CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION.
CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION.
REPRINTED FROM THE
"QUARTERLY" & "EDINBURGH" REVIEWS.
BY ANDREW WYNTER, M.D.
SEVENTH EDITION.
LONDON:
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY,
AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.
[_The Right of Translation is reserved._]
TO THE READER.
The following Essays have been reprinted from the pages of the _Quarterly_
and _Edinburgh Reviews_, with the kind permission of their proprietors. It
may be necessary, however, to state that, with the exception of the paper
on the "Mortality in Trades and Professions," which was published in the
_Edinburgh Review_ of January, 1860, the whole of them have appeared in
the _Quarterly Review_ during the last six years. The date of each essay
is given in the list of contents; but, where necessary, corrections have
been made, so as to bring each article up to the knowledge of the present
day.
A. W.
COLEHERNE COURT, OLD BROMPTON.
_August, 1860._
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
ADVERTISEMENTS (1855) 1
FOOD AND ITS ADULTERATIONS (1855) 53
THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS (1855) 93
RATS (1857) 128
LUNATIC ASYLUMS (1857) 150
THE LONDON COMMISSARIAT (1854) 200
WOOLWICH ARSENAL (1858) 245
SHIPWRECKS (1858) 288
LODGING, FOOD, AND DRESS OF SOLDIERS (1859) 325
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH (1854) 349
FIRES AND FIRE INSURANCE (1855) 401
THE POLICE AND THE THIEVES (1856) 451
MORTALITY IN TRADES AND PROFESSIONS (1860) 499
ADVERTISEMENTS.
It is our purpose to draw out, as a thread might be drawn from some woven
fabric, a continuous line of advertisements from the newspaper press of
this country, since its establishment to the present time; and, by so
doing, to show how distinctly, from its dye, the pattern of the age
through which it ran is represented. If we follow up to its source any
public institution, fashion, or amusement, which has flourished during a
long period of time, we can gain some idea of our national progress and
development; but it strikes us that in no manner can we so well obtain at
a rapid glance a view of the salient points of generations that have
passed, as by consulting those small voices that have cried from age to
age from the pages of the press, declaring the wants, the losses, the
amusements, and the money-making eagerness of the people.
As we read in the old musty files of papers those _naïve_ announcements,
the very hum of bygone generations seems to rise to the ear. The chapman
exhibits his quaint wares; the mountebank capers again upon his stage; we
have the living portrait of the highwayman flying from justice; we see the
old china auctions thronged with ladies of quality with their attendant
negro boys, or those "by inch of candlelight" forming many a Schalken-like
picture of light and shade; or, later still, we have Hogarthian sketches
of the young bloods who swelled of old along the Pall-Mall. We trace the
moving panorama of men and manners up to our own less demonstrative but
more earnest times; and all these cabinet pictures are the very
daguerreotypes cast by the age which they exhibit, not done for effect,
but faithful reflections of those insignificant items of life and things,
too small, it would seem, for the generalizing eye of the historian,
however necessary to clothe and fill in the dry bones of his history.
The _English Mercurie_ of 1588, which professes to have been published
during those momentous days when the Spanish Armada was hovering and
waiting to pounce upon our southern shores, contains, among its items of
news, three or four book advertisements, and these would undoubtedly have
been the first put forth in England were that newspaper genuine. Mr.
Watts, of the British Museum, has, however, proved that the several
numbers of this journal to be found in our national library are gross
forgeries, and, indeed, the most inexperienced eye in such matters can
easily see that neither their type, paper, spelling, nor composition are
much more than one, instead of upwards of two centuries and a half old.
Newspapers, in the strict sense of the word--that is, publications of news
appearing at stated intervals, and regularly paged on--did not make their
appearance until the latter end of the reign of James I. The _Weekely
Newes_, published in London in 1622, was the first publication which
answered to this description; it contained, however, only a few scraps of
foreign intelligence, and was quite destitute of advertisements. The
terrible contest of the succeeding reign was the hotbed which forced the
press of this country into sudden life and extraordinary vigour. Those who
have wandered in the vaults of the British Museum and contemplated the
vast collection of political pamphlets and the countless Mercuries which
sprang full armed, on either side of the quarrel, from the strong and
earnest brains which wrought in that great political trouble, will not
hesitate to discover, amidst the hubbub of the Rebellion, the first throes
of the press of England as a political power. At such a time, when
Marchmort Needham fell foul with his types of Sir John Birkenhead and the
court party which he supported, with as heavy a hand and as dauntless a
will as Cromwell hurled his Ironsides at the Cavaliers at Naseby, it is
not likely that we should find the press the vehicle to make known the
goods of tradesmen, or to offer a reward for stolen horses. The
shopkeepers themselves, as well as the nobility, were too hard at it, to
avail themselves of this new mode of extending their trade: they had to
keep guard over the malignants, to cover the five members with the shield
of their arms, to overawe Whitehall, to march to the relief of
Gloucester,--objects quite sufficient to account for the fact that the
train-bands were not advertisers. After the king's death, however, when
the Commonwealth had time to breathe, the people seem to have discovered
the use of the press as a means of making known their wants and of giving
publicity to their wares. The very first advertisement we have met with,
after an active search among the earliest newspapers, relates to a book
which is entitled--
Irenodia Gratulatoria, an Heroick Poem; being a congratulatory
panegyrick for my Lord General's late return, summing up his successes
in an exquisite manner.
