CHAPTER VIII
THE OPENING OF THE SPA
The wonderful letter from Sam Semple was received in April. No onefrom the outset questioned his assertions. This seems wonderful--butthey could only be tried by a letter to London or a journey thither.Now our merchants had correspondents in the city of London, but not inthe fashionable quarters, and nothing is more certain than that themerchants of this city concerned themselves not at all with thepursuits of fashion or even with the gatherings of the wits in thecoffee house. As for the journey to London no one will willinglyundertake it unless he is compelled----You may go by way of Ely andCambridge--but the road nearly all the way to Cambridge lies throughthe soft and treacherous fen when if a traveller escape being bogged,a hundred to one he will probably acquire an ague which will troublehim for many days afterwards. Or you may go by way of Swaffham andEast Dereham through Norwich. By this way there are no fens, but theroad to Norwich is practicable only by broad wheeled waggons or onhorseback, and I doubt if the forty miles could be covered in lessthan two days. At Norwich, it is true, there is a better road and astage coach carries passengers to London in twelve hours.
It is therefore a long and tedious journey from Lynn to London and onenot to be undertaken without strong reasons. Then--even if the societyhad entertained suspicions and deputed one or more to make thatjourney and to inquire as to the truth of the letter, how and where,in so vast a city, would one begin the enquiry.
In truth, however, the letter was received without the leastsuspicion. Yet it was from beginning to end an artfully concoctedlie--part of a conspiracy; an invention devised by the desire forrevenge; an ingenious device--let us give the devil his due--by onewhose only weapon was his cunning.
Every man of the "Society" went home brimful of the discovery. Thenext day the doctor's garden was crowded with people all pressingtogether, trampling over his currant and gooseberry bushes, drawing upthe bucket without cessation in order to taste the water which was tocure all diseases--even like the Pool of Bethesda. Many among them hadused the water all their lives without discovering any peculiarity intaste--in fact as if it had been ordinary water conferred upon man byProvidence for the brewing of his beer and the making of his punch andthe washing of his linen. Now, however, so great is the power offaith, they drank it as it came out of the well--a thing abhorrent tomost people who cannot abide plain water. They held it up to thelight, admiring its wonderful clearness: they called attention to thebeads of air rising in the glass, as a plain proof of itshealth-giving qualities; they smacked their lips over it, detectingthe presence of unknown ingredients: those who were already rheumaticresolved to drink it every day at frequent intervals: after a singledraught they felt relief in their joints; they declared that therheumatic pains were subsiding rapidly: nay, were already gone, andthey rejoiced in the strength of their faith as if they were drivingan unwelcome guest out through an open door.
The doctor made haste to issue and to print his own examination of thewater. In this document as I have told you, he very remarkably agreedwith the analysis sent down by the egregious Samuel. He appended tohis list of ingredients certain cases which he indicated by initialsin which the water had proved beneficial: most of them at the outset,were the cases of those who, on the first day, found relief from asingle glass. Many more cases afterwards occurred.
After the town, the country. The report of the valuable discoveryspread rapidly. The farmer folk who brought their produce, pigs,sheep, poultry and cattle to our markets carried the news home withthem: the whole town--indeed, in a few hours was as they say, all agogwith the discovery and eager, even down to the fo'c'sle seamen todrink of a well which was by this time reported among the ignorantclass not only to cure but also to prevent diseases. Then gentlemenbegan to ride in; on market day there are always gentlemen in thetown; they have an ordinary of their own at the _Crown_; they were atfirst incredulous but they would willingly taste of the spring. Asfresh water was comparatively strange to them it is not surprisingthat some of them detected an indescribable taste which they werereadily persuaded to believe was proof of a medicinal character. Theywere followed by ladies also curious to taste, to prove, and, in manycases, to be cured.
