Curiosities of Civilization Part 2

We catch a glimpse of one of these street outrages in the following announcement of an a.s.sault upon glorious John:--

Whereas _John Dryden, Esq._, was on Monday, the 18th instant, at night, barbarously a.s.saulted and wounded, in Rose Street in Covent Garden, by divers men unknown; if any person shall make discovery of the said offenders to the said Mr. Dryden, or to any Justice of the Peace, he shall not only receive Fifty Pounds, which is deposited in the hands of Mr. Blanchard, Goldsmith, next door to Temple Bar, for the said purpose, but if he be a princ.i.p.al or an accessory in the said fact, his Majesty is graciously pleased to promise him his pardon for the same.--_The London Gazette_, Dec. 22, 1679.

And here is another of a still more tragic character:--

Whereas a Gentleman was, on the eighteenth at night, mortally wounded near Lincoln's Inn, in Chancery Lane, in view, as is supposed, of the coachman that set him down: these are to give notice that the said coachman shall come in and declare his knowledge of the matter; if any other person shall discover the said coachman to John Hawles, at his chamber in Lincoln's Inn, he shall have 5 guineas reward.--_London Gazette_, March 29th, 1688.

To this period also may be ascribed the rise of that romantic felon, the highwayman. The hue and cry after these genteel robbers is frequently raised during the reign of James II. In one case we have notice of a gentleman having been stopped, robbed, and then bound, by mounted men at Islington, who rode away with his horse; another time these daring gentry appeared at Knightsbridge; and a third advertis.e.m.e.nt, of a later date it is true, offers a reward for three mounted Macheaths, who were charged with stopping and robbing three young ladies in South Street, near Audley Chapel, as they were returning home from visiting. The following is still more singular, as showing the high social position of some of these gentlemen who took to the "road" for special purposes:--

_Whereas Mr. Herbert Jones_, Attorney-at-law in the town of Monmouth, well known by being several years together Under-Sheriff of the same County, hath of late divers time robbed the Mail coming from that town to London, and taken out divers letters and writs, and is now fled from justice, and supposed to have sheltered himself in some of the new-raised troops. These are to give notice, that whosoever shall secure the said Herbert Jones, so as to be committed in order to answer these said crimes, may give notice thereof to Sir Thomas Fowles, goldsmith, Temple-bar, London, or to Mr. Michael Bohune, mercer, in Monmouth, and shall have a guinea's reward.

The drinking tendencies of these Jacobite times are chiefly shown by the numberless inquiries after lost or stolen silver tankards, and by the sales of claret and canary which constantly took place. The hammer was not apparently used at that time, as we commonly find announcements of sales by "inch of candle," a term which mightily puzzled us until we saw the explanation of it in our constant book of reference, the Diary of Pepys:--

"After dinner we met and sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship hulkes; where pleasant to see how backward men are at first to bid; and yet, when the candle is going out, how they bawl, and dispute afterwards who bid the most. And here I observed one man cunninger than the rest, that was sure to bid the last man and to carry it; and inquiring the reason he told me that, just as the flame goes out, the smoke descends, which is a thing I never observed before, and by that he do know the instant when to bid last." (Sept. 3rd, 1662).

The taste for auctions, which became such a rage in the time of Anne, had its beginning about this period. Books and pictures are constantly advertised to be disposed of in this manner. The love of excitement born in the gaming time of the Restoration might be traced in these sales, and in the lotteries, or "adventures" as they were sometimes termed, which extended to every conceivable article capable of being sold. The rising taste of the town was, however, checked for the time by the Revolution, which was doubtless hastened on by such announcements as the following, which appeared in the _Gazette_ of March 1, 1688:--

Catholic loyalty, [Hand] upon the subject of Government and Obedience, delivered in a SERMON before the King and Queen, in His Majesties Chapel at Whitehall, on the 13 of June, 1687, by the Revnd. Father Edward Scaraisbroke, priest of the Society of Jesus. Published by His Majesty's Command. Sold by Raydal Taylor, near Stationers Hall, London.

