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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pictorial Press, by Mason Jackson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pictorial Press
+       Its Origin and Progress
+
+Author: Mason Jackson
+
+Release Date: June 13, 2011 [EBook #36417]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PICTORIAL PRESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marius Masi, Chris Curnow and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PICTORIAL PRESS.
+
+
+[Illustration: HEADING OF 'THE JACOBITE'S JOURNAL,' 1747.
+
+(_Supposed to be Drawn by Hogarth._)
+
+(_See page 197._)]
+
+  THE
+  PICTORIAL PRESS
+  ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS.
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+  BY
+
+  MASON JACKSON.
+
+  With One Hundred and Fifty Illustrations.
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  HURST AND BLACKETT. PUBLISHERS.
+
+  13 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
+  1885.
+
+
+  _All Rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+NOTE.
+
+
+Some of the chapters of this book in a condensed form were published a
+few years ago in the _Illustrated London News_, and my acknowledgments
+are due to the proprietors of that journal for permission to reprint
+such of the woodcuts as accompanied the text in that form. I have also
+to thank them for their courtesy in allowing me to use several other
+engravings from the _Illustrated London News_, including some from the
+early numbers, which must now be reckoned among the curiosities of the
+Pictorial Press.
+
+  M. J.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+  CHAPTER I.                                                           1
+
+  The Pictorial Taste Universal--The Early 'News-books'--Development
+  of the Newspaper Press--General use of Newspapers--Establishment
+  of Illustrated Journals--Wandering Ballad-Singers the First
+  Newsvendors--The _English Mercurie_ of 1588--The Abolition of the
+  Star Chamber and its Effect on the Press.
+
+  CHAPTER II.                                                          8
+
+  Illustrated Broadsides--Sir Francis Drake's Operations against the
+  Spaniards--Papers of News in the Reign of James I.--The first
+  Periodical Newspaper published in England--Illustrated Tracts
+  relating to Storms and Floods--Remarkable Murders favourite
+  subjects with the early Newswriters--Murder of the Rev. Mr.
+  Storre--Murder in Cornwall--Apparition of Three Skeletons--Visions
+  in the Air--Attempt on the Life of the Duke of Buckingham--Fall of
+  Meteors at Bawlkin Green, Berkshire--The _Swedish
+  Intelligencer_--Passage of the River Leck by Gustavus
+  Adolphus--The Sallee Rovers--The _Weekly News_ of 1638, an
+  Illustrated Paper--The Irish Rebellion of 1641--The Plague in
+  London--Murder on board an English Ship--The Earl of
+  Strafford--His Execution on Tower Hill--Archbishop Laud--A
+  Burlesque Play about him--Attack by the Mob on Lambeth
+  Palace--Caricature of the Devil offering Laud a Cardinal's Hat.
+
+  CHAPTER III.                                                        63
+
+  Ben Jonson's Ridicule of the Early Newspapers--Fondness of the Old
+  News-Writers for the Marvellous--The Smithfield Ghost--The
+  Wonderful Whale--The Newbury Witch--Satirical Tracts and
+  Caricatures at the Commencement of the Civil War--Religion Tossed
+  in a Blanket--Caricatures of the Pope and the Bishops--Pluralists
+  and Patentees--Taylor, the Water Poet--_Mercurius
+  Aulicus_--Activity of the Pamphleteers--Welshmen
+  Satirised--Satires on Prince Rupert--On the King and Queen--The
+  Ladies' Parliament--Illustrated Tracts relating to Social and
+  Political Subjects--Sir Kenelm Digby's Duel--The King entertained
+  by the City of London, 1641--Executions in 1641--The Liquor
+  Traffic and Sunday Closing in 1641--Abuses of the Ecclesiastical
+  Courts--Ritualism and Nunneries in 1641--Truths enforced by
+  Lieing--Stage Players and the Plague in 1641--Bartholomew Fair in
+  1641--Destruction of Charing Cross and Cheapside Cross--Strange
+  Apparition--Method of enforcing their Views adopted by the Puritan
+  Pamphleteers--Parodies of Roundhead Sermons--Matthew Hopkins the
+  Witch-finder--The _Welsh Post_ of 1643--William Lilly the
+  Astrologer--Three Suns seen in London on the King's Birthday.
+
+  CHAPTER IV.                                                        108
+
+  The Civil War--Flying Sheets of News--Disturbance at
+  Kingston-on-Thames--Plot against London--Riotous Proceedings at
+  York, and Conspiracy in Edinburgh--The House of Commons--The Royal
+  Standard raised at Nottingham--Battle of Edgehill--Prince
+  Rupert--The Lord Mayor of London--_Mercurius Civicus_--The
+  _Scottish Dove_--The _Flying Post_--The _Kingdomes Weekly
+  Post_--Cruelties of the Cavaliers--The 'Levellers'--The King's
+  Escape from Oxford--Funeral of the Earl of Essex--The Great Seal
+  Broken--Fairfax--Cromwell--Sea Fight in the Channel--The Prince of
+  Wales's Squadron--Mutiny at Norwich--Siege of
+  Colchester--Execution of Sir Charles Lucas--The King at
+  Carisbrooke Castle--Execution of the King--Confession of Richard
+  Brandon.
+
+  CHAPTER V.                                                         153
+
+  Decrease of Newspapers after the Civil War--_Mercurius
+  Democritus_--The _Faithful Post_--The _Politique Post_--Broadsides
+  for the People--The Hollow Tree at Hampstead--Prodigious Monster
+  taken in Spain--The Restoration--Trial of the Regicides--Execution
+  of the Regicides--Licenser of the Press appointed--Popular Taste
+  for the Supernatural--Apparition in the Air in Holland--Revival of
+  _Mercurius Civicus_--Murder of Archbishop Sharpe--The _Loyal
+  Protestant_--Frost Fair on the Thames--Monmouth's Rebellion--The
+  Bloody Assizes--Funeral of Queen Mary, Consort of William
+  III.--Increase of Newspapers after the Revolution.
+
+  CHAPTER VI                                                         180
+
+  Constant Attempts at Illustrated News--Increase of
+  Caricatures--The _Postman_, 1704--Fiery Apparition in the Air,
+  seen in London--Caricature against the Jacobites--The South-Sea
+  Bubble--Eclipse of the Sun, 1724--The _Grub Street Journal_ an
+  Illustrated Paper--The _Daily Post_--Admiral Vernon's Attack on
+  Porto Bello--The _Penny London Post_--Henry Fielding and the
+  _Jacobite's Journal_--_Owen's Weekly Chronicle_--_Lloyd's Evening
+  Post_, and the Trial of Lord Byron for the Murder of Mr.
+  Chaworth--The _St. James's Chronicle_--Illustrated Account of a
+  Strange Wild Beast seen in France--The _Gentleman's Journal_ of
+  Anthony Motteux--The _Gentleman's Magazine_ of Edward Cave--The
+  _London Magazine_--The _Scot's Magazine_.
+
+  CHAPTER VII                                                        219
+
+  Revival of Wood-engraving by Thomas Bewick--The _Observer_
+  started, 1791--The _Times_ an Illustrated Paper--Illustrations of
+  News in the _Observer_--St. Helena and Napoleon Bonaparte--Abraham
+  Thornton and the 'Assize of Battle'--Mr. William Clement and
+  Illustrated Journalism--The Cato Street Conspiracy--Trial of Queen
+  Caroline--The House of Commons in 1821--Coronation of George
+  IV.--Royal Visits to Ireland and Scotland--Murder of Mr.
+  Weare--Illustrations of the Murder in the _Morning Chronicle_, the
+  _Observer_, and the _Englishman_--_Bell's Life in
+  London_--Prize-Fight at Warwick--Liston as 'Paul Pry'--'Gallery of
+  Comicalities,' &c.--_Pierce Egan's Life in London_--Death of the
+  Duke of York--Death of Mr. Canning--Opening of Hammersmith Bridge,
+  1827--Mr. Gurney's Steam Coach--The Thames Tunnel--The Murder in
+  the Red Barn--The Siamese Twins--Death of George IV.--Opening of
+  New London Bridge, 1831--Coronation of William IV. and Queen
+  Adelaide--Fieschi's Infernal Machine--Funeral of William
+  IV.--Queen Victoria's First Visit to the City--Coronation and
+  Marriage of the Queen--Christening of the Prince of Wales--The
+  _Weekly Chronicle_--The Greenacre Murder--Mr. Cocking and his
+  Parachute--The Courtney Riots at Canterbury--Burning of the Tower
+  of London, 1841--The _Sunday Times_--Burning of the Houses of
+  Parliament, 1834--The _Champion_--The _Weekly Herald_--The
+  _Magnet_--Removing the Body of Napoleon I.--The _Penny
+  Magazine_--Charles Knight--Humorous Journalism of the Victorian
+  Era.
+
+  CHAPTER VIII                                                       284
+
+  The _Illustrated London News_--The Early Numbers--The Burning of
+  Hamburg--Facetious Advertisements--Bal Masque at Buckingham
+  Palace--Attempted Assassination of the Queen--The Queen's First
+  Trip by Railway--First Royal Visit to Scotland--Political
+  Portraits--R. Cobden--Lord John Russell--Benjamin Disraeli--The
+  French Revolution, 1848--The Great Exhibition, 1851--The Crimean
+  War--Coloured Pictures--Christmas Numbers--Herbert Ingram--The
+  _Pictorial Times_--Other Illustrated Journals.
+
+  CHAPTER IX                                                         315
+
+  How an Illustrated Newspaper is
+  Produced--Wood-Engraving--Boxwood--Blocks for Illustrated
+  Newspapers--Rapid Sketching--Drawing on the Block--Method of
+  Dividing the Block for Engraving--Electrotyping--Development of
+  the Printing Machine--Printing Woodcuts--Machinery for Folding
+  Newspapers--Special Artists--Their Dangers and Difficulties--Their
+  Adventures in War and Peace.
+
+  CHAPTER X                                                          355
+
+  Artists who have assisted in founding the Pictorial Press--Sir
+  John Gilbert, R.A., G. H. Thomas, and others--Wood-Engraving and
+  its Connexion with the Pictorial Press--Other Methods of producing
+  Illustrations--Wood-Engraving in England before and after Bewick's
+  time--Its wide Diffusion owing to the kindred Art of Printing--The
+  resources of the Art developed by Pictorial
+  Newspapers--Conclusion. Newspapers a Necessity of Civilised
+  Life--The _Acta Diurna_ of the Romans--Early Newspapers in Venice,
+  Germany, and the Low Countries--List of Illustrated Newspapers
+  published Abroad.
+
+
+
+
+THE PICTORIAL PRESS: ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+  The Pictorial Taste Universal--The Early 'News-books'--Development of
+  the Newspaper Press--General use of Newspapers--Establishment of
+  Illustrated Journals--Wandering Ballad Singers the First
+  Newsvendors--The _English Mercurie_ of 1588--The Abolition of the Star
+  Chamber and its Effect on the Press.
+
+
+The inherent love of pictorial representation in all races of men and in
+every age is manifest by the frequent attempts made to depict natural
+objects, under the most unfavourable circumstances and with the
+slenderest means. The rude drawing scratched on the smooth bone of an
+animal by the cave-dweller of pre-historic times, the painted rocks of
+the Mexican forests, and the cave-paintings of the Bushmen, are all
+evidences of this deeply-rooted passion. The child of civilised life
+looks with delight on his picture-book long before he can make out the
+letters of the alphabet, and the untutored Esquimaux treasures up the
+stray number of an illustrated newspaper left in his hut by the crew of
+some whaling ship, though he cannot understand one word of the printed
+page. But the pictures speak a universal language, which requires no
+teaching to comprehend.
+
+When the printing-press came into use this love of pictures had a wide
+field for development. Some of the first books printed in England were
+illustrated with woodcuts, and many of the tracts, or 'News-books,'
+which preceded regular newspapers, were adorned with rude engravings. It
+mattered not how graphic was the pen, its work was deemed incomplete
+without the aid of the pencil. It often happened that the pen was none
+the better for the fellowship, but the public taste was not fastidious,
+and the work sufficed for the occasion. In tracing the origin and
+progress of pictorial journalism we shall find in 'the abstracts and
+brief chronicles of the time' many curious illustrations of contemporary
+history. The subject is not without interest now that the illustrated
+newspaper has become a prominent feature in the journalism of every
+country.
+
+The development of the newspaper press and its unrestricted use as the
+exponent of public opinion is one of the most interesting signs of
+modern progress. When we consider the liberty of thought and action that
+prevails in our own day, it is difficult to believe that our forefathers
+were liable to the pillory and other degrading punishments when they
+ventured to publish their opinions without first obtaining the sanction
+of the ruling powers. We are accustomed to the daily exercise of the
+right which cost Prynne his ears and brought fines and imprisonment on
+Defoe. Newspapers have become almost as necessary to our daily life as
+bread itself. The mind demands its breakfast as well as the body; and to
+many a busy man the loss of his morning paper would be as great a
+deprivation as the want of his usual matutinal meal.
+
+In London, and in all our great centres of population, the newspaper has
+become the unfailing accompaniment of the City man's journey to
+business. At the railway stations journals of every kind tempt the
+loitering passenger, while the illustrated papers appeal to him in a
+language of their own. Whether in the railway carriage, the omnibus, or
+the steam-boat, the newspaper is eagerly conned, and its contents form
+the food of conversation. Most of these newspapers are cast aside at the
+end of the twenty minutes' or half hour's journey; and then, at second
+hand, they amuse the leisure moments of the railway porter, or, better
+still, they are collected together, and perhaps serve to solace the sick
+poor during many lingering hours in hospitals and refuges. Day by day
+the demand is made, and the supply is ready. The printing-machine never
+sleeps and is never tired. Its voice is one of the voices of the
+night--most unmusical, yet with a mysterious meaning. The daily
+newspaper, so potent in diffusing the light of knowledge, is itself the
+offspring of darkness. The busy brains and active fingers which create
+it turn night into day in the execution of their quickly recurring
+tasks, and with unflagging energy they labour on, that the slumbering
+world may be properly amused and instructed when it wakes.
+
+The intelligent foreigner who happens to reach our southern coast on a
+Monday morning in summer or autumn, and travels to London by one of the
+early trains, is astonished, when the train stops, to see most of the
+gentlemen rush from the carriages and surround a small boy, whom they
+appear to hustle and threaten with violent gesticulations. The boy
+appears to buy off the hostility of his assailants by dealing out to
+each a paper, which he takes from a large bundle under his arm, and with
+which the appeased passenger returns to his carriage. Cries of '_Times!_
+_Daily News!_ _Telegraph!_ _Standard!_--Here, give us one--anything!'
+reach the ears of the wondering stranger, who beholds the boy at length
+take refuge in an empty railway carriage on the opposite side of the
+platform, and from that place of vantage he continues to deal out the
+mysterious papers. After a time the intelligent foreigner learns that
+these are the London papers of that morning, which are sent out to meet
+the trains, and are eagerly bought by the gentlemen who have been
+spending from Saturday to Monday at the seaside, and, having fasted from
+all newspapers during that time, they are now of course famishing for
+news. Such is their eagerness that politics are thrown to the winds. The
+Conservative will put up with a Liberal newspaper rather than have none
+at all; and he whose ill luck or inertness has left him without the
+coveted sheet is glad to borrow of his neighbour, that he may not be
+walking in the darkness of ignorance when he arrives at his place of
+business. As the train moves off, the intelligent foreigner, if he
+thrusts his head out of the carriage window, may behold in the distance
+the newsboy pensively counting his gains and endeavouring to make his
+receipts tally with the number of papers that have vanished.
+
+One of the most remarkable phases of newspaper history has been the
+establishment of illustrated journals. Though this idea, in an immature
+form, is as old as the newspaper itself, yet it was never fully
+developed till the late Mr. Herbert Ingram brought out the _Illustrated
+London News_ in 1842. Since that time the removal of the newspaper stamp
+and the repeal of the paper duty have imparted a freedom and a vigour to
+newspaper enterprise previously unknown. Journals of all kinds have
+sprung into existence, and cheapness has become the rule. Penny and even
+halfpenny papers compete with the leading journals in activity and
+enterprise. No expense is spared in obtaining the earliest and most
+authentic intelligence. Correspondents are sent to every part of the
+world where any information is to be gleaned, and the presence of the
+newspaper 'Special' is now expected at every great event. Each class has
+its organ, and 'he who runs may read.'
+
+When we consider the immense amount of printed matter that is published
+every day by the newspapers, we cannot but wonder at the public
+appetite. And this appetite is fed from one year to another upon a diet
+that is only varied when there occurs a war, a revolution, an unusually
+disastrous shipwreck, or a murder of uncommon atrocity. Then the
+monotony of ordinary life gives place to the temporary excitement. There
+is a run upon the newspapers, which are as susceptible as barometers,
+and rise or fall according to the state of public feeling. The
+calamities of nations and the misfortunes of individuals are sources of
+profit and prosperity to the newspaper.
+
+It was a happy idea to gather together the principal events of the week,
+to illustrate them with authentic pictures, and place them before the
+public in the form of a pictorial newspaper. Considering the great cost
+of production, and the restrictions under which newspapers lay at that
+time, to say nothing of the difficulty of bringing out news with
+appropriate illustrations, so that both should be fresh, the
+_Illustrated London News_ was a bold undertaking. Like most things that
+are successful, it soon had many imitators, and there are now few large
+cities in the civilised world that have not their illustrated
+newspapers.
+
+But the full development of illustrated journalism was immediately
+preceded by many significant symptoms. Several of the then existing
+newspapers, on the occurrence of any unusual or interesting event,
+introduced into their pages rough woodcut illustrations. A great fire--a
+remarkable murder--a fatal balloon ascent--these were the subjects
+seized upon at the moment to satisfy the public craving for illustrated
+news. All this seems to have been the working of an impulse or instinct
+which existed even before the days of newspapers; for, as I shall
+presently show, attempts were made to illustrate the news of the hour in
+tracts or 'News-books' before the beginning of regular newspapers in
+England. The idea of illustrated journalism may be traced from the
+earliest years of the seventeenth century to 1842, the date of the first
+number of the _Illustrated London News_. The art of wood-engraving had
+fallen very low in the seventeenth century, and the illustrations to be
+found in early newspapers are mostly of a very rude description; but
+they show the existence of a germ which eventually grew into full and
+flourishing life.
+
+The English newspaper, like many other great inventions, was a thing of
+gradual growth. The news that was sung or recited by wandering
+ballad-singers at the village cross, or in the court-yard of the
+squire's mansion, and the written newsletter furnished to the wealthy
+aristocracy, were the precursors of the early news-books and the
+periodical sheets of news. As the art of printing extended, many of the
+productions of the press assumed the character of news to attract
+readers. Sermons, satires, and travels, were all put forward under the
+name of _news_, and sometimes a single grain of truth was deemed
+sufficient to leaven a whole bushel of fiction. Most of these
+publications were small tracts, and published at irregular intervals.
+Some of them were adorned with engravings on the title-pages, which show
+that even at this early period the authors or printers of these papers
+were imbued with the pictorial spirit. The idea of illustrating current
+events had already taken root, and we find examples of it long before
+the establishment of regular newspapers.
+
+The earliest form of the newspaper is known to have come into existence
+during times of war and tumult, and it was for a long time believed that
+the first English newspaper was brought forth under similar
+circumstances. But when the _English Mercurie_ of 1588 was proved to be
+a forgery, the enthusiast in newspaper history received a heavy blow and
+sad discouragement. It seemed so highly probable, when this country was
+threatened with the descent of the Spanish Armada, that something like a
+newspaper might have sprung into existence, that people were only too
+ready to adopt the imposture. When the whole nation was greatly excited
+and anxious to learn something about the reality of their danger,
+nothing was more natural than for the sagacious minister of Queen
+Elizabeth to appeal to the people through the printing-press, and by its
+means endeavour to calm the public mind by circulating printed sheets of
+intelligence, 'for the contradiction of false reports.' But we were
+compelled to admit that Lord Burleigh had missed his opportunity, and
+neglected to use the most powerful means for exciting the patriotism or
+allaying the fears of his countrymen. The author of this remarkable
+imposition showed great skill and acuteness in constructing his false
+newspaper, and fixing the date of its supposed publication. The forgery
+has been attributed to Lord Hardwick; but what were his motives it is
+difficult to understand. Unlike Chatterton and Ireland, he never
+brought his imposture before the world, and if he intended it merely for
+an antiquarian _jeu-d'esprit_ he had the enjoyment of the joke entirely
+to himself.
+
+The abolition of the Star Chamber, in 1641, was an important event for
+the press of this country. The so-called newspapers then began to print
+English news and discuss home affairs, no longer dreading the fines,
+imprisonments, and mutilations, that had been so liberally dispensed by
+that obnoxious tribunal. There was not, however, any considerable
+increase in the number of newspapers till the Civil War reached its
+height. During that remarkable contest many hundreds of tracts and
+newspapers were published, some of them numbered consecutively and
+published at regular intervals; but the great majority bore no
+continuous title, and treated of one subject only. During the reigns of
+Charles II. and James II. the press was more or less under a censorship,
+from which it was not emancipated till the seventh year of William III.
+Lord Macaulay dates the commencement of English newspapers from this
+period, when a great many new journals made their appearance. They
+included political news amongst their contents; and they more nearly
+resembled in character, but not in appearance, what we now understand by
+a newspaper than anything that had preceded them. This press revival was
+not accompanied by any corresponding activity in the direction of
+pictorial illustration. Art of every kind was in a low condition in
+England at this time. Even if the art of popular illustration had been
+better understood, the means of production were exceedingly limited.
+Newspapers multiplied greatly, but illustrated journalism had to
+struggle with difficulties, and its existence was only made known by the
+occasional appearance of a rough woodcut or an indifferent
+copper-plate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+  Illustrated Broadsides--Sir Francis Drake's Operations against the
+  Spaniards--Papers of News in the Reign of James I.--The first
+  Periodical Newspaper published in England--Illustrated Tracts relating
+  to Storms and Floods--Remarkable Murders favourite subjects with the
+  early Newswriters--Murder of the Rev. Mr. Storre--Murder in
+  Cornwall--Apparition of Three Skeletons--Visions in the Air--Attempt
+  on the Life of the Duke of Buckingham--Fall of Meteors at Bawlkin
+  Green, Berkshire--The _Swedish Intelligencer_--Passage of the River
+  Leck by Gustavus Adolphus--The Sallee Rovers--The _Weekly News_ of
+  1638, an Illustrated Paper--The Irish Rebellion of 1641--The Plague in
+  London--Murder on board an English Ship--The Earl of Strafford--His
+  Execution on Tower Hill--Archbishop Laud--A Burlesque Play about
+  him--Attack by the Mob on Lambeth Palace--Caricature of the Devil
+  offering Laud a Cardinal's Hat.
+
+
+[Illustration: THE VALIANT EXPLOITS OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, 1587.]
+
+Before, and for a long time after, the general use of newspapers,
+illustrated broadsides were published relating to particular events, or
+satirising the vices and follies of the period. In a broadside adorned
+with a woodcut representing Death and Time, and entitled, _The Doleful
+Dance, and Song of Death_, allusion is made to the 'Fatal Assizes' of
+Oxford, when three hundred persons, including the High Sheriff, died of
+a distemper, which was supposed to have originated among the prisoners.
+A sheet of a later date refers to the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder
+Plot; while a third, entitled, _Tittle-Tattle_, &c., satirises the
+gossiping habits of the fair sex, and contains many illustrations of
+manners, costume, and character. Such were the publications that did
+duty for newspapers in the days of Queen Elizabeth, whose subjects,
+however, were not left wholly without information as to passing events.
+In 1587 there was published an illustrated tract giving an account of
+the doings of Sir Francis Drake, who was employed by Queen Elizabeth to
+harass the Spaniards in their harbours, and hinder them in their
+preparations for invading England. These operations, which Drake himself
+described as 'singeing the King of Spain's beard,' delayed the sailing
+of the Armada, and gave Elizabeth time to prepare for defence. The tract
+referred to is entitled, '_The true and perfect Newes of the worthy and
+valiant exploytes performed and done by that valiant Knight Syr Frauncis
+Drake; Not only at Sancto Domingo, and Carthagena, but also nowe at
+Cales, and upon the Coast of Spayne, 1587_. _Printed at London, by J.
+Charlewood, for Thomas Hackett._' There is an account, in verse, written
+by one Thomas Greepe, of the doings of Sir Francis Drake and other sea
+captains. The author tells his reader, 'Here hast thou, gentle Reader,
+set forth unto thee the most worthy and valiant exploytes and
+enterpryses, lately atchieved and done by that valiant Knight Syr
+Frauncis Drake & others not pend in lofty verse, nor curiously handled,
+but playnly and truly, so that it may be well understood of the
+Reader.' There is no attempt made to illustrate the events related in
+the tract, but on the title-page there is a woodcut of a ship in full
+sail, which was perhaps intended to represent the admiral's own vessel.
+I have reproduced it on a reduced scale, as an early specimen of marine
+draughtsmanship.
+
+Thomas Greepe commences his poem with the following rhapsody:--
+
+  'Triumph, O England, and rejoice,
+    And prayse thy God incessantly
+  For this thy Queene, that pearle of choyce,
+    Which God doth blesse with victory!
+        In countryes strange, both farre and neere,
+        All raging foes her force doth feare.
+
+  Yee worthy wights that doo delighte
+    To heare of Novels strange and rare,
+  What valors, woone by a famous knight,
+    May please you marke I shall declare.
+        Such rare exploytes performde and done
+        As none the like hath ever woone.'
+
+He gives a list of the ships under Drake's command:--
+
+  'Twenty-five ships were then preparde,
+    Fifteene Pinnaces, brave and fine,
+  Well furnished for his safe garde,
+    Preventing foes that would him tyne.
+        With Masters good and Marriners rare
+        As ever tooke charge, I dare compare.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  The _Bonaventure_, a ship royall,
+    Cheefe Admirall then of the fleete,
+  Sir Frauncis Drake, cheefe Generall,
+    As by desertes he was most meete.
+        Most worthy Captaynes of hand and heart
+        In this boon voyage then tooke hys part.
+
+  The _Primrose_ next, Vice-Admirall,
+    Appoynted by thyre best device,
+  Captayne Frobisher, Vice-Generall--
+    A valiant Captayne, ware and wyse.
+        Captayne Carelell they did ordayne
+        Lieftenant-Generall on the mayne.'
+
+The poem thus winds up:--
+
+  'God save our Queene of merry England,
+    His sacred word long to maintaine;
+  Her Graces Navie and royall bande,
+    Through his good Grace, may long remaine.
+        Lord blesse her counsell, and keepe them aye
+        With all true subjects night and day.
+                  Finis, quoth Thomas Greepe.'
+
+This curious poem is supplemented by a letter, written by Sir Francis
+Drake, 'To the right reverende, godly, learned Father, my very good
+friend, M. John Fox, preacher of the word of God.' This was John Fox,
+the Martyrologist, who died in 1587. The letter proceeds: 'Mister Fox,
+whereas we have had of late such happy successe against the Spanyardes,
+I do assure myselfe that you have faithfully remembered us in your good
+prayers, and therefore I have not forgotten, breefly to make you
+partaker thereof. The 19. of Aprill we arrived within the road of
+Calles, where we found very many shipping, but amongst the rest 32 of
+exceeding burden, lade and to be laden with provision, and prepared to
+furnish the King's Navie, intended with all speede against England, the
+which when we had boorded, and also furnished our severall ships with
+provision as we thought sufficient, wee burnt; and although by the space
+of two dayes and two nights that we continued there, we were still
+endangered, both with thundering shott from the towne, and assailed with
+the roaring Cannons of twelve galleys; yet we suncke two of them, and
+one great Argosey, and still avoyded them with very small hurt, and so
+at our departure we brought away foure ships of provision, to the great
+terror of our enemies, and honour to ourselves, as it may appeare by a
+most curteous Letter written unto me with a Flagge of truce by Duke
+Petro, Generall of the Galleys. But whereas it is most certayne that the
+king doth not onely make speedy preparation in Spayne, but likewise
+expected a very great Fleete from the Straytes, and divers other places,
+that should joyne with his forces to invade England; we purpose to sette
+apart all feare of danger, and by Gods furtherance to proceed by all the
+good means we can devise to prevent their coming; wherefore I shall
+desire you to continue faithfull in remembrance of us in your prayers
+that our purpose may take that good effect, as God may be glorified, his
+Church, our Queene and country, preserved, and these enemies of the
+trueth utterly vanquished, that we may have continuall peace in Israel.
+Fro aboord her Majesties good ship the _Elizabeth Bonaventure_.
+
+'Your loving freende, and faythfull Sonne in Christ Jesus,
+
+  'FRAUNCIS DRAKE.'
+
+In the reign of James I. papers of news began to be published, but they
+only appeared occasionally, and were chiefly devoted to foreign
+intelligence. In 1619 we have 'Newes out of Holland,' followed by others
+in 1620, 1621, and 1622. These occasional tracts were afterwards
+converted into a regular weekly publication, entitled the '_Weekly
+News_,' printed by J. D. for Nichs. Bourne and T. Archer. This was the
+first periodical newspaper published in England. But long before this
+many illustrated tracts and pamphlets were published relating to events
+of recent occurrence. In one dated 1607 occurs the earliest instance I
+have met with of an attempt to illustrate the news of the day. It is
+entitled '_Wofull Newes from Wales, or the lamentable loss of divers
+Villages and Parishes (by a strange and wonderful Floud) within the
+Countye of Monmouth in Wales: which happened in January last past, 1607,
+whereby a great number of his Majesties subjects inhabiting in these
+parts are utterly undone_.' The writer of this news-book describes the
+flood, and then, taking it for his text, preaches a sermon upon it. It
+is printed in Old English, and is plentifully interspersed with pious
+exhortations and scriptural references. It has on the title a woodcut, a
+fac-simile of which is given on the next page.
+
+This interesting little tract has a preface, in which the author
+explains the difficulty he felt in producing it in the short time that
+was allowed him for the purpose:--'Reader, when these newes were
+brought, and an importunitie used to me that I would give the same
+forme, and bestow an exhortation on them, I was unwilling, both in
+regard of that short space (of lesse than one day which was limited to
+undertake the matter) and also in respect of the usual unfaithfulness of
+men ordinarily in reporting of such accidents as these bee; whereby it
+often falleth out that the relation of them reapeth much discredit. But
+when I could not have these just excuses taken, I began and finished
+this businesse, as the shorte space wold permit me.'
+
+The old story of the child washed away in a cradle, so often related as
+having occurred in great floods, and which Mr. Millais has immortalised
+in one of his pictures, is here told probably for the first
+time:--'Another little childe is affirmed to have bene cast upon land in
+a Cradle, in which was nothing but a Catte, the which was discerned, as
+it came floating to the shore, to leape still from one side of the
+Cradle unto the other, even as if she had been appointed steersman to
+preserve the small barke from the waves' furie.'
+
+[Illustration: GREAT FLOOD IN MONMOUTHSHIRE, 1607.]
+
+Another tract of the same date is illustrated with a woodcut similar to
+the one here copied, but it has in addition several more figures,
+including a cradle with a child in it floating on the water. This tract
+is entitled '_A true report of certaine wonderful overflowings of waters
+now lately in Summersetshire, Norfolk, and other places in England,
+destroying many thousands of men, women, and children, overthrowing and
+bearing downe whole townes and villages, and drowning infinite numbers
+of sheepe and other cattle_.' It is written in the same sermonising
+style, beginning by calling men to repent, and to take warning from
+these signs of God's anger. Then follows the narrative. The inundation
+was caused by an irruption of the sea, and many incidents are related of
+the flood. Here the cradle story is again told:--'An infant likewise was
+found swimming in a cradle, some mile or two fro' ye place where it was
+known to be kept, and so was preserved; for the cradle was not of
+wicker, as ours are here, but of strong, thicke bordes, closely joynted
+together, and that saved the infant's life.' This narrative of the
+Somersetshire flood was reprinted in another tract with '_An Addition of
+other and more strange Accidents happening by these Flouds, and brought
+to light since the first publishing of this Booke_.' This second edition
+is illustrated with the identical woodcut that is used in the tract
+relating the floods in Wales. The two tracts recounting the
+Somersetshire floods were 'printed at London by W. I. for Edward White,
+and are to be sold at the signe of the Gunne, at the North doore of
+Paules.' That describing the flood in Wales was 'printed for W. W., and
+are to be sold in Paules Church-yarde at the sign of the Grey-hound.' In
+those days printers frequently combined the functions of engraver and
+printer; and as regards the tracts under notice, we must conclude that
+the printer supplied each of his customers with the same woodcut, or
+that the booksellers of the time were in the habit of lending their
+woodcuts to each other.
+
+Storms, floods, and burnings were favourite themes with the early
+newswriters, and several illustrated tracts exist describing such
+calamities. They are more or less interspersed with pious exhortations,
+but the narrative is rarely allowed to flag, and every incident is
+minutely described. There is '_Woeful newes from the West parts of
+England of the burning of Tiverton_,' 1612; and a small quarto pamphlet
+of 1613, printed in old English, affords another good example of this
+kind of news. It is entitled--it will be observed how fond the old
+newswriters were of alliterative titles--'_The Wonders of this windie
+winter, by terrible stormes and tempests, to be losse of lives and
+goods of many thousands of men, women, and children. The like by Sea and
+Land hath not been seene nor heard of in this age of the world. London.
+Printed by G. Eld for John Wright, and are to be sold at his Shop neere
+Christ-Church dore._ 1613.' On the title-page is a woodcut, a copy of
+which is annexed.
+
+[Illustration: GREAT STORM, 1613.]
+
+The tract opens very much in the manner of a sermon, and declares the
+dreadful occurrences related are intended to 'move sinful mankind to
+repentance and newnesse of life.' It then goes on to describe 'that
+within these three fore-passed months of October, November, and
+December, the devouring gulfes of the Sea hath swallowed up above two
+hundred saile of ships, as well of our own Country as of neighbouring
+Nations, with great store of passengers, seafaring men, and owners of
+the same, adventuring their dear lives in the managing of the aforesaid
+ships, with all their goods, and merchandizes, making for our country
+all lost; yea, all, I say, in these three fore-passed months, hath been
+lost and drenched in the deep vaults of this watery world, a thing both
+lamentable and fearfull, that in so short a time, nay, in a small part
+of the yeare, even in an instant, so many heavy mischances should
+happen, and so many worthy vessels of adventure miscarrie, which had bin
+sufficient (if goodspeed had prevailed) to have inricht a whole Citie
+and bettered a kingdome; but such is the will of God, and such is His
+just indignation against us.
+
+'By certification from men of good accompt and calling, it is reported
+and knowne for truth, that in the month of October last, a fleete of
+fourteene sayle of ships making from Newcastle towards London, laden
+with sea-coale and other commodities of those parts, had their passage,
+by the tyranny of the windes, most untimely stopt, and violently caste
+into the ocean's wombe, in which ships were perished to the number of a
+hundred and forty seafaring men, besides other passengers, both of men
+and women, which at that time made their watery graves in the deepe sea.
+This first strooke feare into the hearts of people, which hath been
+since seconded with many calamities, which lieth heavy upon the heart of
+the reporter.' The writer then goes on to relate that between 'Dover and
+Calice there hath been found floating upon the waters in one weeke of
+fowle weather above seven hundred drowned persons of divers nations, as
+of English, Dutch, French, and Spanish, with parts and parcels of many
+splitted ships.' Further details are given at great length, and in
+rather a wordy manner. For instance, the writer describes the great
+number of women who are made widows by the disasters at sea, 'besides
+fatherlesse children and children fatherlesse.' Several examples are
+related of the force of the wind. 'A man and his wife riding over
+Maidenhead Bridge upon one horse, by the fierceness of the wind, were
+blowne beside, and there drowned both horse and all. God be merciful
+unto us and preserve us from all such like mischances. The like mishap
+befell in November last unto two Yorkshire men, as it is verified by
+some gentlemen of the Inns of Court and Chancery, which knew the
+parties, the one of them a tanner, named Francis Browne, the other a
+clothier, called Richard Smith, both dwelling in a towne neere Wakefield
+side called Thorby; which two countriemen falling out upon small
+occassions wilfully purposed to come up to London, and their put their
+causes of themselves to the Lawes tryall; yet notwithstanding came they
+up together, where in riding over a bridge about Bedfordshire, and
+conferring of their inward grudges, they were blowne both beside into
+the river, where, by the fierceness of the windes, they were most
+lamentably drowned, both horse and men; and thus by sodaine death ended
+their malice, to the fear and amazement of all such as well could
+witness their envious proceedings. These and such like accidents may be
+fearful examples for the world to behold, especially for rich men,
+shewing to them the certaintie of life and goods subject to the chances
+of death and fortune, according to the saying of a worthy philosopher,
+
+  "Full little thinks the man at morning sun
+   What hap to him befalls ere day be done."'
+
+A great many other instances are related of the fury of the tempests,
+all of which the writer feels certain 'have been laid upon us for our
+sinnes;' and winds up with a pious exhortation to take warning.
+
+[Illustration: FLOODS AND TEMPESTS, 1613.]
+
+Another tract of the same character and date, also printed in black
+letter, has a larger and more elaborate woodcut on the title-page,
+representing sinking ships, the shore strewed with dead bodies, and on
+the outside of a church tower the devil is seen throwing down the broken
+steeple. The following is the address to the reader:--'Reader, I do here
+present unto thee and to thy understanding (if thou hast any) some part
+of the lamentable losses and unrecoverable mischances that have
+happened by occassion of these late blustering stormes of winde, and an
+innumerable deal of rayne, the which a great many thousands have too
+true cause to beleeve, because they are sharers in the misfortunes that
+this outragious weather hath caused. Now, if thou hast sustained no loss
+thyselfe, perhaps thou wilt not beleeve these things to be true that I
+have written; but if thou wilt or doest beleeve, then pray to God that
+it will please Him to give them patience that are loosers, and humilitie
+that are winners, and give God thanks that he hath so blessed thee that
+thou hast no share in these mishaps. But if thou wilt not beleeve, goe
+and looke, or else remaine still in thy unbeliefe.' A copy of the
+woodcut is given on the preceding page.
+
+Another pamphlet, of 1613, has the annexed woodcut, and is entitled
+'_Lamentable Newes, shewing the Wonderful Deliverance of Maister Edmond
+Pet, Sayler, and Maister of a Ship, dwelling in Seething-lane, in
+London, neere Barking Church; with other strange things lately hapned
+concerning those great windes and tempestuous weather, both at Sea and
+Lande_. _Imprinted at London by T. C., for William Barley, dwelling over
+against Cree Church, neere Algate._ 1613.' It describes the wreck of a
+Newcastle ship on the east coast, and how 'Maister Pet,' after being
+exposed to the winds and waves for forty-eight hours, was rescued by a
+Dutch man-of-war, he being the only survivor from his ship. It will be
+seen the woodcut represents two seamen lowering what appears to be an
+arm-chair into the sea. This was probably the artist's notion of the
+safest and most comfortable way to rescue shipwrecked persons. The same
+tract relates other occurrences during the stormy weather, such as 'A
+man neere Bedford, being thaching a house, was blowne off and kild;
+trees blown up by the rootes, houses and chimnies quite blown downe,'
+&c. 'All which is for our sinnes.'
+
+[Illustration: RESCUE OF EDMUND PET, MARINER, 1613.]
+
+Remarkable murders were even more favourite subjects with the early
+news-writers than storms and floods, a partiality that has continued
+down to our own time. A tract of 1613 is devoted to the details of
+'Three Bloodie Murders,' but it is mainly taken up with an account of
+the murder of the Rev. William Storre, of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.
+The full title runs thus:--'_Three Bloodie Murders. The first committed
+by Francis Cartwright upon William Storre, M. Arts Minister and Preacher
+at Market Rasen in the countie of Lincolne. The second committed by
+Elizabeth James on the body of her Mayde, in the Parish of Egham in
+Surrie: who was condemned for the same fact at Sainte Margaret hill in
+Southwark, the 2 of July 1613, and lieth in the White Lion till her
+deliverie; discovered by a dombe Mayde and her Dogge. The third
+committed upon a stranger very lately near Highgate foure mile from
+London, very strangely found out by a Dogge. Also the 2 of July 1613._'
+
+The circumstances relating to the murder of the Rev. William Storre are
+given at great length and with much minuteness:--'Not long since, there
+happened some controversey between the Lords and the rest of the
+inhabitants of Market Raisin in the Countie of Lincolne concerning the
+Commons and Libertie in the Towne Fields; and the matter being mooted by
+one of them in the Church immediately after evening prayer on a Sabaoth
+day, divers hot intemperate speeches passed among them; whereupon their
+Minister, whose name was Mr. Storre, much disliking so indiscreete a
+course, wished them to have respect both to the time and place where
+they were: And further advised, seeing the cause in hand concerned a
+multitude, (amongst whom, some of the least government would always be
+the readiest to speake) that they would therefore make choice of two or
+three of the fittest and most substantial men, to answere and undertake
+for all the rest. This motion seemed to please them well, and therefore
+they intreated him, that he would first, as a man indifferent speake
+what he thought concerning the cause. But he not wishing to intermeddle
+in that matter, twice or thrice denied their request; and the rather,
+for that there was present one Francis Cartwright, a young man of an
+unbridled humour, the only Sonne and Heire to one of the same Lordes of
+the Towne, betwixt whom and himselfe, there was growne no small
+unkindnesse. Yet in the end being pressed thereunto by their
+importunities with the consent of both the parties he delivered his
+opinion, useing therein such discretion and reasons to confirme the same
+that they could not directly except against him. Notwithstanding, seeing
+him incline more to the right of the Freeholders and the rest of the
+Commons than to favour their intended purpose, they seemed to dislike
+his speaches, and to cavill at the same.
+
+'Young Cartwright standing by, not able any longer to contain himselfe
+tooke occassion hereupon to breake forthe abruptly into these wordes:
+The Priest deserveth a good Fee, he speaketh so like a Lawyer. Maister
+Storre having often aforetime had experience of his hotte stomacke and
+hastinesse as well towards others as himselfe, thought it best to reply
+little against him for that present.' The Rev. Mr. Storre's forbearance
+was of no avail, for next day young Cartwright took occasion to renew
+the quarrel, and in the public market-place 'proclaymed that Storre was
+a scurvie, lowsie, paltrie Priest; that whoever sayd he was his friend
+or spake in his cause, was a Rogue and a Rascall, that he would (but for
+the Law) cut his Throat, tear out his Heart, and hang his Quarters on
+the May-pole.' These sanguinary threats caused Mr. Storre to seek the
+protection of the Magistrates; and he afterwards preached a sermon
+containing words which young Cartwright thought were purposely directed
+against him, so that he 'more and more thirsted for revenge.'
+
+'About a week after, he espied Mr. Storre walking about eight of the
+clocke in the morning alone, by the south side of the Towne in his
+cloake, went to a cutler's shop, and tooke out of the same a short
+sword, formerly provided and made very sharpe for that purpose, and
+presently overtooke him.' The young man attacked the clergyman, and the
+pamphlet gives a minute account of the dreadful wounds he inflicted
+upon him until 'A Mayde coming that way by occassion of businesse,
+cried out, whereupon he fledde.'
+
+The clergyman died of the frightful wounds he received, and the murderer
+was taken and carried before a justice, 'where, either for lacke of
+their due information of the truth, or by the corrupt and favourable
+affection of the magistrate, or both, there was a very slender bayle
+taken, and the malefactor by this flight sent away.' Cartwright's
+friends 'laboured by corrupt dealing and wrong information' to procure
+his pardon; but so barbarous a murder could not be hushed up, and the
+culprit eventually 'fled beyonde the seas.'
+
+[Illustration: MURDER OF THE REV MR. STORRE, 1613.]
+
+On the title-page of the pamphlet is a woodcut representing the murder
+of the Rev. Mr. Storre, which is copied above.
+
+The two other murders are not related at such great length, and are not
+illustrated.
+
+This is the earliest example I have met with of a kind of illustrated
+news that is very popular even in our own day. From the pains taken to
+describe all the circumstances of the crime and its consequences, the
+author evidently regarded it as a subject of the highest interest, and
+worthy of all the elaboration he was capable of bestowing upon it.
+
+[Illustration: NEWS FROM PENRHYN IN CORNWALL, 1618.]
+
+There is a very curious and rare tract of the date of 1618, which
+describes the circumstances of another remarkable murder. It is entitled
+'_News from Perin (Penrhyn), in Cornwall, of a most Bloody and
+unexampled Murther very lately committed by a Father on his owne sonne
+(who was lately returned from the Indyes), at the instigation of a
+mercilesse Step Mother, together with their severall most wretched
+endes, being all performed in the Month of September last, Anno 1618._'
+On the title-page is a woodcut representing the discovery of the murder,
+which is reprinted in the body of the pamphlet. Another woodcut
+illustrates a scene before the murder is committed, where the son hands
+his bag of treasure to his step-mother. The story is a very minute
+history of a scapegrace son, who, after various adventures, returns to
+his father's house a penitent and reformed man. Many years having
+elapsed, the son is not recognised by his father, who has married a
+second wife and is in straitened circumstances. The son begs a night's
+lodging and resolves not to make himself known till next morning. In the
+meantime, to show that he will be able to recompense his host and
+hostess for their hospitality, he gives the latter a bag of gold and
+jewels to take care of for him till the morrow. The woman, excited by
+the possession of the gold, thinks how easy it would be to relieve
+themselves from their embarrassments by murdering their guest and
+keeping possession of his treasure. She urges her husband to do the
+deed. After many refusals he consents, and the father murders his own
+son. In the morning it is made known to him who his victim is, and, in a
+fit of remorse and despair, he kills himself; upon which the guilty wife
+also commits suicide, and the tract thus winds up:--'And to the end it
+may be a warning to all covetous step mothers, and a content for all
+easie Fathers to avoyde the like hereafter. At the entreaty of divers
+Gentlemen in the Countrey, It is as neere the life as Pen and Incke
+could draw it out, thus put in Print.'
+
+William Lillo, the author of _George Barnwell_, is said to have founded
+his play of 'Fatal Curiosity' on this tract. Lillo was a prosperous
+London jeweller and a successful dramatic author. He depicted the
+harrowing details of this tragic story with great power; and the agonies
+of old Wilmot, the father, constitute one of the most appalling and
+affecting incidents of the drama.
+
+A curious black-letter tract of 1616, which is illustrated with a
+fearful apparition of three skeletons, is entitled, '_Miraculous Newes
+from the cittie of Holdt, in the Lordship of Munster (in Germany), the
+twentieth of September last past 1616, wherein there were plainly beheld
+three dead bodyes rise out of their Graves, admonishing the people of
+Judgements to come_.' The truth of this miraculous news is vouched for
+by 'divers worthy Persons and Burgimasters of the same citty,' whose
+names are given. This miraculous appearance was preceded by a fearful
+tempest of thunder and lightning. 'When this great tempest of thunder
+and lightning was ceased, there was heard throughout all the parts and
+places of the citty a most hideous and dolefull clamour or outcry,
+striking terror into all the people, yet no man could perceive whence it
+came, or where this clamour should bee. The people came over all the
+citty after the noise, but could not finde it; for when they were at one
+corner of the citty they then heard it at another; and when they were
+come to that other corner there it seemed to them to be in the middle of
+the citty; and to them that were in the middest it seemed farther off.
+So that all heard it, but none could find where it was, or from whence
+it came.
+
+'At length the people assembling in the churchyard behelde there so
+strange and incredible judgements sent by the Lord, that for the most
+part the beholders fell flatt on their faces to the ground, crying loude
+unto the Lord for mercy. For there they beheld coming out of their
+graves three most ghostly and fearfull dead bodyes.
+
+
+1.
+
+'Whereof the first that was seen to arise out of the earth, seemed very
+white, cleane, and cleere, who opening his mouth and beating his handes
+together spake thus: "Blessed be God in the highest Heaven, that our
+releasement is come, for we have wayted many a hundred yeare for this
+time." The people hearing this fell upon their knees and prayed unto the
+Lord with weeping and great lamentation, saying: O Lord beholde us with
+thy merciful eyes, and let us not be overwhelmed or smothered in our
+sinnes.
+
+
+2.
+
+'The second dead man that arose out of the earth caused farre greater
+feare and trembling then the former, for the beholders saw him
+altogether from the toppe to the toe, like unto a burning fire; he
+likewise opened his mouth, and wringing his handes, and tearing his
+haire, cryed with a loude voyce: Repent yee, Repent yee; Almighty God
+hath taken his chastising rodde in hand, to punish the people for their
+sinnes, for their great wealth, for their great talke or presumptious
+wordes, for their pompe, and for their pride: The which the Lord will no
+longer suffer nor endure, for the cry and complaint of these sinnes is
+asended up into his eares; Wherefore hee will destroy you with a
+suddaine sicknesse, and fiery Pestilence, so that you shall not have so
+much time as one houre, to utter one worde, to call upon God.
+
+[Illustration: MIRACULOUS NEWS FROM MUNSTER IN GERMANY, 1616.]
+
+
+3.
+
+'After this fiery apparition and threatening speech ended, there
+appeared likewise rising out of the grave a third dead man, grinding and
+gnashing his teeth together, striking his handes the one against the
+other, and crying with a most fearful and hideous voyce, insomuch that
+it seemed to all the multitude there present, that the earth would
+certainly have rent in sunder; and spake that all the people plainly
+heard and understood his wordes, which were these; Woe, woe, woe, to
+the wicked; this is the time that wee have long attended and looked for;
+wherefore (ye people) looke to it, and beware lest the great day of the
+Lord come upon you suddainly, and fall upon you unprovided; for the time
+of his comming is neerer than you thinke.
+
+'After the uttering of these wordes, the three dead Bodyes vanished and
+the Graves were shut againe, the heavens became cleere, the Tempest
+ceased, and all the people being released of their present horror and
+feare, rejoyced, and assembling themselves together, gave glory and
+laude, and praise unto the Lord for his Fatherly mercy and unspeakable
+goodnesse, in the mitigation of his furie, and withdrawing his heavy
+hand for the present. And thereupon appointed a sett day of
+supplications, prayers, and fasting, with true and unfained Repentance
+to be proclaimed, and observed.'
+
+This account is supplemented by an 'apology,' setting forth that men
+must not be incredulous because they hear of miraculous
+occurrences--that God is able to bring back the age of miracles, &c. The
+writer evidently thought his readers might require to be strengthened by
+argument before they could place implicit faith in his narrative, and so
+he takes some pains in his 'apology' to convince them that however
+unnatural and uncommon may be the appearances he relates, the wickedness
+of the world was a sufficient justification for this and other
+extraordinary events. A copy of the woodcut that illustrates this
+curious production is shown on the preceding page.
+
+[Illustration: 'GOOD NEWES TO CHRISTENDOME,' 1620.]
+
+In 1620 Nathaniel Butter printed an illustrated tract entitled _'Good
+Newes to Christendome, sent to a Venetian in Ligorne, from a Merchant in
+Alexandria, Discovering a Wonderfull and Strange Apparition, visibly
+seene for many dayes together in Arabia over the place where the
+supposed Tombe of Mahomet (the Turkish Prophet) is inclosed; By which
+the learned Arabians prognosticate the Reducing and Calling of the great
+Turke to Christianitie. With many other Notable Accidents: But the most
+remarkable is the miraculous rayning of Bloud about Rome_.' This
+tract, which is very long and discursive, relates, among other things,
+the apparition of a woman in the air, with a book in her hand, being the
+same apparition that is described at great length in a tract of 1642,
+which I shall quote hereafter. In the tract under notice there is a
+woodcut representing an army in the clouds--the clouds raining blood
+over a city; a woman with sword and book; and a crowd of men below
+watching the aerial phenomenon. The writer, in winding up his narrative,
+thus addresses his reader:--'If you cannot beleeve it as truth, yet to
+make that use of it as if it were true; and then shall you know, there
+is but one way to happiness, and all the predictions, prophesies,
+visions, apparitions, comets, inundations, stormes, tempests, famine,
+warre, alteration, and subversion of kingdomes, with all the cabinet of
+mysteries, tend to this end that _premium_ and _poena_ be the mastering
+curbs of the world; that is, that God hath a _Magazine_ of judgements to
+inflict on the obstinate sinner with punishments: and a store-house of
+mercy to support the penitent soule with comfort.'
+
+In 1627 we come upon a very curious and literal example of illustrated
+news. In that year Charles I., having declared war against France,
+fitted out an expedition of a hundred sail and an army of 7000 men for
+the support of the Protestant cause in that country. The King's
+favourite, the self-confident and vainglorious Duke of Buckingham, took
+the command of the expedition, although he was totally unfit for that
+position. He was personally brave, but possessed no other quality of a
+commander. He had no knowledge or experience of the art of war, and was
+too proud and presumptuous to be guided by the advice of others. The
+expedition was destined for Rochelle, then in possession of the
+Huguenots; but Buckingham went to sea without any understanding with his
+allies; and, when he anchored off Rochelle, he was refused admission to
+the town. He then directed his course to the neighbouring Isle of Rhè,
+where he succeeded in landing his men under the fire of his ships, and
+defeated a small French force commanded by the governor of the island.
+Instead of immediately following up his success, Buckingham allowed the
+French commander to secure and strengthen the fortress of St. Martin;
+and when he did advance he foolishly left the enemy in possession of
+another fort in his rear. He besieged the Castle of St. Martin for many
+weeks, and then led his men to storm the place without having made a
+single breach in the walls. They were repulsed at all points with
+considerable loss, and attempted to retreat to their ships; but Marshal
+Schomberg with a French army had thrown himself between the Duke and the
+fleet, and had put a strong corps and artillery into the fort of La
+Prèe, which Buckingham had left in his rear. No precautions whatever had
+been taken, and they suffered great loss before they could re-embark.
+The expedition was a total failure, and Buckingham returned to England
+beaten and disgraced.
+
+While the Duke of Buckingham was besieging the citadel of St. Martin, an
+attempt was made, or was said to have been made, upon his life by a
+French Papist or Jesuit, with a thick four-edged knife. An account of
+the Duke's proceedings while in the Isle of Rhè appears to have been
+sent home, and was published probably with a view of influencing the
+people in his favour and showing to what dangers he was exposed in the
+national service. There is in the British Museum a tract entitled '_A
+Continued Journal of all the Proceedings of the Duke of Buckingham his
+Grace, in the Isle of Ree since the last day of July. With the names of
+the Noblemen as were drowned and taken in going to releeve the Fort. As
+also the Portraiture of the knife with which his Excellence should have
+been murdered, which very knife was brought over by Captaine Buckestone
+and delivered unto the Duchess of Buckingham her Grace on Monday night
+last. Published by Authoritie. London, Printed for Thomas Walkley, and
+are to be sold at his shop at the Eagle and Childe in Britaines Bursse,
+1627._' The following account is given of the intended assassination of
+the Duke:--
+
+  'Received the 27 of August.
+
+'Here I have sent you all the remarkable Newes that I have upon the
+last of _July_. There was taken by a _Perdue_ of ours, in the night (a
+Frenchman), that was sent by _Monsieur de Thorax_, the Governour of the
+Citadell, with a full intent to kill my Lord Duke; and for the speedy
+effecting of the same he had prepared a strange and dangerous _Poynado_,
+which, although it was taken about him, he confidently denied that he
+came not with any intent to kill the _Duke_ untill he came to the
+Tortures, which being presented before him he promised to discover all
+to my _Lord_ if he would promise him life, the which he did, and doth so
+performe with him, like a noble and mercifull Generall.' The tract
+contains a large woodcut of a knife, a reduced copy of which is given
+above, and underneath the engraving is the following description:--'This
+is the true Portraiture of the poysoned knife, both in length and
+breadth, having foure edges, with which a Jesuited Vilaine was sent out
+of the Fort by Monsieur de Thorax, the Governour of that Island, with an
+intent to have killed his Excellence, but by God's providence was
+delivered. His Grace hath used the French so nobly in all respects that
+he rather deserved their love than any wayes to have his life thus
+treacherously sought after, under the pretence that it was a meritorious
+act. Which knife was brought over into England by Captaine Buckestone,
+and by him delivered unto the Dutches of Buckingham her Grace on Monday
+night last.'
+
+[Illustration: KNIFE INTENDED FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF THE DUKE OF
+BUCKINGHAM, 1627.]
+
+Whether the attempt on Buckingham's life was a reality or was got up for
+the purpose of endearing the court favourite to all good Protestants, it
+foreshadowed his ultimate fate. In the following year, while he was at
+Portsmouth, and about to embark on a second expedition to Rochelle, he
+was stabbed by Felton, who had served under him in the expedition to
+the Isle of Rhè.
+
+Besides the subjects already noticed, the old news-writers delighted in
+signs and portents in the air, and failed not to improve the occasion
+whenever they met with a text so much to their liking. There was a fall
+of meteorites in 1628, which was chronicled at the time in an illustrated
+pamphlet, entitled, '_Looke up and See Wonders: a miraculous Apparition
+in the Ayre, lately seen in Barke-shire, at Bawlkin Greene, neere
+Hatford, April 9th, 1628._' The author, like his fellow-chroniclers,
+already quoted, regards the occurrence as a sign of Heaven's displeasure,
+and addresses his readers thus:--'So Benummed wee are in our Sences, that
+albeit God himselfe Holla in our Eares, wee by our wills are loath to
+heare him. His dreadfull Pursiuants of _Thunder and Lightning_ terrifie
+vs so long as they haue vs in their fingers, but beeing off, wee dance
+and sing in the midst of our Follies.' He then goes on to tell how 'the
+foure great quarter-masters of the World (_the foure Elements_) ... haue
+bin in ciuill Warres one against another.... As for _Fire_, it hath
+denied of late to warme vs, but at vnreasonable rates, and extreame hard
+conditions. But what talke I of this earthy nourishment of _fire_? How
+haue the _Fires_ of Heauen (some few yeares past) gone beyond their
+bounds, and appeared in the shapes of Comets and Blazing Starres?... The
+_Aire_ is the shop of Thunder and Lightning. In that, hath of late been
+held a Muster of terrible enemies and threatners of Vengeance, which the
+great Generall of the Field who Conducts and Commands all such Armies
+(_God Almighty, I meane_) auert from our Kingdome, and shoote the arrowes
+of his indignation some other way, vpon the bosomes of those that would
+confound his Gospell.... Many windowes hath he set open in heauen, to
+shewe what Artillery hee has lying there, and many of our Kings haue
+trembled, when they were shewne vnto them. What blazing Starres (euen at
+Noone-dayes) in those times hung houering in the Aire? How many
+frightfull Ecclipses both of Sun and Moone?... It is not for man to
+dispute with God, why he has done this so often ... but, with feare and
+trembling casting our eyes vp to Heauen, let vs now behold him, bending
+his Fist onely, as lately he did to the terrour and affrightment of all
+the Inhabitants dwelling within a Towne in the County of Barkshire....
+The name of the Towne is _Hatford_, some eight miles from _Oxford_. Ouer
+this Towne, vpon Wensday being the ninth of this instant Moneth of
+_April_, 1628, about fiue of the clocke in the afternoone this
+miraculous, prodigious and fearefull handy-worke of God was presented....
+The weather was warme, and without any great shewe of distemperature,
+only the skye waxed by degrees a little gloomy, yet not so darkened but
+that the Sunne still and anon, by the power of the brightnesse, brake
+through the thicke clouds....
+
+'A gentle gale of wind then blowing from betweene the _West_ and
+_North-west_, in an instant was heard, first a hideous rumbling in the
+_Ayre_, and presently after followed a strange and fearfull peale of
+Thunder, running vp and downe these parts of the _Countrey_, but it
+strake with the loudest violence, and more furious tearing of the
+_Ayre_, about a place called _The White Horse Hill_, than in any other.
+The whole order of this thunder, carried a kind of Maiesticall state
+with it, for it maintayned (_to the affrighted Beholders' seeming_) the
+fashion of a fought Battaile.
+
+'It beganne thus: First, for an onset, went off one great _Cannon_ as it
+were of _thunder_ alone, like a warning peece to the rest that were to
+follow. Then a little while after was heard a second; and so by degrees
+a third, vntil the number of 20 were discharged (or thereabouts) in very
+good order, though in very great terror.
+
+'In some little distance of time after this was audibly heard the sound
+of a Drum beating a Retreate. Amongst all these angry peales shot off
+from Heauen, this begat a wonderful admiration, that at the end of the
+report of every cracke, or _Cannon-thundering_, a hizzing noyse made way
+through the _Ayre_, not vnlike the flying of _Bullets_ from the mouthes
+of great Ordnance; and by the iudgement of all the terror-stricken
+witnesses they were _Thunder-bolts_. For one of them was seene by many
+people to fall at a place called _Bawlkin Greene_, being a mile and a
+half from _Hatford_: Which _Thunder-bolt_ was by one Mistris _Greene_
+caused to be digged out of the ground, she being an eye-witnesse amongst
+many others, of the manner of the falling.
+
+'The forme of the _Stone_ is three-square, and picked in the end: In
+colour outwardly blackish, some-what like Iron: Crusted ouer with that
+blacknesse about the thicknesse of a shilling. Within it is soft, of a
+grey colour, mixed with some kind of minerall, shining like small peeces
+of glasse.
+
+'This _Stone_ brake in the fal: The whole peece is in weight nineteene
+pound and a halfe: The greater peece that fell off weigheth fiue pound,
+which with other small peeces being put together, make foure and twenty
+pound and better....
+
+'It is in the Countrey credibly reported that some other Thunder-stones
+haue bin found in other places: but for certainty there was one taken vp
+at _Letcombe_, and is now in the custody of the _Shriefe_.'