Meantime everybody, both of the town and of the country, rejoiced athearing that it had been decided to take advantage of the discovery inorder to convert Lynn Regis, previously esteemed as on the same levelas Gosport in the south of England or Wapping by the port of London,into a place of fashionable resort and another Bath or TunbridgeWells. It was difficult, however, to believe that the old town withits narrow and winding streets, its streams, its bridges, its olddecayed courts and ancient pavements could accommodate itself to thewants and the taste--or even the presence of the polite world.
Then the news spread further afield. The reverend canons in theirsecluded close beside their venerable cathedral--whether atPeterborough, Lincoln, Ely or Norwich, heard the story magnified andexaggerated, how at Lynn had been found a spring of water thatmiraculously healed all wounds, cured all diseases and made the haltto run and the cripple to stand. Better than all it restored the powerof drinking port wine to the old divines who had been compelled bytheir infirmities to give up that generous wine.
In their great colleges, a world too wide for the young men whoentered them as students, the fellows heard the news and talked aboutthe discovery in the dull combination rooms where the talk was evermainly of the rents and the dinners, the last brew at the collegebrewery, yesterday's cards, or the approaching vacancy in a collegeliving. They, too, pricked up their ears at the news because for themas well as their reverend brethren of the cathedral gout andrheumatism were deadly enemies. If only Providence would remove frommankind those two diseases which plague and pester those to whom theirlives would otherwise be full of comfort and happiness, cheered bywine and punch, stayed and comforted by the good things ready to thehand of the cook and the housewife.
And from all the towns around--from Boston, Spalding, Wisbeach, Bury,Wells, there came messengers and letters of inquiry all asking if thenews was true--if people had been already treated and alreadycured--if lodgings were to be had and so forth.
And then the preparations began. The committee went from house tohouse encouraging and stimulating the people to make ready for such anincursion as the place had never before known even at fair time, andpromising a golden harvest. Who would not wish to share in such aharvest?
First, lodgings had to be got ready--they must be clean at least andfurnished with necessaries. People at the spa do not ask for greatthings in furniture--they do not desire to sit in their lodgings whichare only for sleeping and dressing--a blind in the window or a curtainto keep out the sun and prying eyes,--a bed--a chair--a cupboard--alooking-glass--a table--not even the most fashionable lady asks formore except that the bed be soft and the wainscot and floor of theroom be clean. The better houses would be kept for the better sort:the sailors' houses by the Common Stath and the King's Stath would dofor the visitors' servants who could also eat and drink in the tavernsof the riverside. Houses deserted and suffered to fall into decay inthe courts of the town were hastily repaired, the roofs patched up,the windows replaced, the doors and woodwork painted. Everywhere roomswere cleaned: beds were put up, all the mattresses, all the pillows,all the blankets and sheets in the town were brought up and more wereordered from Boston and other places accessible by river or by sea.Certainly the town had never before had such a cleaning while thepainters worked all night as well as all day to get through theirorders.
It was next necessary to provide supplies for the multitude, when theyshould arrive. I have spoken of the plenty and abundance of everythingin the town of Lynn. The plenty is due to the great fertility of thereclaimed land which enables the farmers to grow more than they cansell for want of a market. There is sent abroad, as a rule, to the lowcountries, much of the produce of the farms. There was therefore nodifficulty in persuading the farmers to hold their hands for a week ortwo, and when the company bega
n to arrive, to send into the townquantities of provisions of all kinds--pork, bacon, mutton, beef,poultry, eggs, vegetables and milk. Boats were engaged for theconveyance of these stores down the river. There would be providedfood in abundance. And as for drink there was no difficulty at all ina town which imported whole cargoes of wine every year.
I must not forget the preparation made in the churches. There are twoin Lynn, ancient and venerable churches both. I believe that they werealways much larger than was ever wanted considering the number of thepeople, but in Norfolk the churches are all too large, being so builtfor the greater praise and glory of God. However, both in St.Margaret's and in St. Nicholas, the congregations had long sinceshrunk so that there were wide spaces between the walls and the pews.These spaces were now filled up with new pews for the accommodation ofthe expected invasion of visitors. I confess that I admire the simplefaith in the coming success of the spa which at this time animated notonly those most interested as the doctor himself, but also the peopleof the town who knew nothing except what they were told, namely thatthe well in the doctor's garden had properties, which were sovereignagainst certain diseases, and that all the world had learned this factand were coming to be cured.
