The Pictorial Press Part 4

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SMITHFIELD GHOST. FROM 'MERCURIUS DEMOCRITUS,' 1654.]

Another example of the marvellous occurs in a tract ent.i.tled, '_The Sea Wonder: a true and wonderful relation of a Whale pursued in the Sea, and incountered by mult.i.tudes 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 Sh.o.r.e, 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 s.p.a.ce 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 t.i.tle-page of this curious tract.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.s._' Such is the lengthy t.i.tle of a pamphlet containing an imaginary account of things at the Antipodes, and ill.u.s.trated with a fanciful woodcut on the t.i.tle-page. Then we have news from Boston in New England of a strange and prodigious birth of a child with two heads, also ill.u.s.trated. _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 mult.i.tude relates to the discovery and punishment of a witch during the civil war.

It occurs in a pamphlet ent.i.tled '_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 ill.u.s.tration 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 a.s.sisting Providence of G.o.d to get on sh.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 pa.s.se that I must die indeed? Why then his Excellency the Earle of Ess.e.x 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 carca.s.se to the wormes, her soul we ought not to judge of, though the evils of her wicked life and death can scape no censure.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.trated. 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 pa.s.sing 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 _Amsterd.a.m.nified_ 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 G.o.dly 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 G.o.d 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 superst.i.tious, another that railes are Romish (which is false for the papists have no railes in their churches, nor anything so convenient). One foolishly a.s.sumes 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 G.o.d in his gracious goodnesse and mercie would make us all one sheepfold.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.trates 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 t.i.thes of many parishes in this kingdome; and they are not to be numbered amongst the least of those plagues that G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 ent.i.tled '_A Purge for Pluralities, showing the unlawfulnesse of men to have two Livings, or the Downefall of Double Benifices_.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.tration 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 ill.u.s.trated rhyming pamphlet, published in 1642. It is ent.i.tled, '_Mad Fashions, Od Fashions, all out of Fashion, or the Emblems of these distracted Times_.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: EMBLEMS OF THE DISTRACTED TIMES, 1642.]

The author compares England to the engraving on his t.i.tle-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 surpa.s.se 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 ent.i.tled, '_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 ent.i.tles 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 Prost.i.tute 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.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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, ent.i.tled, _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 t.i.tle 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.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ill.u.s.tration representing Opinion turning a wheel, on which are five square caps and five round heads, while Time, with his scythe and hourgla.s.s, 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.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARICATURE, 1642.]

Another satirical pamphlet has a woodcut representing Cavaliers and Roundheads exciting their dogs to fight. It is ent.i.tled, '_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 ent.i.tled, '_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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARICATURE, 1643.]

'_h.e.l.l's Hurlie-Burlie, or a Fierce contention between the Pope and the Devill_,' is ill.u.s.trated; and there is a pamphlet, with a woodcut, ent.i.tled, '_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.'