To be sold by John Holden, in the New Exchange, London. Printed by
Tho. Newcourt, 1652.
This appeared in the January number of the Parliamentary paper _Mercurius
Politicus_. It is evidently a piece of flattery to Cromwell upon his
victories in Ireland, and might have been inserted at the instigation of
the great Commonwealth leader himself. Booksellers appear to have been the
first to take advantage of this new medium of publicity, and for the
obvious reason that their goods were calculated for the readers of the
public journals, who at that time must have consisted almost exclusively
of the higher orders. From this date to the Restoration the quaintest
titles of works on the political and religious views, such as were then in
the ascendant, are to be found in the _Mercurius Politicus_: thus, we have
"Gospel Marrow;" "A few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul;"
"Michael opposing the Dragon, or a Fiery Dart struck through the Kingdom
of the Serpent." And in the number for September, 1659, we find an
advertisement which seems to bring us face to face with one of the
brightest names in the roll of English poets:--
Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove Hirelings out of
the Church; wherein is also discours'd of Tithes, Church Fees, Church
Revenues, and whether any maintenance of Ministers can be settled by
Law. The author, J. M. Sold by _Livewell Chapman_, at the Crown in
Pope's Head Alley.
In juxtaposition to these illustrious initials we find another
advertisement, which is the representative of a class that prevailed most
extensively at this early time--the Hue and Cry after runaway servants and
lost or stolen horses and dogs. Every generation is apt to praise, like
Orlando, "the antique service of the old world;" but a little excursion
into the regions of the past shows us how persistent this cry has been in
all ages. Employers who are in the habit of eulogising servants of the
"old school," would be exceedingly astonished to find that two hundred
years ago they were a very bad lot indeed, as far as we can judge from the
advertisements of rewards for the seizure of delinquents of their class.
Here is a full-length portrait of apparently a runaway apprentice, as
drawn in the _Mercurius Politicus_ of July 1st, 1658:--
If any one can give notice of one _Edward Perry_, being about the age
of eighteen or nineteen years, of low stature, black hair, full of
pockholes in his face; he weareth a new gray suit trimmed with green
and other ribbons, a light Cinnamon-colored cloak, and black hat, who
run away lately from his Master; they are desired to bring or send
word to _Tho. Firby_, Stationer, at Gray's Inne gate, who will
thankfully reward them.
It will be observed that the dashing appearance of this runaway
apprentice, habited in his gray suit trimmed with green ribbons, and
furbished off so spicily with his cinnamon-coloured cloak, is rather
marred by the description of his face as "full of pockholes." Unless the
reader has scanned the long list of villanous portraits exhibited by the
Hue and Cry in the old papers of the last portion of the seventeenth and
first portion of the eighteenth centuries, he can form but a faint
conception of the ravages committed by the small-pox upon the population.
Every man seemed more or less to have been speckled with "pockholes," and
the race must have presented one moving mass of pits and scars. Here, for
instance, is a companion picture to hang with that of Edward Perry,
copied from the _Mercurius Politicus_ of May 31st, 1660:--
A Black-haired Maid, of a middle stature, thick set, with big breasts,
having her face full marked with the smallpox, calling herself by the
name of _Nan_ or _Agnes Hobson_, did, upon Monday the 28 of _May_,
about six o'Clock in the morning, steal away from her Ladies house in
the Pal-mall a mingle-coloured wrought Tabby Gown of Deer colour and
white; a black striped Sattin Gown with four broad bone-black silk
Laces, and a plain black-watered French Tabby Gown; Also, one
Scarlet-coloured and one other Pink-coloured Sarcenet Peticoat, and a
white watered Tabby Wastcoat, plain; Several Sarcenet, Mode, and thin
black Hoods and Scarfs, several fine Holland Shirts, a laced pair of
Cuffs and Dressing; one pair of Pink-coloured Worsted Stockings, a
Silver Spoon, a Leather bag, &c. She went away in greyish Cloth
Wastcoat turned, and a Pink-coloured Paragon upper Peticoat, with a
green Tammy under one. If any shall give notice of this person, or
things, at one _Hopkins_, a Shoomaker's, next door to the Vine Tavern,
near the Pal-mall end, near Charing Cross, or at Mr. _Ostler's_, at
the Bull Head in Cornhill, near the Old Exchange, they shall be
rewarded for their pains.
Scarcely a week passes without such runaways being advertised, together
with a list of the quaint articles of which their booty consisted. At the
risk of wearying the reader with these descriptions of the "old-fashioned"
sort of servants, we give another advertisement from the _Mercurius
Politicus_ of July 1st 1658:--
One _Eleanor Parker_ (by birth _Haddock_), of a Tawny reddish
complexion, a pretty long nose, tall of stature, servant to Mr.
_Frederic Howpert_, Kentish Town, upon Saturday last the _26th of
June_, ran away and stole two Silver Spoons; a sweet Tent-work Bag,
with gold and silver Lace about it, and lined with Satin; a Bugle
work-Cushion, very curiously wrought in all manners of slips and
flowers; a Shell cup, with a Lyon's face, and a Ring of silver in its
mouth; besides many other things of considerable value, which she took
out of her Mistresses Cabinet, which she broke open; as also some
Cloaths and Linen of all sorts, to the value of Ten pounds and
upwards. If any one do meet with her and please to secure her, and
give notice to the said _Frederic Howpert_, or else to Mr. _Malpass_,
Leather-seller, at the Green Dragon, at the upper end of Lawrence
Lane, he shall be thankfully rewarded for his pains.