Up to this time advertis.e.m.e.nts only appeared in threes and fours, and rarely, if ever, exceeded a dozen, in any newspaper of the day. They were generally stuck in the middle of the diminutive journal, but sometimes formed a tail-piece to it. They were confined in their character, and gave no evidence of belonging to a great commercial community. Now and then, it is true, sums of money were advertised as seeking investment; more constantly a truss for a "broken belly," or an "excellent dentifrice,"

appeared; or some city mansion of the n.o.bility is advertised to let, showing the progress westward even then, as witness the following:--

The Earl of Berkeley's House, with Garden and Stables in St. John's Lane, not far from Smith Field, is to be Let or Sold for Building.

Enquire of Mr. Prestworth, a corn chandler, near the said house, and you may know further.--_London Gazette_, August 17, 1685.

Here is an instance of the singular manner in which fire-insurances were conducted in that day:--

There having happened a fire on the 24th of the last month by which several houses of the friendly society were burned to the value of 965 pounds, these are to give notice to all persons of the said society that they are desired to pay at the office Faulcon Court in Fleet Street their several proportions of their said loss, which comes to five shillings and one penny for every hundred pounds insured, before the 12th of August next.--_London Gazette_, July 6th, 1685.

Sometimes it is a "flee-bitten grey mare" stolen out of "Mary-le-bone Park," or a lost lottery-ticket, or a dog, that is inquired after; but they contained no hint that England possessed a commercial marine, or that she was destined to become a nation of shopkeepers. As yet, too, there was no sign given of that wonderful art of ingenious puffing which now exists, and which might lead a casual observer to imagine that the nation consisted of only two cla.s.ses--cheats and dupes.

From the settlement of 1688 the true value of the advertis.e.m.e.nt appears to have dawned upon the public. The country evidently began to breathe freely, and with Dutch William and Protestant ascendancy, the peculiar character of the nation burst forth with extraordinary vigour. Enterprise of all kinds was called forth, and cast its image upon the advertising columns of the public journals, now greatly increased both in size and in numbers, no less than twenty-six having been set up within four years after the Revolution. It is observable, too, that from this political convulsion dates a certain rough humour, which, however latent, was not before expressed in the public papers, especially on matters political.

Let us further elucidate our meaning by quoting the following from the _New Observator_ of July 17, 1689, setting forth a popular and practical method of parading the Whig triumph:--

Orange cards, representing the late King's reign and expedition of the Prince of Orange: viz. The Earl of Ess.e.x Murther, Dr. Otes Whipping, Defacing the Monument, My Lord Jeffries in the West hanging of Protestants, Magdalen College, Trial of the Bishops, Castle Maine at Rome, the Popish Midwife, A Jesuit Preaching against our Bible, Consecrated Smock, My Lord Chancellor at the Bed's feet, Birth of the Prince of Wales, The Ordinaire Ma.s.s-house pulling down and burning by Captain Tom and his Mobile, Mortar pieces in the Tower, The Prince of Orange Landing, The Jesuits Scampering, Father Peter's Transactions, The Fight at Reading, The Army going over to the Prince of Orange, Tyrconnel in Ireland, My Lord Chancellor in the Tower. With many other remarkable pa.s.sages of the Times. To which is added the efigies of our Gracious K. William and Q. Mary, curiously ill.u.s.trated and engraven in lively figures, done by the performers of the first Popish Plot Cards.

Sold by Donnan Newman, the publisher and printer of the New Observator.

