Decrease of Newspapers after the Civil War--_Mercurius
Democritus_--_The Faithful Post_--_The Politique Post_--Broadsides for
the People--The Hollow Tree at Hampstead--Prodigious Monster taken in
Spain--The Restoration--Trial of the Regicides--Execution of the
Regicides--Licenser of the Press appointed--Popular Taste for the
Supernatural--Apparition in the Air in Holland--Revival of _Mercurius
Civicus_--Murder of Archbishop Sharpe--_The Loyal Protestant_--Frost
Fair on the Thames--Monmouth's Rebellion--The Bloody Assizes--Funeral
of Queen Mary, Consort of William III.--Increase of Newspapers after
the Revolution.
When the Civil War was over the newspapers it had called into existence
disappeared. The printing-press was, of course, not idle during the rule
of Cromwell, but its productions were narrowly watched, and there is
reason to suppose the newspapers were to a great extent under the
influence of the party in power. Examples of illustrated journalism
during this period are rare. We have '_A terrible and bloudy Fight at
Sea_' between Blake and Van Tromp, and '_A great and wonderful Victory_'
obtained by the English in the West Indies, each illustrated with a
woodcut that had done duty in the pamphlets of the Civil War. A rough
representation of an owl seated at a table writing in a book heads a
tract ridiculing Lilly, the astrologer; while '_Black Monday, or a full
and exact description of the great and terrible Eclipse of the Sun_,' is
adorned with a representation of 'the true Figure of the Eclipse.' The
grim and unsocial character of the times is set forth in '_The
Vindication of Christmas_,' a pamphlet illustrated with a woodcut
representing Old Christmas welcomed on one hand and forbidden on the
other. After a pitiful lament for the misery of the times, Christmas
sets out on a pilgrimage to London, where he enters a fair house that
had once been an Alderman's, but is now inhabited by a sour-tempered
miser. Here he meets with such a cold reception that he is fain to take
himself off, 'and wandering into the country up and down from house to
house, found small comfort in any.'
[Illustration: THE VINDICATION OF CHRISTMAS, 1653.]
I have spoken of _Mercurius Democritus_ as being the _Punch_ of the
seventeenth century. It is singular that such a publication as this
should have existed under a Puritanical Government. The humour is so
exceedingly broad that it is difficult to understand how it could be
circulated at a time when the rulers of the land professed a stern and
rigid morality. Unlike the modern _Punch_, who is refined and courteous
even when he is most severe, _Mercurius Democritus_ could seldom be
facetious without being coarse and even indecent. In the same number
that contains the cut of the Smithfield ghost, referred to in Chapter
III., occur the following jests, which are comparatively mild specimens
of the humour of _Mercurius Democritus_:--'The last Monday a Herd of
Swine being driven through Long Lane 600 Jews were suddenly converted by
them; some think it was for fear those Rumford Cattell should serve them
as they served the Devill in the country of the _Gergesens_ when they
carried him headlong into the sea.'
'A Mad Country Parson coming riding up to London between Islington and
the Red Bull met with a small-coale man, very black, with his sack of
small coale at his back. The pitiful Parson minding to put a jeer on the
small-coale man, made a sudden stop with his Horse, saying with a loud
voyce, that those that rid after him might partake of the jest, Fellow,
fellow (quoth he) I prithee tell 's some news from Hell, I see thou hast
a whole sack full at thy back. Truly quoth the small-coale man, I can
tell you but very little news from Hell, only the Devill wants a
Chaplaine, and you ride but a little faster you may perchance have the
place.'
Much of the news printed continued to be circulated by means of
pamphlets and broadsides, but some regular newspapers were also
published. An illustrated example of the latter occurs in the _Faithful
Post_ of 1653. The full title of the number for April 8, 1653, is '_The
Faithful Post Impartially communicating the Proceedings of the
Parliaments forces in England, Scotland, and Ireland, comprising the sum
of Intelligence from the English and Dutch Fleets; with the Affairs and
Designs now on foot in France, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and all other
parts of Europe_.' It has a woodcut portrait of Admiral Van Gallen, and
contains the following news from Amsterdam relating thereto:--
'Wednesday, April 6.
