Chapter XXXVII: Section XI (2)

In vain Maria, we the healing Art
Implor’d his balmy succours to impart:
The healing Art, despairing of his power
That well he knew diminish’d every hour,
With mournful visage from thy couch withdrew,
While hence to bliss thy gentle Spirit flew.
And sure, meek Saint, the just decree of Heav’n
To thee no Indian Paradise has giv’n;
No verdant hill surrounded by the floods;
No flow’ry valley in the depth of woods;
Thou sought’st thy native place, the seats divine;
The native place of ev’ry soul like thine!
Had Angels on thy bosom fix’d their eyes
They ne’er had seen a faulty thought arise:
All there was guiltless as a Hermit’s dream,
All mild as is the Sun’s departing beam:
No wayward passions with malignant strife
Disturb’d the peaceful current of thy life:
The soft affections, loving and belov’d
Alone its surface tremulously mov’d.
To live as Virtue bids is fame most high;
The second praise is virtuously to die;
And both to thee are due—as on the bed
Of tedious pain thou long reclin’d thy head,
Calm resignation ever smoothed thy face,
And unto sickness lent a languid grace;
While Hope and Faith, fair sister Seraphs near,
Still whisp’ring holy comfort in thine ear,
With radiant finger pointed out the way
That leads the good to everlasting day.
Tho’ thou among the bright ethereal choir
Again behold’st thy much regretted Sire,
No perfect bliss thy tender heart can know,
Reflecting pensive on thy Mother’s woe;
For ah! thy piercing glance still sees her mourn
In pious melancholy o’er thy urn,
Yet let not this invade thy breast with care;
For Hope and Faith, the same seraphic pair
That brought to all thy sufferings sweet relief,
Have stay’d below to mitigate her grief:
Ev’n now they kindly check the rising sigh
And close the opening sluices of her eye,
Nor will they quit her till from sorrow free,
She joins in Heav’n thy sainted Sire and thee.

We may here further observe, that among the friends and correspondents of Dr. Lidderdale are found the names of _Dr. Heberden_, _Dr. R. Taylor_, and _Sir John Pringle_. Between him and the latter however there was a kind of relationship, by the marriage of a sister of his to Sir John’s brother, the issue of which marriage was the late _admiral Pringle_. Sir John used to correspond with the family long after the death of Dr. Lidderdale, and so we presume did also the admiral, as miss Lidderdale and he were so nearly related. But we are not sure that that lady and her mother received many favours or much assistance from that quarter.

* * * * *

Some additional papers relating to Dr. Hepburn’s royal pension having fallen into the author’s hands since that article was printed off, he begs leave to take some notice of them here, by way of postscript or supplement to that same article.—It was there observed that the doctor had obtained a royal pension by the interest and friendship of Mr. Pelham. After the death of that minister a fresh application for the continuance of the pension became necessary, and this application was made to the succeeding minister, the Duke of Newcastle, and through him to the sovereign. The following is a copy of the Letter from the doctor on that occasion, dated May 14. 1754.—

“My Lord,

The grateful remembrance of my happy success in applying to Mr.
Pelham 4 years ago for his Majesty’s Bounty, soon determined me to
address your Grace for its continuance, in whose congenial generous
breast I was sure to find the same benevolent disposition. But lest
the prolixity of the _Narrative_, by which it was proper to inform
your Grace of the present state of your petitioner, should possibly
put a stop to the timely inspection of the whole, I have thrown that
apart, to be considered whenever your Grace shall think proper.
Meantime confiding entirely in your Grace’s favour, I beg the honour
of being admitted, My Lord,

Your Grace’s most obedient and truly faithful humble Servant

G. H.”

The _Narrative_, above alluded to, was as follows—

“My sight has been declining for seven or eight years past. But in
the year 1750 (the 80th. of my age) I became almost quite blind, as I
have now for two years past been altogether so. Having lost most of
my business with my sight, and as the distribution of my small
fortune among _six_ daughters whilst I could see had left me but a
poor pittance to subsist on, I implored Mr. Pelham’s assistance for
his majesty’s Bounty, which he was pleased with great alacrity to
undertake: and with what zeal and address he performed it does not
obscurely appear from what he was pleased to tell me at Holkham
(where I had the honour to thank him Viva Voce) viz. That he never
knew his majesty grant a favour with more cheerfullness than he did
this.—The Earl of Leicester has annually done me the honour to
receive this royal Bounty from Mr. Pelham’s own hand; two noble
securities for one hundred pounds.”

To the above Letter an answer, of which the following is a copy, was received from _James West Esq._ first Secretary of the Treasury, dated May 16. 1754.—

“Sir, I am directed by the Duke of Newcastle to acquaint you that his
Grace has received your Letter, and that you may be assured his grace
will be the means of the same royal bounty being continued to you as
was in Mr. Pelham’s time.

I am, Sir, Your most humble Servant,

J. West.”

To this Letter an answer was returned in the following words (dated May 19. 1754)—

“Sir, The honour his Grace the Duke of Newcastle has done me, by your
Letter of the 16th. instant, is extremely obliging. But his Grace’s
readiness to oblige has enhanced these obligations beyond expression.
I must therefore humbly beg my noble friend’s assistance how to
acknowledge them as I would, as well as to receive, the royal favour
so frankly promised. Meantime I beg his Grace to believe that my
breast is full of all the gratitude that is possible to be expressed.