The editor of the _New Observator_ was Bishop Burnet, and these political playing-cards were sold by his publisher; perhaps the great Protestant bishop knew something of their "performers." In the year 1692 an experiment was made which clearly shows how just an estimate was getting abroad of the value of publicity in matters of business. A newspaper was set up, called "The City Mercury, published gratis for the Promotion of Trade," which lasted for two years, and contained nothing but advertis.e.m.e.nts. The proprietor undertook to distribute a thousand copies per week to the then chief places of resort,--coffee houses, taverns, and bookshops. Even in these days of the "Times" double supplement such an experiment has often been made and failed; our wonder, therefore, is not that the _City Mercury_ went to that limbo which is stored with such countless abortive journals, but that the interest felt in advertis.e.m.e.nts should, at that early period, have kept it alive so long.

If the foregoing scheme proves that an attempt was then made to subdivide the duties of a newspaper--that of keeping its readers informed of the news of the day, and of forming a means of publicity for the wants and losses of individuals--the advertis.e.m.e.nt we are about to quote clearly shows that at the same time there was a plan in existence for combining the printed newspaper with the more ancient written newsletter. It is well known that long after the inst.i.tution of public journals the old profession of the newsletter-writer continued to flourish. We can easily account for this fact when we remember that during the heat of a great rebellion it was much more safe to write than to print the intelligence of the day. Many of these newsletters were written by strong partisans, and contained information which it was neither desirable nor safe that their opponents should see. They were pa.s.sed on from hand to hand in secret, and often endorsed by each successive reader. We are told that the Cavaliers, when taken prisoners, have been known to eat their newsletters; and some of Prince Rupert's, which had been intercepted, are still in existence, and bear dark-red stains, which testify to the desperate manner in which they were defended. It is pretty certain, however, that, as a profession, newsletter-writing began to decline after the Revolution; although we find the editor of the _Evening Post_, as late as the year 1709, reminding its readers that "there must be three or four pounds a year paid for written news." At the same time the public journals, it is clear, had not performed that part of their office which was really more acceptable to the country reader than any other--the retailing the political and social chit-chat of the day. We have only to look into the public papers to convince ourselves how wofully they fell short in a department which must have been the staple of the news-writer. This want still being felt, John Salusbury devises a scheme to combine the old and the new plan after the following manner, as announced in the _Flying Post_ of 1694:--

If any Gentleman has a mind to oblige his country friend or correspondent with the Account of Public Affairs, he may have it for twopence of J. Salusbury at the Rising-Sun in Cornhill, on a sheet of fine paper, half of which being blank, he may thereon write his own private business or the material news of the day.

It does not say much for the energy with which the journals of that day were conducted, that the purchasers are invited to write therein "the material news of the day;" that, we should have thought, was the editor's business to have supplied; but it was perhaps a contrivance by which the Jacobites might circulate information, by means of the post, without compromising the printer. We have seen many such papers, half print, half ma.n.u.script, in the British Museum, which had pa.s.sed through the post, the ma.n.u.script portion of which, the Home Secretaries of our time would have thought sufficiently treasonable to justify them in having broken their seals.

As advertis.e.m.e.nts, from their earliest introduction, were used to make known the amus.e.m.e.nts of the day and the means of killing time at the disposal of persons of quality, it seems strange that it was not employed sooner than it was to draw a company to the theatres. We have looked in vain for the announcement of any theatrical entertainment before the year 1701, when the advertis.e.m.e.nt of the Lincoln's Inn Theatre makes its appearance in the columns of the _English Post_. The lead of this little house was, however, speedily followed by the larger ones, and only a few years later we have regular lists of the performances at all the theatres in the daily papers. The first journal of this description was the _Daily Courant_, published in 1709. In this year also appeared the celebrated "Tatler," to be speedily followed by the "Spectator" and "Guardian," the social and literary journals of that Augustine age. The first edition of the "Tatler," in the British Museum, contains advertis.e.m.e.nts like an ordinary paper, and they evidently reflect, more than those of its contemporaries, the flying fashions of the day and the follies of the "quality." In them we notice the rage that existed for lotteries, or "sales," as they were called. Every conceivable thing was put up to raffle. We see advertis.e.m.e.nts headed "A Sixpenny Sale of Lace," "A Hundred Pounds for Half-a-crown," "A Penny Adventure for a Great Pie," "A Quarter's Rent," "A Freehold Estate," "Threepenny Sales of Houses," "A fashionable Coach." Gloves, looking-gla.s.ses, chocolate, Hungary water, Indian goods, lacquered ware, fans, &c., were notified to be disposed of in this manner, and the fair mob was called together to draw their tickets by the same means. This fever, which produced ten years later the celebrated South Sea Bubble, was of slow growth. It had its root in the Restoration, its flower in the reign of Anne, and its fruit and _denouement_ in the reign of George I. Before pa.s.sing on from the pages of the "Tatler," we must stop for a moment to notice one or two of those playful advertis.e.m.e.nts which Sir Richard Steele delighted in, and which, under the disguise of fun, perhaps really afforded him excellent matter for his journal. Here is an irresistible invitation to his fair readers:--

