. He is said to have been an elegant and an accomplished scholar, as well as an excellent physician. The land of his nativity, as well as that of Dr. Hepburn, was North Britain; and it appears that he was related to some of the first families in that country: and such was the respectability of his character after he removed to England, that he attracted the notice and obtained the friendship of some of the first personages in this kingdom. He was born in 1709, and settled as a physician in this town about the year 1731, where he continued ever after to the day of his death, which happened in 1766. As to his descent, we learn that he was the “second son of David Lidderdale of St. Mary’s Isle, by Eleonora the eldest daughter of Sir James Dunbar of Mochrum, bart. by Isabella, 2nd. daughter and coheiress of Sir Thomas Nicholson of Carnock, bart. and Lady Margaret, eldest daughter of Alexander 2nd earl of Linlithgow and Lady Mary Dowglass, daughter of William, tenth earl of _Angus_ or Dowglass.” This we have learnt from his _Pedigree_, which is now in the possession of a very respectable gentleman of this town, and which leads us back, by a long line of ancestry, through the Dunbars of Mochrum and Carnock, earls of Dunbar, of Murray, of March, heroes of the Holy War, earls and princes of Northumberland, kings of Scotland, &c. up even to the Saxon kings of England. So that in this view it could be no disparagement to any family in England, or out of it, to cultivate the acquaintance or friendship of Dr. Lidderdale. But it is certain that he derived far more real honour and dignity from his own personal worthiness, or respectability of character, than he could possibly do from his whole long catalogue of illustrious ancestors: and that, no doubt, was what raised him so high in the estimation of his numerous acquaintance in this country. Like other younger sons of respectable families, he appears not to have had much of this world’s goods bestowed on him by his father, beyond what was spent upon his education, which seems to have been excellent, from the high reputation he sustained as a scholar. The rudiments of learning he is supposed to have received at one of the grammar-schools of his native country; at one of whose universities he probably spent sometime afterwards; but he finished his education, if we are not mistaken, at the university of Rheims in France, where he received the degree of M.D. which was also conferred upon him afterwards by the university of St. Andrews. It is not very likely that he had begun to practise before he came to England; for he arrived in this town, and took up his residence here, as a physician, at the early age of _twenty two_. His introduction here he probably owed to his countryman, Dr. Hepburn, who was then advancing in years, and on the verge of his grand climacteric, though he lived near thirty years after. Our young physician soon attracted the notice and esteem of the enlightened and literary part of the public; and being patronized by Hepburn, he presently came into good practice; but like that of his patron, it seems to have been chiefly among those of the higher class. It appears, from one of his letters, that he was employed by the Townshend family from the very commencement of his practice; and of that family he is known to have retained the esteem and friendship to the very last. The Walpoles, Cokes, and Bedingfelds, the Hares, the Hostes, and most of the great families in these parts were numbered among his friends. With such high connections, it might be expected that he could not fail of being placed in easy, if not in affluent circumstances. It did not however so turn out. A sine cure office or place in the custom-house was all he obtained from the favour and affection, the interest and admiration of those honourable and noble personages, besides the fees of attendance in the way of his profession, which appear scarce ever to have corresponded with the length of his journeys, and the time he was often required to spend in attending upon his patients. But many beside him have found the smiles of the great very unproductive of solid advantages.—About seven years after he had fixed his residence here, he married Miss Susan Hepburn, the third daughter, if we are not mistaken, of his great friend and patron, Dr. Hepburn. He was then 29 years old, and the lady some few years older. They lived together about 28 years, when he left her a widow with one daughter, said to have been an extremely amiable and accomplished lady, whom the mother long survived; one dying in 1787, and the other in 1796, at the very advanced age of 92.—How much the doctor felt the unproductiveness of his practice, and the scantiness of his income, some years before he died, and how anxiously he wished to better his condition and be placed in easy circumstances, will appear from the two following Letters, one written to the right honourable Chas. Townshend, then secretary at war, and the other to general Townshend, afterwards Marquis Townshend. The first was dated at Lynn Oct. 10, 1762, and worded as follows,

“Sir,

Having been now upwards of thirty years a Norfolk Physician; where my
practice has been attended with greater reputation than self-interest
or money; it is no small mortification at last to find myself totally
neglected and forgotten, among the many promotions and medical
preferments which have been made for sometime, and are still daily
making—Greenwich Hospital, or some Almshouse, I had reason to believe
was intended for me, but that is gone with other things—I now, Dear
Sir, beg leave to throw myself at your feet to dispose of me as you
think properest and best, whether in a Physical or Civil capacity, I
entirely submit to your determination and pleasure. Indeed I am
almost worn out in the service of this county, and am no longer able
to undergo the fatigue of winter journeys and slavery; neither is the
practice of physic, or manner of residence in the country the same as
when I had the honor of prescribing for your truly noble grand-father
and his family at Rainham.—Your generous humanity, and known friendly
disposition towards me, will I hope plead my excuse for the freedom
of this Letter, and remind you of one who has long been, with the
most cordial affection and fidelity, Dear Sir, Your most obedient and
devoted humble Servant,

