as the visitation of the cholera in 1854 filled the columns of the _Times_
full of all sorts of specifics. Thus, for example, the _Intelligencer_ of
August the 28th, 1665, announces "an excellent electuary against the
plague, to be drunk at the Green Dragon, Cheap-side, at sixpence a pint."
The great and only cure, however, for this fearful visitation, which
carried off a hundred thousand persons in London alone, was at hand--the
purgation of fire. The conflagration, which burst out on the 2nd of
September, and destroyed thirteen thousand houses, gave the final blow to
its declining attacks. Singularly enough, but faint traces of this
overwhelming calamity, as it was considered at the time, can be gathered
from the current advertisements. Although the entire population of the
city was rendered houseless, and had to encamp in the surrounding fields,
where they extemporized shops and streets, not one hint of such a
circumstance can be found in the public announcements of the period. No
circumstance could afford a greater proof of the little use made by the
trading community of this means of publicity in the time of Charles II. If
a fire only a hundredth-part so destructive were to occur in these days,
the columns of the press would immediately be full of the new addresses of
the burnt-out shopkeepers; and those who were not even damaged by it would
take care to "improve the occasion" to their own advantage. We look in
vain through the pages of the _London Gazette_ of this and the following
year for one such announcement: not even a tavern-keeper tells us the
number of his booth in Goodman's Fields, although quack medicine
flourished away in its columns as usual. In 1667 we see a notification,
now and then, of some change in the site of a government office, or of the
intention to build by contract some public structure, such as the
following notice relative to the erection of the old Royal Exchange:--
All Artificers of the several Trades that must be used in Rebuilding
the Royal Exchange may take notice, that the Committee appointed for
Management of that Work do sit at the end of the long gallery in
Gresham Colledge every Monday in the forenoon, there and then to treat
with such as are fit to undertake the same.
The remainder of the reign of Charles is unmarked by the appearance of any
characteristic advertisements which give a clue to the peculiar complexion
of the time. If we go back two or three years, however, we shall find one
which bears upon the introduction of those monstrous flowing wigs which
continued in fashion to the middle of the succeeding century:--
Whereas _George Grey_, a Barber and Perrywigge-maker, over against the
_Greyhound Tavern_, in _Black Fryers, London_, stands obliged to serve
some particular persons of eminent Condition and Quality in his way of
Employment: It is therefore notifyed at his desire, that any one
having long flaxen hayr to sell may repayr to him the said _George
Grey_, and they shall have 10_s._ the ounce, and for any other long
fine hayr after the Rate of 5_s._ or 7_s._ the ounce.--_The Newes_,
February 4, 1663.
Pepys describes, with amusing minuteness, how Chapman the periwig-maker
cut off his hair to make up one of these portentous head-dresses for him,
much to the trouble of his servants, Jane and Bessy; and on the Lord's
day, November 8th, 1663, he relates, with infinite _naïveté_, his entrance
into church with what must evidently have been the perruquier's latest
fashion. "To church, where I found that my coming in a periwig did not
prove so strange as I was afraid it would; for I thought that all the
church would presently have cast their eyes upon me, but I find no such
thing." Ten shillings the ounce for long flaxen hair shows the demand for
this peculiar colour by "persons of eminent condition and quality." We
have shown, from the advertisements of the time of Charles II., what was
indeed well known, that the age was characterized by frivolous amusements,
and by a love of dress and vicious excitement, in the midst of which
pestilence stalked like a mocking fiend, and the great conflagration lit
up the general masquerade with its lurid and angry glare. Together with
the emasculate tone of manners, a disposition to personal violence and a
contempt of law stained the latter part of this and the succeeding reign.
The audacious seizure of the crown jewels by Blood; the attack upon the
Duke of Ormond by the same desperado, that nobleman actually having been
dragged from his coach in St. James's Street in the evening, and carried,
bound, upon the saddle-bow of Blood's horse, as far as Hyde Park Corner,
before he could be rescued; the slitting of Sir John Coventry's nose in
the Haymarket by the king's guard; and the murder of Sir Edmondbury
Godfrey on Primrose Hill, are familiar instances of the prevalence of this
lawless spirit.
We catch a glimpse of one of these street outrages in the following
announcement of an assault upon glorious John:--
Whereas _John Dryden, Esq._, was on Monday, the 18th instant, at
night, barbarously assaulted and wounded, in Rose Street in Covent
Garden, by divers men unknown; if any person shall make discovery of
the said offenders to the said Mr. Dryden, or to any Justice of the
Peace, he shall not only receive Fifty Pounds, which is deposited in
the hands of Mr. Blanchard, Goldsmith, next door to Temple Bar, for
the said purpose, but if he be a principal or an accessory in the said
fact, his Majesty is graciously pleased to promise him his pardon for
the same.--_The London Gazette_, Dec. 22, 1679.