Any Ladies who have any particular stories of their acquaintance which they are willing privately to make public, may send 'em by the penny post to Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., enclosed to Mr. John Morpheu, near Stationers' Hall.--_Tatler_, May 8, 1709.

An excellent lion's mouth this wherein to drop scandal. A still more amusing instance of the fun that pervaded Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., is to be found in the series of advertis.e.m.e.nts in which he ought to have convinced John Partridge, the astrologer, that he really had departed this life; an a.s.sertion which the latter persisted in denying with the most ludicrous earnestness. Of these we give one from the "Tatler" of August 24th 1710:--

Whereas an ignorant Upstart in Astrology has publicly endeavoured to persuade the world that he is the late John Partridge, who died the 28 of March 1718, these are to certify all whom it may concern, that the true John Partridge was not only dead at that time, but continues so to the present day. Beware of counterfeits, for such are abroad.

The pleasant malice of the above is patent enough, but we confess we are puzzled to know whether the following is genuine or not. We copied it from among a number of others, from which it was undistinguishable by any peculiarity of type:--

_The Charitable Advice Office_, where all persons may have the opinion of dignified Clergymen, learned Council, graduate Physicians, and experienced Surgeons, to any question in Divinity, Morality, Law, Physic, or Surgery, with proper Prescriptions within twelve hours after they have delivered in a state of their case. Those who can't write may have their cases stated at the office. * * The fees are only 1_s._ delivery, or sending your case, and 1_s._ more on re-delivering that and the opinion upon it, being what is thought sufficient to defray the necessary expense of servants and office-rent.--_Tatler_, December 16, 1710.

To pa.s.s, however, from the keen weapons of the brain to those of the flesh, it is interesting to fix with some tolerable accuracy the change which took place in the early part of the eighteenth century in what might be called the amus.e.m.e.nts of the fancy. The "n.o.ble art of defence," as it was termed, up to the time of the first George seems to have consisted in the broadsword exercise. Pepys describes in his "Diary" several b.l.o.o.d.y encounters of this kind which he himself witnessed; and the following advertis.e.m.e.nt, a half-century later, shows that the skilled weapon had not at that time been set aside for the more brutal fist:--

A _Tryal of Skill_ to be performed at His Majesty's Bear Garden in Hockley-in-the-Hole, on Thursday next, being the 9th instant, betwixt these following masters:--Edmund b.u.t.ton, master of the n.o.ble science of defence, _who hath lately cut down_ Mr. Hasgit and the Champion of the West, _and 4 besides_, and James Harris, an Herefordshire man, master of the n.o.ble science of defence, who has fought 98 prizes and never was worsted, to exercise the usual weapons, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon precisely.--_Postman_, July 4, 1701.