An advertisement which appears in the same paper, of the date of August
11th, 1659, gives us the first notice we have yet found of the service of
negro boys in this country. From this period, however, as we shall
presently show, England, at least the fashionable part of it, seems to
have swarmed with young blackamoors in a greater degree than we should
have imagined even from the familiar notice made of them in the pages of
the "Tatler" and "Spectator." These early negroes must have been imported
from the Portuguese territories, as we did not deal in the article
ourselves till the year 1680. The amusing point of the following
advertisement, however, is the assurance it gives us that the Puritans
"polled" their negroes as well as themselves.
A Negro-boy, about nine years of age, in a gray Searge suit, his hair
cut close to his head, was lost on Tuesday last, _August 9_, at night,
in _S. Nicholas_ Lane, _London_. If any one can give notice of him to
Mr. _Tho. Barker_, at the Sugarloaf in that Lane, they shall be well
rewarded for their pains.
About this time we find repeatedly advertised the loss of horses. It is
observable that during the "troubles" such things as highwaymen were
unknown. The bold, unruly characters, who at a later date took to the
road, were then either enlisted under the banners of the state or had gone
over the sea to Charlie. The great extent to which horse-stealing
prevailed during the Commonwealth period, and, indeed, for the next
half-century, might possibly be ascribed to the value of those animals
consequent upon the scarcity produced by the casualties of the
battle-field. We cannot account, however, for one fact connected with the
horse-stealing of the Commonwealth period, namely, that when at grass they
were often kept _saddled_. The following advertisement, which is an
illustration of this singular custom, is very far from being an uncommon
one:--
A small black NAG, some ten or eleven years old, no white at all,
bob-Tailed, wel forehanded, somewhat thin behind, thick Heels, and
goeth crickling and lamish behind at his first going out; the hair is
beat off upon his far Hip as broad as a twelvepence; he hath a black
leather Saddle trimmed with blew, and covered with a black
Calves-skin, its a little torn upon the Pummel; two new Girths of
white and green thread, and black Bridle, the Rein whereof is sowed on
the off side, and a knot to draw it on the near side, Stoln out of a
field at _Chelmsford_, _21 February_ instant, from Mr. _Henry Bullen_.
Whosoever can bring tidings to the said Mr. _Bullen_ at _Bromfield_,
or to Mr. _Newman_ at the Grocer's Arms in _Cornhil_, shall have
20_s._ for his pains.--_Mercurius Politicus_, February 24, 1659.
It could scarcely have been, in this particular case at least, that the
exigencies of the time required such precautions, as the only rising that
took place this year occurred six months afterwards in the county of
Chester. The furniture of the nag, it must be confessed, seems remarkably
adapted for service, and might, from its colour, have belonged to a
veritable Ironside trooper. Another reason, perhaps, of the great value of
horses at this period, was the establishment of public conveyances, by
which means travellers as well as letters were conveyed from one part of
the kingdom to the other. Prior to the year 1636 there was no such thing
as a postal service for the use of the people in this country. The court
had, it is true, an establishment for the forwarding of despatches, but
its efficacy may be judged of from a letter written by one Bryan Tuke,
"master of the postes" in Henry VIII.'s time, to Cromwell, who had
evidently been sharply reproving him for remissness in forwarding the
king's papers:--
"The Kinges Grace hath no mor ordinary postes, ne of many days hathe
had, but betweene London and Calais.... For, sir, ye knowe well that,
except the hackney-horses betweene Gravesende and Dovour, there is no
suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as in the
accustomed places of France and other partes; ne men can keepe horses
in redynes withoute som way to bere the charges; but when placardes be
sent for suche cause (to order the immediate forwarding of some state
packet) _the constables many tymes be fayne to take horses oute of
ploues and cartes, wherein can be no extreme diligence_."
This was in the year 1533. Elizabeth, however, established horse-posts on
all the great routes for the transmission of the letters of the court; and
this, in 1633, was developed into a public post, which went night and day
at the rate of seven miles an hour in summer and five miles in winter--not
such bad travelling for those days. Still there was no means of forwarding
passengers until the time of Cromwell, when we find stagecoaches
established on all the great roads throughout the kingdom. We do not know
that we have ever seen quoted so early a notice of public stage
conveyances. We have evidently not given our ancestors so much credit as
they deserved. The following advertisement shows the time taken and the
fares of a considerable number of these journeys:--
From the 26 day of April 1658 there will continue to go Stage Coaches
from the _George_ Inn, without Aldersgate, _London_, unto the several
Cities and Towns, for the Rates and at the times, hereafter mentioned
and declared.
_Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday._
To _Salisbury_ in two days for xx_s._ To _Blandford_ and _Dorchester_
in two days and half for xxx_s._ To _Burput_ in three days for xxx_s._
To _Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_ in four days for xl_s._
To _Stamford_ in two days for xx_s._ To _Newark_ in two days and a
half for xxv_s._ To _Bawtrey_ in three days for xxx_s._ To _Doncaster_
and _Ferribridge_ for xxxv_s._ To _York_ in four days for xl_s._
_Mondays_ and _Wednesdays_ to _Ockinton_ and _Plymouth_ for l_s._
Every _Monday_ to _Helperby_ and _Northallerton_ for xlv_s._ To
_Darneton_ and _Ferryhil_ for l_s._ To Durham for lv_s._ To
_Newcastle_ for iii_l._
Once every fortnight to _Edinburgh_ for iv_l._ a peece--_Mondays_.
Every _Friday_ to _Wakefield_ in four days, xl_s._
All persons who desire to travel unto the Cities, Towns, and Roads
herein hereafter mentioned and expressed, namely--to _Coventry_,
_Litchfield_, _Stone_, _Namptwich_, _Chester_, _Warrington_, _Wiggan_,
_Chorley_, _Preston_, _Gastang_, _Lancaster_, and _Kendal_; and also
to _Stamford_, _Grantham_, _Newark_, _Tuxford_, _Bawtrey_,
_Doncaster_, _Ferriebridge_, _York_, _Helperly_, _Northallerton_,
_Darneton_, _Ferryhill_, _Durham_, and _Newcastle_, _Wakefield_,
_Leeds_, and _Halifax_; and also to _Salisbury_, _Blandford_,
_Dorchester_, _Burput_, _Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_,
_Ockinton_, _Plimouth_, and _Cornwal_; let them repair to the _George_
Inn at _Holborn Bridge, London_, and thence they shall be in good
Coaches with good Horses, upon every _Monday_, _Wednesday_, and
_Fridays_, at and for reasonable Rates.--_Mercurius Politicus_, April
1, 1658.
Other announcements about the same time prove that the Great Western road
was equally provided, as well as the Dover route to the continent. It is
not a little singular, however, that regularly-appointed coaches, starting
at stated intervals, should have preceded what might be considered the
simpler arrangement of the horse service. That the development of the
postal system into a means of forwarding single travellers did not take
place until some time afterwards, would appear from the following:--
_The Postmasters on_ Chester _Road, petitioning, have received Order,
and do accordingly publish the following advertisement_:--
All Gentlemen, Merchants, and others, who have occasion to travel
between _London_ and _Westchester_, _Manchester_, and _Warrington_, or
any other Town upon that Road, for the accommodation of Trade,
dispatch of Business, and ease of Purse, upon every Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday Morning, betwixt Six and ten of the Clock, at the House of
Mr. _Christopher Charteris_, at the sign of the Hart's-Horn, in
West-Smithfield, and Post-Master there, and at the Post-Master of
_Chester_, at the Post-Master of _Manchester_, and at the Post-Master
of _Warrington_, may have a good and able single Horse, or more,
furnished at Threepence the Mile, without the charge of a Guide; and
so likewise at the House of Mr. _Thomas Challenor_, Post-Master at
_Stone_ in _Staffordshire_, upon every Tuesday, Thursday, and
Saturdays Morning, to go for _London_. And so likewise at the several
Post-Masters upon the Road, who will have all such set days so many
Horses with Furniture in readiness to furnish the Riders without any
stay to carry them to or from any the places aforesaid, in Four days,
as well to _London_ as from thence, and to places nearer in less time,
according as their occasions shall require, they ingaging at the first
Stage where they take Horse, for the safe delivery of the same to the
next immediate Stage, and not to ride that Horse any further without
consent of the Post-Master by whom he rides, and so from Stage to
Stage to their Journeys end. _All those who intend to ride this way
are desired to give a little notice beforehand, if conveniently they
can, to the several Post-masters where they first take horse, whereby
they may be furnished with so many Horses as the Riders shall require
with expedition._ This undertaking began the 28 of _June_ 1658 at all
the Places abovesaid, and so continues by the several Post-Masters.
The intimation that these horses might be had without the "charge of a
guide" gives us an insight into the bad condition of the roads up to that
period. We can scarcely imagine, in these days, the necessity for a guide
to direct us along the great highways of England, and can with difficulty
realize to ourselves the fact that as late as the middle of the
seventeenth century the interior of the country was little better than a
wilderness, as we may indeed gather from Pepy's journey from London to
Bristol and back, in which the item "guides" formed no inconsiderable
portion of his expenses.
In turning over the musty little quarto newspapers which mirror with such
vividness the characteristic lineaments of the Commonwealth period, not
yet left behind us, we chanced upon an advertisement which tells perhaps
more than any other of the dangerous complexion of those times. It is an
advertisement for some runaway young "sawbones," whose love of desperate
adventure appears to have led him to prefer the tossing of a pike to
pounding with a pestle:--
_George Weale_, a Cornish youth, about 18 or 19 years of age, serving
as an Apprentice at _Kingston_ with one Mr. _Weale_, an Apothecary,
and his Uncle, about the time of the rising of the Counties _Kent_ and
_Surrey_, went secretly from his said Uncle, and is conceived to have
engaged in the same, and to be either dead, or slain in some of those
fights, having never since been heard of, either by his said Uncle, or
any of his Friends. If any person can give notice of the certainty of
the death of the said _George Weale_, let him repair to the said Mr.
_Graunt_ his House in Drum-alley in Drury Lane, _London_; he shall
have twenty shillings for his pains.--_Mercurius Politicus_, Dec. 8,
1659.