'From Amsterdam thus; Van Gallen Admiral of the Dutch Fleet in the
Streights, has a golden chair sent him for his little great gallantry in
the last service. And the Commons forsooth adore him extremely; insomuch
that many of the Bores have erected his Statue and Portraiture, and hung
it up as a memorial in the most eminent places of their Low country
Fabrics, according to the figure following; with two silver keys in his
hands; which, say they, are to unlock the Treasury of their enemy. _Pure
Youths_.' (Here follows the portrait.)
'And as we are informed, hath a golden Leg delicately set forth by Mr.
Painter, in lieu of that shot off in the fight.'
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF ADMIRAL VAN GALLEN. FROM THE 'FAITHFUL POST,'
1653.]
[Illustration: FLAG OF COL. CHARLES JAMES. FROM THE 'POLITIQUE POST,'
1653.]
In the foregoing _Faithful Post_ there is a good deal of news about the
English and Dutch fleets; and in the news from Lubeck it is reported
that the English have printed a 'picture of Admiral Van Tromp
represented with a man opening his breast to find his heart; but,
searching, it was found in the Calf of his Leg, whereas, saith the Dutch
Print, they know very well that Tromp behaved himself most gallantly,
and like a man of courage.' In another number of the _Faithful Post_ is
an illustration of a comet or 'Blazing Star' seen in Germany. The
foregoing portrait of Admiral Van Gallen, and the blazing star, together
with a map showing the effects of a great storm and flood in Holland,
are printed in the _Politique Post_ for January 4, 1653; but there is no
reference made to the engraving of Van Gallen; and the blazing star is
described as having been seen at Pembroke, in Wales. In the same number
of the _Politique Post_ is a woodcut of the flag of Colonel Charles
James, which is thus alluded to:--'By the last Post and intelligence
from the Navie, we have received very certain and credible intelligence,
that Colonel Charles James having received a commission from the King of
Scots, is launched forth into the deep with the Brest men of war who has
now struck sail upon the Coast of Brittain, and there set up his Flag
on the Poop of the Patrick, called the Vice-Ambral as here represented
in the ensueing Figure.'
[Illustration: THE HOLLOW TREE AT HAMPSTEAD, 1654.]
In 1654 there was a remarkable tree at Hampstead, which was visited as a
curiosity. It was called 'The Hollow Tree,' and was probably the central
attraction of a place of entertainment. In a broadside of 1654 there is
an etching of it by Hollar, with descriptive and other verses. There was
a door in the trunk of the tree, and a turret on the top, the ascent to
which was in the hollow of the tree. The turret was large enough to seat
six, 'and round about roome for fourteene more.' The following is a
specimen of the verses accompanying Hollar's etching:--
'THE SALUTATION.
'Welcome, before! welcome all you that follow!
Our heart is sound although our Tree be hollow,
Yet know nor age, nor weaknesse did distresse
Its willing bulk into this hollownesse:
But a desire markt out for noble ends,
To finde more room to entertain fast friends,
And in the compasse of itself to try
Laws of true Mirth and Hospitality.
In such a Hollow, Musick dwells; thus love
Laies forth itself, yet ne'er doth bankrupt prove.
And having read the riddle doth impart
Things sometimes hollow have the soundest heart.'
[Illustration: PRODIGIOUS MONSTER TAKEN IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ZARDANA IN
SPAIN, 1655.]
