Cromer

“ Cromer is much frequented in summer by visitors for the sake of sea-bathing, for which the fine sandy beach to the eastward affords great convenience. It is a place of very little trade, and is chiefly dependent on the fishery. Cromer light-house stands on an eminence, about three-quarters of a mile to the eastward of the village. It is a revolving light, and is visible, in clear weather, at a distance of five or six leagues. ”

“ What was it that made him universally respected,—as much by soldiers as by civilians, by officials as by Members of Parliament, by Whigs as by Radicals, by Socialists as by Individualists? The answer is to be found in the spirit in which Lord Cromer did his work. What raised him above the rank-and-file of our public men was his obedience to a very plain and obvious rule. It was this: to govern always in the interests of the governed. ”

“ The character of Cromer thenceforth became altered, and various improvements followed. Indeed, the inhabitants of Cromer owe a large debt of gratitude to him, and if universal respect, and, it is to be hoped, p. 19just success, to himself, can reward him, he receives his full recompense.
There are several machines for sea-bathing, the hour for which is regulated by the tide. The bather, Mr. Jacob, who is a very steady man, and the descendant of a line of bathers, lives in Jetty Street. ”

“ In the year 1780 the fishing town of Cromer was thrown into a state of acute excitement by the behaviour of a casual stranger—a great, bearded man of foreign aspect who, taking a lodging in the place, resorted daily to the beach, where he walked the sands "at low water mark," now writing with great assiduity in a book, again gesticulating wildly to the sea and the cliffs, whence the suspicious townsfolk, then all unused to "visitors" and their eccentricities, watched his antics in wonder and consternation. ”

“ The tripper, holiday-making at Yarmouth, who comes over to see what Cromer is like, and finds no whelk and oyster stalls, and no popular entertainments on the sands, thinks it dull; and the average man, wandering along the Lighthouse cliffs in danger of having an eye knocked out by the wealthy and selfish vulgarians who practise golf there, is prone to consider Cromer a fine place, except for the people who frequent it, and for whose benefit the giant hotels facing the sea have been built, and still are building. ”

“ Strength of character, firmness of purpose, patience to wait for the opportunity, and courage to seize it when it comes—the exercise of qualities such as these have gained for Lord Cromer the confidence not only of the country which he represents, but also of the country over which he rules. Personal power that is not so acquired and not so justified can never be expected to produce good results. ”

“ We have been told that he who blows through bronze may breathe through silver. The severe preoccupations of Lord Cromer's public life did not prevent him from sedulously cultivating the art of verse. In 1903, before his retirement from Egypt, he published a volume of Paraphrases and Translations from the Greek, in the preparation or selection of which I believe that he enjoyed the advice of Mr. Mackail. It was rather unlucky that, with a view to propitiate the angry critics, Lord Cromer prefixed to this little book a preface needlessly modest. ”

“ In moments of difficulty and crisis—and there have been many such in the last twenty years—it has been of inestimable advantage to Lord Cromer and his coadjutors to feel that they had behind them the support and encouragement of their fellow-countrymen at home, and that their labours and motives were not being misconstrued by their own people. ”

“ Almost every one of those smart red-brick villas is of the boarding-house order, and only when the very centre of the town is reached, by the church, do the shops commence.
Cromer, until modern times a small fishing village, but now grown to the proud estate of a fashionable, expensive, and exclusive seaside resort, was once a portion of the town of Shipden, and lay quite half a mile distant from the sea. ”

“ In small matters, indeed in all non-essentials, Lord Cromer strove of course to give the native what he wanted, and strove still more to refrain from forcing on him, because it was for his good, what he did not want. Lord Cromer was never tired of quoting what, in Bacon's phrase, he would call "luciferous" stories, to illustrate the folly of the administrator who thrusts physical improvements or the devices of European enlightenment upon the unwilling Oriental solely because they are good per se, or economical, or will make the governed richer or cleverer or happier. ”

“ The inhabitants, almost universally speaking, are extremely civil and well-behaved, respectable in themselves, and respectful towards others; simple in their manners, and free from that spirit of extortion which is but too commonly the fault of those who have only a short season to enable them to meet many exigences, and who have only a partial interest in those they serve.
The walks, drives, &c., round Cromer are exceedingly beautiful, affording alike to the geologist, botanist, and mineralogist, abundant materials p. 21for the gratification of their respective tastes. ”

“ Lord Cromer had far too much wisdom and moderation, was far too much of a Whig, as he himself would have said, to push to extremes the view that a native must have what was good for him, and not what he asked for at the top of his voice. ”

“ Lord Cromer, who I am glad to see Lord Rosebery noted as one who ought to have his full share in any honors you confer on those who have built up Egyptian prosperity, who is one of the finest administrators the British race has ever produced—Lord Cromer is in the habit of saying that the Sirdar has almost missed his vocation, and that if he was not one of the first generals in the world, he would be one of the first Chancellors of the Exchequer. ”

“ George Stanley Repton, Esq. is lord of the manor of Cromer Weylands, and of several other manors in the neighbourhood. Colne House is inhabited by Mrs. Morris.
The season for Cromer is usually reckoned from the beginning of June till the middle or end of October. The place itself is never in such beauty as in the autumn, nor is its sea or the air more invigorating at any time than in the month of October.
A mail-coach arrives daily from Norwich at half-past twelve, and returns at half-past one o’clock. Letters, however, must be received at one o’clock, at which time the post-office closes ”

“ We are none of us perfect, and we don't want a priggish biographer to pretend that we are." He was speaking here mainly of political matters; but Lord Cromer's training and experience had a strong bearing on his literary tastes. With him politics reacted on literature, although he liked to fancy that he kept them wholly apart.
No doubt a selection from his correspondence will one day be given to the world, for he was a vivid, copious, and daring letter-writer. ”