There were next the public preparations. The necessity of despatchcaused the structures to be of wood which, however, when brightlypainted, may produce a more pleasing effect than brick. First, therewas the pump room. This was built, of course, over the well in thedoctor's garden, which it almost covered: it was a square or oblongbuilding, having the well in one corner, and containing a simple roomwith large sash windows, unfurnished save for a wooden bench runninground the wall and two others in the middle of the room. The water waspumped up fresh and cool--it was really a very fine well of wateralways copious--into a large basin; a long counter ran across the roomin front of the basin: the counter was provided with glasses ofvarious sizes and behind the counter were two girls hired as dippers.The doctor's door opened out of the pump room so as to affordreadiness and convenience for consultation.
Lastly it was necessary to provide for the amusement of the visitors.Everybody knows that for one person who visits a spa for health, thereare two who visit it for the amusements and the pleasures andentertainments provided at these places. I have mentioned the openfields within the walls of the town which were anciently covered withthe buildings and the gardens of the monks and friars and the nuns.They are planted in some places with trees: for instance below theLady's Mount, in which is the ancient chapel, there lie fields onwhich now stand many noble trees. The committee chose this spot forthe construction of the assembly rooms. They first enclosed a largeportion with a wooden fence: they then laid out the grounds withpaths: this done they erected a long room where the assembly might beheld, with a smooth and level floor fit for dancing. This room wasalso to be the resort of the company in the mornings and when theweather was rainy: adjoining the long room was the card room, with onelong table and several small tables: and the tea room, where thatbeverage could be served with drinks and cordials to counteract its(possibly) evil effects. A gallery at one end was ready for themusic--outside there was another building for the music to play onfine evenings.
I must not forget the decoration of the trees. Nothing could be morebeautiful than this avenue after nightfall: lamps of various colourshung on festoons from branch to branch: across the avenue in arches,and from tree to tree in parallel lines: these in the evening producedan appearance of light and colour that ravished the eye of everybeholder. Those who knew London declared that in the daytime thisplace could compare favourably with the Mall in St. James's Park, andin the evening after dark even with the Marylebone Gardens orVauxhall.
All these preparations were pushed forward with the utmost diligence,so that everything, might be ready by the first of May, on which dayit was hoped that the season of the spa would commence. Musicians andsingers were engaged: they came from London, bringing goodrecommendation from some of the pleasure gardens where they hadperformed with credit. They were to play for the dancing on the nightsof the assembly; they were also to play in the morning when engaged orbespoke by the gentlemen. They brought with them two or threefiddlers; players on various instruments of brass, and the horns. Adancing master, Mr. Prappit, came from Norwich: he was busy for threeweeks before the opening, with the young folks of the town, who hadnever before danced anything more ambitious than a hey or a jig or acountry dance, or a frolic round the May pole. Mr. Prappit was alsoengaged as master of the ceremonies, a post of great responsibilityand distinction.
A theatre is a necessary part of every public place: therefore a troopof strolling players received permission to perform three evenings inthe week in the large room of the _Duke's Head_ inn: I know not whatreputation they had as actors, but I can bear witness that they madeas much as they could out of a passion, tearing it, so to speak, torags, and bawling themselves hoarse, so that at least they earnedtheir money, which was not much, I fear.
The cock pit was newly repaired for the lovers of that manly andfavourite sport to which the gentlemen of Norfolk are, as is wellknown, much addicted. For those who prefer the more quiet games therewas the bowling green. And lastly, for those who incline to the rudersports, there were provided masters of fence who could play withquarter staff or cudgel, jugglers and conjurers, with rope dancers,tumblers, merry andrews and such folk, together with a tent for theirperformance.