This broadside was an agreeable change from the prodigies and
monstrosities with which the public were so liberally supplied. A
specimen of the latter was published in 1655, which must have tried the
faith of even the most credulous. It is described as '_The True
Portraiture of a prodigious Monster, taken in the Mountains of Zardana_;
the following Description whereof was sent to Madrid October 20, 1654,
and from thence to Don Olonza de Cardines, Ambassador for the King of
Spain now resident in London. Its stature was like that of a strong well
set man, with 7 heads, the chief of them looking forward, with one eye
in its front; the other heads have each two eyes in their natural
situation, the ears of an Ass; with its principal head it eates, drinks,
and cryes with an extraordinary and terrible voice; the other heads are
also moved to and fro; it hath seven Arms and Hands of a Man, very
strong in each of them; from the middle downward it is like a Satyr,
with Goats feet, and cloven,' &c. This broadside has a very
well-executed copperplate engraving of the monster; and another sheet of
the same date has a woodcut copy of the same engraving, together with a
long account in verse 'to the tune of Summer Time,' and the following
additional particulars: 'The News of this Satyrical Monster being noysed
abroad throughout all Spain, France, and Italy, made a desperate fear,
and general distemper amongst all the Popish Prelates, Cardinals,
Jesuites, Monks, and Fryers; yea, the very Pope himself trembled to hear
this strange Report. There is a Prophesie in the 13 of the Revelation,
of a great Red-Dragon and a Beast with seven heads that should arise out
of the Sea, that should continue 42 moneths, which was to come to pass
before the great and terrible day of judgement; which by the appearing
of these strange Monsters is neer at hand now.'
At the Restoration several broadsides of news were published containing
engravings. There is one giving an account of the coronation of Charles
II., which is illustrated with a copperplate engraving of the King
seated on his throne, robed and crowned, with the following
complimentary lines:--
'The Second Charles, Heire of the Royal Martyr
Who for Religion and his Subjects Charter
Spent the best Blood, that unjust Sword ere dy'de
Since the rude Souldier pierced our Saviours side.
Who such a Father had'st, and such a Son;
Redeem thy people and assume thy own,
Ascend thy Ancestors Imperial seat
Of Charles the Good, thou second Charles the Great,
That adds the worth; this lustre to the Crown,
Whose solid Glorious weighed Usurpers down.
Such Majesty as never was profan'd
While Tyrants rul'd 'twas only Charles that reigned.'
Another broadside of the same date (1660) is entitled '_A Looking-Glass
for Traytors, being the manner of the Tryall of those Barbarous Wretches
at Justice-Hall in the Old-Baily, who contrived and compassed the Death
of his late Sacred Majesty King Charles the First, of ever blessed
memory; with an Account of their Severall Araignments, Conviction,
Condemnation, and Execution_.' This sheet is also illustrated with a
copperplate engraving, representing the Old Bailey Court at the trial of
the Regicides, which is interesting if it truly represents the
appearance of the court at that time. Numerous letters of reference are
given under the engraving to explain its different parts, and a short
summary is given of the trial: 'His Majesty (in pursuance of an Act of
Parliament which had left the persons following to be tried according to
Law, for being the principal Actors in the said Tragedy of his Father's
death) issued out a special Commission of _Oyer_ and _terminer_ to the
Judges and other Commissioners for that purpose; and accordingly
_Wednesday_ the 10th of _October_ they met at the Sessions house in the
_Old-Baily_, and the same morning the following persons were ordered to
be brought from the _Tower_ to _Newgate_, and a way was made from the
Press-yard backwards to the Sessions house, privately to convey them to
and again, to keep them from the pressing of the people.' Then follows a
list of twenty-eight persons, including Major-General Harrison and Hugh
Peters, 'all which being brought to the Bar, were indicted and arraigned
to the following effect:--
'_That they not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being led
by the instigation of the Divel had maliciously, traiterously, and
advisedly imagined, consulted, contrived, and compassed the death of his
late Majesty Charles the first of ever blessed memory, and that they had
aided, procured, abetted, assisted, and comforted a certain person with
a vizard upon his face, and a frock upon his body for that purpose._
'Major-General _Harrison_ in his Pleadings carried himself so
confidently to the Court as if he thought himself Careless and
Unconcerned in the businesse, and seemed to justify not only the Power
under which he Acted but also the Act itself, saying that Kings had
formerly been privately Assassinated and Murthered, but what they had
done was in the face of the Sun and in the fear of the Lord; whereat the
Court was much troubled to see that he should make God the Author of
that Horrid Murther.'
