Of the other modern mansions in these parts, mentioned at the close of the first section of this chapter, it seems needless here to give any further account, except those of Narford and Narborough. These, it must be allowed, deserve a more particular attention; not on account of the structures themselves, but of the curious and valuable articles they contain—or lately did contain; for what did once so much distinguish Narborough Hall, is no longer there.—It was a noble collection of coins and medals, ancient and modern; and the most valuable private collection, perhaps, in Britain, if not in Europe. Its possessor, the late Mr. Tyssen, assured this writer, that it had cost him, from first to last, above 20,000l. though he had been fortunate enough to purchase many of the most valuable articles much under the prices they usually fetch. In this collection were coins of the Grecian states and cities; a regular series of those of Philip and Alexander, of Alexander’s successors, of the Ptolemies, and the Cæsars—all in gold, in the highest state of preservation, and of most exquisite workmanship, (all but those of the former part of Philip’s reign, before he had become master of Greece, and could command the service of its artists,) and far exceeding the best of modern productions, except, perhaps, those of Thomas Simon, and Dossier, which come the nighest to the ancients. Many other curiosities were to be found at Narborough, and not the least among them was a MS. copy of the Eikon Bazilike, one of the most perfect specimens of fine penmanship extant, perhaps, on so large a scale. The pages, the lines, and the letters, were uniform, and exquisitely neat throughput. It was a quarto volume, and said to be written, or transcribed by I. Thomasen, schoolmaster, at Tarvin, in the county palatine of Chester. He was said to have written three different copies, all in nearly equal perfection: of the other two, one is deposited in the King’s library, and the other in the British Museum; but this was said to be the best the three. To the best of this writer’s recollection, Mr. Tyssen said, that it cost him a hundred guineas, nor did he seem to repent of his bargain. The price it fetched at the sale, however, fell greatly short of that sum.—An ancient shield, denoting and commemorating the taking of Carthage, was another of the late curiosities of Narborough: it represented one of the fair damsels of that devoted city, bearing the keys, and delivering them to Scipio, followed by a long train of the principal inhabitants, whose dejected and woeful looks, bespoke the grief and anguish that had then overwhelmed the Carthaginian nation.—Close to Narborough Hall is an old fortification, the remains of an ancient encampment, called the burgh; from whence to Oxburgh and Eastmore-fen, extends a large foss and rampart, whose original designation seems not very easy to discover.—In making a garden near the burgh, in 1600, several human and pieces of armour were found. This place is said to be peculiarly interesting to the antiquary; and it is supposed that a small Roman station was once established here. John Brame, a monkish writer, in a manuscript history, quoted by Spelman in his Icenia, says, that Narborough was a British city, governed by an earl Okenard, about the year 500, when it stood a seven months siege against a king Waldy: but little reliance, however, can be placed on such authority. In the adjoining parish of Narford, numerous Roman bricks and other relics, are said to have been found: also a large brass vase, or urn, was dug up in the court yard of the manor house,
Narford Hall, the seat of Andrew Fountaine Esq. It was erected in the reign of George I. by the late Sir Andrew Fountaine, Knt. of whom some account will be given in the next section. He was a great collector of rarities, and made his house the repository of works of art and learning. At present it is said to display a choice collection of pictures, ancient painted earthenware, some bronzes, coins, and a fine library of books, supposed to be the best in the whole county. The room, in which these books are deposited, is forty feet by twenty one; and contains, beside the books, several Roman and Egyptian Vases, and portraits of eminent men. This library seems not to have been collected for mere ostentation. The original collector is said to have been a man of letters, as well as a connoiseur and virtuoso, and one, at least, of his successors has been reputed a literary character, and a proficient in some branches, especially Spanish literature; in which language the said library contains many rare and valuable articles, one of which he sometime ago translated into English, and it has since made its appearance from the Swaffham Press.