+
+This curious account is illustrated with a quaint woodcut, in the
+foreground of which the thunder-bolt seen by Mistress Green is being
+'digged out of the ground.'
+
+[Illustration: FALL OF METEORS AT BAWLKIN GREEN, BERKSHIRE, APRIL 9,
+1628.]
+
+Amongst the many publications relating to the victorious career of
+Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, there was one entitled the _Swedish
+Intelligencer_, printed at London, in 1632, for Nathaniel Butter and
+Nicholas Bourne, both of them names associated with the first
+establishment of newspapers in England. The _Swedish Intelligencer_
+gives very full accounts of the exploits of Gustavus, and it is
+illustrated with his portrait, a bird's-eye view of the siege of
+Magdeburg, a plan showing how the King of Sweden and his army crossed
+the river Lech into Bavaria, and a plan or bird's-eye view of the battle
+of Lutzen, where Gustavus was killed. The portrait, the siege of
+Magdeburg, and the battle of Lutzen, are engraved on copper, but the
+passage of the Lech is a woodcut. I have copied the latter, the others
+being too elaborate for reproduction on a reduced scale. The three last
+named are very curious as illustrations of war news. Gustavus had
+crossed the Danube, and his troops overspread the country between that
+river and the river Lech. Field Marshal Tilly was in front of him,
+waiting for reinforcements from the army of Wallenstein, in Bohemia, and
+the junction of fresh levies raised in Bavaria, with which he hoped to
+drive the invaders back across the Danube. The account in the _Swedish
+Intelligencer_ of this celebrated passage of the River Lech is too long
+for quotation, but I give a condensed version of the circumstances from
+other sources.
+
+The Lech takes its rise among the mountains of the Tyrol, and, after
+washing the walls of Landsberg and Augsburg, falls into the Danube at a
+short distance from the town of Rain. The banks are broken and
+irregular, and the channel uncertain. Nor are there many rivers of the
+same size in Germany which can be compared with it in the strength and
+rapidity of its current. The united forces of Bavaria and the League,
+with this efficient means of defence in front, extended their right wing
+towards the Danube and their left towards Rain, while the banks of the
+river, as far as the city of Augsburg, were observed by their patrols,
+supported by detached bodies of infantry. Tilly had taken the precaution
+of breaking down the bridges over the Lech, and had thrown up field
+works at points where he judged the passage might be considered attended
+with fewest difficulties. That the Swedes would attack him in his main
+position was a pitch of daring to which, well as he was acquainted with
+the enterprising spirit of the king, he could scarcely suspect him of
+having yet attained. Such, however, was the full determination of
+Gustavus. After he had reconnoitred the course of the Lech for some
+miles, at the imminent peril of his life, he fixed upon a point between
+Rain and Thierhauppen, where the river makes a sweep to the eastward, as
+the spot for carrying his venturous design into effect. The king's
+first intention was to throw a floating bridge over the stream, but the
+attempt was no sooner made than it was found to be rendered hopeless by
+the rapidity of the current. It was then imagined that tressels might be
+sunk, and firmly secured by weights in the bed of the river, on which
+the flooring of the bridge might afterwards be securely laid. The king
+approved of this plan, and workmen were commanded to prepare the
+necessary materials at the small village of Oberendorf, situated about
+half a mile from the spot. During the night of the 4th of April the work
+was entirely finished, the supports fixed in the stream, and the planks
+for forming the bridge brought down to the water's edge. The king had,
+in the meantime, ordered a trench to be dug along the bank of the river
+for the reception of bodies of musketeers, and several new batteries to
+be constructed close to the shore, the fire from which, as they were
+disposed along a convex line, necessarily crossed upon the opposite
+side; those upon the left hand of the Swedes playing upon the left of
+the enemy, and those on the right upon the wood held by the Bavarians.
+Another battery, slightly retired from the rest, directed its fire
+against the entrenchments occupied by Tilly's centre. By daybreak on the
+5th, all necessary preparations having been made, the bridge was begun
+to be laid, and completed under the king's inspection. Three hundred
+Finland volunteers were the first who crossed, excited by the reward of
+ten crowns each to undertake the dangerous service of throwing up a
+slight work upon the other side for its protection. By four in the
+afternoon the Finlanders had finished their undertaking, having been
+protected from a close attack by the musketry of their own party and the
+batteries behind them, from which the king is said to have discharged
+more than sixty shots with his own hand, to encourage his gunners to
+charge their pieces more expeditiously. The work consisted merely of an
+embankment surrounded by a trench, but it was defended both by the
+direct and cross fire of the Swedes. As soon as it was completed,
+Gustavus, stationing himself with the King of Bohemia at the foot of
+the bridge, commanded Colonel Wrangle, with a chosen body of infantry
+and two or three field-pieces, to pass over, and after occupying the
+work, to station a number of musketeers in a bed of osiers upon the
+opposite side. The Swedes crossed the bridge with little loss, and after
+a short but desperate struggle the Imperialists were routed. The whole
+of the Swedish army was soon upon the eastern bank of the Lech, where
+the king, without troubling himself with the pursuit of the enemy,
+commanded his army to encamp, and ordered the customary thanksgivings to
+be offered for his victory.[1]
+
+The account in the _Swedish Intelligencer_ is wound up in these words:
+'And this is the story of the King's bridge over the _Lech_, description
+whereof we have thought worthy to be here in Figure imparted unto you.'
+Then follows an 'Explanation of the Letters in the Figure of the
+_Bridge_,' given below the illustration. The engraving does not appear
+to have been entirely satisfactory to the author, for on its margin the
+following words are printed: 'Our Cutter hath made the Ordnance too
+long, and to lye too farre into the River. The Hole also marked with R,
+should have been on the right hand of the Bridge.'
+
+[Illustration: PASSAGE OF THE RIVER LECH, BY GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. FROM THE
+'SWEDISH INTELLIGENCER,' 1632.]
+
+  REFERENCES TO PASSAGE OF THE RIVER LECH.
+
+  'A The King of Sweeden, and the King of Bohemia by him.
+
+  B The Bridge.
+
+  C A Trench or Brestworke, in which the Kings Musketeers were lodged,
+  betwixt the severall Batteryes of the great Ordnance, which Musketeers
+  are represented by the small stroakes made right forwards.
+
+  D Divers little Field-pieces.
+
+  E Plat-formes or Batteryes for the Kings greater Cannon.
+
+  F The Halfe-moone, with its Pallisadoe or Stocket, beyond the Bridge,
+  and for the guard of it. It was scarcely bigge enough to lodge a
+  hundred men in.
+
+  G A little Underwood, or low Bushy place.
+
+  H A plaice voyd of wood; which was a Bache, sometimes overflowne.
+
+  I A Brestworke for Tillyes Musketeers.
+
+  K K Tilly and Altringer; or the place where they were shot.
+
+  L The high wood where the Duke of Bavaria stood.
+
+  M Tilleyes great Batteryes to shoot down the Bridge.
+
+  N A small riveret running thorow the wood.
+
+  O Tillyes great Brestworke; not yet finished. Begun at sixe in the
+  morning; and left off when he was shot.
+
+  P Some Horse-guards of Tillyes: layd scatteringly here and there all
+  along the river from Rain to Augsburg.
+
+  Q The kings Horse-guards, and Horse-sentryes.
+
+  R A hole in the earth, or casual advantageable place; wherein some of
+  the Kings Foot were lodged.
+
+  S The Hill behind Tillyes great worke.
+
+  T The fashion of the Tressels or Arches for the Kings Bridge.'
+
+In 1636 the Sallee Rovers had become very troublesome, and not only
+hindered British commerce, on the high seas, but even infested the
+English coasts. They had captured and carried into slavery many
+Englishmen, for whose release a 'Fleete of Shippes' was sent out in
+January, 1636. Assisted by the Emperor of Morocco, the nest of pirates
+was destroyed and the captives released. A full account of this
+expedition is given in a curious pamphlet, entitled, '_A true Journal of
+the Sally Fleet with the proceedings of the Voyage, published by John
+Dunton, London, Mariner, Master of the Admirall called the Leopard.
+Whereunto is annexed a List of Sally Captives names and the places where
+they dwell, and a Description of the three Townes in a Card. London,
+printed by John Dawson for Thomas Nicholes, and are to be sold at the
+Signe of the Bible in Popes Head Alley, 1637_.' This tract is
+illustrated by a large plan of Sallee, engraved on copper, with
+representations of six English vessels of war on the sea. After minutely
+describing the proceedings of the voyage, and giving a long list of the
+captives' names, the journalist winds up in these words: 'All these good
+Shippes with the Captives are in safety in England, we give God thanks.
+And bless King Charles and all those that love him.'
+
+At the end of the pamphlet is printed the authority for its publication:
+'Hampton Court, the 20. of October, 1637. This Journall and Mappe may be
+printed.'
+
+There is an illustrated pamphlet of this period which I have not been
+able to see. It is entitled, '_Newes, and Strange Newes from St.
+Christopher's of a Tempestuous Spirit, which is called by the Indians a
+Hurrycano or Whirlwind; whereunto is added the True and Last Relation
+(in verse) of the Dreadful Accident which happened at Witticombe in
+Devonshire, 21. October, 1638_.'
+
+The _Weekly News_, begun in 1622, had been in existence sixteen years
+when the idea of illustrating current events seems to have occurred to
+its conductors; for in the number for December 20, 1638, there is,
+besides the usual items of foreign news, an account of a 'prodigious
+eruption of fire, which exhaled in the middest of the ocean sea, over
+against the Isle of Saint Michael, one of the Terceras, and the new
+island which it hath made.' The text is illustrated by a full-page
+engraving showing 'the island, its length and breadth, and the places
+where the fire burst out.' I have not been able to find a copy of the
+_Weekly News_ for December 20, 1638, either in the British Museum or
+elsewhere. My authority for the above statement is a letter in the
+_Times_ of October 13, 1868. As far as I have been able to ascertain, no
+other illustrations were published in the _Weekly News_, so that we must
+conclude the engraving of the 'prodigious eruption of fire' was an
+experiment, which in its result was not encouraging to the proprietor or
+conductors of the journal.
+
+[Illustration: TAKING OF THE CASTLE OF ARTAINE, IRELAND, 1641.]
+
+When the Irish Rebellion of 1641 broke out, many news-books were
+published describing the transactions in that country, and several of
+them are illustrated. I may here remark that the illustrations of events
+in these pamphlets, as well as many of those contained in the numerous
+tracts published during the Civil War in England, appear to be works of
+pure imagination, and were, probably, invented by the artist just as a
+modern draughtsman would illustrate a work of fiction. Others, again,
+were evidently old woodcuts executed for some other purpose. A few
+instances occur, however, where drawings have been made from actual
+scenes, and sometimes maps and plans are given as illustrations of a
+battle or a siege. This rising of the Roman Catholics in Ireland began
+with a massacre of the Protestants, and, according to the tracts
+published at the time, the atrocities of recent wars in Bulgaria and
+elsewhere were equalled in every way by the Roman Catholics in Ireland
+in the seventeenth century. The illustrations in these tracts are very
+coarse woodcuts. One represents the arrest of a party of conspirators,
+and another is a view of a town besieged, while a third gives a group of
+prisoners supplicating for mercy. The best illustration that I have met
+with of this Irish news is contained in a pamphlet entitled, '_Approved,
+good and happy Newes from Ireland; Relating how the Castle of Artaine
+was taken from the Rebels, two of their Captaines kild, and one taken
+prisoner by the Protestants, with the arrival of 2000 foot, and 300
+horse from England. Also a great skirmish between the Protestants and
+the Rebels at a place near Feleston, wherein the English obtained great
+renowne and victory: Whereunto is added a true relation of the great
+overthrow which the English gave the Rebels before Drogheda, sent in a
+letter bearing date the 27 of February to Sir Robert King, Knight, at
+Cecill house in the Strand. Printed by order of Parliament. London,
+Printed for John Wright 1641._' The woodcut on the title-page of this
+tract represents the taking of the castle of Artaine, but there is only
+the following very short paragraph relating to it:--'The last news from
+Ireland 7 March 1641. The 10 of February our men went to _Artaine_
+against a castle so called, which had before done some mischiefe, to
+some of our men, the enemy being in it. But the enemy fled before our
+second coming, and left the Castle, and a garrison was left in it by
+us.' The other news is related more at length, and one of the paragraphs
+runs thus:--'On the 13 a man was brought to our City, being taken by
+some of our scattering men scouting about our City, who confest without
+constraint, that he had killed an _Englishwoman_ at a place called
+_Leslipson_, 6 Miles West of our City, and washed his hands in her
+bloud, being set on by the popish Priests so to doe; he was presently
+hanged, but dyed with much repentance and a protestant, which few do.'
+The concluding paragraph of this pamphlet shows the writer to have been
+a man of a commercial spirit:--'Tis to be feared that a famine is like
+to be in our City, in that still men come to us and provision is short,
+and none of yours that come to us bring any vittailes, great taxes are
+upon us, more than can be borne. He that had Butter, and Cheese, and
+Cloath, at between 6 and 14 shillings a yard here sent by any out of
+London might make a good trade of it. Cheshire Cheese is sould here for
+sixpence a pound already. Some of your Londoners are come hither
+(acquaintance of mine) that will send for such things, for great profit
+may be made by them and quicke returne.' Annexed is a facsimile of the
+woodcut representing the taking of the Castle of Artaine.
+
+Several other pamphlets relating to the Irish Rebellion are illustrated,
+but, with a few exceptions, the cuts bear very little relation to the
+subject, and were probably not executed for the purpose. One gives an
+account of a victory obtained by the English at Dundalk in 1642, and it
+has a woodcut of a man firing a cannon against a town, a copy of which
+is appended.
+
+[Illustration: VICTORY AT DUNDALK, 1642.]
+
+The description is in the following words:--'Newes from Ireland. On
+Monday morning came three Gentlemen to our City of Dublin from Sir Henry
+Tichbourne, who brought a message to the state of a great and happy
+victory obtained by the aforesaid Sir Henry Tichbourne with 2000 horse
+and foot marched to Ardee, and there put 400 of the Rebels to the sword,
+yet lost not one man of our side; from thence upon the Saturday
+following, he mustered up his forces against a place called Dundalke
+some 14 miles northward from Tredath, where the enemy was 5000 strong,
+and well fortified. At his first approach there issued out of the Towne
+3000 of the Rebels who all presented themselves in Battallia, our
+Forlorne hopes of horse and foot had no sooner fired upon them, but they
+routed the Rebels. Captaine Marroe's Troope of horse setting on killed
+great store of the Rebels who thereupon retreated to the Towne, made
+fast the gates, and ran out at the other end to their boats beforehand
+provided: Our Army coming in fired the gates, entred, and killed those
+within. Captain Marroe followed the flying foe, and slew abundance of
+them upon the strand, and it is reported by them that if he had known
+the Fords and the River, he had cut them all off, if he had gained the
+other side of the River, but being a stranger, could not doe it (wanting
+a guide) without endangering the Troope. There was slaine of the Rebels
+in this sudden skirmish not less than 1100 besides what they took
+prisoners. Sir Philomy O'Neale fled with the rest of the Commanders; but
+10 common soldiers were lost of our side. Sir Philomy O'Neale made speed
+away to a place called Newry, a chiefe garrison of the Rebels. Sir Henry
+Tichbourne hath sent 600 men more to Dublin, intending that place shall
+be the next he begins withall, which is granted, and tomorrow there
+goeth to him 500 men, if not 5000, for whose safety and prosperity in
+the meantime is the subject of our daily prayers that he may have as
+good success as in all his other designs from the first till this time;
+for no man was ever so beloved by his souldiers, that protest to follow
+him while they can stand. We are in great hope he will recover the Newry
+very shortly; it is credibly reported, that they got 20,000 pounds at
+least in pillage at Dundalke.'
+
+In another pamphlet, dated 1642, there is an account of a battle at
+Kilrush, which is also illustrated with a woodcut. The circumstances are
+related in detail, but they are sufficiently set forth in the title,
+without further quotation:--'Captaine Yarner's Relation of the Battaile
+fought at Kilrush upon the 15th day of Aprill, by my Lord of Ormond, who
+with 2500 Foot and 500 Horse, overthrew the Lord Mountgarret's Army,
+consisting of 8000 Foot and 400 Horse, all well armed, and the choyce of
+eight Counties. Together with a Relation of the proceedings of our Army,
+from the second to the later end of Aprill, 1642.'
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF KILRUSH, 1642.]
+
+Many other illustrated pamphlets relating to current events were
+published at this time. It would appear that in 1641 there was a
+visitation of the plague in London, and a tract of that date has
+reference to it. It is entitled:--'_London's Lamentation, or a fit
+admonishment for City and Country, wherein is described certain causes
+of this affliction and visitation of the Plague, yeare 1641, which the
+Lord hath been pleased to inflict upon us, and withall what means must
+be used to the Lord, to gain his mercy and favour, with an excellent
+spirituall medicine to be used for the preservative both of Body and
+Soule._' The 'spiritual medicine' recommended is an earnest prayer to
+heaven at morning and evening and a daily service to the Lord. The
+writer endeavours to improve the occasion very much like a preacher in
+the pulpit and continues his exhortation thus:--'Now seeing it is
+apparent that sin is the cause of sicknesse: It may appear as plainly
+that prayer must be the best means to procure health and safety, let not
+our security and slothfulnesse give death opportunity, what man or woman
+will not seem to start, at the signe of the red Crosse, as they passe
+by to and fro in the streets? And yet being gone they think no more on
+it. It may be, they will say, such a house is shut up, I saw the red
+crosse on the doore; but look on thine own guilty conscience, and thou
+shalt find thou hast a multitude of red crimson sinnes remaining in
+thee.' I have copied the illustration to this tract, and it will be seen
+that it is divided into two parts--one representing a funeral procession
+advancing to where men are digging two graves--the other showing dead
+bodies dragged away on hurdles. The first is labelled 'London's
+Charity.' The second 'The Countrie's Crueltie.' This was perhaps
+intended to impress the reader in favour of the orderly burial of the
+dead in the city churchyards, a subject on which public opinion has very
+much changed since that time.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLAGUE IN LONDON. 1641.]
+
+We have already noticed that the vicissitudes of the sea and the
+accidents of maritime life, which supply so much material to modern
+newspapers, were not less attractive to the early news-writers. There is
+a very circumstantial account of the voyage and wreck of a ship called
+the _Merchant Royall_ in a pamphlet published in 1641. The engraving it
+contains is the same block used by Thomas Greepe in 1587. It is
+entitled, '_Sad news from the seas, being a true relation of the losse
+of that good Ship called the Merchant Royall, which was cast away ten
+leagues from the Lands end, on Thursday night, being the 23 of September
+last 1641 having in her a world of Treasure, as this story following
+doth truly relate_.' Another illustrated pamphlet, dated 1642, contains
+a long and minute narrative of how a certain ship called the _Coster_
+was boarded by a native of Java, who, watching his opportunity, murdered
+the captain and several of the crew, but who was afterwards killed when
+assistance arrived from another ship. There is a woodcut representing
+the murders, and the title runs as follows:--'_A most Execrable and
+Barbarous murder done by an East Indian Devil, or a native of
+Java-Major, in the Road of Bantam, Aboard an English ship called the
+Coster, on the 22 of October last, 1641. Wherein is shewed how the
+wicked Villain came to the said ship and hid himself till it was very
+dark, and then he murdered all the men that were aboard, except the
+Cooke and three Boyes. And lastly, how the murderer himselfe was justly
+requited. Captain William Minor being an eye-witnesse of this bloudy
+Massacre. London: Printed for T. Banks, July the 18, 1642._' The very
+full particulars given in this pamphlet show how minute and
+circumstantial the old news-writers were in their narratives. It will be
+seen by the following extracts that the story has an air of truth given
+to it by careful attention to various small matters of detail:--
+
+'On Friday the 22 of October last 1641 towards night there came aboard
+an English ship called the _Coster_, in a small Prow (or flat Boat with
+one paddle) a proper young man, (a Java, which is as much as to say as a
+man born or native of the Territory of Java.) This man, (or devill in
+mans shape) with a pretence to sell some Hews, (hatching mischiefe in
+his damned minde,) did delay and trifle time, because he would have the
+night more dark for him to do his deeds of darknesse. At last he sold 6
+Hews for half a Royall of 8 which is not much above two shillings. There
+came also another Java aboard, (with the like small Prow or Boat) to
+whom he gave the half Royall, sent him away and bade him make haste; he
+being asked for what the other Java went for, the answer was that he had
+sent him for more Hews and Goates to sell.
+
+'Night being come, and very dark, (for it was the last night of the wane
+of the Moone) this inhumane dog staid lurking under the half deck having
+2 Crests (or dangerous waving daggers) and a Buckler, of which he would
+have sold one and the Buckler with it, and as he was discoursing he took
+off one of the Crests hefts and put cloth about the tongue of the Blade,
+and made it sure fast: on the other Crest he rolled the handle with a
+fine linnen cloth to make it also sure from slipping in his hand; these
+things he did whilst the Master, Robert Start, Stephen Roberts, his
+mate, Hugh Rawlinson, Chirurgeon, William Perks, Steward, James Biggs,
+Gunner, and 3 Boys or Youths attending. At supper they were very merry,
+and this Caitiffe took notice of their carelessnesse of him to suffer
+him to sit on the quarter deck upon a Cot close by them.
+
+'Supper being ended about 6 at night the Master went to his Cabin to
+rest, the Gunner asked leave to go ashore, (the ship riding but half a
+mile from landing.) Afterwards Robert Rawlinson and Perks walked upon
+the quarter deck; and the devilish Java perceiving the Master to be
+absent, he asked the Boyes where he was, who answered he was gone to
+sleepe. This question he demanded 3 or 4 times of the Boyes, and finding
+it to be so, he arose from the place where he sate, which was on the
+starboard side and went about the Table next the Mizzen Mast (where
+Roberts, Rawlings and Perks were walking) with his Target about his Neck
+for defence against Pikes, or the like; and his 2 Crests in his hand,
+and upon a sudden cries _a Muck_, which in that language is I hazard or
+run my death. Then first he stabd Roberts, secondly he stabd Rawlinson,
+thirdly Perks, all three at an instant. After that he let drive at the
+Boyes, but they leapd down, and ran forward into the forecastle, where
+they found the Cooke, to whom the Boyes related what had happened.'
+
+Further details are given at great length, showing how the savage
+continued his bloody work, and how he was finally overpowered. The
+narrative thus winds up:--
+
+[Illustration: MURDERS ON BOARD AN ENGLISH SHIP, 1642.]
+
+'It is observable that of all these men that were thus butchered, the
+Hel-hound did never stab any man twice, so sure did he strike, nor did
+he pursue any man that kept clear of his stand under the quarter-deck.
+So there dyed in all (in this bloody action) Robert Start, Master,
+Stephen Roberts, his Mate, Hugh Rawlinson, Chirurgeon, William Perks,
+Steward, Walter Rogers, Gunner's Mate, and Francis Drake, Trumpeter of
+the _Mary_. And after the Muck, Java, or Devill, had ended the first
+part of this bloody Tragedy, there was only left in the ship, the Cooke,
+3 Boyes, and one John Taylor, that was almost dead with a shott he
+foolishly made. So that 7 men were unfortunately lost (as you have
+heard) and the Gunner escaped very narrowly through God's merciful
+prevention, from the like of these related disasters and suddaine
+mischiefs, Good Lord deliver us.'
+
+The engraving, like all those belonging to this period, is very rough;
+but it was evidently prepared specially for the occasion, and some care
+appears to have been taken to represent the '_Java_' as he is described.
+It is a genuine attempt to illustrate the story, and on that account is
+more interesting than some of the woodcuts in the early newspapers.
+
+The Earl of Strafford, who was executed on Tower Hill, May 12, 1641,
+forms the subject of more than one illustrated tract of this period. In
+1642 was published a curious pamphlet, consisting of an engraved title
+and eight pages of illustrations, representing the principal events of
+1641-2. There are sixteen illustrations, exclusive of the title, two on
+each page. They are all etched on copper, and are done with some freedom
+and artistic ability. I shall have occasion to refer to this pamphlet
+hereafter; but at present I have copied the engraving entitled, 'The
+Earle of Strafford for treasonable practises beheaded on the
+Tower-hill.'
+
+In this example of illustrated news the artist has faithfully
+represented the locality in his background, but there the truth of his
+pencil stops. Strafford himself, although his head is not yet severed
+from his body, lies at full length on the scaffold, and instead of the
+usual block used for decapitations the victim's head rests on an
+ordinary plank or thick piece of wood. There is no one standing on the
+scaffold but the executioner, whereas history asserts that the Earl was
+attended in his last moments by his brother, Sir George Wentworth, the
+Earl of Cleveland, and Archbishop Usher. These omissions, if they were
+noticed at all, were no doubt looked upon as trivial faults in the
+infancy of illustrated journalism, and before a truth-loving public had
+learnt to be satisfied with nothing less than 'sketches done on the
+spot.' What appears to be a more correct view of the execution was,
+however, published at the time. In the British Museum are two etchings
+by Hollar (single sheets, 1641), representing the trial and execution
+of the Earl of Strafford. They both look as if they had been done from
+sketches on the spot, that of the execution giving a correct view of the
+Tower and the surrounding buildings, but they are too crowded to admit
+of reproduction on a reduced scale.
+
+[Illustration: EXECUTION OF STRAFFORD, 1641.]
+
+The taste of the time tolerated the publication of satires and petty
+lampoons even upon dead men. Soon after Strafford's death a tract was
+published entitled '_A Description of the Passage of Thomas, late Earle
+of Strafford, over the River of Styx, with the Conference betwixt him,
+Charon, and William Noy_.' There is a dialogue between Strafford and
+Charon, of which the following is a specimen:--
+
+'_Charon._--In the name of Rhodomont what ayles me? I have tugged and
+tugged above these two hours, yet can hardly steere one foot forward;
+either my dried nerves deceive my arme, or my vexed Barke carries an
+unwonted burden. From whence comest thou, Passenger?
+
+'_Strafford._--From England.
+
+'_Charon._--From England! Ha! I was counsailed to prepare myselfe, and
+trim up my boat. I should have work enough they sayd ere be long from
+England, but trust me thy burden alone outweighs many transported
+armies, were all the expected numbers of thy weight poor Charon well
+might sweat.
+
+[Illustration: STRAFFORD CROSSING THE STYX, 1641.]
+
+'_Strafford._--I bear them all in one.
+
+'_Charon._--How? Bear them all in one, and thou shalt pay for them all
+in one, by the just soul of Rhodomont; this was a fine plot indeed, sure
+this was some notable fellow being alive, that hath a trick to cosen the
+devil being dead. What is thy name?
+
+'(Strafford sighs.)
+
+'_Charon._--Sigh not so deep. Take some of this Lethæan water into thine
+hand, and soope it up; it will make thee forget thy sorrows.
+
+'_Strafford._--My name is Wentworth, Strafford's late Earle.
+
+'_Charon._--Wentworth! O ho! Thou art hee who hath been so long expected
+by William Noy. He hath been any time these two months on the other side
+of the banke, expecting thy coming daily.'
+
+Strafford gives Charon but one halfpenny for his fare, whereat the
+ferryman grumbles. Then ensues a conversation between Strafford and
+William Noy, part of which is in blank verse. The tract is illustrated
+with a woodcut, representing Strafford in the ferryman's boat with
+William Noy waiting his arrival on the opposite bank.
+
+[Illustration: A BURLESQUE PLAY ABOUT ARCHBISHOP LAUD. ACT I. 1641.]
+
+No man of his time appears to have excited the hostile notice of the
+press more than Archbishop Laud. The Archbishops of Canterbury had long
+been considered censors of the press by right of their dignity and
+office; and Laud exercised this power with unusual tyranny. The
+ferocious cruelty with which he carried out his prosecutions in the Star
+Chamber and Court of High Commission made his name odious, and his
+apparent preference for ceremonial religion contributed to render him
+still more unpopular. Men were put in the pillory, had their ears cut
+off, their noses slit, and were branded on the cheeks with S. S. (Sower
+of Sedition), and S. L. (Schismatical Libeller). They were heavily
+fined, were whipped through the streets, were thrown into prison; and
+all for printing and publishing opinions and sentiments unpleasing to
+Archbishop Laud, under whose rule this despotic cruelty became so
+prevalent that it was a common thing for men to speak of So-and-so as
+having been 'Star-Chambered.' No wonder, when the tide turned, that the
+long-pent-up indignation found a vent through the printing-press.
+Amongst the numerous tracts that were published after the suppression of
+the Star Chamber were many which held up Laud to public execration. He
+was reviled for his ambition, reproached for his cruelty, and
+caricatured for his Romish sympathies. During the four years between his
+fall and his execution, portraits of him and other illustrations
+relating to his career may be found in many pamphlets. I propose to
+introduce the reader to some of these, as examples of the kind of
+feeling that was excited by a man whose character and actions must have
+contributed not a little to bring about a convulsion which shook both
+the Church and the throne to their foundations. It must have been with a
+peculiar satisfaction that Prynne, one of the chief sufferers under
+Laud's rule, found himself armed with the authority of the House of
+Commons to despoil his old enemy. Probably a similar feeling caused many
+others to chuckle and rub their hands when they read, '_A New Play
+called Canterburie's Change of Diet_, printed in 1641.' This is a small
+tract illustrated with woodcuts, and is written in the form of a play.
+The persons represented are the Archbishop of Canterbury, a doctor of
+physic, a lawyer, a divine, a Jesuit, a carpenter and his wife. The
+doctor of physic is intended for either Dr. Alexander Leighton, or Dr.
+John Bastwick, both of whom had their ears cut off; the lawyer is
+Prynne; and the divine is meant for the Rev. Henry Burton, a London
+clergyman, who also suffered under Laud's administration. In the first
+act enter the Archbishop, the doctor, the lawyer, and the divine. Being
+seated, a variety of dishes are brought to the table, but Laud expresses
+himself dissatisfied with the fare placed before him and demands a more
+racy diet. He then calls in certain bishops, who enter armed with
+muskets, bandoleers, and swords. He cuts off the ears of the doctor, the
+lawyer, and the divine, and tells them he makes them an example that
+others may be more careful to please his palate. On the previous page is
+a copy of the cut which illustrates the first act.
+
+[Illustration: A BURLESQUE PLAY ABOUT ARCHBISHOP LAUD. ACT II.]
+
+[Illustration: A BURLESQUE PLAY ABOUT ARCHBISHOP LAUD. ACT III.]
+
+In the second act the Archbishop of Canterbury enters a carpenter's yard
+by the waterside, and seeing a grindstone he is about to sharpen his
+knife upon it, when he is interrupted by the carpenter who refuses to
+let him sharpen his knife upon his grindstone, lest he should treat him
+(the carpenter) as he had treated the others. The carpenter then holds
+the Archbishop's nose to the grindstone, and orders his apprentice to
+turn with a will. The bishop cries out, 'Hold! hold! such turning will
+soon deform my face. O, I bleed, I bleed, and am extremely sore.' The
+carpenter, however, rejoins, 'But who regarded "hold" before? Remember
+the cruelty you have used to others, whose bloud crieth out for
+vengeance. Were not their ears to them as pretious as your nostrils can
+be to you? If such dishes must be your fare, let me be your Cooke, I'll
+invent you rare sippets.' Then enters a Jesuit Confessor who washes the
+bishop's wounded face and binds it up with a cloth. There is also an
+illustration to this act which is here copied.
+
+[Illustration: ASSAULT ON LAMBETH PALACE, 1642.]
+
+In the third act the Archbishop and the Jesuit are represented in a
+great Cage (the Tower) while the carpenter and his wife, conversing
+together, agree that the two caged birds will sing very well together.
+The woodcut to this act represents a fool laughing at the prisoners.
+
+There is a fourth act in which the King and his Jester hold a
+conversation about the Bishop and the confessor in the cage. There is no
+printer's or publisher's name to this play, only the date, 1641.
+
+The pamphlet previously referred to as containing a picture of
+Strafford's execution, has also an engraving showing how the tide of
+public feeling had set against Archbishop Laud. The powerful Churchman
+had been impeached for high treason; he was deprived of all the profits
+of his high office and was imprisoned in the Tower. All his goods in
+Lambeth Palace, including his books, were seized, and even his Diary and
+private papers were taken from him by Prynne, who acted under a warrant
+from the House of Commons. The engraving under notice is entitled 'The
+rising of Prentices and Sea-men on Southwark side to assault the
+Archbishops of Canterburys House at Lambeth.'
+
+In a tract entitled '_A Prophecie of the Life, Reigne, and Death of
+William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury_,' there is a caricature of Laud
+seated on a throne or chair of state. A pair of horns grow out of his
+forehead, and in front the devil offers him a Cardinal's Hat. This
+business of the Cardinal's Hat is alluded to by Laud himself, who says,
+'At Greenwich there came one to me seriously, and that avowed ability to
+perform it, and offered me to be a Cardinal. I went presently to the
+king, and acquainted him both with the thing and the person.' This offer
+was afterwards renewed: 'But,' says he, 'my answer again was, that
+something dwelt within me which would not suffer that till Rome were
+other than it is.' It would thus appear that the Archbishop did not give
+a very decided refusal at first or the offer would not have been
+repeated; and that circumstance, if it were known at the time, must have
+strengthened the opinion that he was favourably inclined towards the
+Church of Rome. At all events, the offer must have been made public, as
+this caricature shows.
+
+Though Laud behaved with dignity and courage when he came to bid
+farewell to the world, if we are to believe the publications of the
+time, he was not above petitioning for mercy, while any hope of life
+remained. In 1643 a pamphlet was published with the following title,
+'_The Copy of the Petition presented to the Honourable Houses of
+Parliament by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, wherein the said
+Archbishop desires that he may not be transported beyond the Seas into
+New England with Master Peters in regard to his extraordinary age and
+weaknesse_.' The petition is dated 'From the Tower of London this 6th of
+May 1643,' and in it the petitioner sets forth that out of a 'fervent
+zeal to Christianity' he endeavoured to reconcile the principles of the
+Protestant and Roman Catholic religions, hoping that if he could effect
+this he might more easily draw the Queen into an adherence to the
+Protestant faith. He deplores that his endeavours were not successful,
+and he begs the honourable Parliament to pardon his errors, and to
+'looke upon him in mercy, and not permit or suffer your Petitioner to be
+transported, to endure the hazard of the Seas, and the long tediousnesse
+of Voyage into those trans-marine parts, and cold Countries, which would
+soon bring your Petitioners life to a period; but rather that your
+Petitioner may abide in his native country, untill your Petitioner shall
+pay the debt which is due from him to Nature, and so your Petitioner
+doth submit himselfe to your Honourable and grave Wisdoms for your
+Petitioners request and desire therein. And your Petitioner shall humbly
+pray &c.'
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE OF THE DEVIL OFFERING LAUD A CARDINAL'S HAT,
+1644.]
+
+If Archbishop Laud was really the author of this petition he appears to
+have expected that his long imprisonment would end in banishment rather
+than death. He was beheaded on Tower Hill, January 10, 1645. There is a
+woodcut portrait of the Archbishop printed on the title-page of the
+petition.
+
+[Illustration: ARCHBISHOP LAUD.]
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+  [1] _Life of Gustavus Adolphus_. Family Library.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+  Ben Jonson's Ridicule of the Early Newspapers--Fondness of the Old
+  News-Writers for the Marvellous--The Smithfield Ghost--The Wonderful
+  Whale--The Newbury Witch--Satirical Tracts and Caricatures at the
+  Commencement of the Civil War--Religion Tossed in a
+  Blanket--Caricatures of the Pope and the Bishops--Pluralists and
+  Patentees--Taylor, the Water Poet--_Mercurius Aulicus_--Activity of
+  the Pamphleteers--Welshmen Satirised--Satires on Prince Rupert--On the
+  King and Queen--The Ladies' Parliament--Illustrated Tracts relating to
+  Social and Political Subjects--Sir Kenelm Digby's Duel--The King
+  entertained by the City of London, 1641--Executions in 1641--The
+  Liquor Traffic and Sunday Closing in 1641--Abuses of the
+  Ecclesiastical Courts--Ritualism and Nunneries in 1641--Truths
+  enforced by Lieing--Stage Players and the Plague in 1641--Bartholomew
+  Fair in 1641--Destruction of Charing Cross and Cheapside
+  Cross--Strange Apparition--Method of Enforcing their Views adopted by
+  the Puritan Pamphleteers--Parodies of Roundhead Sermons--Matthew
+  Hopkins the Witch-finder--_The Welsh Post_ of 1643--William Lilly the
+  Astrologer--Three Suns seen in London on the King's Birthday.
+
+
+When Ben Jonson called the newspaper 'a weekly cheat to draw money,' and
+ridiculed the growing taste for news, he had some reason for satirising
+the journalism of the period. To satisfy the craving for news all kinds
+of impositions were freely circulated. Nothing was too wonderful for the
+credulity of the age, and people eagerly accepted what was placed before
+them, fully believing that whatever was in print must be true. It was
+not, however, till many years after Ben Jonson's death that the
+so-called newspapers put forward their full powers as purveyors of the
+marvellous. _Mercurius Democritus_ was the _Punch_ of that day. While he
+satirised men and things he laboured to satisfy the popular taste for
+the wonderful, as in the following account of a ghost that was said to
+haunt the neighbourhood of Smithfield:--'There is a great report of a
+ghoast that walks every Night amongst the Butchers at _Smithfield
+Barrs_, the _Shambles_, White-_Chappell_, and _Eastcheape_, in the habit
+of _Mallet_, the Lawyer, pulling the meat off the Butchers Tainters;
+many have adventured to strike at him with Cleavers and Chopping-knives,
+but cannot feel anything but Aire, every Saturday at night between 9 and
+12, he walks his stations, in this very habit as you see, doing more
+mischiefe to the _Butchers_ than ever _Robin Goodfellow_ did to the
+Country Hindes.'
+
+[Illustration: THE SMITHFIELD GHOST. FROM 'MERCURIUS DEMOCRITUS,' 1654.]
+
+Another example of the marvellous occurs in a tract entitled, '_The Sea
+Wonder: a true and wonderful relation of a Whale pursued in the Sea, and
+incountered by multitudes of other Fishes as it was certified by divers
+Mariners of Weymouth, who, comming from France in the good ship called
+the_ Bonaventure, _did shoote the said Whale, which making to Land did
+strike upon the Shore, within three miles of Weymouth, where being
+opened there was found in the belly of it a Romish Priest, with Pardon
+for divers Papists in England and Ireland, whose names are here
+inserted_.' Great pains appear to have been taken to give an air of
+truth to the narrative, which begins thus:--'On the 19th of October
+being the Lord's Day the good Ship called the _Bonaventure_ of
+_Weymouth_ being bound for _England_ was bringing home her Merchandise
+from _France_ which was wines, linning cloth, and abundance of
+Wall-nuts, the day was very fair and no wind stirring, so that the ship
+for above three hours space lay hulling upon the Seas, being not able to
+move either one way nor other for want of wind, although she was full
+sayled and prepared to take the advantage of every gale.' The author
+gravely explains that the excitement of the fishes and their attacks on
+the whale were caused by their instinctively feeling the presence of the
+Popish Priest. Annexed is a copy of the woodcut on the title-page of
+this curious tract.
+
+[Illustration: THE WONDERFUL WHALE, 1645.]
+
+'_Newes, True Newes, Laudable Newes, Citie Newes, Country Newes; The
+World is Mad, or it is a Mad World my Masters especially now when in the
+Antipodes these things are come to pass._' Such is the lengthy title of
+a pamphlet containing an imaginary account of things at the Antipodes,
+and illustrated with a fanciful woodcut on the title-page. Then we have
+news from Boston in New England of a strange and prodigious birth of a
+child with two heads, also illustrated. _Mercurius Democritus_, besides
+such waggeries as giving an account of 'a sight seen in the air by a
+blind philosopher,' communicates '_Many strange wonders out of the
+World, in the Moon, the Antipodes, Maggy Land, Tenebris, Fary-Land,
+Greenland, and other adjacent countries_. _Published for the right
+understanding of all the Mad-merry-people of Great Bedlam._' Another
+example of the wonderful stories put forth to entertain the multitude
+relates to the discovery and punishment of a witch during the civil war.
+It occurs in a pamphlet entitled '_A most Certain, Strange and true
+Discovery of a Witch, being taken by some of the Parliament Forces, as
+she was standing on a small planck-board and sayling on it over the
+River of Newbury_.' The illustration is of the rudest description, and
+the story is told in a breathless sort of way, without a full stop in
+the whole narrative:--
+
+'A part of the Army marching through Newbury, some of the Souldiers
+being scattered by the reason of their loytering by the way, in
+gathering Nuts, Apples, Plummes, Blackberries, and the like, one of them
+by chance in clambring up a tree, being pursued by his fellow or comrade
+in waggish merriment, jesting one with another, espied on the river
+being there adjacent, a tall, lean, slender woman, as he supposed, to
+his amazement, and great terrour, treading of the water with her feet,
+with as much ease and firmnesse as if one should walk or trample on the
+earth, wherewith he softly calls, and beckoned to his fellows to behold
+it, and with all possible speed that could be to obscure them from her
+sight, who as conveniently as they could they did observe, this could be
+no little amazement unto them you may think to see a woman dance upon
+the water, nor could all their sights be deluded, though perhaps one
+might, but coming nearer to the shore, they could perceive there was a
+planke or deale overshadowed with a little shallow water that she stood
+upon, the which did beare her up, anon rode by some of the commanders
+who were eye witnesses, as well as they, and were as much astonished as
+they could be, still too and fro she fleeted on the water, the boord
+standing firm boult upright, indeed I have both heard and read of many
+that in tempests and on rivers by casualty have become shipwracked, or
+cast overboard, where catching empty barrells, rudders, boards, or
+planks have made good shift by the assisting Providence of God to get on
+shore, but not in this womans kind to stand upon the board, turning and
+winding it which way she pleased, making it pastime to her, as little
+thinking who perceived her tricks, or that she did imagine that they
+were the last she ever should show, as we have heard the swan sing
+before her death, so did this devilish woman, as after plainly it
+appeared make sport before her death, at last having sufficiently been
+upon the water, he that deceived her alway did so then, blinding her
+that she could not, at her landing see the ambush that was laid for her,
+coming upon the shore, she gave the board a push, which they plainly
+perceived, and crossed the river, they searched after her but could not
+find her she being landed the Commanders beholding her, gave orders to
+lay hold on her, and bring her to them straight, the which some were
+fearful, but one being more venturous than other some, boldly went to
+her and seized on her by the arms, demanding what she was? but the woman
+no whit replying any words unto them, they brought her to the
+Commanders, to whom though mightily she was urged she did reply as
+little; so consulting with themselves what should be done with her,
+being it so apparently appeared she was a _witch_, being loth to let her
+goe & as loth to carry her with them, so they resolved with themselves,
+to make a shot at her, and gave order to a couple of their souldiers
+that were approved good marksmen, to charge and shoot her straight,
+which they prepared to doe; so setting her boult upright against a mud
+bank or wall; two of the souldiers according to their command made
+themselves ready, where having taken aime gave fire and shot at her,
+but with a deriding and loud laughter at them she caught their bullets
+in her hands and chew'd them, which was a stronger testimony than the
+water, that she was the same that their imaginations thought her for to
+be, so resolving with themselves if either fire or sword or halter were
+sufficient for to make an end of her, one set his Carbine close unto her
+brest; where discharging, the bullet back rebounded like a ball, and
+narrowly he mist it in his face that was the shooter; this so enraged
+the Gentleman, that one drew out his sword and manfully run at her with
+all the force his strength had power to make, but it prevailed no more
+than did the shot, the woman still though speechless, yet in a most
+contemptible way of scorn, still laughing at them, which did the more
+exhaust their furie against her life, yet one amongst the rest had heard
+that piercing or drawing bloud from forth the veins that crosse the
+temples of the head, it would prevail against the strongest sorcery, and
+quell the force of Witchcraft, which was allowed for triall; the woman
+hearing this knew then the Devill had left her and her power was gone,
+wherefore she began alowd to cry, and roare, tearing her haire, and
+making pitious moan, which in these words expressed were: And is it
+come to passe that I must die indeed? Why then his Excellency the Earle
+of Essex shall be fortunate and win the field, after which no more words
+could be got from her; wherewith they immediately discharged a Pistoll
+underneath her ear, at which she straight sunk down and died, leaving
+her legacy of a detested carcasse to the wormes, her soul we ought not
+to judge of, though the evils of her wicked life and death can scape no
+censure.'
+
+[Illustration: THE NEWBURY WITCH, 1643.]
+
+On the outbreak of the great Civil War an immense number of tracts and
+pamphlets were published relating to social and political questions,
+many of which were illustrated. Satire was a weapon freely used, and
+many hard hits were made, the point and bitterness of which cannot now
+be understood. Caricatures, which are generally supposed to have made
+their appearance in England at a much later date, are of frequent
+occurrence. The wonderful and supernatural were freely dealt in, and
+many tracts were published which were not strictly news, yet had some
+reference to public men and passing events. The woodcuts in the tracts
+and pamphlets of this period were frequently repeated, being sometimes
+used where they had no relation to the subject treated.
+
+[Illustration: RELIGION TOSSED IN A BLANKET, 1641.]
+
+The minds of men being much exercised on questions of religion at this
+time, it was to be expected that the subject would not escape the notice
+of the satirist. Accordingly, many tracts were published relating to
+religious matters, some of which are illustrated with woodcut
+caricatures. There is one of the date of 1641 containing a woodcut of
+four men tossing Religion (represented by a Bible) in a blanket. The
+writer condemns the numberless sects which were perplexing men's minds
+and tearing the Church asunder:--
+
+'Religion is made a Hotch potch, and as it were tossed in a Blanquet,
+and too many places of England too much _Amsterdamnified_ by several
+opinions. Religion is now become the common discourse and Table-talke in
+every Taverne and Ale-house, where a man shall hardly find five
+together in one minde, and yet every one presumes hee is in the right.
+The Booke of Common prayer which was established by Act of Parliament by
+that good and Godly King Edward the sixth, and after reestablished by
+another Parliament by that unparaled and peerlesse princesse Queen
+Elizabeth, and continued since in the happy Raignes of two gracious
+kings in the church of England for the service of God these ninetie
+yeares; yet one would have it to be cast out now, holding it to be a
+false worship; another is angrie at the vestments and habits of the
+Ministry; one will not kneel, another will not stand, one will sit
+downe, one will not bowe, another will not be uncovered, one holds all
+good manners to be popery, another that all decencie is superstitious,
+another that railes are Romish (which is false for the papists have no
+railes in their churches, nor anything so convenient). One foolishly
+assumes and presumes to save himselfe and some of his Neighbours too, by
+his good workes; another will be saved by a bare and lazie Faith that
+will do no work at all, and thus religion is puft and blowne to and fro
+with every wind of doctrine, and as it were tost in a Blanquet; but of
+this more largely hereafter in another part which will suddenly be
+printed, till when and ever it shall be my hearty prayers that as there
+is but one Shepheard, that is God in his gracious goodnesse and mercie
+would make us all one sheepfold.'
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE OF THE POPE, 1643.]
+
+The shafts of satire were frequently aimed at the Pope and the Bishops.
+One caricature represents the Pope seated, while a unicorn tumbles the
+triple crown from his head. The same woodcut illustrates a '_Letter from
+the Devil to the Pope of Rome_.' Another tract has a representation of
+the Pope riding upon a seven-headed monster and holding in his hand a
+scroll on which are the words 'Estote proditores'--'Betraye your
+Country.' This advice he is giving to a cavalier, a bishop, and a monk,
+and at the same time three devils are represented as leaving him and
+entering into them. This cut, which is repeated in other pamphlets, is
+curious as an early specimen of caricature, but its meaning is now lost.
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE OF THE BISHOPS, 1642.]
+
+The Bishops were treated with as little ceremony as the Pope. In one
+caricature four of them are represented as falling to the earth, with
+the following lines underneath the woodcut:--
+
+  'The tottering prelates, with their trumpery all,
+   Shall moulder downe, like elder from the wall.'
+
+In a pamphlet called _The Decoy Duck_, printed in 1642, there is a
+quaint woodcut caricature and a satirical account of how the Bishops of
+Durham, Lichfield, Norwich, Asaph, Bath, Hereford, Oxford, Ely,
+Gloucester, Peterborough, and Llandaff were decoyed and deceived by the
+Bishop of Lincoln (Bishop Williams). I have copied the woodcut, but no
+quotation from the pamphlet would be understood unless given at great
+length. It doubtless refers to the charge of high treason against the
+twelve Bishops.
+
+The abuses of the Established Church in an age when the spirit of
+dissent was strong were pretty sure to attract the notice of the
+satirical writer and the caricaturist. Accordingly, we find
+representations of the pluralist holding a church in each hand and one
+on each shoulder; while the non-resident clergyman was compared to the
+locust:--'The Locust is given to spoile and devoure greene things; it
+was one of the plagues of Egypt. Non-residents devoure the tithes of
+many parishes in this kingdome; and they are not to be numbered amongst
+the least of those plagues that God inflicts upon us for our sins. The
+Locusts caused Pharaoh and his servants to cry unto Moses that he would
+entreat the Lord to take them away; and our Non-Residents cause all good
+people to cry mightily unto God, to the King's Majesty, and to the
+Honourable House of Parliament, to reform them or remove them; that
+there may not be any carelesse Non-Resident in all the coasts of
+England.... Some of our carelesse Non-Residents have a cure of soules in
+one place and live in another, like fugitive Captaines forsake their
+Ensigne and Company at Barwick, and flee to Dover; who being with Jonah
+commanded for Nineveh, flee to Tarshish; being placed in the Country
+they run to the Cathedrals, they leave their charge as the Ostrich doth
+her eggs in the earth and sands, forgetting that either the foot may
+crush them or that the wild beast may break them, or at the best they
+leave their Congregations, as the Cuckoo doth her eggs to be hatched of
+a sparrow or some other bird.'
+
+The following woodcut is copied from a pamphlet entitled '_A Purge for
+Pluralities, showing the unlawfulnesse of men to have two Livings, or
+the Downefall of Double Benifices_.'
+
+[Illustration: THE PLURALIST, 1642.]
+
+The abuse of the Crown's prerogative in the granting of patents and
+monopolies was very frequent in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, and
+was not diminished under Charles the First. The practice did not fail to
+attract the notice of the satirical writers of the day, and caricature
+laid hold on the 'Projectors and Patentees,' and held them up to
+ridicule. '_A Dialogue or accidental discourse betwixt Mr. Alderman
+Abell, and Richard Kilvert, the two maine Projectors for Wine_, 1641,
+contains a woodcut showing 'The manner and forme how Projectors and
+Patentees have rode a Tylting in a Parliament time.' The wit of the
+illustration is a little obscure to the modern reader, but at the time
+of its publication it was no doubt understood, and relished accordingly.
+The pamphlet describes how Messrs. Abell and Kilvert laid their heads
+together to obtain the patent for wine; how they put the patent in
+force, and how, after the tide turned against them, they reviled one
+another.
+
+As the excitement of the Civil War increased, political animosity rose
+to a red heat. Cavaliers and Roundheads belaboured each other in many a
+merciless pamphlet, to which they often endeavoured to give additional
+bitterness by woodcut caricatures. Prominent individuals, such as Prince
+Rupert, became marks for the satirist's wit. Even the throne itself did
+not escape, and it was broadly hinted that the Protestant king was
+unduly influenced by the Roman Catholic queen. The curious subject of
+the growth of caricature might be illustrated by numerous examples from
+the publications of this period, but it will be sufficient to refer to
+two or three more woodcut satires of this date.
+
+The distractions of the times were epitomised by John Taylor, the Water
+Poet, in an illustrated rhyming pamphlet, published in 1642. It is
+entitled, '_Mad Fashions, Od Fashions, all out of Fashion, or the
+Emblems of these distracted Times_.'
+
+[Illustration: EMBLEMS OF THE DISTRACTED TIMES, 1642.]
+
+The author compares England to the engraving on his title-page, where
+everything is represented upside down:--
+
+  'The Picture that is printed on the front
+   Is like this Kingdome if you look upon 't;
+   For if you well doe note it as it is,
+   It is a Transform'd Metamorphasis.
+   This Monstrous Picture plainly doth declare
+   This land (quite out of order) out of square.
+   His Breeches on his shoulders doe appeare,
+   His doublet on his lower parts doth weare.
+   His Boots and Spurs upon his Armes and Hands,
+   His Gloves upon his feet (whereon he stands)
+   The church o'erturned (a lamentable show)
+   The Candlestick above, the light below,
+   The Coney hunts the Dogge, the Rat the Cat,
+   The Horse doth whip the Cart (I pray marke that)
+   The Wheelbarrow doth drive the man (Oh Base)
+   And Eeles and Gudgeons flie a mighty pace.
+   And sure this is a Monster of strange fashion
+   That doth surpasse all Ovids transformation.
+   And this is England's case this very day,
+   All things are turned the clean contrary way;
+   For now, as when a Royall Parliament,
+   (With King, and Peers, and Commons whole consent)
+   Have almost sate two years, with paines and Cares,
+   And charge, to free us from our Griefes and fears,
+   For when many a worthy Lord and Knight,
+   And good Esquire (for King and Countrey's Right)
+   Have spent so much time with great Toyle and Heede
+   All England's vicious garden how to weed,
+   So like a wildernesse 'twas over run,
+   That though much better hath been done; All is not done.'
+
+The Water Poet sided with the Cavalier party, and verse and prose flowed
+plentifully from his pen in favour of the Royal cause. His effusions
+provoked many replies, one of which is entitled, '_No Mercurius
+Aquaticus, but a Cable-Rope, double twisted for John Tayler, the Water
+Poet; who escaping drowning in a Paper-Wherry-Voyage, is reserved for
+another day, as followeth, viz._'
+
+Then follows the subjoined woodcut, with verses underneath. The hint
+that the poet was born to be hanged because he had escaped from drowning
+refers to his having undertaken to sail from London to Queenborough in a
+boat made of brown paper. In this foolhardy exploit Taylor and a friend
+who was with him nearly lost their lives. The tract under notice affords
+a good specimen of the sort of language used by the partisans of each
+faction against their opponents: 'I should be loathe to foule my fingers
+with any base Pamphlets that comes from Oxford, if the venom of their
+malicious spleens were darted against my particular self: But when
+through my sides they wound the honour of the Parliament and our Armies
+abroad, I cannot but set Pen to paper, and pay them back again in their
+own kinde. And who d'ye think I should meet abroad for a
+_Rogue-in-Print_ but one of our City Water-rats, the doughty John
+Taylor, who according to the knavish custom, changes his name upon every
+new paper-designe? Sometimes he calls himself _Thorney Ailo, Mercurius
+Aquaticus_, and now he entitles himself NO MERCURIUS AULICUS. I thought
+I had lately sent _rope_ enough for all the Parrots in Oxford; But I
+perceive they will be prattling still; and therefore I must unmaske the
+Mysterious Masters of the science of railing. There are three grand
+paper conspirators well known by the name of _Mercurius Aulicus, George
+Naworth_, and reverend Master _John Tayler_ the water-tankard, by whose
+sprinklings in this great dearth of Wit and Honesty the University is
+cherished and kept in credit. These three are they which pumpe and Pimpe
+about with their Prostitute Noddles in the behalf of Popery, Murder, and
+Rebellion against the state; they are Liars in all elements, _Aulicus_
+for Land-lies, _Tayler_ for Water, and hungry _George Naworth_ for all
+between Heaven and Earth, where I doubt not but to see them all meet
+together to take their farewell of the world, where the _Parrots_ will
+find _Ropes_ made of stronger Lines than mine, and such as will
+_non-plus_ the very primest Wits in the University.'
+
+[Illustration: PREDICTED FATE OF JOHN TAYLOR THE WATER POET, 1644.]
+
+The pamphleteer goes on to give the Water-Poet what he doubtless
+considered a thorough drubbing, and at the end he leaves him 'to the
+Gallows, the proper cure for such Rebels.' The words 'London' and
+'Oxford' on the woodcut have reference to another voyage which the
+Water-Poet performed in a sculler's boat between those places.
+
+[Illustration: MERCURIUS AULICUS IN THE PILLORY, 1645.]
+
+_Mercurius Aulicus_ was the organ of the Court party, and was published
+at Oxford. A curious satire upon this Court paper was printed in 1645,
+entitled, _Newes from Smith the Oxford Jaylor_. It consists of a
+dialogue between the author and the 'Oxford Jaylor,' and sets forth that
+'Mercurius Aulicus' was sentenced, by a jury of women,' to stand in the
+pillory three market-days in Oxford, for his lies, libels, and
+deceitful glozings;' to have a written paper over his head announcing
+his shame; to beg forgiveness of 'Mercurius Brittanicus;' to be
+prevented from writing any more libels for one year. 'That before two
+months' expiration he be cut of the simples, and his braines be taken
+out, washt in white wine, and put in againe.' 'That for every morning
+during the said time he have one mess of stewd broth made of the
+interlinings of fower Court Parazites, and the braines of 26 Oxford
+Widgins boyld in the water of forgetfulnesse.' 'That he may never
+hereafter have so much as one graine of wit left him in his empty
+Hogshead (his brains being taken out and washed as before is ordered) to
+scandalize those whom if he had any grace he is bound to honour.' There
+is a woodcut of _Mercurius Aulicus_ in the pillory, which is supposed to
+represent Sir John Birkenhead, who acquired the title of the Loyal
+Poet, and suffered several imprisonments. This cut was used on several
+other occasions.
+
+The troubles of the times are constantly indicated in the pamphlets of
+the period. In one the State is represented as a two-headed serpent,
+with these lines underneath the engraving:
+
+  'This double-headed serpent is a wonder,
+   It draws two ways and tears the womb in sunder;
+   The wofull emblem of a troubled State
+   Where civill warres doe threat to ruinate.'
+
+[Illustration: SQUARE CAPS TURNED INTO ROUND HEADS, 1642.]
+
+The partisans of the Parliament faction appear to have been much more
+active pamphleteers than the Cavaliers. '_Square Caps turned into Round
+Heads, or the Bishop's Vindication and the Brownist's conviction, being
+a Dialogue between Time and Opinion; showing the folly of the one and
+the worthinesse of the other_,' is a tract with an illustration
+representing Opinion turning a wheel, on which are five square caps and
+five round heads, while Time, with his scythe and hourglass, holds
+converse with Opinion. Under the woodcut are the following lines:--
+
+  'Time doth Opinion call unto accompt,
+   Who turns the Bishop's downe and Roundheads mount;
+   Upon her lofty wheels their Noddles are,
+   But her Camelion feedeth on his aire.'
+
+'_Cornucopia, or Room for a Ram head, wherein is described the dignity
+of the Ram head above the Roundhead or Rattlehead_,' is another tract,
+with a woodcut caricature representing a woman attempting to saw the
+horns from a man's head. The letterpress consists of a dialogue between
+a man and his wife, wherein the man humorously praises horns. It was a
+favourite joke to represent the Puritan as a 'cuckoldy Roundhead.'
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE, 1642.]
+
+Another satirical pamphlet has a woodcut representing Cavaliers and
+Roundheads exciting their dogs to fight. It is entitled, '_A Dialogue or
+rather a Parly between Prince Rupert's Dogge whose name is Puddle, and
+Tobies Dog whose name is Pepper, &c._ _Whereunto is added the challenge
+which Prince Griffin's Dog, called Towzer, hath sent to Prince Rupert's
+Dog Puddle, in the behalfe of honest Pepper, Tobie's Dog. Moreover, the
+said Prince Griffin is newly gone to Oxford to lay the wager, and to
+make up the Match._' In this satire, which is very highly flavoured,
+both Cavaliers and Roundheads are pelted with very vigorous epithets,
+but in the end the Roundhead dog is converted by his opponent, and
+seals his recantation in a very striking manner.
+
+There is a tirade against the Jesuits entitled, '_A Peece of ordnance
+invented by a Jesuite, for Cowards that fight by Whisperings, and raise
+jealousies to overthrow both Church and State, which with the help of a
+private Ensign in the Cabbinet Councell, or Westminster Hall is able to
+doe more mischiefe at twentie miles distance, than a whole Regiment of
+stout Souldiers, at Musket-shot_. _Which grievance is by way of
+Remonstrance humbly presented to the consideration of the Parliament._'
+This tract has a woodcut of a man firing a cannon formed of the figure
+of a man.
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE, 1643.]
+
+'_Hell's Hurlie-Burlie, or a Fierce contention between the Pope and the
+Devill_,' is illustrated; and there is a pamphlet, with a woodcut,
+entitled, '_The Devill's White Boyes: A Mixture of Malicious Malignants,
+with their much evill and manifold practises against the Kingdome and
+Parliament, with a bottomlesse Sack-full of Knavery, Popery, Prelacy,
+Policy, Treachery, Malignant Trumpery, Conspiricies, and Cruelties,
+filled to the top by the Malignants, laid on the shoulders of Time, and
+now by Time emptied forth, and poured out, to show the Truth, and shame
+the Devill_. Beneath, the woodcut are the following verses:--
+
+  'Malignants are the Divell's Agents still,
+   The Sack is _England_, which they strive to fill
+   With misery and mischief, and this Sack
+   Full stufft is laid upon Times aged back;
+   _Time_ pours it out now in an angry mood
+   That all their knaveries may be understood.'
+
+On the cut itself are printed the lines:--
+
+  '_Time_ now at the last pours out much knavery,
+   The Devill holds down fast to hinder the discovery.'
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE, 1644.]