Here at least we have probably preserved the name of one of the fameless
men who were "slain in some of those fights," a phrase which in these days
opens to us a chapter in romance.
With the exception of book advertisements and quack medicines, we have not
up to this date met with a single instance of a tradesman turning the
newspaper to account in making known his goods to the public. The very
first announcement of this nature, independently of its being in itself a
curiosity, possesses a very strong interest, from the fact that it marks
the introduction of an article of food which perhaps more than all others
has served to wean the nation from one of its besetting sins of
old--drunkenness. Common report, Mr. Disraeli informs us, attributes the
introduction of "the cup which cheers but not inebriates," to Lord
Arlington and Lord Ossory, who are said to have brought over a small
quantity from Holland in 1666. The author of the "Curiosities of
Literature" does not think this statement satisfactory, and tells us that
he has heard of Oliver Cromwell's teapot being in the possession of a
collector. We never knew before of these teetotal habits of the Protector,
but we can so far back the story as to find chronologically correct bohea
to put into his pot; for though it is true that the date of the following
advertisement is three weeks after the death of his highness, it refers to
the article as a known and, by physicians, an approved drink, and
therefore must have been some time previously on sale:--
That Excellent and by all Physitians approved _China_ Drink called by
the _Chineans Tcha_, by other Nations _Tay alias Tee_, is sold at the
_Sultaness Head Cophee-House_, in _Sweetings_ Rents, by the Royal
Exchange, _London_.--_Mercurius Politicus_, September 30, 1658.
This is undoubtedly the earliest authentic announcement yet made known of
the public sale in England of this now famous beverage. The mention of a
"Cophee-house" proves that the sister stimulant was even then making way
in the country.[1] It took, however, a couple of centuries to convert
them, in the extended sense of the term, into national drinks; but, like
many other good things, it came too early. Tea may have sufficed for
fanatics, Anabaptists, Quakers, Independents, and self-denying sectaries
of all kinds; and for all we know, its early introduction, had the
Commonwealth lasted, might have accelerated the temperance movement a
century at least; but the wheel of fortune was about to turn once
more--mighty ale had to be broached, and many deep healths to be drunk by
those who had "come to their own again;" and tea, for full half a century,
was washed away by brown October and the French wines that came in with
the Merry Monarch.
We have now brought the reader upon the very borders of the period when
Charles, with his hungry followers, landed in triumph at Dover. The
advertisements which appeared during the time that Monk was temporizing
and sounding his way to the Restoration, form a capital barometer of the
state of feeling among political men at that critical juncture. We see no
more of the old Fifth-Monarchy spirit abroad. Ministers of the
steeple-houses evidently note the storm coming, and cease their
long-winded warnings to a backsliding generation. Every one is either
panting to take advantage of the first sunshine of royal favour, or to
deprecate its wrath, the coming shadow of which is clearly seen. Meetings
are advertised of those persons who have purchased sequestered estates, in
order that they may address the King to secure them in possession;
parliamentary aldermen repudiate by the same means, charges in the papers
that their names are to be found in the list of those persons who "sat
upon the tryal of the late King;" the works of "late" bishops begin again
to air themselves in the Episcopal wind that is clearly setting in; and
"The Tears, Sighs, Complaints, and Prayers of the Church of England"
appear in the advertising columns in place of the sonorous titles of
sturdy old Baxter's works. It is clear there is a great commotion at hand;
the leaves are rustling, and the dust is moving. In the very midst of it,
however, we find one name still faithful to the "old cause," as the
Puritans call it: on the 8th of March, 1660--that is, while the sway of
Charles's sceptre had already cast its shadow from Breda--we find the
following advertisement in the _Mercurius Politicus_:--
The ready and easie way to establish a free Commonwealth, and the
excellence thereof compared with the inconveniences and dangers of
readmitting Kingship in this Nation. The Author, J. M. Wherein, by
reason of the Printers haste, the Errata not coming in time, it is
desired that the following faults may be amended. Page 9, line 32, for
_the Areopagus_ read _of Areopagus_. P. 10, l. 3, for full Senate,
true Senate; l. 4, for fits, is the whole Aristocracy; l. 7, for
Provincial States, States of every City. P. 17, l. 29, for _cite_,
_citie_; 1. 30, for _left_, _felt_. Sold by _Livewel Chapman_, at the
Crown, in Pope's-head Alley.
The calmness of the blind bard in thus issuing corrections to his
hastily-printed pamphlet on behalf of a falling cause, excites our
admiration, and gives us an exalted idea of his moral courage. In two
months, as might have been expected, he was a proscribed fugitive,
sheltering his honoured head from the pursuit of Charles's myrmidons in
some secret hiding-place in Westminster, whilst his works, by order of the
House, were being burned by the common hangman.
The lawyers were not slow in perceiving the way the wind was blowing, and
set their sails accordingly--if we may take the action of one Mr. Nicholas
Bacon, as shown in the following advertisement, as any index of the
feelings of his fellows:--
Whereas one Capt. _Gouge_, a witness examined against the late Kings
Majesty, in those Records stiled himself of the Honorable Society of
_Grays_ Inne. These are to give notice that the said _Gouge_, being
long sought for, was providentially discovered in a disguise, seized
in that Society, and now in custody, being apprehended by the help of
some spectators that knew him, viewing of a Banner with his Majesties
arms, set up just at the same time of His Majesties landing, on an
high Tower in the same Society, by _Nicholas Bacon_, Esq., a Member
thereof, as a memorial of so great a deliverance, and testimony of his
constant loyalty to His Majesty, and that the said _Gouge_ upon
examination confessed, That he was never admitted not so much as a
Clerk of that Society.--_Mercurius Politicus_, June 7, 1660.