And here is another of a still more tragic character:--
Whereas a Gentleman was, on the eighteenth at night, mortally wounded
near Lincoln's Inn, in Chancery Lane, in view, as is supposed, of the
coachman that set him down: these are to give notice that the said
coachman shall come in and declare his knowledge of the matter; if any
other person shall discover the said coachman to John Hawles, at his
chamber in Lincoln's Inn, he shall have 5 guineas reward.--_London
Gazette_, March 29th, 1688.
To this period also may be ascribed the rise of that romantic felon, the
highwayman. The hue and cry after these genteel robbers is frequently
raised during the reign of James II. In one case we have notice of a
gentleman having been stopped, robbed, and then bound, by mounted men at
Islington, who rode away with his horse; another time these daring gentry
appeared at Knightsbridge; and a third advertisement, of a later date it
is true, offers a reward for three mounted Macheaths, who were charged
with stopping and robbing three young ladies in South Street, near Audley
Chapel, as they were returning home from visiting. The following is still
more singular, as showing the high social position of some of these
gentlemen who took to the "road" for special purposes:--
_Whereas Mr. Herbert Jones_, Attorney-at-law in the town of Monmouth,
well known by being several years together Under-Sheriff of the same
County, hath of late divers time robbed the Mail coming from that town
to London, and taken out divers letters and writs, and is now fled
from justice, and supposed to have sheltered himself in some of the
new-raised troops. These are to give notice, that whosoever shall
secure the said Herbert Jones, so as to be committed in order to
answer these said crimes, may give notice thereof to Sir Thomas
Fowles, goldsmith, Temple-bar, London, or to Mr. Michael Bohune,
mercer, in Monmouth, and shall have a guinea's reward.
The drinking tendencies of these Jacobite times are chiefly shown by the
numberless inquiries after lost or stolen silver tankards, and by the
sales of claret and canary which constantly took place. The hammer was not
apparently used at that time, as we commonly find announcements of sales
by "inch of candle," a term which mightily puzzled us until we saw the
explanation of it in our constant book of reference, the Diary of Pepys:--
"After dinner we met and sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship
hulkes; where pleasant to see how backward men are at first to bid;
and yet, when the candle is going out, how they bawl, and dispute
afterwards who bid the most. And here I observed one man cunninger
than the rest, that was sure to bid the last man and to carry it; and
inquiring the reason he told me that, just as the flame goes out, the
smoke descends, which is a thing I never observed before, and by that
he do know the instant when to bid last." (Sept. 3rd, 1662).
The taste for auctions, which became such a rage in the time of Anne, had
its beginning about this period. Books and pictures are constantly
advertised to be disposed of in this manner. The love of excitement born
in the gaming time of the Restoration might be traced in these sales, and
in the lotteries, or "adventures" as they were sometimes termed, which
extended to every conceivable article capable of being sold. The rising
taste of the town was, however, checked for the time by the Revolution,
which was doubtless hastened on by such announcements as the following,
which appeared in the _Gazette_ of March 1, 1688:--
Catholic loyalty, [Hand] upon the subject of Government and Obedience,
delivered in a SERMON before the King and Queen, in His Majesties
Chapel at Whitehall, on the 13 of June, 1687, by the Revnd. Father
Edward Scaraisbroke, priest of the Society of Jesus. Published by His
Majesty's Command. Sold by Raydal Taylor, near Stationers Hall,
London.
Up to this time advertisements only appeared in threes and fours, and
rarely, if ever, exceeded a dozen, in any newspaper of the day. They were
generally stuck in the middle of the diminutive journal, but sometimes
formed a tail-piece to it. They were confined in their character, and gave
no evidence of belonging to a great commercial community. Now and then, it
is true, sums of money were advertised as seeking investment; more
constantly a truss for a "broken belly," or an "excellent dentifrice,"
appeared; or some city mansion of the nobility is advertised to let,
showing the progress westward even then, as witness the following:--
The Earl of Berkeley's House, with Garden and Stables in St. John's
Lane, not far from Smith Field, is to be Let or Sold for Building.
Enquire of Mr. Prestworth, a corn chandler, near the said house, and
you may know further.--_London Gazette_, August 17, 1685.
Here is an instance of the singular manner in which fire-insurances were
conducted in that day:--
There having happened a fire on the 24th of the last month by which
several houses of the friendly society were burned to the value of 965
pounds, these are to give notice to all persons of the said society
that they are desired to pay at the office Faulcon Court in Fleet
Street their several proportions of their said loss, which comes to
five shillings and one penny for every hundred pounds insured, before
the 12th of August next.--_London Gazette_, July 6th, 1685.