+
+The Welshman came in for a share of the satirist's wit at the
+commencement of the Civil War. He generally figures under the name of
+'Ap Shinkin,' and is made to speak English much the same as the Scottish
+Highlander does in Scott's novels. '_The Welsh mans Postures, or the
+true manner how her doe exercise her company of Souldiers in her own
+Country in a warlike manners_,' is a satire of a very broad character,
+and is illustrated with a woodcut representing men exercising with the
+pike. Shinkin is also ridiculed for the share he took in the battle of
+Edgehill, the first important engagement in the Civil War. There is an
+illustrated tract with the following title: '_The Welsh mans
+Complements: or the true manner how Shinkin wood his Sweetheart Maudlin
+after his return from Kenton Battaile_. _Also Fair Maudlin's reply and
+answer to all Shinkin's Welch complements, full of merry wit and
+pleasant mirth._' The 'merry wit' is certainly not refined, and the
+'pleasant mirth' is founded on Shinkin's supposed hasty departure from
+the neighbourhood of the fight. The woodcut represents Shinkin and
+Maudlin in conversation.
+
+Prince Rupert is often the mark for the satirist's wit. In '_Rupert's
+Sumpter, and private Cabinet rifled, and a Discovery of a Pack of his
+Jewels, by way of Dialogue between Mercurius Brittanicus and Mercurius
+Aulicus_,' there is a discussion as to the Prince's merits and demerits,
+and he is charged with aiming at the crown. Both the King and Queen were
+brought under the caricaturist's lash. In 1644 there was an illustrated
+pamphlet published, representing the King, Queen, and a bishop, with the
+following title: '_The Sussex Picture, or an Answer to the Sea-gull_.'
+The address to the reader is headed: 'The Sceptre's Submission, the
+Distaffs Triumph, and the Crosiers Combination. Reader, If thou hast
+view'd that stately Picture, which was lately sent up to the Parliament
+by Collonel Morley, and was taken in a Flemish Ship upon the Sussex
+Shore; Thou hast beheld therein the weaker sexe triumphing over the
+stronger, and by the help of a Miter, thou hast seen a Scepter doing
+homage to the Distaffe. If thou hast never seen the Originall, yet here
+is to be seen a poore, rude, counterfeit of the chief part in it; use
+thy judgement freely, and impartially: let both the Peece itself, and
+that which is said by both sides, in judgement thereupon, be put into
+one equal ballance. If the Dutch Author be not to undergo censure, as if
+he intended an English Storie, yet neither art thou to be censured for
+doubting his intention, or for standing amazed at his phancie. Shadows
+which are not fashioned by some certain, neer, interposing body present
+nothing to the eye, and therefore work nothing upon the understanding.
+The language of a picture is to be borrowed from the veritie of the
+matter, if that be wanting, neither the Art of the Limner nor the
+imagination of the spectator can supply its vocall organs.' This
+caricature may have referred to the influence which the Roman Catholic
+Queen was supposed to exercise over the Protestant king under clerical
+guidance.
+
+[Illustration: THE PARLIAMENT OF LADIES, 1644.]
+
+Charles I. summoned a Parliament at Oxford in 1644, consisting of such
+members of both Houses as were devoted to his interests. There exists a
+satirical tract ridiculing this Parliament, and, in fact, representing
+it as a Parliament of old women. The tract is entitled '_An exact
+Diurnall of the Parliament of Laydes_,' and is illustrated with a
+woodcut. It sets forth that 'Countesses and other Ladies (on Monday
+morning early in a Prosopopia) being met in Mary Maudlins Hall in
+Oxford, they first made choyce of their speaker; and it was agreed by
+all that the Lady Oboney should have the chaire, the Lady Rivers was
+made Chancellor, Nurse Windham High Constable, the Countess of Derby
+High Treasurer, and the Countess of Essex High Chamberlain. These Ladies
+having all taken their places, Mrs. Powell was appointed cheefe Clerk
+to the House, and Mrs. Peele Chaire Lady to the Close Committee, and
+Moll Cut-Purse was made Sergeant at Arms.' Prince Rupert and others are
+tried and sentenced for various crimes, but the ladies afterwards
+relent, and pardon all the prisoners brought before them. I give on the
+preceding page a reduced copy of the rough woodcut which illustrates
+this curious burlesque.
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE, 1644.]
+
+A writer of much verbosity satirised the Assembly of Divines at
+Westminster in another illustrated pamphlet, printed 'by Martin
+Claw-Clergy for Bartholomew Bang-Priest, and sold in Toleration-street,
+at the sign of the Subject's Liberty, opposite to Persecuting Court.'
+The author states on the title-page that his production displays 'many
+witty Synodian Conceits both pleasant and commodious,' and adorns his
+work with the above curious engraving, which probably had some reference
+to a Papal Bull, but at this distance of time we look in vain for the
+point and meaning of many of these old caricatures.
+
+Having glanced at the satirical side of illustrated journalism at the
+epoch of the Civil War, I will quote two or three examples relating to
+the social and political condition of the country before entering upon
+the stirring events of that time.
+
+A great variety of subjects are embraced in this section. There are
+accounts of apparitions, signs and portents in the heavens, monstrous
+births, duels and murders, criminal trials and executions, besides many
+tracts relating to the vices and follies of the age. One of the first
+illustrated pamphlets we come to in this division of our subject
+describes a duel fought in vindication of the good name of King Charles
+I. The pamphlet is entitled, '_Sir Kenelme Digby's Honour maintained by
+a most couragious Combat which he fought with the Lord Mount le Ros, who
+by base and slanderous words reviled our King_. _Also the true relation
+how he went to the King of France, who kindly intreated and sent two
+hundred men to guard him so far as Flanders. And now he is returned from
+Banishment, and to his eternal honour lives in England._' This is a
+tract written by an undoubted Royalist. It begins in praise of valour,
+which is divided into three kinds--that which is allied to rashness,
+that which is born of the fear of death, and temperate or true valour.
+It describes how Sir Kenelme Digby was dining with a French lord, who,
+having toasted most of the kings of Christendom, then proposed the
+health of the most arrant coward in the world; and on Sir Kenelme
+inquiring who that was, he was told, after he had drunk the toast, that
+it was meant for the King of England: 'At which the good knight seemed
+very much discontent, knowing in what nature his Soveraigne was wronged;
+yet very wisely did he seeme to pass it by untill dinner being ended,
+then did he desire the same lord the next day to come and dine with him,
+who promised him upon his honour that he would.'
+
+[Illustration: SIR KENELM DIGBY's DUEL, 1641.]
+
+The next day the French Lord repaired to Sir Kenelme's lodgings, where
+an entertainment befitting his rank was provided: 'Neither did Sir
+Kenelme seeme to remember the former daies discontent, but was very
+frolic and merry, and in the midst of dinner time desired them all to
+be bare, for he would beginne a health to the bravest king in the world.
+The French Lord asked whom that was, Sir Kenelme made answer that when
+it had gone about he should know; well, about it went and then Sir
+Kenelme said that it was the health of the bravest king in the world,
+which is the King of England, my royal Master, for although my body be
+banished from him, yet is my heart loyally linkt; the French Lord at
+those words seemed to laugh repeating the same words before mentioned,
+then was Sir Kenelme throughly moved in the behalf of our Soveraigne
+King Charles whereupon he whispered the Lord in the eare, telling of him
+how that twice he had reviled the best King in the world in the hearing
+of me which am his faithful subject, wherefore for satisfaction I
+require a single combate of you, where either you shall pay your life
+for your sawcinesse, or I will sacrifice mine in the behalfe of my
+King. The French Lord being of a resolute spirit condescended to fight,
+the place was appointed, dinner being ended, they both arise from table
+and privately went together, being in field off they pluckt their
+doublets, and out they draw their weapons.
+
+'Mars would have bashful beene to have seene himselfe by Noble Digby
+there excelled, long work with the contemptible French Lord, he would
+not make, for fear lest any should lye in ambush and so he might hazard
+his own life, wherefore in four bouts he run his rapier into the French
+Lords brest till it came out of his throat againe, which so soon as he
+had done, away he fled to the Court of France, and made all knowne to
+the King thereof, who said the proudest Lord in France should not dare
+to revile his brother King.
+
+'A guard was presently chosen to conduct Sir Kenelme into Flanders,
+which they did, where he tooke shipping for England, where he now is,
+where in peace and quietnesse may he still remaine.
+
+'As for the French Lord he was paid according to his desert, and may all
+be so rewarded which shall dare to revile the Lords anointed, who
+suffers by other Nations, for the clemency he hath shown to his own
+Nation, _sed beati sunt pacifici_, but blessed is the peace maker; good
+king for thy patience in this world there are Crownes of immortal glory
+laid in store for thee in the world to come, there shall not traitors
+dare to show their faces, nor shall perplexity proceed from the great
+care of ruling of a kingdome, in the meanwhile may more such Noble
+Digbies increase to rebuke all cursing _Achitophels_ and reviling
+_Rabshakey's_.
+
+'Let God arise and then shall the enemies of our gracious King be sure
+to be scattered.
+
+  'Now I conclude commanding fame to show
+   Brave Digby's worthy deed, that all may know
+   He lov'd his king, may all so loyal prove
+   And like this Digby to their king show love.'
+
+Many portraits of Charles I. were published in tracts about this time.
+One of the best is contained in a poetical welcome to the King on his
+return from Scotland. '_King Charles his Entertainment and Londons
+Loyaltie_,' 1641, contains a precept issued by the Lord Mayor, directing
+how the aldermen and citizens shall meet the King, on his return from
+Scotland, at Shoreditch Church, and conduct him to the Guildhall to a
+banquet, and afterwards to Westminster. There is also a a very spirited
+woodcut of a City trumpeter in this pamphlet, which is copied above.
+City entertainments to sovereigns and princes have always been fruitful
+occasions for illustrated newspapers.
+
+[Illustration: CITY TRUMPETER, 1641.]
+
+The wholesale executions that used to take place at this period would
+astonish the modern newspaper reader. Sometimes as many as twenty-four
+persons were executed in one day at Tyburn. '_A Coppy of the Prisoners
+judgement condemned to dy, from Nugate on Monday the 13 of December,
+1641_,' gives an account of eight Jesuits and several other prisoners
+who were executed. A descriptive list is given of the condemned, and
+amongst them are the following:--
+
+'Charles James, an handsome gentile young man, was convicted for Robery
+and Burglary.
+
+'John Hodskins, a fine Scholler, a pretty fellow, yet wanted grace.
+
+'John Davis, a lusty stout personable man.
+
+'Francis Middlefield, a pretty youth, and a good Scholler, convicted of
+felonie.'
+
+Several highwaymen, horse-stealers, and coiners, are also included in
+this gloomy list, which is adorned with a woodcut of an execution.
+
+The regulation of the licensed victuallers' trade and the Sunday closing
+movement appear to have been as troublesome questions in the seventeenth
+century as they are now. As early as 1641 the publican was uttering the
+complaints which he still continues to utter. In a pamphlet of that date
+there is a dialogue between a tapster and a cook, which sets forth the
+grievances of both these worthies. The pamphlet is entitled, '_The
+Lamentable Complaints of Nick Froth the Tapster and Rulerost the Cook,
+concerning the restraint lately set forth against drinking, potting, and
+piping on the Sabbath day, and against selling meate_.' The publican
+expresses himself thus:--'I much wonder Master Rulerost why my trade
+should be put downe, it being so necessary in a commonwealth; why the
+noble art of drinking, it is the soul of all good fellowship, the marrow
+of a Poet's Minervs, it makes a man as valiant as Hercules though he
+were as cowardly as a Frenchman; besides I could prove it necessary for
+any man sometimes to be drunk, for suppose you should kill a man when
+you are drunk, you shall never be hanged for it untill you are sober;
+therefore I think it good for a man to be always drunk; and besides it
+is the kindliest companion, and friendliest sin of all the seven, for
+most sins leave a man by some accident or other, before his death, but
+this will never forsake him till the breath be out of his body; and
+lastly a full bowle of strong beere will drown all sorrows.'
+
+To which master Cook rejoins:--'Master Nick, you are mistaken, your
+trade is not put downe as you seem to say; what is done is done to a
+good intent; to the end that poor men that worke hard all the weeke for
+a little money, should not spend it all on the Sunday while they should
+be at some church, and so consequently there will not be so many
+Beggars.'
+
+[Illustration: THE COMPLAINT OF THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS, 1641.]
+
+Froth--'Alack you know all my profit doth arise onely on Sundays, let
+them but allow me that privilege, and abridge me all the weeke besides;
+S'foot, I could have so scowered my young sparks up for a penny a demy
+can, or a halfe pint, heapt with froth. I got more by uttering half a
+Barrell in time of Divine service, than I could by a whole Barrell at
+any other time, for my customers were glad to take anything for money,
+and think themselves much ingaged to me; but now the case is altered.'
+
+Cook--'Truly Master Froth you are a man of a light constitution, and not
+so much to be blamed as I that am more solid: O what will become of me!
+I now think of the lusty Sirloines of roast Beefe which I with much
+policy divided into an innumerable company of demy slices, by which,
+with my provident wife, I used to make eighteene pence of that which
+cost me but a groat (provided that I sold it in service time,) I could
+tell you too, how I used my halfe cans and my Bloomsbury Pots, when
+occasion served; and my Smoak which I sold dearer than any Apothecary
+doth his Physick; but those happy days are now past, and therefore no
+more of that.'
+
+This pamphlet is illustrated with a woodcut showing the Cook and Tapster
+in confabulation, while in the background joints are roasting, and
+guests are seated in boxes, refreshing themselves with 'half-cans and
+Bloomsbury pots.'
+
+The abuses of the Ecclesiastical Courts did not escape the notice of the
+seventeenth-century pamphleteers. Doctors' Commons and the Proctors were
+quizzed in an illustrated pamphlet, wherein 'Sponge, the Proctor,' and
+'Hunter, the Parator,' hold a long conversation, and express their
+opinion that the only way to make men live in quietness is to beggar
+them with long suits and large fees. Other evil-doers were shown up in a
+similar manner. A certain Edward Finch, Vicar of Christ-church, London,
+gave so much offence to the parishioners by his manner of life that a
+petition was presented to Parliament on the subject. The petitioners
+said they were offended by their Vicar's 'frequent and unreasonable
+bowings' before the altar, and by his 'scandalous life and
+conversation.' They set forth in the petition that they are 'troubled in
+their church with singing, organs, and other Instruments of Musicke, not
+understood by them, whereby they are greatly distracted in the service
+of God, the same being altogether unprofitable, and no way tending to
+their spirituall edification.' The Vicar is charged with drunkenness and
+incontinence--with exacting unreasonable fees--with being a
+non-resident; and the evidence in support of the petition shows that on
+one occasion he went to Hammersmith in a coach with certain loose
+companions and spent the day in a manner unfit for a clergyman. He is
+proved to have attempted to administer the Sacrament to a dying woman
+while he was in a state of drunkenness, and to have been guilty of many
+other disgraceful acts. The House of Commons passed a vote of censure on
+this graceless Ritualist; and the petition setting forth his misdeeds
+was printed and published, illustrated with a woodcut showing the
+journey to Hammersmith in a coach. Notwithstanding the condemnation of
+Parliament, the Rev. Edward Finch continued in his evil courses, and
+conducted his 'life and conversation' much the same as before.
+
+[Illustration: EVIL DOINGS OF THE REV. EDWARD FINCH, 1641.]
+
+From the 'perambulations' of a Ritualistic clergyman we come to a
+nunnery, in a pamphlet published in 1641, entitled, '_The Arminian
+Nunnery, or a briefe description and relation of the late erected
+Monasticall Place, called the Arminian Nunnery at Little Gidding, in
+Huntingdonshire_.' The writer of this pamphlet gives a minute and by no
+means 'brief' description of the institution, which he evidently
+believes to be Roman Catholic, or a stepping-stone to it, though the
+'Deacon' who attended him on his visit assured him to the contrary. He,
+however, sets down all the tapers and crosses, the bowings and
+prostrations, as so many proofs of idolatry, and marvels that, in a
+settled Church government, the Bishops should suffer any such
+institutions to exist; particularly that Archbishop Laud, professing to
+be such an 'Anti-Papist and enemy to superstition and idolatry, should
+permit this innovation and connive at such canting betwixt the barke and
+the tree in matter of Religion.' While censuring the prelates for their
+criminal slothfulness, the writer gave his countrymen the benefit of his
+own acuteness and energy, and published his description, illustrated
+with an engraving representing one of the nuns, with a portion of the
+nunnery in the background.
+
+[Illustration: NUNNERY AT LITTLE GIDDING, HUNTINGDONSHIRE, 1641.]
+
+The next illustrated pamphlet we come to is a curious attempt on the
+part of its author to satirise his literary contemporaries for the
+falsehoods contained in their writings, and he burlesques their
+productions by relating many things as lies which, however, he means to
+be understood as truths. It is called '_The Liar, or a contradiction to
+those who in the titles of their Books affirmed them to be true, when
+they were false; although mine are all true yet I term them lyes.
+Veritas Veritatis_.'
+
+'There was an Englishman which travelled to the Swedish Army, and began
+to relate very strange passages which he had seen here in England,
+thinking that travellers might lye by authority; for said he in the
+County of Berke, at a place called Abingdon, when the Earle of Strafford
+lost his head, was such thundering and lightning, and earthquakes, that
+it is almost incredible. Surely I think it is incredible indeed, for I
+know 'tis no such matter.
+
+'He told too that the very same day that my Lord Archbishop of
+Canterbury was committed to the Tower, there was a child born in the
+County of Somerset with a Mitre on its head, a marke on his breast like
+a Crucifix, and many other strange things which were there seene.'
+Having invented the travelling Englishman for a mouth-piece and selected
+the Swedish army for an audience, the writer goes on to relate many
+other strange things, which, though told as lies, are evidently intended
+to be taken as truths.
+
+[Illustration: THE LIAR ON THE RACK, 1641.]
+
+'They heard him with patience till he had made an end of his lying, and
+then they asked him whether yea or nay he saw these things he spake of,
+he presently swore all the oaths of God that he saw these things with
+his own natural eyes, which he had reported, and he would maintaine it,
+though he spent his dearest blood in the doeing of it; well, they heard
+his protestations, and made a full account that they would prove his
+constancie whether he would be a Martyr yea or nay, in the meane time
+they horsed him, and this was the manner of it.
+
+'There was a great high thing raised to the height of twelve or fourteen
+yards, made of Iron, whereon he was seated, with two great weights on
+his toes, and the like on his hands where he sate in great paine, if he
+should chance to ease himselfe upwards, there were sharp nailes over his
+head which would prick him, thus he sate and thus he suffered, till they
+had sufficiently made a laughing stock of him; well, when he had
+suffered enough they let him downe.'
+
+There is a woodcut representing the lying traveller on his 'horse,' and
+the tract winds up thus:--
+
+'Gentle Reader, I have heere related under the name of lies nothing but
+true tales, for if a man doth now speake truth he shall be sure to smart
+for it now-a-daies, either here or in other places: read gentlie and buy
+willingly.'
+
+When the Plague visited London in 1641 the theatres were closed and the
+players were thrown out of employment. This state of things is discussed
+in a dialogue between 'Cane of the Fortune and Reed of the Friars,' in a
+tract illustrated with a woodcut which was frequently used afterwards in
+broadsides. Bartholomew Fair, which was proclaimed for the last time in
+1855, was in all its glory in the days of Charles I. A contemporary
+tract gives a graphic description of the fair, and is illustrated with a
+woodcut representing a man swallowing a serpent. This probably
+represented a picture hung outside one of the shows. The title of the
+tract is, '_Bartholomew Faire, or Variety of Fancies, where you may find
+a faire of wares and all to please your mind; with the several
+enormities and misdemeanours which are there seen and acted_.' The fair
+is described as beginning 'on the twenty-fourth day of August, and is
+then of so vast an extent that it is contained in no lesse than four
+several parishes, namely, Christ Church, Great and Little Saint
+Bartholomew's, and Saint Sepulchre's. Hither resort people of all sorts,
+High and Low, Rich and Poore, from cities, townes, and countreys; of all
+sects, Papists, Atheists, Anabaptists, and Brownists, and of all
+conditions, good and bad, virtuous and vitious.' It is said to be 'full
+of gold and silver-drawers; just as Lent is to the Fishmonger so is
+Bartholomew Faire to the Pickpocket; it is his high harvest, which is
+never bad but when his cart goes up Holborn.
+
+[Illustration: A BARTHOLOMEW FAIR WONDER, 1641.]
+
+'It is remarkable and worth your observation to behold and hear the
+strange sights and confused noise in the Faire. Here a knave in a fool's
+coat, with a trumpet sounding, or on a drum beating, invites you and
+would fain perswade you to see his puppets; there a rogue like a wild
+woodman, or in an Antick shape like an incubus, desires your company, to
+view his motion; on the other side Hocus Pocus, with three yards of tape
+or ribbin in's hand, shewing his art of Legerdemain, to the admiration
+and astonishment of a company of cockoloaches. Amongst these you shall
+see a gray goose cap (as wise as the rest), with a what do ye lacke in
+his mouth, stand in his boothe, shaking a rattle, or scraping on a
+fiddle, with which children are so taken, that they presently cry out
+for these fopperies; and all these together make such a distracted noise
+that you would think Babell were not comparable to it. Here there are
+also your gamesters in action, some turning of a whimsey, others
+throwing for pewter, who can quickly dissolve a round shilling into a
+three-halfpenny saucer. Long Lane at this time looks very faire, and
+puts out her best cloaths, with the wrong side outward, so turned for
+their better turning off. And Cloth Faire is now in great request; well
+fare the ale-houses therein; yet better may a man fare (but at a dearer
+rate) in the pig market, alias Pasty-nooke, or Pye Corner, where pigges
+are all hours of the day on the stalls piping hot, and would cry (if
+they could speak) come eate me.'
+
+[Illustration: PULLING DOWN CHEAPSIDE CROSS, 1643.]
+
+In 1641 an order of Parliament directed the removal of idolatrous
+pictures from churches and the demolition of crosses in the streets. It
+must have been on the passing of this order that '_The Doleful
+lamentation of Cheapside Cross_,' with a woodcut of the Cross, was
+published, 1641. Also, '_A Dialogue between the Crosse in Cheap and
+Charing Crosse_,' 1641, which has also a woodcut representing the two
+crosses, while a Brownist and an Anabaptist converse about their
+demolition. It was not, however, till 1643 that Charing Cross and
+Cheapside Cross were demolished. '_The Downfall of Dagon, or the taking
+down of Cheapside Crosse this second of May, 1643_,' is a mock
+lamentation for the destruction of the Cross on account of its being a
+symbol of idolatry. The Cross itself is made to describe its history and
+to lament its errors. Divers reasons are given for its demolition, and
+the tract concludes in these words: 'And so this Tuesday it is a taking
+down with a great deal of judgement and discretion, and foure Companies
+of the Traine Bands of the City to guard and defend those that are about
+the worke, and to keep others from domineering, and so I leave it to be
+made levell with the ground this second day of May 1643.' The tract is
+illustrated with a woodcut representing the demolition of the Cross;
+and, as the day of publication is the day after the event, the persons
+concerned in its production must have been unusually prompt and
+energetic. The destruction of Cheapside and Charing Crosses is also
+recorded, under the date of 1643, in '_A Sight of the Transactions of
+these latter yeares Emblemized with Ingraven Plates, which men may read
+without Spectacles_.' This pamphlet contains a reprint of the etched
+plates previously mentioned, together with six others, one of which
+represents the pulling down of Cheapside Cross, and a summary of the
+transactions of the reign of Charles I., in which occurs the following
+passage:--'Cheapside Crosse, Charing Crosse, and all other crosses, in
+and about London utterly demolished and pulled down, and that abominable
+and blasphemous book of tolerating sports and pastimes on the Lord's
+daies, voted to be burnt, and shortly after accordingly burnt, together
+with many crucifixes and popish trinckets and trumperies in the very
+same place where Cheapside Crosse stood.' I have copied the plate
+representing the demolition of Cheapside Cross.
+
+The affairs of Turkey would seem to have had an interest for the English
+public in the seventeenth century, if we may judge from a pamphlet
+printed in 1642, with the following lengthy title:--'_Strange and
+Miraculous Newes from Turkie, sent to our English Ambassadour resident
+at Constantinople, of a woman which was seen in the Firmament with a
+Book in her hand at_ Medina Talnabi, _where Mahomet's Tomb is_. _Also
+several visions of armed men appearing in the Ayre for one and twenty
+dayes together. With a prophetical interpretation made by a Mahomedan
+Priest, who lost his life in the maintenance thereof. London, printed
+for Hugh Perry neere Ivy Bridge in the Strand June 13, 1642._' There is
+a woodcut of the apparition, and a lengthy description, passages from
+which I have extracted:--
+
+'There came newes to Constantinople of a strange Apparition or Vision,
+which was seene at _Medina Talnabi_ in Arabia, whereat Mahomet their
+great Prophet was buried. To visit whose Tombe the Turkes used to goe in
+Pilgrimage, but they must first goe to _Mecha_, which is some few dayes
+journey off, and there they take a ticket from the Grand Seigniors
+Beglerbeg, else they are not allowed to go to Medina.
+
+'This Vision continued three weeks together, which terrified the whole
+country, for that no man could discover the truth thereof.
+
+[Illustration: STRANGE VISION IN THE AIR, 1642.]
+
+'About the 20 of _September_ there fell so great a Tempest and so
+fearful a Thunder about midnight, as the Heavens were darkened, and
+those that were awake were almost distracted, but the Vapours being
+disperst, and the Element cleere, the people might read in Arabian
+characters these words in the Firmament, _O Why will you believe in
+Lies_. Betweene two and three in the morning there was seen a woman in
+white compassed about with the Sun, having a cheerfull countenance,
+holding in her hand a Booke, coming from the Northeast, opposite
+against her were Armies of _Turkes_, _Persians_, _Arabians_, and other
+Mahometans, ranged in order of Battaile, and ready to charge her, but
+she kept her standing, and onely opened the Booke, at the sight whereof
+the Armies fled, and presently all the lamps about Mahomet's Tombe went
+out, for as soon as ever the Vision vanished (which was commonly an hour
+before sunne rising) a murmuring Wind was heard, whereunto they imputed
+the extinguishing of the lamps. The antient pilgrims of Mahomet's Race,
+who after they have visited this place, never use to cut their haire,
+were much amazed, for that they could not conceive the meaning of this
+vision, only one of the _Dervices_, which is a strict religious order
+among the _Turkes_ like unto the Cappuchins amongst the Papists, and
+live in contemplation, stepped up very boldly and made a speech unto the
+Company which incensed them much against him, so as the poore Priest
+for his plain dealing lost his life, as you shall hereafter heare.'
+
+Then follows the speech of the Dervish to the Turks, who became so
+incensed that they put him to death, 'the poore man crying to the last
+gaspe, O thou woman with the Booke save me, and so he died. At which
+time there was a feareful tempest.'
+
+It seems to have been a favourite method amongst the Puritan
+pamphleteers of inducing belief in a particular creed or doctrine by
+setting forth the awful consequences arising from adherence to an
+opposite faith. Thus, in 1645, in the parish of Kirkham, a Popish
+gentlewoman was said to have become the mother of a child without a
+head, because she wished she might bear a child without a head rather
+than her offspring should become a Roundhead. Again, it was related that
+in Scotland a woman wished she might become the mother of a monster
+rather than her child should receive the rites of the Church of England.
+Accordingly, the child was born with two heads, long donkey-like ears,
+&c. In all these cases the pamphlets recording these extraordinary
+occurrences are illustrated. The apparitions of deceased persons were
+also used as a means of enforcing certain views. For example, in 1642,
+the ghosts of King James, the Marquis of Hamilton, George Eglisham, and
+the Duke of Buckingham, were made to hold a conversation, wherein
+Buckingham was charged with having caused the deaths of the others by
+poison. Buckingham confesses his guilt and promises to weep repentant
+tears. This pamphlet is also illustrated. The sermons of the Roundhead
+preachers were sometimes parodied, as in the case of a humorous pamphlet
+entitled, '_A Seasonable Lecture, or a most learned Oration;
+disburthened from Henry Walker, a most judicious quondam ironmonger,
+&c._' There is a woodcut to this pamphlet representing a person holding
+forth from a tub to several others who are listening to him. In '_A
+Glasse for the Times, 1648_,' there is a woodcut representing the
+'Orthodox true Minister' preaching in a church, while the 'Seducer, or
+False Prophet,' is holding forth to people in the open air; and the
+reader is instructed as to the difference between true ministers and
+false teachers.
+
+Amongst the numerous executions that took place about the beginning of
+the Civil War, some of the sufferers belonged to the Roman Catholic
+Religion, and went to the gallows for conscience sake. In 1643 a certain
+Father Bell, a Romish priest, was hanged; and a few days after the
+execution a pamphlet was published, entitled '_The Confession,
+Obstinacy, and Ignorance of Father Bell, a Romish Priest, wherein is
+declared the manner of his Tryall, Condemnation, and Execution on Munday
+December 11, 1643_.' There is a woodcut of the execution of Father Bell,
+and an account of his behaviour on the occasion, his speech at the
+gallows, and his disputatious conversation with the Sheriff.
+
+Though many persons were put to death for witchcraft during the Long
+Parliament, I have met with no illustrated record of any such event.
+Matthew Hopkins was 'witch-finder general' at this time, and he had a
+flourishing trade. He had a regular system for finding out witches; but
+it appears that it must have been called in question, for the objections
+to his system and his answers thereto were delivered to the Judges of
+Assize for the County of Norfolk in 1647. A pamphlet of that date
+contains a full account of Hopkins's rules for finding witches, and it
+is illustrated with a woodcut representing the interior of a house, with
+the witch-finder, two witches seated, and surrounded by their imps in
+the shapes of animals.
+
+_The Welsh Post_ of 1643 is a curious illustrated pamphlet which relates
+the news of the Civil War in language such as was supposed to be used by
+a Welshman speaking English. It begins thus:--'Whereas there hath beene
+many Tiurnals and Passages, the truth whereof hath beene much suspected,
+so tat her doth not be certaine to heare the true report of her
+pretherns proceeding; her hath terefore chosen to herselfe a fery true
+Printer (tat do scorne to print lie) to print a weekly Tiurnall for her
+dear Countryman of Whales to understand te fery truth marke you me tat
+now, for ferily her will not lye truly, but tell her te pare naked
+truth.' The news from Oxford is that 'te kings forces are fery weake
+there, and that the Countrey are fery glad of it, because of teir
+intolerable trouble and charge.' There is also news from
+Northamptonshire, Cheshire, Gloucester, Plymouth, Yorkshire, &c, all
+related in the same language.
+
+[Illustration: HOPKINS, THE WITCHFINDER, 1647.]
+
+_The Welsh Plunderer_ is another pamphlet, with a woodcut of a Cavalier,
+which is probably intended for Prince Rupert. It contains a rambling
+protestation from 'Shinkin' of his loyalty, and states what he will do
+in case Prince Rupert should visit Wales.
+
+William Lilly, the Astrologer, found a rich field for the exercise of
+his gifts during the progress of the Civil War. He was employed by both
+Royalists and Roundheads; and it is said he was even consulted by the
+King about signing the propositions of the Parliament. His advice was
+also sought respecting the King's projected escape from Carisbrook
+Castle. He kept his name before the public by publishing various
+almanacs and tracts, in one of which, _The Starry Messenger_, 1645, he
+gives an account of a strange apparition of three suns seen in London on
+the King's birthday. This is preceded by a long list of similar
+appearances, from the time of Christ to his own time, and the remarkable
+events which followed. In high-flown language, mixed with the jargon of
+astrology he vaguely hints at great events impending:--'I am clearly of
+opinion, These Sights, as well as many others, were caused by those
+tutelary Angels, who, by Gods permission, and under him, have the
+Government of the English Commonwealth. They are sensible of those many
+impending Miseries now too plentifully amongst us. Their conference with
+man now, as in the days of old, very few attain unto, it being a
+blessing sought after by many, attained unto by few: And yet there are
+some of opinion there lives in the world some, and of those some, a
+small Party in England, that know more than they utter, and either by
+Vision, or verball Colloquie, have the knowledge of future events, yea,
+even from the blessed Angels:'--which is as much as to say, I, William
+Lilly, am one of the favoured few! Come to me and I will teach you
+wisdom--I will unfold to you the mysterious future! The tract is
+illustrated with a woodcut; and a later tract published by Lilly
+contains an engraving of the three suns, together with a further
+exposition of his views on the subject:--'God many waves in these last
+times (though not by prophecy) yet discovers and signifies his
+intentions unto us, and especially in and at those times when his heavy
+judgments are imminent upon us; witnesse the many and frequent
+Appearances of severall Prodigies seen in this Kingdom of England within
+these four or five years, the like whereof for number are not recorded
+in any, either ancient or modern History, so that I might weary the
+reader, should I but mention the severall Letters which from sundry
+parts of this Kingdom have come to my hands, some mentioning strange
+sights in the ayre; others men fighting therein; others Guns shooting;
+others relating of three moons; others the apparition of two suns; some
+sending me letters, and including therein some part of that Corn which
+was rained down from heaven, &c. I forbear all further discourse hereof,
+assuring the kingdom, these Prodigies are the Premonitions, and assumed
+infallible Messengers of Gods wrath against the whole Kingdom, for our
+wicked transgressions, &c. God give us peace and grace to repent.'
+
+[Illustration: THREE SUNS SEEN IN LONDON ON THE KING'S BIRTHDAY, 1648.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  The Civil War--Flying Sheets of News--Disturbance at
+  Kingston-on-Thames--Plot against London--Riotous Proceedings at York,
+  and Conspiracy in Edinburgh--The House of Commons--The Royal Standard
+  raised at Nottingham--Battle of Edgehill--Prince Rupert--The Lord
+  Mayor of London--_Mercurius Civicus_--_The Scottish Dove_--_The Flying
+  Post_--_The Kingdomes Weekly Post_--Cruelties of the Cavaliers--The
+  'Levellers'--The King's Escape from Oxford--Funeral of the Earl of
+  Essex--The Great Seal Broken--Fairfax--Cromwell--Sea Fight in the
+  Channel--The Prince of Wales's Squadron--Mutiny at Norwich--Siege of
+  Colchester--Execution of Sir Charles Lucas--The King at Carisbrooke
+  Castle--Execution of the King--Confession of Richard Brandon.
+
+
+The discontent which had been growing for so many years, and which had
+been strengthened and inflamed by the acts of Charles I. and his
+advisers in violating the principles of the Constitution, had now
+arrived at the point of rebellion. At the commencement of the Civil War
+the excitement was increased and sustained by the publication of flying
+sheets of news. Although the practice of publishing regular periodical
+papers had commenced, numerous fugitive tracts and pamphlets continued
+to be printed relating to particular events. Some of these papers were
+illustrated with woodcuts evidently executed on the spur of the moment,
+while others appear to have been taken from other sources and adapted to
+the occasion. An example of this latter kind occurs in a tract of 1642,
+which strikingly illustrates the state of the times:--
+
+'_A true Relation of the late Hurleyburly at Kingston upon Thames on
+Wednesday the 12th of January caused by Collonell Lundsford and the rest
+of his company, and the Towne fearing they would rise up in Rebellion,
+one cam speedily to declare it at_ London, _upon which the Traine Band
+were raised and caused to watch all night for the safety of the City._'
+On the title-page is a woodcut of an officer and a soldier, which,
+however, was evidently not executed for this special occasion, the
+officer being in the costume of the preceding reign. A facsimile of it
+is subjoined. The tract describes the commotion made in Kingston by the
+appearance of Colonel Lundsford and three hundred troopers, who, 'about
+the middle of the Towne, went in to drink, and continued there part of
+that day, swaggering, and swearing blasphemous Oathes (which filled the
+Towne with feares) and some amongst the rest, to frighten the Towne,
+swore bitter Oathes that they should see bloody times ere long.'
+
+[Illustration: HURLEYBURLEY AT KINGSTON-ON-THAMES, 1642.]
+
+[Illustration: CAPTAIN VAUL, THAT CRUEL TYRANT, 1642.]
+
+A tract of the same date refers to a reported conspiracy of the same
+Colonel Lundsford:--'_A terrible plot against London and Westminster
+discovered, showing how Colonell Lunsford the Papist, that should have
+bin Lieutenant in the Tower, should in a Conspiracy among the Jesuits
+and other Papists have blowne up the City of London, placing the pieces
+of Ordinance against it. Also how the papists with their forces should
+have risen against Westminster, and burnt downe the parliament house.
+Likewise how by this Conspiracy the Arch-bishop of_ Canterbury _should
+have been transported into France, and how Bishop Wren with many other
+Bishops and popish Doctors should have bin conducted with him thither,
+where Canterbury should have bin Sainted, and Wren made Cardinall. With
+an exact Relation of the chiefe Cause of the Apprentices rising in Armes
+to defend the City of London from their treachery, Describing most
+succinctly the singular mercy of God towards us in defending this
+Kingdome from the manifold Plots of the Papists and their Treacherous
+Conspiracies._' On the last page is a woodcut of a Cavalier in a hat and
+feathers, entitled 'Captaine Vaul that cruell Tyrant.' As there is no
+mention of this person in the pamphlet it was perhaps a well-known
+nickname of Colonel Lundsford. I annex a copy of this cut. The same cut
+appears in a tract entitled '_Terrible Newes from York_,' detailing
+certain riotous proceedings in that city, where it is given as 'Mr.
+Holk, chief Agent in the uproar.' Its first appearance, however, is in
+an account of a '_Bloody Conspiracy at Edinburgh_;' and, from its
+frequent use, this rough woodcut must have been regarded as a good, bold
+representation of a truculent soldier, suitable for the times.
+
+While the King and the House of Commons were contending for the upper
+hand there was published '_A Perfect Diurnall of the Passages in
+Parliament_,' illustrated with a woodcut of the House of Commons, with
+Mr. Speaker in the chair. This is used as a heading to several numbers
+of the same _Diurnall_, and sundry varieties of it are printed as
+headings to other reports of Parliament. This old woodcut has been often
+copied, but my examples of illustrated journalism would not be complete
+unless I introduced it here.
+
+The printing-presses that are said to have been carried by both armies
+during the Civil War must have been used solely for the printing of
+Proclamations, General Orders, and suchlike documents. It seems to be an
+ascertained fact that Cromwell's soldiers set up a printing-press in
+Scotland, and printed a newspaper; but it is not so certain that the
+armies of Charles I. and of the Parliament issued printed 'news' from
+whatever town they chanced to occupy at the time. It does not follow
+that because a tract is entitled _News from Hull_ it was actually
+printed at that place. On the contrary, I have found nearly all the
+tracts I have examined bear the imprints of London printers. _The News
+from the North, The Last printed News from Chichester_, &c., were all
+sent up to London, and there printed and published.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1642.]
+
+In the words of Hume, 'The open signal of discord and civil war
+throughout the kingdom' was made at Nottingham on August 22, 1642,
+when the King erected his Royal standard and appealed to the loyalty of
+his subjects to support his authority by arms. Historians differ as to
+the precise day when this formal declaration of hostilities took place.
+Clarendon and Hume both fix it on the _25th_ of August, while Rushworth
+gives the _22nd_ as the date. The latter view is confirmed by a
+contemporary pamphlet, which gives an account of the raising of the
+Standard, and is illustrated with a woodcut representing the event. This
+pamphlet was written in the interest of the Parliament and against the
+King's party; but his Majesty is referred to in the most respectful
+language, as is generally the case in the pamphlets of the time. At the
+beginning of the struggle frequent hopes were expressed that the King
+would consent to be guided by the Parliament, while his Cavalier
+adherents were represented as his real enemies. The pamphlet referred to
+has the following title:--
+
+'_A true and exact Relation of the manner of his Majesties setting up of
+His Standard at_ Nottingham _on Munday the 22 of August, 1642_.
+
+'_First, the forme of the Standard, as it is here figured, and who were
+present at the advancing of it._
+
+'_Secondly, the danger of setting up of former standards, and the damage
+which ensued thereon._
+
+'_Thirdly, a relation of all the Standards that ever were set up by any
+King._
+
+'_Fourthly, the names of those knights who are appointed to be the
+King's Standard-bearers, with the forces that are appointed to guard
+it._
+
+'_Fifthly, the manner of the Kings comming first to Coventry._
+
+'_Sixthly, the Cavalieres resolution and dangerous threats which they
+have uttered, if the King concludes a peace without them, or hearkens
+unto his great Councill the Parliament; moreover how they have shared
+and divided London amongst themselves already. London, printed for T.
+Coles, 1642._'
+
+[Illustration: RAISING THE ROYAL STANDARD AT NOTTINGHAM, 1642.]
+
+The account of this interesting historical event is given in these
+words: 'Munday being the 22 of August in the morning, his Majesty left
+his forces before Coventry, and with some Lords and others in company
+rode to Leicester, where he dined that day at the Abbey House, the
+Countesse of Devonshire's house; however, so many printed intelligences
+doe falsely, though with much confidence aver (much like their other
+relations) that the king was with his Army in the field, at the time of
+the battell between them and the Lord Brookes forces, which was not
+untill the day following. Presently after dinner the King againe tooke
+horse, and with his company rode to Nottingham, where was great
+preparation for the setting up of the Standard that day as was formerly
+appointed. Not long after the Kings coming to towne, the Standard was
+taken out of the Castle, and carried into the field a little on the back
+side of the Castle wall. The likenesse of the Standard it is much of the
+fashion of the City Streamers used at the Lord Mayor's Show, having
+about 20 supporters, and is to be carried after the same way; on the top
+of it hangs a bloody flag, the Kings Armes quartered, with a hand
+pointing to the Crowne which stands above with this Motto: _Give Cæsar
+his due_. The names of those Knights Baronets who were appointed to
+beare the Standard, viz. The chiefe was Sir _Thomas Brookes_, Sir
+_Arthur Hopton_, Sir _Francis Wortley_, and Sir _Robert Darlington_.
+
+'Likewise there was three troop of Horse appointed to waite upon the
+Standard, and to beare the same backwards and forwards with about sixe
+hundred foot Souldiers. It was conducted to the field in great state,
+his Majesty, the Prince, Prince _Robert_ (whom his Majesty hath lately
+made a Knight of the Garter), going along with divers other Lords and
+Gentlemen of his Majesties traine, beside great company of Horse and
+Foot, in all to the number of about two thousand, who came more to see
+the manner of the thing than any waie to offer assistance to his
+Majesty, as did afterwards evidently appear, for that upon the taking
+downe of the Standard, there were not above thirty of the trained bands
+that offered to come in to his Majesty, which, because their numbers
+were so inconsiderable his Majesty refused to accept of.
+
+'So soon as the Standard was set up, and his Majesty and the other Lords
+placed about it, a Herauld at Armes made ready to proclaim a
+Proclamation declaring the Ground and Cause of his Majesties setting up
+his Standard namely to suppress the pretended Rebellion of the Earle of
+Essex in raysing forces against him, to which he required the aid and
+assistance of all his loving subjects. But before the Trumpeters could
+sound to make Proclamation his Majesty called to view the said
+Proclamation; which being given him he privately read the same over to
+himselfe, and seeming to dislike some passages therein called for Penne
+and Inke, and with his owne hand crossed out and altered the same in
+diverse places, (a thing well worthy the noting) and then gave it the
+Herauld, who proclaymed the same to the people, though with some
+difficulty after his Majesties corrections; after the reading whereof,
+the whole multitude threw up their hats, with other suchlike
+expressions, _God Save the King_. Not long after the reading of the said
+Proclamation, it being towards night, the Standard was taken downe, and
+again carried into the castle, with the like state as it was brought
+into the field. And the next day it was again set up, and his Majesty
+came along with it, and made proclamation as the day before, and the
+like also was done on Wednesday, his Majesty being also present. But
+since that it hath been set up with lesse ceremony, there being not a
+hundred persons as are yet heard of that have offered themselves to his
+Majesty since the first setting up of his Standard.
+
+'Since which time his gracious Majesty hath pleased to send some
+propositions to both Houses of Parliament; and hath employed the Earle
+of Dorset, the Earle of Southampton, and Sir John Culpeper, and Sir
+William Uvedall to deliver his Majesties minde to the honourable Houses
+of Parliament for a fair Treaty and accommodation of Peace, and that all
+differences and mistakes might be ended, and all hostile manner of warre
+to cease in our Land and that it might be sent over to Ireland upon
+which report the Cavaliers which are about the Country are very
+desperate to heare that his Majesty will hearken to an accommodation of
+peace, or to apply or comply with his Parliament; telling his Majesty
+that it is dishonourable to stoop to his Subjects, and if his Majesty
+doth, they will either hang themselves, or kill and murther themselves,
+and doth vow private revenge to this Kingdome, if they do now misse of
+their hopes and enterprises, for they say they are sure to overcome us
+whom they called Roundheads, and call our Souldiers nothing else but a
+company of Shrove-Tuesday boyes, and idle headed prentices, who run away
+from their Masters under pretence of having this opportunity to get
+liberty from their hard service and cruelty. It is truly reported that
+the Cavaliers are all desperately bent against the City of London, and
+the inhabitants; they have already within themselves shared and divided
+it; some have allotted to themselves Gracious Street, others Lumbard
+Street, then others have shared Cheapside, and Pauls Church-yard, others
+do determine to seize upon the rich Aldermens houses and Persons, others
+to whom they owe or are indebted to by bond, or bill, or book, doe
+resolve when they come into the City to seize upon those persons first,
+to whom they are indebted, and to cut their throats, and then to seize
+upon Usurer or others, and to cut his throat for that money, so say
+they, we shall be both at once out of debt and have money to boot; these
+are the resolutions of the Cavaliers who doth but looke for such an
+advantage, so full of cruelty and malice they are, which God in his
+infinite and blessed mercy protect both our King and Kingdome from; and
+that their own swords may returne into their own bosoms that wish and
+long for such a day.'
+
+Then follows a notification from both Houses of Parliament that none
+shall proclaim the setting up of the King's Standard; and whoever shall
+suffer loss or damage through the Cavaliers shall receive reparation.
+
+According to Clarendon, the Royal Standard was set up under the most
+ill-omened and depressing circumstances: 'There was not one regiment of
+foot yet brought hither, so that the train-bands which the sheriff had
+drawn together were all the strength the King had for his person and
+the guard of the Standard. There appeared no conflux of men in obedience
+to the proclamation; the arms and ammunition were not yet come from
+York, and a general sadness covered the whole town. The Standard was
+blown down the same night it had been set up, by a very strong and
+unruly wind, and could not be fixed again in a day or two, till the
+tempest was allayed. This was the melancholy state of the King's affairs
+when the Standard was set up.'
+
+[Illustration: PRINCE RUPERT, GENERAL OF THE KING'S HORSE, 1643.]
+
+Soon after the King had unfurled his Standard at Nottingham the battle
+of Edgehill was fought, and an illustrated tract relates how the
+inhabitants of Kenton, a village near the battle-field, were disturbed
+at night by strange noises and the appearance of apparitions after the
+battle. The name of Prince Rupert begins to appear in the narratives of
+events, and his portrait frequently occurs in the illustrated sheets of
+this period. This dashing and impetuous Cavalier, whose rash courage
+excited the admiration of the Royalists, was regarded by the Roundheads
+as a cruel and bloodthirsty enemy, and he was often denounced by the
+Puritan preachers. In 1643 there was a pamphlet published called '_The
+Bloody Prince; or, a Declaration of the Most Cruell Practises of Prince
+Rupert and the rest of the Cavaliers in fighting against God and the
+true Ministers of his Church_.' Facing the title is a woodcut
+representing Prince Rupert on his charger, with the towns of Birmingham
+and Daventry in the background, both of which places were the scenes of
+conflict during the war, the former having been taken, partially burnt,
+and a heavy fine inflicted on the inhabitants by Prince Rupert.
+
+The City of London having taken the side of the Parliament, was
+naturally inclined to honour its chief magistrate when he was found to
+be an active and energetic promoter of its views. Isaac Pennington was
+Lord Mayor in 1643, and his portrait was published in a laudatory
+pamphlet, entitled '_A True Declaration, and just Commendation of the
+great and incomparable care of the Right Honourable Isaac Pennington_.'
+His Lordship is styled the Atlas of the city, bearing the weight and
+management of all civil affairs on his shoulders, and he is much
+commended for his great care in superintending the building of the
+fortifications round London under the direction of the Parliament. 'And
+herein,' says the writer, 'your honour hath shewed yourselfe an
+excellent Magistrate complying with the Parliament in all matters that
+concerne the publicke administration of the Commonweale; so that you
+have lookt upon the present state of this Citie and Religion with the
+cleare eye of justice; you have heard of the great pressures which the
+country hath endured by the cruelty of the Cavaliers; you have to the
+discouragement of malignants on the shoulders of fortitude, bore and
+suffered their false aspersions.... Your Honour hath in your present
+Magistracie walked uprightly, having clean and pure hands; nay, strong
+hands; for your Honour hath been the chiefest raiser and promoter of
+the workes and fortifications round about the Citie of London: you saw
+the times were dangerous, and that the King's Cavaliers gaped after
+nothing more than to get London, and make it a prey to the supplying of
+their necessities.' I have copied the portrait of the man who was thus
+distinguished by his fellow-citizens, not merely as an example of
+illustrated news, but as showing what a Lord Mayor of London looked like
+in Charles I.'s time.
+
+[Illustration: ISAAC PENNINGTON, LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, 1643.]
+
+It was in the City of London, and during the second year of the Civil
+War, that the first illustrated newspaper came into existence. _The
+Weekly News_ had attempted on only one occasion to illustrate the news
+of the day, but the _Mercurius Civicus_ frequently gave illustrations,
+and it is therefore entitled to be ranked as the first illustrated
+newspaper. It is true that most of the engravings it contains are
+portraits, and sometimes the same woodcut is used to represent more than
+one person. Besides portraits of the King and Queen, there are portraits
+of the chief generals and commanders engaged in the war. There are
+Prince Rupert, the Lord General, Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Marquis of
+Huntley, Sir Edward Deering, General Lesley, Lord Inchiquin, Lord Digby,
+Sir W. Waller, the Earl of Warwick, and others. '_The Mercurius Civicus,
+London's Intelligencer, or Truth impartially related from thence to the
+whole kingdom, to prevent misinformation, from Thursday July 13 to
+Thursday July 20, 1643_,' is the full title of No. 8; and it is curious
+to notice how nearly a portion of the title--_London's
+Intelligencer_--corresponds to the _London News_. It was a peculiar
+feature of the early newspapers that they were announced as being
+published 'to prevent misinformation,' or for the 'correction of false
+reports'--not so much for the diffusion of truth as for the correction
+of falsehood.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES I. AND HIS QUEEN, FROM 'MERCURIUS CIVICUS,'
+1643.]
+
+On the front page of Number 8 of the _Mercurius Civicus_ are small
+portraits of Charles I. and his Queen, engraved on wood. Over the
+woodcut is a sort of table of contents, thus:--'The King and Queen
+conjoyned, the Kentish news related, our Forces are united, A publique
+Fast appointed.' On the preceding page is given a facsimile of the cut
+of the King and Queen.
+
+[Illustration: WEAPON CALLED A ROUNDHEAD, FROM 'MERCURIUS CIVICUS,'
+1643.]
+
+Similar portraits occur in other numbers, as well as several ornamental
+letters; but there is in Number 11 a very interesting illustration of
+the news of the hour. It is a woodcut of a weapon said to be intended
+for use against the Roundheads, and the following account is given of
+it:--'In the Danish Ship lately taken by the Earle of Warwicke, near
+Newcastle, were found Armes compleat for 5000 foot and for 500 horse,
+500 barrels of Gunpowder, Great store of Match and Lead, beside a
+thousand of those weapons which the Papists call Round-heads, for that
+with them they intended to bring the Round-heads into subjection. Many
+such weapons were long since found in divers Papists' houses in
+Lancashire; it is a weapon with an ovall or round top, stuck full of
+iron spikes. The forme whereof for better satisfaction is here set
+downe.' Then follows a representation of the weapon, of which a
+facsimile is given on the opposite page. The same cut is reprinted in
+other numbers.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF PRINCE RUPERT, FROM 'MERCURIUS CIVICUS,'
+1644.]
+
+In another number it is related that 'the Manchestrians have lately
+taken from severall Papists in that County many desperate weapons which
+they call Round-heads.' No. 22 has a portrait of a Cavalier in hat and
+feather, intended probably for Prince Maurice, as there is in the body
+of the number an allusion to a report of his death. In No. 42 there is a
+portrait of Prince Rupert and the following summary on the
+title-page:--'Prince Rupert's forces routed near Stratford-on-Avon.
+Generall King's Army dispersed by the Scots. Himselfe wounded and fled
+to Yorke. Banbury Castle besieged by Colonell Cromwell.' I give a copy
+of Prince Rupert's portrait, which is made to do duty for the Marquis of
+Newcastle in another number. This practice of making the same woodcut
+pass for the portraits of different individuals savours somewhat of
+impudence on the part of the editor, and shows a cool reliance on the
+good nature or the obtuseness of his readers.
+
+[Illustration: THE OXFORD JUNTA IN COUNCIL, FROM 'MERCURIUS CIVICUS,'
+1644.]
+
+In the number of the _Mercurius Civicus_ for April 11, 1644, there is a
+curious woodcut representing the 'Oxford Junta in Council,' with the
+following paragraph referring to it:--'The news from his Excellencies
+generall Roundezvous at Ailsbury on Good-Fryday next, will no doubt
+cause the Oxonian Papists to whip themselves before the time, and to
+make the Oxford Junto to recall their late votes.' The lady and
+gentleman in the balcony were probably intended for the King and Queen.
+There is more variety in this number of _Mercurius Civicus_ than in any
+I have seen. In the war news there is the taking of Waltam House, in
+Hampshire; the taking of numerous men and horses at Christ-church, in
+Dorsetshire; then comes a paragraph stating that 'On Munday last, April
+8, there were ten men and two women executed at Tyburne for the severall
+offences for which they were condemned the last weeke at the Sessions in
+the Old Bayley.' Mention is made of a fight between the Scots Army and
+the Marquis of Newcastle's forces near Hilton; the gathering of the
+King's forces in the neighbourhood of Marlborough, and an announcement
+that the Parliament intend to draw all their forces together, and, if
+possible, by fighting a decisive action 'to put a speedy end to these
+miserable distractions.' The trial of Archbishop Laud was at this time
+going on, and reference is made to his appearance before the House of
+Peers. Two Welshmen were taken into custody for talking in Welsh, while
+they were crossing the river from Westminster to Southwark, about firing
+the city in several places, they not knowing that the waterman
+understood their language. It is stated that a solemn day of
+thanksgiving had been observed in London for the victory obtained over
+Sir Ralph Hopton's forces, and an ordinance was read in the churches
+exhorting the citizens to contribute all their strength to bring the
+contest to a final issue. There is also some account of recent fires in
+the city, which are attributed to the treachery of Cavaliers and
+Malignants. 'But,' says the writer, 'which way soever these sad
+accidents are brought to passe, they may afford the whole City this
+caution: that if the firing of some few houses be so dreadful and
+fearfull, as I am sure this appeared to those that beheld them,
+notwithstanding they had all means convenient to quench them, and the
+multitude being industrious to set their hands to the worke: O how
+terrible would it be to see your houses set on fire by the enemy, and
+the cruell souldiers, instead of bringing buckets of water, should stand
+with their drawne swords threatening the death of those that should
+offer to quench the flame? Poore Ireland can give ample testimony of
+this.' From Yorkshire there is news that Fairfax had taken Cawood
+Castle; from Banbury that the Royalist garrison was withdrawn from that
+place, and 'that the Carriers of Banbury and Southam were robbed the
+last weeke neere Tossiter in Northamptonshire by divers of the Cavaliers
+Forces.' In the number for April 25, 1644, there is a figure of the King
+armed with a sword, and with this inscription:--'Fire and sword again
+menaced by his Majesty.' During the first years of the Civil War the
+newspapers contained many portraits of the King, some of which were
+carefully engraved on copper.
+
+It is noticeable that the _Mercurius Civicus_ and other papers
+published during the Civil War were in the habit of including on their
+title-pages a summary of the contents of the number. Sometimes it was
+put in the form of rhyme, as--
+
+  'Tewkesbury is taken
+   Yorke walls are well shaken.'
+
+[Illustration: HEADING TO THE 'SCOTTISH DOVE,' 1644.]
+
+The _Scottish Dove_ frequently indulged in these rhyming summaries. On
+the title-page of Number 39 for July 13, 1644, the following lines are
+printed:--
+
+  'Rupert and Newcastle wholly Routed
+   Rupert and Newcastle's jarres undoubted;
+   Newcastle fled to Sea, Rupert to the King,
+   Give God the Glory heavenly praises sing.
+   A day of thankes the parliament hath set,
+   Lord Gray with some of Hasting's troops hath met.
+   From Oswestree Middleton the siege did raise
+   And Barnstaples defence, doth Essex praise;
+   The Queen Pendennis Castle liketh best.
+   The King uncertain where to take his rest.'
+
+The _Scottish Dove_ was a small quarto numbered and paged consecutively
+like the _Mercurius Civicus_. On the front page of every number was
+printed a woodcut of a dove bearing an olive-branch in its mouth, and at
+the side of the woodcut was usually printed the rhyming summary. I annex
+a facsimile of this heading.
+
+Many of the journals of this period showed their hankering after
+illustrations by occasionally indulging in an initial letter, if they
+could do nothing more. The animosities of party often caused them to
+forget their original purpose of spreading true intelligence, and they
+were quite as ready to apply the lash to each other as to chastise
+public wrongdoers or 'correct false reports.' At this time first
+appeared the familiar newspaper heading of the man on horseback blowing
+a horn. It was on the front page of the _Flying Post_, the first number
+of which was published on May 10, 1644. The full title was '_The Flying
+Post, conveying Weekly Packets to all Forraigne Nations, of the
+Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament and the Armies in Great
+Brittain_,' and it was 'published for the cleere satisfaction of all
+Forraigners and others who desire Certain, and Weekly Information.' The
+introduction is as follows:--
+
+'Gentlemen,--The too many errours committed of late time, by the
+irregularitie of the Presse (which since by the wisdome of the
+Parliament, is in a great measure suppressed), which did run Weekly in
+severall channels to the greatest part of Europe in great dishonour to
+our English Nation; Have enforced this my Flying Post never to make
+stay, till it had intimated the same unto you, and fully vindicated this
+my Native Kingdome, by publishing a certain Weekly Intelligence of all
+Proceedings of our honourable Parliament and unhappy wars of this
+Kingdome; wherein (though a well wisher to his Excellencie the Earle of
+Essex, and the Proceedings of Parliament) I shall write with the
+greatest indifference, truth, and modestie, as shall satisfie the
+impartiallest that reades me; attributing to the Enemy no otherwise than
+Truth will warrant it, be it to their honour or shame according to
+their demerit. Therefore give me leave to beg your credence beyond Sea
+and elsewhere, as you find me.'
+
+The _Flying Post_ gives intelligence from York, then besieged by the
+Scots; from Hull, Newark, and Mansfield; some notes of the proceedings
+in Parliament, respecting which the journalist says cautiously:--'As for
+our proceedings in Parliament, I shall be very cautious and tender in
+divulging them.' It was 'Published according to order,' and printed at
+London for Bernard Alsop, 1644.
+
+[Illustration: HEADING TO THE 'KINGDOMES WEEKLY POST,' 1644.]
+
+The _Klngdomes Weekly Post_ had the same heading, which is here copied.
+
+In a tract entitled '_Strange true and lamentable news from Exeter and
+other parts of the Western Countreys_' there is a woodcut of a woman on
+her knees praying for mercy. The pamphlet relates the cruelties
+inflicted by the Cavaliers on the inhabitants of Exeter, Bristol, and
+other towns. Prince Maurice is charged with breaking the articles of
+agreement made with the city of Exeter, and both he and Prince Rupert
+are likened to 'Tigers or Savage Beares.' It is stated that in the city
+of Exeter 'the rude Souldiers would not forbeare upon the least
+discontent given to them to draw their Rapiers upon the Citizens, and
+wound them, but especially when they are in their cups, they swagger,
+roare, sweare, and domineere, plundering, pillaging, or doing any other
+kind of wrong; to break shops and houses they count as nothing, taking
+away Boots, Shoes, Stockings, Hats, or any other commodities they can
+lay their hands on, and no Justice dares to resist them, and by this
+means the City is in such a miserable condition that they are even
+terrified to the death.' At Cirencester, having entered the town by
+force, they slew all the men who opposed them, took the unresisting
+inhabitants prisoners, and pillaged the town. At Bristol 'They went into
+some Cellars, where was plenty of wine and beere, drank what their
+gormandising guts would hold, and let the rest run about the house, with
+many other antique tricks that they used, which I cannot omit to speak
+of; moreover, they breake the Covenant which was made in every respect
+the very first hour that they entered the city, and fell to plundering,
+pillaging, robbing, stealing, cutting and slashing, as if they had never
+been brought up to any other practice.'
+
+[Illustration: STRANGE NEWS FROM EXETER, 1643.]
+
+In an account of the defence of Plymouth against the Royalists there is
+a very elaborate map showing the fortifications of the town, 'with the
+workes and approaches of the enemy at the last siege.' The account of
+the siege is very long, but the following passage may be quoted:--'One
+remarkable passage of God's providence to us we must with all
+thankfulnesse remember and acknowledge, that after the Towne had been a
+long time strictly beseiged and no fresh victuall either flesh or fish
+could be had, whereby the poore people were grievously punished, there
+came in an infinite multitude of Pilchards into the Harbour, within the
+Barbican, which the people took up with great ease in baskets, which did
+not only refresh them for the present, but a great deal more were taken,
+preserved, and salted; whereby the poore got much money; such a passage
+hath not happened before.