“ At the Doomsday survey Cromer formed part of the lordship and parish of Shipden, a considerable village, which, with its church, dedicated to St. Peter, appears to have been swallowed up by the sea about the time of Henry the 4th. A patent to collect certain dues for the erection of a pier was granted in the 14th of Richard II. At neap tides, in calm weather, are still to be seen, about half a mile distant from the shore, large masses of wall, which are supposed to have belonged to the church alluded to. ”

“ Rolled pieces of amber, usually small but occasionally of very large size, may be picked up on the east coast of England, having probably been washed up from deposits under the North Sea. Cromer is the best-known locality, but it occurs also on other parts of the Norfolk coast, as well as at Yarmouth, Southwold, Aldeburgh and Felixstowe in Suffolk, and as far south as Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, whilst northwards it is not unknown in Yorkshire. ”

“ This church, with Gunton Hall, the seat of his Lordship, may be conveniently inspected in a ride from Cromer to North-Walsham.
The house is by no means equal to the ideas we may be led to form of it from the plantations which surround it. It is, however, pleasantly situated upon an eminence which overlooks an extensive sweep of the park towards the south. ”

“ Plenty of countries richer and greater have been drawn within the magic circle of the Pax Britannica without the men who accomplished the task having received anything approaching the recognition accorded to Lord Cromer. Again, it was not Lord Cromer's administrative skill that won him his fame, great though that skill was. In India and in East and West Africa we have had examples of successful development by great officials that have passed almost unnoticed. ”

“ We went and to our great delight found them alone. Therefore, I was able at once to get en rapport with my friend that was to be. I had not finished luncheon before we had plunged into the whole Egyptian question and had got to my own cherished point, one connected with the French occupation of Tunis, their promises of evacuation, and so forth. This, my first experience of I do not know how many hundred talks with Lord Cromer, was exactly like the last. In the art of unfolding his mind and his subject he was a master. ”

“ He very soon, however, recovered elasticity of mind and body when the load of office was removed from his shoulders, and "inactive" was the last epithet which could ever be applied to Lord Cromer. He began to attend the House of Lords, but, like a wise man, he was in no hurry to speak there till he had grown accustomed to the tone of the place. His earliest utterance (I may note the date, February 6th, 1908) we listened to with equal respect and curiosity; this was a new element from which much enjoyment might be expected. ”

“ Where bathing only is the inducement, the place and its neighbourhood is of very little consequence, provided it is convenient and near the sea; but where the mind and body are capable of being sufficiently active to be amused abroad, or to those whose aim is pleasure, a country affording that amusement by its variety, is certainly to be preferred; and to such as are fond of the study of landscape, variety and some degree of beauty are absolutely necessary.
As every little excursion will begin and end at Cromer, each will be formed into a separate section. ”

“ Sooner or later, however, there will be a revival in interest in this great man. People will begin to ask what it was that made his fame with his contemporaries so great. To such questions I shall venture to anticipate the answer.
The British people may be stupid, but they know a man when they see him. That is why they honoured Lord Cromer, yet I doubt if even one per cent. of the nation could have given true and sufficient reasons for the belief that was in them. It was certainly not because he had added, in fact if not in name, a great province to the British Empire. ”

“ Roger Bacon, a mariner of Cromer, is said to have discovered Iceland in the reign of Henry IV. and also to have taken prisoner the Prince of Scotland, James Stewart, who was sailing to France, in order to be educated there.
A savings’-bank was established here in 1827. Petty-sessions are held every alternate Monday. The poor’s land was let, in 1786, for ten pounds a year—it now lets for fourteen guineas. This is equally divided between twenty-four widows, who do not receive relief from the parish. ”

“ Aylmerton, which is distant three miles from Cromer, stands on a declivity. W. H. Windham, Esq. owns the greater part of the soil, and is lord of the manor and patron of the church, which is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The rectory is united with Runton.
[31] This manor, with many others in the neighbourhood, passed from the Earls Warren to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and from him to his son Henry IV. and hence become royal property. ”

“ Near the church is a large reservoir, which was formed in 1814, to supply the village with water, brought in pipes from a spring on the neighbouring hill. The school is supported by Mrs. Upcher, for the education of thirty boys and fifty girls, who each pay one penny per week.
If the visitor desire to view Sherringham Hall, the mansion and grounds of H. R. Upcher, Esq., he should take the Upper Road, as it is called, leaving Cromer by the Holt-road, by which p. 43means he will not only gain the most advantageous view of each, but avoid the ascent of a very long and high hill. ”

“ The parish church a beautiful specimen of architecture, in the time of Henry the fourth. The beauty of its proportions injured by the necessary manner in which it has been repaired. Accident of a bay falling from the steeple. Anecdote of Robert Bacon. Free School. Inns. The Fishery the chief support of the lower class of inhabitants,—also, a great source of picturesque amusement. Boat upset. Mercantile trade. Dearness of Coals,—the reason of it. Cromer an eligible situation for retirement. A description of the bathing machines, cliffs, and beach. Sea-shore a constant amusement to the artist. ”

“ Extending the walk a little further you get a pleasing view of the village of Overstrand. Shipping, also, is seen to much greater advantage above than below the cliffs; and those who are fond of looking down precipices may find amusement, their situation being between three and four hundred feet perpendicular above the level of the sea.
p. 21Cromer Hall, the residence of George Wyndham, Esq. is a respectable old house; there is nothing in the inside to repay curiosity, but the sequestered walks in the wood near the house are very delightful. ”