Several springs of mineral water, of the chalybeate kind, are to be found in the neighbourhood of Lynn, on this eastern side; of which one is at Riffley, and another on Gaywood common, both within two miles of the town. There is also another beyond Setchey, on the Downham road. There are others in East Winch parish, one of which is much more strongly impregnated than any of the rest, and might, perhaps, be ranked, in point of medicinal virtue, with some of those springs that have acquired so much celebrity as to become places of considerable resort. This Spring is said to be strongly impregnated with what chymists and mineralogists call sulphate of iron.
Section IV.
Biographical Sketches of some of the most celebrated, or memorable persons who were natives of this part of the country.
Of all the eminent men who sprung up in this part of Norfolk, the precedence seems unquestionably due to
Sir Edward Coke, the famous Lord chief Justice. He was the son of Robert Coke, Esq. of Mileham, where he was born in 1550, or as some say in 1549. At ten years of age he was sent to the free school at Norwich; and after having spent there a competent time, he was removed to Trinity College in Cambridge, where he continued about four years, and then went to Clifford’s Inn, and the next year was entered a student of the Inner Temple. He was called to the bar at six years standing, which in that age was held very extraordinary. Lloyd tells us that “the first occasion of his rise was his stating the Cook’s case of the Temple, that all the house, who were puzzled with it, admired him; and his pleading it so, that the whole bench took notice of him.” His reputation increased very fast, and he soon came into great practice. When he had been at the bar about seven years, he married a lady of one of the best families in his native county, and with a very large fortune for that age. He now rose rapidly: the cities of Coventry and Norwich chose him their Recorder; and he was engaged in all the great causes in Westminster Hall. He was also in high credit with Lord Burleigh and the other rulers, and often consulted in state affairs. He became moreover, one of the representatives of his native county in parliament, Speaker of the House of Commons, and successively Solicitor-general, Attorney-general, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and finally, Lord Chief Justice of England, or rather of the King’s Bench, as king James would have it called. Sir Edward was a high spirited man, and on many occasions discovered much firmness and integrity, even when the other judges gave way, and the mandates of the Sovereign required a different conduct. This kind of behaviour, in time, rendered him obnoxious to the Court, and brought upon him its heavy displeasure, which issued in his expulsion from the Council Table, and his removal from the office of Lord Chief Justice; the king declaring, “That he was for a tyrant the fittest instrument that ever was in England.” He afterward joined the country party, and made a distinguished figure among the great parliamentary patriots, in the latter part of the reign of James and the former part of that of Charles I. He died at his house at Stoke Pogey, in Buckinghamshire, Sept. 3, 1634, in the 86 year of his age, and expired with these words in his mouth, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” He was one of the greatest Lawyers that England ever produced. He had quick parts, a deep penetration, a retentive memory, and a solid judgement. He was greatly honoured and esteemed among his brethren of the long robe; and when persecuted by the Court, and a brief was given against him to Sir John Walter, that gentleman, though Attorney-general to the prince, laid aside the brief, with this remarkable sentence, “Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, whenever I open it against Sir Edward Coke.” He was observed to make a better figure in adversity than in prosperity; and he was so good at making the best of a disgrace, that king James said, “Let them throw him which way they would, he always fell upon his legs.” He valued himself, and not without reason, upon this, that he obtained all his preferments without employing either prayers or pence, and that he became Speaker of the House of Commons, Solicitor-general, Attorney-general, Chief Justice of both Benches, High Steward of Cambridge, and a member of the Privy Council, without either begging or bribing. In this he was very different from many of his most eminent cotemporaries, and especially from his great and celebrated rival Bacon, who was remarkable for the meanness with which he used to solicit preferment. He was in his person well proportioned, and his features were regular. He was neat, but not nice, in his dress; and would say, that “the cleanness of a man’s clothes ought to put him in mind of keeping all clean within.” He was twice married, but his second marriage proved unhappy. He left behind him a numerous issue, as well as a large fortune; and may be ranked among the greatest men of his time. [177a]
