CHAPTER VIII
There had
been of long continuance 2 great disorders in the Cathedral Church, which ever
since he had been a member of it he heartily wished might be removed, about this
time he earnestly set himself to endeavour it, but failed of success in both of
them. The first was the cloysters lying continually open, the ordinary sort of
people in dark nights often made them the place of their assignations for lewd
doings, so that it is commonly said that more than half the Bastards that are
born in Norwich are gotten in these cloysters. The other disorder which he
desired to remove was the disturbance which is caused every Sunday in the
Church by peoples walking and talking in the outer parts of it, in time of
prayers and sermon and often to the obstructing of the well hearing of either
by those that are within. For the Remedy of the first of these he proposed to
put doors to the cloysters and shut them up every evening, and allow keys to
those who had any passage from their houses through them. This he thought would
content all such especially since all those passages through the cloysters were
only back door passages, the fore door of them lying another way, but this
expedient would not satisfy all of them, and several other clamoured against
it, especially the inhabitants of that part of the City, which is called
Bishops Gate Street, for though they have no right to a passage through the
cloysters, yet it being the nearest cut from that part of the City to the
other, they have constantly used it, both by night as well as by day and
therefore would not bear their being debarred of it, but threatened that as
often as those doors should be shut, they would as often come in the night and
break them open. Wherefore the Dean finding that there was no going on with
this design, without drawing the mob upon him, he was forced to desist from it.
And he had no better success in his endeavour to remedy the other disorder. For
the removing of it he ordered the officers of the Church to take the names of
all such as they should find walking or talking in any of the outer parts of
the said Church during divine service or sermon and did put all those whose
names he could so get into the Confistory Court. This for a while removed the
disorder but it not long after again returned and the number of the offenders
at length put it out of the power of the Dean, and all his officers to correct
the offence, so that it could not be pursued any further without raising the
same tumult as was once raised in the Cathedral Church of York by the like
attempt. He that wrote the life of Bishop Lake of Chichester and published it a
little after his death, gave us this account of it. That it being the usage at
York, for idle people there to walk and talk in the outer parts of the
Cathedral during divine service and sermon, in the same manner of disorder as
is practised in most other Cathedrals Dr. Lake being one of the prebendarys of
that church undertook to reform it and accordingly one Sunday coming out of his
stall he seised some of those idle people in order to have them punished for
the disturbance they gave which so provoked the rest that they all rose upon
him in a tumult so that he was forced to flee upstairs into the tower and there
barricade himself against their rage, from which he could not be secured till
the Sherriff came with his posse, coming to bring him safe off. This and the
other disorder above mentioned the Dean would gladly have removed, but finding
he could do neither of them without drawing the mob upon, he was forced to
desist from both.
In the
year 1709 he published his tract of the Originall Right of Tithes. His design
at first was to give the history of appropriations that is to show by what ill
means they begun, the Sacriledge by which they were alienated into Lay hands at
the Reformation, the Right the Church still hath in them for serving of the
cure, repairing of the Chancell and bearing all other Ecclesiasticall Burthens,
the Right which the Law hath now given Appropriators in them, and what are the
usurpations made thereupon. This was the main design, to treat of the original
right of tithes was intended no otherwise in this undertaking than as by way of
preface to introduce thereto.
But it
growing in the drawing up to be too large for a preface, the Dean thought it
best to publish it by itself as the first part of the work and reserve the rest
for the second for which he had made many collections but being this year
seised with the calamitous distemper of the stone this hindered him from
proceeding any further in it. For to complete the work, and make it fully
answer the end intended, he needed to consult the Cotton Library, the Tower of
London, and other ancient records which would require his going to the places
where they are, but his distemper utterly disabling him from bearing any such
journey, he was forced to dropp the whole.
At the
end of this Treatice of Tythes, he published the Bill which he drew for the
Remedying of the Inconveniences which the Church suffers from the holding of
Pluralitys of Benefices, with Cure of Souls, and his reasons for the same, the
occasion of his writing this tract hath been above mentioned.
