_EARLY PART OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY._
It is now apparent that advertising has become recognised as a means of
communication not only for the conveniencies of trade, but for
political, lovemaking, fortune-hunting, swindling, and the thousand and
one other purposes which are always ready to assert themselves in a
large community. It is also evident that as years have progressed,
advertising has become more and more necessary to certain trades, the
principals in which a comparatively short time before would have scorned
the idea of ventilating their wares through the columns of the public
press. So it is therefore as well to notice the rates which were charged
by some of the papers. This was before the duty was placed upon
advertisements, when the arrangement was simply between one who wished a
notice inserted in a paper, and another who possessed the power of
making such insertion. It is of course impossible to tell what the rates
were on all papers, but as some had notices of price per advertisement
stated at foot, a fair estimate may be made. The first advertisements
were so few that no notice was called for, and it was not until every
newspaper looked forward to the possession of more or less that the plan
of stating charges became common. About the period of which we are now
writing, long advertisements were unknown; they generally averaged about
eight lines of narrow measure, and were paid for at about a shilling
each, with fluctuations similar in degree to those of the leading
papers of the present day. Various rules obtained upon various papers.
One journal, the “_Jockey’s Intelligencer_, or Weekly Advertisements for
Horses and Second-Hand Coaches to be Bought and Sold,” which appeared
towards the end of the seventeenth century, charged “a shilling for a
horse or coach for notification, and sixpence for renewing.” Still
later, the _County Gentleman’s Courant_ seems to have been the first
paper to charge by the line, and in one of its numbers appears the
following rather non-sequitous statement: “Seeing promotion of trade is
a matter which ought to be encouraged, the price of advertisements is
advanced to twopence per line.” Very likely many agreed with the writer,
who seems to have had a follower several years afterwards--a corn
dealer, who during a great dearth stuck up the following notification:
“On account of the great distress in this town, the price of flour will
be raised one shilling per peck.” But neither of these men meant what he
said, though doubtless he thought he did.
The first advertisement with which we open the century is of a
semi-religious character, and betrays a very inquiring disposition on
the part of the writer. Facts of the kind required are, however, too
stubborn to meet with publication at the request of everybody, and if Mr
Keith and other controversialists had been trammelled by them, there is
every probability that the inquiry we now republish would never have
seen the light:--
☞ WHEREAS the World has been told in public papers and otherwise of
numerous conversions of quakers to the Church of England, by means of
Mr Keith and others, and whereas the quakers give out in their late
books and otherwise, that since Mr Keith came out of America, there
are not ten persons owned by them that have left their Society, Mr
Keith and others will very much oblige the world in publishing a true
list of their proselytes.
The foregoing is from the _Postman_ of March 1701, and in July the same
paper contains a very different notice, which will give an idea of the
amusements then in vogue, and rescue from oblivion men whose names,
great as they are in the advertisement, seem to have been passed over
unduly by writers on ancient sports and pastimes, who seem to regard
Figg and Broughton as the fathers of the backsword and the boxing
match:--
A _Tryal of Skill_ to be performed at His Majesty’s Bear Garden in
Hockley-in-the-Hole, on Thursday next, being the 9th instant, betwixt
these following masters;--Edmund Button, master of the noble science
of defence, _who hath lately cut down_ Mr Hasgit and the Champion of
the West, _and 4 besides_, and James Harris, an Herefordshire man,
master of the noble science of defence, who has fought 98 prizes and
never was worsted, to exercise the usual weapons, at 2 o’clock in the
afternoon precisely.
Exhibitions of swordsmanship and cudgel-play were very frequent in the
early part of the eighteenth century, but ultimately pugilism, which at
first was merely an auxiliary of the other sports, took the lead, most
probably through the invention of mufflers or gloves, first brought into
notice by Broughton, who was the most skilful boxer of his time. This
was, however, many years subsequent to the date of the foregoing.
The year 1702 is noticeable from the fact that in it was produced the
first daily paper with which we have any acquaintance, and, unless the
doctrine that nothing is new under the sun holds good in this case, the
first daily paper ever published. From it we take the following, which
appears on December 1, and which seems--as no name or address is given,
and as the advertiser does not even know the name of the gentleman, or
anything about him beyond what is told in the advertisement--to have
emanated from one of the stews which were even then pretty numerous in
London:--
MISSED, on Sunday night, a large hanging coat of Irish frieze,
supposed to be taken away (thro’ mistake) by a gentleman in a fair
campaign wig and light-coloured clothes; if he will please to remember
where he took it, and bring it back again, it will be kindly received.
We should imagine that, unless both coats and gentlemen were more
plentiful, in proportion to the population, in those days than they are
now, the rightful owner, who had probably also been a visitor at the
establishment, went without a garment which, judging by the date, must
have been peculiarly liable to excite cupidity. Nothing noticeable
occurs for a long time, except the growth of raffle advertisements, and
notices of lotteries. These arrangements were called sales, though the
only things sold were most likely the confiding speculators. Everything
possible was during this age put up to be raffled, though, with the
exception of the variety of the items, which included eatables, wearing
apparel, houses, carriages and horses, &c. &c., there is nothing calling
for comment about the style of the notices. In the _Postman_ of July
19-22, 1707, we at last come upon this, which is certainly peculiar from
more than one point of view:--
MR Benjamin Ferrers, Face-painter, the gentleman that can’t neither
speak nor hear, is removed from the Crown and Dagger at Charing Cross
into Chandois Street, next door to the sign of the Three Tuns in
Covent Garden.
This must have been one of the few cases in which physical disability
becomes a recommendation. Yet the process of whitening sepulchres must
after a time have become monotonous to even a deaf and dumb man. We
suppose the highest compliment that could have been paid to his work
was, that the ladies who were subjected to it looked “perfect pictures.”
Just about this time the use of advertisements for the purposes of
deliberate puffery began to be discovered by the general trader, and in
the _Daily Courant_ of March 24, 1707, occurs a notice couched in the
style of pure hyperbole, and emanating from the establishment of G.
Willdey and T. Brandreth, at the sign of the Archimedes and Globe, on
Ludgate Hill, who advertised a microscope which magnified objects more
than two million times, and a concave metal that united the sunbeams so
vigorously that in a minute’s time it melted steel and vitrified the
hardest substance. “Also,” the notice went on to say, “we do protest we
pretend to no impossibilities, and that we scorn to impose on any
gentleman or others, but what we make and sell shall be really good, and
answer the end we propose in our advertisements.” Spectacles by which
objects might be discovered at twenty or thirty miles’ distance,
“modestly speaking,” are also mentioned; “and,” the ingenious opticians
finish off with, “we are now writing a small treatise with the aid of
the learned that gives the reasons why they do so, which will be given
gratis to our customers.” This is an effort which would not have
disgraced the more mature puffers of following ages. But it aroused the
anger and indignation of the former employers of Willdey and Brandreth,
who having duly considered the matter, on April 16 put forth, also in
the _Daily Courant_, an opposition statement, which ultimately led to a
regular newspaper warfare:--
BY John Yarwell and Ralph Sterrop, Right Spectacles, reading and other
optic glasses, etc., were first brought to perfection by our own
proper art, and needed not the boasted industry of our two apprentices
to recommend them to the world; who by fraudently appropriating to
themselves what they never did, and obstinately pretending to what
they never can perform, can have no other end in view than to astonish
the ignorant, impose on the credulous, and amuse the public. For which
reason and at the request of several gentlemen already imposed on, as
also to prevent such further abuses as may arise from the repeated
advertisements of these two wonderful performers, we John Yarwell and
Ralph Sterrop do give public notice, that to any person who shall
think it worth his while to make the experiment, we will demonstrate
in a minute’s time the insufficiency of the instrument and the vanity
of the workmen by comparing their miraculous Two-Foot, with our Three
and Four Foot Telescopes. And therefore, till such a telescope be
made, as shall come up to the character of these unparalleled
performers, we must declare it to be a very impossible thing.