+
+'We cannot forget the humanity of the good women of Plymouth, and their
+courage in bringing out strong waters, and all sorts of provisions in
+the midst of all our skirmishes for refreshing of our souldiers, though
+many shot through the cloathes.'
+
+I have already made the remark that the military atrocities of recent
+times were equalled, if not exceeded, during the Civil War in England
+and Ireland. In a tract of 1644, containing various items of news, the
+following woodcut is given as an illustration of recent events. The same
+woodcut is found in another tract entitled '_Terrible and bloody Newes
+from the disloyall Army in the North_:'--'The proceedings of the Scots
+and Irish appears more visible and inhumane than formerly; their actions
+are tyrannical, their ways most insufferable, and executeth nothing but
+blood thirstinesse and cruelty tending only to utter ruin and
+desolation; they have burned down divers stately buildings in these
+parts, executed some of my Lord Wharton's tenants, and threatens others,
+which causeth the Country to rise and joyn with Lieu. Gen. Cromwell,
+insomuch that there will be a sudden engagement.'
+
+The sect called the 'Levellers' is thus alluded to in the same
+tract:--'Colonel Martin's approach with his Levellers in these parts
+hath alarmed the Country and put themselves into a posture to receive
+them, and for preservation of their ancient rights and liberties against
+their new design of levelling, who by their strange, politick, and
+subtill delusions have wrought into the hearts of divers people to
+ingage with them, especially among those who are of a desperate fortune,
+and mean condition, the basest and vilest of men resorting to them. They
+rob and plunder exceedingly wheresoever they come, saying they will
+levell all sorts of people, even from the highest to the lowest, and
+that he that hath the most shall be equall with him that hath the
+least.'
+
+[Illustration: CRUELTIES OF THE CAVALIERS, 1644.]
+
+In a pamphlet relating to the events of Charles I.'s reign there are
+some of the etchings previously noticed, together with nine others
+illustrating the history of the same period. They are:--1. The Court of
+High Commission and Star Chamber. 2. The Execution on Tower Hill of Sir
+Alexander Carew, Sir John Hotham, Captain Hotham, and the Archbishop of
+Canterbury. 3. The King's Escape from Oxford. 4. The Execution of the
+Duke of Hamilton, Earl of Cambridge, Earl of Holland, and Arthur Lord
+Capel. 5. The Coronation of Charles II. in Scotland, 1650. 6. A Meeting
+of Cavaliers. 7. A Seapiece illustrating Charles II.'s Escape from
+England after the Battle of Worcester. 8. Reading the Act of General
+Pardon and Oblivion, 1651. 9. The House of Commons in Session. The full
+title of the pamphlet is as follows:--'_A Brief Review of the most
+material Parliamentary Proceedings of this present Parliament, and their
+Armies, in their civil and Martial Affairs, which Parliament began the
+third of November, 1640, and the remarkable Transactions are continued
+untill the Act of Oblivion February 24, 1652. Published as a Breviary,
+leading all along successively, as they fell out in their several years.
+So that if any man will be informed of any remarkable passage, he may
+turne to the year and so see in some measure in what Moneth thereof it
+was accomplished. And for information of such as are altogether ignorant
+of the rise and progress of these times, which things are brought to
+pass that former ages have not heard of and after ages will admire. A
+work worthy to be kept in Record, and communicated to Posterity. London:
+Printed for Tho. Jenner at the South Entrance of the Royal Exchange._'
+From the above I have copied the etching of the escape of Charles I.
+from Oxford.
+
+[Illustration: ESCAPE OF CHARLES I. FROM OXFORD, 1646.]
+
+It is stated by Hume that when the King escaped from Oxford he was
+accompanied by two persons only--Dr. Hudson and Mr. Ashburnham--and that
+he rode before a portmanteau and called himself Ashburnham's servant.
+The engraving scarcely corresponds with this account; but the scene
+represented is evidently outside the city of Oxford, and other persons
+may then have joined the King's party.
+
+The city of Oxford surrendered to the Parliament on June 24, 1646, the
+King having signed a warrant for the surrender fourteen days previously.
+This event is recorded in a pamphlet entitled '_Good Newes from Oxford
+of the Treaty for the Surrender thereof, and how they are packing up to
+march away on Thursday next, June 18, 1646_.' The 'march away,' however,
+was not accomplished till the 24th. Amongst those who left the place
+were Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, and the King's second son, James,
+the young Duke of York. The illustration to this pamphlet has no
+relation to the event, and was used on other occasions.
+
+The funeral of the Earl of Essex, the Parliamentary General, who died in
+1646, was made the occasion of a great display of pomp and ceremonial
+magnificence, which was duly chronicled and illustrated by the
+journalists of the time. '_The true manner and forme of the proceeding
+to the Funerall of Devereux, Earl of Essex_,' contains, besides a
+copperplate portrait of the Earl, numerous woodcuts of banners, and the
+funeral canopy. Several illustrated broadsides relating to this event
+were also published. In looking over the old newspapers we are
+frequently reminded of the truth of the saying that 'history repeats
+itself.' The Duke of Wellington's funeral in 1852 was a repetition, on a
+much more splendid scale, of the funeral of the Earl of Essex in 1646,
+with such differences as arose from the taste and circumstances of the
+time. Portraits of the Earl of Essex are of frequent occurrence in the
+pamphlets of this period.
+
+In the pamphlet containing the escape of the King from Oxford there is
+an etching of the burning of the Book of Sports on the site of Cheapside
+Cross, which is thus described:--'10 of May the Booke of Sportes upon
+the Lords Day was burned by the Hangman in the place where the Crosse
+stoode and at Exchange.' There is also in the same pamphlet a
+representation of breaking the Great Seal:--'The Great Seale broken
+before the Lords and Commons, on Tuesday, the 11 of August, 1646.' Some
+authorities say the Great Seal was not broken till January, 1649, new
+style.
+
+[Illustration: THE GREAT SEAL BROKEN, 1646.]
+
+Sir Thomas Fairfax succeeded the Earl of Essex as commander of the
+Parliamentary army, and had Oliver Cromwell for his Lieutenant-General.
+Though a Presbyterian, he suffered himself to become the tool of the
+Independent party, and followed the councils of Cromwell until the Army
+had become master both of the Parliament and of the kingdom. All that
+related to a person of so much importance must have had uncommon
+interest for the popular mind, and accordingly we find Sir Thomas
+Fairfax and his military council form the subject of an engraving in a
+pamphlet of 1647. It is entitled '_The manner of His Excellency Sir
+Thomas Fairfax and the officers of his Army sitting in Council_.' In
+this engraving it will be seen that Fairfax, though farthest removed
+from the spectator, is made the largest figure in the picture,
+apparently for the purpose of giving him proper importance. Note also
+the huge pens, and the mysterious way in which the foreground figures
+appear to grow _out_ of the benches instead of sitting _on_ them.
+
+[Illustration: SIR THOMAS FAIRFAX AND HIS MILITARY COUNCIL, 1647.]
+
+Though Cromwell was at this time the real director of the army, and ere
+long became its acknowledged head, I have met with no representation of
+him in the illustrated news of the period. The art of 'interviewing' had
+not then been developed, and the 'Special Artist' did not exist. The
+most enterprising correspondent would probably have hesitated to intrude
+upon that stern and resolute leader of a revolutionary army, if he had
+no better excuse than to describe how he looked and what he said. Fancy
+the Special Artist of the _Mercurius Civicus_, for instance, sending in
+his card to Oliver Cromwell with a polite request that the General would
+give him five minutes of his valuable time for the purpose of making a
+sketch for the next number of his journal! And fancy how the uncomely
+countenance of the _ci-devant_ brewer would redden at the request, and
+how, probably, the unlucky artist would be consigned to the custody of
+the sentinel at the door!
+
+There is not much said about naval matters in the newspaper chronicles
+of the Civil War. The earliest account of a sea-fight that I have met
+with occurs in a pamphlet published in 1647. It is illustrated with a
+woodcut representing ships of war in action--which woodcut, by-the-by,
+afterwards appears in other pamphlets. The narrative is in the form of a
+letter, dated at sea, off Dover, May 4th, 1647; and, as the pamphlet is
+dated May 10th, we have another example of the extreme eagerness of the
+news-writers to supply the public with early intelligence. The
+combatants were not at war, and the fight appears to have arisen out of
+a mere question of naval etiquette. The following account is given of
+the transaction:--
+
+'A full Relation of a late Sea-Fight, betwixt the Parliament Ships and
+the Queene of Sweathlands, upon the Coast of England, neere Portsmouth,
+May 1.
+
+'Sir,
+
+'On the 2 of this instant moneth, being the Lords day, our Commander in
+chiefe of the Sea Forces, received a packet from a small Frigat, that
+came from the Rear-Admirall who had been in Fight the day before with
+five of the Queen of Swethlands ships, which they conveyed, being all
+laden with salt from Tubey in Portingale.
+
+'The reason of the fight was, the Swedish ships wore flags, viz.,
+Admirall, Vice-Admirall, and Rear-Admirall, which they refused to take
+in, or to low their top-sales (although commanded by Cap. Owen, Capt. of
+the Parliaments Reare-Admiral so to do) whereupon the said Capt. Owen
+gave them a broadside, insomuch that divers shots past betweene them,
+and great execution done upon the Switzers, scouring their upper decks
+with small shot severall times. Captain Owen lost not above 8 men,
+besides some few wounded, the fight continued sixe hours, til night
+began to aproach, where the Swedish Fleet tooke their opportunity, and
+got away. But so soon as Vice-Admirall Batten[1] heard of it, he set
+saile with the St. Andrew, Garland, Convertine, and Mary-Rose, and stood
+over for the coast of France in the night; and in the morning about 8 of
+the clock, being the 3 of May near Bulloign, he came up with the Admiral
+of the Swedes ship whose names was Martin Tysin, the ship was called the
+Leopard and had 32 guns; the Vice-Admiral Daniel Johnson, a lusty stout
+ship, called the Angel Raphael, and had 24 guns; the Rear-Admiral the
+Neptune, Moris Cook Captain, with 18 guns; the other two ships of 22
+guns apiece, one being called the Anne-Free, the other the Neptune.
+
+'The Captaines of all these ships, hee commanded aboard, and asked them
+what they had done with his Rear-Admiral; they at first denied that they
+saw him, but he pressing it so hard upon them, at length confessed, that
+they had been in fight with him, and that the reason was, because they
+would not take in their flags, being so commanded by their Queen, and
+had instructions to that purpose, which he caused them to send for, and
+took copies of them, which appeared to be true in a high manner.
+
+'And they further told our Commander Vice-Admiral Batten, that they
+would rather die in honour, than to go home and be hanged, for
+disobeying their commissions; a brave resolution, and I could wish it
+were imprinted in the hearts of all our commanders; they further told
+him, that if these flaggs were then abroad, they would die before they
+made one shot at him, though he shot never so many at them, yet would
+not take them in, and indeed were very respective to him. But they did
+much blame the Rear-Admiral, for that all the shot he made was at their
+Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral, and not at their Admiral, whom he ought
+first to have commanded, the others being subordinate to his commands;
+and although he was 4 or 5 hours by the Admirals side never shot gun at
+him, but sent his Boat 3 times aboard. Our Vice-Admiral demanded of
+them, where the Rear-Admiral left them, they told him off Beachey which
+to him did seem strange, that he should begin a quarrell and not follow
+them, till he came neer where the Vice-Admiral was, having sent a Frigot
+to him, to give him intelligence, and might undoubtedly expect his
+relief.
+
+'All Munday was spent in taking of Examinations, and Copies of
+Commissions; the Swedish Commanders being detained aboard by our
+Vice-Admiral as prisoners, but used with great civilitie.
+
+'At length a Councell of Warre was called by our Commander in chiefe
+with his Captaines, the result whereof was, that the Swedes
+Vice-Admiral, who had been the man which was most active was with his
+ship to be carried into the Downes, till the pleasure of the Parliament
+be further known which was done accordingly, and the next day we arrived
+in the Downes, being the 4. instant; the rest of the Swedes in regard of
+their shortness of Victuall, and having charge of the Convoy, were left
+to their own dispose, and this was performed without shooting so much as
+a Musket; but truly, if the Queene of Swethland leave not out that
+peremptory command in her instructions, not to strike to any of our
+Commanders, enjoyned to keep the Sovereignty of the Seas, and to expect
+homage from all, even to sinking, or burning, this must in time breed
+ill-bloud between the two Kingdomes, which might be wisht might be
+prevented, by a letter from our Parliament to the Queen of Swethland.
+Thus have I given you a perfect Relation of the whole proceedings.
+Sir, I have not else at present, but to let you know, I am your most
+humble servant and kinsman, 'R. B.
+
+[Illustration: NAVAL BATTLE, 1647.]
+
+'Dated at Sea off Dover the 4. of May 1647.'
+
+Another piece of illustrated news bearing upon naval affairs is
+entitled, '_News from the Royall Navie, Colchester, and Portsmouth,
+declaring the proceedings and intentions of the Prince of Wales, &c._'
+
+[Illustration: THE PRINCE OF WALES'S SQUADRON, 1648.]
+
+'We have received intelligence from the _Brill_ in Holland, that his
+Highness the Prince of Wales since his arrival there hath embarked
+himself in a great Vessell for England, the Earl of Newcastle, the Lord
+Gerhard, the Lord Culpepper, and divers others Lords and Gentlemen,
+being now floating upon the Neptune Seas towards the North of England,
+accompanying of his Royall person; we hear that they intend to land
+about Berwick, or else on the South side of the Holy-Island, and to
+march in the Van of the English Army. It is likewise said that divers
+Scottish Lords hath been with his Highnesse, and have treated with his
+Councell declaring the grounds and reasons of their engagement with
+England, and their resolution to redeem their dread Sovereign from
+imprisonment, to re-invest His Royall Person, and to make both him and
+His Posterity happy, and so Peace and Unity may flourish throughout all
+His Majesties Realms and Dominions. Severall urgent invitations were
+also presented to his Highness for his speedy and personal appearance in
+the North of England. The like to the Duke of York for his hastening
+with the Royal Navie towards the Downs, which unexpectedly is now come
+to pass; for we hear that the Prince with a great number of Royalists
+are sayled from the Brill in Holland towards the North of England, and
+that the Duke is come upon the Downs with a great and numerous Fleet,
+consisting of about 10 of the Kings great ships, and 30 Flemings, but
+they have not meddled on either side as yet; six of the Dukes ships, on
+Saturday last strook sayle before the town and Castle of Deal, and by
+their churlish tokens they sent us made it appear what they were, for
+they shot very neer 100 great Pieces at us, which killed 8 or nine of
+our men.'
+
+This account is illustrated with the woodcut on the opposite page.
+
+Some of the rough woodcuts to be found in many of the Civil War tracts
+would be unworthy of notice, did they not show the constant efforts that
+were made to illustrate the news of the hour. Such is the illustration
+to a tract entitled, '_A true Relation of the late Great Mutiny which
+was in the City of Norwich April 24, 1648_.' This gives an account of
+the explosion of ninety-eight barrels of gunpowder, whereby 200
+mutineers were slain, and the woodcut is intended to show the effects of
+the explosion.
+
+_Bloody Newes from the Scottish Army_ contains a woodcut representing
+two men on horseback charging each other. The description gives an
+account of the advance of the Scottish army on the English near Penrith,
+intending to surprise the latter; 'but by the vigilance of our scouts
+they were discovered.' After a 'furious conflict gallantly maintained on
+both sides, we gained ground, and beat them out of the field. This
+action happened upon Sunday morning last about 2 of the clock in the
+morning.'
+
+[Illustration: EXPLOSION AT NORWICH, 1648.]
+
+During the last struggles between the Parliamentarians and the
+Royalists, the latter, under Lord Goring, were driven into Colchester by
+Fairfax, and there besieged for more than two months. There are several
+pamphlets detailing incidents of this siege, one or two of which are
+illustrated. One of them is in the form of a letter to the writer's
+brother, and it has a quaint woodcut of 'Colchester Leaguer.'
+
+Another tract, dated July 27, 1648, is entitled '_A great Fight at
+Colchester upon Tuesday night last, being the 25 of this instant July,
+and the advancing of General Lucas and his forces to the very Guards of
+the Parliamenteers, with the particulars of the Fight, and the number
+that were killed and taken prisoners on both sides, and the springing of
+a Mine to blow up part of the Leaguer. Likewise a letter from Colchester
+concerning the marching of an Army to London. And Message from Prince
+Charles to Gen. Lucas. And a bloudy Fight at Deal Castle in Kent.
+London. Printed for R. Woodus, and are to be sold at the Royall Exchange
+in Cornhill, 1648._ The letter describing this fight contains so much
+curious matter that it is worth transcribing entire:--
+
+[Illustration: COLCHESTER LEAGUER, 1648.]
+
+'Sir, we have received information from Yarmouth, Harwich, and other
+places, that there is great fear of the Prince of Wales landing in those
+parts with a very considerable Army, and that he is resolved to advance
+towards Colchester, to raise the siege, and to let those Birds at
+liberty, which he esteems to be the only instruments to advance his
+Father's Cause. We hear that the L. Gerrard is designed Lieutenant
+Generall of the new Eastern Army, and the Lord Culpepper Major Generall,
+and that his Highnesse will repose no trust in either of the Princes
+Rupert or Maurice, or any other Foreign Personage whatsoever. This
+morning a Corporall of a troop of horse deserted the Colchestrian
+service, and humbly submitted himself to the Lord Generall, who upon
+examination touching their numbers and victualling said that the last
+Muster Rolls made mention of above 6000 Horse and Foot, and for
+victualling, they had plenty of Rye and bread-corn, but for flesh-meat
+they had none at all left, being constrained to kill Horses to satisfie
+their hungry appetites, which causeth many of the young Soldiers to
+desert their hard commons.
+
+'He further said, that at the last Muster upon Munday last the E. of
+Norwich and Sir Charles Lucas rode to the head of each Regiment, and
+read a paper to the Soldiery (which they said was a Message from the
+Prince of Wales) intimating that his Highnesse were resolved immediately
+to land his Forces about Yarmouth, and from thence to march downe to
+Colchester to raise the siege, and set them at liberty, and that if they
+could but hold out till Satterday, he doubted not of the day, and should
+take it as an acceptable service from them.
+
+'But I conceive the truth of this to be as palpable falsehood as the
+late report of the Royalists in these parts, who would not stick to say,
+_that Colchester was relieved by the ship called the Swallow, and that
+they shot in above 500 Holland cheeses out of Mortar pieces &c._
+
+'Some who are come out of the Town reports that the enemy within are
+springing a Mine, and doth intend to blow up the Lord Lucas his house
+(in our possession) which doth very much annoy them; their great
+Ordnance plaid very hard this morning, and did some execution, ours
+answered them again from the Great Mount, and plaid upon them for the
+space of one hour.
+
+'They are in very great streights for provision, and have eaten
+horse-flesh these six or seven dayes, but as resolute as formerly.
+
+'A party came out to cut Barley which was repulsed without losse, two
+only wounded of the party; some horse grazing under the City walls were
+snapt by some of Col. Whalleyes Forces, some shot, 38 taken, no way
+serviceable at present, unlesse good keeping recover them.
+
+'On Satterday last the Lord Generall gave Order that several Papers
+should be shot into the town out of Arrows, offering the private
+Souldiers quarter, and passes to go home, if they will deliver up
+Goring, Capel, Lucas, Loughborough, Farre, &c.
+
+[Illustration: GENERAL LUCAS AT THE SIEGE OF COLCHESTER, 1648.]
+
+'This morning betwixt three and four of the clock, we received some
+tokens from the besieged, a party of them sallied out, and advanced up a
+narrow Lane neer to one of our Guards, thinking to surprise them
+unawares; but an Eagle ey'd Centinel discovering them, presented her
+bill, and fired; whereupon the rest of the Guardians received an allarm
+and immediately man'd the Line, the Colchestrians advanced and charged
+with great fury, this action was disputed by both parties with great
+courage and resolution, the enemy fell on without mercy, and fought it
+with much violence, but our Forces bodying, they retreat, our men
+pursues with great execution, killed about 20. and took as many
+prisoners, with the losse of 12. men; the like dispute hapned the last
+night; we expect every hour when we shall have Orders to fall on, the
+work will be difficult, and the storming dangerous, the town being
+disadvantageous for such a Military action.
+
+'_Colchester Leaguer July 26. at 8. in the morning._'
+
+This tract is illustrated with a portrait of General Lucas on horseback,
+which is copied on the previous page.
+
+Colchester surrendered to the Parliament on Aug. 27, 1648, when Fairfax
+determined to make an example of Sir Charles Lucas. This unexpected
+severity was attributed to Ireton, who had been set by Cromwell to watch
+Fairfax. There was a strong protest made against the intended execution,
+but it nevertheless took place. Lucas was shot, together with Sir George
+Lisle. The former suffered first, and he himself gave the order to the
+soldiers to fire, with as much coolness as if he had been a mere
+spectator. It is said that Lisle ran and kissed the dead body of his
+friend, and then presented himself to a like fate. Thinking that the
+firing party was too far off, he called to them to come nearer; one of
+the soldiers replied, 'I'll warrant you, Sir, we'll hit you.' 'Friends,'
+said the gallant Royalist, smiling, 'I have been nearer you when you
+have missed me.'
+
+Other tracts describe the proceedings of the Prince of Wales in his
+attempts to retrieve his father's fortunes. One of them has a portrait
+of the Prince, and contains a message sent by him to the Mayor of
+Yarmouth concerning the landing of his forces there for the relief of
+Colchester. Another is adorned with a very elaborate title-page, and
+describes 'The Resolution of the Prince of Wales, concerning the landing
+of his Army in the Isle of Loving-Land, within the County of Suffolk,
+and his Propositions to all Englishmen concerning his Engagement for
+King, City, and Kingdom, against the Army, and to fight for their
+Liberties, Freedom, and Privileges. Likewise, the further proceedings of
+the Royal Navie, under his Highness the D. of York, and the Declaration
+of the Seamen in the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, concerning the Kings
+Majesty and the Fleet Royall, 1648.'
+
+The contest between the Royalists and the Parliament was now drawing to
+a close. The King was a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle, and while he lay
+there he continued to occupy the pens of the pamphleteers and
+journalists. One writer addressed an exhortation to the nobility,
+clergy, and civil magistrates, in favour of the imprisoned Monarch; and
+he adorned his work with the above representation of the King in prison,
+which afterwards appeared in other pamphlets.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES I. IN CARISBROOKE CASTLE, 1648.]
+
+It is remarkable that such important events as the trial and execution
+of Charles I. should not have tempted the newspapers of the day to
+illustrate subjects of so much interest. It may have been that such a
+terrible termination of the Civil War in some degree paralysed men's
+energies, and drove all thoughts of trading on such an event from their
+minds. I have met with two very rough woodcuts professing to represent
+the execution. One is contained in the Confession of Richard Brandon,
+the Hangman, and the other forms half of a woodcut frontispiece to a
+broadside describing the execution of the Regicides, which I shall refer
+to in its proper place. The Confession of Richard Brandon was published
+in 1649, the same year in which the King was executed, and purports to
+be a death-bed statement concerning that event. There were two Brandons,
+Gregory and Richard, father and son. The former beheaded Lord Strafford,
+and was believed by Charles II. to have been the executioner of his
+father. According to Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, George Selwyn, 'that
+insatiable amateur of executions,' told the story of King Charles's
+execution from information which he professed to have obtained from the
+Duchess of Portsmouth, who, he said, always asserted, on the authority
+of Charles II., that the King, his father, was not beheaded by either
+Colonel Joyce or Colonel Pride, as was then commonly believed, but that
+the real name of the executioner was _Gregory_ Brandon; that this man
+had worn a black crape stretched over his face, and had no sooner taken
+off the King's head than he was put into a boat at Whitehall Stairs,
+together with the block, the black cloth that covered it, the axe, and
+every other article that had been stained with the Royal blood. Being
+conveyed to the Tower, all the implements used in the decapitation had
+been immediately reduced to ashes. A purse containing one hundred broad
+pieces of gold was then delivered to Brandon, and he was dismissed. He
+survived the transaction many years, but divulged it a short time before
+he died. 'This account,' Wraxall adds, 'as coming from the Duchess of
+Portsmouth, challenges great respect.'[2] Popular belief, however, at
+the time pointed to Richard Brandon, son of the above-named Gregory
+Brandon, whose confession, published immediately after his death, I here
+quote:--
+
+'The Confession of Richard Brandon the Hangman (upon his Death bed).
+
+'The Confession of the Hangman concerning his beheading his late Majesty
+the King of Great Brittaine (upon his Death bed) who was buried on
+Thursday night last, in White Chappell Church-yard, with the manner
+thereof.
+
+'Upon Wednesday last (being the 20 of this instant June, 1649) Richard
+Brandon, the late Executioner and Hangman, who beheaded his late
+Majesty, King of Great Brittaine, departed this life. But during the
+time of his sicknesse his conscience was much troubled, and exceedingly
+perplexed in mind, yet little shew of repentance, for remission of his
+sins, and by past transgressions, which had so much power and influence
+upon him, that he seemed to live in them and they in him. And upon
+Sunday last, a young man of his acquaintance going in to visit him, fell
+into discourse, asked him how he did, and whether he was not troubled in
+conscience, for cutting off of the King's head?
+
+'He replied by reason that (upon the time of his tryal, and at the
+denouncing of Sentence against him) he had taken a vow and protestation,
+_wishing God to perish him body and soul, if ever he appeared on the
+scaffold to do the act or lift up his hand against him_.
+
+'Further acknowledging, _That he was no sooner entered upon the
+scaffold, but immediately he fell a trembling, and hath ever since
+continued in the like agony_.
+
+'He likewise confessed that he had 30 pounds for his pains, all paid him
+in half-crowns, within an hour after the blow was given, and that he had
+an orange stuck full of cloves, and a handkircher out of the King's
+pocket, so soon as he was carried off from the scaffold; for which
+orange he was proffered 20 shillings by a gentleman in Whitehall, but
+refused the same, and afterwards sold it for ten S. in Rosemary-lane.
+
+'About 6 of the clock at night he returned home to his wife living in
+Rosemary Lane, and gave her the money, saying, _That it was the deerest
+money that ever he earned in his life, for it would cost him his life_.
+Which prophetical words were soon made manifest; for it appeared that
+ever since he hath been in a most sad condition, and upon the
+Almightie's first scourging of him with the Rod of meeknesse, and the
+friendly admonition of divers friends, for the calling of him to
+repentance, yet he persisted on in his vicious Vices, and would not
+hearken thereunto, but lay raging and swearing, and still pointing at
+one thing or another, which he conceived to appear visible before him.
+
+'About three dayes before he died he lay speechlesse, uttering many a
+sigh and heavy groan and so in a most desperate manner departed from his
+bed of sorrow. For the buriall whereof great store of wines were sent in
+by the sheriff of the City of London, and a great multitude of people
+stood wayting to see the Corps carried to the Church-yard, some crying
+out _Hang him Rogue, bury him in the Dung-hill_; others pressing upon
+him saying, _They would quarter him, for executing of the King_;
+insomuch, that the Church Wardens and Masters of the Parish were fain to
+come for the suppressing of them, and (with great difficulty) he was at
+last carried to White-Chappell Church-yard, having (as it is said) a
+bunch of Rosemary at each end of the coffin, on the top thereof, with a
+Rope tyed crosse from one end to the other.
+
+'And a merry conceited Cook, living at the sign of the Crown, having a
+black Fan (worth the value of 30 shillings) took a resolution to rent
+the same in pieces, and to every feather tied a piece of packthread dy'd
+in black ink, and gave them to divers persons, who (in derision) for a
+while, wore them in their hats.
+
+'Thus have I given thee an exact account and perfect relation of the
+life and death of Richard Brandon, to the end, that the World may be
+convinced of those calumnious speeches and erroneous suggestions which
+are dayly spit from the mouth of envy, against divers persons of great
+worth and eminency, by casting an _odium_ upon them for the executing of
+the King; it being now made manifest that the aforesaid Executioner was
+the only man that gave the fatal blows, and his man that wayted upon
+him was a Ragman, living in Rosemary Lane.'
+
+Subjoined is a copy of the cut on the title-page of this tract.
+
+[Illustration: EXECUTION OF CHARLES I., 1649.]
+
+The death of Richard Brandon is entered in the register of St. Mary's,
+Whitechapel, under date June 21, 1649. To the entry is appended a note,
+evidently of about the same date, to the effect that 'this R. Brandon is
+supposed to have cut off the head of Charles the First.' The 'calumnious
+speeches and erroneous suggestions' had indicated several persons as
+having struck the fatal blow on that dismal morning in January. Amongst
+them, besides those already named, were 'Squire Dun,' William Walker,
+Hugh Peters, Lord Stair, and William Hewlett. The last-named person was
+actually tried for the crime at the Restoration. The evidence against
+him went to show that 'his voice was heard upon the scaffold, and his
+Breeches were seen under his Frock, that he confest he was to have £100
+and preferment in Ireland to doe it; that being asked whether he cut off
+the King's head or no, he said what he had done he would not be ashamed
+of; and if it were to doe again he would doe it; more to the same
+purpose was witnessed by several witnesses, and by one, who being sworn,
+said that the Common-Hangman profest he did not doe it.' This sort of
+evidence was not fit to hang a dog; and, though Hewlett was found guilty
+and sentenced to death, the sentence was never carried into effect--a
+proof that public opinion must have been too strong even for the
+hardihood of those who had foredoomed Hewlett to the gallows. The
+Government had evidently determined to fix the treason on this man with
+the sanguinary idea that some person ought to be made to expiate the
+deed, even though that person might be innocent. The prevalent belief,
+however, was that it was the common executioner who had been employed;
+and it is highly improbable that a mere amateur would have been
+permitted to officiate on such an important occasion.
+
+Although I have met with no native contemporary production representing
+the execution, other than the rude woodcuts before mentioned, there is
+in the British Museum a collection of broadsides relating to the period
+of the Civil War, one of which has a large and well-executed copperplate
+engraving representing the execution of Charles I. It was published at
+Frankfort, and the descriptive text is in German. The view of Whitehall
+is correctly given, and the engraving looks like a genuine
+representation of the event.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+  [1] There is an Admiral Batten often mentioned by Pepys. If this is
+    the same man who was an active commander under the Parliament he must
+    have trimmed his sails well to hold a place in the Navy office under
+    Charles II.
+
+  [2] _Old and New London._ By Edward Walford.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+  Decrease of Newspapers after the Civil War--_Mercurius
+  Democritus_--_The Faithful Post_--_The Politique Post_--Broadsides for
+  the People--The Hollow Tree at Hampstead--Prodigious Monster taken in
+  Spain--The Restoration--Trial of the Regicides--Execution of the
+  Regicides--Licenser of the Press appointed--Popular Taste for the
+  Supernatural--Apparition in the Air in Holland--Revival of _Mercurius
+  Civicus_--Murder of Archbishop Sharpe--_The Loyal Protestant_--Frost
+  Fair on the Thames--Monmouth's Rebellion--The Bloody Assizes--Funeral
+  of Queen Mary, Consort of William III.--Increase of Newspapers after
+  the Revolution.
+
+
+When the Civil War was over the newspapers it had called into existence
+disappeared. The printing-press was, of course, not idle during the rule
+of Cromwell, but its productions were narrowly watched, and there is
+reason to suppose the newspapers were to a great extent under the
+influence of the party in power. Examples of illustrated journalism
+during this period are rare. We have '_A terrible and bloudy Fight at
+Sea_' between Blake and Van Tromp, and '_A great and wonderful Victory_'
+obtained by the English in the West Indies, each illustrated with a
+woodcut that had done duty in the pamphlets of the Civil War. A rough
+representation of an owl seated at a table writing in a book heads a
+tract ridiculing Lilly, the astrologer; while '_Black Monday, or a full
+and exact description of the great and terrible Eclipse of the Sun_,' is
+adorned with a representation of 'the true Figure of the Eclipse.' The
+grim and unsocial character of the times is set forth in '_The
+Vindication of Christmas_,' a pamphlet illustrated with a woodcut
+representing Old Christmas welcomed on one hand and forbidden on the
+other. After a pitiful lament for the misery of the times, Christmas
+sets out on a pilgrimage to London, where he enters a fair house that
+had once been an Alderman's, but is now inhabited by a sour-tempered
+miser. Here he meets with such a cold reception that he is fain to take
+himself off, 'and wandering into the country up and down from house to
+house, found small comfort in any.'
+
+[Illustration: THE VINDICATION OF CHRISTMAS, 1653.]
+
+I have spoken of _Mercurius Democritus_ as being the _Punch_ of the
+seventeenth century. It is singular that such a publication as this
+should have existed under a Puritanical Government. The humour is so
+exceedingly broad that it is difficult to understand how it could be
+circulated at a time when the rulers of the land professed a stern and
+rigid morality. Unlike the modern _Punch_, who is refined and courteous
+even when he is most severe, _Mercurius Democritus_ could seldom be
+facetious without being coarse and even indecent. In the same number
+that contains the cut of the Smithfield ghost, referred to in Chapter
+III., occur the following jests, which are comparatively mild specimens
+of the humour of _Mercurius Democritus_:--'The last Monday a Herd of
+Swine being driven through Long Lane 600 Jews were suddenly converted by
+them; some think it was for fear those Rumford Cattell should serve them
+as they served the Devill in the country of the _Gergesens_ when they
+carried him headlong into the sea.'
+
+'A Mad Country Parson coming riding up to London between Islington and
+the Red Bull met with a small-coale man, very black, with his sack of
+small coale at his back. The pitiful Parson minding to put a jeer on the
+small-coale man, made a sudden stop with his Horse, saying with a loud
+voyce, that those that rid after him might partake of the jest, Fellow,
+fellow (quoth he) I prithee tell 's some news from Hell, I see thou hast
+a whole sack full at thy back. Truly quoth the small-coale man, I can
+tell you but very little news from Hell, only the Devill wants a
+Chaplaine, and you ride but a little faster you may perchance have the
+place.'
+
+Much of the news printed continued to be circulated by means of
+pamphlets and broadsides, but some regular newspapers were also
+published. An illustrated example of the latter occurs in the _Faithful
+Post_ of 1653. The full title of the number for April 8, 1653, is '_The
+Faithful Post Impartially communicating the Proceedings of the
+Parliaments forces in England, Scotland, and Ireland, comprising the sum
+of Intelligence from the English and Dutch Fleets; with the Affairs and
+Designs now on foot in France, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and all other
+parts of Europe_.' It has a woodcut portrait of Admiral Van Gallen, and
+contains the following news from Amsterdam relating thereto:--
+
+  'Wednesday, April 6.
+
+'From Amsterdam thus; Van Gallen Admiral of the Dutch Fleet in the
+Streights, has a golden chair sent him for his little great gallantry in
+the last service. And the Commons forsooth adore him extremely; insomuch
+that many of the Bores have erected his Statue and Portraiture, and hung
+it up as a memorial in the most eminent places of their Low country
+Fabrics, according to the figure following; with two silver keys in his
+hands; which, say they, are to unlock the Treasury of their enemy. _Pure
+Youths_.' (Here follows the portrait.)
+
+'And as we are informed, hath a golden Leg delicately set forth by Mr.
+Painter, in lieu of that shot off in the fight.'
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF ADMIRAL VAN GALLEN. FROM THE 'FAITHFUL POST,'
+1653.]
+
+[Illustration: FLAG OF COL. CHARLES JAMES. FROM THE 'POLITIQUE POST,'
+1653.]
+
+In the foregoing _Faithful Post_ there is a good deal of news about the
+English and Dutch fleets; and in the news from Lubeck it is reported
+that the English have printed a 'picture of Admiral Van Tromp
+represented with a man opening his breast to find his heart; but,
+searching, it was found in the Calf of his Leg, whereas, saith the Dutch
+Print, they know very well that Tromp behaved himself most gallantly,
+and like a man of courage.' In another number of the _Faithful Post_ is
+an illustration of a comet or 'Blazing Star' seen in Germany. The
+foregoing portrait of Admiral Van Gallen, and the blazing star, together
+with a map showing the effects of a great storm and flood in Holland,
+are printed in the _Politique Post_ for January 4, 1653; but there is no
+reference made to the engraving of Van Gallen; and the blazing star is
+described as having been seen at Pembroke, in Wales. In the same number
+of the _Politique Post_ is a woodcut of the flag of Colonel Charles
+James, which is thus alluded to:--'By the last Post and intelligence
+from the Navie, we have received very certain and credible intelligence,
+that Colonel Charles James having received a commission from the King of
+Scots, is launched forth into the deep with the Brest men of war who has
+now struck sail upon the Coast of Brittain, and there set up his Flag
+on the Poop of the Patrick, called the Vice-Ambral as here represented
+in the ensueing Figure.'
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLLOW TREE AT HAMPSTEAD, 1654.]
+
+In 1654 there was a remarkable tree at Hampstead, which was visited as a
+curiosity. It was called 'The Hollow Tree,' and was probably the central
+attraction of a place of entertainment. In a broadside of 1654 there is
+an etching of it by Hollar, with descriptive and other verses. There was
+a door in the trunk of the tree, and a turret on the top, the ascent to
+which was in the hollow of the tree. The turret was large enough to seat
+six, 'and round about roome for fourteene more.' The following is a
+specimen of the verses accompanying Hollar's etching:--
+
+'THE SALUTATION.
+
+  'Welcome, before! welcome all you that follow!
+   Our heart is sound although our Tree be hollow,
+   Yet know nor age, nor weaknesse did distresse
+   Its willing bulk into this hollownesse:
+   But a desire markt out for noble ends,
+   To finde more room to entertain fast friends,
+   And in the compasse of itself to try
+   Laws of true Mirth and Hospitality.
+   In such a Hollow, Musick dwells; thus love
+   Laies forth itself, yet ne'er doth bankrupt prove.
+   And having read the riddle doth impart
+   Things sometimes hollow have the soundest heart.'
+
+[Illustration: PRODIGIOUS MONSTER TAKEN IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ZARDANA IN
+SPAIN, 1655.]
+
+This broadside was an agreeable change from the prodigies and
+monstrosities with which the public were so liberally supplied. A
+specimen of the latter was published in 1655, which must have tried the
+faith of even the most credulous. It is described as '_The True
+Portraiture of a prodigious Monster, taken in the Mountains of Zardana_;
+the following Description whereof was sent to Madrid October 20, 1654,
+and from thence to Don Olonza de Cardines, Ambassador for the King of
+Spain now resident in London. Its stature was like that of a strong well
+set man, with 7 heads, the chief of them looking forward, with one eye
+in its front; the other heads have each two eyes in their natural
+situation, the ears of an Ass; with its principal head it eates, drinks,
+and cryes with an extraordinary and terrible voice; the other heads are
+also moved to and fro; it hath seven Arms and Hands of a Man, very
+strong in each of them; from the middle downward it is like a Satyr,
+with Goats feet, and cloven,' &c. This broadside has a very
+well-executed copperplate engraving of the monster; and another sheet of
+the same date has a woodcut copy of the same engraving, together with a
+long account in verse 'to the tune of Summer Time,' and the following
+additional particulars: 'The News of this Satyrical Monster being noysed
+abroad throughout all Spain, France, and Italy, made a desperate fear,
+and general distemper amongst all the Popish Prelates, Cardinals,
+Jesuites, Monks, and Fryers; yea, the very Pope himself trembled to hear
+this strange Report. There is a Prophesie in the 13 of the Revelation,
+of a great Red-Dragon and a Beast with seven heads that should arise out
+of the Sea, that should continue 42 moneths, which was to come to pass
+before the great and terrible day of judgement; which by the appearing
+of these strange Monsters is neer at hand now.'
+
+At the Restoration several broadsides of news were published containing
+engravings. There is one giving an account of the coronation of Charles
+II., which is illustrated with a copperplate engraving of the King
+seated on his throne, robed and crowned, with the following
+complimentary lines:--
+
+  'The Second Charles, Heire of the Royal Martyr
+   Who for Religion and his Subjects Charter
+   Spent the best Blood, that unjust Sword ere dy'de
+   Since the rude Souldier pierced our Saviours side.
+   Who such a Father had'st, and such a Son;
+   Redeem thy people and assume thy own,
+   Ascend thy Ancestors Imperial seat
+   Of Charles the Good, thou second Charles the Great,
+   That adds the worth; this lustre to the Crown,
+   Whose solid Glorious weighed Usurpers down.
+   Such Majesty as never was profan'd
+   While Tyrants rul'd 'twas only Charles that reigned.'
+
+Another broadside of the same date (1660) is entitled '_A Looking-Glass
+for Traytors, being the manner of the Tryall of those Barbarous Wretches
+at Justice-Hall in the Old-Baily, who contrived and compassed the Death
+of his late Sacred Majesty King Charles the First, of ever blessed
+memory; with an Account of their Severall Araignments, Conviction,
+Condemnation, and Execution_.' This sheet is also illustrated with a
+copperplate engraving, representing the Old Bailey Court at the trial of
+the Regicides, which is interesting if it truly represents the
+appearance of the court at that time. Numerous letters of reference are
+given under the engraving to explain its different parts, and a short
+summary is given of the trial: 'His Majesty (in pursuance of an Act of
+Parliament which had left the persons following to be tried according to
+Law, for being the principal Actors in the said Tragedy of his Father's
+death) issued out a special Commission of _Oyer_ and _terminer_ to the
+Judges and other Commissioners for that purpose; and accordingly
+_Wednesday_ the 10th of _October_ they met at the Sessions house in the
+_Old-Baily_, and the same morning the following persons were ordered to
+be brought from the _Tower_ to _Newgate_, and a way was made from the
+Press-yard backwards to the Sessions house, privately to convey them to
+and again, to keep them from the pressing of the people.' Then follows a
+list of twenty-eight persons, including Major-General Harrison and Hugh
+Peters, 'all which being brought to the Bar, were indicted and arraigned
+to the following effect:--
+
+'_That they not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being led
+by the instigation of the Divel had maliciously, traiterously, and
+advisedly imagined, consulted, contrived, and compassed the death of his
+late Majesty Charles the first of ever blessed memory, and that they had
+aided, procured, abetted, assisted, and comforted a certain person with
+a vizard upon his face, and a frock upon his body for that purpose._
+
+'Major-General _Harrison_ in his Pleadings carried himself so
+confidently to the Court as if he thought himself Careless and
+Unconcerned in the businesse, and seemed to justify not only the Power
+under which he Acted but also the Act itself, saying that Kings had
+formerly been privately Assassinated and Murthered, but what they had
+done was in the face of the Sun and in the fear of the Lord; whereat the
+Court was much troubled to see that he should make God the Author of
+that Horrid Murther.'
+
+Harrison was found guilty at once, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn,
+and quartered. The like fate awaited Hugh Peters. The sort of evidence
+that was brought against the prisoners is exemplified in this broadside,
+where it is stated that 'Mr. _Hugh Peters_ stood strangly amazed and
+could say nothing for himselfe against that Jury of witnesses that
+appeared against him; as that he said, _England_ could not be settled
+till 150 were taken away which he said were L L L viz. the Lords, the
+Levites, and the Lawyers; that he was often conspiring privately with
+Oliver Cromwell the King's death, that he could even reverence the High
+Court of Justice, it lookt so like the judgement of the world which
+should be at the last day by the Saints; with many other blasphemies too
+large to enumerate.'
+
+Amongst the prisoners arraigned on this occasion was the William Hewlett
+already referred to. In the other cases the jury promptly found the
+prisoners guilty without leaving the court; but it was a proof of the
+weakness of the evidence in Hewlett's case that 'they did withdraw
+themselves, and after a little consultation they found him guilty, and
+accordingly sentence was pronounced against him.' This sentence,
+however, as before stated, was never carried into effect.
+
+The engraving of this historical trial at the Old Bailey is too crowded
+to admit of reproduction here. Other broadsides relating to the trial of
+the regicides were published at the time, but they are more of the
+nature of caricatures than illustrations of news.
+
+It is well known that General Harrison, Hugh Peters, and others were
+executed with all the barbarous circumstances indicated in the words of
+their sentence. Peters was made to sit upon the scaffold, exposed to the
+jibes and jeers of the mob, and compelled to witness the mutilation of
+his fellow-victims. The executions were continued day after day both at
+Charing-cross and at Tyburn, and were stopped at last, not for lack of
+victims, or disinclination for more slaughter on the part of the
+authorities, but from a dread of the effect such bloodthirsty
+proceedings might have on the minds of the people. The horrors of such a
+scene, of course, attracted the sensational news-writer of the day; and
+a broadside of the time gives us a picture and description of the
+executions, coupled with a representation of the execution of Charles I.
+This broadside was evidently intended to exhibit at one view the
+commission of a great crime and its just punishment. The engraving shows
+on one side the execution of the King and on the other the punishment of
+the regicides. The description of the latter is preceded by an account
+of the trial and death of Charles. The title runs thus: '_A true and
+perfect Relation of the Grand Traytors Execution, as at severall times
+they were Drawn, Hanged, and Quartered at Charing-Crosse, and at
+Tiburne. Together with their severall Speeches and Confessions which
+every one of them made at the time of their Execution. London, printed
+for William Gilbertson, 1660_.'
+
+[Illustration: EXECUTION OF THE REGICIDES, 1660.]
+
+The following account is given of the execution of Major-General
+Harrison: 'The next day being _Saturday_ Major-Gen. _Harrison_ was drawn
+upon a Hurdle from Newgate to the Round, or railed Place near
+Charing-Crosse, where a Gibbet was set upon which he was Hanged. Many
+of his acquaintance did seem to triumph to see him die so Confidently;
+whiles numbers of true Christians did grieve in earnest to see him die
+so impenitently. We have been told that when he took his leave of his
+wife, he comforted her, and told her that he would come again in three
+days; but we hear nothing as yet of his Resurrection.' In describing the
+execution of Hugh Peters, it is said, 'He came to the Ladder
+unwillingly, and by degrees was drawn up higher and higher. Certainly he
+had many Executioners within him; he leaned upon the Ladder being
+unwilling to part from it, but being turned off, the spectators gave a
+great shout, as they did when his Head was cut off, and held up aloft on
+the point of a Spear. The very souldiers themselves whom heretofore he
+did animate to slaughter, and a thorough execution of their Enemies were
+now ashamed of him, and upon the point of their Spears showed that
+guilty head which made them guilty of so much blood.'
+
+Pepys, in his Diary, says, under date October 13, 1660:--'I went out to
+Charing Cross, to see Major-General Harrison hanged, drawn, and
+quartered; which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any man could
+do in that condition. He was presently cut down, and his head and heart
+shown to the people, at which there were great shouts of joy. It is
+said, that he said that he was sure to come shortly at the right hand of
+Christ to judge them that now had judged him; and that his wife do
+expect his coming again. Thus it was my chance to see the King beheaded
+at White Hall, and to see the first blood shed in revenge for the King
+at Charing Cross.'
+
+It will be seen by the copy made from this woodcut that the design is of
+the rudest possible description, and must have been the work of a common
+ballad illustrator, whose fee was probably on a par with his ability. He
+evidently thought that, in such a scene as the execution of Charles I.,
+the Church should be paramount, for he has made Bishop Juxon a much more
+prominent figure than the King.
+
+The reign of the 'Merry Monarch,' though not the most creditable period
+in English History, would have supplied abundant materials for the
+journalist if there had been any newspapers. The Great Plague, the Fire
+of London, the sea-fights with the Dutch, were splendid opportunities
+for the pencil of the 'special artist' or the pen of 'our own
+correspondent.' A law had been passed prohibiting the publication of
+newspapers without being duly licensed. Sir John Birkenhead was
+appointed Licenser of the Press, and he was succeeded by Sir Roger
+L'Estrange. There was scarcely anything that could be called a newspaper
+except the _London Gazette_, and it only contained such news as the
+Government thought proper to make public, and it was never illustrated.
+The little that was done in the way of pictorial journalism was of a
+satirical or humorous character, or had reference to foreign affairs,
+and was either published in the form of broadsides or was put before the
+public in such a questionable shape that it was difficult to tell
+whether it was truth or fiction. As soon as the people were released
+from the domination of Puritanism a reaction set in, and the humours of
+_Mercurius Democritus_ were supplemented by the still broader fancies of
+_Mercurius Fumigolus_. Occasional entertainment of a more serious
+character was supplied, such as '_A True and Perfect Relation of the
+Happy Successe and Victory obtained against the Turks of Argiers at
+Bugia_.' The popular taste for the mysterious and supernatural was
+touched by '_A true and perfect Relation, of a strange and wonderful
+Apparition in the Air, the Fourteenth of August, near Goeree in
+Holland_.' This was an illustrated broadside containing the following
+account:--'On the fourteenth of August this year 1664, towards the
+evening near Goeree in Holland, there was seen by many Spectators an
+Apparition upon the Ocean of two several Fleets of Ships engaged in a
+Fight, which lasted for the space of about half an hour, and then
+vanished. Afterwards there appeared two Lyons, who with great fury and
+violence, assaulted each other three several times, neither of them
+prevailing against the other, till at length both of them wearied with
+their continual striving, did, as it were, give over for breath, when on
+a sudden a third Lyon of a very great and huge stature appeared and
+falling first upon the one, and then on the other, destroyed them both.
+They being vanished, there appeared a King, with a Crown upon his head,
+and he so plainly and visibly discerned as that the spectators did
+discover the very Buttons on his Coat. After all was vanished, the said
+Spectators continueing there, and walking too and fro upon the sands,
+the Ocean, so far as they could see, seemed to be Blood. On the next
+morning, the same Apparition, in all its Circumstances, was seen again,
+and the truth thereof attested upon Oath, before the Magistrates of
+Goeree, by the said Spectators; so that there is no doubt made of the
+truth thereof. And this happening in this juncture of time, begets some
+strange apprehensions; for that about six Months before Van Trump was
+slain in the former Wars with England, there was seen near the same
+place, an Apparition of several Ships in the Air, as it were fighting
+with each other.'
+
+[Illustration: APPARITION IN THE AIR AT GOEREE IN HOLLAND, 1664.]
+
+This broadside was printed at London, 'by Thomas Leach in Shooe Lane in
+the Year 1664. _With Allowance_ October 13, 1664. Roger L'Estrange.' The
+illustration is an etching, very well and freely executed.
+
+Amongst other things which appear to have been revived at the
+Restoration was the _Mercurius Civicus_. In Dr. Burney's collections in
+the British Museum there is preserved a copy of Number 4 of _Mercurius
+Civicus_, dated May 1, 1660. On the title-page it is stated to be
+'published by order of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen;' but it is
+not illustrated, as was its predecessor of the time of the Civil War.
+
+[Illustration: THE MURDER OF ARCHBISHOP SHARP, 1679.]
+
+One of the most atrocious deeds of the time, and one that had a powerful
+effect upon public feeling, was the murder of Archbishop Sharp in 1679.
+This prelate was held to have betrayed the Presbyterians at the time of
+the Restoration, and was hated accordingly. This hatred had been
+manifested by an attempt on his life in the streets of Edinburgh in the
+year 1668; but on that occasion the Archbishop escaped, and another
+person was wounded. On May 3, 1679, Archbishop Sharp was returning in
+his coach to St. Andrews from Kennaway, where he had passed the night,
+when, at a place called Magus Moor, he was set upon by nine men, who
+murdered him with pitiless barbarity in the presence of his daughter,
+who accompanied him. This dreadful event was commemorated in a broadside
+entitled '_The Manner of the Barbarous Murther of James, late Lord
+Archbishop of St. Andrews, Primate and Metropolitan of all Scotland and
+one of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council of that kingdom, May
+3, 1679_.' A copperplate engraving represents the murder, and some
+verses are printed underneath. I have copied the engraving on this
+broadside, which forms part of the Luttrell collection in the British
+Museum.
+
+In 1681 there existed a newspaper entitled _The Loyal Protestant and
+True Domestic Intelligencer_. In the number for April 2, 1681, there is
+printed the following curious news from Rome:--
+
+'Rome, March 6. There did appear here about the middle of Dec. last, a
+strange and wonderful Comet near the Ecliptick in the sign of Libra, and
+in the body of the Virgin. At the same time a Prodigious Egge was laid
+by a Young Pullet (which had never laid before) with a perfect Comet in
+it, and as many stars, and in the same form as the enclosed figure
+shows. All the great ones of Rome have seen it, even the Queen and the
+Pope. What you see in the enclosed Paper is within the Egge most clearly
+exprest, and not upon the Shell. The Roman Wits are now very busy in
+guessing at what this Comet and Egge may portend.'
+
+This account of the egg is printed on the front page of _The Loyal
+Protestant_, in the midst of Court news from Oxford, municipal news from
+Leicester, news from Edinburgh, &c, and is illustrated with a woodcut,
+which I have copied. A further description is appended to the
+representation of the egg:--'The true form of a Prodigious Egg brought
+forth at Rome the 11th of Dec. last in the year 1680 in which the Commet
+here printed does continue to appear.'
+
+'The aforesaid 11th of Dec. about 8 of the Clock in the morning, a Hen
+Chicken, with a great Noise, crying extraordinarily, that never had laid
+an Egge before this day, brought forth an Egge of an extraordinary
+greatness, with all these several Forms as you see here exprest, to the
+great amazement of all those that have seen it. This is an exact draught
+of the Egge as it was printed in Italy. But all persons are left to
+their own choice whether they will believe either this or any of our own
+late home-bred Miracles or visions.'
+
+[Illustration: EXTRAORDINARY EGG LAID AT ROME. FROM THE 'LOYAL
+PROTESTANT AND TRUE DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCER,' 1681.]
+
+Supernatural occurrences and uncommon events, even when traceable to
+natural causes, have always had great attractions for both the ignorant
+and the educated. We therefore find the talents of the old newsmen were
+most frequently exercised on mysterious appearances in the air, floods,
+fires, and frosts, earthquakes and upheavings of the sea. Having already
+quoted examples dealing with some of these subjects, I now come to two
+broadsides which describe and illustrate the great frost of 1683-4, when
+the river Thames was covered with ice eleven inches thick, the forest
+trees, and even the oaks, in England were split by the frost, most of
+the hollies were killed, and nearly all the birds perished. According
+to the testimony of an eye-witness, 'The people kept trades on the
+Thames as in a fair, till February 4, 1684. About forty coaches daily
+plied on the Thames as on drye land.' The broadsides under notice give
+representations of the fair held on the Thames, and describe it in
+doggerel verse. The one containing the engraving I have copied is
+entitled '_Great Britain's Wonder; London's Admiration. Being a True
+Representation of a Prodigious Frost, which began about the beginning of
+December, 1683, and continued till the Fourth Day of February following.
+And held on with such violence, that Men and Beasts, Coaches and Carts,
+went as frequently thereon as Boats were wont to pass before. There was
+also a street of Booths built from the Temple to Southwark, where were
+sold all sorts of Goods imaginable--namely Cloaths, Plate, Earthen Ware;
+Meat, Drink, Brandy, Tobacco, and a Hundred sorts of other Commodities
+not here inserted. It being the wonder of this present Age, and a great
+consternation to all the Spectators._' The description opens thus:--
+
+  'Behold the Wonder of this present Age
+   A Famous River now become a stage.
+   Question not what I now declare to you,
+   The Thames is now both Fair and Market too.
+   And many Thousands dayley do resort,
+   There to behold the Pastime and the Sport
+   Early and late, used by young and old,
+   And valued not the fierceness of the Cold.'
+
+The illustration is a roughly executed woodcut, and represents a street
+of booths opposite the Temple, looking towards the Middlesex shore. On
+one side are men skating, sliding, riding on sledges, and playing at
+football; whilst bull-baiting, skittle-playing, &c, go on on the other
+side. Coaches are driven across the ice, boats are dragged as sledges,
+and an ox is roasted whole in one corner.
+
+[Illustration: FROST FAIR ON THE THAMES, 1683.]
+
+The other broadside has a woodcut of the same scene, but taken from a
+different point, and looking _down_ the river, with London Bridge, the
+Tower, Monument, &c, in the distance. In addition to a description of
+Frost Fair, there is an account of all the great frosts from the time of
+William the Conqueror.
+
+Some curious particulars of this great frost are recorded by
+contemporary writers. Evelyn describes the whole scene, and says that he
+crossed the river on the ice on foot upon the 9th, in order to dine with
+the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth; and again in his coach, from
+Lambeth to the horse-ferry at Millbank, upon Feb. 5th, when 'it began to
+thaw, but froze again.' Hackney-coaches plied between Somerset House and
+the Temple to Southwark. There was a printing-press set up in one of the
+booths, 'where the people and ladys tooke a fancy to having their names
+printed, and the day and year set down, when printed on the Thames. This
+humour took so universally that 'twas estimated the printer gained about
+£5 a day for printing a line onely at sixpence a name, besides what he
+got by ballads, &c.' A specimen of this printing has been preserved. It
+was executed for Charles II., who visited Frost Fair accompanied by
+several members of his family. It contains, besides the names of the
+King and Queen, those of the Duke of York, Mary his Duchess, Princess
+Anne (afterwards Queen Anne), and Prince George of Denmark, her husband.
+The last name on the list is 'Hans in Kelder,' which literally means
+'Jack in the Cellar,' and is supposed to have been suggested by the
+humour of the King in allusion to the interesting situation of the
+Princess Anne; and we can fancy the swarthy face of the 'Merry Monarch'
+smiling in the frosty air as this congenial joke was perpetrated.
+
+In the Luttrell collection of broadsides there is one with a large
+woodcut representing the battle of Sedgemoor and other incidents of
+Monmouth's rebellion. The letterpress is in wretched verse, and is
+entitled, '_A Description of the late Rebellion in the West. A Heroic
+Poem._' The unfortunate issue of Monmouth's rising excited the sympathy
+of the common people, to whom he was endeared by his many amiable
+qualities and his handsome person. Though this broadside was evidently
+written in the interest of the Government it was likely to have a ready
+sale, and it was sought to increase the interest by pictorial
+representation. The engraving, which is on an unusually large scale, is
+very rough, like all the woodcuts of the period.
+
+The slaughter at Sedgemoor and the execution of the Duke of Monmouth
+were partly forgotten in the greater horror excited by the unsparing
+severity of Judge Jefferies in condemning to death hundreds of persons
+who were charged with being concerned in the rebellion. I have met with
+one illustrated tract relating to the 'Bloody Assize.' It is inserted at
+the end of the volume of the _London Gazette_ for 1685, and has
+apparently been added by Dr. Burney, the collector, as bearing upon the
+events of the time. It forms no part of the _London Gazette_, though
+bound up with it. There is a rough woodcut on the title-page containing
+eleven portraits, and the title is as follows:--
+
+'_The Protestant Martyrs; or the Bloody Assizes, giving an account of
+the Lives, Tryals, and Dying Speeches, of all those eminent Protestants
+that suffered in the West of England by the sentence of that bloody and
+cruel Judge Jefferies; being in all_ 251 _persons, besides what were
+hanged and destroyed in cold blood. Containing also the Life and Death
+of James Duke of Monmouth; His Birth and Education; His Actions both at
+Home and Abroad; His Unfortunate Adventure in the West; His Letter to
+King James; His Sentence, Execution and Dying-words upon the Scaffold;
+with a true Copy of the Paper he left behind him. And many other curious
+Remarks worth the Readers Observation. London, Printed by F. Bradford;
+at the Bible in Fetter Lane._'
+
+At the end of the pamphlet is printed this curious sentence:--'This
+Bloody Tragedy in the West being over our Protestant Judge returns for
+London; soon after which Alderman Cornish felt the Anger of Somebody
+behind the Curtain.'
+
+Alderman Cornish was afterwards executed at the corner of King Street,
+Cheapside, for alleged participation in the Rye House Plot.
+
+[Illustration: MARTYRS OF THE BLOODY ASSIZES, 1685.]
+
+This fragment of contemporary history shows that if there were no
+regular newspapers to supply the people with illustrated news they
+obtained it in the shape of cheap fly-sheets and broadsides--the form in
+which it was supplied to them before newspapers began.
+
+Macaulay describes the unlicensed press at this period as being worked
+in holes and corners, and producing large quantities of pamphlets which
+were a direct infraction of the law subjecting the press to a
+censorship. 'There had long lurked in the garrets of London a class of
+printers who worked steadily at their calling with precautions
+resembling those employed by coiners and forgers. Women were on the
+watch to give the alarm by their screams if an officer appeared near the
+workshop. The press was immediately pushed into a closet behind the bed;
+the types were flung into the coal-hole, and covered with cinders; the
+compositor disappeared through a trap-door in the roof, and made off
+over the tiles of the neighbouring houses. In these dens were
+manufactured treasonable works of all classes and sizes, from halfpenny
+broadsides of doggerel verse up to massy quartos filled with Hebrew
+quotations.'[1] The pamphlet I have just quoted probably issued from a
+press of this kind; but he must have been a bold printer who dared to
+put his name and address to a work wherein Jefferies was openly referred
+to as 'that bloody and cruel Judge Jefferies.'