The savage character of the time may be judged from this public boast of Mr. Edmund b.u.t.ton that he had cut down six men with a murderous weapon. We question, however, if the age which could tolerate such ruffianism was not exceeded by the change which subst.i.tuted the fist for the sword, and witnessed women entering the ring in the place of men. Some of the earliest notices of boxing-matches upon record, singularly enough, took place between combatants of the fair s.e.x. In a public journal of 1722, for instance, we find the following gage of battle thrown down, and accepted:--

CHALLENGE.--I, Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some words with Hannah Hyfield, and requiring satisfaction, do invite her to meet me upon the stage, and box me for three guineas; each woman holding half-a-crown in each hand, and the first woman that drops the money to lose the battle.

ANSWER.--I, Hannah Hyfield, of Newgate Market, hearing of the resoluteness of Elizabeth Wilkinson, will not fail, _G.o.d willing_, to give her more blows than words, desiring home blows, and from her no favour: she may expect a good thumping!

The half-crowns in the hands was an ingenious device to prevent scratching! A still more characteristic specimen of one of these challenges to a fisticuff between two women is to be found in the _Daily Post_ of July 7th, 1728:--

At _Mr. Stokes' Amphitheatre_ in Islington Road, this present Monday, being the 7 of October, will be a complete Boxing Match by the two following Championesses:--Whereas I, Ann Field, of Stoke Newington, a.s.s-driver, well known for my abilities in boxing in my own defence wherever it happened in my way, having been affronted by Mrs. Stokes, styled the European Championess, do fairly invite her to a trial of her best skill in Boxing for 10 pounds, fair rise and fall; and question not but to give her such proofs of my judgement that shall oblige her to acknowledge me Championess of the Stage, to the entire satisfaction of all my friends.

I, Elizabeth Stokes, of the City of London, have not fought in this way since I fought the famous boxing-woman of Billingsgate 29 minutes, and gained a complete victory (which is six years ago); but as the famous Stoke Newington a.s.s-woman dares me to fight her for the 10 pounds, I do a.s.sure her I will not fail meeting her for the said sum, and doubt not that the blows which I shall present her with will be more difficult for her to digest than any she ever gave her a.s.ses.--_Note._ A man, known by the name of Rugged and Tuff, challenges the best man of Stoke Newington to fight him for one guinea to what sum they please to venture. N.B. Attendance will be given at one, and the encounter to begin at four precisely. There will be the diversion of Cudgel-playing as usual.

Other advertis.e.m.e.nts about this time relate to c.o.c.k-matches, sometimes "to last the week," to bull-baiting, and, more cruel still, to dressing up mad bulls with fireworks, in order to worry them with dogs. The brutal tone of manners, which set in afresh with the Hanoverian succession, might be alone gathered from the so-called sporting advertis.e.m.e.nts of the day; and we now see that Hogarth, in his famous picture, had no need to, and probably did not, draw upon his imagination for the combination of horrid cruelties therein depicted.

The very same tone pervaded the gallantry of the day, and we print two advertis.e.m.e.nts, one of the time of Anne, and the other of the age we are now ill.u.s.trating, in order to contrast their spirit. We give the more polished one precedence:--

A gentleman who, the twentieth instant, had the honour to conduct a lady out of a boat at Whitehall-stairs, desires to know where he may wait on her to disclose a matter of concern. A letter directed to Mr.

Samuel Reeves, to be left with Mr. May, at the Golden Head, the upper end of New Southampton Street, Covent Garden.--_Tatler_, March 21, 1709.

A certain courtly style and air of good breeding pervades this advertis.e.m.e.nt, of which Sir Richard Steele himself need not have been ashamed; but what a falling-off is here!--

Whereas a young lady was at Covent Garden playhouse last Tuesday night, and received a blow with a square piece of wood on her breast; if the lady be single, and meet me on Sunday, at two o'clock, on the Mall in St. James's Park, or send a line directed for A. B., to Mr.

Jones's, at the Sun Tavern in St. Paul's Churchyard, where and when I shall wait on her, to inform her of something very much to her advantage on honourable terms, her compliance will be a lasting pleasure to her most obedient servant.--_General Advertiser_, Feb. 8, 1748.