Sometimes it is a "flee-bitten grey mare" stolen out of "Mary-le-bone
Park," or a lost lottery-ticket, or a dog, that is inquired after; but
they contained no hint that England possessed a commercial marine, or that
she was destined to become a nation of shopkeepers. As yet, too, there was
no sign given of that wonderful art of ingenious puffing which now exists,
and which might lead a casual observer to imagine that the nation
consisted of only two classes--cheats and dupes.
From the settlement of 1688 the true value of the advertisement appears to
have dawned upon the public. The country evidently began to breathe
freely, and with Dutch William and Protestant ascendancy, the peculiar
character of the nation burst forth with extraordinary vigour. Enterprise
of all kinds was called forth, and cast its image upon the advertising
columns of the public journals, now greatly increased both in size and in
numbers, no less than twenty-six having been set up within four years
after the Revolution. It is observable, too, that from this political
convulsion dates a certain rough humour, which, however latent, was not
before expressed in the public papers, especially on matters political.
Let us further elucidate our meaning by quoting the following from the
_New Observator_ of July 17, 1689, setting forth a popular and practical
method of parading the Whig triumph:--
Orange cards, representing the late King's reign and expedition of the
Prince of Orange: viz. The Earl of Essex Murther, Dr. Otes Whipping,
Defacing the Monument, My Lord Jeffries in the West hanging of
Protestants, Magdalen College, Trial of the Bishops, Castle Maine at
Rome, the Popish Midwife, A Jesuit Preaching against our Bible,
Consecrated Smock, My Lord Chancellor at the Bed's feet, Birth of the
Prince of Wales, The Ordinaire Mass-house pulling down and burning by
Captain Tom and his Mobile, Mortar pieces in the Tower, The Prince of
Orange Landing, The Jesuits Scampering, Father Peter's Transactions,
The Fight at Reading, The Army going over to the Prince of Orange,
Tyrconnel in Ireland, My Lord Chancellor in the Tower. With many other
remarkable passages of the Times. To which is added the efigies of our
Gracious K. William and Q. Mary, curiously illustrated and engraven in
lively figures, done by the performers of the first Popish Plot Cards.
Sold by Donnan Newman, the publisher and printer of the New
Observator.
The editor of the _New Observator_ was Bishop Burnet, and these political
playing-cards were sold by his publisher; perhaps the great Protestant
bishop knew something of their "performers." In the year 1692 an
experiment was made which clearly shows how just an estimate was getting
abroad of the value of publicity in matters of business. A newspaper was
set up, called "The City Mercury, published gratis for the Promotion of
Trade," which lasted for two years, and contained nothing but
advertisements. The proprietor undertook to distribute a thousand copies
per week to the then chief places of resort,--coffee houses, taverns, and
bookshops. Even in these days of the "Times" double supplement such an
experiment has often been made and failed; our wonder, therefore, is not
that the _City Mercury_ went to that limbo which is stored with such
countless abortive journals, but that the interest felt in advertisements
should, at that early period, have kept it alive so long.
If the foregoing scheme proves that an attempt was then made to subdivide
the duties of a newspaper--that of keeping its readers informed of the
news of the day, and of forming a means of publicity for the wants and
losses of individuals--the advertisement we are about to quote clearly
shows that at the same time there was a plan in existence for combining
the printed newspaper with the more ancient written newsletter. It is well
known that long after the institution of public journals the old
profession of the newsletter-writer continued to flourish. We can easily
account for this fact when we remember that during the heat of a great
rebellion it was much more safe to write than to print the intelligence of
the day. Many of these newsletters were written by strong partisans, and
contained information which it was neither desirable nor safe that their
opponents should see. They were passed on from hand to hand in secret, and
often endorsed by each successive reader. We are told that the Cavaliers,
when taken prisoners, have been known to eat their newsletters; and some
of Prince Rupert's, which had been intercepted, are still in existence,
and bear dark-red stains, which testify to the desperate manner in which
they were defended. It is pretty certain, however, that, as a profession,
newsletter-writing began to decline after the Revolution; although we find
the editor of the _Evening Post_, as late as the year 1709, reminding its
readers that "there must be three or four pounds a year paid for written
news." At the same time the public journals, it is clear, had not
performed that part of their office which was really more acceptable to
the country reader than any other--the retailing the political and social
chit-chat of the day. We have only to look into the public papers to
convince ourselves how wofully they fell short in a department which must
have been the staple of the news-writer. This want still being felt, John
Salusbury devises a scheme to combine the old and the new plan after the
following manner, as announced in the _Flying Post_ of 1694:--
If any Gentleman has a mind to oblige his country friend or
correspondent with the Account of Public Affairs, he may have it for
twopence of J. Salusbury at the Rising-Sun in Cornhill, on a sheet of
fine paper, half of which being blank, he may thereon write his own
private business or the material news of the day.
