There is scarcely anything more entertaining and instructive than a
leisurely look over an old newspaper file. A newspaper of any age is
an attraction, and the current newspaper something more, for it is now
a necessity. But the next place to it in point of interest is perhaps
due to the journal half a century, or two-thirds of a century old. It
introduces us, if we be youthful, to the habits of our grandsires; and
if we be in 'the sere, the yellow leaf,' to the habits of our fathers,
more fully than the pleasantest novel or most elaborate essay, and far
more intimately than the most correct and complete historical records.
It enables us to observe freely the position and avocations of the
denizens of the past, and catch hasty, but most suggestive glances at
bygone days; it 'shews the very age and body of the time, its form and
pressure.' It is a milestone from which we may reckon our progress,
and must delight as well as surprise us by the advancement it shews us
to have made in social and political life, particularly with regard to
those 'triumphs of mind over matter,' for which recent times have been
pre-eminently distinguished.
The writer of this article had lately an opportunity of inspecting a
file of the _Newcastle Chronicle_ for 1765-6, and the contrast between
journals and things in general which that examination forced on the
attention, was in some respects sufficiently striking or curious to
be, in his opinion, deserving of some permanent record. At present,
the journal in question almost, if not entirely, reaches 'the largest
size allowed by law;' at that time, it consisted merely of a single
demy sheet. Now, the Newcastle people would be amazed beyond measure
if they did not receive at breakfast-time, on the morning of
publication, the parliamentary, and all other important news of the
night; then, the latest London news was four days old. But a better
idea of the journal can perhaps be given, by stating what it lacked
than what it then contained. It had no leaders, no parliamentary
reports, and very little indeed, in any shape, that could be termed
political news. In these matters, its conductor had to say, with
Canning's knife-grinder: 'Story! God bless you, I have none to tell,
sir.' Not that the political world was unfruitful in affairs of
moment; it was a time of no small change, interest, and excitement. In
the period referred to, the Grenville ministry had endeavoured to
burden the American colonies, by means of the stamp-duties, with some
of the debt contracted in the late war. Thereupon, immense discontent
had arisen at home and abroad; that administration had fallen; and the
Rockingham ministry, which was then formed, found full employment (in
1766) in undoing what had been effected in the previous year. How the
Grafton ministry was next formed; how the unfortunate design of taxing
the colonists was revived; and how that policy ended, readers of
English history know full well. John Wilkes, too, had been already
persecuted into prominence, although not yet forced up to the height
of his popularity with the masses. But, notwithstanding these and
other stirring incidents, the _Chronicle_ was, politically speaking,
almost a blank. From time to time, it was stated that the royal assent
had been given to certain measures; but concerning the preparation and
discussion of those measures, nothing was known. A few other political
facts of interest, indeed, such as the arrival of Wilkes in London
from France; the repeal of the obnoxious Stamp Act; the riots of the
Spitalfields weavers on account of the importation of French silks;
and an attack upon the Speaker, and many of the members of the Dublin
parliament, who were grossly insulted, and kept from going to the
House, in consequence of 'a report that parliament designed to impose
more taxes,' were also curtly noticed. Political rumours abounded,
although positive knowledge of that kind was exceedingly scanty; and
the little that could be obtained was eked out by inuendo, rather than
by venturing on any direct statement. The familiarity which, according
to the proverb, is apt to breed contempt, was not then indulged in
with reference to rulers, parliaments, or even agitators. The emperor
of Russia was alluded to under the title of 'a great northern
potentate;' parliament was spoken of as 'a certain august assembly;'
and Wilkes was usually entitled, 'a certain popular gentleman.'
Some of the political rumours are worthy of republication. The
subjoined, from the London news of July 29, 1766, serves to shew how
long a political change may be mooted before its effect is tried in
this country: 'It is said, a bill will be brought into parliament next
session, binding elections for members of parliament to be by ballot.'
And, without at all entering into the discussion of political topics,
it may perhaps be observed that the following, taken from the
_Chronicle_ of August 10, 1765, points out how an evil of the present
day has long been felt and acknowledged: 'We hear the electors of a
certain borough have been offered 3000 guineas for a seat, though
there is but so short a time for the session of the present
parliament.'
Great surprise is expressed (1766) that the consumption of coal in
London 'hath increased from 400,000 odd to 600,000 chaldrons yearly.'
