I am thrilled as I recall
the impressive way in which Mr. Blunderfield gave out the hymns, and I
can still remember one of Mr. Innes' texts, and it was always a matter of
pride to me when Mr. Youngman took me home to dinner and to walk on his
lawn, which sloped down to the river, and to view with wonder the peacock
which adorned his grounds. The family with which I was apprenticed
attended on the ministry of the Rev. John Alexander, a man deservedly
esteemed by all and beloved by his people. He was a touching preacher,
an inimitable companion, and was hailed all over East Anglia as its
Congregational bishop, a position I fancy still held by his successor,
the Rev. Dr. Barrett. Dissent in Norwich seemed to me much more
respected than in my village home. Dr. Brock, then plain Mr. Brock, also
came to Norwich when I was there, and had a fine congregation in St.
Mary's, which seemed to me a wonderfully fine chapel. I was always glad
to go there. Once I made my way to the Octagon, a still nobler building,
but my visit was found out by my master's wife, and henceforth I was
orthodox, that is as long as I was at Norwich. The Norwich of that time,
though the old air of depression, in consequence of declining
manufacture, has given place to a livelier tone, in its essential
features remains the same. There are still the Castle and the old
landmarks of the Cathedral and the Market Place. The great innovation
has been the Great Eastern Railway, which has given to it a new and
handsome quarter, and the Colman mustard mills. Outside the city, in the
suburbs, of course, Norwich has much increased, and we have now crowded
streets or trim semidetached villas, where in my time were green fields
or rustic walks. London did not dominate the country as it does now, and
Norwich was held to be in some quarters almost a second Athens. There
lived there a learned man of the name of Wilkins, with whom I, alas!
never came into contact, who had much to do with resuscitating the fame
of the worthy Norwich physician, Sir Thomas Browne, immortal, by reason
of his "Religio Medici" and "Urn Burial," especially the latter. The
Martineaus and the Taylors lived there. Johnson Fox--the far-famed
Norwich weaver boy of the Anti-Corn League, and Unitarian minister, and
subsequently M.P. for Oldham--had been a member of the Old Meeting,
whence he had been sent to Homerton College to study for the ministry,
and a sister and brother, if I remember ar