T. L.”

The other Letter was dated April 19th, 1763, and expressed thus,

“Dear General,

It gave me real concern that my health would not allow me to pay my
personal respects at Cranmer, during your short stay in
Norfolk—Indeed I have now too much reason to fear that my
constitution and age will not permit me long to undergo the fatigue
and slavery of business in the country, where I have hitherto
practised with more reputation than profit; I therefore hope you’ll
pardon my present solicitation for some appointment (through your
interest and favour) that may render life less laborious to myself,
and not useless to my family. Having upwards of thirty years
disclaimed any application or pretensions but those of my connection,
and long endeavoured to be serviceable in this county, I rely upon
your friendship and favour to dispose of me as you shall think
properest and best, without any particular attachment to the
Profession of Physick, where so many, of a younger date and less
service, have been put over my head.

I am, with the utmost regard,

Dear Sir, &c.

T. L.”

The former Letter was not the first the Dr. addressed to that correspondent on the same occasion. We have seen the copy of another, of a prior date, which he wrote to him to the same effect. But these applications or solicitations did not succeed. The Townshends did nothing for him or his family in his lifetime, whatever they did afterwards, though nothing could exceed their professions of respect and esteem for him. The place he got here in the customs was not obtained by their interest, but by that of Lord Orford and Sir John Turner: and he continued in vain to wish and hope for further preferment to his dying day. But however unproductive his practice had been, and much as he had felt on that account, his death was said to be generally and deeply regretted; as appears from the following paragraph in the public papers of that time, drawn up, it seems, by a celebrated character, who was one of his warm admirers—

“Lynn Regis Norfolk, April 18. 1766. On Friday the 11th. instant
died here extremely lamented by the whole county, Doctor Thomas
Lidderdale, a physician no less eminent for his skill and happy
penetration, than for his wit, learning, and probity. His sudden
sallies in conversation were so equally fortunate with his
premeditation in prescribing, that his power over dulness, and
disease, may be said to have been alike irresistable.”

Several Epitaphs, or monumental inscriptions, were also composed for him about the same time, some in latin and some in english, of which the following is one of the most remarkable.

“Sacred to the Memory
Of Thomas Lidderdale, a most eminent Physician,
in investigating the causes of diseases acutely sagacious,
in his practice as remarkably successful.
They to whom he restored health deservedly regret their loss,
The sick will wish, but wish in vain, for a physician
of equal abilities.
He possessed a vein of polite wit, and inoffensive humour,
ever flowing, ever new.
His sentiments, conversation, and actions were all
highly becoming a man of probity and a gentleman.
His Friendship, his Advice, his best services
were wanting to none.
With such sentiments, heightened by such an
amiably moral character, it is little to be wondered
that his life should be dear, and his death afflicting
to all.
If polite literature is held in deserved estimation by men,
If piety, and the duties of humanity are regarded by God,
To his memory will be paid lasting honours
on Earth,
To himself will be given eternal rewards
in Heaven.
He died the 11th. of April 1766 Æt. 57.”

Dr. Lidderdale could, as we have seen, boast not only of the professed esteem and friendship of the great, but, as was before hinted, could claim kindred with some of them, particularly the _Stair_ family, to which he is said to have been very nearly related. The following paragraph on the death of the great Lord Stair, being found among his papers, in his handwriting, was probably drawn up by him—

“Saturday May the 19th. 1747. This night died in the 78th year of
his age, at his lodging in the Cannongate, the right honourable Field
marshal Joan earl of Stair, one of the sixteen peers for Scotland,
knight of the most ancient order of the Thistle, governor of Minorca,
General of Marines, Colonel of the royal regiment of Scots Grey
Dragoons, and one of his majesty’s most honourable Privy Council—A
nobleman of the most rare abilities, being endowed with every virtue
that could either accomplish the Statesman, or adorn the Warrior.—The
Court of Versailles and States general will tell of his wisdom, and
prudence, while the plains of Ramillies, Oudenard, Malplaquet, and
Dettingen will continue lasting monuments of his bravery and conduct.
Where shall we begin his Encomium? How equally qualified either for
Camp or Court; how great without pride; now amiable without vanity;
how just without rigour; how wise without arrogance, and bountiful
without ostentation: supporting the highest dignities with decency,
humanity, and moderation, only to be found among the truly great;
being possessed of every talent which can render man great in
himself, and beneficial to his friends and country.”

It is reported that Dr. Lidderdale had a genius for poetry, and would sometimes amuse himself in writing verses, and particularly epigrams, one of which is said to be the following—

“God and the Doctor men alike adore,
Just on the Brink of Danger—not before:
The Danger past, both are alike requited;
God is forgotten and the Doctor slighted.”

The following Copy of verses by the revd. Joseph Sympson, to the memory of Miss Lidderdale, whose excellent character has been already noticed, will not it is hoped be deemed an improper conclusion to this article.