I am with very great esteem, Sir,

Your obedient humble Servant

G. H.”

It may be here just added, that though Lidderdale could not boast of the generosity or munificence of the Townshends, the case was somewhat otherwise with Hepburn, as appears from the following copy of a Letter dated July 11th. 1756, from him to the then Lord Townshend. The copy, probably in the handwriting of one of his daughters by the _last marriage_, is as follows—

“My Lord, The singular testimony of your Lordships regard (which I
lately had the honour to receive from Mr. Case) has, like the
Sunbeams of Summer to a decayed plant, giveing (given) warmth and
springly vigour to the winter of my age. A warmth, my Lord, which
has filled my breast with greattitude (gratitude) that will last as
long as blood circulates in the veanns (veins) or the heart continues
to beat in the breast of,

My Lord, Your Lordship’s ever obliged, most obedient,

And most thankful humble servant.

G. H.”

When the kindness of Dr. _Maxwell_, in settling upon his uncle Hepburn the very handsome annuity of 200_l._ a year, was noticed above, it should have been also observed that the nephew had very great obligations to the uncle, and owed perhaps almost every thing to him in regard to his good fortune or advancement in the world. The following Letter from Hepburn to the Duke of Devonshire, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, where Maxwell was in the meantime stationed as a surgeon in the army, may serve to throw some light upon that subject.—

“My Lord, The honour I have had for many years of being known to, and
sometimes taken notice of by your grace at Houghton in Norfolk, has
fixed in me such a firm opinion of your grace’s humane disposition,
that it is without the least diffidence I now presume to write to
your Grace, in behalf of Mr. Maxwell, a surgeon, the bearer. His
near relation to me, My Lord, claims indeed my endeavours to serve
him; but much more his own merit. However as consanguinity too often
occasions partiality, I choose, my Lord, and think it much more
equitable to leave him to produce vouchers for his character from
among the military officers of the best rank in Ireland, where he has
served near twenty years—Let this have the honour to introduce him to
your Grace, as my nephew. Let the merit of whatever boon he may beg
of your Grace (if any) depend upon the voice of those Gens D’honneur
who have been so long constant witnesses of his behaviour and
practice.—And now, my Lord, as in full assurance of your Grace’s good
nature I have ventured upon this Letter, so ’tis in your Grace’s
Goodness, I only can hope for pardon, and beg leave to subscribe
myself, Lynn Jan. 12. 1739–40. My Lord, Your Grace’s &c. G. H.”

15. _John Rastrick_ M.A. In the order of time, or seniority, his name in this list ought to have preceded several of the former ones, as he was many years older than even Pyle and Hepburn; and in point of learning and piety, or real respectability of character, he was probably not inferior to any one that has been yet named of the former inhabitants of this town. He was born in 1649, at Heckington near Sleaford, in Lincolnshire. Of the situation, or circumstances of his parents we are uninformed. They probably ranked among the reputable yeomanry of that place. Their son, being designed for the ministry, may be supposed to be placed at a proper age at one of those seminaries in the country where youth are prepared for the university. Having acquired the rudiments of classical learning, he was sent to Trinity College in Cambridge, where he finished his academical education and obtained the degree of M.A. He then went into orders; but when that was, we have not learnt. He probably officiated afterwards as curate for sometime; but that could not be long, for he became vicar of Kirkton, near Boston, in 1674, when he was about 25 years of age. No sooner had he settled at Kirkton than he felt the arduousness of the charge he had undertaken. His congregation was large, and the parish of great extent. How much his mind was improved with these considerations, and how anxious he was lest he should fail in the due execution of his office, will appear from his own testimony on the subject, in a Letter to a friend:

“The number and distance of the inhabitants, (says he) gave me a very
sensible concern, and I was very uneasy under the burden that lay
upon me: I knew not what to do for so many souls, that were also most
of them so remote from my dwelling, nor how to discharge my duty in a
place, that (as a learned, pious, and worthy clergyman, my friend
told me) was as large as some of the dioceses of the primitive
church. Catechising, and preaching to such as would come under them,
was not all I had to do. But I could not forbear being concerned
with such as would bring their children to baptism, or offer
themselves to the Lord’s Table, how to carry it, and answer the
Church’s expectations, with satisfaction to my mind, and fidelity to
my highest trust. In catechising and preaching, I could suit myself,
my doctrine, and discourse to the condition of the people; but (by
the rules and orders of my publick station) in administering
sacraments and applying the seals, (especially baptism) I saw I must
treat them all alike. Yet if catechising and preaching be to prepare
men for sacraments for themselves or theirs, it undeniably supposeth,
that the _latter_ are not to be given to such in whom the _former_
hath no effect, nor to their children. Qualifications for privileges
I knew were necessary, but where _those_ were wanting, it was
impossible I should apply _these_ without a relucting mind: and
therefore whatever I might have been in the capacity of a lecturer,
or bare preacher, yet as a _pastor_ it could not be, that I should be
unconcerned in acts of discipline and government, and in judging of
my own ministerial performances of that kind.”