Harrison was found guilty at once, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn,
and quartered. The like fate awaited Hugh Peters. The sort of evidence
that was brought against the prisoners is exemplified in this broadside,
where it is stated that 'Mr. _Hugh Peters_ stood strangly amazed and
could say nothing for himselfe against that Jury of witnesses that
appeared against him; as that he said, _England_ could not be settled
till 150 were taken away which he said were L L L viz. the Lords, the
Levites, and the Lawyers; that he was often conspiring privately with
Oliver Cromwell the King's death, that he could even reverence the High
Court of Justice, it lookt so like the judgement of the world which
should be at the last day by the Saints; with many other blasphemies too
large to enumerate.'
Amongst the prisoners arraigned on this occasion was the William Hewlett
already referred to. In the other cases the jury promptly found the
prisoners guilty without leaving the court; but it was a proof of the
weakness of the evidence in Hewlett's case that 'they did withdraw
themselves, and after a little consultation they found him guilty, and
accordingly sentence was pronounced against him.' This sentence,
however, as before stated, was never carried into effect.
The engraving of this historical trial at the Old Bailey is too crowded
to admit of reproduction here. Other broadsides relating to the trial of
the regicides were published at the time, but they are more of the
nature of caricatures than illustrations of news.
It is well known that General Harrison, Hugh Peters, and others were
executed with all the barbarous circumstances indicated in the words of
their sentence. Peters was made to sit upon the scaffold, exposed to the
jibes and jeers of the mob, and compelled to witness the mutilation of
his fellow-victims. The executions were continued day after day both at
Charing-cross and at Tyburn, and were stopped at last, not for lack of
victims, or disinclination for more slaughter on the part of the
authorities, but from a dread of the effect such bloodthirsty
proceedings might have on the minds of the people. The horrors of such a
scene, of course, attracted the sensational news-writer of the day; and
a broadside of the time gives us a picture and description of the
executions, coupled with a representation of the execution of Charles I.
This broadside was evidently intended to exhibit at one view the
commission of a great crime and its just punishment. The engraving shows
on one side the execution of the King and on the other the punishment of
the regicides. The description of the latter is preceded by an account
of the trial and death of Charles. The title runs thus: '_A true and
perfect Relation of the Grand Traytors Execution, as at severall times
they were Drawn, Hanged, and Quartered at Charing-Crosse, and at
Tiburne. Together with their severall Speeches and Confessions which
every one of them made at the time of their Execution. London, printed
for William Gilbertson, 1660_.'
[Illustration: EXECUTION OF THE REGICIDES, 1660.]
The following account is given of the execution of Major-General
Harrison: 'The next day being _Saturday_ Major-Gen. _Harrison_ was drawn
upon a Hurdle from Newgate to the Round, or railed Place near
Charing-Crosse, where a Gibbet was set upon which he was Hanged. Many
of his acquaintance did seem to triumph to see him die so Confidently;
whiles numbers of true Christians did grieve in earnest to see him die
so impenitently. We have been told that when he took his leave of his
wife, he comforted her, and told her that he would come again in three
days; but we hear nothing as yet of his Resurrection.' In describing the
execution of Hugh Peters, it is said, 'He came to the Ladder
unwillingly, and by degrees was drawn up higher and higher. Certainly he
had many Executioners within him; he leaned upon the Ladder being
unwilling to part from it, but being turned off, the spectators gave a
great shout, as they did when his Head was cut off, and held up aloft on
the point of a Spear. The very souldiers themselves whom heretofore he
did animate to slaughter, and a thorough execution of their Enemies were
now ashamed of him, and upon the point of their Spears showed that
guilty head which made them guilty of so much blood.'