These details are perhaps below the dignity of history. I mention themin order to let it be understood that the invention--the lyinginvention of Sam Semple, was bearing the fruit which he most desiredin the deception of the whole town. There was never, I believe, sogreat a deception attempted or carried into effect.
Meantime, the work of the town continued as usual. The port hadnothing to do with the spa. For my own part I was discharging cargofrom _The Lady of Lynn_, and making ready to take in a new cargo.All day I was engaged on board: I slept on board: but in the evening Iwent ashore and looked on at the preparations, and at this new worldof fashion and pleasure the like of which I had never seen before.And, as usual, the ships came into port and dropped anchor off theStath: or they cleared out and went down the river with the currentand the tide. There were two kinds of life in the place when there hadnever before been more than one: and while the people in one part ofthe town had nothing to think of but amusement, those at the otherpart were as usual, engaged in their various work. The clerks ranabout with their quills behind their ears; the porters rolled thecasks, the bargemen brought their unwieldy craft alongside with manyloud sounding oaths and the yohoing without which they can do nothing;and in the taverns the sailors drank and danced and sang, quiteunmindful of the people in the streets behind them.
The first arrivals were the gentlefolk from the country round Lynn.They learned when everything would be ready and they came in as soonas the gardens were laid out, the long room finished and the firstevening announced--they had but a few miles to travel; they engagedthe best lodgings and demanded the best provisions. As for wine, theycould not have better because there is no better wine than fills thecellars of our merchants or our vintners.
As these good people came to the spa it was thought necessary to drinkthe waters and this they did with much importance, every morning. Thenatives of Norfolk are, I verily believe, the longest lived and themost healthy people in the whole world. With the exception ofague--they call it the bailiff of Marshland--the people in this countyseldom suffer from any disorder and live to a good old age. Yet allwith one consent began the day by drinking a glass of the cold brightwater served in the pump room. Very few of them, I say, were troubledwith any kind of complaint: though the gentlemen are hard drinkers,they are also hard riders and the open air and cold winds of themorning drive out and dissipate the fumes of the evening and its wine.For this reason, though many of our sea captains drink hard at sea,they are never a bit the worse for the fresh salt air is the finestrestorative, and a sailor may be drunk once every twenty-four hoursand yet live to a
hundred and be none the worse. Most of those whodrank the waters had never felt any symptoms of gout or rheumatism,lumbago, sciatica, pleurisy, consumption or asthma, or any otherdisease whatever. They flocked to the pump room in order to drive awayeven the possibility of these symptoms. To drink the waters for amonth, or even for a fortnight, was considered sovereign for thekeeping off of all kinds of sickness for at least a whole year tocome. It was strange how quite young men and young maidens suddenlyconceived this superstitious belief--I can call it nothing butsuperstition--that those who were perfectly well would be maintainedin health--_although_ young people of this age do not commonlycontract the diseases above enumerated--by drinking a glass of waterevery morning. That old men, who will catch at anything that offers torestore health, should resort to this newly discovered universalmedicine was not so strange. Captain Crowle, who, to my certainknowledge, had never suffered a day's sickness in the seventy years ofhis life; who kept his teeth firm and sound; whose hair had not fallenoff; who stood firm on his legs and square in his shoulders; who stilldrank free and devoured his rations as eagerly as any able-bodiedsailor, marched every morning to the pump room and took his glass."Jack," he said, "the discovery is truly miraculous. By the Lord! itwill make us all live to be a hundred. Already I feel once more like aman of thirty. I shall shake a leg, yet, at the wedding of Molly'sgrandchildren."