Such is his own account; and there is no reason to doubt of its correctness.—Having carefully formed an idea of his line of duty, he set himself in good earnest upon acting up to it; but here he met with insuperable difficulties, which troubled and plagued him exceedingly, and forced him at last, to resign his living {1052} and quit the church of which he had been many years a minister, and which he would probably have continued still to be, had he been permitted by his ecclesiastical superiors to act with honesty and a good conscience, which they however were no way disposed to allow him to do. Thus was he forced to resign his vicarage of Kirkton; after he had held it 14 years, while numbers of sporting, fox hunting, and loose living incumbents were suffered to retain their situations with impunity and without the least check or remonstrance. But though he quitted the ministry, he did not immediately withdraw from the communion of the established church, for we find him communicating sometime after at Frampton, where his friend _Ishmael Burroughs_ was curate, who himself afterwards left the church and became pastor of a Presbyterian congregation at Wisbeach, where he continued the remainder his days. We are not sure that either he or Rastrick engaged in the ministry among the Dissenters, or even actually joined them, till after the Revolution, when the Toleration Act made it perfectly safe for them so to do. It does not appear at what time Burroughs undertook his charge, or entered upon his ministry at Wisbeach; but it appears that Rastrick entered upon his ministry and took the charge of the Presbyterian congregation at Lynn in 1701, {1055} for we find that he was minister here 26 years; and he died in 1727. The commencement of his ministry here was therefore 14 years after he had resigned or quitted Kirkton, and perhaps 30 years or more after the commencement of his public ministry: so that at the time of his death he had been in the ministry between 50 and 60 years. How and where he spent his time during the interval between his quitting Kirkton and his settling at Lynn, we have not been able to discover. Wherever it was, he spent it no doubt, in a manner worthy of himself, or of that integrity and goodness of character which he so uniformly and so well sustained through life. Old members of that congregation used to say, 30 years ago, that he settled here as successor to a Mr. _Williams_, who, as far as we can find, was the only minister of that society during the 25 years, that intervened between the death of Mr. Horne and the arrival of Mr. Rastrick. Of this Mr. Williams we have not been able to obtain any further information. Where he came from, what was his character, how long he was settled here, what became of him, whether he died here or removed elsewhere, must of course be all left among the uncertainties. When Mr. Rastrick came to settle at Lynn, he had been 14 years in a state of separation from the Church, and therefore a kind of dissenter. The Presbyterian was the denomination he appeared most to approve, and it was that which he afterwards joined: but he had too much moderation, and too little of a sectarian spirit to be admired by any existing party. Dissatisfied with many things in the Church, he was far from approving of all things he saw among the dissenters. This made him often think and say (as he tells us) that, as things then stood in England, “he was neither fit for Church nor Meeting.” That this unprejudiced or unbiassed disposition of his should not insure to him the admiration or esteem of his new friends or connection, but would tend to lower rather than exalt him in their estimation, and so prove prejudicial to his interest among them, must not be deemed very strange or wonderful; especially as he was pretty free in expressing his disapprobation of what he thought amiss. That such was the case appears from his own testimony: “My conscience beareth me witness, (says he) That in my more private station in all the places where I have served, I have not been sparing both in preaching and practice, to express myself, and set myself against the corruptions and errors of Dissenters, tho’ it has been so much to my hindrance and disadvantage in outward or worldly respects.” In another place he says, “In the mean time, I hope (in the strength of Christ) to abide in the true catholic and apostolic christian faith and church, and in the true protestant reform’d religion: and (as to the church of England so called) a _mere nonconformist_, not addicting myself to any faction, sect, or party of christians, as such, under what denomination soever.” All this is very honourable to his memory: and it may help in some measure to account for a person of his learning and talents remaining all the residue of his days the minister of a comparatively obscure and poor congregation, (as this at Lynn, at best, certainly was,) while many respectable and opulent congregations were in want of such pastors, or were supplied by men of far inferior abilities and attainments. The same may also help to account for those difficulties and trials he afterwards experienced from his congregation, or from certain individuals that composed a part of it. Such troublers or disturbers a moderate, liberal-minded minister is pretty sure of finding in most dissenting congregations. A thorough-paced bigot, or sectary, has a far better chance of escaping them, or at least of obtaining their countenance and co-operation. Rastrick kept his mind open to conviction; as appears from the change which took place in his sentiments in the latter part of his life, when he embraced the opinions which distinguished Clarke and Jackson among the churchmen, and Peirce and Hallet and others among the Dissenters. It is somewhat remarkable that both Pyle and he were then proselyted to those opinions; so that the Church and the meeting here became equally heterodox. This change in his sentiments appears to have extended further than what related to the athanasian trinity, and to have soon divided the congregation into two parties, one approving and the other disapproving of his ministry. {1058} It is probable that much, if not most of his discomfort here sprung from this source. This difference of opinion, however did not, in his time, produce separation; for they all continued, as far as we can learn, to attend on his ministry, while he lived, notwithstanding their diversity of sentiments. The malcontents not only were Athanasians, but appear to have been also strongly tinctured with Calvinism, and even with Antinomianism; which indeed has been thought to be little, or rather nothing more than “Calvinism run to seed.” To them it is no great wonder that Mr. R’s ministry proved unacceptable, or that they should cause him some disquietude and unhappiness. That such was really the case, may be inferred from his very Epitaph; and it is further corroborated by oral tradition, as well as by the contents the prefer to a MS. volume of his, left by him ready for the press; though, for some reason, to us unknown, it never was published; and it has been now many years in the possession of the present writer. This volume was certainly far more worthy of publication than thousands that have been published since, and that are still daily publishing. It is entitled, “Plain and Easy Principles of Christian Religion and Obedience; or, The Necessity of keeping Christ’s Commandments, in order to our preserving an Interest in his Favour, Demonstrated from John 15. 10. By John Rastrick M.A. sometime vicar of Kirkton near Boston in Lincolnshire, and now minister of the gospel at King’s Lyn in Norfolk.” {1059} It is a sensible and notable performance, and contains many striking and curious thoughts, {1060} especially in the _appendix_, where the trinitarian controversy, and that relating to the person of Christ are more particularly adverted to and discussed. We are assured that he intended to publish this work himself; but being by some means prevented, he left instructions at his death for his son to do it afterwards: which yet he did not do, despairing _perhaps_ of its convincing, or having any good effect on the malcontents, and fearing it might irritate them further, and so preclude the possibility of re-union, or a restoration of harmony in the congregation. But whatever consideration it was that prevented the publication of this volume, it is certain that harmony was never restored, or a re-union effected between these two parties: the discontented or antinomian party went off afterwards, in the son’s time, and formed a kind of Independent Society, which after assuming various shapes, and undergoing divers changes, produced the Baptist congregation here, which now meets at the new chapel in Broad Street. Mr. Rastrick died in 1727, at the advanced age of 78. {1061} He lived, as did also his son afterwards, in that house in Spinner Lane, now occupied by Mr. _Dennis_, behind which stood the chapel, both of which, if we are not mistaken, were his own property. He left behind him several things in MS. some of which, beside the volume above noticed, are now in the possession of the present writer. The whole is written in a very small hand, and with singular neatness, for he, as well as his son, was an admirable penman. He was doubtless an eminent scholar, and reckoned a very good mathematician, which is not unlikely, as he was cotemporary and of the same college with _Barrow_: nor is it very probable that that generation of Dissenters had among them many if any names of superior learning and respectability.

