﻿IIM9 



NORWICH. 



NORWICH, 



lOSO 



The foreigu commerce ia considerable; the greatest part of the 

 produce of the forests, the fisheries, and mines is exported to Great 

 Britain, Spain, the Mediterranean, and partly to the Baltic. Iron is 

 not exported, there being hardly sufBcient for home consumption, but 

 copper and cobalt arc exported to Hamburg and Holland. The chief 

 items of export are — planks, deals, masts, tar, fire-woods, salt-herrings, 

 cod, and lobsters ; the minor articles are — furs and eider-down. This 

 commerce is almost entirely carried on in Norwegian vessels. The 

 inhabitants are excellent seamen, a great number of them being 

 occopied during the greatest part of the year, and during the coldest 

 aauoo, in fishing off the Lofoden Islands. A large number of 

 Norwegian vessels are engaged in Swedish commerce. 



Hitlury and Comdliilion.- — The Norwegians first appear in history as 

 pirates, who frequently viflited and laid waste the countries bordering 

 on the North Sea. Nonvay was then governed by a gi"e,it number of 

 small princes, whose ambition led them to continual wars. They 

 discovered and settle<I Iceland. In the second half of the 9th century 

 (875). the small kingdoms were united under king Harold Harfagr.i, 

 and from that time they became still more troublesome to their 

 neighbours, imtil Norway was connected with Denmark, and then the 

 Norwegians accompanied Svcno and Knut to the conquest of England. 

 But tlic two kingdoms were soon separated ngain, and remained so till 

 1387, when Margaret became queen of Denmiu'k and Norway. From 

 that time till 1814 both countries remained united, and Norway was 

 administered by a governor appointed by the king of Denmark. By 

 the convention of Kiel, agreed to on the 14th of January, 1814, 

 between Denmark and Sweiden, Norway was ceded to the king of 

 Sweden. A DanUh prince, Christian Fretlerick, who was governor of 

 Norway at that time, and had succeeded in gaining the i^ections of 

 the nation, made an attempt to constitute Norway a separate kingdom ; 

 but the Swedes entered the country with an armed force, and the 

 prince, who had assumed the title of king, was obliged to abdicate the 

 roynl dignity on the 7th of October. On the 20th of the same month 

 the union of Norway and Sweden was determined in the Storthing, 

 and the constitution received its present form on the 4th of November, 

 1814. On the Slst of July, 1315, it was promulgated as the funda- 

 mental law of the country, and was assented to by the Swedish legis- 

 lature on the 6th of August 



The legislative body, or Storthing, is composed of the representatives 

 of the people : they are not however elected immediately by the people, 

 but by electors who are chosen by the citizens. lu the cities 50 citizens, 

 and in the country 100 citizens, elect one elector. The electors unite 

 >nd cbooM the representatives cither from among themselves or other 

 pareouL The number of the representatives must not be leas than 75 

 nor above 1 00 : two-thirds miut bo chown by the electors of the 

 country, and the remaining third by those of the cities. The king 

 or his lieutenant opens the Storthing, immediately after which it 

 ■eparatea into two bodies, the Lagthing (or legislative body) and the 

 Odelsthin;; (.isscmbly of landed proprietors). The Lagthing consists 

 of one-fourth of the members of the Storthing cboeen by the whole 

 assembly. The Storthing is empowered to abolish old and to enact 

 new laws, to impose taxes or abolish or chaoge them, to determine the 

 civil list of the king and the salaries of the persons employed by 

 government, kc Every bill must originate in the Odelsthiug; it may 

 be proposed by a member or by one of the state councillors. When 

 the bill has passed, it is brought into the Lagthing, which may adopt 

 or reject it. When a bill has paand the legislative bodies it is sent 

 to the king, whose signature (if he affix it, for he has the power of 

 refusal), gives it the force of law. The king must sign a bill that passes 

 three successive Stortitings. The Storthing meets once in three years, 

 on the lat of February, and the session cannot last more than three 

 months. The member* are only chosen for one Storthing. The 

 order of nobility waa abolished in 1821, a bill having passed in three 

 Storthings for the porpceei 



The executive power is vested in the king. There is a Norwegian 

 ministry composed of the governor of the kingdom, a minister, and 

 councilluis of state. When the king is not in Norway the minister 

 and two of the coimcillon are with him, and the others, who remain 

 in Norway, govern the country in conjunction with the governor, who 

 must not be a Norwegian, but may be a royal prince, in which case he 

 is called viceroy. All the other members of the ministry must be 

 Nofwogiana. When the king has informed the Norwegian government 

 of his intention to declare war he assembles the Norwegian and 

 Swedish councillors of state, explains to them the motives which 

 oompel him to take such a step, and asks their opinion. The opinion 

 of each member is taken down in writing, and the decision of the 

 matter is left to the king. 



The annual expenses, according to the budget for 1851-54, are fixed 

 at 8,200,000 crowns of five francs each. The customs dues amoimt 

 to about 2,000,000 crowns a year. The public debt in 1841) amounted 

 to nearly 10,000,000 crowns. The army in time of peace numbers 

 33,484 men, including 9160 national guards. The fleet consists of 4 

 frigates, 4 corvettes (1 propelled by a screw), 1 brig, 5 schooners, 5 

 ■tsauMTa, and 13(> gun-boats. 



J Von Buch, TraveU throwjh Korwaii ; KvercAt, Journey lo Noraay ; 

 ng, RmiUncc in A'oneaf ; Schubert, JieUe durch Schwcden, <tc. ; 

 Forbes, A'orwoy and ilt Glacieri.) 