We find that the coal imported into London during the first six months
of 1851, amounted to 1,527,527 tons, besides 90,975 tons brought into
the metropolis during the same period by railway and canal. 'Carrying
coal to Newcastle' proved a successful speculation on September 25,
1765, when, on account of a strike among the pitmen, 'several pokes of
coal were brought to this town by one of the common carriers, and sold
on the Sandhill for 9d. a poke, by which he cleared 6d. a poke.' About
the same time, wheat was selling in Darlington and Richmond for 4s.
and 4s. 6d. per bushel, after having been nearly double that price
only two or three weeks previously. In the number for June 25, 1766,
we have the following quotation from a Doncaster letter:--'Corn sold
last market-day from 12s. to 14s. per quarter; meat, from 2-1/2d. to
3d. per pound; fowls, and other kinds of poultry, had no price, being
mostly carried home. I wish a scheme was set on foot, to run many such
articles to London by land-carriage; there is plenty here.' In the
same paper, the prices of grain in London are given: wheat, 36s. to
41s.; barley, 22s. to 25s.; oats, 16s. to 20s.
Recently, the Newcastle papers, led on by the _Chronicle_, have been
making strenuous efforts to extend the French coal-trade, but such
exertions formed no part of the 'wisdom of our ancestors.' The number
for June 15, 1765, informs us that 'some sinister designs for
exporting a very considerable quantity of coals to France and
elsewhere, have lately been discovered and prevented.' Sturdy Britons
had then far too much hatred for 'our natural enemies' to wish to
exchange aught but hostilities with them. About the same time, we
learn that 'clubs of young gentlemen of fortune' had come to the
magnanimous resolve, 'to toast no lady who has so much inconsideration
as to lavish her money away in French fopperies, to the detriment of
her own country.'
The style of advertising then in vogue occasionally gave the paper a
somewhat pictorial appearance. Cockfighting was in great force, and
the public announcements relative to this barbarous sport were
invariably headed by a portraiture of a couple of game-birds facing
each other with a most belligerent aspect; while the numerous
advertisements of horses 'stolen or strayed,' were embellished by a
representation of the supposed thief, mounted on the missing animal,
which was forced into a breakneck pace, while Satan himself, _in
propria persona_, was perched on the crupper, in an excited and
triumphant attitude. In the local paragraphs, we note several
indicating a strong feeling of animosity between the Scotch and
English borderers. We observe also that the Newcastle dogs--to this
day a very numerous fraternity--were at times quite unmanageable, and
caused, either by their ravenous exploits, or their downright madness,
no small uneasiness to the town and neighbourhood. It must be
confessed, that in its marriage-notices, at least, the _Chronicle_ was
far superior to anything that journalism can now exhibit in Newcastle
or in Great Britain. These interesting announcements must have
intensely delighted our grandmothers; and, we fear, have frequently
tempted our grandsires into a somewhat precipitate plunge into the
gulf of matrimony. Instead of barely specifying, as papers now do,
that Mr Smith married Miss Brown, the _Chronicle_ uniformly tantalised
its bachelor readers with an account of the personal, mental, and, if
such there were, metallic charms of the bride; so that how any single
gentleman, in the teeth of such notifications, could retain his
condition for long, is really marvellous. Most of the young ladies who
had thus bestowed themselves on their fortunate admirers, are
described as 'sprightly,' and many as 'genteel and agreeable;' some
have 'a genteel fortune,' other's 'a considerable fortune,' and
others, again, rejoice in the possession of 'a large fortune:' one man
gains 'a well-accomplished young lady, with a fortune of L.1000;'
another takes unto himself 'an agreeable widow lady, with a fortune of
L.2000;' a third marches off with 'a young lady endowed with every
accomplishment to make the marriage state happy, with a fortune of
L.5000;' while a fourth _Benedict_, more lucky still, obtains 'a most
amiable, affable, and agreeable young lady, with a fortune of
L.10,000.' We suppose that the best excuse newspaper editors now have
for being less florid in their matrimonial announcements is, that
where the papers formerly had one, they have now at least a dozen of
these interesting notices; so that their brevity may be less owing to
the want of gallantry than to the want of space.
So extremely meagre was the news, both foreign and domestic, that a
considerable portion of the four small pages of the _Chronicle_ was
usually devoted to literature. Extracts were frequently given from the
works of Johnson, Smollett, and other popular writers, and a column
was often occupied by an essay from a contributor to the paper,
generally treating of some social evil or peculiarity, but never
intermeddling with local or general politics. These effusions
displayed a very respectable amount of ability, and the general
getting-up, or what would now be termed the sub-editing of the paper,
was also performed with care and ability. The scraps of news were
always presented rewritten and carefully condensed, instead of the
loose 'scissors-and-paste' style of publication adopted by many
provincial papers of the present day. Notices not only of local
theatricals, but of histrionic matters at Old Drury, were occasionally
given; the number for March 15, 1766, containing a well-written
criticism of '_The Clandestine Marriage; a New Comedy_,' performed
there. As the _Chronicle_ thus had to leave politics for literature,
we may perhaps, in our turn, digress from a consideration of its
pages, to note briefly that this period was set in the very midst of
the celebrated Georgian era, in which this country could boast of more
distinguished men--especially in literature--than at any other period.