Of his writings not much went through the press, which we may presume had not been the case had he lived in later times, or under more auspicious circumstances. Of his printed works the present writer has not heard of any except the following: 1. “An Account of the Nonconformity of _John Rastrick_, A.M. sometime vicar of _Kirkton_, near _Boston_, in Lincolnshire; containing the occasion and circumstances of his secession from that place. In a Letter to a Friend.” [It was printed in London, in 1705; and the friend to whom it was addressed was Dr. _Edmund Calamy_.] 2. “A Sermon at the ordination of Mr _Samuel Savage_, at St. Edmund’s Bury, April 22. 1714. With an exhortation to him at the close.”—3. “Two letters to Mr. _Ralph Thoresby_ of _Leeds_, giving an account of a great number of _Roman_ coins found at _Flete_ in Lincolnshire, and other antiquities found at _Spalding_, &c. and printed in the _Phil. Trans._ No. 279, p. 1156, &c.—4. “A _supplement_ to the latter, printed in the same work, No. 377, p. 340.”—His unprinted, or unpublished works appear to have been much more numerous and considerable; but they got into different hands after the son’s death, and most of them perhaps have been since lost. Some of them were in the possession of the son’s successors Messrs. _Mayhew_ and _Warner_, and some in that of the late Dr. _Lloyd_. What became of them we know not. The two following articles with some other loose papers came into the possession of the present writer—1. The MS. volume before mentioned, entitled “PLAIN AND EASY PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION AND OBEDIENCE; or the necessity of keeping Christ’s Commandments, in order to our preserving an interest in his favour, demonstrated.” [It would make a duodecimo volume of 250 or 300 pages, and may be called an ingenious and elaborate piece, written out with great care and singular neatness.] {1063} 2. “A SHORT CATECHISM; containing the chief heads of the christian religion, and faith of Christ.” It is carefully and neatly written like the other MS. volume, yet it does not appear to have been intended for the press, but rather as a present, or new-year’s gift to his children, the name of one of whom, _Hannah Rastrick_, is prefixed to it in her father’s hand writing.—The smaller MSS. are some of them in prose and some in _verse_, for Mr. R. _like one of our present mathematicians_, {1064a} would sometimes leave those profound or severer studies, and amuse himself with writing little poems; but with this difference, that these productions of the former were only meant for the amusement or gratification of his own children and family, or the small circle of intimate and particular friends, and not for the inspection and admiration of the public at large, like those of the latter. {1064b} Without attempting to draw any further parallel or comparison between our present or former race of mathematicians, we shall here close our memoir of the venerable John Rastrick.