Then the old-established and indignant masters proceed to recommend
their own spectacles, perspectives, &c., in more moderate terms than
were employed by their late apprentices, but still in an extremely
confident manner. This appeared for several days, and at last, on April
25, elicited the following reply:--
WHEREAS Mr Yarwell, Mr Sterrop, and Mr Marshall, the 2 first were our
Masters with whom we served our Apprenticeships, and since for several
years we have made the best of work for them and Mr Marshall. And now
they being envious at our prosperity have published several false,
deceitful and malicious advertisements, wherein they assert that we
cheat all that buy any of our goods, and that we pretend to many
impossibilities, and impose on the public, they having wrested the
words and sense of our advertisements, pretend that we affirm that a 2
Foot Telescope of our making will do as much as the best 4 Foot of
another man’s make, and they fraudulently show in their shops one of
their best 4 Foots against our small one, and then cry out against the
insufficiency of our instrument. Now we G. Willdey and Th. Brandreth
being notoriously abused, declare that we never did assert any such
thing, or ever did pretend to impossibilities, but will make good in
every particular all those [note, these are their own words]
(impossible, incredible, miraculous, wonderful, and astonishing)
things mentioned in our advertisements; which things perhaps may be
impossible, incredible, miraculous, wonderful, and astonishing to
them, but we assure them they are not so to us: For we have small
miraculous telescopes, as they are pleased to call them, that do such
wonders that they say it is impossible to make such, by the assistance
of which we will lay any person £10, that instead of 2 miles
mentioned, we will tell them the hour of the day 3 if not 4 miles by
such a dial as St James’s or Bow.
After this the recalcitrant apprentices repeat all their former boasts,
and conclude: “All these things are as they say impossible to them, but
are and will be made by G. Willdey and T. Brandreth.... Let ingenuity
thrive.” Willdey and Brandreth now, no doubt, thought that they had
turned the tables upon their former masters, and had all the best of the
battle; but the duel was not yet over, as the second time this
advertisement appeared (_Daily Courant_, April 26), the following was
immediately under it:--
A CONFIDENT Mountebank by the help of his bragging speech passes upon
the ignorant as a profound doctor, the commonest medicines and the
easiest operations in such an one’s hand, shall be cried up as
miracles. But there are mountebanks in other arts as well as in
physick: Glasgrinding it seems is not free from ’em, as it is seen in
the vain boastings of Willdey and Brandreth. ’Tis well known to all
gentlemen that have had occasion to use optic glasses that J. Yarwell
was the true improver of that art, and has deservedly a name for it,
in all parts abroad as well as at home. He and R. Sterrop, who lives
in the old shop in Ludgate Street, have always and do now make as true
and good works of all kinds in that art as any man can do. And we are
so far from discouraging any improvement, that we gladly receive from
any hand, and will be at any expence to put in practice an invention
really advantageous in the art. But Willdey’s performances are so far
from improvements that we are ready to oppose any of our work to his
and stake any wager upon the judgment of a skilful man. And because he
talks so particularly of his two foot telescope, to let the world see
that there is nothing in that vaunt, we will stake 10 Guineas upon a
two-foot telescope of ours against the same of his. And further to
take away all pretensions of our preparing one on purpose, if any
gentleman that has a two-foot telescope bought of us within a year
past, and not injured in the use, will produce it, we will lay 5
Guineas upon its performance against one of theirs of the same date.
This is bringing the matter upon the square, and will, we hope,
satisfy the world that we are not worse workmen than those we taught.
Again the young men ventured into print (May 1, 1707), to reply, and to
defend what they were pleased to call the naked truth, “against the
apparent malicious lies and abuse” of their former employers, in whose
last advertisement they pointed out some inconsistencies, claimed the
invention of the perfected spectacles as theirs, and ended in offering
to bet “20 guineas to their 10, that neither they nor Mr Marshall can
make a better telescope than we can.” This, though rather a descent from
the high horse previously occupied by them, was sufficient to rouse the
anger of an interested yet hitherto passive spectator, and Mr Marshall
presently (May 8) indignantly growled forth:--
THE best method now used for Grinding Spectacles and other glasses,
was by me at great charge and pains found out, which I shewed to the
Royal Society in the year 1693, and by them approved; being gentlemen
the best skilled in optics, for which they gave me their certificate
to let the world know what I had done. Since which I have made
spectacles, telescopes, and microscopes, for all the Kings and
Prince’s Courts in Europe. And as for the 2 new spectacle makers, that
would insinuate to the world that they were my best workmen for
several years: the one I never employed, the other I found as I doubt
not but many gentlemen have and will find them both, to be only
boasters and not performers of what they advertise, &c. &c.
After pursuing this strain till he had run down, Mr Marshall concludes
by saying, “What I have inserted is nothing but truth.” At the same time
Yarwell and Sterrop overwhelmed the raisers of this hornets’ nest with a
new attention, in which among other things was the following:--
Mr Willdey and Brandreth have the folly to believe that abundance of
words is sufficient to gain applause, and therefore throw ’em out
without regard to truth and reason, but as that is an affront to the
understanding of gentlemen that use the goods they sell, they being
persons of discerning judgment, there needs no other answer to what
they have published than to compare one part with another. They set
forth with a lying vaunt that their two-foot telescope would perform
the same that a common four-foot one would do, and when ’twas replied
that was false, and a four-foot one offered to try, they poorly shift
off with crying “That’s one of your best four-foot ones.” Now we
profess to make none but best, the glasses of every one being true
ground and rightly adjusted, and the difference in price arrises only
from the goodness, ornaments, and convenience of the case, neither can
he produce a four-foot one of anybody’s make, that does not far exceed
his two-foot, nor does his two-foot one at all exceed ours, which they
don’t now pretend. And therefore the lie is all on his side, and the
impossibility in his pretensions is as strong as ever, and what we
have said is just truth, and his foul language no better than
Billingsgate railing. But it seems because we do not treat him in his
own way and decry his goods as much as he does other men’s, he has the
folly to construct it as an acknowledgement that his excel. But we are
so far from allowing that, that we do aver they have nothing to brag
of but what they learnt of us, and Brandreth was so indifferent a
workman that Marshall, who had taken him for a journeyman, was fain to
turn him off. The secrets they brag of is all a falsehood, and the
microscope the same that any one may have from Culpeper who is the
maker. We have already told the world that we will venture any wager
upon the performance of our two foot telescope against theirs, and we
would be glad to have it taken up that we might have the opportunity
of showing that ours exceeds, and letting the world see that his brags
are only such as mountebanks make in medicine.
