Section I.
Statement of the progress of protestantism, or of the most remarkable and memorable acts or works of reformation which took place at Lynn during the first century after its renunciation of the papal supremacy.
The first fruits of the reformation at Lynn seem to be the burning of the Dutchman before mentioned, and hanging, sometime after, a certain friar, of the name of William Gisborough. The former suffered for what was called heresy, but we cannot find what the crime was that was laid to the charge of the latter. It seems most probable however, that it was denying the king’s spiritual supremacy, or maintaining that the pope, and not his majesty, was the supreme head of the church. This was a crime, or heresy, which Henry never would tolerate, after he had set up for himself in competition with the Roman pontiff, as a kind of antipope, or pontifex maximus of England. Many a luckless wight was put to death, during the latter part of his reign, for no other fault, or offence, but that of being unconvinced of his majesty’s right and title to be on earth the supreme head of the English church. They could not, it seems, help their scruples; and therefore it was, surely, very hard and cruel to put them to death. But kings and courtiers are seldom disposed to be very tender, or shew much mercy to those who do not think well of their pretensions, however doubtful, unreasonable, or absurd they happen to be: and they come not unfrequently under one or other of these denominations.
In Edward’s reign, very little if any reformation work appears to have been carried on at Lynn. At his death we are told that Lord Audley came here and proclaimed Lady Jane Grey queen of England; which seems to imply that this town was favourable to her succession. However that was, her succession was frustrated, and she came soon after to an untimely and tragical end, though she appears to have been worthy of a better fate.—Mary succeeded; in whose reign the very name of reformation was exploded: its favourers were persecuted with the utmost rigour, hundreds of them suffered at the stake, and a still greater number fled their native country, and found an asylum in foreign parts, where they staid till the storm was blown over, or, in other words, till Mary was no more. She was succeeded by a sovereign that was more favourable to a certain description of reformation and reformers, though in other respects of an equally intolerant and unamiable character.
At the accession of Elizabeth the pope was again discarded, and her majesty assumed the character of reformer and supreme head of the church. The protestant exiles now returned home, and resumed the arduous task of reforming their countrymen, though from what is known to have been the conduct of too many of them while abroad, it would seem that they ought first of all to have reformed themselves. They rapidly obtained preferment in the church, and many of them were promoted to the vacant sees, some of whom soon became most bitter persecutors of the poor puritans and other protestant sectaries:—so little good effect had their former sufferings upon them, and so far was their experience of the bitterness of persecution from disposing them to refrain from being themselves concerned in the same bloody and detestable work.
The effect of the new order of things was soon felt at Lynn, and the inhabitants were furnished with convincing proofs that the new was once more to supersede and triumph over the old religion. In the first year of this queen’s reign, “the rood lofts,” we are told, “and the images that were upon them, were taken down from all the churches in this town.” There surely could be no great harm in this. The harm, if there was any, must lie in its being done before the people had been convinced of the inutility and impropriety of setting up such images and retaining them in their churches. The work certainly should have succeeded and not preceded the people’s conviction of its reasonableness and propriety.
At the same time, or in the course of the same year 1559 “The steps,” as we further learn, “were taken from the altars in this town, and the ground, at the upper, or east ends of all the churches levelled with that in the other parts of them.”—All this seems to have been a courtly or royal mode of reforming: for it appears to have been done before the inhabitants were convinced of its necessity, or knew any thing about the meaning of it. It was done, no doubt, by royal authority; and that is reason enough for any thing, in the eyes of most courtiers and statesmen. It was, however, a preposterous mode of proceeding, as it was beginning the work at the wrong end, and treating the people as if they had not been rational beings, but were to be brought under discipline and made to obey their masters or managers just like all other cattle. But mankind have been treated pretty much in the same way in all ages.
The year following, (1560,) “several gentlemen came here,” (as it is said,) “by order of the privy council, to take the state of St. James’s church, but were opposed and resisted by the corporation.” Whether the object of those gentlemen, in taking the state of the said church was to have it repaired and refitted for a place of worship, or something else, we are not told. If the former the corporation was probably to blame in resisting them, as there seemed to be need enough for an additional place of worship, if it was thought desirable that the inhabitants should more generally attend at such places. Nor is it very easy to conceive how the corporation durst resist them, if they were indeed authorised by Letters from the privy council to do what they proposed. In short, the circumstance is involved in too much obscurity and uncertainly to allow our hazarding any decided opinion upon it.
The next year, (1561,) “many popish relics and mass books are said to have been burnt here, in the market place.” This, probably, was also premature; being done, in all likelihood, before the inhabitants were sufficiently enlightened and satisfied of the inutility or perniciousness of those books and relicks. The articles thus destroyed were seemingly such as had belonged to this town, and had been, till then, carefully preserved here. It is not very clear that the destruction of them could be of any material advantage to the cause of the reformation: it only serves to shew the spirit and complexion of Elizabeth’s reforming system.—About seven years after the date of this last transaction, another very similar to it occurred here: for we are told under 1568, “This year several vestments, popish relics, strings of beads, and crucifixes, were brought from Tilney to Lynn, and burnt in the open market.” This seems to indicate that Tilney was a very noted place for that kind of ware before the reformation: but it was now, as we may suppose, entirely deprived of them, so as to be reduced, in that respect, upon a level with the rest of its neighbours. This, however, would not have signified much, had the people been carefully instructed and rationalized. But that really appears have been exceedingly and shamefully neglected at Lynn and the parts adjacent for a very long period after the accession of Elizabeth, as we shall endeavour to shew in the following Section.