16. _William Rastrick_. He was the only son, or at least the only surviving son of the former: and he was every way a son worthy of such a father. In point of genius and learning, virtue and piety, or real respectability or exemplariness of character, he has always been understood as nothing inferior to him, or to any one of his contemporaries either in this town or in all this part of the kingdom. The very servants, and all those who were most intimate in the family, and who had therefore the best opportunity of knowing and judging of his private and real character, always deemed and spoke of him as one of the best of men and most exemplary of christians. Knowing how much his father had been teazed and tried by one part of the congregation, he never would undertake the pastoral charge: but used to exchange with the Presbyterian minister at Wisbeach, at those times when the Lord’s Supper was to be administered here; which must have been very inconvenient to a man of his retired and recluse habits. Like his father he exceeded any of our townsmen of his time in many branches of knowledge, especially the mathematics. His superior skill and judgement would accordingly be resorted to on such difficult occasions as required extraordinary scientific expertness or accuracy. In how many instances his townsmen were indebted to his superior attainments, it is impossible now to say: but the best _plan of the town_ that has yet appeared, with different views of it and of some of its principal buildings, drawn by him, may be reckoned among those instances. Except such productions we know not of any thing else of his that has been published: nor do we know of any thing from his exquisite pen that is now extant beside _his Account of the Ejected Ministers_, in latin. Of this notable production there are now in existence at least _three copies_; two in his own hand writing, one of them deposited in Dr. _Williams’ Library_, in London, and the other in St. _Margaret’s Library_, in Lynn: the latter written with almost inimitable neatness. The third copy is a fair transcript of the latter, in two different hands, and in the possession of the present writer. It is entitled, “INDEX _Eorum Theologorum Aliorumque_ No. 2257. _Qui propter Legem UNIFORMITATIS_, _Aug:_ 24 _An._ 1662, _ab Ecclesia Anglicana secesserunt_, _Alphabetico ordine ac secundum gradus suos depositus_. _Cura ac opera GULIELMI RASTRICK_.” Then follow, by way of motto, Zech. i. 5. in _Hebrew_; Heb. xi. 38, in _Greek_; a passage from _Erasmus_ in _Latin_; and one from _Locke_, in _English_. At the bottom of the page stands 1734, denoting, as it would seem, the year in which the MS. was written. Mr. W. R. lived after that about 18 years, and died in the first week of _August_ 1752, just 25 years after his father; near to whose grave, if not within the same, his remains are supposed to have been deposited. He was buried on the 9th of that month, as appears by the parish register.

17. _Anthony Mayhew_. He succeeded the former as the minister of the congregation; and was a minister every way worthy of such a predecessor; for a man of superior worthiness, or of a more excellent character was rarely to be found any where. He was a native of Suffolk, and had been many years in the ministry, chiefly in Hampshire, if we are not mistaken, before he settled in this town. After he had been here some years the old chapel in Spinner-Lane was deserted, and a new one erected in _Broad-Street_, where Mr. Isaac Allen now officiates. He died Aug. 15, 1783 at the age of 76; about six years after he had resigned his pastoral charge, when he was succeeded by

18. _William Warner_. He was a person of a most amiable disposition, and of respectable parts and learning. He had been educated in London, under doctors _Savage_, _Kippis_, and _Rees_, and came to Lynn in 1777, by the recommendation of those eminent tutors, in consequence of an application from Mr. Mayhew and the congregation. He was here about three or four and twenty years. His health had been deciding some years before he died, which made him wish for a more favourably situation, which at last offered itself, at Hapton near Norwich. But he lived not long there; for he died early in 1802 {1069} at the age of 46. He was born at or near _Nailsworth_, in Gloucestershire, where he is supposed to have several near relations still living. He married one of the daughters of his worthy predecessor Mr. Mayhew, who still survives him, and is no way unworthy of such a father and such a husband. His funeral sermon was preached at Lynn by one who knew him intimately above twenty years, and knew him to be a man without bigotry and without guile. The congregation declined in his time, after his death the chapel, by some odd management, went into the hands of the Calvinistic Methodists, under the name of _Independents_, though it was said to be the property of the Presbyterian Board in London.

19. Sir _Benjamin Keene_, Knight of the Bath, was born at Lynn, in 1697. He was the eldest son of Charles Keene, Esq; a merchant and alderman of this borough, who served the office of Mayor in 1714–15. Young Keene was probably educated at the Free School in this town, and was thence removed to Pembroke Hall in the University of Cambridge, where he took his degree of civil law. He afterwards continued his studies for a few years at Leyden. It is said that the misfortunes of Mr. Keene, the father, in trade, first recommended the family to the humanity and the protection of Sir Robert Walpole, who afterwards acknowledged that the talents and integrity of the son, in a public station of peculiar difficulty, had more than repaid his beneficence. In July 1724, Mr. Benjamin Keene was appointed the British Consul at Madrid, and in 1727 Minister Plenipotentiary at the Spanish Court. He was afterwards sent Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of Portugal, and then removed with the character of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of Spain. It was before observed, in the biographical sketch of Sir R. Walpole, that it was the great and meritorious object of that minister to preserve his country in a state of peace: his instructions on this point appear to have been executed by his pupil, Mr. Keene, with equal ability and dignity. At an early period of the clamour on account of what was called the Spanish Depredations, {1070} the origin of the differences, and the difficulty of adjusting them, were thus clearly explained by the Ambassador in a letter to the Secretary of State—

“Upon the whole, the state of our dispute seems to be, that the
commanders of our vessels always think, that they are unjustly taken,
if they are not taken in _actual_ illicit commerce, even though
proofs of their having loaded in that manner are found upon them; and
the Spaniards on the other hand presume, that they have a right of
seizing, not only the ships that are actually trading in their ports,
but likewise of examining and visiting them on the high seas, in
order to search, for proofs of fraud, which they may have committed;
and till a medium be found out between these two notions, the
government will always be embarrassed with complaints, and we shall
be continually negotiating in this country for redress, without our
being able to procure it.”