Finally, in the _Daily Courant_ for May 12, 1707, Willdey and Brandreth
once again insert their vaunt, and then proceed to demolish their late
employers thus:--
We do affirm it [the telescope made by W. & B.] to be the pleasantest
and usefullest instrument of this kind, and what our adversaries have
said against it is false and proceeds from an ill design; we have
already offered to lay them 20 guineas to their 10 that they could not
make a better, but they knowing they were not capable to engage us in
that particular, said in their answer that there needs no more than to
compare one instrument with another that they may have the opportunity
of shewing that theirs exceeds; to which proposal we do agree, and to
that purpose have bought 3 of their best telescopes that we might be
sure of one that was good, though they say in their advertisements
that they make none but the best, and we are ready to give our oaths
that no damage has been done them since they were bought. And now to
bring these matters to an end, we will lay them 20 guineas to their
10, that 3 of our best of the same sizes are better than them; and any
gentleman that will may see the experiment tried in an instant at our
shop, where they may also see that our best pocket telescope comes not
far short of their best large 4 Foot one. And several other
curiosities all made to the greatest perfection. And whereas Mr
Yarwell, Mr Sterrop, and Mr Marshall have maliciously, falsly, and
unjustly insinuated that we are but indifferent workmen, several
persons being justly moved by that scandalous aspersion, have offered
to give their oaths that they have often heard them say that we were
the best of workmen, and that we understood our business as well as
themselves. And as such we do each of us challenge them all 3
severally to work with them, who does most and best for £20. As for
the Microscope it is our own invention, and 2 of them were made by us
before any person saw them, as we can prove by witnesses; as we also
can their railing and scandalous aspersions to be false. All persons
may be assured that all our instruments do and will answer the
character given them in the advertisements of T. Brandreth and G.
Willdey, &c. &c.
Whether the game was too expensive, or whether the old firm was shut up
by this, we know not, but anyhow they retired from the contest, and it
is to be hoped found that rivalry fosters rather than injures business.
We have given particular attention to this conflict of statements, as it
shows how soon advertisements, after they had become general, were used
for aggressional and objectionable trade purposes. Passing on for a
little space, until 1709, the _Tatler_ appears on the scene, and
commences with a full share of advertisements, and very soon one is
found worthy of quotation. This appears on March 21, and is a form of
application which soon found favour with the gallants and ladies of
pleasure of the day:--
A GENTLEMAN who, the twentieth instant, had the honour to conduct a
lady out of a boat at Whitehall Stairs, desires to know when he may
wait on her to disclose a matter of concern. A letter directed to Mr
Samuel Reeves, to be left with Mr May, at the Golden Head, the upper
end of New Southampton Street, Covent Garden.
There are about this time many instances appearing in the notice columns
of what has been called love at first sight, though from the fact that
advertisements had to bring their influence to bear on the passion, it
looks as though the impression took some time to fix itself. Otherwise
the declaration might have been made at once, unless, indeed, timidity
prevented it. Perhaps, too, the occasional presence of a gentleman
companion might have deterred these inflammable youths from prosecuting
their suits and persecuting the objects of their temporary adoration.
Just after the foregoing we come upon a slave advertisement couched in
the following terms:--
A BLACK boy, twelve years of age, fit to wait on a gentleman, to be
disposed of at Denis’s Coffee house in Finch Lane, near the Royal
Exchange.
There is no mincing the matter about this, and as, at the same time, a
very extensive traffic was carried on in “white flesh” for the
plantations, the advertiser would doubtless have regarded sympathy with
his property as not only idiotic but offensive. And then we light on
what must be regarded as an advertisement, though it emanates from the
editorial sanctum, and is redolent of that humour which, first
identified with the _Tatler_, has never yet been surpassed, and, as many
still say, never equalled:--
ANY ladies who have any particular stories of their acquaintance which
they are willing privately to make public, may send ’em by the penny
post to Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., enclosed to Mr John Morpheu, near
Stationers’ Hall.
What a chance for the lovers of scandal, and doubtless they readily
availed themselves of it. Many a hearty laugh must Steele have had over
the communications received, and many of them must have afforded him the
groundwork for satires, which at the time must have struck home indeed.
In the following year “Isaac Bickerstaff, Esquire,” seems to have taken
it into his head that John Partridge, the astrologer, ought to be dead,
if he really was not, and so inserted a series of advertisements to the
effect that that worthy had really departed this life, which, however
amusing to the _Tatler_ folk and the public, seem to have nearly driven
the stargazer wild.[28] One of the best of this series, which appears on
August 10, 1710, runs thus:--
WHEREAS an ignorant Upstart in Astrology has publicly endeavoured to
persuade the world that he is the late John Partridge, who died the 28
of March 1718, these are to certify all whom it may concern, that the
true John Partridge was not only dead at that time but continues so to
the present day. Beware of counterfeits, for such are abroad.
The quiet yet pungent drollery of this is almost irresistible, but it
has the effect of making us rather chary of accepting any of the
remaining advertisements which look at all like emanations from the
quaint fancy of the editor. Take the following, for instance, which is
found among a number of others of an ordinary character, undistinguished
from them by any peculiarity of type or position. It seems, however, to
betray its origin:--
_The Charitable Advice Office_, where all persons may have the opinion
of dignified Clergymen, learned Council, Graduate Physicians, and
experienced Surgeons, to any question in Divinity, Morality, Law,
Physic, or Surgery, with proper Prescriptions within twelve hours
after they have delivered in a state of their case. Those who can’t
write may have their cases stated at the office. * * The fees are only
1_s._ at delivery or sending your case, and 1_s._ more on
re-delivering that and the opinion upon it, being what is thought
sufficient to defray the necessary expense of servants and
office-rent.
The theory of advertising must about this time have been found
considerably interesting to men who were unlikely to participate in its
benefits unless it were through the increased prosperity of the
newspapers to which they contributed, for essays and letters on the
subject, some humorous and others serious, appear quite frequently. Most
noticeable among the former is an article from the pen of Addison, which
appears in No. 224 of the _Tatler_, date September 14, 1710. It will
speak better for itself than we can speak for it:--
“_Materiem superabat opus._--OVID. MET. ii. 5.
“The matter equall’d not the artist’s skill.--R. WYNNE.
“It is my custom, in a dearth of news, to entertain myself with those
collections of advertisements that appear at the end of our public
prints. These I consider as accounts of news from the little world, in
the same manner that the foregoing parts of the paper are from the
great. If in one we hear that a sovereign prince is fled from his
capital city, in the other we hear of a tradesman who has shut up his
shop and run away. If in one we find the victory of a general, in the
other we see the desertion of a private soldier. I must confess I have a
certain weakness in my temper that is often very much affected by these
little domestic occurrences, and have frequently been caught with tears
in my eyes over a melancholy advertisement.
“But to consider this subject in its most ridiculous lights,
advertisements are of great use to the vulgar. First of all as they are
instruments of ambition. A man that is by no means big enough for the
Gazette, may easily creep into the advertisements; by which means we
often see an apothecary in the same paper of news with a
plenipotentiary, or a running footman with an ambassador. An
advertisement from Piccadilly goes down to posterity with an article
from Madrid, and John Bartlett[29] of Goodman’s Fields is celebrated in
the same paper with the Emperor of Germany. Thus the fable tells us,
that the wren mounted as high as the eagle, by getting upon his back.
“A second use which this sort of writings have been turned to of late
years has been the management of controversy, insomuch that above half
the advertisements one meets with nowadays are purely polemical. The
inventors of ‘Strops for Razors’ have written against one another this
way for several years, and that with great bitterness;[30] as the whole
argument _pro_ and _con_ in the case of the ‘Morning Gown’ is still
carried on after the same manner. I need not mention the several
proprietors of Dr Anderson’s pills; nor take notice of the many
satirical works of this nature so frequently published by Dr Clark, who
has had the confidence to advertise upon that learned knight, my very
worthy friend, Sir William Read:[31] but I shall not interpose in their
quarrel: Sir William can give him his own in advertisements, that, in
the judgment of the impartial, are as well penned as the Doctor’s.
“The third and last use of these writings is to inform the world where
they may be furnished with almost every thing that is necessary for
life. If a man has pains in his head, colics in his bowels, or spots in
his clothes, he may here meet with proper cures and remedies. If a man
would recover a wife or a horse that is stolen or strayed; if he wants
new sermons, electuaries, asses’ milk, or anything else, either for his
body or mind, this is the place to look for them in.