They all consulted the doctor--the sick and the well alike--the formerin order to be cured and the latter in order to guard against disease.Now that one knows the foundation of the whole business it iswonderful to reflect upon the number of cures the doctor was able toregister in his book: cures about which there could be neither doubtnor dispute, so that one is fain to think that faith alone may besufficient to drive out rheumatism. The prescription of the worthydoctor rested entirely on the curative power of the water. "You willtake," he said to every one who came to him, "every morning beforebreakfast for choice, a glass of the water. Or, if you prefer first totake a dish of tea, a cup of chocolate, or a draught of beer, do so byall means. In that case take your glass an hour--not more--afterbreakfast. I prescribe in your case, a dose in a glass numbered A orB--or C"--as the case might be. "It contains seven ounces and sixdrachms"--or some other weight as the case might be. He was very exactin the size of the glass and the weight of the dose. "This is theexact quantity which operates efficaciously in your case. Do not takemore which will not expedite your cure: nor less which will hinder it.Seven ounces and six drachms."
The doctor's dignity and gravity indeed were a credit to the town. Outof London, I believe, there was no physician with such outward tokensof science. The velvet coat he now wore habitually: a new wig greatlydelayed had been brought from Norwich: his lace and his linen wereclean every morning: his fingers became curly from the continual claspof the guinea. No one, I am sure, expected to find so grave anddignified a physician in a town occupied mainly by rude tarpaulins andtheir ladies. Where nothing better than a mere apothecary could beexpected there was found a physician in manner and in appearance equalto the most fashionable doctor of medicine in London itself.
"Before breakfast, madam," he repeated. "Fasting, if possible. If thatis not convenient, after breakfast. Think not to hasten the operationof the waters by too generous a use of them. Seven ounces and sixdrachms in weight. Let that be your daily allowance: that and no more.For your diet, let it be ample, generous, and of the best quality thatthe market supplies. It is providentially, considering the wants ofthe spa--the best market in Norfolk, provided with birds of all kinds,both wild and of the farmyard: with beef and mutton fattened on thepastures of Marshland; and with fruit and other things of the verybest. Partake plentifully, madam. Do not deny yourself. Tea, you maytake if you desire it: very good tea can be obtained of the apothecaryat a guinea a pound. For my own part I allow the beverage to besometimes useful in clearing the brain of noxious vapours and the bodyof corrupt humours. For wine I recommend Port, Malmesey, Madeira orLisbon--but not more than one measured pint in the day. You must takeexercise gently by walking in the gardens, or in the long room, or bydancing in the evening. And you may maintain cheerfulness of mind,which is beneficial in any case whether of sickness or of health, bytaking a hand in the card room."
To the gentlemen who had not as yet fallen victims to any of theprevalent diseases he would discourse much after the same fashion.
"Put out your tongue, sir--I believe it to be furred---- So.... Dearme! Worse than I suspected. And your pulse? I believe it to be strong.So. As I thought. A little too strong, perhaps even febrile. Yourhabits, I suppose, include a hearty appetite and a full allowance ofstrong ale and wine. You ride--you hunt--you attend races, cockpit andsport of all kinds; you are not addicted to reading or to study, andyou sometimes play cards."
"The doctor," said his patients afterwards, "knew exactly and couldtell by my pulse and my tongue my daily way of living. 'Tiswonderful!"
"It is my duty to warn you, sir, that you have within you the seeds ofgout--of inflammatory gout--which will fix itself first upon the bigtoe and thus become like a bag of red hot needles. Afterwards it willmount higher--but I will spare you the description of your dyingagonies. You may, however, avert this suffering, or postpone it, sothat it will only seize upon you should you live to a hundred andtwenty, or thereabouts. The surest method is by drinking these watersevery year for a week or two. One tumbler every morning fasting. Youwill take a measured weight of seven ounces and six drachms--" or as Isaid before some other weight. "I prescribe in your case, no othermedicine. Let your diet be generous. Confine yourself to a singlebottle of wine a day. Ride as usual and, in fact, live as you areaccustomed. Nature, sir, abhors a revolution: she expects to performher usual work in the usual manner."