Pepys, in his Diary, says, under date October 13, 1660:--'I went out to
Charing Cross, to see Major-General Harrison hanged, drawn, and
quartered; which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any man could
do in that condition. He was presently cut down, and his head and heart
shown to the people, at which there were great shouts of joy. It is
said, that he said that he was sure to come shortly at the right hand of
Christ to judge them that now had judged him; and that his wife do
expect his coming again. Thus it was my chance to see the King beheaded
at White Hall, and to see the first blood shed in revenge for the King
at Charing Cross.'
It will be seen by the copy made from this woodcut that the design is of
the rudest possible description, and must have been the work of a common
ballad illustrator, whose fee was probably on a par with his ability. He
evidently thought that, in such a scene as the execution of Charles I.,
the Church should be paramount, for he has made Bishop Juxon a much more
prominent figure than the King.
The reign of the 'Merry Monarch,' though not the most creditable period
in English History, would have supplied abundant materials for the
journalist if there had been any newspapers. The Great Plague, the Fire
of London, the sea-fights with the Dutch, were splendid opportunities
for the pencil of the 'special artist' or the pen of 'our own
correspondent.' A law had been passed prohibiting the publication of
newspapers without being duly licensed. Sir John Birkenhead was
appointed Licenser of the Press, and he was succeeded by Sir Roger
L'Estrange. There was scarcely anything that could be called a newspaper
except the _London Gazette_, and it only contained such news as the
Government thought proper to make public, and it was never illustrated.
The little that was done in the way of pictorial journalism was of a
satirical or humorous character, or had reference to foreign affairs,
and was either published in the form of broadsides or was put before the
public in such a questionable shape that it was difficult to tell
whether it was truth or fiction. As soon as the people were released
from the domination of Puritanism a reaction set in, and the humours of
_Mercurius Democritus_ were supplemented by the still broader fancies of
_Mercurius Fumigolus_. Occasional entertainment of a more serious
character was supplied, such as '_A True and Perfect Relation of the
Happy Successe and Victory obtained against the Turks of Argiers at
Bugia_.' The popular taste for the mysterious and supernatural was
touched by '_A true and perfect Relation, of a strange and wonderful
Apparition in the Air, the Fourteenth of August, near Goeree in
Holland_.' This was an illustrated broadside containing the following
account:--'On the fourteenth of August this year 1664, towards the
evening near Goeree in Holland, there was seen by many Spectators an
Apparition upon the Ocean of two several Fleets of Ships engaged in a
Fight, which lasted for the space of about half an hour, and then
vanished. Afterwards there appeared two Lyons, who with great fury and
violence, assaulted each other three several times, neither of them
prevailing against the other, till at length both of them wearied with
their continual striving, did, as it were, give over for breath, when on
a sudden a third Lyon of a very great and huge stature appeared and
falling first upon the one, and then on the other, destroyed them both.
They being vanished, there appeared a King, with a Crown upon his head,
and he so plainly and visibly discerned as that the spectators did
discover the very Buttons on his Coat. After all was vanished, the said
Spectators continueing there, and walking too and fro upon the sands,
the Ocean, so far as they could see, seemed to be Blood. On the next
morning, the same Apparition, in all its Circumstances, was seen again,
and the truth thereof attested upon Oath, before the Magistrates of
Goeree, by the said Spectators; so that there is no doubt made of the
truth thereof. And this happening in this juncture of time, begets some
strange apprehensions; for that about six Months before Van Trump was
slain in the former Wars with England, there was seen near the same
place, an Apparition of several Ships in the Air, as it were fighting
with each other.'
[Illustration: APPARITION IN THE AIR AT GOEREE IN HOLLAND, 1664.]
This broadside was printed at London, 'by Thomas Leach in Shooe Lane in
the Year 1664. _With Allowance_ October 13, 1664. Roger L'Estrange.' The
illustration is an etching, very well and freely executed.
Amongst other things which appear to have been revived at the
Restoration was the _Mercurius Civicus_. In Dr. Burney's collections in
the British Museum there is preserved a copy of Number 4 of _Mercurius
Civicus_, dated May 1, 1660. On the title-page it is stated to be
'published by order of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen;' but it is
not illustrated, as was its predecessor of the time of the Civil War.