“The great art in writing advertisements, is the finding out a proper
method to catch the reader’s eye, without which a good thing may pass
unobserved, or be lost among commissions of bankrupt. Asterisks and
hands were formerly of great use for this purpose. Of late years the
N.B. has been much in fashion, as also little cuts and figures, the
invention of which we must ascribe to the author of spring-trusses. I
must not here omit the blind Italian character, which being scarce
legible, always fixes and detains the eye, and gives the curious reader
something like the satisfaction of prying into a secret.
“But the great skill in an advertiser is chiefly seen in the style which
he makes use of. He is to mention the ‘universal esteem,’ or ‘general
reputation’ of things that were never heard of. If he is a physician or
astrologer, he must change his lodgings frequently; and though he never
saw anybody in them besides his own family, give public notice of it,
‘for the information of the nobility and gentry.’ Since I am thus
usefully employed in writing criticisms on the works of these diminutive
authors, I must not pass over in silence an advertisement, which has
lately made its appearance and is written altogether in a Ciceronian
manner. It was sent to me with five shillings, to be inserted among my
advertisements; but as it is a pattern of good writing in this way, I
shall give it a place in the body of my paper.
“The highest compounded Spirit of Lavender, the most glorious, if the
expression may be used, enlivening scent and flavour that can possibly
be, which so raptures the spirits, delights the gusts, and gives such
airs to the countenance, as are not to be imagined but by those that
have tried it. The meanest sort of the thing is admired by most
gentlemen and ladies; but this far more, as by far it exceeds it, to
the gaining among all a more than common esteem. It is sold in neat
flint bottles, fit for the pocket, only at the Golden Key in Wharton’s
Court, near Holborn Bars, for three shillings and sixpence, with
directions.
“At the same time that I recommend the several flowers in which this
spirit of lavender is wrapped up, if the expression may be used, I
cannot excuse my fellow-labourers for admitting into their papers
several uncleanly advertisements, not at all proper to appear in the
works of polite writers. Among them I must reckon the ‘Carminative
Wind-Expelling Pills.’ If the Doctor had called them ‘Carminative
Pills,’ he had been as cleanly as any one could have wished; but the
second word entirely destroys the decency of the first. There are other
absurdities of this nature so very gross, that I dare not mention them;
and shall therefore dismiss this subject with an admonition to Michael
Parrot, that he do not presume any more to mention a certain worm he
knows of, which, by the way, has grown seven foot in my memory; for, if
I am not much mistaken, it is the same that was but nine feet long about
six months ago.
“By the remarks I have here made, it plainly appears, that a collection
of advertisements is a kind of miscellany; the writers of which,
contrary to all authors, except men of quality, give money to the
booksellers who publish their copies. The genius of the bookseller is
chiefly shown in his method of ranging and digesting these little
tracts. The last paper I took up in my hands places them in the
following order:--
“The true Spanish blacking for shoes, etc.
“The beautifying cream for the face, etc.
“Pease and Plasters, etc.
“Nectar and Ambrosia, etc.
“Four freehold tenements of fifteen pounds per annum, etc.
“The present state of England, etc.
“Annotations upon the _Tatler_, etc.
“A commission of Bankrupt being awarded against R. L., bookseller, etc.”
This essay probably aroused a good deal of attention, and among the
letters of correspondents is one from a “Self-interested Solicitor,”
which appears in No. 228, and runs thus:--
“_Mr Bickerstaff._
“I am going to set up for a scrivener, and have thought of a project
which may turn both to your account and mine. It came into my head upon
reading that learned and useful paper of yours concerning
advertisements. You must understand I have made myself Master in the
whole art of advertising, both as to the style and the letter. Now if
you and I could so manage it, that nobody should write advertisements
besides myself, or print them anywhere but in your paper, we might both
of us get estates in a little time. For this end I would likewise
propose that you should enlarge the design of advertisements, and have
sent you two or three samples of my work in this kind, which I have made
for particular friends, and intend to open shop with. The first is for a
gentleman who would willingly marry, if he could find a wife to his
liking; the second is for a poor Whig, who is lately turned out of his
post; and the third for a person of a contrary party, who is willing to
get into one.
“Whereas A. B. next door to the Pestle and Mortar, being about thirty
years old, of a spare make, with dark-coloured hair, bright eye, and a
long nose, has occasion for a good-humoured, tall, fair, young woman, of
about £3000 fortune; these are to give notice That if any such young
woman has a mind to dispose of herself in marriage to such a person as
the above mentioned, she may be provided with a husband, a coach and
horses and a proportionable settlement.
“C. D. designing to quit his place, has great quantities of paper,
parchment, ink, wax, and wafers to dispose of, which will be sold at
very reasonable rates.
“E. F. a person of good behaviour, six foot high, of a black complexion
and sound principles, wants an employ. He is an excellent penman and
accomptant, and speaks French.”
And so on, advertisements being then considered proper sport for wits of
all sizes and every peculiarity. In 1711 we come upon the first edition
of the _Spectator_, which certainly did not disdain to become a medium
for most barefaced quacks, if we may judge by this:--
AN admirable confect which assuredly cures Stuttering and Stammering
in children or grown persons, though never so bad, causing them to
speak distinct and free without any trouble or difficulty; it remedies
all manner of impediments in the speech or disorders of the voice of
any kind, proceeding from what cause soever, rendering those persons
capable of speaking easily and free, and with a clear voice who before
were not able to utter a sentence without hesitation. Its stupendous
effects in so quickly and infallibly curing Stammering and all
disorders of the voice and difficulty in delivery of the speech are
really wonderful. Price 2s. 6d. a pot, with directions. Sold only at
Mr Osborn’s Toyshop, at the Rose and Crown, under St Dunstan’s church
Fleet street.
This is a truly marvellous plan for greasing the tongue. The only wonder
is that the advertiser did not recommend it as invaluable to public
speakers for increasing the fluency to such an extent that the orator
had but to open his mouth and let his tongue do as it willed. And
certainly the most rebellious and self-willed tongue could hardly give
utterance to more remarkable statements, if left entirely to itself,
than appears in the following, which is also from the original edition
of the _Spectator_:--
LOSS of Memory, or Forgetfulness, certainly cured by a grateful
electuary peculiarly adapted for that end; it strikes at the primary
source, which few apprehend, of forgetfulness, makes the head clear
and easy, the spirits free, active, and undisturbed, corroborates and
revives all the noble faculties of the soul, such as thought,
judgment, apprehension, reason and memory, which last in particular it
so strengthens as to render that faculty exceeding quick and good
beyond imagination; thereby enabling those whose memory was before
almost totally lost, to remember the minutest circumstances of their
affairs, etc. to a wonder. Price 2s. 6d. a pot. Sold only at Mr
Payne’s, at the Angel and Crown, in St Paul’s Churchyard, with
directions.
It is sometimes possible to remember too much; and if the specific sold
by Mr Payne had but a homœopathic tendency, and caused those who
recollected things which never happened to become cured of their
propensities, it is a pity its recipe has to be numbered among the lost
things of this world. In the beginning of 1712, one Ephraim How seems to
have been possessed of a fear that evil folks had been trying to injure
him or his business, or else he felt it incumbent on himself to take the
hint thrown out in the _Tatler_ essay. Accordingly he published in the
_Daily Courant_ the following:--
WHEREAS several persons who sell knives, for the better vending their
bad wares spread reports that Ephraim How, Cutler of London is
deceased. This is to certify That he is living, and keeps his business
as formerly, with his son in partnership, at the Heart and Crown on
Saffron Hill; there being divers imitations, you are desired to
observe the mark, which is the Heart Crown and Dagger, with How under
it.