It does not say much for the energy with which the journals of that day
were conducted, that the purchasers are invited to write therein "the
material news of the day;" that, we should have thought, was the editor's
business to have supplied; but it was perhaps a contrivance by which the
Jacobites might circulate information, by means of the post, without
compromising the printer. We have seen many such papers, half print, half
manuscript, in the British Museum, which had passed through the post, the
manuscript portion of which, the Home Secretaries of our time would have
thought sufficiently treasonable to justify them in having broken their
seals.
As advertisements, from their earliest introduction, were used to make
known the amusements of the day and the means of killing time at the
disposal of persons of quality, it seems strange that it was not employed
sooner than it was to draw a company to the theatres. We have looked in
vain for the announcement of any theatrical entertainment before the year
1701, when the advertisement of the Lincoln's Inn Theatre makes its
appearance in the columns of the _English Post_. The lead of this little
house was, however, speedily followed by the larger ones, and only a few
years later we have regular lists of the performances at all the theatres
in the daily papers. The first journal of this description was the _Daily
Courant_, published in 1709. In this year also appeared the celebrated
"Tatler," to be speedily followed by the "Spectator" and "Guardian," the
social and literary journals of that Augustine age. The first edition of
the "Tatler," in the British Museum, contains advertisements like an
ordinary paper, and they evidently reflect, more than those of its
contemporaries, the flying fashions of the day and the follies of the
"quality." In them we notice the rage that existed for lotteries, or
"sales," as they were called. Every conceivable thing was put up to
raffle. We see advertisements headed "A Sixpenny Sale of Lace," "A Hundred
Pounds for Half-a-crown," "A Penny Adventure for a Great Pie," "A
Quarter's Rent," "A Freehold Estate," "Threepenny Sales of Houses," "A
fashionable Coach." Gloves, looking-glasses, chocolate, Hungary water,
Indian goods, lacquered ware, fans, &c., were notified to be disposed of
in this manner, and the fair mob was called together to draw their tickets
by the same means. This fever, which produced ten years later the
celebrated South Sea Bubble, was of slow growth. It had its root in the
Restoration, its flower in the reign of Anne, and its fruit and
_dénouement_ in the reign of George I. Before passing on from the pages of
the "Tatler," we must stop for a moment to notice one or two of those
playful advertisements which Sir Richard Steele delighted in, and which,
under the disguise of fun, perhaps really afforded him excellent matter
for his journal. Here is an irresistible invitation to his fair readers:--
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.--_Tatler_, May 8, 1709.
An excellent lion's mouth this wherein to drop scandal. A still more
amusing instance of the fun that pervaded Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., is to
be found in the series of advertisements in which he ought to have
convinced John Partridge, the astrologer, that he really had departed this
life; an assertion which the latter persisted in denying with the most
ludicrous earnestness. Of these we give one from the "Tatler" of August
24th 1710:--
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 pleasant malice of the above is patent enough, but we confess we are
puzzled to know whether the following is genuine or not. We copied it from
among a number of others, from which it was undistinguishable by any
peculiarity of type:--
_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._ 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.--_Tatler_, December 16, 1710.
To pass, however, from the keen weapons of the brain to those of the
flesh, it is interesting to fix with some tolerable accuracy the change
which took place in the early part of the eighteenth century in what might
be called the amusements of the fancy. The "noble art of defence," as it
was termed, up to the time of the first George seems to have consisted in
the broadsword exercise. Pepys describes in his "Diary" several bloody
encounters of this kind which he himself witnessed; and the following
advertisement, a half-century later, shows that the skilled weapon had not
at that time been set aside for the more brutal fist:--
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.--_Postman_, July 4, 1701.
The savage character of the time may be judged from this public boast of
Mr. Edmund Button that he had cut down six men with a murderous weapon. We
question, however, if the age which could tolerate such ruffianism was not
exceeded by the change which substituted the fist for the sword, and
witnessed women entering the ring in the place of men. Some of the
earliest notices of boxing-matches upon record, singularly enough, took
place between combatants of the fair sex. In a public journal of 1722, for
instance, we find the following gage of battle thrown down, and
accepted:--
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 half-crowns in the hands was an ingenious device to prevent
scratching! A still more characteristic specimen of one of these
challenges to a fisticuff between two women is to be found in the _Daily
Post_ of July 7th, 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
her best skill in Boxing for 10 pounds, fair rise and fall; and
question not but to give her such proofs of my judgement that shall
oblige her to acknowledge me Championess of the Stage, to the entire
satisfaction of all my friends.