No efforts were, however, to be left untried by the parliamentary opponents of Walpole to force him into a war; and while they incessantly inveighed against the pusillanimity of the minister, they did not scruple to give their sanction to the most exaggerated accounts of the insults permitted and exercised by the Spaniards, and indeed to the most incredible tales of horror. A transaction which had occurred seven years before, and which was now worked up into “the fable of Jenkins’ ear,” as Burke justly calls it, was made the vehicle of popular frenzy; and it required the full exertion of ministerial sagacity and influence to elude an immediate rupture. The pacific overtures of Sir R. Walpole were most ably seconded by Mr. Keene, whose address overcame the dilatoriness, the punctilios, and the repugnance of the Spanish Court; and a convention was signed at Madrid, which promised all the advantages which the most successful warfare could have procured. But no reasonable concession could satisfy the people of England: their haughty and insulting language at length disgusted and provoked the Spanish nation. The terms of the convention were, in consequence, not fulfilled; Mr. Keene was recalled, and the declaration of War against Spain was hailed in England with a frantic enthusiasm. “They now _ring_ the bells,” was Sir Robert’s observation, “but they will soon _wring_ their hands.” Burke, whose veracity will not be doubted, declares that he had seen and examined the original documents concerning these important transactions, and that they had perfectly satisfied him of the extreme injustice of this war with Spain. He even says, “some years after, it was my fortune to converse with many of the principal actors against that minister, and with those who principally excited that clamour. None of them, no not one, did in the least defend the measure, or attempt to justify their conduct, which they as freely condemned as they would have done in commenting upon any proceeding in history, in which they were totally unconcerned.” It is sufficient to add, that after a disgraceful period of seven years’ hostility, after a dreadful expense of blood and treasure, the right of English Subjects to navigate in the American Seas, the original source of the differences between us and Spain, were not even mentioned in the articles of the ensuing peace!!

Mr. Keene was again appointed to the same honourable station, and in 1754 his majesty George the second was pleased to give a fresh and public mark of approbation of the ambassador’s conduct, by dignifying him with the knighthood of the order of the Bath; and as the king of Spain graciously performed the ceremony of investing him with the ribband, Sir Benjamin, in allusion to that particular ceremony, took for his motto “Regibus Amicis.” He died at Madrid 15. December 1757, at the time when he was about to return to England, with a view of retiring from public employment, and to be created a Peer of Great Britain. {1073a} His great abilities as a minister, exercised and improved by long and important services; the liberality and magnificence with which he supported the dignity of his public character, without any attention to the increase of his private fortune; and unusual esteem and affection for his person, which his many amiable qualities procured him at the court where he resided, were universally acknowledged, and made his death, especially at that critical juncture, a real loss to his country. His remains were brought over from Madrid, and buried at Lynn, in St. Nicholas’ chapel, near his beloved parents. {1073b} A sarcophagus of white marble is placed over his grave, having on one side a medallion bust of the deceased, and on the other a bas relief of Peace trampling under foot the emblems of War, and pointing to ships and bales of merchandize.

20. Dr. _Edmund Keene_, a younger brother of Sir Benjamin, was borne at Lynn in 1714. Through the interest of Sir Robert Walpole he was educated at the Charter-House, and thence admitted of Caius College, Cambridge in 1730. He was elected Fellow in 1737, but afterwards he removed to St. Peters’ college, on being appointed Fellow of that society in 1739; and he was made Master of Peter-House in 1748. He was elected Vice-chancellor of the university two succeeding years, 1749 and 1750. In 1753 he was promoted to the see of Chester; {1075} and in 1764 the Primacy of Ireland was offered to him, which he declined: but (as it is related by Bp. Newton in the account of his life,) “he urged his request to Mr. Grenville, that, upon the vacancy, he might succeed to the see of Ely, which was the great object, the aim and end of all his ambition.” In 1771, he “succeeded to his heart’s desire, and happy it was that he did so; for few could have borne the expense, or displayed the taste and magnificence which he did, as he had a liberal fortune, as well as liberal mind, and really merited the appellation of a builder of palaces. For he built a new palace at Chester, he built a new Ely-house in London, and in a great measure a new palace at Ely, left only the outer walls standing, formed a new inside, and thereby converted it into one of the best episcopal houses, if not the very best in the kingdom. He had indeed received the money which arose from the sale of old Ely-house, and also what was paid by the executors of his predecessor for dilapidation, which altogether amounted to about 11,000_l._ But new houses require new furniture.”—Such is the detail of narrative old age. Bp. Keene published only two or three sermons on the usual state occasions: he is said to have been an attentive prelate to his diocese, particularly in reserving to himself the appointment of all the curates in those parishes which were without a resident incumbent. He died in 1781.