About this period shopkeepers were or pretended to be particularly
loyal, for a very large percentage of their signs contained the emblem
of royalty, coupled with various other figures. Though the Methuen
treaty, which favoured the importation of Portuguese wines, and
discouraged the use of claret, was signed in 1703, it does not appear to
have made much difference in this country for some years, as the first
mention we find of the new wine is in a _Postboy_ of January 1712, and
is caused by the rivalry which sprang up among those who first began to
sell it:--
NOTICE is hereby given, That Messieurs Trubey, at the Queen’s Arms
Tavern, the West End of St Paul’s Church, have bought of Sir John
Houblon, 76 pipes of _New_ natural Oporto Wines, red and white,
perfect neat, and shall remain genuine, chosen out of 96 pipes, and
did not buy the cast-outs. Also they have bought of other merchants
large quantities of _new_ natural Oporto wines, with great choice (by
the last fleet). And altho’ the aforesaid did buy of Messieurs Brook
and Hellier, _new_ natural Oporto wines of the earliest importation,
which they have yet by them; and ’tis not only their own opinion, that
the said Sir John Houblon’s and other merchant’s Oporto wines, which
they have bought are superior, and do give us more general
satisfaction: for the same is daily confirm’d by gentlemen and others
of undoubted judgment and credit. Further this assertion deserves
regard, viz. That the said Messieurs Brook and Helliers have bought of
several merchants entire parcels of Oporto and Viana wines, red and
white, good and bad, thereby continuing retailing, under the specious
and fallacious pretences of natural red and neat of their own
importing.
_N.B._--The intentions of the above-named Vintners are not any way to
reproach or diminish the reputation of their brethren, nor insinuate
to their detriment, sympathizing with them. Note the aforesaid _new_
natural Oporto wines, are to be sold by the aforesaid vintners at £16
per hogshead, at 18d. per quart, without doors, and at 20d. per quart,
within their own houses.
Brook & Hellier, whose wine is spoken of so slightingly, kept the Bumper
Tavern in Covent Garden, which had formerly belonged to Dick Estcourt.
They seem quite able to bear what has been said of them, for they have
the _Spectator_, who has evidently tasted, and quite as evidently liked
their wines, at their back, one of the numbers of this disinterested
periodical being devoted almost entirely to their praise. The
_Spectator_ was by no means averse to a bit of good genuine puffery, and
Peter Motteux, formerly an author who had dedicated a poem or two to
Steele, and who at that time kept one of the Indian warehouses so much
in fashion, received kindnesses in its columns more than once. So did
Renatus Harris the organ-builder, who competed with Smith for the Temple
organ, and many others. So it is not extraordinary that their
advertisement is found in the _Spectator_ very shortly after that just
quoted. They seem, however, to have been disinclined to quarrel, as
their notice makes no mention of their rivals:--
BROOK and Hellier, &c. having discovered that several gentlemen’s
servants who have been sent to their taverns and cellars for neat
Oporto wines (which is 18d. per quart) have instead thereof bought the
small Viana, which is but 15d. a quart; and that some who have been
sent directly to the above taverns and cellars have never come there,
but carried home (like traitors) something else from other places for
Brook and Helliers. Gentlemen are therefore desired, when they suspect
themselves imposed on, to send the wine immediately to the place they
ordered it from, or a note of what it was they sent for, in order to
know the truth, and Brook and Helliers will bear the extraordinary
charge of porters on this occasion.
From this and kindred advertisements it looks as though gentlemen were
not at the time in the habit of keeping large quantities of wine in the
house, but rather of having it in fresh and fresh as required from the
tavern, or of going round themselves, and taking it home under their
belts. Also the servants of the time do not appear to be possessed of
much more honesty than falls to the lot of the domestics of even these
degenerate days. The effect of the rage for port as soon as it was once
tried, is shown by the following, which also appeared in the January of
1712, in the _Daily Courant_:--
THE first loss is the best especially in the Wine Trade, and upon that
consideration Mr John Crooke will now sell his French Claret for 4s. a
gallon, to make an end of a troublesome and losing trade. Dated the
7th of January from his vault in Broad street, 5 doors below the Angel
and Crown Tavern, behind the Royal Exchange.
JOHN CROOKE.
But this appeal to the lovers of bargains, as well as of claret, was
evidently a failure; for three or four days afterwards, and also in the
same paper, another, and quite different attempt, is made to draw the
unwilling drinkers to the Angel and Crown:--
IT having been represented to Mr John Crooke that notwithstanding the
general approbation his French claret has received, yet many of his
customers out of a covetous disposition do resort to other places to
buy much inferior wine, and afterwards sell the same for Mr Crooke’s
claret, which practices (if not timely prevented) do manifestly tend
to the ruin of his undertaking, and he being firmly resolved to
establish and preserve the reputation of his vault, and also willing
to give his customers all fitting encouragement; for these causes and
others hereunto him moving, he gives notice that from henceforth he
will sell his very good French claret for no more than 4s. a gallon at
his vault.
The fight between port and claret was very fierce this year, but the new
drink had almost from the first the best of the battle, if we may judge
from the strenuous appeals put forth by those who have much claret to
sell, and who evidently find it very like a drug upon their hands. One
individual seems at last to arrive at the conclusion that he may as well
ask a high price as a low one for his claret, seeing that people are
unwilling to buy in either case. The advertisement occurs in the _Daily
Courant_ for December 29, 1712. The wily concocter of the plan also
thinks that by making three bottles the smallest limit of his sale, the
unwary may fancy a favour is being conferred upon them, and buy
accordingly:--
THE noblest new French claret that ever was imported, bright, deep,
strong and of most delicious flavour, being of the very best growth in
France, and never in any cooper or vintner’s hands, but purely neat
from the grape, bottled off from the lee. All the quality and gentry
that taste it, allow it to be the finest flower that ever was drunk.
Price 42s. the dozen, bottles and all, which is but 3s. 6d. a bottle,
for excellence not to be matched for double that price. None less than
3 bottles. To be had only at the Golden Key, in Haydon Yard, in the
Minories, where none but the very best and perfectly neat wine shall
ever be sold.
There is good reason to believe that the claret which had been so
popular up till this period, was a very different wine from that which
is now known by the same name. It was, most probably, a strong
well-sweetened drink; for, as it has ever been necessary to make port
thick and sweet for the public taste, it is most likely this was at
first done for the purpose of rivalling the claret, and folk would
hardly have turned suddenly from one wine to another of a decidedly
opposite character. The amount of advertising, probably fostered by the
wine rivalry, grew so much this year, that the Ministry were struck with
the happy idea of putting a tax upon every notice, and accordingly there
is a sudden fall off in the number of advertisements in and after
August, the month in which the change took place. In fact, the _Daily
Courant_ appears several times with only one advertisement, that of
Drury Lane Theatre, the average number being hitherto about nine or ten.
However, the imposers of the tax were quite right in their estimate of
the value of advertisements; as, though checked for a time, they
ultimately grew again, though their progress was comparatively slow
compared with previous days. We find a characteristic announcement just
at the close of the year, one not to be checked by the duty-charge, and
so we append it:--
THIS is to give notice That there is a young woman born within 30
miles of London will run for £50 or £100, a mile and an half, with any
other woman that has liv’d a year within the same distance; upon any
good ground, as the parties concern’d shall agree to.