 NOKWICU, a city and county of itself, and capital of the county 



of Norfolk, a municipal and parliamentary borough, is situated in 

 52° 38' N. lat, 1° 17' E. long., distant 108 miles N.E. from Loudon 

 by road, and 126 miles by the Eastern Counties railway. The popu- 

 lation of the city in 1851 was 68,195 : it is governed by 16 aldermen 

 and 48 councillors, one of whom is mayor; and returns two members 

 to the Imperial Parliament. The livings are in the arohdeacoury and 

 diocese of Norwich. For Poor-Law purposes the city of Norwich is 

 managed under a local act ; it coutaius 13 parishes, with an area of 

 4325 acres. 



Norwich is not mentioned iu hi-story before the time of the earlier 

 Danish iuv.ision3. It appears to have risen gradually from the decay 

 of Caister, or Castor St. Edmund's, now au iueonsiderablo village about 

 3 miles S. from Norwich. Caister was first a British au J then a llomau 

 town under the name of Venta Iceuorum. It is thought by some that 

 during the time of the llomaus the site of Norwicli was covered by 

 water, an<l that by the gradual accumulation of alluvial matter islands 

 were formed. It is probable that even as late as the period of the 

 Norman conquest what is now the lower part of the city consisted of 

 such islands. During the existence of the separate kingdom of the 

 East Angliaus their kings had erected, upon what was tlieu a pro- 

 montory and is now tho Castle UiU, a royid fortress ; aud merchants 

 awl h^hermen sought the protection of the castle, and thus funned a 

 town which, from its situation relative to their former town (Veutii), 

 obtained the name of North-wic, the northern ttatiou or town. 

 Norwich became a place of some importance uudur the Anglo-Saxon 

 princes, aud hiui a mint. In the invasion of the Daues uuder Swuyu, 

 iu 1004, Norwich was taken and much injured by them. It was in 

 the time of Edward the Confessoi a nourishing town, having 1320 

 burgesses and 25 parish churches. In the Conqueror's time the con- 

 stableship of tho castle, with the earldom of Norfolk, was couferred on 

 Roger Bigod, to whom the erection of the present keep h:is been 

 ascribed. In 1094 the bishopric of tbe East Angles was removed from 

 Thetford to Norwich, aud the fouudatioua of the cathedral were laid 

 by Herbert Lozinga, or Losinga, the bishop. Uenry I. granted tho 

 citizens a charter iu 1122, and soon after this tho Flemings began to 

 settle here, aud introduced the worsted manufacture. In the time of 

 John, Roger Bigod having joined tho insurgent barons, Norwich 

 Castle was seized by the king. In 1267 the barons took aud 

 plundered the place, aud did groat damage. The city waa afterwards 

 strongly fortified. 'I'ho walls were embattled, and 12 gates and 40 

 towers wera constructed in them. In the reign of Edward III. tho 

 Flemings settled hero in considerable numbers. In the reign of 

 Richard II., iu 1381, the popular tumults which agitated nearly tho 

 whole country broke out in Norfolk, and the mob entering Norwich, 

 and being headed by John tlie Litoster, or Dyer, committed great out- 

 rages, untU they retired to North Wolsham, on the approach of Henry 

 Spencer, the warlike bishop of Norwich. In 1403 Heury IV. separated 

 the city of Norwich from the county of Norfolk, aud made it a county 

 of itself. In the reign of Edward VI., iu 1549, the city suli'ered from 

 the rebels under ivet, the tanner of Wymondham. In the earlier years 

 of Elizabeth's reign about 4000 Flemiugs settled at Norwich, and much 

 uicreased the prosperity of the town by the introduction of the 

 bombazine manufacture. 



The county of the city of Norwich extends about four miles from 

 north to south, and as many from cast to west ; the town itself is iu 

 the north-east part of this district, and extends about a mile and a 

 half iu length from north-west to south-east, and about a mile and a 

 quarter in breadth. The streets arc narrow and winding; some of 

 them follow the line of the ancient walls, which are jiartly standing. 

 The houses are much intermixed with gardens, so that Norwich has 

 been designated ' a city iu au orchard.' The market-place is 600 feet 

 long by 340 feet wide. There are many good houses aud shops ; the 

 best are in tho market-place and its vicinity ; in the precincts of the 

 cathedral are large and handsome private residences. Considerable 

 increase has taken place iu tho town during the last few years. The 

 river Wensum enters Norwich on the north-west aide, and winds partly 

 through, partly round the town, until it leaves it on the south-east 

 side : it is crossed by ten bridges iu the town or close to it. 



The most interesting of the public buildings are the castle and the 

 cathedral. The site of the castle is considerably elevated. The whole 

 of the works originally comprehended an area of not less than 23 acres. 

 The inner ditch and the bridge over it atill remain. In the ditch, 

 which ia inclosed and planted, stands a newly-erected shlrehall, iu the 

 Tudor style. The bridge is 150 feet long, and has one arch of about 

 40 feet span, which is one of the largest and moat perfect examples of 

 an Anglo-Norman arch remaining. There are remains of two round 

 towers, part of the original gateway, at the inner end of tlie bridge. 

 Tho keep is a substantial quadrangular building 110 feet 3 inches 

 from east to west, including a small tower, through which was the 

 principal entrance; from north to south it is 92 feet 10 inches; its 

 height to tho battlements- is 09 feet 6 inches. The interior has been 

 so much altered, iu order to adapt it to the purposes of a jail, to which 

 it has been long applied, that the original arrangement of the apart- 

 ments can scarcely be traceih The keep, the entrance tower, and tho 

 eastern front have been to some extent restored. 



The foundation of tho cathedral waa laid in 1 094 by Bishop Herbert 

 Losiuga ; succeeding bishops' added to the building ; the spire was 

 erected by Bishop Percy iu 1361. Losiuga laid the foundations of a 