+
+Large broadsides continued to be the favourite form of illustrated
+journalism for some time after this. One gives a 'true and perfect
+relation' of a great earthquake which happened at Port Royal, in
+Jamaica, on Tuesday, June 7th, 1692, and is illustrated with a large
+woodcut. On the death of Queen Mary, the consort of William III., an
+illustrated broadside was published, plentifully garnished with skulls
+and cross-bones, entitled, '_Great Britain's Lamentation; or the Funeral
+Obsequies of that most incomparable Protestant Princess, Mary, of ever
+Blessed Memory, Queen of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, who
+departed this life the 28th of December, at Kensington, 1694, in the
+Thirty-second Year of her Age. She Reigned Five Years, Eight Months, and
+Seventeen Days. And was conducted from Whitehall to Westminster Abbey,
+in an open Chariot of State, on black cloath, by the Nobility, Judges,
+and Gentry of the Land, on Tuesday, the 5th of March, 1694-5._' The
+large woodcut shows the funeral procession, and I have copied that part
+of it containing the funeral car, with the body of the deceased queen
+resting under a canopy.
+
+[Illustration: FUNERAL OF QUEEN MARY, 1695.]
+
+In a few years after the Revolution newspapers began to increase
+rapidly. The censorship of the press ceased in 1695, and was immediately
+followed by the appearance of great numbers of periodical papers. At
+first they were small in size, were wretchedly printed on the commonest
+paper, and each number contained only a small quantity of matter. The
+art of wood-engraving, the readiest and least expensive method of
+illustration, was now in the lowest possible condition; and the
+newspapers at the end of the seventeenth century contain scarcely any
+illustrations, except, perhaps, a heading of a rudely executed figure of
+a man blowing a horn, flanked by a ship or a castle, and numerous small
+woodcuts to advertisements.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+  [1] _History of England._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+  Constant Attempts at Illustrated News--Increase of Caricatures--The
+  _Postman_, 1704--Fiery Apparition in the Air, seen in
+  London--Caricature against the Jacobites--The South-Sea
+  Bubble--Eclipse of the Sun, 1724--The _Grub Street Journal_ an
+  Illustrated Paper--The _Daily Post_--Admiral Vernon's Attack on Porto
+  Bello--The _Penny London Post_--Henry Fielding and the _Jacobite's
+  Journal_--_Owen's Weekly Chronicle_--_Lloyd's Evening Post_, and the
+  Trial of Lord Byron for the Murder of Mr. Chaworth--The _St. James's
+  Chronicle_--Illustrated Account of a Strange Wild Beast seen in
+  France--The _Gentleman's Journal_ of Anthony Motteux--The _Gentleman's
+  Magazine_ of Edward Cave--The _London Magazine_--The _Scot's
+  Magazine_.
+
+
+In glancing at the early newspapers it is apparent that the idea, in
+some shape, of illustrating the news of the day was never quite absent
+from the minds of newspaper conductors. Sometimes it took the form of a
+rude map of the country where some war was going on, or the plan of some
+city which was being besieged. In the _London Post_ for July 25, 1701,
+is a map of the seat of war in Italy, which is reprinted in other
+numbers, and the _Daily Courant_, for Sept. 8, 1709, contains a large
+plan of Mons. In the absence of other means, even printers' lines were
+used to represent a plan of some place, or an event of unusual interest.
+Such an attempt at illustrated news was made in the _Dublin Journal_ for
+May 14, 1746, where there is a plan, set up in type and printers' lines,
+of the battle of Culloden; and in the number for March 28, 1747, there
+is a similar plan of the trial of Lord Lovat. This is doubly interesting
+as being _Irish_. Engraving on copper, though it involved the expense of
+a double printing, was sometimes resorted to for the purpose of
+enlivening the pages of the early newspapers, and we have seen that it
+was also employed in broadsides. There was so much enterprise that even
+penny papers sometimes introduced engravings into their pages.
+
+About the beginning of the eighteenth century caricatures began to
+increase in England. Religious animosities and political intrigues,
+always keen incentives to satire, had opened a wide field to the
+caricaturist in the years which followed the Revolution. But religious
+bigotry and party spirit, strong as they were at this period, were
+exceeded by the social follies which came afterwards. The trial of Dr.
+Sacheverell occasioned the publication of numerous songs, squibs, and
+caricatures; but the South-Sea Bubble surpassed it as a fruitful source
+of lampoons and pictorial satire. The spirit of ridicule was fed by the
+political intrigues, the follies and the vices of the Georgian era, and
+reached its highest development in the days of George III. Amongst other
+early channels for circulation we find caricatures making their
+appearance in newspapers, and as we proceed I shall give one or two
+examples from the illustrated journalism of this period.
+
+On March 14, 1704, _The Postman_, one of the papers that was started on
+the expiration of the censorship (and which Macaulay says was one of the
+best conducted and most prosperous), published what was called a
+Postscript for the purpose of making its readers acquainted with a
+prodigy seen in Spain in the air so far back as the year 1536. It is
+illustrated with a woodcut representing two men fighting in the air; and
+the following account is given of it:--'The success of the expedition of
+K. Charles III. being now the subject of all Publick Discourses, the
+Reader, we hope, will excuse the following Postscript, which must be
+confest to be of an extraordinary nature, as containing some things
+hardly to be parallelled. All the states of Christendom being concerned
+some way or other in this great quarrell, it is not to be wondered at if
+the discovery of a Prodigy, which seems to foretell the decision of it,
+has made so much noise at Rome, and that we insert it in this place. The
+French Faction grew intolerably insolent upon account of the storms
+which have so long retarded the Portuguese expedition, and represented
+these cross accidents as a manifest declaration that God did not approve
+the same; and this way of arguing, though never so rash and impertinent
+in itself, prevailed over the generality of the people, in a City which
+is the Centre of superstition. The Partizans of the House of Austria
+were very much dejected and had little to say, when they happily
+discovered in the Library of the Vatican a Book printed at Bazil in the
+year 1557 written by Conradus Lycosthenes, wherein they found an
+argument to confute all the reasons alledged by their adversaries, and a
+sure Presage in their opinion of the success of K. Charles III. This
+made a great noise at Rome, and his Grace the Duke of Shrewsbury sent an
+account thereof. The Book perhaps is not so scarce as they thought at
+Rome; and the learned Doctor Hans Sloane having one in his Library, and
+having been so obliging as to give me leave to transcribe that passage,
+I present it here to the reader, leaving it to everyone to make his own
+observations. The Book is thus Intituled: "_Prodigiorum Ostentorum
+Chronicon, &c., per Conradum Lycosthenem, Rubeaquensem. Printed in Folio
+at Bazil per Henricum Petri 1557_," and amongst the infinite number of
+Prodigies he relates in his collection, which extends from the beginning
+of the world to his time, he has the following, page 558 (here follows
+the description on each side of the woodcut in Latin and English). 'In a
+certain place of Spain on the 7th of Feby, 1536, 2 hours after the
+setting of the sun as Fincelius relates it after others, were seen in
+the Air, which was rainy and cloudy, two Young Men in Armour, fighting
+with Swords, one of them having in his left hand a Shield or round
+Buckler, adorned with an Eagle, with this inscription, I SHALL REIGN,
+and the other having on a long Target with these words, I HAVE REIGNED.
+They fought a Duel, and he who had the Eagle on his Buckler beat down
+his enemy and was conqueror.' The whole affair refers to the war of the
+Spanish Succession between the partisans of Louis XIV. and the House of
+Bourbon, and the House of Austria, and is made to foretell the downfall
+of the former. As the Bourbons did eventually obtain the Crown of Spain,
+this interpretation of the supposed prodigy may be referred to the same
+class as the prophecies of _Old Moore's Almanack_. I have copied the
+engraving, which is the only illustration I have found in _The Postman_.
+
+[Illustration: PRODIGY SEEN IN SPAIN. FROM THE 'POSTMAN,' 1704.]
+
+We have already noticed that no class of marvels were so attractive to
+the early news-writers as apparitions in the air. Another example of
+this is found in a pamphlet, published in 1710, entitled '_The Age of
+Wonders: or, A further and particular Description of the remarkable, and
+Fiery Apparition that was seen in the Air, on Thursday in the Morning,
+being May the 11th, 1710_.' It is illustrated with a rough woodcut, and
+has the following description:--
+
+.... 'As for the strange Appearances which were seen on the 11th of May
+in the Morning, I suppose there is by this time few that do not give
+Credit to the same, since so many creditable People in several parts of
+the Town have apparently testified the same, and are ready still to do
+it upon enquirey, as in Clare Market, Cheapside, Tower-hill, and other
+places; it was likewise seen by several Market Folks then upon the
+Water, who have since agreed in Truth thereof, most of which relate in
+the following manner:--
+
+'On Wednesday Night, or rather Thursday Morning last, much about the
+Hour of two a Clock, several People, who were then abroad, especially
+the Watchman about Tower Street, Clare Market, Cheapside, and
+Westminster, plainly and visibly saw this strange Comet, it seem'd a
+very great Star, at the end of which was a long tail, or streak of Fire,
+very wonderful and surprizing to behold. It did not continue fix'd, but
+pass'd along with the Scud, or two black Clouds, being carried by a
+brisk wind that then blew.
+
+[Illustration: FIERY APPARITION IN THE AIR, SEEN IN LONDON, 1710.]
+
+'After which follow'd the likeness of a Man in a Cloud of Fire, with a
+Sword in his hand, which mov'd with the Clouds as the other did, but
+they saw it for near a quarter of an Hour together, to their very great
+surprize, and related the same the next Morning, which they are ready
+now to affirm if any are so curious to go and Enquire, particularly John
+Smith, near Tower-street, Abraham Wilsley, on Tower-hill, John Miller,
+near Clare Market, John Williams, in Cheapside, George Mules and
+Rebeccah Sampson upon the Water, and Mr. Lomax, Watchman of St. Anns,
+with many others too tedious to insert.'
+
+Amongst the many newspapers that had sprung into existence the following
+so far improved upon their small and dingy predecessors as to be adorned
+with pictorial headings:--The _Post Boy_, 1720; the _Weekly Journal_,
+1720; the _London Journal_, 1720; the _Weekly Journal, or Saturday's
+Post_, 1721; _Applebee's Weekly Journal_, 1721; _Read's Journal, or
+British Gazetteer_, 1718-31. The last named appeared for many years as
+the _Weekly Journal, or British Gazetteer_; but the _Weekly Journal_ was
+a favourite title, and was borne by so many other papers that after a
+time the publisher altered the title of his paper to _Read's Journal; or
+British Gazetteer_, and gave it an engraved heading. Read was a man of
+enterprise, and surpassed his contemporaries in endeavouring to make his
+journal attractive by means of illustrations. In his paper for Nov. 1,
+1718, there is a caricature engraved on wood. It is levelled against the
+Jacobites, and is called 'An Hieroglyphick,' and is introduced to the
+reader with the following rhymes:--
+
+  'Will _Fools_ and _Knaves_ their own Misfortune see
+   And ponder on the _Tories_ villany
+   Behold this _Hieroglyphick_, and admire
+   What _Loyalty_ do's in true Souls inspire!
+   Whate'er the _Figures_ mean we shan't declare,
+   Because the _Jacobites_ will curse and swear;
+   But if our _Readers_ will this piece explain,
+   Their Explanation we shall not disdain.'
+
+[Illustration: CARICATURE AGAINST THE JACOBITES. FROM 'READ'S WEEKLY
+JOURNAL,' 1718.]
+
+Nobody appears to have responded to the invitation conveyed in the
+verses, for in the succeeding numbers of the paper there is no attempt
+to explain the 'hieroglyphick.' A copy of this early newspaper
+caricature is given on the opposite page.
+
+In the same journal for May 20, 1721, there is a large woodcut entitled
+'Lucifers Row-Barge,' which I have also copied. It is a caricature on
+the South-Sea Bubble, and appears, from what follows, to have been first
+published in the previous week: 'The Call for this Journal (last week)
+being very extraordinary, upon account of the delineation of Lucifer's
+Row-Barge in it, we are desired by several of our Correspondents both in
+City and Country, to present them with it in this week's paper, with an
+Explanation of every Representation in the aforesaid Cut, adapted to
+Figures; with which Request we have comply'd, as supposing it will be
+acceptable not only to them with such a Design, but likewise pleasing to
+all our Readers in General.' The different parts of the engraving are
+described under the illustration on the following page.
+
+Each of these divisions of the subject is further described in verse. In
+concocting this satire the author has allowed some symptoms of
+journalistic jealousy to appear by dragging in the correspondent of the
+_London Journal_ (which was a rival paper), and describing him as the
+common hangman. The feeling about the South-Sea Bubble must have been
+very strong to have made this caricature acceptable. It was intended to
+satirise Mr. Knight, the cashier of the South-Sea Company, who fled the
+country when it became too hot for him. The verses which accompany the
+engraving, though by no means models of poetic elegance, might be
+commended to the attention of some directors of our own day:--
+
+  'Then what must such vile Plunderers expect
+   When they upon their Actions do reflect;
+   Who barely have three Kingdoms quite undone
+   From aged Father to the Infant Son?
+   From many Eyes they've drawn a briny Flood,
+   But Tears to ruined People do no Good.'
+
+[Illustration: SOUTH SEA BUBBLE CARICATURE. FROM THE 'WEEKLY JOURNAL AND
+BRITISH GAZETTEER,' 1721.
+
+  '1. The Cashire of the South Sea Company
+
+  2. The Horse of an Accomptant to the South Sea
+  Company
+
+  3. The Correspondent of the Author of the _London
+  Journal_
+
+  4. A Stock Jobber, or Exchange Broker, whipt by
+  the Common Hangman
+
+  5. Belzebub prompting a Director of the South Sea
+
+  6. Satan prompting the same Director in t'other Ear
+
+  7. The Worm of Conscience fastens on the above
+  said Director
+
+  8. The Cup of Indignation
+
+  9. A Director's Sacrifice, which is a Villanous Heart
+
+  10. A Director in the Pillory
+
+  11. The Superscription over the pillory'd Director
+  paraphras'd from the prophet Ezekiel. Chap.
+  XXII. Ver. 12, 13, and Chap. XXIII. Ver. 25, 26, 27
+
+  12. A Director decyphered by the Knave of Diamonds
+  Hanged
+
+  13. A Director wafting to Hell with the tide
+
+  14. Lucifers Row-Barge for first rate passengers
+
+  15. Moloch sounds his trumpet for Joy of meeting
+  with a good Fare
+
+  16. Belial playing on the Violin to the Director
+
+  17. Mammon takes a trip at Helm for him
+
+  18. The South Sea
+
+  19. Lucifer rowing his own Barge
+
+  20. The Entrance into Hell, represented by the
+  Mouth of the Leviathan, or great Whale,
+  belching flames of sulphurous fire.']
+
+There was a total eclipse of the sun in 1724, which appears to have
+excited much attention, and several notices of it occur in the
+newspapers. Parker's _London News_ gives a long account, with a woodcut,
+which I have copied. This paper was published three times a-week--on
+Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. In the number for Monday, May 4th,
+1724, is the woodcut referred to, together with the following
+explanation:--
+
+'Of the Eclipse of the Sun which will happen in the Afternoon on Monday,
+the 11th of this inst. May 1724.
+
+'The Sun, the glorious Lamp of the Universe, being a large round Body of
+Light, is fixt in the Centre of the _Creation_; so that all parts
+thereof might be partakers of his vivifying Rays, which otherwise would
+be shut up in perpetual Darkness.
+
+'The Earth is a dark round Ball, which turneth round on its own Axis,
+from West to East, once in twenty-four Hours Time, causing thereby Day
+and Night, also at the same Time, the Earth with the Moon, going round
+in its Orbit in 365 Days and some Hours, constituting thereby the true
+Length of our Year.
+
+'The Moon is likewise a round dark Ball, void of Light, and
+circumvolveth the Earth once a Month; so that whenever she passeth in
+her Orbit, in a direct line between the Sun and Earth, she Eclipses the
+Earth not the Sun, by depriving us of a Sight thereof; And whenever the
+Earth happens to be between the Sun and Moon, at such times the Earth
+obstructs the Light of the Sun from the Moon, and then the Moon is
+Eclipsed by the dark Body of the Earth.
+
+'Now to prevent any Consternation, which People, through Ignorance may
+fall under, by means of that great Eclipse which is now approaching; at
+which time it will be so dark, that the stars, (if the Air be clear)
+will be seen; and the Planets Mars, Venus, and the seldom to be seen
+Mercury, will appear a little above the Sun, towards the South; also
+Venus a little higher to the Left of Mercury, and Mars in the S.S.W.
+Parts of the Heavens; The several Appearances of this Eclipse will be
+according to the Types before inserted.
+
+'The beginning of this Eclipse, according to the nicest Computation of
+the most Judicious, will happen at 39 Minutes past 5 in the Afternoon
+when the Limb of the Moon will just touch the Sun's Limb, as it is
+represented by the Uppermost Figure to the Right Hand. At 44 Minutes
+after 5 it will be enter'd the disk, and so much darkened as the 2d
+Scheme on the Right Hand shews. At 48 Minutes past 5 as the 3d denotes.
+At 53 Minutes past 5 as the 4th shews. At 58 Minutes after 5, as the 5th
+represents. At 3 Minutes past 6, as in the 6th Scheme. At 7 Minutes
+after 6, as in the 7th. At 12 Minutes past 6, as is shewn by the 8th
+Figure. At 17 Minutes past 6, as the 10th Figure shews. At 26 Minutes
+past 6, as the next succeeding Scheme denotes, beginning always to
+number from the Right Hand. At 31 Minutes after 6, so much of the Sun's
+Body will be darkened, as the 12th represents: and at 36 past 6, will be
+the greatest darkness, when only a small thread of Light will be seen at
+_London_, on the upper part of the _Sun_ as the 13th Scheme informs; but
+to all the Southern parts of the Kingdom, it will be totally darkened.
+
+'After this the _Sun_ will begin to shew its Light, which will appear
+first on the lower part of that Glorious Body, towards the Right Hand;
+and the darkness will gradually lessen, as the several Figures
+represent, till the Sun's Body be perfectly clear of the Shadow, which
+will be at 27 Minutes past 7 a-clock that Afternoon.'
+
+This description is reprinted, together with the woodcut, in the same
+paper for May 8th, and to it is added the following:--'Directions for
+the better viewing the Eclipse that will happen on Monday next'--'Take a
+Piece of Common window Glass and hold it over a Candle, so that the
+Flame of the Candle may make it black, through which look upon the Sun,
+and you will behold the _Eclipse_ without Danger to the Eyes.'
+
+Or thus
+
+Take a Piece of thick writing Paper, and prick a hole in it with a fine
+Needle, through which the _Eclipse_ may be seen.'
+
+[Illustration: ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. FROM 'PARKER'S LONDON NEWS,' 1724.]
+
+The same paper (May 8th, 1724) contains some advertisements about the
+eclipse, which seems to have been for the moment the absorbing topic,
+and was apparently made the vehicle for advertising the shops of
+different tradesmen. The notices were published ostensibly 'to lessen
+the consternation of ignorant people,' but it is evident the advertisers
+had an eye to business. 'An exact curious Draft' was to be 'given
+_gratis_ at Mr. Garway's original shop, the Sign of the Practical Scheme
+at the Royal Exchange Gate, on Cornhill Side. Up one pair of Stairs at
+the Sign of the celebrated Anodyne Necklace for Childrens' Teeth, next
+the Rose Tavern without Temple Bar. At Mr. Gregg's Bookseller, next to
+Northumberland House, at Charing Cross; and at R. Bradshaw's the
+author's Servant, at his House, next to the King's Head, in Crown
+Street, right against Sutton Street End, just by Soho Square. Note, it
+will not be given to any Boy or Girl.'
+
+The cut and description are again reprinted in the number for May 11th,
+where, amongst other items of news, is the following:--'His Royal
+Highness went last Monday to Richmond, as did also the Right Hon. the
+Lord _Chancellor_, Judge Fortescue, and other persons of note; some of
+the Judges went to Hampton Court, and other gentlemen of Learning and
+Curiosity to more distant places, to make their Observations, as 'tis
+said, upon the great Eclipse of the Sun that happen'd in the Evening,
+and exactly answered the _Calculations_ made of it by our Astronomers.'
+In the number for May 18th are accounts of how the eclipse was observed
+in the country. It is stated:--'We are advised from the Isle of Wight
+that the Eclipse on the 11th instant, which was Total, and caused very
+great Consternation there lasted about a Minute and a half; but that the
+chief sufferers thereby were the gentry of that Island, who by the great
+concourse of Strangers to their Houses, had but very little French
+Claret left upon their hands; But the comfort is, they have frequent
+opportunities of running some more.'
+
+_Parker's London News_ blended amusement with instruction. The following
+items of news occur in the same number that contains the account of the
+eclipse, and show how our forefathers were entertained by the newspapers
+160 years ago:--'The Papers of the week, from the highest to the lowest
+rank have killed one Sir Nicholas Raymond in the Isle of Wight; but as
+no such knight ever inhabited therein, we can impute it to nothing but
+want of home news.'
+
+'Last Saturday Night, two Servant Maids at a Snuff Warehouse, at Mile
+End took _so much Snuff_, that they quarrell'd, and one of them stabbed
+the other in so many places with an Iron Scuer, that 'twas thought she
+could not live. The other therefore, was instantly apprehended and
+committed.'
+
+'Last week an Apothecary was attacked by two Highwaymen, between
+Winchester and Southampton, who robbed him of his money, and finding two
+Vials of Purging Potions in his Pocket, that he was carrying to a
+_Patient_, they were so inhuman as to force him to swallow 'em himself.'
+
+'Last Sunday Night, Sir Basil Firebrass, noted for his humanity to young
+Vintners, whom he first set up, and afterwards upon Default of payment
+took execution against 'em, departed this life.'
+
+_The Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer_ for May 9th, 1724, contains an
+account and illustration of the same eclipse that is described in
+_Parker's London News_. The illustration is a diagram, and is called, 'A
+Representation of a Solar Eclipse. The Time of the Beginning, Middle,
+and End of the Eclipse and the continuance of Darkness, together with
+its Appearance at London and Bristol.'
+
+The celebrated _Grub Street Journal_ now comes upon the scene; and we
+find it not only surpassing its contemporaries in wit and satire, but it
+also comes out as an illustrated paper. In No. 43, for Oct. 29th, 1730,
+a whole page is occupied with woodcuts of the arms of the City
+Companies, which are reprinted about the time of Lord Mayor's Day in
+succeeding years. In No. 48 there is a very well-executed copperplate
+portrait, presumably of the Lord Mayor of London. As it is printed on
+the same page with type (involving two printings), and the journal was
+sold for twopence, it shows some enterprise for the year 1730. On the
+front page of No. 95, for Oct. 28th, 1731, there are very rude woodcuts
+of the Lord Mayor's procession, surrounded by the arms of the City
+Companies before referred to. No. 147 has a curious copperplate at the
+head of an article entitled, '_The Art and Mystery of Printing
+Emblematically Displayed_.' The engraving represents human figures with
+animals' heads at work in a printing-office. An ass is setting up the
+types, a pig is using the inking-balls, a horse is acting as pressman, a
+sheep is arranging the printed sheets, while a two-faced man and a
+many-horned devil are watching them all. This, like the portrait of the
+Lord Mayor, is printed on the same page with the type, with no printing
+at the back of the engraving. The article is a satirical conversation
+between certain printers' devils, and is continued in the next number,
+where the engraving is also reproduced. The _Grub Street Journal_ is the
+first example I have met with of a newspaper employing the expensive
+process of copperplate engraving for illustrations, and printing the
+plate in the body of its pages. It was probably thought to be too
+costly, for we find the conductors recurring to the almost extinct art
+of wood-engraving. In the number for Oct. 25th, 1733, there is a
+coarsely executed woodcut heading a satirical allegory, entitled, _The
+Art of Trimming Emblematically Displayed_.
+
+The _Daily Post_ of March 29th, 1740, is interesting as being an early
+example of a daily paper attempting to illustrate current events. The
+_Daily Post_ consisted of a single leaf, with the page divided into
+three columns. In the number referred to there is a long account of
+Admiral Vernon's attack on Porto Bello, illustrated with a woodcut,
+which the writer says will give the reader a clearer idea of the
+position of the town, castle, and ships engaged. The narrative is
+introduced by the editor in these words:--'The following is a letter
+from a gentleman on board the Burford at Porto Bello to his friend at
+Newcastle, which, as it contains a more particular account of Admiral
+Vernon's glorious achievement at that place than any yet published here,
+we thought we could not in justice to the Bravery of our English
+Officers and Sailors, refuse it a Place in our Paper.'
+
+[Illustration: ADMIRAL VERNON'S ATTACK ON PORTO BELLO. FROM THE 'DAILY
+POST,' 1740.
+
+  A. The Iron Castle on the North side of the Mouth of the Harbour with
+  100 Guns.
+
+  B. The Castle Gloria, with 120 Guns, on the South side of the Harbour,
+  and a Mile from the Iron Castle.
+
+  C. The Fort of Hieronymo, with 20 Guns.
+
+  D. The Town of Porto Bello lying along the Extremity of the Harbour.
+
+  E. The station of the Spanish Ships.
+
+  F. The Hampton-Courts place of Action, Commodore Brown.
+
+  G. The Norwich's ditto, Cap. Herbert.
+
+  H. The Worcester's ditto, Cap. Main.
+
+  I. The Admiral's Ship, the Burford.]
+
+'On the afternoon of the 21st about two o'clock we came up with Porto
+Bello Harbour, where the Spaniards had hoisted upon the Iron Castle the
+Flag of Defiance; and, as we were told by themselves afterwards, they
+wished earnestly for our attempting to come in, as believing they could
+sink us all immediately, but said they feared we were only making a
+second Bastimento Expedition, and would not give them the pleasure of
+engaging us.' Then follows a long and circumstantial account of the
+conflict. 'Notwithstanding they had discharged very few Guns for some
+Minutes before we came up; yet as if they had resolved to summon up all
+their Courage against the Flag, they welcomed us with a terrible Volley,
+which being at so short a Distance, took Place with almost every Shot.
+One struck away the Stern of our Barge; another broke a large Gun upon
+our upper Deck; a third went thro' our Foretop-Mast; and a fourth,
+passing thro' the Arning within two Inches of our Main-Mast, broke down
+the barricado of our Quarter-Deck, very near the Admiral, and killed
+three Men in a Moment, wounding five others which stood by them. This
+look'd as if we should have bloody work, but was far from discouraging
+our brave Fellows.' The Spaniards being driven from their guns, the
+English landed:--'One man set himself close under an Embossier, whilst
+another climbed upon his Shoulders and enter'd under the Mouth of a
+great Gun. This so dismay'd the Spaniards that they threw down their
+Arms and fled to the Top of the Castle; from whence scaling backwards we
+could see them run into the woods by hundreds and fly for their lives.'
+The place being taken, the writer gives a minute account of the damage
+done and the booty taken. He says:--'We have also had the good luck to
+find about 10,000 Dollars belonging to the King of Spain, which I had
+the Pleasure of being present at the searching for, when we found it in
+the Customhouse,' &c.
+
+The writer of the above account signs himself Wm. Richardson, and gives
+the explanations to the letters on the woodcut, a facsimile of which is
+engraved.
+
+To account for the enthusiasm with which Admiral Vernon's victory at
+Porto Bello was received we must remember that the nation had previously
+been wrought up to a high state of fever about Spain, and the
+declaration of war had been received in the most jubilant manner. We can
+therefore understand that the conductors of the _Daily Post_, infected
+by the popular fervour, would gladly seize the opportunity of producing
+in their pages the drawing and description by an eye-witness of this
+naval victory. This early example of illustrated news, though it has
+nothing pictorial about it, is extremely interesting, showing as it does
+the tendency of newspapers, in times of excitement, to call on the
+artist's pencil to aid the writer's pen. It was in reference to this war
+that Walpole said, when the bells were ringing joyfully, 'They may ring
+the bells now, but they will soon be wringing their hands.'
+
+To the preceding example of a _daily_ paper attempting to illustrate
+current events I will add an instance of a _penny_ paper doing a similar
+thing at about the same period. _The Penny London Post, or, The Morning
+Advertiser_, was a paper published three times a-week, and in the number
+for Jan. 9th, 1748-9, there is given 'A view of the Public Fireworks to
+be exhibited on occasion of the General Peace concluded at Aix La
+Chapelle the 7th Day of October 1748.' The engraving is little more
+than a diagram, and accompanies a description of the arrangements made
+for the occasion, amongst which there was to be a band of a hundred
+musicians to play before the fireworks began, 'the Musick for which,'
+says the _Penny London Post_, 'is to be composed by Mr. Handel.'
+
+We are accustomed to think of the immortal author of _Tom Jones_ as a
+novelist only. Henry Fielding was, however, also a journalist, a
+pamphleteer, and a justice of the peace for Middlesex and Westminster.
+Amidst his other labours he found time to edit the _Jacobite's Journal_,
+a paper started to support the House of Hanover after the Rebellion of
+1745. It was a sheet of four pages, published every Saturday, and the
+first twelve numbers were adorned with a woodcut heading which has been
+attributed to Hogarth. This heading was discontinued after the twelfth
+number, and in number 13 there is an elaborate article, replete with
+sarcastic humour, explaining the reasons for its discontinuance. The
+_Jacobite's Journal_ purported to be edited by 'John Trott-Plaid, Esq.,'
+and was essentially satirical in its tone. In the second number there is
+the following reference to the engraved heading:--
+
+'As my Wife appears in her Plaid on _Ass-back_ behind me at the Head of
+this Paper, it will not I hope be imagined that I have brought her
+abroad only to take the Air, without assigning to her any share in this
+undertaking.
+
+'The _Mystery of Jacobitism_ doth not, like that of _Free Masonry_,
+exclude the Female World; for tho' all Jacobites are not, as some wicked
+Whigs have represented us, _old women_, yet women we have in great
+Numbers among us, who are as learned in the knowledge of our Mysteries,
+and as active in the celebration of our Rites, as any of the Male
+Species; and many of these are so far from deserving the name of _old_,
+that their age scarce yet entitles them to the name of _women_.'
+
+As I before stated, the heading is left out after the twelfth number.
+Whether it had sufficiently served its purpose as a caricature of the
+Jacobite party, and was no longer needed, or whether it really took up
+too much room, as stated by the editor, its discontinuance was made the
+occasion of publishing a leading article, part of which I am tempted to
+transcribe as an excellent specimen of Fielding's satire.
+
+'There is scarcely anything more provoking than to be totally
+misunderstood, and by that means to have our compliments received as
+Affronts, and our Panegyrick converted into Satire.
+
+'It cannot therefore be wondered at, if I am not well pleased with that
+gross misunderstanding of the Emblematical Frontispiece so long prefixed
+to my Paper, which hath generally prevailed, and which, among other good
+Reasons, hath at length induced me to displace it for the future. By
+this Error of the Public, a Contrivance of mine (the expense of much
+laborious thinking) to do Honour to the Jacobite Party, hath been
+represented as the Means of vilifying and degrading it.
+
+'But, seriously, could the Art of Man have carried the Glory of
+Jacobitism higher than it was carried in this print, where a Jacobite of
+either Sex was seen cloathed in Mystery, and riding on one of the most
+honourable Beasts in the Universe, while Popery servilely attends,
+leading it by the Halter, and _France_ and the Republican Party are
+dragged after Heels. Is not here depictured that notable and mysterious
+Union of _French_ Interest, Popery, Jacobitism, and Republicanism; by a
+Coalition of all which Parties this Nation is to be redeemed from the
+deplorable State of Slavery, under which it at present labours?
+
+'It would be endless to enumerate all the Mistakes and ridiculous
+Conceits entertained on this occasion. Some have imagined we intended to
+insinuate that the Protestant Jacobites were led by the Nose by Popery,
+and spurr'd on by _France_ and the Republicans; whereas nothing can be
+more certain in Fact, than that Popery and _France_, and the
+Republicans, have ever been the mere Dupes and Fools of the said
+Jacobites.
+
+'Many have endeavoured to discover Resemblances to real Persons in the
+figures there exhibited. By the Popish Priest, it hath been said we
+design to represent the old Chevalier; and by the Figures on the Ass,
+the young Chevalier his Son and the famous _Jenny Cameron_.
+
+'Others have found out Likenesses of less Importance, and several
+Squires and Country Gentlewomen of _Staffordshire_ and other Counties,
+who never travel beyond the limits of a Fox chace, have been supposed to
+ride, once a week, Post all over the Kingdom in this Paper.
+
+'But the most egregious Errors have been committed in Misconstructions
+concerning the Ass. Several ingenious and witty Printers of News Papers
+have very facetiously taken occasion to call the Author himself an Ass;
+supposing probably, that as Scripture informs us an Ass once spoke, so
+certain Descendants of the same Family might write, which Faith, perhaps
+something within their own Experience, might sufficiently encourage them
+to receive.
+
+'To mention no more of these absurd Conjectures, I must here inform my
+Reader, that by the Body of the Ass we intend to figure the whole Body
+of Jacobitical doctrine.
+
+'Now as there was no Symbol among the Antients, of which the
+Emblematical Meaning was so plain and easy to be discovered, our Party
+could never have so universally mistaken it, had it not been for that
+want of Learning among us, which I lamented in my last Paper. Hence
+being misled by those erroneous opinions, which the Moderns have
+propagated to the great disadvantage of Asses, the Jacobites have been
+unwilling to discover any Resemblance between themselves and an Animal
+which the wise Antients saw in so respectable a Light, and which the
+ignorance of latter Ages hath highly dishonoured by odious Comparisons
+with certain Individuals of the Human Species.
+
+'Thus _Homer_ is well known to have liken'd one of his principal Heroes
+to this noble Animal; which was in such Esteem among the antient _Jews_,
+that he was not only an object of their Devotion, but they are said to
+have preserved his Figure in massy Gold in the Temple of _Jerusalem_.
+
+'If the Transfiguration of _Midas_ in the _Metamorphosis_ doth but
+little Honour to the Ears of our Symbol, the Story of _Lotis_ which the
+same Poet tells in his Fastorum, is greatly in praise of his Braying, by
+which the Chastity of that Nymph was rescued from the wicked Designs of
+her insidious Lover.
+
+'In such esteem hath this noble Beast been held among the Learned, that
+I have seen a Book composed in his Favour and entitled _Laus Asini_: not
+to mention the celebrated performance of _Apuleius_ to which he hath
+given the Name of the _Golden Ass_.
+
+'Instead therefore of being displeased with the Emblem, our Party have
+great Reason to be vain on this Occasion, nor do I think there can be a
+greater Comparison than of a Protestant Jacobite to an Ass, or one more
+to the Honour of the former.
+
+'First, what can so well answer to that noble and invincible obstinacy,
+which I have more than once celebrated in our Party, as the intractable
+and unalterable Nature of this Animal, which gave rise to an antient
+Proverb alluded to by _Horace_ in his Satires:--
+
+                    '"---- Your Art
+  As well may teach an Ass to scour the Plain
+  And bend obedient to the forming Rein."
+
+'And again in his Epistles:--
+
+     '"Democritus would think the writers told
+  To a deaf Ass their story ----"
+
+'Which may most strictly be applied to all those writers, who have
+endeavoured to convince the Jacobites by argument.
+
+'Again what can give us a more adequate Idea of that Firmness, with
+which we have supported all the ill-usage of the worst of Sovereigns
+without Resentment, than the laudable Indifference which an Ass hath
+for the same; whom you may beat, whip, kick, and spur as long as you are
+pleased, he still trudges on without altering his Pace.
+
+'To omit many other obvious Resemblances, such as Braying, &c, the
+famous story of the Countryman and the Ass, briefly touched upon by
+_Horace_ in the Epistle addressed to his own Book, is so perfect a
+Picture of Jacobitism, that I have been inclined to think as the
+Antients are known to have inveloped all their Mysteries in Fable and
+Allegory, that no less than Jacobitism itself was intended to be couched
+under this story: "A certain Countryman observing an Ass making towards
+a Precipice, ran to him, and catching hold of his Tail, endeavoured with
+all his Might to withhold him from Destruction; but the more the
+Countryman attempted to preserve him, the more obstinately the Ass
+contended against his kind Preserver, and the more eagerly was bent upon
+accomplishing his fatal Purpose. The Countryman at last, wearied out
+with his Endeavours to save an obstinate Beast against his own will, and
+having probably received some Thanks from his Heels for his intended
+kindness, instead of pulling any longer, gave the Ass a Push, and
+tumbled him headlong down the Precipice which he had been so
+industriously pursuing."
+
+'I make no doubt but many of our good Enemies the Whigs, who have well
+imitated this Countryman in the former part of his Behaviour, would
+imitate him likewise in the latter, was it not that they cannot
+precipitate us without tumbling down themselves at the same time.
+
+'These are the Mysteries, then, which have been couched under my
+Frontispiece, and which, tho' their meaning must now appear to have been
+so plain, have nevertheless stood exposed so long at the Head of this
+Journal, without having been, as I can find, understood by any.
+
+'Perhaps I shall be asked, why I have now displaced them, since, after
+so large and full an Explanation, they cannot fail of being highly
+agreeable to that Party for whose use chiefly this Paper is calculated;
+and who would, for the future, worship my Ass with the same Veneration
+with which the _Jews_ of old did theirs.
+
+'Now, tho' the Indignation which I have exprest in the Beginning of this
+Essay at the many gross and absurd Misconceptions which have been vented
+by the Public, would alone very well justify the Discontinuance of my
+Emblem so much abused, there are, to say the Truth, two other Reasons
+which have had a stronger Weight with me in producing this
+Determination. The former of these is, that the Ass and his Retinue do
+indeed take up too much room, and must oblige us either to suppress Part
+of our Lucubrations, or some of those material articles of News which we
+weekly transcribe from others; or lastly those pieces of Intelligence
+called Advertisements, which tho' not always most entertaining to our
+Reader, do afford very agreeable Entertainment to ourselves.
+
+'A second and a very strong Motive with us, is to lend all the
+Assistance in our Power to a very worthy and willing, tho' weak Brother,
+the learned and facetious Novelist, Mr. _Carte_; whose great Romance,
+tho' in our Court of Criticism, where we shall always act impartially,
+we have been obliged like other Judges, to condemn, contrary to our own
+Inclinations, to be grubb'd, we shall always privately esteem as a work
+calculated solely for the use of our Party. As we have therefore, to our
+great Concern, received very credible Information that the said work
+begins already to be considered only as a Heap of Waste Paper, we have
+thought proper to lend our Frontispiece to our good Brother, in order
+that it may be prefixed to the future Volumes of that great Work
+advising him to omit the words _London Evening Post_, and to insert
+_English History_ in their stead. This will not fail of greatly
+recommending his Performance to our Party, who never willingly read
+anything but what an Ass may at least be supposed to have bray'd.
+
+'I could wish, moreover, that the learned Novelist would take our Advice
+in another Instance, and for the future deal forth his excellent work in
+weekly Portions or Numbers; I do not mean in such a Form as the real
+History of _England_ is now publishing by Mr. Waller; but in the same
+manner with those true and delectable Histories of _Argalus_ and
+_Parthenia_, _Guy_, Earl of _Warwick_, the _Seven Champions_, &c., in
+which Form, at the price of 1d. each, when embellished by our
+Frontispiece, I make no doubt of assuring him as universal a Sale as the
+inimitable Adventures of _Robinson Crusoe_ formerly had throughout this
+Kingdom.'
+
+The 'Mr. Carte' to whom Fielding proposed to lend his 'Frontispiece' was
+Thomas Carte, the historian, who had just brought out the first volume
+of his _History of England_, in which he showed such decided Jacobite
+predilections that his work was ruined in consequence. He professed to
+be acquainted with the case of a person who had been cured of the King's
+Evil by the Pretender, then an exile in France, and this so disgusted
+many of the subscribers to his book that they withdrew their names and
+abandoned the author and his work together. He, however, brought out two
+more volumes, and a fourth was published after his death. It was
+probably in allusion to this story of the Pretender curing the King's
+Evil that Fielding speaks of Carte as 'the learned and facetious
+novelist;' and doubtless the 'great Romance' referred to was intended
+for his history of England. Fielding and Carte both died in the same
+year, 1754.
+
+[Illustration: PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF FORT FOURAS, AS IT APPEARED IN THE
+SHIPS FROM THE CHARENTE, FROM 'OWEN'S WEEKLY CHRONICLE,' 1758.]
+
+During the next ten years I have found no illustrations in the
+newspapers of that period. In 1758 there was a newspaper published
+entitled _Owen's Weekly Chronicle, or Universal Journal_, a sheet of
+eight pages, size of the _Athenæum_, price two-pence halfpenny. About
+this time the English Government, in carrying on the war against France,
+despatched several expeditions to the French coast, none of which
+redounded much to the credit of the British arms. One of these
+expeditions was against Rochfort, and it turned out a failure, which
+caused much dissatisfaction. _Owen's Weekly Chronicle_ for June 3, 1758,
+published a long article on the subject, illustrated with a woodcut view
+of Fort Fouras. The writer concludes, with true newspaper vehemence, in
+the following words:--'Where is the glory of the British name? Where are
+the terrors that used to accompany our fleets and armies? Let it not be
+said the treasures of the country are poured forth in vain by an united
+and willing people; that our enemies are become invulnerable; and every
+blow our Ministers meditate impracticable. The Duke of Marlborough and
+Lord George Sackville are gone with Lord Anson and Sir Edward Hawke upon
+the present grand expedition; and we hope their courage and experience
+will revive the sinking honour of their country; and show that France is
+both vulnerable and impotent when the power of Britain is properly
+exerted.' Unfortunately, the sinking honour of the country was not much
+revived by the 'grand expedition' here referred to; for, after an
+ineffectual attempt on St. Maloes, the Duke of Marlborough embarked in
+such haste that he left his tea-spoons behind him: and these were
+afterwards sent home in a cartel-ship by the Duke d'Aiguillon in polite
+contempt. I have copied the woodcut above referred to, which is
+entitled, 'A Perspective view of Fort Fouras as it appeared in the ships
+from the Charente,' and the following description is given of
+it:--'Fouras was the tower of an old parish church, which, soon after
+the foundation of Rochefort, in 1688, Louis XIV. purchased of the
+proprietors to make a Tour de Garde, for repeating signals from the
+Isles of Oleron and Aix up to Rochefort, which is one of its present
+uses. A fort and garrison being established in the isle of Aix, Fouras
+was found to be the nearest and most secure communication in all
+weathers with that island; so that in process of time barracks and
+lodgments were built therein, and it was fortified to the sea by a
+strait curtain.'
+
+For the view of Fort Fouras _Owen's Weekly Chronicle_ must have been
+indebted to some one on board one of the British ships. Naval and
+military officers in all parts of the world are among the most valued
+correspondents of the modern illustrated newspaper; and it is
+interesting to notice that so long ago as the taking of Porto Bello and
+the attack on Rochefort there were men engaged in those expeditions
+whose spirit and intelligence prompted them to supply the newspapers of
+the day with sketches and information. The view of Fort Fouras is the
+earliest attempt I have seen in a newspaper to give a pictorial
+representation of a place in connexion with news.
+
+Wood-engraving was the only cheap method of illustration within the
+reach of newspapers, but the art barely existed at this time. The few
+woodcuts published in newspapers were not only coarsely and rudely
+executed, but sometimes the efforts of the illustrator did not get
+beyond a rough plan or map, and even this, as I have before remarked,
+was not always engraved. In further confirmation of this statement I may
+refer to _Lloyd's Evening Post_ of April 17, 1765, where one of the
+pages is taken up with a plan representing the trial of a Peer in
+Westminster Hall. This is done entirely with lines, type, and printer's
+ornaments. Although there is no account given of this trial in _Lloyd's
+Evening Post_, the plan must have referred to the case of Lord Byron,
+who was tried in Westminster Hall for the murder of Mr. Chaworth, April
+16 and 17, 1765.
+
+In the winter of 1764-5 a strange wild beast was said to have appeared
+in France, devouring women and children, and spreading dismay and terror
+through the whole of Languedoc. What this ferocious creature was, or
+whence it came, no one knew; but the fear inspired by its presence was
+universal. The district which it specially haunted procured for it the
+name of the Wild Beast of the Gévaudan, by which designation it became
+famous not only in the South of France but throughout the country, and
+even in foreign lands. The earliest account of this ferocious monster
+appeared in the official journal of Paris in the following words:--
+
+'A very strange wild beast has lately appeared in the neighbourhood of
+Langagne and the forest of Mercoire which has occasioned great
+commotion. It has already devoured twenty persons, chiefly children, and
+particularly young girls, and scarcely a day passes without some
+accident. The terror he occasions prevents the woodcutters from working
+in the forests; so that wood has become dear. Those who have seen him
+say he is much higher than a wolf, low before, and his feet are armed
+with talons. His hair is reddish, his head large, and the muzzle of it
+is shaped like that of a greyhound; his ears are small and straight; his
+breast is wide, and of a grey colour; his back streaked with black; and
+his mouth, which is large, is provided with a set of teeth so very sharp
+that they have taken off several heads as clean as a razor could have
+done. He is of amazing swiftness; but, when he aims at his prey, he
+crouches so close to the ground, that he hardly appears to be bigger
+than a large fox; and at the distance of some one or two toises, he
+rises upon his hind legs and springs upon his prey, seizing it by the
+neck or throat. He is afraid of oxen, which he runs away from. The
+consternation is dreadful throughout the district where he commits his
+ravages, and public prayers are offered up on the occasion. The Marquis
+de Marangis has sent out four hundred peasants to destroy this fierce
+beast; but they have not been able to do it.'
+
+In spite of the efforts made to capture or destroy it the wild beast of
+the Gévaudan continued its ravages. In a letter from Meude, dated
+December 21, 1764, it is stated, 'The wild beast, which hath ravaged
+several provinces, has been for some time in ours. He was seen a few
+days ago near St. Flour, ten leagues from hence, and he is now in our
+neighbourhood. The day before yesterday he devoured a little girl who
+looked after cattle. A detachment of dragoons has been out six weeks
+after him. The province has offered a thousand crowns to any person who
+will kill him.' On the 8th of February, 1765, the following statement
+was sent from Montpellier:--'On the 12th ultimo the wild beast attacked
+seven children, five boys and two girls, none of whom exceeded eleven
+years of age. The beast flew at one of the boys; but the three eldest of
+them by beating him with stakes, the ends of which were iron, obliged
+him to retire, after having bitten off a part of the boy's cheek, which
+he ate before them. He then seized another of the children; but they
+pursued him into a marsh which was close by, where he sunk in up to his
+belly. By continually beating him, they rescued their companion; who,
+though he was under his paw for some time, received only a wound in his
+arm, and a scratch in the face. A man at last coming up, the creature
+was put to flight. He afterwards devoured a boy at Mazel, and, on the
+21st, flew on a girl, who, however, escaped with some dangerous wounds.
+The next day he attacked a woman, and bit off her head. Captain Duhamel,
+of the dragoons, is in pursuit of him, and has caused several of his men
+to dress themselves in women's apparel, and to accompany the children
+that keep cattle.'
+
+The eyes of all France being fixed upon the doings of this wild beast,
+the attention of Louis the Fifteenth himself was called to the bravery
+of the boys in the preceding account. 'The King having been informed of
+the bravery with which the young Portefaix attacked the beast on the
+12th of January last, at the head of his companions, and being willing
+to reward such gallant behaviour, has given him a recompense of four
+hundred livres, and has ordered three hundred to be distributed among
+his companions.'
+
+The Government also offered a reward for the destruction of the wild
+beast. The following placard was fixed up in all the cities and towns of
+Languedoc:--'By the King and the Intendant of the province of Languedoc.
+Notice is given to all persons, that His Majesty, being justly affected
+by the situation of his subjects now exposed to the ravages of the wild
+beast which for four months past has infested Vivarais and Gévaudan, and
+being desirous to stop the progress of such a calamity, has determined
+to promise a reward of six thousand livres to any person or persons who
+shall kill this animal. Such as are willing to undertake the pursuit of
+him may previously apply to the Sieur de la Fout, sub-deputy to the
+Intendant of Meudes, who will give them the necessary instructions
+agreeably to what has been presented by the ministry on the part of his
+Majesty.'
+
+A letter from Paris dated the 18th of February, 1765, gives the
+following circumstantial description of the wild beast:--
+
+'You know how I acquainted you, some months ago, that Monsieur Bardelle,
+his son and I, designed going by the Diligence, and opening the New Year
+at our old friend Monsieur Dura's chateau, near Babres, in Languedoc. We
+spent the time very agreeably, our host and his family having done all
+in their power to make us welcome. The party broke up and took leave the
+first of this month, amongst whom was Monsieur Lefevre, a counsellor,
+and two young ladies, who were engaged to pass a week at Monsieur de
+Sante's, the curé of Vaistour, about three days' journey distant from
+the chateau of Monsieur Dura. The company went away in a berlingo and
+four, and the footman Michel, on a saddle-horse; the carriage, after the
+manner here, being drawn by four post-horses, with two postilions, the
+berlingo having no coach box. The first night the party lay at Guimpe,
+and set out next morning at nine, to bait half way between that and
+Roteux, being four posts, and a mountainous barren country, as all the
+Gévaudan is. The parish of Guimpe had been greatly alarmed by the
+frequent appearance of, and the horrid destruction made by, the fiery
+animal that has so long been the terror of the Gévaudan, and is now so
+formidable that the inhabitants and travellers are in very great
+apprehension. The bailiff of Guimpe acquainted the party that this
+animal had been often lurking about the chaussée that week, and that it
+would be proper to take an escort of armed men, which would protect the
+carriage; but the gentlemen declined it, and took the ladies under their
+protection, and set out, on the 2nd of February, very cheerfully. When
+they had made about two leagues, they observed at a distance a
+post-chaise, and a man on horseback, coming down the hill of Credi, and
+whipping the horses very much; and at the descent unfortunately the
+wheel-horse fell down, and the postilion was thrown off; whereupon the
+horseman who followed the chaise, advanced to take up the boy, in which
+moment, when he had got down, we perceived the wild beast so often
+described make a jump towards the horses, and on the footman's raising
+his right hand to draw a cutlass and strike the creature, it pricked up
+its ears, stood on its hind feet, and, showing its teeth full of froth,
+turned round and gave the fellow a most violent blow with the swing of
+its tail. The man's face was all over blood; and then the monster,
+seeing the gentleman in the chaise present a blunderbuss at its neck,
+crept on its forehead to the chaise-step, keeping its head almost under
+its forelegs, and getting close to the door, reared upright, vaulted
+into the inside, broke through the other side-glass, and ran at a great
+rate to the adjoining wood. The blunderbuss missed fire, or it is
+possible this had been the last day this brute-disturber had moved. The
+stench left in the carriage was past description, and no cure of burning
+frankincense, nor any other method removed, but rather increased the
+stink, so that it was sold for two louis; and though burned to ashes,
+the cinders were obliged, by order of a commissary, to be buried without
+the town walls. We came up very well in time; for the beast would
+doubtless have destroyed some one, had it not espied three of us
+advancing with guns. It certainly jumped through the chaise to get away
+from us.'
+
+These accounts appear to have been received with some incredulity
+abroad. In the same number of _Lloyd's Evening Post_ that contains the
+plan of Lord Byron's trial there occurs the following passage about this
+curious wild beast: 'One of the Dutch Gazetteers by Monday's mail
+says:--"The accounts of the wild beast seen in the Gévaudan are of such
+a nature that it is hardly possible to give any credit thereto, and yet
+most of them have appeared in the _Paris Gazette_, a paper whose
+authors, known to be men of letters, are too judicious to be suspected
+of credulity, too prudent, too well informed of what passes at the Court
+of the King their master, one should think, to attribute to his Most
+Christian Majesty a reward for an action which never had any
+existence--an action which was only a fable."' This is, no doubt, an
+allusion to the reward of 400 livres bestowed upon the boys who beat off
+the ferocious monster.
+
+While the interest and excitement about this terrible wild beast was at
+the highest, the _St. James's Chronicle_ published an engraving and
+description of it. The _St. James's Chronicle; or the British Evening
+Post_, was a folio of four pages, published three times a-week, price
+twopence-halfpenny. In the number for June 6, 1765, there is printed the
+following description and woodcut:--
+
+'For the _St. James's Chronicle_.
+
+'Of this beast, which has already devoured upwards of seventy Persons
+and spread Terrour and Desolation throughout the whole Gévaudan, the
+Sieur de la Chaumette, who lately wounded it, has given us the following
+Description. It is larger than a Calf of a year old, strongly made
+before, and turned like a Grayhound behind. His Nose is long and
+pointed, his Ears upright and smaller than a wolf's, his Mouth of a most
+enormous size, and always wide open; a Streak of Black runs from his
+Shoulders to the Beginning of his Tail. His Paws are very large and
+strong; the Hair on his Back and Mane thick, bristly, and erect; his
+Tail long and terminating in a Bush, like that of a Lion; his Eyes
+small, fierce, and fiery. From this description it appears that he is
+neither a Wolf, Tiger, nor Hyena, but probably a Mongrel, generated
+between the two last, and forming, as it were, a new Species. All the
+accounts lately received agree in assuring that there are several of
+them.'
+
+[Illustration: STRANGE WILD BEAST SEEN IN FRANCE. FROM THE 'ST. JAMES'S
+CHRONICLE,' 1765.]
+
+The _St. James's Chronicle_ does not state from whence the portrait was
+obtained. A representation of the wild beast of the Gévaudan was sent in
+April, 1765, to the Intendant of Alençon, and a description of that
+picture corresponds with the woodcut in the _St. James's Chronicle_, so
+that the latter was probably a copy of the former.
+
+About three months after the publication of the woodcut and description
+in the _St. James's Chronicle_, the career of this much dreaded animal
+was brought to a close. On Sept. 20th, 1765, it was encountered in the
+wood of Pommières by a certain Monsieur Beauterme, a gentleman of a
+distant province and noted as a successful hunter. He had come into the
+district on purpose to seek out this notorious wild beast, and having
+found it, shot it in the eye at the distance of about fifty paces. The
+animal, however, though wounded, showed fight, and was rushing on
+Monsieur Beauterme with great fury, when he was finally dispatched by a
+gamekeeper named Reinhard.
+
+Several inhabitants of the Gévaudan who had been attacked by the beast
+declared it to be the same which had caused such consternation in the
+country, and Monsieur Beauterme set out with the body to Versailles in
+order to present it to the King. The animal was found to be thirty-two
+inches high, and five feet seven and a half inches long including the
+tail. The surgeon who dissected the body said it was more of a hyena
+than a wolf, its teeth being forty in number, whereas wolves have but
+twenty-six. The muscles of the neck were very strong; its sides so
+formed that it could bend its head to its tail; its eyes sparkled so
+with fire that it was hardly possible to bear its look. Its tail was
+very large, broad, and thick, and bristled with black hair, and its feet
+armed with claws extremely strong and singular.
+
+In Paris it was thought that this mysterious animal was a cross between
+a tiger and a lioness, and had been brought into France to be shown as a
+curiosity. It is not unlikely that it had escaped from some travelling
+show, and was probably a hyena. The imagination of the country people
+would easily transform it into any shape suggested by their terrors.
+That such fancies easily begin and rapidly grow was proved in the case
+of Captain Sir Allan Young's pet Esquimaux dog, which was either stolen
+or wandered from the Arctic ship _Pandora_ as she lay in Southampton
+harbour after returning from the Polar regions. Quite a panic arose in
+that part of Hampshire where this most valuable and harmless animal was
+wandering about, and every sort of story was circulated of the ravages
+and dangers the country was exposed to. The people began to think that
+besides their sheep and pigs their children were in danger. Some said it
+was a gigantic black fox, others that it was a Canadian wolf.
+Expeditions were organized to attack it, and after being chased for some
+miles by people on horseback, it was ultimately shot and exhibited at
+sixpence a head in Winchester market-place. There could be no doubt
+about the dog's identity, for Sir Allan Young afterwards got back his
+skin.
+
+Before concluding my sketch of illustrated journalism in the eighteenth
+century I must refer to a class of publication that possessed many of
+the characteristics of the newspaper, without exactly belonging to that
+category. This kind of journal is represented by the _Gentleman's
+Magazine_; but, although Edward Cave considered himself the inventor of
+the magazine form of publication, the _Gentleman's Magazine_ was not the
+first journal of the kind. Nearly forty years before it came into
+existence a monthly publication was started in London with the following
+title:--'_The Gentleman's Journal; or, the Monthly Miscellany_. _By way
+of Letter to a Gentleman in the country, consisting of News, History,
+Philosophy, Poetry, Music, Translations, &c. January_, 169½.' Its
+projector and editor was a refugee Frenchman, one Peter Anthony Motteux,
+and the design appears to have met with considerable success, but it did
+not last more than four years.
+
+In the second number of the _Gentleman's Journal_ appeared the
+following:--'The author desires to be excused for not answering the many
+ingenious letters that have been sent to him that he may have the more
+time to apply himself to this journal; he judges that he answers them
+enough when he follows the advice they give him, or inserts what is sent
+to him, which he will always be very careful to do. But such things as
+any way reflect upon particular persons, or are either against religion
+or good manners, he cannot insert. He will take care to settle
+correspondence both abroad and at home, to inform his readers of all
+that may be most worthy their knowledge; and if anything offers itself
+that deserves to be engraved, he will get it done. But it being
+impossible he should know by himself a thousand things which the publick
+would gladly know, such persons as have anything to communicate may be
+pleased to send it to him, at the Black Boy Coffee House in Ave Maria
+Lane, not forgetting to discharge the postage.'
+
+It would appear by the above that Peter Anthony Motteux had a vague
+perception that engravings might increase the attractions of his
+journal; but it does not seem that much came in his way that 'deserved
+to be engraved.' I have found only two small woodcuts in the
+_Gentleman's Journal_. They both occur in the volume for 1694. One is a
+representation of snow crystals, and the other is a diagram of a mock
+sun.
+
+Motteux tells us that his journal was patronised by the Queen, and was
+much favoured by the ladies generally. He had amongst his contributors
+Dryden, Matthew Prior, Sedley, and Tom Durfey. Charles Wesley, brother
+of the famous John, sent serious verses, as did also Tate, of 'Tate and
+Brady' celebrity. All these contributions were introduced into a long
+letter, which, as the title indicates, was the shape in which the
+_Gentleman's Journal_ was written, and in this respect it was modelled
+upon the early manuscript newsletters.
+
+Peter Anthony Motteux, the editor of the first English magazine, was
+also the author of several songs, plays, and prologues, and he also
+published a translation of _Don Quixote_. He kept a large East India
+warehouse in Leadenhall Street, and afterwards obtained a situation in
+the Post Office. He was found dead on the morning of his fifty-eighth
+birthday, in a low drinking-house in Butchers' Row, near Temple Bar, and
+had either been murdered or had lost his life in a drunken frolic. The
+_London Gazette_ of the succeeding week contained the offer of a reward
+of fifty pounds for the discovery of the murderer, and the King's pardon
+to any but the actual criminal; but the mystery was never cleared up,
+and the bones of the clever exiled Frenchman lie unavenged and forgotten
+in the vaults of St. Andrew Undershaft, Leadenhall Street, celebrated
+amongst City churches as the burial-place of John Stowe.[1]
+
+Edward Cave, the early patron and friend of Dr. Johnson, projected and
+brought out the _Gentleman's Magazine_ in 1731. It was printed at St.
+John's Gate, Clerkenwell, a view of which place embellished its
+title-page.
+
+The full title was, '_The Gentleman's Magazine, or Monthly
+Intelligencer_, containing Essays, Controversial, Humorous, and
+Satirical; Religious, Moral, and Political; collected chiefly from the
+Publick Papers. Select Pieces of Poetry. A Succinct Account of the most
+remarkable Transactions and Events, Foreign and Domestick. Births,
+Marriages, Deaths, Promotions, and Bankrupts. The Prices of Goods and
+Stocks, and Bill of Mortality. A Register of Books. Observations on
+Gardening.' It will thus be seen that the Magazine possessed many of the
+characteristics of a newspaper. On the front page of the earlier numbers
+were printed the names of the various newspapers from which it derived
+its information. It was some time before illustrations began to appear.
+The most important subjects were engraved on copper, and rough woodcuts
+were sprinkled here and there among the type. Sometimes the most
+incongruous subjects were engraved on the same plate, such as the
+section of a man-of-war and the figure of a locust. There was
+occasionally an illustration of news, as in the volume for 1746, where
+there is a map of the country round Carlisle, showing the route of the
+Scottish rebels; and in the same volume there is a portrait of Lord
+Lovat. The frontispiece to this volume is a portrait of the Duke of
+Cumberland, with the motto _Ecce Homo_. Portraits, plans, and bird's-eye
+views are of frequent occurrence. In the volume for 1747 is a very
+elaborate bird's-eye view of the city of Genoa, illustrating an account
+of an insurrection there. The same volume contains a view of Mount
+Vesuvius, with a description of the last great eruption. In the volume
+for 1748 are views of Amsterdam, the Mansion House, London, Greenwich
+Hospital, the Foundling Hospital, &c. The volume for 1749 contains an
+engraving of the fireworks on the occasion of the Peace, and views of
+Blenheim House and Covent Garden. In the volume for 1750 there is a
+woodcut with 'J. Cave sc.' in the corner. This was probably a son or
+some other relative of the proprietor, who was either in training as an
+engraver, or was trying his hand merely as an amateur. His name does not
+appear again, and I have never met with it elsewhere in connexion with
+the art of wood-engraving.