Whilst all London was throwing up caps for the restored monarch, and
England seemed so glad that he himself wondered how he could have been
persuaded to stop away so long, let us catch the lost luggage of a poor
cavalier, who has just followed his royal master from his long banishment,
and turn out its contents for our reader, in order to show that even
ruined old courtiers carried more impedimenta than the famous "shirt,
towel, and piece of soap" of our renowned Napier. The _Mercurius Publicus_
is now our mine, in which we sink a shaft, and come up with this fossil
advertisement, which bears date July 5th, 1660:--
_A Leathern Portmantle Lost at_ Sittingburn _or_ Rochester, _when his
Majesty came thither, wherein was a Suit of Camolet Holland, with two
little laces in a seam, eight pair of white Gloves, and a pair of Does
leather; about twenty yards of skie-colourd Ribbon twelvepenny broad,
and a whole piece of black Ribbon tenpenny broad, a cloath
lead-coloured cloak, with store of linnen; a pair of shooes, slippers,
a Montero, and other things; all which belong to a Gentleman (a near
servant to His Maiesty) who hath been too long Imprisoned and
Sequestered to be now robbed when all men hope to enjoy their own. If
any can give notice, they may leave word with_ Mr. Samuel Merne, _His
Majesties Book-binder, at his house in Little Britain, and they shall
be thankfully rewarded._
The king had not been "in" a month ere his habits appear through the
public papers. The _Mercurius Politicus_ is now turned courtier, and has
changed its name to the _Mercurius Publicus_. Its columns, indeed, are
entirely under the direction of the king, and, instead of slashing
articles against malignants, degenerates into a virulent oppressor of the
Puritans, and a vehicle for inquiries after his majesty's favourite dogs
that have been stolen. In the number for June 28th, 1660, for instance, we
find the following advertisement:--
[Hand] A smooth black DOG, less than a Grey-hound, with white under
his breast, belonging to the Kings Majesty, was taken from Whitehall,
the eighteenth day of this instant _June_, or thereabouts. If any one
can give notice to _John Ellis_, one of his Majesties servants, or to
his Majesties Back-Stairs, shall be well rewarded for their labour.
It is evident that "the smooth black dog" was a very great favourite, for
the next publication of the journal contains another advertisement with
respect to him, printed in larger Italic type, the diction of which, from
its pleasant raillery, looks as though it had come from the king's own
hand:--
[Hand] _We must call upon you again for a Black Dog, between a
Grey-hound and a Spaniel, no white about him, onely a streak on his
Brest, and Tayl a little bobbed. It is His Majesties own Dog, and
doubtless was stoln, for the Dog was not born nor bred in_ England,
_and would never forsake his Master. Whosoever findes him may acquaint
any at Whitehal, for the Dog was better known at Court than those who
stole him. Will they never leave robbing His Majesty? must he not keep
a Dog? This Dogs place (though better than some imagine) is the
only place which nobody offers to beg._
Pepys, about this time, describes the king with a train of spaniels and
other dogs at his heels, lounging along and feeding the ducks in St.
James's Park; and on occasions still later he was often seen talking to
Nelly, as she leaned from her garden-wall that abutted upon the Pall-Mall,
whilst his canine favourites grouped around him. On these occasions
perhaps the representatives of those gentlemen to be seen in
Regent-street, with two bundles of animated wool beneath their arms, were
on the look-out, as we find his majesty continually advertising his lost
dogs. Later we find him inquiring after "a little brindled greyhound
bitch, having her two hinder feet white;" for a "white-haired spaniel,
smooth-coated, with large red or yellowish spots," and for a "black
mastiff dog, with cropped ears and cut tail." And when royalty had done,
his Highness Prince Rupert, or Buckingham, or "my Lord Albemarle,"
resorted to the _London Gazette_ to make known their canine losses. We
think the change in the temper of the age is more clearly marked by these
dog advertisements than by anything else. The Puritans did not like
sporting animals of any kind, and we much question whether a dog would
have followed a fifth-monarchy-man. Hence the total absence of all
advertisements bearing upon the "fancy." Now that the king had returned,
the old English love of field-sports spread with fourfold vigour. We
chance upon the traces too of a courtly amusement which had been handed
down from the middle ages, and was then only lingering amongst
us--hawking. Here is an inquiry after a lost lanner:--
Richard Finney, Esquire, of Alaxton, in Leicestershire, about a
fortnight since lost a LANNER from that place; she hath neither Bells
nor Varvels; she is a white Hawk, and her long feathers and sarcels
are both in the blood. If any one give tidings thereof to Mr. Lambert
at the golden Key in Fleet-street, they shall have forty shillings for
their pains.--_Mercurius Publicus_, September 6, 1660.