21. _Thomas Chesterton_. He was born at or near Downham, in Norfolk, about the year 1715. When he was of a proper age to be sent to school he was placed under the care of a respectable clergyman in that neighbourhood, who had a number of other pupils, the sons of reputable families, who generally turned out well, and did him no small credit. Among young Chesterton’s schoolfellows there, were the late revd. Thorogood Upwood, Mr. Philip Case, and others of equally creditable connections. His superior genius for learning was known and acknowledged by most of his fellow pupils, many of whom in making their exercises were often not a little indebted to his assistance. While in that seminary he was well grounded in the rudiments of the Latin and Greek languages: nor did that satisfy him, for he continued ever after to press forward unweariedly for further literary improvement; till he acquired an intimate and accurate knowledge, not only of the Latin and Greek languages, but also of the Hebrew and its kindred tongues, the Chaldee, Syriack and Arabick; of the latter of which he composed a Grammar, which was well thought of by good judges. He acquired likewise no slight knowledge of the Persian, Coptic, and Ethiopic languages: so that it was not without reason that some literary characters, even in the establishment, who were well acquainted with his attainments, looked upon him as one of the best scholars in this county.—It should have been observed that after he left school, being designed for the medical profession, he was placed with a _Mr. Harvey_, a Surgeon and apothecary of very extensive practice in this town. After he got out of his time with Harvey, he married and went into business for himself: and being well respected in the town he soon came into good practice. Having from the first been a frequent attendant on the ministry of the younger Rastrick, he by degrees imbibed his principles and became a decided nonconformist. Afterwards, in consequence of having some scruples about infant baptism, he renounced that practice, professed himself a Baptist, and joined a Society of that denomination at Downham. He was soon after encouraged to engage in the ministry, and having an invitation to settle with a congregation at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, he accepted the same and removed to that place, where he continued several years. He afterwards resigned his pastoral charge there, and removed to London where he followed his medical profession (as he had also done at Colnbrook) and preached occasionally. The congregation he was now chiefly connected with was that which met in Eagle Street under the ministry of the late Dr. Grifford of the British Museum. His health now declining, and his property at Lynn and other parts of Norfolk requiring a nearer residence, he returned back to this town about 1765, after an absence in all of about ten years. He now resumed the medical practice, chiefly to introduce his son into business, who was brought up to the same profession. It so happened at this juncture that the people who had formerly seceded from Mr. Rastrick’s congregation, and had formed a sort of Independent society, were without a minister: their late minister, William Eltringham, commonly called _captain_ Eltringham, having removed from them to another congregation. These people invited him to become their minister, and he accepted their invitation. But he was not long comfortable among them. They soon became as unsatisfied with him as they had been with Mr. Rastrick, though not on the same pretence. The connection between him and them was consequently dissolved. His health was now declining so fast, that he was obliged to relinquish the ministry and every other active employment. After languishing for some time, and mostly in most excruciating pains, he died on the 10th of May 1770, at the age of 54. His disorder was said to be an ulcer in the bladder. He was pretty highly orthodox, but, by all accounts, a very pious, as well as a very learned man.

22. _David Lloyd_, L.L.D. He was a native of Cilcennin in Cardiganshire. After having spent some time at school in that neighbourhood he was sent to the grammar school at Caermarthen, then a very reputable seminary. He went afterwards to Jesus College in Oxford, where he took the degree of L.L.B. and afterwards that of L.L.D. {1079} After having acquitted himself very creditably as usher at some school in the vicinity of the metropolis, he was chosen master of the Lynn Grammar School in 1760; which situation he filled with great reputation to himself, and equal advantage to his pupils for the long space of 34 years. It does not appear that this school was ever in so flourishing a state under any other master, unless it was in the time of Mr. _Horne_, who was so long at the head of it, as was before observed. Dr. LL. was unwearied in his attention to the literary improvement of the youth placed under his care, and to the forming of them to be useful members of society in the different departments for which they were designed; in which he appears to have been in no small degree successful, as may be seen by the number of those who were once his pupils and now usefully occupy very respectable stations of life. The Doctor went into orders late in life; (at the age of 50 or upwards) and having no preferment in the church he preached but seldom, confining himself entirely to the duties of his other profession. He died in 1794, and was buried in the chancel of St. Margaret’s church. A stone with the following inscription marks his grave—

“_Sacred to the Memory of_
_The revd. DAVID LLOYD_, _L.L.D._
_Master of the Grammar School in this town for_ 34 _years_;
_Who departed this life Nov._ 19. 1794, _aged_ 60 _years_.
_In him were united_, _with all the virtues of private life_, _those
inestimable_
_qualities which ought ever to characterize the instructor of youth_.
_To the authority of a Tutor he added the tenderness of a Father_,
_Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit_.”