In the latter part of his life he appears to have been among the reputed Jacobins of that day, [as is also said to have been the case, in the estimation of some wise and virtuous people, [177b] with his present descendant of Holkham, during the late memorable reign and rage of our furious alarmists.] While he lay upon his death-bed, his house was, by an order of council, searched for seditions and dangerous papers: and the searchers took away his commentary upon Magna Charta; his commentary upon Lyttleton, with the history of his Life before it, written with his own hand; the Pleas of the Crown; and the Jurisdiction of Courts; his 11th. and 12th. Reports, in MS; with 51 other MSS; together with his Last Will and Testament, which contained the provision he had been making for his younger grandchildren. These papers were kept from the family for several years, and the Will was never heard of more. [178]
2. Sir Henry Spelman. He was born at Congham, in 1561, or 1562. Before he was fifteen he was sent to Trinity College, in Cambridge; but his father dying in about two years and half after, he was taken home by his mother to assist her in managing the affairs of the family. About a year after, he was sent to Lincoln’s Inn to study the law, where having continued almost three years, he retired into the country, and married a Lady of good family and fortune. Beside his own rural and domestic concerns, which now demanded and employed the chief of his attention, he was also very assiduous to improve himself in the knowledge of the Constitution, Laws and Antiquities of his Country. He was early admitted a member of the Society of Antiquaries, which brought him into an intimate acquaintance with Sir Robert Cotton, Camden, and others of the most eminent men for that kind of literature. In 1604, he was appointed High Sheriff of Norfolk, and about the same time wrote a description of that county, which he communicated to Speed: but it was not the first book he wrote: a book on Heraldry, and another on the Coins of the kingdom, he had before written; and perhaps more. In 1607, the king nominated him one of the Commissioners for determining the unsettled titles of lands and manors in Ireland; on which occasion he went thither several times, and discharged the trust reposed in him with great reputation. He was also appointed one of the Commissioners to enquire into the oppression of exacted fees in all courts and offices, as well ecclesiastical as civil; which gave rise to his treatise De Sepultura, or of the Burial Fees, in which he made it evident, that most part of the fees exacted by the clergy and church officers, on account of funerals, is no better than gross imposition. His close attention to those public employments proved prejudicial to his family and circumstances; in consideration of which the government made him a present of 300l, till something better could be done for him. His majesty also conferred on him the honour of knighthood, which, however, did probably impoverish rather than enrich him. His majesty did what was still worse, in prohibiting the Meetings of the Antiquarian Society, lest, forsooth, they might be led to treat of state affairs! [179] His wise majesty seemed conscious that those affairs were too brittle to be handled, and too foul to be exposed to open daylight. When about fifty he went to reside in London, and gave himself up to archaiological studies. He collected all such books and MSS. as he could find of that description, whether foreign or domestic. In 1626, he published the first part of his well known Glossary, which he never carried beyond the letter L, because, as some have suggested, he had said things under Magna Charta, and Maximum Concilium, that could not then have appeared without giving offence. He wrote many things, most of which are still held in considerable repute. He died in 1641: his posthumous works were published in 1698, in folio, under the inspection of bishop Gibson. At his death his papers came into the hands of his eldest Son,
3. Sir John Spelman, “the heir of his studies,” as he himself calls him, who was also a very learned man, and had great encouragement and assurance of favour from Charles I. That prince one time sent for Sir Henry Spelman, and offered him the mastership of Sutton Hospital, with some other advantages, in consideration of his good services both to church and state. He returned his majesty thanks, and told him that he was very old, and had now one foot in the grave, and should therefore be more obliged if he would consider his son. Upon which the king sent for Mr. Spelman, and conferred both the mastership of the Hospital and the honour of knighthood upon him; and he afterwards employed him to draw up several papers in vindication of the proceedings of the court. He published the Saxon Psalter under the title of Psalterium Davidis Latino-Saxonicum vetus, in 1640, in quarto, from a MS in his father’s Library, collated with three other copies. He also wrote “The Life of King Alfred the Great,” in English; which was translated into Latin, sometime after the Restoration, by Mr. Christopher Wase, superior Beadle of the Civil Law at Oxford; which translation, with notes and cuts by Mr. Obadiah Walker Master of University College, was published, from the Theatre Press, in 1679, in folio. The original English was also published from the same press, by Mr. Thomas Hearne, in 1709. 8vo. Sir John Spelman died in 1643.