As London was the only place in which a newspaper was published during the
reign of Charles, and indeed for nearly fifty years afterwards, the hue
and cry after lost animals always came to town, as a matter of course. It
sounds strange to read these advertisements of a sport the very terms of
which are now unintelligible to us. What ages seem to have passed since
these birds, in all the glory of scarlet hoods, were carried upon some
"faire lady's" wrist, or poised themselves, with fluttering wing, as the
falconer uncovered them to view their quarry! We have skipped a few years,
in order to afford one or two more examples of these picturesque
advertisements, so different from anything to be seen at the present
day:--
Lost on the 30 of October, 1665, an Intermix'd Barbary Tercel Gentle,
engraven in Varvels, Richard Windwood, of Ditton Park, in the County
of Bucks, Esq. For more particular marks--if the Varvels be taken
off--the 4th feather in one of the wings Imped, and the third pounce
of the right foot broke. If any one inform Sir William Roberts, Knight
and Baronet (near Harrow-on-the-Hill, in the County of Middlesex), or
Mr. William Philips, at the King's Head in Paternoster Row, of the
Hawk, he shall be sufficiently rewarded.--_The Intelligencer_, Nov. 6,
1665.
The next paper contains an inquiry for a goshawk belonging to Lord William
Petre, and two years later a royal bird is inquired after in the _London
Gazette_, as follows:--
A Sore ger Falcon of His Majesty, lost the 13 of August, who had one
Varvel of his Keeper, Roger Higs, of Westminster, Gent. Whosoever hath
taken her up and give notice Sir Allan Apsley, Master of His Majesties
Hawks at St. James's, shall be rewarded for his paines. Back-Stairs in
Whitehall.
This Sir Allan Apsley is the brother of Mrs. Hutchinson, who has given us
such a vivid picture, in the memoir of her husband, of the Commonwealth
time. The _London Gazette_, from which we quote, is the only paper still
in existence that had its root in those days. It first appeared in Oxford,
upon the Court taking up its abode in that city during the time of the
Great Plague, and was therefore called the _Oxford Gazette_. On the return
of Charles to London it followed in his train, and became the _London
Gazette_, or Court and official paper, and the latter character it has
retained to the present hour. The gazettes of the seventeenth century were
widely different from those of our day. They contain foreign news, as well
as state papers, royal proclamations, &c., and, stranger still,
miscellaneous advertisements are mixed up with those upon the business of
the Court. The quack doctors, with an eye, we suppose, to the "quality,"
were the first to avail themselves of its pages to make known their
nostrums. It will astonish our readers to find what an ancestry some of
the quack medicines of the present day have had. "Nervous powders,"
specifics for gout, rheumatism, &c., seized upon the columns of the
newspapers almost as early as they were published. Here is a specimen
which might still serve as a model for such announcements:--
_Gentlemen_, you are desired to take notice, That Mr. _Theophilus
Buckworth_ doth at his house on _Mile-end Green_ make and expose to
sale, for the publick good, those so famous _Lozenges_ or _Pectorals_
approved for the cure of Consumptions, Coughs, Catarrhs, Asthmas,
Hoarness, Strongness of Breath, Colds in general, Diseases incident to
the Lungs, and a sovoraign Antidote against the Plague, and all other
contagious Diseases and obstructions of the Stomach: And for more
convenience of the people, constantly leaveth them sealed up with his
coat of arms on the papers, with Mr. _Rich. Lowndes_ (as formerly), at
the sign of the White Lion, near the little north door of _Pauls
Church_; Mr. _Henry Seile_, over against _S. Dunstan's_ Church in
Fleet Street; Mr. _William Milward_, at _Westminster_ Hall Gate; Mr.
_John Place_, at _Furnival's Inn Gate_, in Holborn; and Mr. _Robert
Horn_, at the Turk's-head near the entrance of the Royal Exchange,
Booksellers, and no others.
_This is published to prevent the designs of divers Pretenders,
who counterfeit the said Lozenges, to the disparagement of the
said Gentleman, and great abuse of the people._--_Mercurius
Politicus_, Nov. 16, 1660.
The next is equally characteristic:--
Most Excellent and Approved _Dentifrices_ to scour and cleanse the
Teeth, making them white as Ivory, preserves from the Toothach; so
that, being constantly used, the parties using it are never troubled
with the Toothach: It fastens the Teeth, sweetens the Breath, and
preserves the Gums and Mouth from Cankers and Imposthumes. Made by
_Robert Turner_, Gentleman; and the right are onely to be had at
_Thomas Rookes_, Stationer, at the Holy Lamb at the east end of St.
Paul's Church, near the School, in sealed papers, at 12_d._ the paper.
_The reader is desired to beware of counterfeits._
(_Mercurius Politicus_, Dec. 20, 1660.)
Other advertisements about this time profess to cure all diseases by means
of an "antimonial cup." Sir Kenelm Digby, the same learned knight who
feasted his wife upon capons fattened upon serpents, in order to make her
fair, advertises a book in which he professes to show a method of curing
wounds by a powder of sympathy; and here is a notification of a remedy
which shows still more clearly the superstitious character of the age:--
Small baggs to hang about Children's necks, which are excellent both
for the _prevention and cure_ of the _Rickets_, and to ease children
in breeding of Teeth, are prepared by Mr. Edmund Buckworth, and
constantly to be had at Mr. Philip Clark's, Keeper of the Library in
the Fleet, and nowhere else, at 5 shillings a bagge.--_The
Intelligencer_, Oct. 16, 1664.