+
+In the number for November, 1750, there occurs the following amongst the
+list of deaths:--'Mr. Edward Bright, at Malden in Essex, aged 30; he was
+supposed to be the largest man living, or perhaps that ever lived in
+this island. He weighed 42 stone and a half, horseman's weight; and not
+being very tall, his body was of an astonishing bulk, and his legs were
+as big as a middling man's body. He was an active man till a year or two
+before his death, when his corpulency so overpowered his strength that
+his life was a burthen, and his death a deliverance. His coffin was
+three feet six inches over the shoulders, six feet seven inches long,
+and three feet deep; a way was cut thro' the wall and staircase, to let
+the corpse down into the shop; it was drawn upon a carriage to the
+church, and let down into the vault by the help of a slider and
+pulleys.' In the number for the following February there is a woodcut of
+Mr. Bright, and the reader is referred back to the November number for
+the above description. This seems to show that the _Gentleman's
+Magazine_ did not consider it of vital importance, in illustrating news,
+to follow very close upon the heels of events. I have copied this
+engraving as a specimen of the woodcut illustrations of the _Magazine_.
+
+[Illustration: EDWARD BRIGHT. WEIGHT 42½ STONE. FROM THE 'GENTLEMAN'S
+MAGAZINE' FOR FEBRUARY, 1751.]
+
+The _Gentleman's Magazine_ attracted the notice and admiration of Dr.
+Johnson before he came to London as a literary adventurer. He afterwards
+became a regular contributor to its pages, and for many years it was his
+principal source of income. His first contribution was a complimentary
+Latin poem addressed to Sylvanus Urban, and when Cave died Johnson wrote
+an account of him in the magazine. Dr. Johnson told Boswell 'that when
+he first saw St. John's Gate, the place where that deservedly popular
+miscellany was originally printed, he "beheld it with reverence."'
+
+Edward Cave was born at Newton, in Warwickshire, Feb. 29th, 1691; he
+died Jan. 10th, 1754. 'He was peculiarly fortunate,' says Boswell, 'in
+being recorded by Johnson; who of the narrow life of a printer and
+publisher, without any digressions or adventitious circumstances, has
+made an interesting and agreeable narrative.'
+
+The _Gentleman's Magazine_ still exists, but retains nothing of its
+original character beyond the name.
+
+Within a year the success of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ brought into
+being the _London Magazine_, and, in 1739, the _Scots Magazine_,
+published in Edinburgh. In the second volume of the latter, under date
+March, 1740, there is a larger version of the woodcut of the taking of
+Porto Bello, already described. The account also is given, quoted,
+however, from the _London Evening Post_, and not from the _Daily Post_,
+where the woodcut appeared. Maps, plans, and views of places
+occasionally occur in other volumes of the _Scots Magazine_. In vol.
+iii. there is a plan of the harbour, city, and forts of Cartagena, and
+the number for July, 1743, contains a plan of the battle of Dettingen.
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+  [1] _New Quarterly Magazine_, January, 1878.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+  Revival of Wood-engraving by Thomas Bewick--The _Observer_ started,
+  1791--The _Times_ an Illustrated Paper--Illustrations of News in the
+  _Observer_--St. Helena and Napoleon Bonaparte--Abraham Thornton and
+  the 'Assize of Battle'--Mr. William Clement and Illustrated
+  Journalism--The Cato Street Conspiracy--Trial of Queen Caroline--The
+  House of Commons in 1821--Coronation of George IV.--Royal Visits to
+  Ireland and Scotland--Murder of Mr. Weare--Illustrations of the Murder
+  in the _Morning Chronicle_, the _Observer_, and the
+  _Englishman_--_Bell's Life in London_--Prize-Fight at Warwick--Liston
+  as 'Paul Pry'--'Gallery of Comicalities,' &c.--_Pierce Egan's Life in
+  London_--Death of the Duke of York--Death of Mr. Canning--Opening of
+  Hammersmith Bridge, 1827--Mr. Gurney's Steam Coach--The Thames
+  Tunnel--The Murder in the Red Barn--The Siamese Twins--Death of George
+  IV.--Opening of New London Bridge, 1831--Coronation of William IV. and
+  Queen Adelaide--Fieschi's Infernal Machine--Funeral of William
+  IV.--Queen Victoria's First Visit to the City--Coronation and Marriage
+  of the Queen--Christening of the Prince of Wales--_The Weekly
+  Chronicle_--The Greenacre Murder--Mr. Cocking and his Parachute--The
+  Courtney Riots at Canterbury--Burning of the Tower of London,
+  1841--_The Sunday Times_--Burning of the Houses of Parliament,
+  1834--_The Champion_--_The Weekly Herald_--_The Magnet_--Removing the
+  Body of Napoleon I.--_The Penny Magazine_--Charles Knight--Humorous
+  Journalism of the Victorian Era.
+
+
+There appears to have been little or nothing done in the way of
+illustrated journalism during the remaining years of the eighteenth
+century. It was during this period that Thomas Bewick revived the almost
+extinct art of wood-engraving, and about the time he brought out the
+first of his illustrated natural history books a weekly newspaper was
+started in London which afterwards became the pioneer of modern
+illustrated journalism. This was the _Observer_, the first number of
+which came out on Sunday, Dec. 4th, 1791. It is the oldest of our
+existing weekly newspapers, and is one of the rare instances of a
+Sunday paper becoming established.[1] Many years had to elapse before
+wood-engraving began to be used as a means of popular illustration; but
+when some of Bewick's numerous pupils began to diffuse the fruits of
+their master's teaching the _Observer_ was the first newspaper that
+availed itself of the restored art. Before this, however, there were
+symptoms of the reawakening of a dormant idea. In looking back to the
+early years of the present century it is curious and interesting to
+notice that the _Times_ was occasionally an illustrated paper. The
+battle of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson stirred the national heart
+to such a degree that the _Times_ of that day was induced to introduce
+into its pages engravings of Nelson's coffin and funeral car, when the
+hero's remains were carried to St. Paul's. In the number for Jan. 10th,
+1806, there is an account of the State funeral, which is illustrated
+with the above-named woodcuts. They are very rudely executed, and
+plainly show that the influence of Bewick's labours had not yet
+penetrated into the region of journalism. Annexed is a copy of what the
+_Times_ of 1806 presented to the public in response to the intense
+interest felt by the whole of the British nation about Nelson's death
+and funeral. It is a noteworthy example of renewed effort in the
+direction of illustrated news at a time when insufficient means of
+production clogged the spirit of enterprise. Like the _Swedish
+Intelligencer_ of 1632, the _Times_ did not hesitate to point out its
+shortcomings in the following notice at the foot of the engraving:--'The
+only difference in the appearance of the Funeral Car from the engraving
+is, that, contrary to what was at first intended, neither the pall nor
+coronet appeared on the coffin. The first was thrown in the stern of the
+Car, in order to give the public a complete view of the coffin; and
+the coronet was carried in a mourning-coach. We had not time to make the
+alteration.'
+
+[Illustration: NELSON'S FUNERAL CAR. FROM THE 'TIMES,' JAN. 10, 1806.]
+
+To the above engraving the following description was appended:--'The
+Car, modelled at the ends in imitation of the hull of the Victory. Its
+head towards the horses, was ornamented with a figure of Fame. The stern
+carved and painted in the naval style, with the word "Victory" in yellow
+raised letters on the lanthorn over the poop. The coffin placed on the
+quarterdeck with its head towards the stern, with the English Jack
+pendent over the poop lowered half-staff. There was an awning over the
+whole, consisting of an elegant canopy supported by four pillars, in the
+form of palm-trees, as we have already mentioned, and partly covered
+with black velvet. The corners and sides were decorated with black
+ostrich feathers, and festooned with black velvet, richly fringed,
+immediately above which, in the front, was inscribed in gold the word
+"Nile" at one end; on one side the following motto, "Hoste devicto,
+requievit;" behind was the word "Trafalgar;" and on the other side the
+motto "Palmam qui meruit ferat," as in the engraving. The carriage was
+drawn by six led horses, in elegant furniture.'
+
+In 1817 the _Times_ also illustrated the projects of Robert Owen, who
+laboured long and ardently to promote the doctrines of Socialism. In the
+number for Aug. 9th, 1817, there is a large woodcut called Robert Owen's
+agricultural and manufacturing villages of Unity and Mutual Cooperation.
+In those days a page of the _Times_ was not so valuable as it is now, or
+probably the enthusiastic Socialist would not have found it so easy to
+enlist that journal in helping to propagate his doctrines. In 1834 Owen
+made in London another attempt to put in practice the principles he had
+so long advocated. He died in 1858, aged ninety.
+
+I have mentioned that the _Observer_ was the first newspaper that
+availed itself of the revived art of wood-engraving; but it had
+previously essayed the then difficult task of illustrating the news of
+the day by the more costly means of engraving on copper. The island of
+St. Helena having been selected as the place of residence of Napoleon
+Bonaparte, the _Observer_ of Oct. 29th, 1815, published a large
+copperplate view of the island, with a descriptive account. The plate is
+printed on the same page with the letterpress, so that there must have
+been two printings to produce this specimen of illustrated news. Three
+years later the _Observer_ produced another copperplate example of news
+illustration, also printed on the letterpress page. This was a portrait
+of Abraham Thornton, whose remarkable case attracted much public
+attention. He was tried for the murder of a young woman, Mary Ashford,
+with whom he was known to be acquainted, and in whose company he was
+seen shortly before her death. He was, however, acquitted, the jury
+probably believing it to be a case of suicide. The brother of the girl
+then appealed, and Thornton claimed his right to defend himself by wager
+of battle. This claim was allowed, after long arguments before the
+judges. It was found, much to the surprise of the general public, that
+by the law of England a man in an appeal of murder might demand the
+combat, thereby to make proof of his guilt or innocence. In the present
+case the girl's brother refused the challenge, and Thornton escaped.
+This was the last appeal to the 'Assize of Battle' in this country; and
+the attention of the Legislature being drawn to the obsolete statute, it
+was repealed by 59 Geo. III., 1819. It was during the progress of the
+arguments in this case, and while the public interest was very great,
+that the _Observer_ published the portrait of the accused.
+
+After this the _Observer_ became remarkable for its illustrations of
+news. Mr. William Clement, the proprietor, was a man who early saw the
+attractiveness of illustrated journalism. I am not aware when he first
+became associated with the _Observer_; but under his management frequent
+illustrations of news were given in that paper. In 1820 _Bell's Life in
+London_ was started, and very soon Mr. Clement became the proprietor of
+that paper also. In 1821 he purchased the _Morning Chronicle_, which,
+however, turned out a bad speculation. Having invested a very large sum
+of money in the latter paper, Mr. Clement spared no effort to make it
+profitable, and the _Observer_ was neglected. It suffered in
+consequence, and fell in circulation. Frequently the illustrations of
+news that were printed in the _Observer_ were published the day
+previously in the _Chronicle_. They were also occasionally printed in
+_Bell's Life_ and the _Englishman_, a fourth paper belonging to Mr.
+Clement. All four papers were carried on together; but it is the
+_Observer_ that stands out as the prominent representative of
+illustrated journalism at this period. Other journals came into
+existence which took up the idea of illustrating the news of the day;
+among them the _Sunday Times_, started by Daniel Whittle Harvey in 1822,
+when he was member for Colchester. Another paper which for a time
+rivalled, if it did not excel, the _Observer_ in the frequency of its
+news illustrations was the _Weekly Chronicle_. It flourished a few years
+before the birth of the _Illustrated London News_, but has long been
+extinct. Mr. Clement sold the _Morning Chronicle_ in 1834, and soon
+restored the _Observer_ to its old position. The _Morning Chronicle_
+started in 1769 and expired in 1864. The _Englishman_ has long been
+defunct, but I am not acquainted with the date of its disappearance.
+There was a paper called the _Englishman_ in 1714, and the name was
+again revived by the late Dr. Kenealy.
+
+The _Observer_ and _Bell's Life_ were both published at the same office
+for many years, but their companionship was terminated in 1877, when
+they left the office in the Strand where they had so long lived amicably
+together, the great sporting journal migrating to Catherine Street, and
+the _Observer_ seeking a new home in the Strand further west.
+
+One or two other newspapers occasionally published engravings during the
+few years immediately preceding the _Illustrated London News_, and of
+them I will speak in the proper place. The most prominent, however,
+were the _Observer_, _Bell's Life in London_, and the _Weekly
+Chronicle_, and to these three I propose first to direct attention as
+being the main supporters of the pictorial spirit until it culminated in
+the _Illustrated London News_. It was during the ten years preceding
+1842 that the founder of that journal noticed the growing inclination of
+the people for illustrated news, and it was chiefly in the pages of the
+_Observer_ and the _Weekly Chronicle_ that he thought he saw the growth
+of a hitherto uncultivated germ.
+
+In 1820 all England was startled by the discovery of a mysterious plot
+of some political desperadoes who planned the assassination of the
+Ministers of the Crown and the overthrow of the Government. This came to
+be known as the Cato Street Conspiracy, the place of meeting of the
+conspirators being in Cato Street, Marylebone. The extravagance of the
+Prince Regent, the high price of bread, and the heavy taxation, had
+brought about a feeling of discontent among the lower orders which,
+unhappily, was greatly increased by the Spa Fields riots, and the
+collision between the soldiers and the people in Lancashire, at what was
+called the massacre of Peterloo. Thistlewood, the leader of the
+conspirators, had already been tried for treasonable practices, but
+acquitted. He had also been in trouble for his connexion with the Spa
+Fields riots. The sanguinary plan of the conspirators was to murder the
+Cabinet Ministers while they were all assembled at dinner at Lord
+Harrowby's house in Grosvenor Square. They were to seize certain pieces
+of cannon, take the Bank of England, destroy the telegraph to Woolwich,
+set fire to different parts of London, and then establish a provisional
+government at the Mansion House, sending emissaries to the outports to
+prevent the escape of obnoxious persons. They reckoned on large numbers
+of the discontented joining them as soon as they had destroyed the
+tyrants and oppressors of the people, as they termed the Ministers. They
+had provided pikes, pistols, sabres, knives, blunderbusses, and
+hand-grenades; and one of the gang, a butcher, had furnished himself
+with a heavy butcher's knife, to cut off the heads of 'Castlereagh and
+the rest as he came at them.' Adams, one of their number, turned
+informer, and the conspirators were surprised by the police at their
+meeting-place in Cato Street. After a conflict in which one of the
+police-officers was killed, several of the gang were secured, and others
+were taken soon afterwards. Thistlewood, the leader, escaped in the
+first rush, but was captured next day.
+
+The place where the seizure was made is described as a hayloft over a
+deserted stable with a step-ladder leading from the stable to the loft
+above, with two apertures in the floor of the loft, opening on the racks
+in the stable below; opening from the loft were two small inner rooms.
+On the evening of the 23rd of February, 1820, the conspirators were
+assembled in this stable, where they were arming themselves for the
+bloody work they had planned, when the police, aided by a party of the
+Coldstream Guards under Lieut. Fitzclarence, broke in upon them.
+Police-officers Ruthven, Ellice, and Smithers, were the first to mount
+the ladder, and enter the loft.
+
+'There were about five-and-twenty men in the room, eating bread and
+cheese, and drinking porter, or selecting arms from a long carpenter's
+bench which stood close by the wall. Just at that juncture, Thistlewood,
+hearing a noise, and some one calling, "Hallo! Show a light!" took a
+candle, and looked down the stairs to see who was coming, and, on seeing
+that there was a surprise, he put the candle back on the bench, seized a
+sword, and with three or four others retreated stealthily to the further
+of the inner rooms--the one that had a window looking out into Cato
+Street. At that moment one of the men seized below called out to warn
+his comrades, "Look out there above!"
+
+'At the same time, two of the constables, at first almost unnoticed,
+appeared at the top of the ladder, and presenting their pistols, said,
+"Hallo, is anybody in the room? Here's a pretty nest of you!"
+
+'Then another of the patrol cried, "We are officers; seize their arms."
+
+'And a third, "Gentlemen, we have got a warrant to apprehend you all,
+and as such we hope you will go peaceably."
+
+'Just then Smithers, distrusting further parley, and believing, in his
+staunch way, in promptitude, before the conspirators could discover the
+scantiness of the assailing numbers, or could muster courage to use
+their arms, cried, "Let me come forward," and pushed towards the door of
+the inner room, where Thistlewood stood thrusting with a very long
+sword. The leader of the conspirators instantly rushed forward, and
+struck Smithers through his right side. The constable threw up his
+hands, his head fell back, he staggered against Ruthven, cried, "O my
+God, I am done!" and fell dead near the opening of the stairs. Ellice
+held up his staff at Thistlewood, and threatened to fire with the pistol
+in his right hand, unless he instantly surrendered. The lights were
+immediately dashed out, and a voice cried in the darkness, "Kill the
+---- at once! Throw them down-stairs! Kill them!"
+
+'Then there were twenty or thirty pistol-shots fired, and a tremendous
+headlong rush was made at the stairs, driving the Bow Street men
+backwards; the conspirators leaping down into the manger through the
+holes in the floor, or by the window, others firing at the officers on
+the stairs, or up through the manger, all making for the archway in John
+Street.'[2]
+
+It would appear the conspirators were closely watched for some time
+before they were arrested. Indeed, it was suspected that Government
+emissaries were employed to foment the conspiracy in order that a
+terrible example might be made for the benefit of the disaffected.
+However this may have been, the plot excited the most intense interest
+among all classes. Thistlewood and the other prisoners were tried at the
+Old Bailey, April 17th, 1820, and found guilty of high treason. Six
+were transported for life, the other five, including Thistlewood, were
+hung on May 1st, and their heads severed from their bodies--the
+quartering, the usual doom of traitors, having been graciously forgiven.
+
+[Illustration: A. Door to the cart-house. B. Door by which the officers
+entered. C. Stable window. D. Loft-door.
+
+STABLE WHERE THE CATO STREET CONSPIRATORS MET. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,'
+MARCH 5TH, 1820.]
+
+The _Observer_ for March 5th, 1820, published some illustrations of the
+Cato Street Conspiracy. One is an exterior view of the stable in Cato
+Street where the conspirators met, which is copied on the opposite page.
+
+[Illustration: SECTION OF GRENADE PREPARED BY THE CATO STREET
+CONSPIRATORS.
+
+FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' MARCH 5TH, 1820.
+
+  A. Cylindrical tin Box containing gunpowder.
+
+  B. Pitched tow.
+
+  C. Bullets, old nails, Spikes, &c.
+
+  D. Tin Tube a Fuze filled with damp powder.]
+
+There was also an interior view of the hayloft, together with sections
+of some of the grenades, daggers, &c., large quantities of which were
+found in the loft.
+
+These cuts, which are roughly done, were reprinted in the _Observer_ for
+March 12th, and two new ones were added, 'Interior view of the Hayloft
+at the moment when Smithers received his Death Wound,' and a view of the
+interior of the stable. They are all interesting as examples of
+illustrated news at a time when the means of producing such things were
+extremely limited.
+
+[Illustration: DAGGER PREPARED BY THE CATO STREET CONSPIRATORS. FROM THE
+'OBSERVER,' MARCH 5TH, 1820.
+
+A. Dagger made out of a bayonet to use singly or on top of a pike
+handle.
+
+B. Dagger with hole in the middle to receive dagger A. when screwed on,
+to be used right and left.
+
+C. Section of the transverse dagger B.]
+
+Mr. Clement, the proprietor of the _Observer_, gave a remarkable proof
+of his enterprising spirit when the Cato Street conspirators were tried.
+At that time newspapers were prohibited under a penalty of 500_l._ from
+publishing reports of cases in the courts of law before they were
+concluded. Mr. Clement, seeing the universal interest excited by the
+trial, determined to publish a report without waiting for the verdict.
+He accordingly sent reporters to the court, and published the whole in
+the _Observer_ before the verdict was given. This was a contempt of
+court for which he expected to have to pay, and, though the penalty was
+duly inflicted, it was never exacted. The _éclat_ attending this
+proceeding was of immense value to the _Observer_, and the sale of that
+number was so great that the proprietor could easily have paid the
+penalty of 500_l._, and he would still have been a gainer.[3]
+
+The Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), whose unhappy marriage with
+Caroline of Brunswick produced so much scandal and excitement in this
+country, had long been separated from his wife, who was residing abroad
+at the time her husband became King. Her Majesty announced her intention
+of returning to England; and though the King's Ministers endeavoured to
+dissuade her from her purpose, she persisted in her resolution, and on
+June 6th, 1820, she landed at Dover. Her journey through London was one
+long triumph, thousands of people escorting her to her temporary
+residence, and giving her the warmest possible welcome, for they looked
+upon her as an ill-used and persecuted woman. The question of omitting
+her name from the Liturgy had been debated in Parliament, and afterwards
+a 'Bill of Pains and Penalties' was brought in, which was in effect
+placing the Queen upon her trial. Contemporary newspapers show what
+intense excitement filled the public mind upon this subject, and how the
+nation ranged itself on the side of the King or Queen--by far the
+greater number being for the latter. Nothing was talked of but the
+'Queen's trial,' and the wrongs and indignities that had been heaped
+upon the head of an innocent woman.
+
+On Aug. 16th, the married ladies of the metropolis presented Her Majesty
+with an address, and three days after the trial commenced, the defence
+being conducted by Mr. Brougham and Mr. Denman. When the Queen attended
+the House of Lords large crowds accompanied her through the streets, and
+manifested by their cries their sympathy for her cause. The Bill of
+Pains and Penalties was carried on a second reading by a majority of
+twenty-eight, but it sank on the third reading to a majority of nine,
+and was finally abandoned owing to the threatening attitude of the
+populace. Great rejoicings ensued, London was illuminated for three
+nights, and on Nov. 29th the Queen went in state to St. Paul's. On this
+occasion William Hone, who had distinguished himself as one of the
+Queen's champions, displayed a transparency at his house on Ludgate
+Hill, which was painted by George Cruikshank, and is engraved in Hone's
+collected pamphlets.
+
+The _Observer_, having to some extent laid itself out for 'illustrated
+news,' the occasion of so much interest and excitement as the Queen's
+trial was not likely to pass unnoticed. Accordingly, we find in the
+number for Sept. 17th, 1820, a large woodcut, entitled, 'A Faithful
+Representation of the Interior of the House of Lords as prepared for the
+Trial of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Caroline.' This was published
+at the time the excitement was at the highest, and no doubt the eager
+public properly appreciated the enterprise of the conductors of the
+paper.
+
+In 1821 the House of Commons contained many notable politicians and
+eminent men who afterwards became leaders and champions among the ranks
+of Whig and Tory. Amongst the most prominent were Canning, Brougham,
+Peel, and Palmerston. The question of Reform was becoming more and more
+pressing, and the House of Commons as then constituted was tottering to
+its fall. The conductors of the _Observer_, ever on the look-out for
+what would interest their readers, published on Jan. 21st, 1821, two
+views of the interior of the House of Commons, one looking towards the
+Speaker's Chair, the other looking from it. In one the House is empty,
+but in the other most of the leading politicians of the day are
+introduced. The figures, however, are on too small a scale to be
+likenesses of the persons intended, but the reader is assisted by
+references showing the places occupied by the most prominent members of
+the House.
+
+The national excitement about Queen Caroline's trial was dying out when
+the first gentleman in Europe prepared for his coronation. On this
+occasion the _Observer_ gave the lieges appropriate pictures of the
+august ceremony. The best draughtsmen and engravers on wood, then very
+few in number, were employed to prepare views of Westminster Abbey and
+Westminster Hall during the coronation ceremony and the banquet which
+followed. The _Observer_ of July 22nd, 1821, contains four engravings,
+which, considering the limited artistic means at command, are by no
+means discreditable to the management of the paper. On this occasion a
+double number was published, the price of which was fourteen pence, and
+the publisher evidently thought it was very cheap. He announced that he
+would keep the number on sale for ten days after publication, so that no
+one might be disappointed in getting a copy. All these engravings of the
+coronation of George IV. were done on what was then considered a large
+scale, though none of them exceed a half-page of the present illustrated
+newspapers, and were finished as regards light and shade, according to
+the best ability of the artist.
+
+The coronation number of the _Observer_ produced a great sensation, and
+it had a very large sale. Nothing like it had ever been done before, and
+the public eagerly paid the double price for the sake of the engravings.
+Fourpence was paid for stamp duty on each sheet, amounting on the whole
+to 2000_l._ paid to Government for stamp duty, exclusive of paper duty.
+The number consisted of two sheets, each of which had a sale of 60,000
+copies. This was a very good stroke of business, and Mr. Clement had
+fair reason to congratulate himself on his successful enterprise. It
+prompted him to further efforts; but, unfortunately, he had not the
+wisdom to confine his energies to one channel, and what he gained by one
+speculation he lost by another. It was at this time he purchased the
+_Morning Chronicle_ for 42,000_l._; but, as I have before stated, this
+turned out a disastrous investment, and also injured for a time the
+otherwise successful _Observer_.
+
+Soon after his coronation George IV. visited Ireland, and while on his
+way received the melancholy intelligence of the death of his consort,
+the unfortunate Queen Caroline, which, however, did not prevent His
+Majesty from continuing his journey. The _Observer_ of Sept. 2nd, 1821,
+published 'A correct View of his Majesty King George the Fourth landing
+from the _Lightening_ Steam Packet, Capt. Skinner, on the Pier of the
+Harbour of Howth, on Sunday, the Twelvth of August, 1821.' In describing
+this event the _Observer_ spoke of it as the opening of a new era for
+Ireland, and of the highest importance both in an historical and
+political point of view.
+
+In the following year the King went to Scotland; but, though the
+_Observer_ published long and elaborate descriptions of His Majesty's
+visit, the occasion was not deemed worthy of illustration. The
+opportunity, however, must have been far richer than the visit to
+Ireland in affording subjects for sketches. It would have been curious
+to see what a contemporary 'special artist' would have made of Sir
+Walter Scott; and posterity would have been glad to have had handed down
+to it the 'varra effigies' of George IV. and Alderman Curtis in the
+kilt!
+
+In 1823 the city of Cadiz, in Spain, was invested by the French, who
+took possession of the place on Oct. 3rd in that year. The _Observer_,
+in its issue of Oct. 5th, printed a plan and view of Cadiz, the plan
+first appearing in the _Morning Chronicle_ of the day before. The view
+of Cadiz is well engraved, in the manner of that day, by W. Hughes. The
+plan is also well done, and very complete.
+
+Towards the end of 1823 a murder, unparalleled in the history of crime,
+excited immense public interest, and the _Observer_ at once took up the
+case, and described and illustrated it with a particularity and
+minuteness of detail that must have satisfied the most ardent
+sensationalist. The incidents of this remarkable crime have been long
+forgotten; but I will give an outline of the story in connexion with the
+engravings published on the occasion by the _Observer_.
+
+Mr. William Weare was an attorney in Lyon's Inn, who added to his legal
+practice the business of a bill-discounter, and enlivened the dulness of
+both pursuits by indulging occasionally in the excitement of gambling.
+He counted amongst his friends one Mr. John Thurtell, a notorious
+betting-man; and it was to keep an appointment with this friend that he
+left his chambers in Lyon's Inn on Friday, Oct. 24th, 1823. The two
+friends had agreed to go on a short shooting excursion to a lonely
+cottage on the St. Albans road, about fourteen miles from London.
+Thurtell was respectably connected, but had an evil reputation, he and
+his brother being then in hiding to avoid a charge of arson. Two other
+men were concerned in the murder, Hunt, a public singer, of doubtful
+character, and Probert, a spirit merchant, a fraudulent bankrupt, who
+lived at the cottage to which Thurtell and his friend were going. In the
+gambling transactions between Thurtell and Weare the former conceived
+himself to have been cheated of 300_l._, and in revenge he determined to
+murder Weare, and by robbing him recoup himself as far as possible for
+his losses. The crime was coolly premeditated, and Hunt appears to have
+been an accessory before the fact, having arranged to meet Thurtell on
+the road, and to assist in despatching the victim. For this purpose the
+shooting excursion to Probert's cottage was planned, but, owing to a
+mistake of Hunt's, he did not join Thurtell as agreed, and the latter
+committed the murder alone.
+
+Thurtell and Weare were seen driving in a gig towards Edgeware about
+five o'clock in the evening on Oct. 24th, and they afterwards called at
+the 'White Hart,' Edgeware, for refreshment. After they were gone
+Probert and Hunt, also driving in a gig, called at the same inn, where
+they had some brandy and water, and afterwards drove away.
+
+Gill's Hill Cottage, the place where Probert lived, was about two miles
+from Elstree, and was approached by a narrow road called Gill's Hill
+Lane. Some country people passing in the neighbourhood of this lane
+about eight o'clock in the evening heard a shot fired and deep groans as
+if some one was injured. They also heard voices and the wheels of a cart
+or gig moving. Near nine o'clock Thurtell arrived at the cottage
+_alone_, and giving the horse and gig to the servant, went out to meet
+Probert and Hunt, with whom he soon afterwards returned.
+
+Hunt being a stranger, was formally introduced to Mrs. Probert and a
+Miss Noyes who was staying at the house. The whole party supped
+together, and spent the evening in jollity. Hunt sang several songs, and
+Thurtell produced a gold hunting-watch which afterwards proved to be
+Weare's, and, taking off the chain, offered it to Probert for his wife,
+but he declining it, Thurtell put it round the lady's neck himself. It
+was after midnight before the ladies retired, and the sleeping
+accommodation being limited it was arranged that Thurtell should sleep
+on some chairs and Hunt was to occupy the sofa. A drawing of the sofa
+forms one of the illustrations in the _Observer_, and proves how
+thoroughly every circumstance of the horrid tale was followed up and
+exhibited to the public. All this time the body of the murdered Weare
+was lying behind a hedge in the lane.
+
+Mrs. Probert's suspicions had been aroused by several strange
+circumstances. A vague and horrid alarm took possession of her, and when
+she retired to bed she stole to the head of the stairs and listened to
+the talk that was going on below in the parlour. She heard her husband
+and his two visitors apparently dividing money, burning papers, and
+making mysterious plans to conceal something dreadful that had been
+done. Then the parlour door was opened, and the frightened woman stole
+back to her room. She heard two of the men go to the stable and bring
+out the horse. Afterwards, hearing a noise in the garden, she looked out
+of the window, and it being a moonlight night, she saw a man dragging
+something large and heavy along the garden walk towards the fishpond.
+Then followed a hollow sound as if something had been thrown into the
+pond.
+
+That night, when Probert went to bed, he found his wife sitting up and
+crying. She questioned him about the mysterious sounds she had heard,
+but he told her that he and his companions had only been out trying to
+net some game. In the morning she renewed her inquiries, but he only
+replied, 'Don't torment me; you make my life miserable.' He seemed in
+low spirits, and went moping round the garden and about the pond. Going
+into the kitchen Mrs. Probert observed the gig cushion drying at the
+kitchen fire, although there had been no rain the night before, and the
+cook was surprised to see in the stable a wet, ripped-up sack hanging on
+a nail.
+
+[Illustration: THE COUCH ON WHICH HUNT SLEPT AT GILL'S HILL COTTAGE.
+FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' NOV. 10, 1823.]
+
+Early on Saturday morning two labouring men were busy in Gill's Hill
+Lane repairing the road, when two gentlemen passed them on foot. At the
+bend of the lane they stooped down and appeared to be looking for
+something among the dead leaves and brambles. Coming back they had some
+conversation with the road-menders, and afterwards passed on up the lane
+towards the cottage. A short time afterwards one of the labourers found
+at the spot where the gentlemen had been looking an open penknife
+covered with blood, and a little further on a pistol with hair sticking
+to it, and also bloody. These articles the man gave to his master the
+same morning when he came round to inspect their work. About noon they
+saw the two gentlemen from Probert's drive away in a gig. They both
+looked hard at the spot where the knife and pistol had been found, but
+said nothing.
+
+Mr. Nicholls, the road surveyor, to whom the knife and pistol had been
+handed by the man who found them, went to the magistrates at Watford and
+told how and where the articles had been found. The magistrates at once
+sent information to Bow Street, and two of their number immediately went
+to Gill's Hill Lane, where they discovered spots and gouts of blood on
+the bank and under the leaves, and there was a gap in the hedge where a
+body seemed to have been dragged through. The field was also much
+trampled. They at once came to the conclusion that a murder had been
+committed, and took instant measures to trace the guilty parties. The
+police seized Probert and Thomas Thurtell at Gill's Hill, and searched
+the house and premises. John Thurtell was apprehended at the 'Coach and
+Horses,' in Conduit Street. Marks of blood were found on different
+articles of clothing belonging to him. At Hunt's lodgings various
+articles belonging to Weare had been found. Weare being missing it was
+suspected he had met with foul play at the hands of these men. A
+billiard-table keeper in Spring Gardens proved that Mr. Weare had called
+upon him about three o'clock on Friday, October 24th, and told him he
+was then on his way to join Thurtell in the Edgeware Road, as they were
+going down to Hertfordshire for a few days' shooting. Thurtell, on being
+questioned, admitted he knew Mr. Weare, but said he had not seen him for
+eight days.
+
+It appeared by the disclosures afterwards made by Thurtell's two
+confederates that Thurtell had shot Weare while they were riding in the
+gig down Gill's Hill Lane, leading to the cottage where Probert lived.
+Weare jumped out of the gig, crying he would pay Thurtell all he owed
+him if he would only spare his life. Thurtell jumped out of the gig and
+ran after him. He got Weare down and cut his throat with a penknife, and
+then struck him on the head with a pistol. He then dragged the body
+through the hedge and left it there. The same night Thurtell and Hunt
+went out from Probert's cottage to bring the body away, but they found
+it too heavy. Probert and Thurtell then went and brought the body on the
+horse, and put it in the fishpond with stones in the sack to keep it
+down. They afterwards removed the body from the fishpond and sunk it in
+a deep pond by the side of the Elstree road.
+
+The cold-blooded indifference of the perpetrators of this atrocious
+crime was most extraordinary. The murder was committed on Friday night,
+and on Saturday Thurtell and Hunt returned to London and dined with
+Thomas Thurtell and Mr. Noyes, Probert's brother-in-law, at the 'Coach
+and Horses,' in Conduit Street. They were very jovial, and next day
+(Sunday) the whole party met again at Proberts' house in Gill's Hill
+Lane, when the afternoon was spent in playing at cards. On Sunday night
+Thurtell and Hunt went to dig a grave to bury the body, but the dogs
+were barking, and they were afraid some one was about. On Monday, while
+Hunt engaged Mrs. Probert in conversation, Thurtell and Probert got the
+body out of the fishpond, and cut off the clothes. Then they all three
+carried it to the garden-gate and put it into the gig. A grave half dug
+was found in Probert's garden, but the soil was hard, and it is supposed
+that Thurtell and Hunt were afraid of the noise pickaxes would make.
+
+Hunt, to save his own neck from the halter, confessed that he knew where
+the body was, and went with four men in a hackney coach to a bridge on
+the Elstree Road, near which was a deep pond by the side of the road. In
+this pond the body of Weare was found tied in a sack, with stones to
+keep it down.
+
+[Illustration: POND IN WHICH THE BODY OF MR. WEARE WAS FOUND. FROM THE
+'OBSERVER,' NOV. 10, 1823.]
+
+Thurtell, Probert, and Hunt were tried at Hertford on January 6, 1824.
+Probert was admitted King's evidence, and so escaped for that time, but
+he was afterwards hung at the Old Bailey for horse-stealing. Thurtell
+and Hunt were condemned to death, but only Thurtell was hung, Hunt being
+reprieved on the morning of execution, and transported for life. In
+those days prize-fighting was in much favour, and a great fight was
+coming off between Spring and Langham, two noted pugilists. To show the
+ruffianly and impenitent character of Thurtell, it is related that he
+said, a few hours before his execution, 'It is perhaps wrong in my
+situation; but I own I should like to read Pierce Egan's account of the
+great fight yesterday.'
+
+Some of the incidents of the trial were appalling, others ludicrous. The
+production of the weapon with which the murder was committed, stained
+and rusted with blood, made every one shudder except the prisoners. The
+oft-quoted reason for a man being respectable 'because he kept a horse
+and shay' occurred during this trial; and when Probert's cook was asked
+whether the supper at Gill's Hill Cottage was postponed, she answered,
+'No; it was pork.'[4]
+
+The murder of Mr. Weare was committed on October 24, and discovered a
+few days afterwards. On November 10 the _Observer_ published five
+illustrations of the murder:--1. Probert's cottage and garden. 2. The
+scene of the murder in Gill's Hill Lane. 3. The pond in which the body
+of Weare was found. 4. Front view (from the road) of Probert's cottage.
+5. The parlour and the couch on which Hunt slept. On December 7 the
+_Observer_ published a view of the interior of the Crown Court at
+Hertford at the moment the prisoners were brought up to plead; and,
+having found that the public had eagerly purchased the illustrations
+already issued, the editor announced the publication of two sheets with
+additional engravings on the occasion of the trial:--'The Trials of the
+prisoners at Hertford having been put off till Tuesday, Jan. 6, the
+publication of the intended Supplement of this Journal, containing the
+plates illustrative of the facts to be disclosed in the evidence, has
+been deferred till Sunday, January 11, on which day Two Sheets instead
+of one will be published. Booksellers, Postmasters, &c., are requested
+to give their orders through their respective Agents in London, as no
+papers whatever are on any occasion forwarded through the Publisher.'
+Accordingly, at the appointed time two sheets came out, containing the
+cuts already enumerated together with three fresh ones, the latter being
+the stable-yard of Probert's cottage with the murderers conveying the
+body by the light of a lantern to the stable; a front view of the
+cottage, showing the murderers dragging the body to the pond; and a
+ground-plan of the country round the scene of the murder. The conductors
+of the Journal appear to have had some misgivings as to the good taste
+of their proceedings, but were unable to resist the temptation of a
+large and profitable sale. The engravings are thus introduced to the
+reader:--'The unparalleled interest which has been created in the public
+mind by the mysterious circumstances attending the death of Mr. Weare
+has induced us, with a view to the gratification of our readers, to use
+every exertion in our power, not only to give a faithful and copious
+Report of the Trial of the persons charged with this most foul and
+atrocious deed, but, with the assistance of competent Artists, to obtain
+such Plates as appear to us best calculated to illustrate the detail of
+circumstances disclosed in the evidence before the jury. We are aware
+that by some these illustrations will be condemned as inconsistent with
+good taste; and we are ready to acknowledge that on all occasions their
+adoption would be extremely injudicious. In a case, however, where the
+feelings and the curiosity of the public have been so much excited, and
+where so singular and ardent an avidity has been displayed to obtain
+every possible light upon a subject so interesting, we trust that those
+who may entertain, perhaps, a well-founded objection to our plan, will,
+for a moment, grant us their indulgence, and permit us to meet the
+wishes of persons who may not be so fastidious as themselves. The
+strongest argument which we can adduce in favour of the continued
+pursuit of this plan--is the fact, that of three of the plates which we
+now feel it necessary to republish, many thousand impressions have been
+already sold, and yet the number, though high, has been insufficient to
+supply the continued demand. The necessity imposed on us, however, for
+breaking up our formes, forced us to refer the recent applicants to the
+present publication, which will be found to contain the most minute and
+correct particulars of everything connected with this extraordinary
+affair.'
+
+Then follows a long and minute description of all the plates, when it is
+stated, 'For the sake of effect the artist has given all the views as
+they would appear in daylight; but, with the exception of Plate II.
+(finding the body of Weare in the pond), the scenes ought to have been
+represented as at night.' Some of the engravings illustrating the murder
+of Mr. Weare appeared in the _Morning Chronicle_ the day before their
+publication in the _Observer_, and they were also published
+simultaneously in the _Englishman_, which appears to have been in
+substance another edition of the _Observer_ without the advertisements.
+The name of W. Hughes is attached to them as the engraver.
+
+The _Observer_ was loudly condemned for publishing the Weare and
+Thurtell illustrations, and it did not for some time bring out any more
+engravings; but this was probably owing more to the commercial
+depression prevailing at the time than to the strictures that had been
+passed upon newspaper morality.
+
+About this time _Bell's Life_ came into Mr. Clement's hands, and
+henceforth it shared, with the _Morning Chronicle_ and the _Englishman_,
+in the illustrations prepared for the _Observer_. It had, however, a
+distinct series of illustrations of its own, which was continued for
+several years. But before describing them I must refer to one or two
+characteristic engravings which appeared in _Bell's Life_ in its early
+days. On November 28, 1824, the first large woodcut was published,
+representing a prize-fight on a raised stage, and entitled the 'Tip Top
+Milling at Warwick.' According to the account accompanying the
+engraving, this prize-fight was a most brutal exhibition, without any
+display of what boxers call 'science'--a mere exchange of hard blows,
+ending in one of the combatants being carried insensible from the stage.
+The coming fight was made known far and wide, so that when the day
+arrived vehicles from all parts of the country brought hundreds of
+spectators to the scene. The fight took place, openly and without fear
+of interruption, on the race-course at Warwick, the grand stand being
+crammed with spectators, and a ring of waggons, on which clustered
+crowds of eager gazers, surrounded the stage. This is all shown in the
+engraving in _Bell's Life_; and the different objects in the background,
+such as the church, the keep of Warwick Castle, the cemetery, &c., are
+pointed out by figures of reference with the most conscientious care.
+There is a very long account of the battle, couched in language only
+understood by members of the 'fancy.'
+
+In 1825 the town was being amused by Liston, as 'Paul Pry,' then a
+recent creation of the stage. On November 8 in that year _Bell's Life_
+published a woodcut representing the comedian in that character, which I
+have copied as an early example of the illustrations of the great
+sporting journal.
+
+[Illustration: LISTON AS PAUL PRY. FROM 'BELL'S LIFE,' 1825.]
+
+In 1827 _Bell's Life_ commenced a series of caricature sketches by
+Cruikshank, Seymour, and Kenny Meadows, entitled a 'Gallery of
+Comicalities.' This continued at intervals, along with other sketches
+entitled 'Phizogs of the Tradesmen of London' (half-lengths of Butchers,
+Cobblers, &c., commencing in 1832); 'Kitchen Stuff, or Cads of the
+Aristocracy' (heads of gentlemen's servants); 'Portraits down the Road'
+(heads of characters seen on a stage-coach journey, such as the
+Landlady, the Commercial Traveller, the Chambermaid, &c.); 'The Sporting
+Album' (sketches from life, commencing 1834). These caricature subjects
+were continued to the end of the year 1840. The greater number are much
+too coarse, cynical, and vulgar for the taste of the present day.
+Sometimes a series of sketches extended through several consecutive
+weeks, such as 'The Pugilist's Progress' and 'The Drunkard's Progress,'
+both by Seymour. 'The Drunkard's Progress,' which appeared in 1829,
+consisted of twelve scenes, and embodied the same idea that was many
+years afterwards more fully developed by George Cruikshank in his series
+of large plates entitled 'The Bottle.' Now and then appeared a sporting
+subject by Harvey, such as Coursing, Hunting, Bull-Baiting, &c. In the
+number for February 8, 1829, appeared a curious woodcut representing a
+view in the Isle of Anglesea, which was said to have excited the
+attention and surprise of passing travellers from its presenting an
+excellent profile of the Marquis of Anglesea, who was then very
+popular. In 1831 portraits of Young Dutch Sam and Ned Neal, the famous
+pugilists, were published; and in 1838 the initials of John Leech began
+to appear to some of the cuts. Portraits of prize-fighters, race-horses,
+representations of racing-cups, &c., were given at intervals until 1851,
+when the last illustration, a monument to Tom Cribb, appeared.
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN WOT LOST THE FIGHT.
+
+THE MAN WOT WON THE FIGHT.
+
+FROM 'BELL'S LIFE,' 1831.]
+
+As further examples of the illustrations in _Bell's Life_, I copy two,
+which were published in 1831.
+
+About 1825 there was another sporting paper in existence, conducted by
+the celebrated author of 'Tom and Jerry.' It was called _Pierce Egan's
+Life in London_, and, like _Bell's Life_, had its sporting and other
+columns decorated with little woodcut headings, and sometimes published
+an engraving of a racing-cup.
+
+At the beginning of 1827 the _Observer_ resumed its illustrations of
+news, and on the death of the Duke of York published a long memoir of
+his Royal Highness, accompanied by an equestrian portrait of the Duke,
+'taken during his last visit to Newmarket.' In the number for January 21
+are engravings of the remains of his Royal Highness lying in state in
+St. James's Palace, and a view of the interior of the Royal Mausoleum at
+Windsor. The above were engraved by Slader, and were published
+simultaneously in the _Englishman_ and _Bell's Life_.
+
+The number published on Aug. 13, 1827, contains a large portrait of Mr.
+Canning, then just deceased. This portrait has the names of Jackson and
+Smith attached to it as the engravers. In the number for Sept. 30 there
+is a 'correct view of the Suspension Bridge, Hammersmith, to be opened
+to the public on Saturday, Oct. 6, 1827.' This is engraved by Slader,
+and appears also in _Bell's Life_ the same week. The following week the
+_Observer_ published a large plan showing the alterations proposed in
+St. James's Park in connexion with the building of Buckingham Palace;
+and on Nov. 18 appeared a plan of the port of Navarino, accompanying an
+account of the naval battle at that place. In December was published a
+view of 'Mr. Gurney's new Steam-Carriage, as it appeared in the Regent's
+Park on Thursday, Dec. 6, 1827,' and later in the same month a
+representation of Mr. D. Gordon's new steam-coach. Both these engravings
+are curious and interesting, as showing the attempts that were made
+fifty years ago to apply steam to the propulsion of carriages on common
+roads.
+
+[Illustration: HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF YORK, TAKEN DURING HIS
+LAST VISIT TO NEWMARKET. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' JAN. 8, 1827.]
+
+Mr. Gurney was a medical man, but gave up his practice and devoted
+himself to scientific studies, and particularly to the construction of
+locomotive engines for turnpike travelling. He had seen Trevithick's
+engine, and when a youth had frequently met Trevithick himself. He had
+thus become imbued with a conviction of the practicability of making a
+steam-carriage that would travel on common roads. Other inventors
+succeeded in doing the same thing, but Mr. Gurney attained the greatest
+amount of success. With his steam-carriage he made a journey from London
+to Bath on July 28, 1829, performing the return journey at fourteen
+miles an hour, or the eighty-four miles in nine hours and twenty
+minutes, stoppages for fuel and water included. In 1831 he established a
+regular steam conveyance between Gloucester and Cheltenham, a distance
+of about nine miles. The steam-carriages commenced plying on Feb. 21,
+1831, and continued running four times a-day for four months, with
+tolerable regularity and without accident. The project, however,
+received such determined opposition from coach proprietors and turnpike
+trusts that it was abandoned. The tolls exacted were so heavy that at
+one gate they amounted to eight guineas. Mr. Gurney is said to have
+expended 36,000_l._ on his enterprise, but without any permanent
+beneficial result. His inventive genius, however, contributed to
+develope the high speed of the locomotive and the subsequent success of
+railways. He died Feb. 28, 1875, aged eighty-two years.
+
+[Illustration: MR. GURNEY'S NEW STEAM-CARRIAGE AS IT APPEARED IN THE
+REGENT'S PARK ON THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 1827. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' DEC. 9,
+1827.]
+
+Mr. Gordon took out a patent for a steam-coach in 1822, and constructed
+two different machines. One had its wheels surrounded by cogs, or
+projecting teeth. This engine was to be placed within a large rolling
+drum, about nine feet in diameter and five feet wide, the inside of
+which should be fitted with circular rack-rails fitting the wheels of
+the steam-engine. Thus the motion of the engine would cause the drum to
+roll forward, on the same principle that a squirrel causes a cylindrical
+cage to revolve; and the rolling of the drum was to move a carriage
+connected with it. The other machine had two long propellers or legs,
+intended to obviate the supposed tendency of wheels to slip when
+ascending a slope.
+
+The Thames Tunnel, which was begun in 1825 by Mr. Brunel, was on more
+than one occasion threatened with destruction by irruptions of water. On
+Jan. 12, 1828, six workmen perished by a sudden rush of water into the
+workings, and on the 20th the _Observer_ published an engraving
+representing the catastrophe. On the 9th of June appeared 'A correct
+view of Ascot Heath Race Course, taken by an eminent artist on Thursday
+last.' This 'eminent artist' was William Harvey, and the cut bears the
+names of Jackson and Smith as the engravers. A sheet containing a
+selection of comic sketches from _Bell's Life_ was issued with the
+_Observer_ of July 20, 1828, accompanied by a statement that the
+sketches (twenty-seven in number) cost one hundred and forty-two pounds,
+drawing and engraving. This sounds very trivial when contrasted with the
+large sums now paid by illustrated newspapers.
+
+In 1827 another exciting murder was committed, and the _Observer_,
+undeterred by former censures, published a portrait of the criminal and
+a view of the scene of his crime, but did not on this occasion deal with
+the case in the elaborate way in which the murder of Mr. Weare was
+treated. The story of the Red Barn is well known to provincial playgoers
+in the Eastern Counties, where it still sometimes figures in theatrical
+programmes on Saturday nights. William Corder was a farmer's son
+residing not far from Ipswich. He had for some time carried on an
+intrigue with a country girl named Maria Marten, whom he at last enticed
+into a barn not far from her father's cottage, and there murdered her,
+and buried her body under the floor of the barn. After this he continued
+to visit her father's cottage, and by various falsehoods accounted for
+the girl's continued absence. Months went by, and Corder wrote several
+letters to the girl's parents, in which he told plausible stories about
+her being at the seaside with relatives of his own. The girl's mother,
+however, had had her suspicions aroused by several circumstances, and at
+length she dreamed three times that her daughter had been murdered and
+her body hid under the floor in the Red Barn. The woman's mind was so
+worked upon by the recurrence of this dream that she induced her husband
+to search under the floor of the barn, and there, sure enough, the
+murdered body of the girl was found. In the meantime Corder had
+advertised for a wife in the _Morning Herald_ in the following
+terms:--'A private gentleman, aged twenty-four, entirely independent,
+whose disposition is not to be exceeded, has lately lost chief of his
+family by the hand of Providence, which has occasioned discord among the
+remainder, under circumstances the most disagreeable to relate. To any
+female of respectability, who would study for domestic comfort, and is
+willing to confide her future happiness to one in every way qualified to
+render the marriage state desirable, as the advertiser is in affluence.
+Many happy marriages have taken place through means similar to this now
+resorted to. It is hoped no one will answer this through impertinent
+curiosity; but should this meet the eye of any agreeable lady, who feels
+desirous of meeting with a sociable, tender, kind, and sympathising
+companion, they will find this advertisement worthy of notice. Honour
+and secrecy may be relied on. As some little security against idle
+application, it is requisite that letters may be addressed, post-paid,
+A. Z., care of Mr. Foster, stationer, 68 Leadenhall Street, with real
+name and address, which will meet with most respectful attention.'
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM CORDER. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' AUG. 10, 1823.]
+
+Through this advertisement Corder became acquainted with a lady who kept
+the Grove House Academy at Ealing, near London. They were married, and
+he went to reside with his wife at Grove House, where he was arrested
+one morning in the spring of 1828. Various circumstances pointed to him
+as the murderer of Maria Marten, and he was tried for the crime at Bury
+St. Edmunds on Aug. 6, 1828. The crowd was so great that the counsel and
+officers of the court had to fight their way to their places. Corder
+appeared at the bar dressed in a new suit of black, and with his hair
+combed over his forehead. He wore a pair of blue French spectacles,
+through which he eyed the witnesses smilingly. Being called on for his
+defence, he read a statement which amounted to charging Maria Marten
+with having committed suicide. He said that in consequence of a quarrel
+they had in the Red Barn she shot herself with one of two pistols which
+he had with him:--'The instant the mischief happened, I thought to have
+made it public; but this would have added to the suspicion, and I then
+resolved to conceal her death. I then buried her in the best way I
+could. I tried to conceal the fact as well as I could, giving sometimes
+one reason for her absence, and sometimes another.' He was found guilty
+and sentenced to death, and the night before his execution he made the
+following confession:--'I acknowledge being guilty of the death of poor
+Maria Marten, by shooting her with a pistol. The particulars are as
+follows: When we left her father's house, we began quarrelling about the
+burial of the child, she apprehending that the place wherein it was
+deposited would be found out. The quarrel continued for about three
+quarters of an hour upon this and about other subjects. A scuffle
+ensued, and during the scuffle, and at the time I think that she had
+hold of me, I took the pistol from the side pocket of my
+shooting-coat.... I have been guilty of great idleness, and at times led
+a dissolute life, but I hope through the mercy of God to be
+forgiven.--W. CORDER.'
+
+This murder excited great and marked interest, not only in Suffolk, but
+through the whole country. On Aug. 10, 1828, the day before the
+execution, the _Observer_ published a portrait of Corder and a view of
+the Red Barn, which are here copied. The excitement showed itself in the
+streets, where puppet shows represented the scene of the crime, and
+Methodist preachers held forth in the fields near the barn to thousands
+of attentive listeners. The Red Barn itself was nearly pulled to pieces
+by curiosity seekers.
+
+[Illustration: THE RED BARN. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' AUG. 10, 1828.]
+
+On the Monday of the execution all the workmen in Bury struck work in
+order to see the murderer hanged, and persons came from long distances
+for the same purpose. One man was pestered by every one he met on his
+return by inquiries whether Corder had really been hung that morning.
+This was repeated so often that he became quite weary of the constantly
+recurring question, 'Is Corder executed?' In the evening, in order to
+get rid of the gloomy feelings created by what he had witnessed, he went
+to the theatre, where he arrived somewhat late. The play ('Macbeth') had
+advanced to the fourth scene of the first act as he seated himself in
+the pit. The newcomer, who was better acquainted with the details of the
+murder in the Red Barn than with the plays of Shakespeare, was not a
+little astonished when King Duncan entered, and, fixing his eye upon
+him, repeated what he thought was the same question that had been so
+often addressed to him that day, 'Is execution done on Cawdor?'
+
+[Illustration: THE SIAMESE TWINS. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' NOVEMBER 22,
+1829.]
+
+The _Observer_ continued its illustration of events as they occurred,
+sharing the engravings with _Bell's Life_ and the _Englishman_. St.
+Katharine's Docks were opened on Oct. 25th, 1828, and on the following
+day the _Observer_ published a bird's eye view of the docks, showing the
+ceremonies attending the opening. In January, 1829, appeared two views
+of Buckingham Palace, then building for George IV.; and in August a cut
+of the 'Post-Office Accelerator,' a carriage for conveying London
+postmen to their several districts. A portrait of Rowton, the winner of
+the Great St. Leger for 1829, was given in September. This year the
+lovers of wonderful shows were attracted to an exhibition in London of
+two Siamese youths who were united together by a short cartilaginous
+band at the pit of the stomach, but with no other connexion existing
+between them. They were perfectly straight and well made, and walked
+with a gait like other people; being perfect in all their parts, and
+having all their functions distinct. Their names were Chang and Eng; and
+they were first discovered on the banks of the Siam river, fishing, by
+Mr. Hunter, an American, by whom they were taken to New York, where they
+were exhibited, and were afterwards brought to England. They were
+supposed to be about eighteen years old when they were exhibited in
+London in 1829. The _Observer_ of November 22, 1829, published a long
+account of the Siamese Twins, with a woodcut representing them as they
+were exhibited to the public.
+
+After having been exhibited for several years in London and the
+provinces, the Siamese twins went to America, where they settled on a
+farm, and married sisters. In the year 1869 they returned to London, and
+were as elderly men again exhibited; but they soon went back to America,
+where in a few years they died, both together. A similar exhibition was
+made in London about 1868 of twin girls, named Millie-Christine, or the
+'Two-headed Nightingale,' and it was probably the appearance of these
+two 'black birds' that suggested the idea of the Siamese twins appearing
+again in public.
+
+In June, 1830, George the Fourth died, and the _Observer_ published
+several engravings connected with the event. On June 24th appeared a
+portrait of 'His Majesty George the Fourth as he last appeared in his
+Pony Phaeton in Windsor Park;' and on July 18 three illustrations of the
+lying-in-state and the funeral were published.
+
+'The King is dead! Long live the King!' So said the citizens of London
+when they invited William IV. and Queen Adelaide to a banquet at
+Guildhall on the following November 9; and on the 1st, eight days before
+the entertainment came off, the _Observer_ duly supplied the public with
+'A correct view of the grand civic entertainment,' as it was to be. On
+Aug. 1, 1831, new London Bridge was opened by the King and Queen, and
+two engravings illustrative of the event were published in the
+_Observer_, the _Morning Chronicle_, _Bell's Life_, and the
+_Englishman_. One of them is interesting, as it shows the relative
+positions of the old and the new bridge. The view was taken from the
+tower of St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, looking towards Fish Street
+Hill.
+
+[Illustration: HIS MAJESTY GEORGE IV., AS HE LAST APPEARED IN HIS PONY
+PHAETON IN WINDSOR PARK. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' JUNE 29, 1830.]
+
+The _Observer_ of Sept. 11, 1831, contained four illustrations of the
+coronation of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide, together with long
+and elaborate descriptions. There was another paper in existence at this
+time called the _United Kingdom_, which also illustrated the coronation.
+This was the period of the great Reform agitation, when the newspapers
+were absorbed in political excitement; and after this the _Observer_ for
+a time ceased to give any illustrations.
+
+On July 28, 1835, a diabolical attempt was made in Paris to shoot
+Louis-Philippe, king of the French. The assassin, whose name was
+Fieschi, constructed an infernal machine, consisting of twenty-five
+barrels, charged with various kinds of missiles, and lighted
+simultaneously by a train of gunpowder. The machine was fired from a
+window as the King rode along the lines of the National Guard, on the
+Boulevard du Temple, accompanied by his three sons and suite. The King
+and his sons escaped, but Marshal Mortier was shot dead and many
+officers were dangerously wounded. Amongst the spectators upwards of
+forty persons were killed or injured. In its number for August 9, 1835,
+the _Observer_ gave a sketch of the attempted assassination, a portrait
+of the criminal, and a representation of the infernal machine.
+
+The actual infernal machine, with a waxen effigy of Fieschi, formed for
+many years a prominent attraction at Madame Tussaud's Exhibition.
+
+The reign of William IV. was a short one, and soon the _Observer_ had to
+illustrate his funeral, as it had done that of his predecessor. The
+number for July 3, 1837, contained three engravings of the royal
+obsequies, and ere long the brief rule of the Sailor King was forgotten
+in the dawning glories of the Victorian era. The epoch of railways was
+opening. The Greenwich Railway was the first railway out of London, and
+the next was the North-Western, or the London and Birmingham as it was
+then called. On July 24, 1837, the _Observer_ published a large
+woodcut of the 'Grand entrance to the London and Birmingham Railway at
+Euston Square.' Mr. Hardwick's massive structure was then in progress,
+and formed the entrance to the first of the great London railway
+stations--vast buildings, some of which have swallowed up whole streets,
+and contributed greatly to alter the appearance of London in their
+vicinity.
+
+[Illustration: GERARD, _ALIAS_ FIESCHI, AND THE INFERNAL MACHINE. FROM
+THE 'OBSERVER,' AUGUST 9, 1835.]
+
+On July 24, 1837, a balloon ascended from Vauxhall with a parachute
+attached, in which was Mr. Cocking, who in descending was killed. The
+_Observer_ published illustrations of this event, which excited great
+interest at the time. Other papers illustrated Mr. Cocking's death,
+which I will recount more at length when I come to treat of the _Weekly
+Chronicle_, which contained more illustrations of the event than any
+other paper. A large engraving appeared in the _Observer_ for August 20,
+1837, representing the Waterloo shield, given by Lord George Bentinck,
+and run for at Goodwood Races, 1837.
+
+When Her Majesty Queen Victoria paid her first visit to the City of
+London after her accession, the _Observer_ came out with larger
+engravings than it had ever before produced. Two large views of the
+interior of Guildhall were given, together with a panoramic sketch of
+the royal and civic procession, and a portrait of the youthful Queen,
+'surrounded by a beautiful Emblematic Design, in which innocence and
+strength are happily portrayed by the playfulness of the Doves and the
+fearless defiance of the Lion.' Such was the flowery language of the
+_Observer_ in those days.
+
+The _Observer_ of July 2, 1838, was a double number, price tenpence, and
+contained several illustrations of the coronation of Queen Victoria,
+which were also printed in _Bell's Life_. I have copied one of them, not
+because it is particularly good, but simply to mark an important
+historical event, which ought to have some record in an account of
+illustrated journalism.
+
+[Illustration: THE CORONATION OF QUEEN VICTORIA. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,'
+JULY 2, 1838.]
+
+On the occasion of Her Majesty's marriage, the _Observer_ published a
+wedding number, containing several engravings, which were introduced to
+the reader thus:--'Little in the way of explanation is necessary to
+render the sketches in the opposite page, with which we have illustrated
+our account of the splendid ceremonials of Her Majesty's Nuptials on
+Monday last, intelligible. Our readers will no doubt make due allowance
+for any imperfections which may be discovered, when they reflect on the
+fact that the whole of the labours of the artists and the engravers have
+been accomplished in less than a week, and this under circumstances of
+difficulty, in obtaining admission to the scenes to be sketched, almost
+insurmountable. We should not be doing justice to our engraver were we
+not to state that it is to Mr. Orrin Smith we owe the consummation of
+our desire to gratify our patrons.'
+
+On October 30, 1841, a fire occurred in the Tower of London, when the
+Armoury and 280,000 stand of arms were destroyed. On November 7 the
+_Observer_ published three illustrations of this great fire. On November
+14 it presented its subscribers with a large emblematic engraving on the
+occasion of the birth of the Prince of Wales. In the following January,
+when the Prince of Wales was christened, it published a large page
+engraving designed by W. B. Scott, and engraved by Smith and Linton,
+containing the ceremony of christening in St. George's Chapel, the
+banquet in St. George's Hall, illustrations of the history of the
+Princes of Wales from the presentation of the first Prince of Wales to
+the Welsh, to the religious instruction of Edward VI. by Archbishop
+Cranmer, including the battle of Cressy with the feats of the Black
+Prince, and the subsequent pageantry attending the introduction of the
+King of France as a prisoner into London over London Bridge; following
+this is the dismissal of Falstaff and his profligate companions by Henry
+V., with views of Windsor, &c. From this time until 1847 the _Observer_
+published no more engravings. In the interval the _Illustrated London
+News_ commenced its career. On July 12, 1847, the _Observer_ published
+the last of its illustrations. This was on the installation of Prince
+Albert as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. The engravings have
+the name of W. J. Linton attached to them, and are on a larger scale,
+and are better done than anything hitherto appearing in the same paper.