In about twenty previous years, many great ones had departed--notably
Pope, Thomson, Fielding. Richardson also had died in 1761, and
Shenstone in 1763; the author of the _Night-Thoughts_ survived till
1765, when his burial was announced in the _Chronicle_ of April 27.
At this time (1765-6), Dr Johnson had reached the zenith of his fame;
Gray was becoming popular; Smollett had written most of his novels;
Goldsmith was about to present the world with his exquisite _Vicar of
Wakefield_; Gibbon had returned to England from Rome with the idea of
_The Decline and Fall_ floating in his brain; Thomas Chatterton,
----'the marvellous boy,
The sleepless soul that perished in his pride,'
had already given proofs of his wondrous precocity; the genuine
sailor-poet, Falconer, had lately published _The Shipwreck_; Laurence
Sterne had just collected the materials for his _Sentimental Journey_;
Sir William Blackstone had published his celebrated _Commentaries_;
Wesley and Whitefield had not yet ended their useful career; the star
of Edmund Burke was rising; and Jeremy Bentham, being then (1766) but
seventeen years of age, had taken his master's degree at Oxford,
although, it is true, the first literary performance of the eccentric
philosopher did not appear till some years later. Home, Moore, and
Colman, had appeared successfully as dramatists, and were about to be
followed by Macklin, Cumberland, Goldsmith, and Sheridan. Newcastle or
district celebrities of the time included Mark Akenside, the author of
_The Pleasures of the Imagination_; Dr Thomas Percy, dean of Carlisle,
who published, in 1765, his _Reliques of English Poetry_; and Dr John
Langhorne, a northern divine of no small popularity in his day as a
poet. Among other illustrious living men, were Horace Walpole, Henry
Mackenzie, Blair, Hume, Adam Smith, Dr Robertson, Garrick, Reynolds;
and last, not least, William Pitt, who, in 1766, was created Earl of
Chatham.
But let us return to our more immediate purpose--that of making a few
selections from the _Chronicle_, some of which will doubtless reflect
far less credit on the age than the enumeration we have just made of
eminent individuals. Now and then, a duel took place in Hyde Park. The
amusements of some of our aristocrats did not always exhibit them in
any very dignified position, as witness the subjoined:--'Sir Charles
Bunbury ran 100 yards at Newmarket for 1000 guineas, against a tailor
with 40 lb. weight of cabbage, _alias_ shreds.'
Here is a paragraph, from the number for March 15, 1766, relative to
the recreations of some less elevated in the social scale: 'Sunday
morning, a little before three o'clock, a match at marbles was played
under the piazza at Covent Garden by the light of thirty-two links (by
several rogues well known in that circle), for twenty guineas a side.'
A few other quotations may be deemed worthy of republication, although
some of them may have no direct or important bearing. The audacity of
highway robbers at this period is known to everybody. The following,
dated December 21, 1765, gives a tolerably correct idea of the usual
style adopted by those gentlemen of the road:--'Thursday, the Leeds
and Leicester stage-coaches were stopped on Finchley Common by a
highwayman, who took from the passengers a considerable sum of money.
A nobleman's cook, a young woman about twenty-five, declared she would
not be robbed, when the highwayman, admiring her courage, let her
alone. He broke the coach-glass with his pistol, and gave the coachman
half-a-crown to get it mended.' News from London, dated January 9,
1765, says: 'Early on Tuesday morning, a member of parliament, on his
return home in a chair to his house in New Palace Yard, was stopped
and robbed by a single footpad of his purse, in which were sixty-three
guineas.'
About the same time, we are informed that 'the celebrated J.J.
Rousseau hath for the present taken up his residence at a friend's
house in Putney.'--The number for October 26, 1765, contains an
advertisement of a 'beggar's stand' (copied from the _Public
Advertiser_), 'to be let, in a charitable neighbourhood. Income, about
30s. a week.'
The following reference to our acquaintances, the Sikhs, now
sufficiently well known, is curious, as it is doubtless one of their
first appearances in the columns of the English press. It is dated
July 5, 1766: 'The Seyques, an idolatrous people inhabiting the
neighbourhood of Cachemire, whose name was hardly known two years ago,
have beaten Abdaly and the Patanes whom he commanded.' Modern Cockneys
would stare to read a paragraph like this: 'A great deal of grass hath
been cut down about Islington, Kentish-Town,' &c.
We will conclude our selections, which have now grown quite desultory
and miscellaneous, by the brief obituary of a 'remarkable' man, from
the _Chronicle_ of July 26, 1766: 'Thursday, died at his house near
Hampstead, the Rev. Mr Southcote, remarkable for having a leg of
mutton every night for supper during a course of forty years, smoking
ten pipes as constantly, and drinking three bottles of port.'