In the
year 1710 finding he could by reason of the stone no longer stand in the pulpit
to preach, he resigned his Vicarage of Trows, and the Chapter who had the
patronage of it gave it to one of the minor Canons.
This
distemper begun on him in the spring of the former year. He apprehended that it
was first the stone in the kidney from whence with much pain it passed down
into the bladder it stuck there, and grew to the side of it, from whence on his
making a short journey into the country, it was by the agitation of the coach
broken off which caused a great voiding of blood through the urinary passage
from which time he lived in constant pain till he was cut for it, which was two
years after. The reason that made him delay it so long was that being past 60
he was under apprehension that he could not bear the operation, but that it
would be certain death to him and that therefore in this case to put himself
into the surgeon's hands would be no other than self murder and rather than be
guilty of this, he resolved to submit to the will of God and patiently endure
his calamity, however grievous and tormenting unto him and this he did for two
years together suffering all the time torments to the extremity till at length
it came to that pass that he could not live a month longer without relief and
cutting being the only means whereby it could be had, he was convinced in this
case to run the hazard of it, and therefore he sent for Mr. Salter a noted
Lythotomist in London to do the operation which he performed with great
dexterity for in less than 3 minutes time he drew out the stone which was of
the bigness and shape of a sheep's kidney, after which he tarried with the Dean
about a week during which time the wound cured so fast and all things else did
so well as to promise a thorough cure in a month's time at farthest, whereon Mr.
Salter returned to London leaving in his stead to finish the cure a young
surgeon who had been bred under him, telling the Dean that he would be as safe
in his hands as in his own, but all things happened to the contrary for after
having had him a whole year in his hands, he was much further from a cure, than
when he first undertook him. During all which time, he made him suffer as much
torment from him as he had from the stone itself. Mistaking the urethra for a
sinus he under that notion ripped it up several times, and every time he did
so, he put him in as much danger as he underwent in the cutting itself, till at
length he had ripped up and destroyed the whole part and at the same time so
wounded the parts adjoining that it was with difficulty that they were kept
from a mortification. While he was thus the Lord Sommers hearing of his case
was pleased to express himself that he thought Dr. Prideaux a person of greater
value than to be so lost and thereon sent a reprimanding message to Mr. Salter
for taking no more care of him. This produced a letter from Mr.Salter to the
Dean earnestly advising and desiring him to come to London to him and the Dean
finding no help to be had where he was, resolved on his journey and, therefore,
having taken out the seats of a large stagecoach and filled the bottom of it
with straw he laid thereon the bed quilt he usually lay upon, and thereon
laying himself at full length he was carried to London with as much ease and
safety as in a litter. On his arriyal thither Mr. Salter came to him and on his
examining the part finding the urethra destroyed, and the parts adjoining
miserably mangled and wounded he expressed his wonder that the Dean was alive,
such usage he thought would have killed anybody else. The Dean's case being thus,
and all hopes of restoring the urethra being lost, Mr. Salter had nothing to do
but to cure the wound, which being effected in two months time he returned
again to Norwich but ever after lost the use of the natural urinary passage,
and made his water through an orifice left in the place where the stone was
extracted which was a great inconvenience to him all his life after.
On his
return to Norwich he betook himself again to his studies to which his
calamitous distemper had given a great interruption. The first thing which he
undertook after this was to review his directions to the Wardens, the
bookseller having signified to him his intention of Publishing a third edition
of that tract, he added large augmentations to it, by which looking on that work
as fully completed he never added anything further in those editions which
afterwards came forth of it, this third edition was published in Michaelmas
term 1712 the two former editions are incomplete.