+
+The _Weekly Chronicle_, the first number of which was published
+September 18, 1836, started with the idea of illustrating the news of
+the day as one of its principal features. The price was threepence, and
+with it was incorporated the _Weekly Times_. In the first number the
+public were 'requested to be on their guard against the substitution of
+any other paper.' This probably had reference to some threatened
+rivalship, for exactly a year later appeared _Holt's Weekly Chronicle_,
+a paper which also gave illustrations of current events. It published
+engravings connected with the rebellion in Canada, and also illustrated
+the burning of the Royal Exchange in 1838. It appears to have had only a
+brief existence. The first number of the _Weekly Chronicle_ contained an
+engraving of 'the new grand Balloon which ascended from Vauxhall Gardens
+with nine persons on Friday, September 9th, engraved by W. C. Walker,
+from a drawing made by a gentleman who ascended expressly for this
+paper.' Number 2 contained a page of comic sketches, apparently by
+Seymour, and with the number for October 30, 1836, was presented gratis
+an almanack containing a view of the new Houses of Parliament, not quite
+as the design was eventually carried out. Very early in its career the
+_Weekly Chronicle_ selected the criminal records as favourite subjects
+for illustration. Perhaps some memory of the profits realised by the
+_Observer_ on the occasion of the Weare murder induced the conductors to
+cultivate this class of news. Certainly nothing more repulsive ever
+figured in the pages of an illustrated newspaper than some of the
+woodcuts published by the _Weekly Chronicle_.
+
+Towards the end of 1836 another attempt was made on the life of the King
+of the French, and on January 8, 1837, the _Weekly Chronicle_ published
+a portrait of the criminal. A month or two later the public were
+enlightened as to the personal appearance of another murderer, one
+Pegsworth, who had his portrait taken in Newgate on the morning of his
+execution. The annals of crime were varied by the exploits of war, and a
+view of the heights of Amelzagame illustrated the career of the Spanish
+Legion under the command of General Evans. In the spring of 1837
+occurred the Greenacre murder, and the _Weekly Chronicle_ at once went
+into the case with an evident determination to do full justice to its
+sensational merits. From the first examination of the murderer before
+the magistrates to his final exit in the Old Bailey the artists of the
+paper were on the alert, pencil in hand. It is a painful fact that the
+numbers of the _Weekly Chronicle_ containing the illustrations of the
+Greenacre murder had a very large sale. The details of the crime are too
+shocking to recapitulate, but I will give a list of the woodcuts
+published in connexion with it.
+
+April 2, 1837.--A sketch of Greenacre taken while under examination at
+the police-office. Head of the murdered woman as preserved in spirits at
+Paddington Workhouse.
+
+April 9.--Greenacre taking notes at his examination before the
+magistrates at Marylebone Police Office. Exterior of Greenacre's house
+in Carpenter's Buildings, Windmill Lane, Camberwell. View of Pineapple
+Gate, Edgware Road, where the body was found. Matthew Hale, lock-keeper,
+who found the head. Rear of Greenacre's house. A back room looking into
+the garden. Portraits of Mrs. Gale and child taken while under
+examination at Marylebone Police Office. Room where the horrible
+mutilation was committed. Osierbed in Cold Harbour Lane, where the legs
+were found.
+
+April 16.--Trial of Greenacre.
+
+April 23.--Chapel in Newgate, sketched during the preaching of the
+condemned sermon to Greenacre.
+
+April 30.--Greenacre in condemned cell.
+
+[Illustration: CHAPEL IN NEWGATE: THE CONDEMNED SERMON. FROM THE 'WEEKLY
+CHRONICLE,' APRIL 23, 1837.
+
+  1. Sheriffs' Pew.
+  2. Governor's Pew.
+  3. Condemned Pew.]
+
+On May 7 the _Weekly Chronicle_ wound up this series of illustrations by
+publishing a large cut, which it entitled, 'A scene in the Old Bailey,
+immediately before the execution, engraved expressly for the _Weekly
+Chronicle_ by a distinguished artist.' According to an announcement in
+the paper itself, the sale of the _Weekly Chronicle_ during the
+publication of these engravings was 130,000.
+
+[Illustration: THE CONDEMNED CELL, NEWGATE. FROM THE 'WEEKLY CHRONICLE,'
+APRIL 30, 1837.]
+
+On May 14, 1837, the _Weekly Chronicle_ published portraits of Sir
+Francis Burdett and Mr. Leader, the former of a superhuman length, with
+a shocking bad hat. In the following number, as if the public had not
+been sufficiently supplied with horrors, there was printed 'a sketch of
+Eliza Davis as she lay on the mattress after the murder.' This was known
+as the Frederick Street murder, and was remarkable from the
+circumstances, and from the fact that the murderer was never
+discovered. This paper now commenced 'The Pictorial Gallery,
+illustrating every object of interest and curiosity in Art, Science,
+Literature, and Amusement. (To be continued weekly.)' In this series
+were published a view of the Euston Railway Station, a portrait of
+Madame Taglioni, a sketch of a novel mode of propelling balloons,
+representations of the Bedouin Arabs, the City of London School, the
+Adelaide Gallery, the Hippodrome at Bayswater, proclamation of Queen
+Victoria at Temple Bar, portraits of the Queen, the late King, the Earl
+of Durham, and the Duchess of Kent. Then followed a view of the Royal
+Mausoleum at Windsor, and several illustrations of Mr. Cocking's fatal
+descent in a parachute.
+
+Mr. Cocking was an enthusiast in aerostation--he was, in fact, balloon
+mad, and had spent years in inventing a parachute which he believed to
+be perfectly safe, and in which he ascended from Vauxhall Gardens on
+July 24, 1837, attached to Mr. Green's Royal Nassau balloon. The
+experiment was widely advertised, and when the day and hour arrived the
+poor enthusiast faithfully appeared, and ascended in his fatal machine
+for more than a mile. He then himself liberated the parachute from the
+balloon. For a few seconds he descended steadily; the parachute then
+collapsed, broke, turned over, and shot straight down to the earth a
+hopeless ruin. Poor Cocking was still in the basket of the parachute
+when he reached the earth, but was quite insensible, and in ten minutes
+he was dead. The parachute fell at Lee; and it is recorded that not only
+was the machine itself carried away piecemeal, but the dead man's purse
+was stolen from his pocket, his watch, his snuff-box, his eye-glass were
+taken, even the cap was stolen from his head, the shoes were pulled from
+his feet, the buttons from his dress. Such statements seem incredible,
+and for the credit of human nature one could wish they were false; but
+they have been seriously made, and never contradicted.
+
+[Illustration: MR. COCKING IN HIS PARACHUTE AT THE MOMENT OF ASCENSION.
+FROM THE 'WEEKLY CHRONICLE,' JULY 30, 1837.]
+
+The _Weekly Chronicle_ published several illustrations of this event.
+They represent Mr. Cocking in the car of the parachute at the moment
+of ascension; the Nassau balloon as it appeared from the Royal Gardens,
+Vauxhall; the parachute in its various stages in its descent; and Mr.
+Cocking as he lay for the inspection of the jury in the room at the
+Tiger's Head, at Lee. The first of these I have copied.
+
+This rash adventure was wound up by the opening of a subscription list
+for the benefit of Cocking's widow, which was headed by the Queen with
+50_l._ The Gas Company that had supplied the gas for the disaster gave
+30_l._, and the proprietors of Vauxhall gave the gardens for a benefit.
+Thus the friends who ought to have restrained the vanity of the
+enthusiast and the speculators who led him on to his fate did their best
+in the way of atonement; but it was clearly a case where the civil power
+ought to have interposed to prevent the fatal catastrophe.
+
+The _Chronicle_ varied its illustrations of events by an occasional
+portrait of a public man, such as Mr. T. Wakley, Mr. Roebuck, Lord John
+Russell, and Daniel Whittle Harvey. The Queen's first visit to the City,
+and her Majesty delivering her speech to her first Parliament, furnished
+subjects for large woodcuts. Early in the year 1838 the Royal Exchange
+was burnt, and this historical event was made the subject of an
+engraving in the number for January 14, 1838.
+
+This year the _Weekly Chronicle_ also published several engravings
+illustrative of the rebellion in Canada, including a portrait of
+Papineau, the insurgent leader, and views of Quebec and Montreal. The
+murder of Eliza Grimwood in the Waterloo Road furnished another
+opportunity for sensational sketches, and in the same number that
+contained them (June 10, 1838) appeared three illustrations of the
+Courtney Riots at Canterbury.
+
+In 1833 an eccentric person, calling himself Sir William Courtney,
+appeared at Canterbury and attracted much attention by his half-crazed
+appearance and his frequent harangues on the grievances of the poor. He
+presented himself as a candidate to represent the city of Canterbury in
+Parliament, but this ambition was frustrated by his being tried and
+found guilty of perjury, an offence he had committed on behalf of some
+smugglers on the Kentish coast. He was sentenced to imprisonment and
+transportation; but, being proved insane, the sentence was commuted, and
+he was confined in a lunatic asylum. Here he remained four years, and
+was then liberated under the belief that he was restored to a rational
+state. He was, however, madder than ever, having while in confinement
+brooded over his supposed wrongs and the sufferings of the oppressed
+poor until he fancied himself a prophet and a deliverer sent from
+heaven. With the cunning of madness he counterfeited sanity, and thus
+was able to resume what he considered his prophetic mission. He
+harangued about the new poor law, promised cheap bread to all who would
+follow him, and on May 29, 1838, he gathered together a band of about
+twenty men, with whom he marched from one place to another, proclaiming
+that he would make May 29 more memorable than it had ever been in
+connexion with the restoration of Charles II. This went on for a day or
+two, when a farmer, named Curtis, having his field-work stopped by the
+leading away of his men, went to a magistrate and obtained a warrant to
+apprehend them. In an attempt to execute this warrant a constable was
+killed by Courtney, who now broke into a rhapsody of exultation,
+declared that a second Gideon was come to slay the ungodly, and that all
+should perish who opposed the prophet. With outstretched sword he cried,
+'I am the only Saviour of you all. You need not fear, for I will bring
+you through all.' The excitement had now become so general, and the
+menaces of Courtney and his armed party so alarming, that the
+magistrates resolved on the instant capture of this dangerous maniac and
+his ignorant followers. They came up with the rioters at a place called
+the Osier Bed, where Courtney's men threatened the magistrates and
+constables with bludgeons and fire-arms. After firing his pistol at one
+of the party who attempted to arrest him, Courtney and his men broke
+away to Bossenden Wood, and the magistrates, seeing no other resource,
+sent at once for a detachment of the 45th Regiment from Canterbury
+Barracks. Courtney had now proclaimed to his followers that he was no
+other than Jesus Christ returned to earth, and that they were safer with
+him than if they were in their beds; therefore they must resist the
+soldiers, and they were sure of victory. In the meantime a hundred men
+of the 45th Regiment, headed by Lieutenant Bennett, surrounded Bossenden
+Wood. Accompanied by the civil magistrates, they advanced to close round
+the rioters, when Courtney fired at the young Lieutenant commanding the
+party, and shot him dead. The next minute the prophet himself was slain
+by a soldier, who covered him with his musket as he fired at Lieutenant
+Bennett. Then ensued a hand-to-hand fight, which resulted in the death
+of seven of the rioters and one constable, besides several persons
+seriously wounded.
+
+The illustrations of these riots in the _Weekly Chronicle_ of June 10,
+1838, consist of the following:--
+
+1. 'Courtney with his troops leaving Bossenden Farm.'
+
+2. 'The death of Lieutenant Bennett. Courtney in the act of exhorting
+his men to advance.'
+
+3. 'Interior of the Red Lion stables, with the bodies as they were laid
+out after the conflict.'
+
+Courtney, whose real name was John Thom, was undoubtedly mad. He never
+could have found followers, except amongst the most degraded and
+ignorant; and it is hoped he did better service to his countrymen than
+he ever dreamt of by drawing attention to the dreadful evils arising
+from the want of education among the rural population. Most of his
+followers could neither read nor write, and were so totally unacquainted
+with the simplest truths of Christianity that they believed him when he
+asserted that he was Gideon, Samson, and Jesus Christ all in one, and
+that he had descended from heaven to redress the wrongs of the poor, but
+more especially to reduce the price of bread!
+
+[Illustration: THE DREADFUL RIOT AND LOSS OF LIFE AT BOSSENDEN WOOD,
+EAST KENT. FROM THE 'WEEKLY CHRONICLE,' JUNE 10, 1838.
+
+  1. Courtney.
+
+  2. Lieutenant Bennett.
+
+  3. Sergeant Langley making a thrust at Courtney with a bayonet, and
+  was knocked down with a bludgeon.
+
+  4. Six Magistrates.
+
+  5. Soldier who stepped forward and shot Courtney.
+
+  6. Major Armstrong.
+
+  7. Detachment of the 45th Regiment loading.
+
+  8. Lieutenant Bennett's detachment.
+
+  9. The man Wills, who knocked down Sergeant Langley.
+
+  10. Courtney's flag.
+
+  11. J. N. Knatchbull firing at Courtney.]
+
+The _Weekly Chronicle_ illustrated the coronation of Queen Victoria by a
+view of 'The interior of the Abbey at the moment of Her Majesty
+assuming the Crown,' and a full-page engraving of the Coronation
+Procession. Two pages of engravings were given on the occasion of the
+Queen's marriage; and on November 1, 1841, a large 'view of the Tower of
+London as it appeared on fire on the morning of Sunday, the 31st ult.,
+from a drawing by a distinguished artist.' On January 29, 1842, the same
+paper illustrated the christening of the Prince of Wales, with its
+attendant ceremonies and festivities; and later in the same year were
+published the last of its illustrations, relating to the employment of
+women and children in coal-mines.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, LOOKING FROM THE ENTRANCE
+TO THE SPOT LATELY OCCUPIED BY THE THRONE. FROM THE 'SUNDAY TIMES,' NOV.
+2, 1834.]
+
+The _Observer_, _Bell's Life_, and the _Weekly Chronicle_, which during
+more than twenty years had been the chief representatives of pictorial
+journalism, gradually abandoned the practice of giving illustrations
+after the _Illustrated London News_ was established. Two or three other
+newspapers occasionally published engravings, but they were very few,
+and appeared at long intervals. The _Sunday Times_ illustrated the trial
+of Thurtell for the murder of Mr. Weare, and on Nov. 2, 1834, it
+published several engravings of the destruction of the Houses of
+Parliament, two of which, representing the ruins, are of sufficient
+interest to introduce here.
+
+[Illustration: RUINS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. FROM THE 'SUNDAY TIMES,'
+NOV. 2, 1834.]
+
+The _Champion_ of Nov. 13, 1836, has an engraving of the interior of a
+cotton-factory; and the _Weekly Herald_ in the same year issued two
+engravings illustrating the story of Wat Tyler:--'1. Workshop scene; Wat
+Tyler knocking the Tyrant Tax-gatherer's brains out;' the principal
+characters equipped in boots, buckles, and belts, in true theatrical
+style 2. 'Smithfield scene; the assassin Walworth treacherously
+murdering the brave but too-confiding Wat Tyler.' The same paper also
+issued this year a view of St. Peter's, Rome. The _Magnet_, a paper
+started in 1837, illustrated the proclamation of Queen Victoria, William
+IV. lying in state, the Canadian rebellion, burning of the Royal
+Exchange, coronation of Queen Victoria, and on Jan. 4, 1841, the removal
+of the remains of Napoleon I. from St. Helena. There are two engravings
+of this interesting historical event. The first is entitled, 'A correct
+view, taken on the spot, of the interior of the tent at St. Helena,
+after the disinterment of the body of Napoleon, at the instant of the
+removal of the lid from the coffin; the remains of the Emperor appearing
+(as one of the spectators remarked) as if he were asleep.' I have copied
+the second cut, which represents the embarkation of the body, and is one
+of the last examples of pictorial journalism before the birth of the
+_Illustrated London News_.
+
+Before concluding this part of my subject it is fitting that I should
+include the _Penny Magazine_ amongst the pictorial journals which
+immediately preceded the establishment of a regular illustrated
+newspaper. The _Penny Magazine_, though not a newspaper, was intended to
+supplant the cheap and pernicious contraband newspapers that then
+existed in large numbers. It was the most successful experiment that
+England had then seen of the art of illustration in combination with the
+steam press, and was the best attempt that had been made in a cheap form
+to elevate the public taste.
+
+[Illustration: THE REMOVAL AND DELIVERY OF THE REMAINS OF THE EMPEROR
+NAPOLEON BY THE GOVERNOR OF ST. HELENA TO THE PRINCE DE JOINVILLE, ON
+THE 16TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 1840. FROM THE 'MAGNET,' JAN. 11, 1841.]
+
+Mr. Charles Knight, who thus, in the _Penny Magazine_, led the way in
+combining literature with art in a popular form, was a staunch advocate
+of education, and he never ceased in his endeavours to improve the
+condition of the masses. He said, 'the poor man must be made a
+thinking man--a man capable of intellectual pleasures; he must be
+purified in his tastes, and elevated in his understanding; he must be
+taught to comprehend the real dignity of all useful employments; he must
+learn to look upon the distinctions of society without envy or
+servility; he must respect them, for they are open to him as well as to
+others; but he must respect himself more. The best enjoyments of our
+nature might be common to him and the most favoured by fortune. Let him
+be taught how to appreciate them. Diminish the attractions of his
+sensual enjoyments by extending the range of his mental pleasures.'[5]
+With such convictions, Mr. Knight, in 1827, joined the Society for the
+Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, a new educational movement then just
+started by the Reform Party. He brought out, under its auspices, a great
+number of useful works, most of which were profusely illustrated. In
+1832 Mr. Knight resided in the Vale of Health on Hampstead Heath. One of
+his neighbours was Mr. M. D. Hill, an active member of the Society for
+the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. It was a time of great political
+excitement, and the town was flooded with unstamped weekly publications,
+which in some degree came under the character of contraband newspapers,
+and were nearly all dangerous in principle and coarse in language. Mr.
+Knight and Mr. Hill often walked to town together, and their
+conversation naturally turned to a subject in which they both felt a
+special interest--the means of improving the condition of the people by
+the diffusion of cheap literature, and so counteracting the dangerous
+and offensive publications which then abounded. One morning in early
+spring their talk was of this kind, when Mr. Hill exclaimed, 'Let us see
+what something cheap and good can accomplish! Let us have a Penny
+Magazine!' Mr. Knight immediately adopted the suggestion, which was
+cordially approved by the Lord Chancellor Brougham; and on March 31,
+1832, appeared the first number of 'the _Penny Magazine_ of the Society
+for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.' It was necessary to avoid making
+the new periodical anything like a newspaper lest it should become
+liable to stamp duty, and at first very little expense was incurred for
+illustrations, most of the engravings in the early numbers being
+reprinted from other works of the Society. It was not till six months
+had elapsed that Mr. Knight ventured into the wide field of
+illustration, and made the public familiar with great works of art, such
+as the 'Laocoon,' the 'Apollo Belvedere,' the 'Dying Gladiator,' the
+'Cartoons,' &c. The best pictures of the old masters were intermingled
+with scenes at home and abroad, with places of renown and illustrious
+men of all nations and of every age.
+
+The success of the _Penny Magazine_ was a surprise to the publisher and
+an astonishment to most persons. At the end of 1832 it had reached a
+sale of 200,000 in weekly numbers and monthly parts, and it soon
+produced a revolution in popular art throughout the world. Stereotype
+casts of its best cuts were supplied for the illustration of
+publications of a similar character which appeared in Germany, France,
+Holland, Livonia, Bohemia, Italy, Ionian Islands, Sweden, Norway,
+Spanish America, and the Brazils. The entire work was also reprinted in
+the United States from plates sent from this country.[6]
+
+It continued its prosperous career for nine years, when a new series was
+commenced, with considerable improvements in engraving and printing.
+Five volumes of the new series were published, but the sale declined,
+owing to the commencement of illustrated newspapers, and the _Penny
+Magazine_ in its old form came to an end in 1845, three years after the
+commencement of the _Illustrated London News_.[7] _Knight's Penny
+Magazine_, a smaller miscellany, commencing in January, 1846, kept up
+the old name for six months longer, and then it ceased to exist. In
+announcing its discontinuance, Mr. Knight thus closes this interesting
+chapter of literary history:--'The present series of the _Penny
+Magazine_ is closed, after an experience of only six months. The editor
+has no reason to complain of the want of public encouragement, for the
+sale of this series has exceeded that of its predecessor in 1845. But
+the sale, such as it is, is scarcely remunerative; and there are
+indications that it may decline rather than increase. This is a hint
+which cannot be mistaken. It shall not be said of his humble efforts to
+continue, upon an equality with the best of his contemporaries, a
+publication which once had a decided pre-eminence, that
+
+  "Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage."
+
+He leaves this portion of popular literature to be cultivated by those
+whose new energy may be worth more than his old experience. The _Penny
+Magazine_ shall begin and end with him. It shall not pass into other
+hands.'
+
+Mr. Knight attributed the falling off in the sale of the _Penny
+Magazine_ to the extended sale of newspapers and the application of
+wood-engravings to their illustration; and in his _Passages of a Working
+Life_ he relates how he first heard of the journal that was destined to
+succeed the _Penny Magazine_ in the field of popular art:--'In 1842,
+having occasion to be in attendance at the Central Criminal Court, my
+curiosity was excited by an unusual spectacle--that of an artist, seated
+amongst the civic dignitaries on the bench, diligently employed in
+sketching two Lascars, on their trial for a capital offence. What was
+there so remarkable in the case, in the persons, or even in the costume
+of the accused, that they should be made the subject of a picture? The
+mystery was soon explained to me. The _Illustrated London News_ had been
+announced for publication on the Saturday of the week in which I saw the
+wretched foreigners standing at the bar. I knew something about hurrying
+on wood-engravers for the _Penny Magazine_, but a newspaper was an
+essentially different affair. How, I thought, could artists and
+journalists so work concurrently that the news and the appropriate
+illustrations should both be fresh? How could such things be managed
+with any approach to fidelity of representation unless all the essential
+characteristics of a newspaper were sacrificed in the attempt to render
+it pictorial? I fancied that this rash experiment would be a failure. It
+proved to be such a success as could only be ensured by resolute and
+persevering struggles against natural difficulties.'
+
+Charles Knight was born at Windsor in 1791. The son of a bookseller, he
+very early became connected with the press. At the age of twenty-one he
+conducted the _Windsor and Eton Express_, and a few years later he
+became the editor of the _Guardian_, a London weekly paper. He
+afterwards started a monthly magazine called the _Etonian_, and amongst
+his contributors were Macaulay, Praed, and other clever young men who
+had been educated at Eton, some of whom supported him in a later
+venture, _Knight's Quarterly Magazine_. In the midst of his varied
+duties as author and publisher he never lost sight of the great question
+of popular education, and heartily joined in the movement for repealing
+the taxes on knowledge. He gave expression to his views in _The
+Struggles of a Book against Excessive Taxation_ and _The Case of the
+Authors as regards the Paper Duty_. He paid the enormous sum of
+16,500_l._ for paper duty on the _Penny Cyclopedia_ alone, and on the
+same work he expended 40,000_l._ for literature and engravings. When
+this great and useful work was completed Mr. Knight was entertained at a
+public dinner presided over by Lord Brougham, when the leading men in
+literature and art united to do him honour. The _Penny Cyclopedia_ was
+not a commercial success, solely because of the paper duty.
+
+Of the numerous illustrated works published by Mr. Knight, the
+_Pictorial Bible_ was the most successful in a pecuniary sense, and he
+considered the _Arabian Nights_ the most beautiful as regards
+illustrations. He was so ardent a promoter of illustrative art, that he
+invented a press for printing in colours, from which issued many
+coloured engravings for his various works, such as _Old England_, the
+_Farmer's Library_, &c.
+
+Mr. Knight died at Addlestone, Surrey, March 9, 1873, and was buried in
+his native town of Windsor. A marble bust of him was placed by public
+subscription in the Council Chamber of that town, and two scholarships,
+bearing his name, were founded in the school of the Stationers' Company.
+It was well said of Charles Knight on the occasion of unveiling his bust
+at Windsor, that he set out in life with the desire to make knowledge a
+common possession instead of an exclusive privilege. He laboured for the
+good of his fellow-men rather than for the rewards of fame or fortune,
+and no man was more worthy of honour for his public services and his
+private virtues. The last time I saw him was at the grave of an old
+friend of his and mine; and as I recall the remembrance of his grey hair
+tossed in the wintry wind, I adopt in all seriousness what Douglas
+Jerrold said in jest, that two words would suffice for his
+epitaph--'good Knight.'
+
+It is curious that the printing-press, which has worked such mighty
+changes, should have reproduced in another form the ancient jester who
+stood in cap and bells behind his master's chair, and the merry-andrew
+who made the rustics laugh upon the village green. The numerous
+satirical and humorous publications of the Victorian era represent a
+distinct kind of illustrated journalism, through which runs an amusing
+commentary on passing events, combined with a vein of satire always
+good-humoured and often instructive. At the head of this array of wit
+and wisdom stands _Punch_, who, however, was preceded by _Figaro in
+London_, conducted by Mr. Gilbert A'Beckett, afterwards one of _Punch's_
+strongest supporters. Mr. A'Beckett faithfully acted up to his motto:--
+
+  'Satire should, like a polished razor keen,
+   Wound with a touch that's hardly felt or seen;'
+
+but the constitution of _Figaro_ was not strong, and he died young.
+
+While the _Penny Magazine_ was yet in vigorous life, and the
+_Illustrated London News_ was as yet unborn, there used to be a weekly
+gathering of authors, actors, and artists, at a tavern in Wych Street,
+Strand, where the late Mr. Mark Lemon presided as the genial host. This
+company of merry men were mostly on the sunny side of life, and disposed
+to look upon the world and the world's cares with a laughing eye. They
+were ever ready to go out of their way for the sake of a joke, and a
+pun, good or bad, was pleasant to them. In this congenial atmosphere
+_Punch_ germinated, and in July, 1841, that shrewd observer and
+good-humoured satirist appeared. Mr. _Punch_, like some other great men,
+had a hard struggle in his early days; but prosperous times came, and he
+now combines in his own person the dignity of age with the vivacity of
+youth. _Puck_, _Diogenes_, and numerous other imitators of _Punch_,
+attempted to obtain a share of public favour, but most of them died
+after a brief existence. The best of these that survive are _Fun_ and
+_Judy_, which, with the _Hornet_, _Vanity Fair_, _Figaro_ (a revival of
+the name), _Moonshine_, _Funny Folks_, and others, continue their weekly
+budgets with a smartness and vigour not unworthy of their great
+prototype.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+  [1] There was another Sunday paper in existence about this time, the
+    _Sunday Reformer and Universal Register_. In the number for Dec.
+    29th, 1793, there is a copperplate portrait of Robert Lowth, D.D.,
+    Lord Bishop of London, then recently deceased.
+
+  [2] 'Old Stories Retold,' in _All the Year Round_.
+
+  [3] Grant's _Newspaper Press_.
+
+  [4] 'Old Stories Retold,' in _All the Year Round_.
+
+  [5] _Passages of a Working Life._
+
+  [6] At this time there was another illustrated weekly magazine in
+    existence--the _Mirror_, which began about 1822. The engravings it
+    contained were chiefly of a topographical character.
+
+  [7] The _Saturday Magazine_ was started in imitation of the _Penny
+    Magazine_, and, like its prototype, had a considerable popularity for
+    some years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  The _Illustrated London News_--The Early Numbers--The Burning of
+  Hamburgh--Facetious Advertisements--Bal Masque at Buckingham
+  Palace--Attempted Assassination of the Queen--The Queen's First Trip
+  by Railway--First Royal Visit to Scotland--Political Portraits--R.
+  Cobden--Lord John Russell--Benjamin Disraeli--The French Revolution,
+  1848--The Great Exhibition, 1851--The Crimean War--Coloured
+  Pictures--Christmas Numbers--Herbert Ingram--The _Pictorial
+  Times_--Other Illustrated Journals.
+
+
+Having traced the idea of illustrating the news of the day from the
+early 'news-book' through its various stages of growth and development,
+we come to the first regular illustrated newspaper that was established.
+The projector had long held the opinion, founded on his experience as a
+newsvendor at Nottingham, that such a publication would succeed. He had
+noticed that when the _Observer_ and the _Weekly Chronicle_ contained
+engravings, there was a much larger demand for those papers than when
+they were without illustrations, and he conceived the idea of starting a
+paper whose chief attraction should be its _pictures_. He thought if he
+could combine _art_ and _news_ together, he would be adding greatly to
+the ordinary attractions of a newspaper, and would probably secure a
+widely extended circle of readers. His customers at Nottingham often
+asked for the 'London news' when anything of interest was astir in the
+Metropolis, and his observant shrewdness led him to conclude that this
+would be a good name for his paper. He accordingly called it the
+_Illustrated London News_, and under that title the first number
+appeared on May 14th, 1842. It contained sixteen printed pages and
+thirty-two woodcuts, including all the little headings to the columns,
+price sixpence, and it equalled in size the _Atlas_ which was then sold
+for a shilling, without engravings. It was printed by R. Palmer (at
+the office of Palmer and Clayton), 10 Crane Court, Fleet Street, and
+published by J. Clayton, 320 Strand. The introductory address is written
+in a florid and inflated style; but it shows a correct perception of the
+wide and varied range that would have to be taken by an illustrated
+newspaper.
+
+[Illustration: THE BURNING OF HAMBURGH. FROM THE FIRST NUMBER OF THE
+'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]
+
+[Illustration: HEADING TO 'COURT AND HAUT TON,' COLUMN, 'ILLUSTRATED
+LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]
+
+The well-known engraved heading represents a view of London from the
+Thames, as it was then,--St. Paul's towering in the centre, and the Lord
+Mayor's procession in State barges passing up the river. The first
+engraving is a 'View of the Conflagration of the City of Hamburgh,'
+which began on May 5th, and continued for several days. A great part of
+the city was destroyed, and more than one hundred lives were lost. As
+marking an epoch in the history of the Pictorial Press, I reprint this
+engraving and some others from the early numbers. The next cut is
+apparently a view of some town in Italy or France; but there is no name
+to the engraving or any reference to it in the surrounding text, which
+is all about the dreadful railway accident between Paris and Versailles
+which had then just occurred, whereby fifty persons were killed, and one
+hundred and fifty were more or less injured. On the next page are views
+of the city of Cabul and the fortress of Ghuznee, just then the seat of
+stirring events. The columns of 'Foreign Intelligence,' 'The Court and
+Haut Ton,' 'Births, Marriages, and Deaths,' were each headed by a small
+woodcut, an example of which is given here. There is also an
+illustration of ladies' fashions, accompanied by a gushing, descriptive
+letter from Paris, beginning: 'Dear Mr. Editor, I feel an inexpressible
+delight in inditing my first communication to your lady readers, upon
+the fashions of the _haut ton_ of this _ville de gaitè_. So suddenly and
+with such power has the sun lately shot forth, that there is no end to
+invention in our spring fashions.'
+
+[Illustration: FASHIONS FOR MAY, 1842. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON
+NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]
+
+It would appear that illustrated police reports were to have formed part
+of the attractions of the paper, and several small cuts dealing with
+humorous subjects are scattered through the early numbers. The cases
+were evidently selected with a view to provoke merriment rather than to
+indulge a morbid taste for criminal records, and seem to show that the
+paper in its early days possessed something of the frolicsomeness of
+youth, and did not consider a joke beneath its dignity. It had its wild
+oats to sow, and was not indisposed to emulate its contemporary _Punch_,
+then also a young joker. The first illustrations of the kind relate to a
+case at the Mansion House before Sir Peter Laurie, where the manager of
+a matrimonial institution sought to defend his establishment from the
+strictures of that celebrated 'putter-down.' A few pages further on we
+come upon two facetious advertisements, one of them professing to have
+been called forth by the report of the above case at the Mansion
+House:--
+
+'MATRIMONY.--A _professional_ gentleman, who has for some time past
+enrolled the category of his multitudinous graces, accomplishments, and
+_prospects_, in the portfolio of the "Matrimonial Alliance
+Establishment," fearing that, under the influence of Sir Peter Laurie's
+recent animadversion they will waste their sweetness unseen--unknown in
+the rose-tinted volume of the modern Hymen, avails himself of the
+glorious opportunity afforded to advertisers by the proprietors of the
+_Illustrated London News_, "and boldly and unhesitatingly submits his
+picture in little," to the approving smiles of the fair daughters (and
+_widows_) of Albion's Isle, conscious of his perfect sincerity in
+stating that he has no _insurmountable_ objection to fortune being
+combined with beauty, taste, lively disposition, and cheerful temper; he
+feels assured that the lovely creature whose eyes shall be fortunate
+enough, first to meet this advertisement (and then the advertiser), will
+secure to herself a perfect amenity, if truth be truth, and manners--not
+money--make the man. Address, with portrait (miniature set in gold,
+pearls, or other precious stones, not refused), A. Donis Slim, Esq., 320
+Strand.'
+
+[Illustration: A. DONIS SLIM, ESQ. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,'
+MAY 14, 1842.]
+
+The other advertisement referred to is of an entirely different
+character, being addressed to the commercial world:--
+
+'CAPITAL SPEC! Safe as the Bank!--Wanted a partner in a snug, genteel
+little concern, with an airy and pleasant corner situation in one of the
+most densely crowded thoroughfares of the Metropolis, and doing a good,
+ready-money business, without much risk; which an increase of capital
+would considerably extend. The returns exceed the outlay, and the Sunday
+custom alone covers the rent. The taxes are redeemed, and there is a
+long unexpired term of the lease, which is held at a lolly-pop. The
+coming into a half-share, including plant and stock, very moderate--say
+a trifle above 0000_l._ Any person who can command the above sum will
+not only find this a decided bargain, but a very desirable opportunity
+of commencing business, and well worthy the attention of an industrious
+person of small means and less family. References exchanged. Address,
+prepaid, to B. B. (Brandy Ball), Pieman's Alley.'
+
+[Illustration: PARTNERSHIP WANTED. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,'
+MAY 14, 1842.]
+
+The principal engravings in this first number illustrate the first Bal
+Masque given by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. They were drawn by
+Sir John Gilbert, then at the beginning of his career, and it was most
+fortunate for the new enterprise that an artist of such great and varied
+abilities was found at the very outset to give his powerful aid to the
+undertaking. His wonderful facility and bold picturesqueness were
+exactly suited to the requirements of an illustrated newspaper. The
+first enabled him to do his work with marvellous quickness, and the
+second was an excellent counterpoise to the damaging effects of hurried
+engraving and rapid printing. The illustrations of the Queen's Bal
+Masque are eight in number, including character portraits of Her Majesty
+and the Prince Consort. There are two cuts from a book under review, and
+the last illustration in the number represents a long line of men
+carrying advertising boards 'to proclaim the advent of this important
+publication.'
+
+The first number sold well, probably because the public was curious to
+see what the new paper was like. Twenty-six thousand copies were
+disposed of, but there was a great falling-off in the sale of the second
+number, which opened with a leading article explaining the principles
+that were to guide the paper in its future career. The cut on the front
+page represents the ceremony of taking the veil, and was evidently drawn
+by Gilbert. The next engravings illustrate Waghorn's Overland Route to
+India, then recently organized, followed by an illustrated account of
+the sale at Strawberry Hill, and a portrait of a then notorious
+criminal, Daniel Good, which is accompanied by an editorial apology
+disclaiming all intention of joining the 'raw-head and bloody-bones'
+school, but in the interests of science commending the portrait to the
+disciples of Lavater. This is the only instance of such an engraving
+being inserted in the paper (with the exception of the portrait of
+MacNaghten, who shot Mr. Drummond), and it is evident the editor's
+better feeling revolted against it, although he was only following the
+example of the _Observer_ and the _Weekly Chronicle_.
+
+[Illustration: HER MAJESTY AS QUEEN PHILIPPA. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED
+LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]
+
+The first engraving in No. 3 is a portrait of Mehemet Ali, which is
+given in connexion with further illustrations of the Overland Route to
+India. But the most important picture in this number is a portrait of
+the Queen with the baby Prince of Wales in her lap, drawn by Gilbert.
+There is also the first example of a sporting illustration--a portrait
+of Attila, the winner of the Derby, which accompanies an account of
+Epsom Races, with several other engravings.
+
+[Illustration: THE QUEEN'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED
+LONDON NEWS,' JUNE 19, 1842.]
+
+[Illustration: ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE QUEEN. FROM THE
+'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,' JUNE 5, 1842.]
+
+[Illustration: MR. R. COBDEN, M.P. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,'
+JULY 2, 1842.]
+
+An event now occurred which afforded the first important opportunity of
+illustrating the news of the hour. This was the attempt on the life of
+the Queen, who was fired at as she was driving up Constitution Hill by a
+young man named Francis. The public excitement on this occasion was very
+great, and it is a little surprising that the _Illustrated London News_
+did not make more of it. In No. 4 there are two illustrations in
+connexion with this event, one representing the attempted assassination,
+the other the examination of the prisoner before the Privy Council. The
+engravings are not very imposing, but large blocks had not then come
+into use; and as the event occurred on a Monday there was not too much
+time, with the limited means then at command, to produce them on a large
+scale. In No. 6 there is a small cut entitled 'The Queen's first trip by
+Railway,' which illustrates an account of her Majesty's first journey by
+railway from Windsor to London. With the exception of the drawings by
+Gilbert most of the illustrations in these first six numbers are of an
+inferior character, and show that the conductors of the paper had not
+yet obtained the best artistic help. Indeed it was a long time before
+the higher class of artists and engravers would believe that an
+illustrated newspaper was worthy of their professional attention.
+Illustrations of the Police Reports continued to be scattered through
+the early numbers, mingled with such subjects as a ballet at Her
+Majesty's Theatre, a public dinner, a launch, a horserace, and sketches
+of the Chartist riots at Preston. The Queen's first visit to Scotland
+was very copiously illustrated, and a series of 'Popular Portraits' was
+begun which included most of the prominent politicians of the day. In
+No. 11 the fatal accident to the Duke of Orleans is illustrated; and
+further on the hand of Gilbert is visible in the drawings representing
+the funeral of the Duke of Sussex, the Lord Mayor's Show, and the grand
+Polish Ball at Guildhall. With No. 19 the office was removed to 198
+Strand, where it has remained ever since. The first Cattle Show
+illustrations occur in No. 31, and it is evident that the artists by
+whom they were executed had not made that kind of art their special
+study. The approach of Christmas is heralded by the introduction of
+various laughable sketches; the Pantomimes are illustrated by Alfred
+Crowquill, and Christmas himself is welcomed in a 'Song of the Wassail
+Bowl.' Kenny Meadows finishes the volume with a party of Cupids carrying
+the _Illustrated London News_ through the air, while a literary and
+artistic Cupid, cap in hand, makes his bow to the reader.
+
+The first volume ends with the year 1842, and it has for a frontispiece
+a large view of London, a title-page drawn by Gilbert, and headings to
+preface and index by Kenny Meadows. The preface is written in the florid
+style of the introductory address in the first number; but the following
+passage refers, not inappropriately, to the value and interest of the
+work to the future historian:--
+
+'What would Sir Walter Scott or any of the great writers of modern times
+have given--whether for the purposes of fiction or history, or political
+example or disquisition--for any museum-preserved volume such as we have
+here enshrined. The life of the times--the signs of its taste and
+intelligence--its public monuments and public men--its
+festivals--institutions--amusements--discoveries--and the very
+reflection of its living manners and costumes--the variegated dresses of
+its mind and body--what are--what _must_ be all these but treasures of
+truth that would have lain hid in Time's tomb, or perished amid the sand
+of his hour-glass but for the enduring and resuscitating powers of
+art--the eternal register of the pencil giving life and vigour and
+palpability to the confirming details of the pen. Could the days of
+Elizabeth or others as bright and earlier still be unfolded to us
+through such a mirror, what a mint of wisdom might we gather in from
+such dazzling periods of the past! Of just as much captivating value
+then is such a book to the future. It will pour the lore of the
+Antiquarian into the scholar's yearning soul, and teach him truth about
+those who have gone before him, as it were, with the Pictorial Alphabet
+of Art! It is in this sense that we regard the greatness of our design,
+and are proud of its envied and unexampled success; and it is for this
+end that we shall strain every nerve to perfect it into order and
+completeness that may accord with the beauty and brilliancy which many
+episodes of its execution have already been fortunate to display. Scott
+might carry Elizabeth to Kenilworth through the regions of his fine
+imagination, backed and supported by books, and we may take _cum grano
+salis_ the Antiquarian's and the Poet's word, but the year two thousand
+will be ten times better assured of all the splendid realities of our
+own Victoria's visit to the native land of the Northern Magician who
+enshrined in fiction the glories of Queen Bess. This volume is a work
+that history _must_ keep.'
+
+At the end of the preface is printed the following 'Dedicatory
+Sonnet:'--
+
+  'To the great public,--that gigantic soul
+     Which lends the nation's body life and light,
+     And makes the blood within its veins grow bright
+   With gushing glory,--we this muster-roll
+   Of all the deeds that pass 'neath its controul
+     Do dedicate,--the page of simple news
+   Is here adorned and filled with pictured life,
+   Coloured with thousand tints--the rainbow strife
+     Of all the world's emotions--all the hues
+   Of war--peace--commerce;--agriculture rife
+   With budding plenty that doth life infuse
+     And fair domestic joy--all--all are here
+     To gild the _new_, and from the bygone year
+   Present a gift to take--to cherish and to use.'
+
+The second volume began with several improvements. A 'Romance of Real
+Life,' by Henry Cockton, illustrated by Kenny Meadows, was the first
+attempt to infuse a new interest into newspaper literature by the
+introduction of fiction. Stories by Thomas Miller and others followed.
+This feature of the paper was continued for some time until _fiction_
+was crowded out by _fact_. The popular portraits were done on a larger
+scale and were of a more ambitious character. In No. 40 there is one of
+Lord John Russell, which is reprinted here as an example of the improved
+portraiture of the period.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED
+LONDON NEWS,' 1843.]
+
+In the following year was commenced a series of 'Parliamentary
+Portraits,' one of which I have selected to accompany the portrait of
+Lord John Russell. It is that of Mr. Disraeli, and it will perhaps
+interest the reader to compare the present estimate of Lord Beaconsfield
+with what was said of Mr. Disraeli in 1844. The following is a portion
+of the article which accompanies the portrait:--'The most remarkable
+speeches in the recent debates have been those of Mr. Disraeli, the
+Member for Shrewsbury. He has lately made himself more prominent in the
+sphere of literature and politics as the expounder of the views and
+opinions of that section of the Conservative party which has received
+the name of "Young England." His opinions however are too peculiar, have
+too much individuality ever to become those of a party. We scarcely
+think "Young England" capable of holding as points of belief the
+startling paradoxes to which Mr. Disraeli occasionally gives utterance.
+His speeches abound with happily turned sentences, in which a clever
+sarcasm is thrown into the antithetical form; they also contain a
+large amount of historical information, on which he draws almost as
+often as Macaulay himself. He rarely announces a positively new
+principle, but he often places old ones in a strange and startling
+light, and states the most extraordinary inconsistencies with an air of
+such perfect earnestness and conviction that his auditors are sometimes
+puzzled whether to admire or laugh at him. But he is not one of those
+men who can be laughed at; we have seen him turn the laugh most sorely
+against those who thought themselves securely trenched behind form and
+precedent. He can hit hard, and none have suffered more from his sarcasm
+than the present Premier and the Home Secretary. He seems to mangle them
+with peculiar gusto, and deals with them as if he was annihilating the
+Tadpole or Taper of his own "Coningsby." His speeches have not much
+metaphor, nor does he indulge in rhetorical glitter and ornament; we
+cannot call him impassioned, nor say he is eloquent; but he interests,
+informs, and amuses. A speech from Disraeli is sure to command
+attention. His manner is not calculated to set off his matter to the
+best advantage. His delivery is heavy, and of action he has none
+whatever. He thrusts his hands deep into his side-pockets, leans forward
+a little, or turns from side to side according to whom he may be
+addressing. But that is all. Though he sets the House cheering or
+laughing for minutes together, his countenance remains impassive; he
+says a good thing as if perfectly unconscious of it.'
+
+The paper rapidly advanced in public favour and soon reached a
+circulation of 66,000. It celebrated the completion of the first year of
+its existence by the publication of a double number, profusely
+illustrated by Gilbert, Harvey, and Kenny Meadows.
+
+[Illustration: BENJAMIN DISRAELI, M.P. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON
+NEWS,' JUNE 22, 1844.]
+
+The _Illustrated London News_ was not established without many
+misgivings as to its ultimate success. Its founder probably did not at
+first realise all the difficulties that lay in his way, but as fast as
+they appeared he met them with characteristic courage and energy, and
+overcame them by perseverance. He seized on every opportunity to
+consolidate the strength of the paper, and paid a great amount of
+personal attention to its management, often denying himself sleep one or
+two nights a-week. As the profits increased he kept on increasing the
+scope and number of its attractive features. He made it a rule to spare
+no expense in every department of the journal; whatever money could
+command for its success he resolved to have. After a time he was able to
+act on this wise resolve to the fullest extent, and in the end he
+achieved a great success.
+
+In describing the _Illustrated London News_ during the first year of its
+existence, I have directed attention chiefly to the pictorial portion of
+its contents, that being the characteristic feature of the paper by
+which it was distinguished from its purely literary contemporaries. The
+engravings I have reprinted from it are given as curiosities and not as
+specimens of excellence. The succeeding volumes contain abundant
+evidence that the highest talent was afterwards employed in producing
+the best examples of art as well as in the illustration of news. In its
+sixth year the course of public events opened up new and stirring scenes
+for its pages. So great was the interest felt in the exciting events of
+the year 1848, that the sale of the _Illustrated London News_ was more
+than doubled in three months. The vigorous sketches of the French
+Revolution published week after week were so eagerly bought that the
+publisher was not always able to meet the demand. On one occasion he was
+freely pelted with flour and other harmless missiles because the London
+'trade' could not get their supply soon enough to satisfy their
+impatience. The noisy newsboys, in mocking imitation of the Paris mob
+which was then making the streets of that city ring with cries of 'à bas
+Guizot!' vented their indignation against the publisher of the
+_Illustrated London News_ by shouting 'à bas Little! à bas Little!'
+
+But though the year of revolutions was so rich in materials for
+pictorial journalism, the year of the Great Exhibition was yet more
+fruitful. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was a perfect novelty, and was
+hailed as the harbinger of peace on earth and good-will among men.
+Coming so soon after the convulsions of 1848, the peaceful display was
+more enchanting from the contrast. Such a golden opportunity was not
+lost upon the pictorial press, and every stage of the construction of
+the first Crystal Palace was represented. The very plan of the building
+was first made public in the pages of the _Illustrated London News_, the
+first design adopted by the Commissioners having been superseded by Sir
+Joseph Paxton's Palace of Glass. The building was shown in progress from
+the raising of the first column, and its removal was illustrated to the
+clearing away of the foundations. In this 'Festival of Labour' the
+_Illustrated London News_ took a prominent place. An edition was printed
+in the Exhibition building by one of Applegarth's vertical
+printing-machines, then the quickest method of printing in use. At this
+time the paper was distinguished by the number and excellence of its
+illustrations, and the '_London News_' printing-machine was one of the
+attractions of the 'World's Fair.'
+
+In three years more the dreams of universal peace created by the Great
+Exhibition were rudely swept away by the declaration of war with Russia
+and subsequent invasion of the Crimea. The long and disastrous siege of
+Sebastopol, the assaults on the Redan and the Malakoff, the battles of
+Balaclava and Inkermann, supplied the most exciting subjects for
+illustration. It was the first great war since Waterloo, and the
+national excitement being intensified by the maladministration of the
+Government, the British public eagerly bought the war sketches. The sale
+of the paper at this time was very great, yet it is a curious fact that
+it never reached so high a figure as during the peaceful exhibition of
+1851,--a proof that, after all, the arts of peace are more attractive
+than the excitement of war.
+
+At Christmas, 1855, a novel feature was introduced into the _Illustrated
+London News_. For some years a Christmas number had been published, and
+it was now for the first time printed in _colours_. It is true the
+coloured pictures were little more than ordinary woodcuts with tints
+printed over them, but their imperfections were principally owing to the
+breakdown of machinery and the great hurry in which they were produced.
+In after years much better things were done, and the coloured Christmas
+pictures which have been for many years produced at the chromatic press
+of Leighton Bros. take rank among the best work of the kind. They have
+proved exceedingly popular, and always sold well. That of 'Little Red
+Riding Hood,' after J. Sant, R.A., published in 1863, was reprinted
+again and again, until the blocks were utterly worn out. They were then
+re-engraved, and again reprinted. The Christmas picture issued in 1882
+('Cinderella') was specially painted by Mr. Millais, R.A., at the price
+of 3000 guineas. When it is noted that the large coloured reproduction
+of this picture, together with seventeen highly finished full-page
+engravings by some of the best artists of the day, were sold for a
+shilling, it will be seen that the pictorial press is no unimportant
+factor in diffusing the purifying and softening influence of art.
+
+During the forty-two years that have elapsed since the first illustrated
+newspaper was founded, there has never been any long interval of peace.
+War of some kind, big or little, has broken out, like a volcano, on some
+part of the earth's surface, and kept the Argus-eyed newspaper editor on
+the alert. From Alma to Tel-el-Kebir and the desert warfare of the
+Soudan, there has been a succession of conflicts, with only a short
+interval of a few years between; so that the food on which picture
+newspapers thrive best has been abundantly supplied, and this remarkable
+offspring of the printing-press has consequently increased and
+multiplied, and is now found in every corner of the earth, 'from China
+to Peru.' The reader may form some idea of the magnitude of the
+operations in connexion with illustrated journalism when I state that at
+the marriage of the Prince of Wales the _Illustrated London News_ of
+that week consisted of three sheets, and 930,000 sheets were printed of
+that issue in one week. These sheets, if placed side by side, would
+cover 660 miles, so that, as they were printed on both sides, they
+represent a printed surface of, after deductions for margin, more than
+1115 miles in length. Nearly eighty tons of paper and twenty-three
+hundredweight of printing-ink were used in the production of that
+number. Larger quantities have been printed of some issues, but the
+production was spread over a longer period of time. 930,000 sheets is
+the largest quantity ever printed _in one week_. It will thus be seen
+what an amount of business this represents to the paper-maker, the
+ink-maker, the wood-draughtsman, the engravers, the electrotypers, the
+compositors, printers, machine-men, roller-makers, warehousemen, and the
+numerous other workers in a newspaper printing-office.
+
+The first editor of the _Illustrated London News_ was Mr. Bailey, who
+was nicknamed 'Alphabet Bailey' on account of the great number of his
+Christian names, and the consequent multiplicity of his initials. He was
+also called 'Omnibus Bailey' from his having edited a periodical called
+the _Omnibus_. These names were given to him to distinguish him from Mr.
+Thomas Haynes Bayley, the sentimental song-writer, author of 'I'd be a
+Butterfly,' 'The Soldier's Tear,' &c. Dr. Charles Mackay became the
+literary and political editor of the paper in 1848, and in 1852 he took
+its entire management and control, in which position he continued till
+1859, when he resigned. The late John Timbs was for many years on the
+editorial staff, and his familiar figure is well remembered in the old
+room at 198 Strand, where he sat with paste and scissors, undisturbed by
+the noises which surrounded him both inside and outside the house, for
+in this one room the whole business of the paper was at one time
+conducted. Here the young literary or artistic aspirant, who thought he
+saw in the new journal an opening for his hitherto unappreciated
+talents, had to explain his proposals before the eyes and in the hearing
+of rivals who were waiting for their turn. The place was open to all
+comers, and was at once the centre of managerial, financial, and
+editorial affairs. But the founder of the paper received all who came
+with good-humour and generous feeling, and never disregarded a useful
+hint or refused the proffered assistance of a good man.
+
+Herbert Ingram, the founder of the _Illustrated London News_, was born
+at Boston, Lincolnshire, on the 27th of May, 1811. He lost his father
+very early, and being sent to the Boston Free School, he there obtained
+all the school education he ever received. The course of instruction
+through which he passed was of the most circumscribed character, making
+his success in after-life all the more remarkable. At the age of
+fourteen he was apprenticed to Mr. Jos. Clarke, then a printer living in
+the Market Place, Boston. His master soon found that he possessed
+industry, patience, and perseverance in a high degree, qualities which
+unquestionably lay at the root of his subsequent success in life. He was
+always ready to work all night when orders were plentiful, and was
+unwilling to abandon anything he began until it was entirely complete.
+He established a character for punctuality and trustworthiness, while he
+carefully looked after the interests of his employer. At the expiration
+of his apprenticeship he came to London and worked for about two years
+as a journeyman printer. He then settled in Nottingham, and commenced
+business as a printer, bookseller, and newsagent.
+
+It was at this time Mr. Ingram was struck with the evident partiality of
+the public for _illustrated news_. He found such an extraordinary demand
+for the numbers of the _Weekly Chronicle_ containing the engravings of
+the Greenacre murder that he set seriously to work on the scheme of an
+illustrated newspaper, and put himself in communication with Mr.
+Marriott, who was then the manager of the _Weekly Chronicle_. But at the
+outset it appeared impossible to overcome the difficulty of producing
+pictures quick enough and in such numbers as would furnish forth a paper
+while the news was fresh. In the gradual development of the first
+illustrated newspaper it was, however, found that the draughtsmen and
+engravers of the day were fully equal to the demands made upon them, and
+a system of quick production was soon established which kept the paper
+on a level with current events.
+
+Mr. Ingram, who had settled in London before he started the _Illustrated
+London News_, entered heart and soul into his new enterprise. He had
+much to learn, and many things to do that were neither easy nor
+pleasant, but he had the rare faculty of picking out the right men to
+help him. It was his wise policy to employ the best talent, and in order
+to have it to pay its possessor munificently. He was brought closely
+into connexion with the artistic and literary world, by whom he was
+sincerely respected, and with whom his dealings were uniformly marked by
+kindness and liberality. Though he had not himself received the
+advantages of literary or artistic culture, he was able to do much in
+diffusing a knowledge and love of art amongst the people. His enterprise
+helped to change the character of public taste, and allured it into
+channels which were previously open only to the wealthy and the refined.
+His practical knowledge as a printer and newsagent were of infinite
+value in organizing and conducting the varied details of newspaper
+business. He was ever on the watch, and made opportunities where other
+men would have been indifferent and inactive. When a new Archbishop of
+Canterbury was installed the number of the paper containing an engraving
+of the ceremony was sent to every clergyman in England, and this was
+followed by a large and permanent increase in the number of
+subscribers--the first large rise in the sale since the paper began. At
+a much later date--long after the paper had become firmly
+established--the French authorities stopped the sale of the _Illustrated
+London News_ in Paris on account of some article reflecting on the
+Emperor Napoleon. Mr. Ingram happened to be in Paris at the time, and he
+immediately showed that the old energy and perseverance of the
+Nottingham newsvendor had not forsaken him. He used great exertions to
+get the paper released, in which he at length succeeded, and he himself
+afterwards went round in a cab and delivered the numbers to the various
+subscribers. When he was at Nottingham he walked five miles (and of
+course five miles back) to supply a gentleman with a single paper; and
+on one occasion he got up at two in the morning, and travelled to London
+to get some papers, the ordinary post not arriving soon enough to
+satisfy the curiosity of his customers. His exertions were rewarded by
+the sale of more than 1000 copies of that paper in Nottingham alone.
+This was probably one of the occasions which struck him so forcibly when
+the Nottingham public manifested such an eager interest in _illustrated
+news_.
+
+Throughout his life Mr. Ingram was devoted to the interests of his
+native town, and in return the people of Boston, in 1856, elected him as
+their representative in Parliament. At the general election which
+occurred after the dissolution in 1857 he was returned again. Amongst
+other social and political questions in which he took an active interest
+he was prominent in the agitation for the repeal of the stamp duty on
+newspapers. He also exerted himself zealously for the repeal of the
+paper duty, but he died before that important movement was brought to a
+successful issue. In 1848 Mr. Ingram started a cheap daily paper--the
+_Morning Telegraph_--upon which he spent a large amount of money. He
+was, however, before the time in this instance. The era of cheap daily
+papers had not begun, and after a time the new speculation was
+abandoned. He was one of the original shareholders of the _Great
+Eastern_ steamship, and was on board the giant vessel when the accident
+occurred on her trial trip from the Nore to Portland Harbour. It is a
+remarkable circumstance that the dreadful catastrophe in which he lost
+his life happened on the anniversary of this accident on board the
+_Great Eastern_.
+
+[Illustration: HERBERT INGRAM, FOUNDER OF THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON
+NEWS.']
+
+In 1860 Mr. Ingram visited America accompanied by his eldest son. They
+left Liverpool in the _North American_ on the 9th of August, and landed
+at Quebec in time to witness, after traversing the Lower St. Lawrence,
+the knocking in of the 'last wedge' of the Victoria Bridge at Montreal
+by the Prince of Wales. They then went on to Niagara, where they stayed
+some days. From Niagara Mr. Ingram proceeded to Chicago, intending to
+cross the prairies, and to follow the Mississippi to New Orleans, and
+thence to New York, but more especially to Boston, which old
+associations of history had determined him to make the conclusion of his
+sojourn in the United States. He altered his plans, however, and decided
+to visit Lake Superior, and to prolong his stay in America, proposing to
+return to England about the end of October.
+
+Mr. Ingram left Chicago at midnight on the 7th of September, accompanied
+by his son, in the _Lady Elgin_ steamer, bound on an excursion up Lakes
+Michigan and Superior. Nearly four hundred persons were on board. The
+wind blew hard from the north-east, and a heavy sea was running, but no
+one thought of danger, and there was music and dancing in the saloon.
+Thirty miles from Chicago and ten miles from land, about two o'clock on
+the morning of the 8th, there came a sudden crash. The schooner
+_Augusta_, sailing at the rate of eleven knots an hour, had struck the
+_Lady Elgin_ on the midships gangway, and then, having her sails set,
+and the wind blowing freshly, drifted off in the darkness. At first it
+was not thought that any serious damage had been done to the steamer,
+but those on board soon found that she was settling fast. The captain
+ordered parts of the woodwork of the vessel to be cut adrift to serve as
+rafts, and made such other provisions as the hurry would allow. In less
+than half-an-hour the hurricane deck floated off, and the hulk with the
+machinery went to the bottom with a tremendous noise. When the vessel
+parted all lights were extinguished, and the unfortunate passengers were
+left struggling amid the waves in total darkness. The steamer sank in
+three hundred feet of water, the sea was running high, and the land was
+ten miles away. Some of those who survived to see the dawn were drifted
+towards the shore on pieces of the wreck, and were drowned in the surf
+in the sight of hundreds of spectators. Out of 393 persons on board
+only 114 were saved. Among the drowned were Mr. Ingram and his son. The
+body of Mr. Ingram was washed ashore about sixteen miles from Chicago,
+and every effort was used to restore animation, but in vain. The body of
+his son was never found.
+
+The citizens of Chicago were profoundly impressed by the melancholy fate
+of father and son, so far away from home and friends. Mr. Ingram's
+remains were escorted from the Brigg's House Hotel to the railway
+station by a procession of more than eight hundred of the British
+residents in the neighbourhood. The body was taken to Quebec and
+conveyed on board the _Bohemian_ steamer, which arrived at Liverpool on
+the 2nd of October. From thence the remains were removed to Boston, and
+interred in the new cemetery at Skirbeck, about a mile from the centre
+of the town. On the day of the funeral all the shops and places of
+business in Boston were closed, the inhabitants filled the streets and
+followed the procession up to the gates of the cemetery. It was in every
+sense a public funeral, and afforded the strongest testimony of the
+respect in which the memory of the deceased was held by his
+fellow-townsmen. Two years afterwards, on October 6th, 1862, a statue of
+Mr. Ingram, raised by public subscription, was unveiled in the
+market-place at Boston. The life that began in the quaint old
+Lincolnshire town and ended amid the stormy waters of Lake Michigan, has
+now an enduring memorial standing not far from the spot where Herbert
+Ingram was born.