23. _Robert Hamilton_, M.D. F.R.S. and F.R.C.P. Edinb. was another of the former inhabitants of Lynn who deserved well of his fellow townsmen and of the public at large. He was born at Edinburgh Dec. 17. 1721; and was a younger son of James Hamilton, who was bred to the law, and was at one time deputy keeper of Holyrood-House, under James Duke of Hamilton, its hereditary keeper. He was educated at the High School in his native city, and was there at the time of the memorable affair of captain Porteus. When of a proper age he was placed with a surgeon and apothecary at Leith, where he remained three years. After having attended the lectures of different professors at the university, upon the materia medica, pharmacy, botany, anatomy, surgery, &c. he was at length obliged to quit these studies, and procured a birth on board the Somerset man of war in 1741, having previously undergone the usual examination at Surgeon’s Hall, London. He continued in that line, or as a navy-surgeon, for about seven years, when the peace of Aix-la-chapelle put him out of employment. He came to Lynn in 1748, to see a brother who was married here and settled as a merchant; and having heard of, and engaged a situation at the neighbouring village of Great Massingham, where there was a vacancy for a surgeon and apothecary, he settled there in August that same year, but continued there only till October 1749, when he removed and settled at Lynn: and not long after he married a Miss Hawkins, the sister of his brother’s wife. He now went into business, in partnership with Mr. Young, a grandson of Dr. Hepburn. A vacancy for a physician happening here in 1765 by the death of Dr. Lidderdale, he was advised to procure a doctors degree, in order to become his successor, which advice he at length complied with, and in May 1766 received that honour from St. Andrew’s, the diploma being signed by no less than ten professors.—Not long after he relinquished the practice of pharmacy, and pursued those of physic and midwifery, which he followed the remainder of his life, with considerable applause, and general approbation. He died Nov. 9. 1793, and was buried in St. Nicholas’ chapel, regretted by a large portion of the community. {1081}

* * * * *

Before we entirely close this part of the work, and proceed to the _conclusion_, or to give a _view of the present state of the town_, it may not be improper here, by way of _Postscript_, to rectify some slight mistakes, and to supply certain omissions that have been discovered in different parts of the preceding sections, since the sheets have been printed off.

In the first place, the author wishes he had, at page 137, somewhat enlarged the memoir of that eminent president of the R. S. _Martin Folkes Esq_; the maternal grandfather of Martin Folkes Rishton Esq; of this town; and especially that he had more particularly noticed that ingenious, elaborate, and masterly publication of his, the _Tables_ “of the _English Silver-coins_, from the Norman conquest to the present time;” and “of the _English Gold Coins_ from the 18th. of Edward III, when gold was first coined in England, to the present time.” The work is comprised in one volume quarto, and was printed in 1745, for the society of Antiquaries. It is a work of the highest authority, and of the greatest use and importance to those who wish to be thoroughly acquainted with the subject there treated of; and might, perhaps, he consulted with no small advantage by our senators and others in the present precarious state of our currency.

At page 961, the author now finds that he was mistaken in saying that _both the old members_ were returned at the contested election 1784. _Walpole_ indeed was returned with Molineux, yet not the old member of that name, but a relation of his, who for a long while after continued to be one of our representatives; to what benefit or advantage to the town or nation, the present writer is not able to say.—The author has been blamed for passing over in silence the _Ball and Supper_ given at our Town-Hall in _commemoration of the Revolution_, on the 14th. of November 1788, pronounced, as it is said, by both Mr. and Mrs Coke to have been “_equal in Splendor_ and _more comfortable than that given at Holkham_.” The fact is, the author had quite forgotten it; and as it was kept so much _out of time_, he is still inclined to think that it was given more out of vain parade, than, out of real gratitude for that great and interesting event.—Another omission the author has been reminded of is, “that in April 1797, _prince William_ (now duke) of _Gloucester_ visited Lynn, and after reviewing the Volunteers, and dining with the mayor, was presented with the freedom of this ancient borough.”—The execution of _Peter Donahue_, serjeant in the 30th. regiment of foot, for forgery at Lynn in 1801 is another omission suggested to the author; and also the condemnation of _Robert Nichols_, the year after, for sheep stealing: to which might have been added the fatal disaster of the Ferry-boat, this present year, by which ten persons at least perished.—It will be the author’s endeavour to set all these matters right in a Table of remarkable events at the end of the work.

CHAP. VII.

Impartial view of the _present state_ of the town and its vicinity: containing introductory observations, brief account of churches, chapels, almshouses, workhouses, charitable and social institutions, religious sects and confraternities, the corporation, the shipping, trade and commerce, exports and imports, population, &c. &c.

This town, or at least its western vicinity, being that part of Marshland that lies contiguous to the town, has of late experienced an unexpected and most striking change, in the sudden resort thither and settlement of a number of characters in high life, consisting of peers, courtiers, statesmen, nabobs, royal physicians, naval and military commanders, &c. This may be reckoned among the wonders of these eventful times. It is marvellous in the eyes of most people, and has filled all Marshland with astonishment, so as to make its homely and unlettered inhabitants ready to lift up their voices and cry out with the ancient Lycaonians, “The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men!”—or with a celebrated English poet, “Descending gods find their Elysium here!” {1085}—The enormous price given by these new-comers for the estates they have purchased has greatly astonished the whole country, being about double the current valuation, or what lands usually fetched here before: and as some of them are said to be deep in political and state secrets, these purchases have excited strong suspicions of the tottering existence and depreciating state of all funded property. For had such property been really safe and good, these sagacious persons would hardly have withdrawn theirs and thus deliberately bury it in the bogs of Marshland.