It would seem as though the beau had been forced to resort to a missile to make an impression, and then felt the necessity of stating that his intentions were "honourable," in order to secure an interview with his _innamorata_. Imagine, too, the open unblushing manner in which the a.s.signation is attempted! We are far from saying that such matters are not managed now through the medium of advertis.e.m.e.nts, for we shall presently show they are, but in how much more carefully concealed a manner! The perfect contempt of public opinion, or rather the public acquiescence in such infringements of the moral law, which it exhibits, proves the general state of morality more than the infringements themselves, which obtain more or less at all times. Two of the causes which led to this low tone of manners with respect to women were doubtless the detestable profligacy of the courts of the two first Georges, and the very defective condition of the existing marriage law. William and Mary, and Anne, had, by their decorous, not to say frigid lives, redeemed the crown, and, in some measure, the aristocracy, from the vices of the Restoration. Crown, court, and quality, however, fell into a still worse slough on the accession of the Hanoverian king, who soiled afresh the rising tone of public life by his scandalous connection with the d.u.c.h.ess of Kendal and the Countess of Darlington; whilst his son and successor was absolutely abetted in his vicious courses by his own queen, who promoted his commerce with his two mistresses, the Countesses of Suffolk and Yarmouth. The degrading influence of the royal manners was well seconded by the condition of the law. Keith's chapel in May Fair, and that at the Fleet, were the Gretna Greens of the age, where children could get married at any time of the day or night for a couple of crowns. It was said at the time, that at the former chapel six thousand persons were annually married in this off-hand way; the youngest of the beautiful Miss Gunnings was wedded to the Duke of Hamilton, at twelve o'clock at night, with a ring off the bed-curtain, at this very "marriage-shop." The fruits of such unions may be imagined. The easy way in which the marriage bond was worn and broken through is clearly indicated by the advertis.e.m.e.nts which absolutely crowd the public journals from the accession of the House of Brunswick up to the time of the third George, of husbands warning the public not to trust their runaway wives.

We have referred, in an early part of this paper, to the taste for blackamoors, which set in the reign of Charles II., and went on increasing until the middle of the next century, at which time there must have been a very considerable population of negro servants in the metropolis. At first the picturesque natives of the East were pressed into the service of the n.o.bility and gentry, and colour does not appear to have been a _sine qua non_. Thus we have in the _London Gazette_ of 1688 the following hue-and-cry advertis.e.m.e.nt:--

Run away from his master, Captain St. Lo, the 21st instant, Obdelah Ealias Abraham, a Moor, swarthy complexion, short frizzled hair, a gold ring in his ear, in a black coat and blew breeches. He took with him a blew Turkish watch-gown, a Turkish suit of clothing that he used to wear about town, and several other things. Whoever brings him to Mr. Lozel's house in Green Street shall have one guinea for his charges.

The next advertis.e.m.e.nt we find also relates to what we must consider an East Indian. The notion of property in these boys seems to have been complete; their masters put their names upon their collars, as they did upon their setters or spaniels:--

A black boy, an Indian, about thirteen years old, run away the 8th instant from Putney, with a collar about his neck with this inscription: 'the Lady Bromfield's black in Lincoln's Inn Fields.'

Whoever brings him to Sir Edward Bromfield's at Putney shall have a guinea reward.--_The London Gazette_, 1694.

The traffic in African blacks, which commenced towards the end of the seventeenth century, seems to have displaced these eastern servitors towards the end of the century, for henceforth the word negro, blackamoor, or black boy, is invariably used. No doubt the fashion for these negroes and other coloured attendants was derived from the Venetian Republic, the intercourse of whose merchants with Africa and India naturally led to their introduction. t.i.tian and other great painters of his school continually introduced them in their pictures, and our own great bard has for ever a.s.sociated the Moor with the City in the Sea. In England the negro boys appear to have been considered as much articles of sale as they would have been in the slave-market at Constantinople. In the _Tatler_ of 1709 we find one offered to the public in the following terms:--