[Illustration: THE MURDER OF ARCHBISHOP SHARP, 1679.]
One of the most atrocious deeds of the time, and one that had a powerful
effect upon public feeling, was the murder of Archbishop Sharp in 1679.
This prelate was held to have betrayed the Presbyterians at the time of
the Restoration, and was hated accordingly. This hatred had been
manifested by an attempt on his life in the streets of Edinburgh in the
year 1668; but on that occasion the Archbishop escaped, and another
person was wounded. On May 3, 1679, Archbishop Sharp was returning in
his coach to St. Andrews from Kennaway, where he had passed the night,
when, at a place called Magus Moor, he was set upon by nine men, who
murdered him with pitiless barbarity in the presence of his daughter,
who accompanied him. This dreadful event was commemorated in a broadside
entitled '_The Manner of the Barbarous Murther of James, late Lord
Archbishop of St. Andrews, Primate and Metropolitan of all Scotland and
one of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council of that kingdom, May
3, 1679_.' A copperplate engraving represents the murder, and some
verses are printed underneath. I have copied the engraving on this
broadside, which forms part of the Luttrell collection in the British
Museum.
In 1681 there existed a newspaper entitled _The Loyal Protestant and
True Domestic Intelligencer_. In the number for April 2, 1681, there is
printed the following curious news from Rome:--
'Rome, March 6. There did appear here about the middle of Dec. last, a
strange and wonderful Comet near the Ecliptick in the sign of Libra, and
in the body of the Virgin. At the same time a Prodigious Egge was laid
by a Young Pullet (which had never laid before) with a perfect Comet in
it, and as many stars, and in the same form as the enclosed figure
shows. All the great ones of Rome have seen it, even the Queen and the
Pope. What you see in the enclosed Paper is within the Egge most clearly
exprest, and not upon the Shell. The Roman Wits are now very busy in
guessing at what this Comet and Egge may portend.'
This account of the egg is printed on the front page of _The Loyal
Protestant_, in the midst of Court news from Oxford, municipal news from
Leicester, news from Edinburgh, &c, and is illustrated with a woodcut,
which I have copied. A further description is appended to the
representation of the egg:--'The true form of a Prodigious Egg brought
forth at Rome the 11th of Dec. last in the year 1680 in which the Commet
here printed does continue to appear.'
'The aforesaid 11th of Dec. about 8 of the Clock in the morning, a Hen
Chicken, with a great Noise, crying extraordinarily, that never had laid
an Egge before this day, brought forth an Egge of an extraordinary
greatness, with all these several Forms as you see here exprest, to the
great amazement of all those that have seen it. This is an exact draught
of the Egge as it was printed in Italy. But all persons are left to
their own choice whether they will believe either this or any of our own
late home-bred Miracles or visions.'
[Illustration: EXTRAORDINARY EGG LAID AT ROME. FROM THE 'LOYAL
PROTESTANT AND TRUE DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCER,' 1681.]
Supernatural occurrences and uncommon events, even when traceable to
natural causes, have always had great attractions for both the ignorant
and the educated. We therefore find the talents of the old newsmen were
most frequently exercised on mysterious appearances in the air, floods,
fires, and frosts, earthquakes and upheavings of the sea. Having already
quoted examples dealing with some of these subjects, I now come to two
broadsides which describe and illustrate the great frost of 1683-4, when
the river Thames was covered with ice eleven inches thick, the forest
trees, and even the oaks, in England were split by the frost, most of
the hollies were killed, and nearly all the birds perished. According
to the testimony of an eye-witness, 'The people kept trades on the
Thames as in a fair, till February 4, 1684. About forty coaches daily
plied on the Thames as on drye land.' The broadsides under notice give
representations of the fair held on the Thames, and describe it in
doggerel verse. The one containing the engraving I have copied is
entitled '_Great Britain's Wonder; London's Admiration. Being a True
Representation of a Prodigious Frost, which began about the beginning of
December, 1683, and continued till the Fourth Day of February following.