+
+The _Illustrated London News_ no sooner became an assured success than
+it was imitated. The _Pictorial Times_ was the first competitor that
+entered the field, and a very strong literary staff was collected to
+contend for the new path that had been opened. Douglas Jerrold wrote the
+leading articles; Thackeray was critic and reviewer, in which capacity
+he reviewed Macaulay's _Essays_ and Disraeli's _Coningsby_; Mark Lemon
+was dramatic critic, Peter Cunningham art critic, while Gilbert
+A'Beckett was the humorous contributor; the managing editor was Henry
+Vizetelly, and Knight Hunt, author of the _Fourth Estate_, afterwards
+editor of the _Daily News_, was the sub-editor. One man who has since
+become famous as a journalist was amongst the artists employed on the
+new paper. Those who only know Mr. George Augustus Sala as a brilliant
+writer will be surprised to learn that he is also a facile draughtsman,
+and was on the artistic staff of the _Pictorial Times_ in 1847. The
+_Pictorial Times_ was continued for several years, but it never achieved
+such a measure of success as to become permanently established. A story
+used to be told in connexion with it which gave some countenance to the
+popular belief that some of the sketches in illustrated newspapers were
+evolved from the inner consciousness of the artists. I cannot answer for
+the truth of the anecdote, but I know it served to amuse the world of
+Bohemia at the time. When the Queen and Prince Albert went first to
+Scotland, the newspapers in recording the movements of the royal party
+related, among other things (quoting a Scottish contemporary), that Her
+Majesty and the Prince had gone one day to 'see the shearing.' The
+conductors of the _Pictorial Times_ seeing this, and being anxious to
+present their readers with a perfect record of the royal doings,
+forthwith set an artist to work to produce a pleasant pastoral scene,
+with a group of shepherds _shearing their sheep_--not knowing that
+'shearing' in Scotland means _cutting the corn_, and forgetting for the
+moment that sheep-shearing is not usually done in the autumn.
+
+Much energy and capital have been expended on several other attempts to
+found pictorial journals in London, but most of them failed to secure a
+profitable footing. _Pen and Pencil_ contained some capital cuts by
+Linton; and the _Illustrated Times_, a threepenny paper, was well done.
+The _Illustrated News of the World_, in addition to numerous woodcuts,
+issued portraits engraved on steel. _The Ladies' Newspaper_ was started
+to fill a supposed void in journalism, but was ultimately absorbed by
+the _Queen_, in which connexion it still flourishes. The _Illustrated
+Midland News_ was brought out in Manchester, but it could not find in
+that city and its neighbourhood sufficient sustenance to subsist beyond
+a brief period. The _Illustrated London and Provincial News_ in its
+title endeavoured to attract both town and country, but it only had a
+short career. While these different ventures were in progress, the
+_Penny Illustrated Paper_ appealed to a lower stratum of the public with
+great success, and it has now a very large sale, having combined the
+_Illustrated Times_ with its original title. In some of these
+enterprises the promoters appear to have been unable to shake off, in
+choosing their titles, the fascinating influence of the word
+'illustrated.' A joint-stock company broke the spell, and started a
+paper with the very original title of the _Graphic_ on the eve of the
+great war between France and Germany. It was a most favourable time for
+establishing a new paper, and the conductors handled the opportunity
+with great ability and success. The printing and general _get-up_ of the
+_Graphic_ are excellent, and it has earned for itself a wide popularity.
+The _Pictorial World_ was started as a threepenny paper, and after
+existing several years at that price it became the property of a company
+and was raised to sixpence. During the Egyptian War it made strenuous
+efforts to obtain a footing on the same platform with the _Illustrated
+London News_ and the _Graphic_. The large lithographic portraits
+published by the _Pictorial World_ were very good. As the public taste
+improved under the influence of the pictorial press new fields were
+opened up for cultivation by the enterprising journalist. The
+_Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News_ addressed itself not only to
+the sportsman and actor, but also to that section of the public which
+finds amusement in the incidents and humours of the sporting world and
+the stage. It has deservedly obtained a good position. The last new
+comer on the journalistic stage is the _Ladies' Pictorial_, which has
+recently been enlarged and greatly improved. Its light and elegant
+contents are well suited to the tastes of its numerous patrons. All the
+existing illustrated papers in London have their publishing offices in
+the 'Line of Literature,' as Fleet Street and the Strand have been
+called. In the streets and courts in the neighbourhood are housed
+numbers of engravers and draughtsmen, who find it mutually convenient to
+work in the vicinity of the head-quarters of pictorial journalism. Many
+of the same fraternity consume the midnight oil in distant suburbs,
+their work gravitating to the great centre in the morning.
+
+All the countries of Europe, the United States, some of the cities of
+South America, the Colonies of Canada and Australia, have now their
+illustrated newspapers. Some of them supplement their own productions by
+reproducing the engravings from the English papers, and many have
+attained a high degree of artistic merit. The American journals are
+especially noteworthy for their excellent engravings.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+  How an Illustrated Newspaper is
+  Produced--Wood-engraving--Boxwood--Blocks for Illustrated
+  Newspapers--Rapid Sketching--Drawing on the Block--Method of Dividing
+  the Block for Engraving--Electrotyping--Development of the Printing
+  Machine--Printing Woodcuts--Machinery for Folding Newspapers--Special
+  Artists--Their Dangers and Difficulties--Their Adventures in War and
+  Peace.
+
+
+In describing the production of a modern pictorial newspaper, I take the
+_Illustrated London News_ as the type of its class, because it was the
+first paper of the kind that was ever established. The art of
+wood-engraving, to which the illustrated newspaper owes its existence,
+has been fully described by competent authors. The best work on the
+subject is that produced by the late John Jackson in 1839; but since
+that date the resources of the art have been greatly developed, chiefly
+through the influence of illustrated newspapers.
+
+The material used for wood-engraving is box-wood, which is preferred to
+all other kinds of wood on account of its close grain, hardness, and
+light colour. It admits of finer and sharper lines being cut upon it
+than any other wood, and great quantities are consumed in producing the
+engravings of an illustrated newspaper. According to Mr. J. R. Jackson,
+Curator of the Kew Museum, the box-tree is at the present time widely
+distributed through Europe and Asia, being found abundantly in Italy,
+Spain, Southern France, and on the coast of the Black Sea, as well as
+China, Japan, Northern India, and Persia. The box of English growth is
+so small as to be almost useless for commercial purposes. What is called
+Turkey box-wood is the best, and this is all obtained from the forests
+that grow on the Caucasus, and is chiefly shipped at Poti and Rostoff.
+The forests extend from thirty to a hundred and eighty miles inland, but
+many of them are in the hands of the Russian Government and are closed
+to commerce. Within the last few years a supply of box-wood has been
+obtained from the forests in the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea; but
+Turkey box is becoming dearer every year and inferior in quality. After
+the wood is cut in the forest, it is brought down on horseback to the
+nearest river, put on board flat-bottom boats, and floated down to the
+port of shipment. It arrives in this country either at Liverpool or
+London, chiefly the former, and is usually in logs about four feet long
+and eight or ten inches across.
+
+[Illustration: BACK OF A BLOCK, SHOWING THE WAY IN WHICH THE PARTS ARE
+FASTENED TOGETHER.]
+
+The wood intended for engraving purposes is first carefully selected and
+then cut up into transverse slices about an inch thick. After being cut,
+the pieces are placed in racks something like plate-racks, and
+thoroughly seasoned by slow degrees in gradually heated rooms. This
+seasoning process ought to last, on an average, four or five years; but
+the exigencies of trade seldom allow of so long a time. They are then
+cut into parallelograms of various sizes, the outer portion of the
+circular section near the bark being cut away, and all defective wood
+rejected. These parallelograms are then assorted as to size, and fitted
+together at the back by brass bolts and nuts. By this means blocks of
+any size can be made, and they possess the great advantage of being
+capable of being taken to pieces after a drawing is made, and
+distributed among as many engravers as there are pieces in the block.
+This invention of making bolted blocks was brought forward just about
+the time the _Illustrated London News_ was started, when large blocks
+and quick engraving came to be in demand. In the days of the _Penny
+Magazine_, blocks were made by simply glueing the pieces of wood
+together, or they were fastened by means of a long bolt passing through
+the entire block.
+
+The cut given on the opposite page represents the back of a half-page
+block of the _Illustrated London News_, and shows the way in which the
+bolts and nuts are used for fastening the different parts of the block
+together.
+
+For the production of a pictorial newspaper a large staff of draughtsmen
+and engravers is required, who must be ready at a moment's notice to
+take up any subject, and, if necessary, work day and night until it is
+done. The artist who supplies the sketch has acquired by long practice a
+rapid method of working, and can, by a few strokes of his pencil,
+indicate a passing scene by a kind of pictorial shorthand, which is
+afterwards translated and extended in the finished drawing. The sketch
+being completed on paper, the services of the draughtsman on wood come
+into requisition, for it is not often that the drawing on the block is
+made by the same person who supplies the sketch. Sometimes the sketch to
+be dealt with is the production of an amateur, or is so hastily or
+indifferently done that it has to be remodelled or rearranged in drawing
+it on the wood. Faulty or objectionable portions have to be left out or
+subdued, and perhaps a point in the sketch that is quite subordinate, is
+brought forward and made to form a prominent part of the picture. All
+this has to be done without doing violence to the general truth of the
+representation, and with due consideration for the particular conditions
+of the moment, such as the amount of finish and distribution of light
+and shade suitable for rapid engraving and printing.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF SKETCH: SURRENDER OF SEDAN.]
+
+[Illustration: THE SURRENDER OF SEDAN. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON
+NEWS,' SEPT. 17, 1870.]
+
+An example of the adaptation of a rapid sketch occurs in the engraving
+of the surrender of Sedan, published in the _Illustrated London News_,
+September 17, 1870. This sketch, which carries with it the strongest
+evidence of being taken 'under fire,' came to hand a few hours before
+the engravings for the current week were to be ready for the printer.
+The cream or heart of the sketch, representing an officer waving a white
+flag over the gate of Sedan attended by a trumpeter, was taken for the
+subject, while the comparatively unimportant part of the sketch was left
+out. The drawing was rapidly executed and as rapidly engraved, and was
+ready for press at the usual time. I give a reduced copy of the
+engraving, together with a facsimile reduction of the original sketch,
+which will show the reader the way in which hurried sketches are
+sometimes adapted to the purposes of a newspaper without at all
+impairing their original truth.
+
+Sometimes more than one draughtsman is employed on a drawing where the
+subject consists of figures and landscape, or figures and architecture.
+In such a case, if time presses, the two parts of the drawing are
+proceeded with simultaneously. The whole design is first traced on the
+block; the bolts at the back of the block are then loosened, the parts
+are separated, and the figure-draughtsman sets to work on his division
+of the block, while another draughtsman is busied with the landscape or
+architecture, as the case may be. Occasionally, when there is very great
+hurry, the block is separated piece by piece as fast as the parts of the
+drawing are finished--the engraver and draughtsman thus working on the
+same subject at the same time. Instances have occurred where the
+draughtsman has done his work in this way, and has never seen the whole
+of his drawing together. The double-page engraving of the marriage of
+the Prince of Wales in the _Illustrated London News_, March 21, 1863,
+was drawn on the wood by Sir John Gilbert at 198 Strand, and as fast as
+each part of the drawing was done it was separated from the rest and
+given to the engraver. Considering that the artist never saw his drawing
+entire, it is wonderful to find the engraving so harmonious and
+effective. Photographing on the wood is now in general use for
+portraits, sculpture, architecture, and other subjects where there is a
+picture or finished drawing on paper to work from.
+
+The drawing on wood being completed, it passes into the hands of the
+engraver, and the first thing he does is to cut or set the lines across
+all the joins of the block before the different parts are distributed
+among the various engravers. This is done partly to ensure as far as
+possible some degree of harmony of colour and texture throughout the
+subject. When all the parts are separated and placed in the hands of
+different engravers each man has thus a sort of _key-note_ to guide him
+in the execution of his portion, and it should be his business to
+imitate and follow with care the colour and texture of the small pieces
+of engraving which he finds already done at the edge of his part of the
+block where it joins the rest of the design. The accompanying cuts
+represent a block entire and the same subject divided.
+
+[Illustration: A BLOCK BEFORE IT IS TAKEN TO PIECES.]
+
+[Illustration: THE SAME SUBJECT DIVIDED.]
+
+Though this system of subdividing the engraving effects a great saving
+of time, it must be admitted that it does not always result in the
+production of a first-rate work of art as a whole. For, supposing the
+subject to be a landscape with a good stretch of trees, the two or three
+engravers who have the trees to engrave have, perhaps, each a different
+method of rendering foliage; and when the whole is completed, and the
+different pieces are put together, the trees perhaps appear like a piece
+of patchwork, with a distinct edge to each man's work. To harmonise and
+dovetail (so to speak) these different pieces of work is the task of the
+superintending artist, who retouches the first proof of the engraving
+and endeavours to blend together the differences of colour and
+texture. This is often no easy task, for the press is generally waiting,
+and the time that is left for such work is often reduced to minutes
+where hours would scarcely suffice to accomplish all that might be done.
+Or the block to be engraved may be a marine subject, with a stormy sea.
+In this case, like the landscape, two or three engravers may be employed
+upon the water, each of them having a different way of representing that
+element. Here it is even more difficult than in the landscape to blend
+the conflicting pieces of work, and requires an amount of 'knocking
+about' that sometimes astonishes the original artist. All this is the
+necessary result of the hurry in which the greater part of newspaper
+engravings have to be produced. When the conditions are more favourable
+better things are successfully attempted, and of this the illustrated
+newspapers of the day have given abundant proofs.
+
+It is obvious that when a block is divided and the parts are distributed
+in various hands, if any accident should occur to one part the whole
+block is jeopardised. It is much to the credit of the fraternity of
+engravers that this rarely or ever happens. I only remember one instance
+of a failure of this kind within my own experience. An engraver of
+decidedly Bohemian character, after a hard night's work on the tenth
+part of a page block, thought fit to recruit himself with a cheering
+cup. In the exhilaration that followed he lost the piece of work upon
+which he had been engaged, and thereby rendered useless the efforts of
+himself and his nine compatriots.
+
+When the block is finished the parts are screwed together by means of
+the brass bolts and nuts at the back of the block. It is then delivered
+to the electrotyper, who first takes a mould of the block in wax, which
+mould is then covered with a thin coating of blacklead, that being a
+good conductor of electricity. The mould is then suspended by a brass
+rod in a large bath filled with a solution of sulphate of copper and
+sulphuric acid. A strong current of electricity, obtained from a
+dynamo-electric machine close at hand, is conducted to the wax mould in
+the bath and also to a sheet of copper which is placed near the mould.
+The electricity decomposes the copper and deposits it in small particles
+on the mould, on which a thin coating of copper is gradually formed,
+producing an exact facsimile of the original engraved block. This copper
+reproduction of the woodcut is filled in at the back with metal, mounted
+on wood, and is then ready for the printer, who has his 'overlays' all
+ready, and the business of printing begins.
+
+There is nothing more wonderful in the history of printing than the
+rapid development of the printing machine and the extraordinary increase
+of its productive power. The ordinary press, though greatly improved,
+was found quite inadequate to the demands made upon it; and, the
+attention of practical men being directed to some more rapid means of
+production, the steam printing machine was invented. As early as 1790
+Mr. W. Nicholson obtained letters patent for a machine very similar to
+those since in use; but it was not till 1814 that any practical use was
+made of the steam printing machine. In that year a German named König
+constructed a machine for the _Times_ newspaper, which worked
+successfully; but, though highly ingenious, the machine was very
+complicated, and it was soon superseded by the invention of Messrs.
+Applegarth and Cowper, possessing several novel features. This machine,
+again, was replaced by another where the type was arranged vertically.
+Then came Hoe's American machines, and finally the Walter Press, the
+principle of which last invention has, in the Ingram Rotary Machine,
+been successfully applied to the printing of cheap illustrated
+newspapers. By the old 'two-feeder' machines the engravings were printed
+on one side of the sheet, and, by a second printing, the type on the
+other side. They turned out 1500 impressions of the engravings in an
+hour, while the type side was printed (by a six-feeder American machine)
+at the rate of 12,000 impressions an hour. The _Penny Illustrated Paper_
+is printed by the Ingram Rotary Machine at the rate of 6500 an hour. It
+prints both sides of the sheet at once, cuts each number to its proper
+size, folds it, and turns it out complete. It occupies no more space
+than an ordinary perfecting machine, and only requires four men to
+attend to it, while thirty men and five 'two-feeders' would be required
+to do the same amount of work by the old system.
+
+If a block be well engraved and carefully used in printing there is
+practically no limit to the number of impressions that may be taken from
+it. The blocks in the Christmas number of the _Illustrated London News_
+of 1882 had 425,000 impressions taken from them, and they are still good
+for a new edition of the like number.
+
+After the paper is printed each sheet is neatly folded by folding
+machines, which fold the entire edition in a few hours. One
+double-action folding machine will fold fifty sheets in a minute. As it
+is found that machinery for folding newspapers works much better at a
+moderate speed, in the case of the Ingram Rotary Machine it has been
+arranged in duplicate, so that each folder only works at half the speed
+of the printing machine. The folding machine completes its work by
+inserting the paper in its cover; but as the _Illustrated London News_
+has not sufficient space for machines to carry out the whole of this
+part of the business, a number of women and girls are employed, whose
+nimble fingers supplement the work of the folding machines.
+
+[Illustration: THE EVE OF A BATTLE: NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS SLEEPING ON
+THE FIELD.]
+
+In these days of electric telegraphy Puck's notion of putting 'a girdle
+round about the earth in forty minutes' is not so very far from being
+realised. The London citizen as he sips his coffee at his villa in the
+suburbs runs his eye over the pages of his morning paper, and reads of
+events that took place yesterday many thousand miles away. Before he
+starts for business he is informed of what is passing on every side of
+the inhabited earth. This rapid transmission of intelligence is somewhat
+damaging to the illustrated newspaper, for by the time it can publish
+sketches of interesting events in far distant countries the freshness
+of the news is gone, and the public mind is occupied with later
+occurrences. Until some method is invented of sending sketches by
+electricity the pictorial press must endure this disadvantage, but in
+the meantime it spares no pains to overtake the march of events.
+Wherever there is any 'moving accident by flood or field' the 'special
+artist' of the illustrated newspaper is found 'takin' notes.' No event
+of interest escapes his ever ready pencil. He undergoes fatigues,
+overcomes formidable difficulties, and often incurs personal danger in
+fulfilling his mission. On the eve of a battle he will sleep on the bare
+ground wrapped in a blanket or waterproof sheet, and he will ride all
+night through a hostile country to catch the homeward mail. He is
+equally at home in the palace and the hovel, and is as ready to attend a
+battle as a banquet. He thought nothing of stepping over to China to
+attend the nuptials of the celestial Emperor; and on that occasion
+extended his travels until he had completed the circuit of the globe,
+winding up with a run on the war-path among the American Indians. He
+assisted at the laying of the telegraph cable between Europe and
+America, and diversified his labours, and showed the versatility of his
+powers by taking part in an impromptu dramatic entertainment which he
+and his comrades got up for the occasion, and which they appropriately
+called 'A Cable-istic Extravaganza.' He was at the opening of the Suez
+Canal, and he passed with the first railway train through the Mont Cenis
+tunnel. In pursuing his vocation the special artist has to encounter the
+perils of earth, air, fire, and water. Now he is up in a balloon, now
+down in a coal-mine; now shooting tigers in India, now deer-stalking in
+the Highlands. Dr. Schliemann no sooner announced that he had discovered
+the site of Troy than the special artist was down upon the spot at once.
+He is found risking his life in the passes of Afghanistan, and in
+Zululand assisting at the defeat and capture of Cetywayo. Now he is at
+the bombardment of Alexandria, and now facing the savage warriors of
+the Soudan at El-Teb and Tamasi. At the present time (November, 1884),
+he is on his way up the Nile with the expedition for the relief of
+General Gordon at Khartoum, and he is in India with the Boundary
+Commissioners exploring the dangerous passes of the Afghan frontier. In
+peace or war the special artist pursues his purpose with stoical
+self-possession in spite of cold, hunger, and fatigue.
+
+[Illustration: A CABLE-ISTIC EXTRAVAGANZA, PERFORMED BY NEWSPAPER
+CORRESPONDENTS ON BOARD THE _GREAT EASTERN_, AT SEA, JULY, 1866.]
+
+The special artist may be said to have commenced his career with the
+Crimean War. While the signs of the coming storm were yet distant the
+_Illustrated London News_ sent the late Mr. S. Read to the expected
+scene of action, and during the whole course of the war special artists
+were on the shores of the Black Sea and in the Baltic to chronicle the
+great events of the time. The world had scarcely forgotten Balaklava and
+Inkerman when the war between Italy, France, and Austria broke out.
+Solferino and Magenta were fought, Garibaldi conquered Sicily, and
+wherever the interest was greatest there the special artist was found.
+Special artists went with the contending armies when Denmark opposed
+herself single-handed to the united forces of Prussia and Austria, and
+delineated every important incident of the campaign. When the present
+Emperor of Germany was crowned King of Prussia at Königsberg special
+artists travelled to that ancient city to furnish sketches of the
+ceremony. The gigantic civil war in America, and the brief struggle
+between Prussia and Austria in 1866, gave active employment to the
+special artist; and when a British force advanced into Abyssinia a
+special artist was with that most romantic expedition, and sent home
+numerous sketches of the remarkable scenery of the country, as well as
+of all the principal events of the campaign. The assault on Magdala, the
+dispersion of King Theodore's broken army, the customs and dwellings of
+the people, were all noted and illustrated. When the great war of 1870,
+between France and Prussia, broke out, the illustrated newspapers had
+special artists on both sides, who encountered all sorts of hardships,
+and passed through all kinds of adventures in fulfilling their duties.
+Besides being frequently arrested as spies, and undergoing the
+privations of beleagured places, they had also to run the risk of shot
+and shell, and sometimes they were obliged to destroy their sketching
+materials under fear of arrest. One of them was in custody as a spy no
+less than eleven times during the war. The danger of being seen
+sketching or found with sketches in their possession was so great that
+on one occasion a special artist actually swallowed his sketch to avoid
+being taken up as a spy. Another purchased the largest book of cigarette
+papers he could obtain, and on them he made little sketches, prepared in
+case of danger to smoke them in the faces of his enemies.
+
+[Illustration: HEADQUARTERS OF SPECIAL ARTIST IN ASIA MINOR, 1877.]
+
+[Illustration: ARREST OF NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS AT METZ, DURING THE
+FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.]
+
+The following extract from a letter I received from a special artist
+during the war, will give some idea of the trouble and danger of
+sketching:--
+
+'Of the trouble I have taken to get these sketches you can have no
+conception. The plan I have been obliged to adopt is this. I walk about
+quietly, apparently noticing only the goods in the shop-windows. When I
+see anything, I make memoranda on small bits of tissue paper, perhaps in
+a café, or while appearing to look at the water from the top of a
+bridge, or on the side of an apple, with a big knife in my hand
+pretending to peel it. These little mems I roll up into pills, place
+them handy in my waistcoat pocket to be chewed up or swallowed if "in
+extremis." When I get home at night, first making sure that I am not
+overlooked by way of the window, I unroll these little pills, and from
+those mems make a complete outline on a thin piece of white paper. Then
+I paste these sketches face to face, trim the edges, and it looks like a
+plain piece of paper, but hold it up to the light and the sketch shows.
+So I make memoranda all over it,--the times of trains starting, prices
+of articles, or extracts from newspapers. When I get to a place of
+safety, I soak these pieces of paper in water, pull the sketches apart,
+and from them have made the sketches I have forwarded to you. If I could
+not get into a place of safety to make the sketches, I don't know what
+I should do, in fact I don't think I could do anything, for I would not,
+for any consideration _be found making a sketch, nor with a sketch in my
+possession_; nor should I dare post a sketch at the "Bureaux de poste,"
+but I might get it into a street box.'
+
+Another special artist being at Metz, found himself in the midst of a
+population infected with what he called the 'spy-fever.' About a dozen
+English newspaper correspondents were there, and they became a united
+body through persecution. There was always about a fourth of their
+number in prison, and what most persons would have considered to be
+clear evidence that they were not spies, was in the minds of the French
+clear evidence that they were. If they were told that the correspondent
+of an English newspaper could not possibly be a spy, the reply was that
+that was just the character that a _cochon_ of a Prussian spy would
+assume. The townspeople of Metz became quite wild when they heard of the
+French defeats at Wörth and Forbach, and when they saw an artist
+sketching the Emperor's carriage, they pounced upon him as a Prussian
+spy, and he and his companions were marched off in custody, amid the
+hootings of the mob. The following account of this affair is extracted
+from the _Illustrated London News_ of August 20, 1870: 'Three of the
+representatives of London papers, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Henry Mayhew and his
+son, went to the railway station, having heard a rumour that the Emperor
+was about to start for the front, and also that a train full of the
+wounded was expected to arrive. At the station they met Mr. Stuart,
+another newspaper correspondent, who had just come from Italy, having
+travelled all night. They found the Emperor's carriage and horses
+waiting to be forwarded by a train on the railway towards St. Avold. Our
+artist thought it would be doing no harm to employ the few minutes of
+his waiting at the station in making a slight sketch of the carriage and
+horses, which might be useful as materials for an illustration of some
+future scene where the same equipage might figure. He took a small
+sketch-book and pencil out of his pocket and quickly finished this
+little drawing. There was no attempt at concealment; he even showed his
+sketch to one of the bystanders who was close to him, and who seemed to
+watch his movements with some curiosity. Mr. Simpson then rejoined his
+three English companions, but had scarcely done so before they were
+surrounded by a large party of artillery soldiers, who wore undress
+jackets and had not their arms with them. They were taken into custody,
+each one placed between two soldiers, and thus were marched through the
+streets of Metz to the Place de la Cathedral. A mob of people followed,
+increasing as they went on, and reviling the foreigners as "Sacrés
+Prusses," or "Cochons de Prusses," threatening vengeance upon them,
+which might probably have been taken if their violence had not been
+restrained by the presence of the soldiers. The whole party were then
+brought into the guard-room, where several persons came forward as their
+accusers to denounce them as spies of the enemy, lurking about Metz with
+a hostile and insidious purpose. The chief evidence against one of them
+was that he had bought three copies of a Metz local newspaper; another
+was suspected because he had been seen four days successively in the
+same café, "and always sitting in the same seat;" a third could be no
+true man, because, while he said he belonged to a London paper, he
+confessed that he had just come from Florence. The main charge against
+Mr. Simpson was that he did not lodge at an hotel, but in a private
+house. These particulars were repeated to the crowd outside, which
+filled the whole Place, and was in a state of raging fury; till at last
+the officers in charge made their appearance and commenced a more
+regular examination. Our artist produced his passport, which was
+approved as in due order; but his little sketch-book, with its scraps of
+notes and bits of outline, seemed to contain matter for serious
+investigation. In spite of his awkward and rather alarming position, he
+was struck with the absurdity of viewing such innocent scrawls as proof
+of heinous guilt. He endeavoured, however, with the assistance of Mr.
+Mayhew, to explain what they were, and to persuade the officers that
+they could do no harm. After a tedious detention, they were permitted to
+write a note to a friend, who instantly went to the Provost-Marshal, and
+at once got an order for their immediate release. Their private letters
+and papers were examined. Several other persons, Frenchmen as well as
+foreigners, including one who was the artist employed by a Paris
+illustrated paper, were arrested at Metz on the same day; and more than
+one of them suffered rough usage at the hands of the mob. On the next
+day they were all ordered to leave the town.' The following is a
+facsimile of the sketch that produced all this commotion.
+
+[Illustration: THE EMPEROR'S CARRIAGE AT METZ.]
+
+The same artist who made his sketches into pills, being at Bremerhafen,
+found himself so watched and dogged by the police and others who had
+observed he was a stranger, that he could not make the sketch he wanted.
+After much walking about he at length returned to the place where he
+desired to sketch, and sitting down at the edge of the harbour he began
+to draw lines with his umbrella on the mud, as if in a fit of
+abstraction, and soon had sketched in this way the principal points of
+the scene before him. This he repeated several times, until the view
+was fixed in his memory, when he retired to the railway-station, and
+there, unobserved, committed the scene to his sketch-book. On another
+occasion, in the neighbourhood of Mezières, he was driven at nightfall
+to seek a lodging in a very lonely and villainous looking inn. The
+occupants of the place looked upon him with evil eyes, and dreading lest
+one more should be added to the numerous graves already near the
+cabaret, he betook himself to a neighbouring wood, where he spent the
+whole night surrounded by the carcases of dead horses. At Lyons he
+penetrated into the theatre where the people were storing corn and flour
+in anticipation of a siege. He had made some hasty notes in his
+sketch-book, when he was observed and obliged to retreat, followed,
+however, by several men. He had noticed an umbrella shop round the
+corner in the next street, and into this shop he rushed, seized an
+umbrella, opened it, and kept it expanded between himself and the door,
+as if examining the quality of the silk, while his pursuers ran past,
+when he demanded the price of the umbrella, paid the money, and walked
+off, glad to escape at so small a cost. Sometimes his adventures had a
+more amusing termination. When the spy-fever prevailed very strongly
+both in France and Germany, he was one day looking into a shop-window
+when he became conscious that he was watched by two officers. 'Now,'
+thought he, 'I am in for it again, and shall certainly be arrested.'
+This feeling was confirmed as one of the officers advanced towards him,
+and raising his hand as if to seize him by the collar, addressed him
+thus: 'Permit me, monsieur, to adjust the string of your shirt collar,
+which has escaped from behind your cravat.'[1] This gentleman was
+somewhat old-fashioned in his costume, and during his wanderings was
+sometimes mistaken for a sea-captain. He had even received confidential
+proposals to discuss the question of freight.
+
+The _Illustrated London News_ had five artists in the field during the
+Franco-German war: W. Simpson, R. T. Landells, G. H. Andrews, C. J.
+Staniland, and Jules Pelcoq. From the fact of Landells being already
+known to the Crown Prince of Prussia and several of his staff, it was
+settled that his destination should be Germany, and I remember that
+before his departure he expressed to me just the slightest shade of
+discontent that he should be selected to go on what he thought would be
+the losing side. He was destined, however, to be present at the
+proclamation of the German Emperor in the palace of Versailles, and he
+was one of the first to enter Paris after it capitulated to the German
+army. Soon afterwards he very nearly experienced the unpleasant
+consequences of being taken for a German spy. Landells himself was of a
+dark complexion, and might very well have passed for a Frenchman, but on
+the occasion referred to he was in the company of a brother artist (Mr.
+Sidney Hall, of the _Graphic_), who, being fair, might easily be
+mistaken for German. The excited mob of Paris had just vented their rage
+on a suspected spy by drowning him in the Seine, and the two special
+artists were loitering on the outskirts of the crowd, when Mr. Hall
+imprudently took out his sketch-book, which was no sooner perceived than
+a cry was raised of 'Prussian spy!' and they too would probably have
+been pitched into the river had they not managed, with great difficulty,
+to escape from the crowd.
+
+[Illustration: NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS ON THEIR WAY TO THE FRONT.
+SISTOVA, 1877.]
+
+When the German armies were closing round Paris M. Jules Pelcoq
+consented to be shut up in the devoted city for the purpose of supplying
+the _Illustrated London News_ with sketches. During the hardships of the
+siege he was quite unable to obtain fuel to warm his apartment, and was
+compelled to retire to bed, where, wrapped in a blanket, he finished up
+the rough sketches he had made out of doors, which were then
+photographed and sent off by balloons to London. These balloons were
+regularly despatched during the prevalence of winds that would carry
+them to the provinces unoccupied by the Germans. They were followed by
+Prussian light cavalry as long as they were in sight, and some were
+captured. Afterwards, as the city became more closely invested, and the
+danger increased, the precaution was taken of despatching the balloons
+at night, and the time fixed on was kept concealed from all save those
+immediately concerned, in order to avoid, as far as possible, the
+chances of its being communicated to the enemy, and thereby exposing the
+aëronauts to the fiery rockets and other projectiles with which the
+Germans were prepared to favour them. The railway-stations were
+generally chosen as the starting-places, for they not only offered large
+open spaces in which to fill the balloons, but, being situated away from
+the centre of Paris, there was less risk, in ascending, of coming in
+contact with buildings.
+
+To provide against the loss of sketches so sent, photographic copies
+were despatched by other balloons. In some cases two, and even three,
+copies of the same sketch reached my hands by balloon-post during the
+German investment of Paris. Considering the danger and difficulty of
+this mode of communication, the intercourse between the _Illustrated
+London News_ and its artist in Paris was kept up pretty regularly during
+the whole siege.
+
+[Illustration: SKETCHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. HERZEGOVINA, 1876.]
+
+The requirements of special artists when on the 'war path' vary
+according to circumstances. Mr. Simpson, in France during the
+Franco-German war, found no scarcity of food, but could seldom get a bed
+to sleep in. On the other hand, Mr. Melton Prior, in South Africa and
+other hot countries, found that he was never sure of obtaining either
+food or drink. During the war in Herzegovina in 1876 the newspaper
+correspondents had to rough it pretty considerably. Sometimes, when the
+special artist got to a resting-place for the night, he would have to
+work up his sketches by the light of a single candle, which he kept in
+an upright position by holding it between his feet as he sat on the
+ground, while the correspondent of a London 'daily' scribbled his notes
+beside him. The difficulty of obtaining sleeping accommodation was
+experienced by another artist in Servia, who was obliged one night to go
+to rest in a sort of diligence or covered waggon which stood in the inn
+yard. It was the only 'spare bed,' and the tired 'special' was very glad
+to coil himself up within its recesses. These hardships, however, belong
+to the past. Just as the combatants in modern warfare fight their
+battles with the most scientific weapons, so the newspaper correspondent
+now goes to the field armed with the latest appliances against cold,
+fatigue, hunger, and thirst. He provides himself with an abundant
+supply of tinned meats and champagne, plenty of clothing, the latest
+improvements in saddlery; and when he arrives at the scene of action he
+buys as many horses as he wants for himself and servants. Acting on the
+experience of former campaigns, Mr. Prior was able in the Zulu War to
+travel much more comfortably than any member of the staff, not even
+excepting Lord Chelmsford himself. 'I had then no fewer than five
+horses: two in the shafts of my American waggon, one for myself, one for
+my servant, and one spare horse. I followed the army through all its
+marches in my travelling carriage, and on the eve of the Battle of
+Ulundi I was the only man who had a tent; all the others lay down in the
+open.'
+
+[Illustration: THE SPARE BED.]
+
+While recording the progress of events--the deeds of war mingling with
+the works of peace--the pictorial press is not unmindful of what is done
+in the cause of humanity. One of the recent experiences of the special
+artist was in making a journey across Siberia in search of the survivors
+of the crew of the American exploring ship _Jeanette_. Mr. J. Gordon
+Bennett, the proprietor of the _New York Herald_, having sent out a
+commissioner to search for the missing expedition, he was joined by the
+special artist of the _Illustrated London News_. They had before them
+a journey of two or three thousand miles, and they travelled in one of
+the covered sledges used in Siberia in the winter time. It was their
+travelling carriage by day and their sleeping apartment at night.
+Sometimes they had to turn out and defend themselves from the wolves
+which followed them over the snowy waste. The artist on this occasion
+was Mr. Larsen, of Copenhagen, who proved himself a first-rate special.
+
+[Illustration: SPECIAL ARTIST'S TENT.]
+
+When the effects of a deadly climate are added to the usual chances of
+war, the courage and endurance of the newspaper correspondent are doubly
+tried. The 'specials' of the principal London journals joined the
+Ashantee expedition with as much alacrity as if they had been going to a
+review in Hyde Park. Among them was Mr. Melton Prior, the artist of the
+_Illustrated London News_, who landed at Cape Coast Castle before the
+arrival of the British troops, marched with them to Coomassie, and
+remained in that place till it was destroyed by the victors. But the
+long march in such a climate had exhausted the strength of many, and the
+special artist was among the number. On nearing Coomassie he could no
+longer trust to his own unaided powers of locomotion, so he laid hold on
+the tail of a mule which he saw ambling before him, and so was helped
+forward. The gentleman who was riding the mule turned round, when it
+proved to be Sir Garnet Wolseley himself, who, in answer to the
+exhausted artist's apologies, good-humouredly told him to 'hold on!'
+
+While coolness and courage are indispensable qualifications for the
+special artist, if he can sometimes accomplish a little harmless
+dissimulation he finds it very useful. In 1877, during the war between
+Russia and Turkey, a special artist overcame the difficulties he
+encountered in getting to the front by assuming the character of a
+camp-follower, and professing to sell composite candles, German
+sausages, Russian hams, dried fish, Dutch cheese, &c., and when passing
+Cossacks became importunate they were propitiated with a candle or two,
+a slice of cheese, or a packet of Roumanian tobacco. In like manner
+the artist who went to the port of Ferrol to accompany Cleopatra's
+Needle to London shipped on board the tug _Anglia_ as a coal-trimmer,
+and signed the usual articles as one of the crew, there being no room
+for passengers. After the successful voyage of the tug the artist left
+her at Gravesend, being anxious to bring his sketches to head-quarters;
+but until he was legally discharged from service he ran the unpleasant
+risk of being taken up for absconding from his ship.
+
+[Illustration: NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS STARTING FOR SIBERIA.]
+
+Not the least of a special artist's troubles is to get his sketches sent
+home without loss of time. Mr. Simpson, who has had a large and varied
+experience as a special artist, having been all round the world in that
+capacity, gives it as his opinion that the first duty of a special
+correspondent when he arrives at the scene of action is to find out the
+post-office, if he happens to be in a part of the world where such a
+civilised institution exists. He should take care to post all his
+packets himself, and never trust to any one else. He says, 'In all my
+various travels I never lost a packet but once, and that was during the
+week's fighting at the time of the Commune in Paris. There were three
+sketches in the packet. I was very dubious about letting them out of my
+hands, but I had been all the week with the correspondent of the
+_Times_, who had spent a considerable sum of money upon messengers to
+get his letters taken through the lines outside Paris and off to London.
+I ventured to let my packet go with his, thinking it was safe, but
+neither of them ever reached their destination.' In connexion with this
+subject I may quote the following story related by Mr. Prior to the
+editor of the _Pall Mall Gazette_:--'I remember one time when I was
+attached to Mehemet Ali's head-quarters in Bulgaria during the
+Russo-Turkish war. The Turkish censor stopped no fewer than six weeks of
+my sketches. Things were getting desperate. Our people were telegraphing
+out to know whether I was alive or dead; and, finding that something
+must be done, I determined to see the thing through or leave the camp.
+It so happened that I had been the witness of some peculiarly
+atrocious deeds perpetrated by Turks upon Bulgarians, so I set to work
+and drew half-a-dozen faithful representations of the sufferings which I
+had witnessed. Armed with these I went up to the censor's office and
+asked that they might be stamped for transmission home. The censor
+looked at the first and said it was ridiculous. Couldn't pass that; no
+such atrocities had ever been committed; and so forth. The second was
+condemned in the same way, and so on until the last was reached. When he
+had rejected that also I said to him very deliberately, "You are going
+to pass every one of these sketches!" "On the contrary," said he, "I am
+going to tear them up." "If you do," said I, "I shall draw not only six
+but twelve pictures worse than these, and send them home by my own
+messenger." "I will have him arrested then," said the censor. "Very
+well, then, in that case I shall leave the camp at once, and in London I
+will draw twenty pictures all worse than these, and they will all be
+published, so that people may see the real truth about how you are
+behaving here." The censor, like a sensible man, saw that it was no use
+carrying things with too high a hand, and came to terms. He admitted he
+had stopped all my sketches, promised to do so no more, and I left him
+with my atrocity pictures in my pocket, assuring him that the first
+sketch of mine that he stopped again the whole series should go to
+London by the next steamer. I never had any more trouble with him in
+that respect, though he paid me out by having me arrested some months
+later.'
+
+[Illustration: CAMP OF THE 'TIMES' AND 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS''
+CORRESPONDENTS ATTACKED BY WOLVES. BULGARIA, 1877.]
+
+During the Franco-German War Mr. Simpson often proved the advantage of
+his plan of always posting his sketches himself. At the fall of
+Strasburg he was in the advanced trench when the white flag was
+displayed from the tower of the cathedral. It was late in the evening
+when he got home to bed, but he was up with the first streak of dawn
+finishing his sketch of the historical event he had witnessed the day
+before. He then walked five miles to General Werder's head-quarters to
+post the sketch. He wasted no time in trying to get a horse or
+carriage, in which he might have failed, nor would he trust the packet
+to a messenger. He knew that the slightest delay would postpone the
+publication of the sketch for a whole week. The sketch arrived in time,
+as he had calculated, for the next publication, and he had the
+satisfaction of knowing that on this occasion, as on many others, his
+promptitude and energy had well served the interests of the journal he
+represented.
+
+[Illustration: NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS' HUTS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD OF
+KACELJEVO, 1877.]
+
+A special artist has to encounter many troubles and vexations apart from
+the dangers and difficulties of war time. When Mr. Simpson was at
+Brindisi, on his way to the opening of the Suez Canal, wishing to sketch
+the town and fortifications, he ensconced himself in a snug corner, well
+sheltered from the 'Bora,' or cold wind that was blowing, and had
+settled down comfortably to work, when he was interrupted by a man who
+addressed him in Italian, a language Simpson did not understand. He,
+however, made out that the man's 'padre' or master would not like
+Simpson to be there; but the latter replied in plain English that he
+cared nothing for his 'padre,' that he had the permission of the
+Commandant to go where he pleased, and so he went on with his sketching.
+After much unintelligible talk the man attempted to stop the sketcher's
+view by standing between him and the town, but finding the sketching
+went on just the same, he suddenly went away and then returned with a
+gun, pointing it in a threatening manner towards Simpson, who thought
+the gun was perhaps not loaded, or at all events that the man would
+never be such a fool as to shoot him, so he merely gave a majestic wave
+of his hand and went on with his work. The man's rage then increased to
+such a degree that he seized the butt end of his gun, uttering a volley
+of curses, and from the word 'testa' Simpson supposed the man wanted to
+smash his head. However he never flinched, and the man, lowering his
+gun, muttered something about the 'Cani,' and went off again. Presently
+he returned dragging with him a huge dog. Simpson felt more afraid of
+the dog than the man, but it turned out that the dog had more sense than
+his master and refused on any terms to attack the artist. He bolted,
+the man after him, and Simpson then armed himself with two stones in
+case the attack should be renewed, resolving, like Tell when he devoted
+one of his arrows to Gessler, that one stone should be for the dog and
+the other for his oppressor. The man however could not get the dog to
+return to the attack. He had exhausted the whole of his resources, and
+was evidently astonished and annoyed to find he had failed to frighten
+the artist, so he finished off with a torrent of curses and then
+gradually calmed down. He remained watching the completion of the
+sketch, and then obligingly favoured the artist with some criticisms on
+his work. He pointed out that a ship in the harbour had been forgotten,
+and could not understand that it had been purposely left out because it
+interfered with one of the principal buildings. In this instance it was
+perhaps best for both parties that they did not understand each other's
+language; but the special artist is occasionally placed at a
+disadvantage by not understanding the language of the country where he
+happens to be. However it rarely leads to more than a temporary
+embarrassment, and is often the cause of more amusement than vexation.
+Mr. G. H. Andrews on one occasion desired to have a couple of eggs for
+breakfast, but could not make the maid of the inn comprehend his
+meaning. He tried all he knew of French, Flemish, and German, but the
+girl shook her head. At length a bright idea struck the artist. He drew
+from his pocket a pencil and note-book, and sketched a couple of oval
+forms, meaning them for eggs, and explained by gestures that _that_ was
+what he wanted. The girl's face brightened at once when she saw the
+sketch, and with a nod of intelligence she tripped away. In a few
+minutes she returned and presented the hungry artist with--_a pair of
+spectacles!_
+
+The late Mr. S. Read, who was one of the first special artists employed
+on the pictorial press, travelled much abroad, yet he knew little or
+nothing of any language save his mother tongue. Germany, Italy, Austria,
+Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, were all visited by him, and he got
+on very well without speaking the language of any of those countries. He
+was a man of genial humour, accustomed to make the best of everything,
+and not easily put out by trifles. He was once travelling in the south
+of France when a fellow-passenger in the train accosted him in French,
+and was much surprised to find he was not understood.
+
+'Vat!' said the Frenchman; 'you travel and speak no French! Speak you
+German?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Nor Italian?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Spanish?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Ah, mon Dieu! you travel and speak noting!' and with a pitying grimace
+and shrug of the shoulders he looked round at the other passengers.
+Presently our artist took his revenge. As they were passing a town with
+a ruined castle on a hill he said, with much fervour, addressing the
+Frenchman,--
+
+'How beautifully that old tower is relieved by the dark foliage! What a
+splendid contrast is the cold grey of the hill behind! How harmoniously
+the distance is blended with the middle distance, and the middle
+distance with the foreground, by means of the bridge across the river!'
+The Frenchman stared, stammered, and confessed he did not comprehend.
+
+'What!' said our artist; 'you travel and do not understand English!'
+
+'Ver leetle.'
+
+'Do you speak Scotch?'
+
+'Non, m'sieur.'
+
+'Nor Irish!'
+
+'Non.'
+
+'Welsh?'
+
+'Non.'
+
+'Suffolk?'
+
+'Non, non, m'sieur.'
+
+With an exact imitation of the Frenchman's contemptuous shrug our friend
+turned to their fellow-travellers amid the loud laughter of those who
+understood the joke.
+
+When the special artist exercises his vocation at home, though he lacks
+the excitement of danger, he meets with many amusing incidents. An
+artist who attended the meeting of the British Association at Lincoln
+many years ago desired to sketch the house which was reputed to have
+been the residence of John o' Gaunt, and asked the waiter at the hotel
+if he could direct him to it. 'Johnny Gaunt, Sir?' said the waiter,
+evidently puzzled; 'I don't know him, Sir, but I'll inquire.' In a few
+minutes he returned and said he had inquired at the bar, but that no
+such person as Johnny Gaunt resided thereabouts. Another, who was
+something of a wag, was once making a sketch in the heart of St.
+Giles's; there were no School Boards in those days, and numbers of idle
+street boys surrounded our sketcher, performing all manner of
+bewildering gymnastics. Not at all disturbed, however, he amused himself
+by asking his young friends numerous questions, all of which were
+answered with rapid pertness. At last he inquired of one active imp if
+he could read. 'No, I can't read,' said the young gentleman, 'but I can
+stand on my head and drink a quartern o' gin.'
+
+The methods pursued by special artists in obtaining their sketches are
+as various as the methods of painters in producing their pictures, or of
+authors in writing their books. One man uses a very small sketch-book,
+another prefers a large one, but they all require to supplement their
+hurried sketches with marginal notes. When there is not time to sketch a
+complete cow, it is good to write underneath the sketch, 'This is a
+cow.' Many events have to be sketched that last only a few minutes, and
+in such cases some little mistakes will occur even with old
+practitioners. Literary correspondents are liable to the same
+misfortune. At a certain royal marriage in St. George's Chapel, Windsor,
+the Lord Chamberlain obligingly sent a gentleman to attend the members
+of the press, and inform them as to the name and rank of the
+distinguished guests as they entered the chapel. The correspondents
+courteously allowed the artists of the pictorial press to take front
+places, so that some of their number were unable to see what was going
+on, and had to trust to their comrades for information. When the Duke of
+A----, in full Highland costume, entered the chapel, there was a general
+inquiry, 'Who is that?' 'That,' said the gentleman from the Lord
+Chamberlain's department, 'is the Duke of A----, the great Mac Callum
+More.' 'Who is it?' cried some of the gentlemen in the background, and
+the name was passed on, but by the time it reached the outer fringe of
+correspondents it was changed into 'The Duke of A---- with the Great
+Claymore,' and under that style and title his grace's name figured in at
+least one newspaper next day.
+
+What may be called the shorthand notes for a sketch are sometimes
+difficult to make out without explanation. On one occasion a sketch was
+under consideration, when the editor made certain suggestions to the
+artist, who was very good natured, and of a most pliant disposition. 'I
+think, you know,' said the editor, 'if you were to add two or three more
+figures in the foreground it would improve the composition and help to
+detach the principal group from this windmill.' 'Well, the fact is,'
+replied the artist, 'what you call a windmill I intended for a man on
+horseback, but if you think it will come better as a windmill I'll alter
+it with pleasure.'
+
+[Illustration: THE SPECIAL ARTIST ON THE ROAD.]
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+  [1] This incident was illustrated in _Punch_, and lest I should be
+    accused of using up old material, I must explain that the hero of the
+    adventure, on his return to England, told the story to one of the
+    _Punch_ artists, who made a sketch of the incident, which was
+    afterwards published.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+  Artists who have assisted in founding the Pictorial Press--Sir John
+  Gilbert, R.A., G. H. Thomas, and others--Wood-Engraving and its
+  Connexion with the Pictorial Press--Other Methods of producing
+  Illustrations--Wood-Engraving in England before and after Bewick's
+  time--Its wide Diffusion owing to the kindred Art of Printing--The
+  resources of the Art developed by Pictorial Newspapers--Conclusion.
+  Newspapers a Necessity of Civilised Life--The _Acta Diurna_ of the
+  Romans--Early Newspapers in Venice, Germany, and the Low
+  Countries--List of Illustrated Newspapers published Abroad.
+
+
+The establishment of the pictorial press as an English institution was
+greatly aided by the active co-operation of many distinguished artists,
+the very foremost in this connexion being Sir John Gilbert. Other Royal
+Academicians and eminent painters have drawn on wood for the illustrated
+newspapers, but Gilbert stands out pre-eminently the great popular
+illustrator of the Victorian era. He it was who first gave a distinctive
+character to the illustration of news. He seemed to possess an inborn
+knowledge of the essentials of newspaper art, and could express by a few
+freely drawn lines and touches the hurried movement of street crowds or
+the state and dignity of Court ceremonies. Whether he had to draw a knight
+in armour or a gentleman in a paletôt he did it in a way exactly suited to
+rapid engraving and printing. The feeling which, in his pictures, makes
+him delight in battle-fields, blazoned banners, velvet and gold, made his
+drawings on wood brilliant in handling and always picturesque. It was most
+fortunate that the commencement of his career was coincident with the
+foundation of the pictorial press. William Harvey and other artists were
+already in the field, but Gilbert's style was better adapted to newspaper
+work. His quickness and versatility made him just the man that was
+wanted. Harvey had drawn some of the subjects published in the _Observer_,
+but his style was not suited to the illustration of current events.
+Nothing came amiss to Gilbert, who supplied the pictorial press for twenty
+years with a constant succession of effective drawings, embracing all
+kinds of subjects, and he never failed in that most essential quality of a
+newspaper artist--_punctuality_. It is as the popular illustrator that the
+name of Gilbert stands at the head of that numerous band of artists who
+contributed to the foundation of illustrated journalism in this country.
+
+The late George H. Thomas was not less successful than Gilbert in the
+spirit and vigour of his drawings. His bold and eminently artistic
+pencil alternated with Gilbert's in portraying the exciting events
+following the revolutionary period of 1848-49. His contributions to the
+_Illustrated London News_ during the Crimean war were marked by great
+force and truthfulness, and procured him the notice and patronage of her
+Majesty Queen Victoria. Mr. Thomas's premature death in 1868 was a great
+loss to the world of art in general, and to the pictorial press in
+particular.
+
+It is remarkable that many of our distinguished artists should have
+begun their careers as engravers or draughtsmen on wood. The production
+of works in black and white, whether as engravings or drawings, is no
+doubt good artistic practice in the study of light and shade, and the
+young artist who draws on wood as a means of helping him to live while
+he is waiting for fame, is at the same time pursuing a useful branch of
+his art education. Luke Fildes, A.R.A., Birket Foster, W. Small, R. C.
+Woodville, C. Gregory, A.R.A., and many others began in this way, and
+among deceased artists occur the names of S. Read, E. Duncan, and F. W.
+Topham. The two last were both engravers. All these men have done good
+work on the pictorial press, and some of them first won distinction
+through its medium. Both the _Illustrated London News_ and the _Graphic_
+may claim to have done good service to art and artists in this respect.
+Their pages have always been open to young artists of ability, and while
+they have helped forward struggling genius they have opened up new
+sources of enjoyment to the general public.
+
+The pictorial press has hitherto been mainly dependent on the art of
+wood-engraving for its illustrations, but latterly several inventions
+have been used, not unsuccessfully, in the production of blocks in
+relief, to be printed in the same manner as woodcuts. The great
+improvements that have been made in surface printing render it probable
+that in the future these _process_ blocks may be extensively used in
+illustrated newspapers. They are recommended by their cheapness and
+rapid production; and as the intermediate process of engraving is
+dispensed with, they retain the exact touch of the artist, and are not
+liable to be mutilated by careless or hasty engraving. It may be said of
+all these inventions, however, that they are best suited for slight
+sketches, and should not be applied to the production of highly-finished
+subjects. For the latter there is nothing better than a woodcut, which,
+when well executed and carefully printed, has a richness superior to any
+other method of engraving. But in the present day competition is so
+great and the march of events is so rapid that cheapness and rapidity of
+production will override artistic excellence, and _process_-engraving,
+as it is called, will probably be the method adopted for the _daily_
+pictorial press, the era of which is approaching.
+
+Wood-engraving, as an art, scarcely existed in this country before the
+time of Thomas Bewick. To him we owe its revival, and he was thus
+indirectly concerned in the creation of the pictorial newspaper. Though
+we have seen that the _Grub Street Journal_ and the _Observer_ on a few
+occasions used copperplate illustrations, it is perfectly certain that
+an illustrated newspaper, properly so-called, never could have existed
+but for the art of wood-engraving. It was an essential agent in bringing
+into life this novel offspring of the printing press, just as it
+assisted in the birth of the old 'block books.' When Caxton brought the
+art of printing into this country the woodcuts printed at his press were
+probably executed by the printers whom he brought with him. His
+successors illustrated their books in the same way, and even after
+wood-engraving was practised in England as a distinct profession many of
+the illustrations in books and pamphlets were the work of printers. When
+something of superior design and finish was wanted, ready-made woodcuts
+were procured from Nuremberg or Lyons, then the chief marts for such
+productions. The blocks so obtained were sometimes used without much
+regard to the book in which they were printed. Cuts originally designed
+for an edition of _Ovid_ appeared in the Bible, and no notice was taken
+of this mixture of sacred and profane things. Albert Dürer's influence
+on the art of wood-engraving was very great, but it never extended to
+this country. Hans Holbein, who came to England two years before Dürer's
+death, made a few designs for the wood-engravers during his long
+residence here. His transient use of the art, however, did not raise it
+to a better condition, and printers continued to be the chief producers
+of woodcuts. In the time of Queen Elizabeth there flourished a printer
+and engraver of the name of John Day, who took for his mark an
+emblematic device of the day-spring of the reformed religion, with the
+motto, 'Arise, for it is Day.' The best illustrated books of that period
+were produced by him. About this time the art was rapidly declining in
+other countries, but in England it was in a better condition than at any
+previous period. It soon, however, declined in this country also, but
+was kept alive by Edward Kirkall, John Baptiste Jackson, and others,
+until it was revived by Thomas Bewick.
+
+The low condition of the art of wood-engraving in this country was
+chiefly owing to the want of good designers, and it was not until a man
+arose who possessed the power to _draw_ as well as to _engrave_ that an
+English school of wood-engraving was created. Bewick possessed the
+artistic faculty as a direct gift from nature; and though it was from
+accidental circumstances that he was led to exercise this innate power
+in drawing and engraving on wood, he soon discovered of what the art was
+capable, and devoted his chief attention to it. He drew such things as
+he understood and had studied from nature, and thoroughly comprehending
+the scope and power of wood-engraving, he was able, with little labour,
+to produce the best results.
+
+At the time of Bewick's death, in 1828, England had scarcely recovered
+from the exhausting wars of Napoleon, trade was stagnant, and taxation
+was heavy. The mass of the people had no money to spend on such luxuries
+as illustrated books, and the enterprise of publishers was confined to
+the production of the well-known 'Annuals' of that day; but they were
+illustrated with steel engravings, and were only purchased by the
+wealthier classes. Such works as _Robinson Crusoe_ and the _Pilgrim's
+Progress_, for which there is always a demand, were illustrated by
+Cruikshank and Harvey. There was _Northcote's Fables_, on which all the
+best engravers of the day were employed; but it was not until the
+Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge began its operations, and
+Charles Knight took the lead in illustrated literature, that
+wood-engraving began to be extensively used. The art was so little known
+that when the woodcuts of the _Penny Magazine_ began to attract
+attention a nobleman of that day spoke of them as the productions of a
+new art. Illustrations were so seldom used that the preparation of even
+a small woodcut was of much moment to all concerned. I have heard the
+late William Harvey relate that when Whittingham, the well-known
+printer, wanted a new cut for his 'Chiswick Press' series, he would
+write to Harvey and John Thompson, the engraver, appointing a meeting at
+Chiswick, when printer, designer, and engraver talked over the matter
+with as much deliberation as if they were about to produce a costly
+national monument, and after they had settled all points over a snug
+supper, the result of their labours was the production, months
+afterwards, of a small woodcut measuring perhaps two inches by three. At
+this time only about a dozen persons, besides Bewick's pupils, were
+practising the art of wood-engraving in England, and in France the art
+was so low that a few years later the blocks for the _Magazin
+Pittoresque_ were sent from Paris to London to be engraved. In Germany,
+the cradle of the art, it languished as in other countries, while in
+America, a country which is now taking a leading part in the cultivation
+of wood-engraving, the art was almost unknown as a native production. It
+is now in use all over the civilised world, and there is scarcely a
+capital city without its newspaper illustrated with woodcuts. It has
+even penetrated to the sunless regions of ice and snow. In the Library
+of the South Kensington Museum there is a book with illustrations drawn
+and engraved on wood by Esquimaux!
+
+The cause of this wide diffusion and extended employment of the art of
+wood-engraving is undoubtedly its close alliance with the kindred art of
+printing. No other method of engraving lends itself so easily to the
+rapid productions of the printing-press. From the earliest days of
+printing the two arts have advanced hand in hand, aiding in the growth
+of knowledge and the spread of civilisation. The application of steam to
+the art of printing revolutionised the world of typography, and
+wood-engraving was not slow in adapting itself to the new conditions.
+The advancing spirit of education created a demand for cheap knowledge.
+Penny magazines and pictorial newspapers came into existence. The steam
+printing-press spread them far and wide, and wood-engraving since the
+time of Bewick has shown that it possesses capabilities which that
+genuine old artist would have rejoiced to behold.
+
+In tracing the origin and progress of the pictorial press I have
+confined my researches to British journalism, but the subject might be
+widely extended. From the days of the _Acta Diurna_ of the Romans
+something in the shape of a newspaper appears to have been a necessity
+of civilised life. Soon after the invention of printing small
+news-sheets appeared in various towns of Germany and in Venice. In the
+Low Countries an illustrated war gazette was published as early as 1605.
+It was called the _Niewetijdinghe_, and it was the precursor of the
+_Gazette van Antwerpen_, which survived till 1805. During the Spanish
+and Austrian rule in Belgium each town had its privileged newspaper. As
+the printers of those days were well acquainted with the art of
+wood-engraving, it is not unlikely that some of these early newspapers
+contained illustrations. The earlier newspapers of Holland were chiefly
+devoted to commercial intelligence, and afforded little scope for
+illustration, but illustrated broadsides were not uncommon. In Germany
+the first regular newspaper appeared in 1615, when the art of
+wood-engraving had greatly declined; and when the physician Renaudot
+started the first newspaper in France, in 1631, if the idea of
+illustrating it had occurred to him he would have had to rely on his
+printer for the production of the woodcuts. As, however, the low
+condition of illustrative art in the seventeenth century did not deter
+English printers of 'News-books' from seeking such pictorial aid as they
+could obtain, it is highly probable their Continental brethren did the
+same, however insufficient might be the means at their command.
+
+When the history of our own age comes to be written the pictorial
+newspapers will form an inexhaustible store-house for the historian. The
+following list of cities in Europe, America, and the English colonies,
+with the names of the illustrated newspapers published by them, will
+convey some idea of the extent to which pictorial journalism has spread
+during the last forty years:--
+
+PARIS:
+
+  _L'Illustration._
+  _Le Monde Illustré._
+  _L'Univers Illustré._
+  _La République Illustrée._
+  _La France Illustrée._
+
+BERLIN:
+
+  _Deutsche Illustrirte Zeitung._
+
+STUTTGART:
+
+  _Uber Land und Meer._
+  _Das Buch für Alle._
+
+LEIPZIG:
+
+  _Illustrirte Zeitung._
+
+VIENNA:
+
+  _Neue Illustrirte Zeitung._
+
+MILAN:
+
+  _L'Illustrazione Universale._
+  _L'Illustrazione Italiana._
+
+MADRID:
+
+  _La Illustracion Espanòla._
+
+BARCELONA:
+
+  _La Illustracion Catòlica._
+
+WARSAW:
+
+  _Klosy._
+  _Tycodnik Powszechny._
+
+AMSTERDAM:
+
+  _De Hollandsche Illustratie._
+
+ST. PETERSBURG:
+
+  _Universal Illustration._
+
+COPENHAGEN:
+
+  _Illustreret Tidende._
+
+CHRISTIANIA:
+
+  _Nu Illustreret Tidende._
+
+NEW YORK:
+
+  _Harper's Weekly._
+  _Harper's Bazaar._
+  _Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper._
+  _Spirit of the Times._
+  _The Daily Graphic._
+  _Illustrirte Zeitung_ (printed in German).
+
+WASHINGTON:
+
+  _Illustrated Washington Chronicle._
+
+MONTREAL:
+
+  _Canadian Illustrated News._
+  _Le Monde Illustré_ (French).
+
+SYDNEY:
+
+  _Illustrated Sydney News._
+
+MELBOURNE:
+
+  _Illustrated Australian News._
+  _Australian Sketcher._
+
+MEXICO:
+
+  _Revista Universal._
+
+MONTEVIDEO:
+
+  _La Illustracion Uruguaya._
+
+RIO DE JANEIRO:
+
+  _A Illustraçao._
+
+CAPE TOWN:
+
+  _South African Illustrated News._
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+London Printed by STRANGEWAYS AND SONS Tower Street Upper St Martin's
+Lane
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pictorial Press, by Mason Jackson
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