It was left, however, to the reign of Anne for the mountebank to descend
from his stage in the fair and the market-place, in order to erect it in
the public newspapers. But we have yet to mention one, who might appear to
some to be the greatest quack of all, and who about this time resorted to
an advertisement in the newspapers to call his patients to his doors;--the
royal charlatan, who touched for the evil, makes known that he is at home
for the season to his people through the medium of the _Public
Intelligencer_ of 1664:--
Whitehall, May 14, 1664. His Sacred Majesty, having declared it to be
his Royal will and purpose to continue the healing of his people for
the Evil during the Month of May, and then to give over till
Michaelmas next, I am commanded to give notice thereof, that the
people may not come up to Town in the Interim and lose their labour.
No doubt there was much political significance in this pretended efficacy
of the royal touch in scrofulous afflictions; at the same time, there is
reason to believe that patients did sometimes speedily recover after
undergoing the regal contact. Dr. Tyler Smith, who has written a very
clever little book on the subject, boldly states his belief that the
emotion felt by these poor stricken people who came within the influence
of "that divinity which doth hedge a king," acted upon them as a powerful
mental tonic; in a vast number of cases, however, we might impute the
tonic to the gold coin which the king always bestowed upon his patient. Be
that as it may, the practice flourished down to the time of Anne, at whose
death it stopped; the sovereigns of the line of Brunswick never pretending
to possess this medicinal virtue, coming as they did to the throne by only
a parliamentary title. The reaction from the straightlaced times of the
Commonwealth, which set in immediately upon the Restoration, seems to have
arrived at its height about the year 1664, and the advertisements at that
period reflect very truly the love of pleasure and excitement which seized
hold of the people, as if they were bent on making up for the time that
had been lost during the Puritanic rule. They are mostly taken up, in
fact, with inquiries after "lost lace-work;" announcements of lotteries in
the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall, of jewels, tapestry, and lockets of "Mr.
Cooper's work," of which the following is a fair specimen:--
Lost, on the 27th of July, about Boswell Yard or Drury Lane, a Ladyes
Picture, set in gold, and three Keys, with divers other little things
in a perfumed pocket. Whosoever shall give notice of or bring the said
picture to Mr. Charles Coakine, Goldsmith, near Staples Inne, Holborn,
shall have 4 times the value of the gold for his payns.--_The News_,
August 4, 1664.
The love of the people also for the strange and marvellous is shown by
announcements of rare sights; for instance, we are told that,--
At the Mitre, near the west end of St. Paul's, is to be seen a rare
Collection of Curiosityes, much resorted to and admired by persons of
great learning and quality, among which a choyce Egyptian Mummy, with
hieroglyphicks; the Ant-Beare of Brasil; a Remora; a Torpedo; the Huge
Thigh-bone of a Giant; a Moon Fish; a Tropic Bird, &c.--_The News_ of
June 2, 1664.
A rather scanty collection of articles, it is true, but eked out
monstrously by the "huge thigh-bone of a giant," which in all probability
belonged to some huge quadruped. The ignorance of those times with
respect to natural history must have been something astonishing, as about
the same date we find the following print of what were evidently
considered very curious animals advertised in the _London Gazette_:--
A True Representation of the Rhonoserous and Elephant, lately brought
from the East Indies to London, drawn after the life, and curiously
engraven in Mezzotinto, printed upon a large sheet of paper. Sold by
PIERCE TEMPEST, at the Eagle and Child in the Strand, over against
Somerset House, Water Gate.--The _London Gazette_, Jan. 22, 1664.
In the succeeding year all advertisements of this kind stop; amusements,
from some great disturbing cause, have ceased to attract; there is no more
gambling under the name of lotteries at Whitehall; no more curiosities are
exhibited to a pleasure loving crew; no more books of amorous songs are
published; no more lockets or perfumed bags are dropped; all is stagnation
and silence, if we may judge as much from the sudden cessation of
advertisements with reference to them in the public papers. Death now
comes upon the stage, and rudely shuts the box of Autolycus, crops the
street with grass, and marks a red cross on every other door. It is the
year of the Great Plague. Those who could, fled early from the
pest-stricken city; those who remained until the malady had gained
irresistible sway were not allowed to depart, for fear of carrying the
contagion into the provinces, the Lord Mayor denying to such a clean bill
of health, in consequence of which they were driven back by the rustics as
soon as discovered. A singular instance also of the vigilance of the
authorities in confining, as they imagined, the mischief within the limits
of the metropolis is afforded by the succeeding advertisement:--
_Nicholas Hurst_, an Upholsterer, over against the Rose Tavern, in
Russell-street, Covent-Garden, whose Maid Servant dyed lately of the
Sickness, fled on Monday last out of his house, taking with him
several Goods and Household Stuff, and was afterwards followed by one
Doctor Cary and Richard Bayle, with his wife and family, who lodged in
the same house; but Bayle having his usual dwelling-house in
Waybridge, in Surrey. Whereof we are commanded to give this Public
Notice, that diligent search may be made for them, and the houses in
which any of their persons or goods shall be found may be shut up by
the next Justice of the Peace, or other his Majesty's Officers of
Justice, and notice immediately given to some of his Majesty's Privy
Councill, or to one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of
State.--_London Gazette_, May 10, 1666.