And held on with such violence, that Men and Beasts, Coaches and Carts,
went as frequently thereon as Boats were wont to pass before. There was
also a street of Booths built from the Temple to Southwark, where were
sold all sorts of Goods imaginable--namely Cloaths, Plate, Earthen Ware;
Meat, Drink, Brandy, Tobacco, and a Hundred sorts of other Commodities
not here inserted. It being the wonder of this present Age, and a great
consternation to all the Spectators._' The description opens thus:--
'Behold the Wonder of this present Age
A Famous River now become a stage.
Question not what I now declare to you,
The Thames is now both Fair and Market too.
And many Thousands dayley do resort,
There to behold the Pastime and the Sport
Early and late, used by young and old,
And valued not the fierceness of the Cold.'
The illustration is a roughly executed woodcut, and represents a street
of booths opposite the Temple, looking towards the Middlesex shore. On
one side are men skating, sliding, riding on sledges, and playing at
football; whilst bull-baiting, skittle-playing, &c, go on on the other
side. Coaches are driven across the ice, boats are dragged as sledges,
and an ox is roasted whole in one corner.
[Illustration: FROST FAIR ON THE THAMES, 1683.]
The other broadside has a woodcut of the same scene, but taken from a
different point, and looking _down_ the river, with London Bridge, the
Tower, Monument, &c, in the distance. In addition to a description of
Frost Fair, there is an account of all the great frosts from the time of
William the Conqueror.
Some curious particulars of this great frost are recorded by
contemporary writers. Evelyn describes the whole scene, and says that he
crossed the river on the ice on foot upon the 9th, in order to dine with
the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth; and again in his coach, from
Lambeth to the horse-ferry at Millbank, upon Feb. 5th, when 'it began to
thaw, but froze again.' Hackney-coaches plied between Somerset House and
the Temple to Southwark. There was a printing-press set up in one of the
booths, 'where the people and ladys tooke a fancy to having their names
printed, and the day and year set down, when printed on the Thames. This
humour took so universally that 'twas estimated the printer gained about
L5 a day for printing a line onely at sixpence a name, besides what he
got by ballads, &c.' A specimen of this printing has been preserved. It
was executed for Charles II., who visited Frost Fair accompanied by
several members of his family. It contains, besides the names of the
King and Queen, those of the Duke of York, Mary his Duchess, Princess
Anne (afterwards Queen Anne), and Prince George of Denmark, her husband.
The last name on the list is 'Hans in Kelder,' which literally means
'Jack in the Cellar,' and is supposed to have been suggested by the
humour of the King in allusion to the interesting situation of the
Princess Anne; and we can fancy the swarthy face of the 'Merry Monarch'
smiling in the frosty air as this congenial joke was perpetrated.
In the Luttrell collection of broadsides there is one with a large
woodcut representing the battle of Sedgemoor and other incidents of
Monmouth's rebellion. The letterpress is in wretched verse, and is
entitled, '_A Description of the late Rebellion in the West. A Heroic
Poem._' The unfortunate issue of Monmouth's rising excited the sympathy
of the common people, to whom he was endeared by his many amiable
qualities and his handsome person. Though this broadside was evidently
written in the interest of the Government it was likely to have a ready
sale, and it was sought to increase the interest by pictorial
representation. The engraving, which is on an unusually large scale, is
very rough, like all the woodcuts of the period.