After the
Dean had done with this work he went on with his connection of the History of
the old and new testament. This he begun at the time when he dropped his design
of writing the History of Appropriations, but by the time that he had finished
the first book, his distemper of the stone was grown to that height upon him,
as forced him to lay aside the whole work till God should give him more health
to proceed therein which having now by his mercy in some measure obtained, he
went on where he left off and having finished the first part in the year 1715
he then published it in Michaelmas term and about two years after in Hilary
term Anno 1717/8 he published the two part both of which being afterwards
published together they underwent before the end of the year 1720 eight
editions in London, besides two or three at the same time in Dublin, so
acceptable was this work to the public. Most persons of quality of both sexes
who took any delight in books did read this oyer and acknowledged the great
instruction, as well as entertainment which they received thereby, as especially
did the Prince and Princess of Wales, who expressed to the Archbishop of
Canterbury their esteem of the work and its author in a very large manner and
ordered him to signify to the Dean as much and accordingly he did so by a
letter to him a little after.
In the
year 1714 which was the last of Queen Anne a bill being brought into Parliament
for the annexing of the next prebendary that should fall void in the Church of
Norwich to the mastership of Catherine Hall in Cambridge, the Dean sent up a provisoe
for a saving to the Statements of the Church and by Mr. Walpole and others
endeavoured to get it inserted into the bill but without successe for this bill
being the project of the Lord Chancellor Harcourt he would not bear that any
amendment should be made upon it, and therefore engaged the Lawyers that were
of the Committee to be against it, through whose means it was there cast out by
a majority of one vote. The argument against it was that there was no need of
this Salvo the statements of the Church being wholly safe without it. This the
Lawyers then vouched, but would not stand by it afterwards when it came to the
pinch.
On the
first of August 1714 Queen Anne dying King George succeeding a new Parliament
was called in the ensuing Spring, on Mr. Walpole coming to Norwich at the
election, Dr. Prideaux on his waiting on him did put into his hands this
following paper.
"There
are lands in England to the value of several thousands of pounds per annum
which are held in trust for the maintaining of Mass Priests in England and
Popish Seminarys and Monasterys beyond sea, whereby a set of men are bred up
supported and maintained of purpose to be continual enemies to our Church and
State, and who accordingly make it their constant business by all the means they
are able to disturb the Peace and work the ruin of both. And these men under
the help and encouragement which they have received from the Rents of these
lands, have been so mischievously busy in carrying on plots and pernicious
designs against the public Peace of this Realm and have had that success
herein, that they have truly been the authors of all the disturbances which
have happened among us for these last hundred and fifty years past and,
thereby, have brought us more than once to the very brink of ruin. And it
cannot well be hoped that this realm will ever firmly enjoy peace and quiet as
long as such a busy and mischievous set of men are thus bred up and maintained
out of our own Revenues, to be continually labouring and laying plots for the
disturbing of it, for they are all of them like Hannibal Jurati ad aras never
to lease being our enemies till they have undone us.
And
therefore for the remedying of this evil it is proposed that all the lands thus
held in trust for the use and benefit of such seminarys, monasterys or mass
priests, or of any depending on them be taken from them and sold towards paying
the public debts of the nation, and that in order to make discovery of the said
lands, it be enacted by Parliament, that it shall be felony in all without
benefit of clergy that are now or have at any time past been partys to the said
trust knowing of the same, or have been anyways concerned in the managing
advising or conveying of them to be limited by the said Act make full discovery
of the same. And that power be given to call all persons upon their oaths who
shall be thought anyway able to give any. Information concerning the said
trusts and to examine them upon all such interrogatorys as may lead to the
discovery of them.
And
whereas besides lands there are also mortgages, rent, charges, stocks, bonds
and shares of funds improprieted tythes and other interests held in trust for
the same uses that these be all seised also for the same use of the public and
the like method be ordained for the discovery of them.
All these
trusts if fully discovered will amount to above the value of a million of money
which may be a great help to the public in our present Exigencies".
This
proposal had so good an effect that in the ensuing Parliament it was enacted
that all such estates as are thus held in trust for the uses above-mentioned be
forfeited to the public and accordingly several of them were seised as so
forfeited and applied to the public uses of the nation by the Commissioners
that were appointed for this purpose.