Unnatural and unfeminine exhibitions, in accordance with this
advertisement, of pugilism, foot-racing, cudgel-playing, &c., were at
this time not unfrequent, and the spectacle of two women stripped to the
waist, and doing their best to injure or wear down each other, was often
enjoyed by the bloods of the early eighteenth century. At the same time
that the tax was placed on advertisements, the stamp-duty on newspapers
became an accomplished fact, and Swift in his journal to Stella of July
9, 1712, says, “Grub Street has but ten days to live, then an Act of
Parliament takes place that ruins it by taxing every half-sheet a
halfpenny.” And just about a month after, he chronicles the effect of
this cruelty: “Do you know that Grub Street is dead and gone last week?
No more ghosts or murders now for love or money. I plied it close the
last fortnight and published at least seven papers of my own, besides
some of other people’s; but now every single half-sheet pays a halfpenny
to the Queen. The _Observator_ is fallen; the _Medleys_ have jumbled
together with the _Flying Post_; the _Examiner_ is deadly sick; the
_Spectator_ keeps up and doubles its price. I know not how long it will
hold. Have you seen the red stamp the papers are marked with? Methinks
the stamping is worth a halfpenny.” Thieves about this time seem to have
had delicate susceptibilities, for it was the custom to advertise goods
which were undoubtedly stolen as lost. Thus we see constantly in the
reign of Queen Anne such notices as this: “Lost out of a room in Russell
Street a number of valuable objects.... Whoever brings them _back_ shall
have ten guineas reward, or in proportion for any part, and no questions
asked.” This style of advertising grew so that just about the middle of
the century it was found necessary to put a stop to it by Act of
Parliament, which took effect on the 21st of June 1752, the penalty
being £50 for any one who advertised “no questions asked,” and £50 for
the publisher who inserted any such notice in his paper. Haydn gives
this date as 1754, but a reference to the _General Advertiser_ of
February 21, 1752, in which the notice of the date on which the law is
to come into effect appears, shows that it was two years earlier. Also a
reference to any Parliamentary record of forty years before that will
show that not in 1713, as Haydn has it, but on the 22nd April 1712, Mr
Conyers reported from Committee of the whole House, who were considering
further ways and means for raising the supply granted to her Majesty;
when among other measures it was resolved that a duty of 12d. be charged
for every advertisement in any printed paper, besides the stamp-duty
which was at the same time imposed on the newspapers. This and other
extra taxes were levied, because France having refused to acknowledge
the title of Queen Anne till the peace should be signed, it was resolved
to continue the war “till a safe and honourable peace could be
obtained.” For this purpose money was of course required; and if they
never did good any other way, or at any other time, quacks and
impostors, libertines and drunkards, did it now, as they mainly
contributed all that was gathered for some years by means of the
advertisement tax. There seems to have been a good deal of drunkenness
going on in the time of Queen Anne, and the tavern keepers contributed
in many ways to swell the revenue. But even their advertisements drop
off after the imposition of the tax, as do those of promoters of
nostrums and lotteries, and the managers of theatres. These public
benefactors are, however, not so blind to their own interests, but that
they soon return.
Notwithstanding the many important events of the next few years, nothing
worthy of chronicling in the way of advertisements is to be found till
1720, when we come upon the following, which is peculiar as being one of
the earliest specimens of the ventilation of private quarrels by means
of advertisements. It occurs in the _Daily Post_ of January 16th:--
WHEREAS an advertisement was lately put in Heathcote’s Halfpenny Post,
by way of challenge for me to meet a person (whose name to me is
unknown) at Old Man’s Coffeehouse near Charing Cross, the 28 instant
in order to hear that said person make out his assertions in that
Dialogue we had in Palace Yard, the 11th of November 1718, This will
let that person know that as he would not then tell me his name, nor
put it to his advertisement, I conclude he is ashamed to have it in
print. When he sends me his name in writing, that I may know who to
ask for, I shall be willing to meet him at any convenient time and
place, either by ourselves or with two friends on each side, till then
I shall have neither list nor leisure to obey his nameless summons.
ROBERT CURTIS.
Southwark, Jan. 13th, 1719-20.
Certainly time enough seems to have elapsed between the dialogue and the
publication of this advertisement to allow of all angry passions to have
subsided; but Robert Curtis, whose name is thus preserved till now,
would seem to have been a careful youth, picking his way clear of
pitfalls, and with shrewdness sufficient to discover that anonymity but
too often disguises foul intent. In that particular matters have not
considerably improved even up to the present time.
The year 1720 is memorable in the history of England, as seeing the
abnormal growth and consequent explosion of the greatest swindle of
comparatively modern times, and one of the most colossal frauds of any
time, the South Sea Scheme, which has been best known since as the South
Sea Bubble. Its story has been told so often, and in so many ways, that
it is hardly necessary to dwell upon it here; but as, though nearly
every one has heard of the scheme, there are but few who know anything
about it, we may as well give once again a short _résumé_ of its
business operations. It was started by Harley in 1711, with the view of
paying off the floating national debt, which at that time amounted to
about £10,000,000. A contemporary writer says: “This debt was taken up
by a number of eminent merchants, to whom the Government agreed to
guarantee for a certain period the annual payment of £600,000 (being six
per cent. interest), a sum which was to be obtained by rendering
permanent a number of import duties. The monopoly of the trade to the
South Seas was also secured to these merchants, who were accordingly
incorporated as the ‘South Sea Company,’ and at once rose to a high
position in the mercantile world. The wondrously extravagant ideas then
current respecting the riches of the South American continent were
carefully fostered and encouraged by the Company, who also took care to
spread the belief that Spain was prepared, on certain liberal
conditions, to admit them to a considerable share of its South American
trade; and as a necessary consequence, a general avidity to partake in
the profits of this most lucrative speculation sprang up in the public
mind. It may be well to remark in this place, that the Company’s trading
projects had no other result than a single voyage of one ship in 1717,
and that its prominence in British history is due entirely to its
existence as a purely monetary corporation. Notwithstanding the absence
of any symptoms of its carrying out its great trading scheme, the
Company had obtained a firm hold on popular favour, and its shares rose
day by day; and even when the outbreak of war with Spain in 1718
deprived the most sanguine of the slightest hope of sharing in the
treasures of the South Seas, the Company continued to flourish. Far from
being alarmed at the expected and impending failure of a similar
project--the Mississippi Scheme--the South Sea Company believed
sincerely in the feasibility of Law’s Scheme, and resolved to avoid what
they considered as his errors. Trusting to the possibility of pushing
credit to its utmost extent without danger, they proposed, in the spring
of 1720, to take upon themselves the whole national debt (at that time
£30,981,712) on being guaranteed 5 per cent. per annum for seven and a
half years, at the end of which time the debt might be redeemed if the
Government chose, and the interest reduced to 4 per cent. The directors
of the Bank of England, jealous of the prospective benefit and influence
which would thus accrue to the South Sea Company, submitted to
Government a counter-proposal; but the more dazzling nature of their
rival’s offer secured its acceptance by Parliament--in the Commons by
172 to 55, and (April 7) in the Lords by 83 to 17; Sir Robert Walpole in
the former, and Lords North and Grey, the Duke of Wharton and Earl
Cowper in the latter, in vain protesting against it as involving
inevitable ruin. During the passing of their bill, the Company’s stock
rose steadily to 330 on April 7,[32] falling to 290 on the following
day. Up till this date the scheme had been honestly promoted; but now,
seeing before them the prospect of speedily amassing abundant wealth,
the directors threw aside all scruples, and made use of every effective
means at their command, honest or dishonest, to keep up the factitious
value of the stock. Their zealous endeavours were crowned with success;
the shares were quoted at 550 on May 28, and 890 on June 1. A general
impression having by this time gained ground that the stock had reached
its maximum, so many holders rushed to realise that the price fell to
630 on June 3. As this decline did not suit the personal interests of
the directors, they sent agents to buy up eagerly; and on the evening of
June 3, 750 was the quoted price. This and similar artifices were
employed as required, and had the effect of ultimately raising the
shares to 1000 in the beginning of August, when the chairman of the
Company and some of the principal directors sold out. On this becoming
known, a widespread uneasiness seized the holders of stock; every one
was eager to part with his shares, and on September 12 they fell to 400,
in spite of all the attempts of the directors to bolster up the
Company’s credit. The consternation of those who had been either unable
or unwilling to part with their scrip was now extreme; many capitalists
absconded, either to avoid ruinous bankruptcy, or to secure their
ill-gotten gains, and the Government became seriously alarmed at the
excited state of public feeling. Attempts were made to prevail on the
Bank to come to the rescue by circulating some millions of Company’s
bonds; but as the shares still declined, and the Company’s chief
cashiers, the Sword Blade Company, now stopped payment, the Bank refused
to entertain the proposal. The country was now wound up to a most
alarming pitch of excitement; the punishment of the fraudulent directors
was clamorously demanded, and Parliament was hastily summoned (December
8) to deliberate on the best means of mitigating this great calamity.