If any came to him already afflicted with gout or rheumatism heprescribed for them in a similarly easy and simple fashion.
"You have been taking colchicum--" or whatever it might have been. "Irecommend you on no account to discontinue a medicine to which you areaccustomed. Gout is an enemy which may be attacked from many points.While it is resisting so far successfully the attack by the drugswhich have been administered to you, I shall attack it from anunsuspected quarter. Ha! I shall fall upon the unguarded flank with aninfallible method. You will take, sir, three glasses of water daily;each before meals. Each glass contains the measured weight of sevenounces and six drachms," or some other weight was carefullyprescribed. "You will, in other respects, follow the diet recommendedby your former physicians."
"The doctor," said his patients, "is not one who scoffs at hisbrethren. On the contrary, he continues their treatment, only addingthe water. And you see what I am now."
"Observe," the doctor continued, "my treatment is simple. It is sosimple that it must command success. I shall expect therefore, to findin you, for your own share in the cure, that faith which assistsnature. Nothing so disconcerts an enemy as the confidence of victoryon the other side. Before that faith, gout flies, terrified; andnature, triumphant, resumes that nice balanced equilibrium of all thefunctions which the unlearned call health."
The doctor also encouraged his dippers, one of whom was a young womanof attractive appearance and great freedom of tongue, to relate forthe benefit of those who drank the waters, cases of cure and rapidrecovery. This encouragement caused the girl who had a fine naturalgift of embellishment or development, to sing the praises of the spawith a most audacious contempt for the structure of fact.
"Lawk, madam!" she would say, using the broad Norfolk accent which Ichoose to convert into English, because her discourse would beunintelligible save to the folk of the county. "To think what thisblessed water can do! That poor gentleman who has just gone out--yousaw yourself that he now walks as upright as a lance and as stiff as arecruiting sergeant. He first came to the pump room, was it afortnight ago or three weeks, Jenny? Twelve days? To be sure. Youought to know--Jenny dipped for him, madam. He was carried in: hisvery crutches were no good to him; and as for his poor feet, theydangle for all t
he world like lumps of pork. And his groans,--Lawk!--theywould move a heart of stone. Jenny here, who has a feeling heart,though but a humble dipper at your service, madam, like myself andpleased to be of service to so fine a lady, burst into tears when shesaw him--didn't you, Jenny, my dear? Before all the people, she did.Well, he drank three tumblers every day--each exactly seven ouncesand six drachms in weight--oh! the doctor knows what to do for hispatients--did your ladyship ever see a wiser doctor? On the third dayhe left off groaning: on the fourth he said, 'I feel better, give me mythird tumbler.' Didn't he say those very words, Jenny? 'Give me mythird,' he said. On the fifth day he walked in by himself. It was oncrutches, it is true, for even this water takes its time. Lord forbidthat I should tell your ladyship anything but gospel. On the sixth dayhe used a walking stick: on the seventh, he said, walking upright, hisstick over his shoulder, 'If it was not Sunday,' he said, 'I should cuta caper--cut a caper,' he said. Jenny heard him. And now he talks ofgoing home where a sweet young lady, almost as beautiful as yourladyship, waits for him with a fortune of twenty thousand pounds. Shecouldn't marry a man, could she, madam, with both feet, as a body mightsay, in the grave? Nobody except the doctor and us dippers, knows thesecrets of the spa. If we could talk--but there we are bound tosecrecy, because ladies would not let the world know that they have hadailments--but if we could talk, you would be astonished. Tell herladyship, Jenny, about the old gammer of ninety, while I attend to thecompany. Yes, sir, coming, sir."
And so she rattled on, talking all day long and never tired ofinventing these stories. The people listened, laughed, affecteddisbelief, yet believed. They drank the waters, and put down theirtwopences, which went into a box kept for the doctor. What with thepatients' guineas and the daily harvest of this box he, at least, wasin a fair way of proving the truth of his own prophecy that everybodyin Lynn would be enriched by the grand discovery.
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