The slaughter at Sedgemoor and the execution of the Duke of Monmouth
were partly forgotten in the greater horror excited by the unsparing
severity of Judge Jefferies in condemning to death hundreds of persons
who were charged with being concerned in the rebellion. I have met with
one illustrated tract relating to the 'Bloody Assize.' It is inserted at
the end of the volume of the _London Gazette_ for 1685, and has
apparently been added by Dr. Burney, the collector, as bearing upon the
events of the time. It forms no part of the _London Gazette_, though
bound up with it. There is a rough woodcut on the title-page containing
eleven portraits, and the title is as follows:--
'_The Protestant Martyrs; or the Bloody Assizes, giving an account of
the Lives, Tryals, and Dying Speeches, of all those eminent Protestants
that suffered in the West of England by the sentence of that bloody and
cruel Judge Jefferies; being in all_ 251 _persons, besides what were
hanged and destroyed in cold blood. Containing also the Life and Death
of James Duke of Monmouth; His Birth and Education; His Actions both at
Home and Abroad; His Unfortunate Adventure in the West; His Letter to
King James; His Sentence, Execution and Dying-words upon the Scaffold;
with a true Copy of the Paper he left behind him. And many other curious
Remarks worth the Readers Observation. London, Printed by F. Bradford;
at the Bible in Fetter Lane._'
At the end of the pamphlet is printed this curious sentence:--'This
Bloody Tragedy in the West being over our Protestant Judge returns for
London; soon after which Alderman Cornish felt the Anger of Somebody
behind the Curtain.'
Alderman Cornish was afterwards executed at the corner of King Street,
Cheapside, for alleged participation in the Rye House Plot.
[Illustration: MARTYRS OF THE BLOODY ASSIZES, 1685.]
This fragment of contemporary history shows that if there were no
regular newspapers to supply the people with illustrated news they
obtained it in the shape of cheap fly-sheets and broadsides--the form in
which it was supplied to them before newspapers began.
Macaulay describes the unlicensed press at this period as being worked
in holes and corners, and producing large quantities of pamphlets which
were a direct infraction of the law subjecting the press to a
censorship. 'There had long lurked in the garrets of London a class of
printers who worked steadily at their calling with precautions
resembling those employed by coiners and forgers. Women were on the
watch to give the alarm by their screams if an officer appeared near the
workshop. The press was immediately pushed into a closet behind the bed;
the types were flung into the coal-hole, and covered with cinders; the
compositor disappeared through a trap-door in the roof, and made off
over the tiles of the neighbouring houses. In these dens were
manufactured treasonable works of all classes and sizes, from halfpenny
broadsides of doggerel verse up to massy quartos filled with Hebrew
quotations.'[1] The pamphlet I have just quoted probably issued from a
press of this kind; but he must have been a bold printer who dared to
put his name and address to a work wherein Jefferies was openly referred
to as 'that bloody and cruel Judge Jefferies.'
Large broadsides continued to be the favourite form of illustrated
journalism for some time after this. One gives a 'true and perfect
relation' of a great earthquake which happened at Port Royal, in
Jamaica, on Tuesday, June 7th, 1692, and is illustrated with a large
woodcut. On the death of Queen Mary, the consort of William III., an
illustrated broadside was published, plentifully garnished with skulls
and cross-bones, entitled, '_Great Britain's Lamentation; or the Funeral
Obsequies of that most incomparable Protestant Princess, Mary, of ever
Blessed Memory, Queen of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, who
departed this life the 28th of December, at Kensington, 1694, in the
Thirty-second Year of her Age. She Reigned Five Years, Eight Months, and
Seventeen Days. And was conducted from Whitehall to Westminster Abbey,
in an open Chariot of State, on black cloath, by the Nobility, Judges,
and Gentry of the Land, on Tuesday, the 5th of March, 1694-5._' The
large woodcut shows the funeral procession, and I have copied that part
of it containing the funeral car, with the body of the deceased queen
resting under a canopy.
[Illustration: FUNERAL OF QUEEN MARY, 1695.]
In a few years after the Revolution newspapers began to increase
rapidly. The censorship of the press ceased in 1695, and was immediately
followed by the appearance of great numbers of periodical papers. At
first they were small in size, were wretchedly printed on the commonest
paper, and each number contained only a small quantity of matter. The
art of wood-engraving, the readiest and least expensive method of
illustration, was now in the lowest possible condition; and the
newspapers at the end of the seventeenth century contain scarcely any
illustrations, except, perhaps, a heading of a rudely executed figure of
a man blowing a horn, flanked by a ship or a castle, and numerous small
woodcuts to advertisements.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTE:
[1] _History of England._