Both Houses proved, however, to be in as impetuous a mood as the public;
and in spite of the moderate counsels of Walpole, it was resolved
(December 9) to punish the authors of the national distresses, though
hitherto no fraudulent acts had been proved against them. An examination
of the proceedings of the Company was at once commenced; and on
Walpole’s proposal nine millions of South Sea bonds were taken up by the
Bank, and a similar amount by the East India Company. The officials of
the Company were forbidden to leave the kingdom for twelve months, or to
dispose of any of their property or effects. Ultimately various schemes,
involving the deepest fraud and villany, were discovered to have been
secretly concocted and carried out by the directors; and it was proved
that the Earl of Sunderland, the Duchess of Kendal, the Countess Platen
and her two nieces, Mr Craggs, M.P., the Company’s secretary, Mr Charles
Stanhope, a secretary of the Treasury, and the Sword Blade Company, had
been bribed to promote the Company’s bill in Parliament by a present of
£170,000 of South Sea stock. The total amount of fictitious stock
created for this and similar purposes was £1,260,000, nearly one-half of
which had been disposed of. Equally flagrant iniquity in the allocation
of shares was discovered, in which, among others, Mr Aislabie, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, was implicated. Of these offenders, Mr
Stanhope and the Earl of Sunderland were acquitted through the unworthy
partiality of the Parliament; but Mr Aislabie, and the other directors
who were members of the House of Commons, were expelled; most of the
directors were discovered, and all of them suffered confiscation of
their possessions. The chairman was allowed to retain only £5000 out of
£183,000, and others in proportion to their share in the fraudulent
transactions of the Company. At the end of 1720, it being found that
£13,300,000 of real stock belonged to the Company, £8,000,000 of this
was taken and divided among the losers, giving them a dividend of 33⅓
per cent.; and by other schemes of adjustment the pressure was so fairly
and wisely distributed, that the excitement gradually subsided.” It will
thus be seen that the South Sea Bubble was, after all, not more
disastrous in its effects than many modern and comparatively unknown
speculations.
It is singular that the South Sea Bubble led to little--almost
nothing--in the way of advertisements. When we think of the columns
which now herald the advent of any new company, or for the matter of
that, any new idea of an old company, or any fresh specific or article
of clothing, it seems strange that at a time when the art of advertising
was fast becoming fashionable, no invitations to subscribe were
published in any of the daily or weekly papers that then existed. Just
before the consent of Parliament was obtained we find one or two stray
advertisements certainly, but they have no official status, as may be
judged by this, which is from the _Post Boy_, April 2-5, 1720:--
⸸*⸸ Some Calculations relating to the Proposals made by the South Sea
Company and the Bank of England, to the House of Commons; Showing the
loss to the New Subscribers, at the several Rates in the said
Computations mention’d; and the Gain which will thereby accrue to the
Proprietors of the Old South Sea Stock. By a Member of the House of
Commons. Sold by J. Morphew near Stationers Hall. Pr. 1s. Where may
be obtained Mr. Hutchison’s Answer to Mr. Crookshank’s Seasonable
Remarks.
In the _Daily Courant_ of April 4 is also the following, which shows the
immense amount of the stock possessed by private individuals. The reward
offered for the recovery of the warrant seems ridiculously small, let
its value be what it might to the finder:--
Lost or mislaid, a South Sea Dividend Warrant No. 1343 dated the 25th
of February last, made out to John Powell Esq. for 630_l_ being for
his Half Years Dividend on 21,000_l_ stock due the 25th of December
last. If offered in Payment or otherwise please to stop it and give
Notice to Mr Robert Harris at the South Sea House, and you shall
receive 10s Reward, it not being endorsed by the said John Powell Esq.
is of no use but to the Owner, Payment being Stopt.
The only official notification in reference to the Bubble is found in
the _London Gazette_, “published by authority,” of April 5-9, 1720. It
is the commencement of a list of Acts passed by the King, and runs
thus:--
_Westminster, April 7._
HIS Majesty came this Day to the House of Peers, and being in his
Royal Robes seated on the Throne with the usual Solemnity, Sir William
Saunderson, Gentleman-Usher of the Black Rod, was sent with a Message
from His Majesty to the House of Commons, commanding their Attendance
in the House of Peers; the Commons being come thither accordingly, His
Majesty was pleased to give the Royal Assent to
_An Act for enabling the South Sea Company to increase their present
Capital Stock and Fund, by redeeming such publick Debts and
Incumbrances as are therein mentioned, and for raising Money for
lessening several of the publick Debts and Incumbrances, and for
calling in the present Exchequer Bills remaining uncancelled, and for
making forth new Bills in lieu thereof to be circulated and exchanged
upon Demand at or near the Exchequer._
The advertisement then goes on to state what other Acts received the
royal assent, but with none of them have we anything to do. In the _Post
Boy_ of June 25-28 there is a notice of a contract being lost, which
runs thus:--
WHereas a Contract for the Delivery of South Sea Stock made between
William Byard Grey, Esq. and Mr. William Ferrour is mislaid or dropt:
If the Person who is possess’d of it will bring it to the Wheat-Sheaf
in Warwick-Lane, he shall have Ten Guineas Reward, and no Questions
ask’d.
And in the issue of the same paper for June 30-July 1 we find this,
which refers to the Company on which all the South Sea directors’ orders
were made payable:--
FOund at the South Sea House Saturday the 17th of June a Sword-Blade
Company’s Note. If the Person that lost it will apply to Mr.
Colston’s, a Toy Shop at the Flower-de-Luce against the Exchange in
Cornhill, and describe the said Note shall have it return’d, paying
the Charge of the Advertisement.
These are, however, only incidental advertisements, which might have
occurred had the Company been anything but that which it was; and so we
have only to remark on the peculiar quietness with which all rigging
operations were managed in those days. One of the paragraphs quoted in a
note a short distance back will, however, account for the fact that
advertisements were not found in the usual places.
The growth of the disgusting system which permitted of public combats
between women is exhibited in several advertisements of 1722, the most
noticeable among them being one in which a challenge and reply are
published as inducements to the public to disburse their cash and
witness a spectacle which must have made many a strong man sick:--
CHALLENGE.--I, Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some
words with Hannah Hyfield, and requiring satisfaction, do invite her
to meet me upon the stage, and box me for three guineas; each woman
holding half a crown in each hand, and the first woman that drops the
money to lose the battle.
ANSWER.--I, Hannah Hyfield, of Newgate Market, hearing of the
resoluteness of Elizabeth Wilkinson, will not fail, _God willing_, to
give her more blows than words, desiring home blows, and from her no
favour; she may expect a good thumping!
The precaution taken with the half-crowns to keep the hands clenched and
so prevent scratching, shows that even these degraded creatures had not
quite forgotten the peculiarities of the sex. And that there is piety in
pugilism--even of this kind--is proved by the admittance that the Deity
had to give his consent to “the ladies’ battle.” But Mesdames Wilkinson
and Hyfield sink into insignificance when compared with the heroines of
the following, which is cut from the _Daily Post_ of July 17, 1728:--
AT _Mr. Stokes’ Amphitheatre_ in Islington Road, this present Monday,
being the 7 of October, will be a complete Boxing Match by the two
following Championesses:--Whereas I, Ann Field, of Stoke Newington,
ass-driver, well known for my abilities in boxing in my own defence
wherever it happened in my way, having been affronted by Mrs. Stokes,
styled the European Championess, do fairly invite her to a trial of
the best skill in boxing for 10 pounds, fair rise and fall; and
question not but to give her such proofs of my judgment that shall
oblige her to acknowledge me Championess of the Stage, to the entire
satisfaction of all my friends.
I, Elizabeth Stokes, of the City of London, have not fought in this
way since I fought the famous boxing woman of Billingsgate 29 minutes
and gained a complete victory (which is six years ago); but as the
famous Stoke Newington ass-woman dares me to fight her for the 10
pounds, I do assure her I will not fail meeting her for the said sum,
and doubt not that the blows which I shall present her with will be
more difficult for her to digest, than any she ever gave her asses.
_Note._--A man known by the name of Rugged and Tuff, challenges the
best man of Stoke Newington to fight him for one guinea to what sum
they please to venture. _N.B._--Attendance will be given at one, and
the encounter to begin at four precisely. There will be the diversion
of cudgel-playing as usual.
Pugilism was evidently a much valued accomplishment among the
lower-class ladies in 1728, and there is no doubt that Mrs Stokes and
Mrs Field were considered very estimable persons as well as great
athletes in their respective circles. There is, moreover, a suspicion of
humour about the reference to the asses in the reply of Mrs Stokes. In
the happily-named Rugged and Tuff we see the forerunner of that line of
champions of the ring which, commencing with Figg and Broughton, ran
unbroken up to comparatively modern days. Other advertisements about
this period relate to cock-matches and mains, sometimes specified to
“last the week,” to bull-baiting in its ordinary and sometimes in its
more cruel form of dressing up the beasts with fireworks, so as to
excite both them and the savage dogs to their utmost. Perhaps brutality
was never so rampant, or affected so many phases of society as it did in
the first half of the eighteenth century. Slavery was considered a
heaven-born institution, not alone as regards coloured races, for
expeditions to the Plantations went on merrily and afforded excellent
opportunities for the disposal of any one who happened to make himself
objectionable by word or deed, or even by his very existence. The wicked
uncle with an eye on the family property had a very good time then, and
the rightful heir was often doomed to a slavery almost worse than death.
Apropos of slavery, we may as well quote a very short advertisement
which shows how the home trade flourished in 1728. It is from the _Daily
Journal_ of September 28:--
TO be sold, a Negro boy, aged eleven years. Enquire of the Virginia
Coffee-house in Threadneedle street, behind the Royal Exchange.
Negroes had in 1728 become quite common here, and had pushed out their
predecessors, the Moors and Asiatics, who formerly held submissive
servitude. This was probably owing to the nefarious traffic commenced in
1680 by Hawkins, which in little more than a hundred years caused the
departure from their African homes and the transplanting in Jamaica
alone of 910,000 negroes, to say nothing of those who died on the
voyage, or who found their way to England and other countries.
[28] This is Partridge the almanac-maker, who was fortunate enough to
be mentioned in the “Rape of the Lock.” After the rape has taken place
the poem goes on to say--
“This the _beau monde_ shall from the Mall survey,
And hail with music its propitious ray;
This the blest lover shall for Venus take,
And send up prayers from Rosamunda’s lake;
This Partridge soon shall view in cloudless skies,
When next he looks through Galileo’s eyes;
And hence the egregious wizard shall foredoom
The fate of Louis and the fall of Rome.”
It would seem, therefore, that the guiding spirits of the _Tatler_,
fancying that he had received undue publicity in a favourable manner,
were disposed to show Partridge that all advertisements are not
necessarily adjuncts to business.
[29] An advertising trussmaker of that day.
[30] A specimen advertisement of one of these inventors appears in the
_Postman_ of January 6-9, 1705:--
SINCE so many upstarts do daily publish one thing or other to
counterfeit the original strops, for setting razors, penknives,
lancets, etc., upon, And pretend them to be most excellent; the first
author of the said strops, does hereby testify that all such sort of
things are only made in imitation of the true ones, which are
permitted to be sold by no one but Mr Shipton, at John’s Coffee House,
in Exchange Alley, as hath been often mentioned in the Gazettes, to
prevent people being further imposed upon.
An opposition notice appears shortly afterwards in the _Daily Courant_
of January 11:--
THE _Right Venetian Strops_, being the only fam’d ones made, as
appears by the many thousands that have been sold, notwithstanding the
many false shams and ridiculous pretences, as “original,” etc., that
are almost every day published to promote the sale of counterfeits,
and to lessen the great and truly wonderful fame of the _Venetian
Strops_, which are most certainly the best in the world, for they will
give razors, penknives, lancets, etc., such an exquisite fine, smooth,
sharp, exact and durable edge, that the like was never known, which
has been experienced by thousands of gentlemen in England, Scotland
and Ireland. Are sold only at Mr Allcraft’s, a toy shop at the Blue
Coat Boy, against the Royal Exchange, &c. &c.
[31] Both oculists of some renown, who advertised largely.
[32] On January 1, 1720, the _Daily Courant_, and other papers, quote
South Sea Stock at 127¾, 128⅝, to 128. Bank 150¼. India 200, 200½, to
200. The quotation for Thursday, April 7 (in _Daily Post_, Friday,
April 8), is, “Yesterday South Sea Stock was 314, 310, 311, 309, 309½,
to 310. Bank 145. India 223.” On the 27th May it was 555, and Bank was
205 (_Post Boy_, May 28). It then fell a little, but in the _Daily
Courant_ of June 2 it is quoted at 610 to 760, Bank 210 to 220, India
290 to 300. The _Daily Post_ of Wednesday, June 8, contains the
following puff for the scheme: “’Tis said that the South Sea Company
being willing to have all the Annuities subscribed to their Stock, now
offer forty-five years’ purchase for those which have not yet been
bought in.” And again: “The Annuities which have been subscribed into
the South Sea Stock are risen to a very great height, so that what
would formerly sell but for £1500, is now worth £8000.” In the _Post
Boy_ of June 23-25, we find this: “Yesterday South Sea Stock was for
the opening of the Book 1100. 1st Subscr. 565, 2d Subscr. 610, 3rd
Subscr. 200. Bank 265. East India 440.” On Friday, June 24, the _Daily
Post_ says, “We hear that South Sea Stock was sold yesterday at 1000
per cent., and great wagers are laid that it will be currently sold
before the opening of the Books at 1200 per cent. exclusive of the
Dividend.” It is several times after this quoted at 1100, but never
over. These compilations show that a higher rate was attained by the
stock than is given in the article quoted above, or is generally
believed.