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Title: A History of Advertising from the Earliest Times.

Author: Henry Sampson

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Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

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A

HISTORY OF ADVERTISING.

PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY
EDINBURGH AND LONDON

A. Concanen, del. et lith. Stannard & Son, imp.
MODERN ADVERTISING: A RAILWAY STATION IN 1874.
Large illutration (480 kB)

A

History of Advertising

From the Earliest Times.

ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES, CURIOUS SPECIMENS, AND
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

By HENRY SAMPSON.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND FACSIMILES.

London:
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY.

1874.

TO

The Right Honourable

THOMAS MILNER GIBSON,

In humble recognition of the Important Services
HE HAS RENDERED TO THE CAUSE OF

ADVERTISING,

as well as to Journalism generally,

This Book
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY

His obedient Servant,

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE
I. INTRODUCTORY—NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING 1
II. INTRODUCTORY—STREET AND GENERAL ADVERTISING 19
III. ANCIENT FORMS OF ADVERTISING 33
IV. MEDIÆVAL AND OTHER VARIETIES OF ADVERTISING 43
V. NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING FORESHADOWED—ITS EARLIEST USE—HOUGHTON’S
LESSONS 61
VI. DEVELOPMENT OF ADVERTISING 94
VII. CONCLUSION OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 120
VIII. EARLY PART OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 142
IX. MIDDLE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 176
X. THE EDUCATION COMPLETED 205
XI. CURIOUS AND ECCENTRIC ADVERTISEMENTS 240
XII. SWINDLES AND HOAXES 304
XIII. THE GREAT BOTTLE-TRICK SWINDLE 365
XIV. QUACKS AND IMPOSTORS 373
XV. GRAHAM AND HIS CELESTIAL BED 411
XVI. LOTTERIES AND LOTTERY INSURANCE 422
XVII. MATRIMONIAL ADVERTISEMENTS AND AGENCIES 475
XVIII. HANDBILLS, INSCRIPTIONS, ETC. 510
XIX. AMERICAN AND COLONIAL ADVERTISEMENTS 556
XX. ADVERSARIA 597

PREFACE.

n presenting the following humble attempt at history-writing to the reader, I am

I selfish enough to admit a preference for his tender mercy rather than for his
critical judgment. I would ask him to remember that there are many almost
insurmountable difficulties to be faced in the accomplishment of a work like
this, and a narrowed space adds to rather than diminishes from their antagonistic
power.
When the work was first proposed to me, it was imagined that the subject could be
fully disposed of in less than five hundred pages. I have already gone considerably
over that number, and feel that the charge of incompleteness may still be brought
against the book. But I also feel that if I had extended it to five thousand pages, the
charge could still have been made, for with such a subject actual exhaustion cannot
be expected; and so, despite the great quantity of unused material I have yet by me, I
must rest satisfied with what I have done. I trust the reader will be satisfied also.
Almost everybody has in the course of his lifetime discovered some sort of a pet
advertisement without which he considers no collection can be complete. During the
progress of this “history” I have received many hundreds such—have received
sufficient, with accompanying notes, to fill a bigger volume than this—and I can
therefore imagine every fresh reader turning to look for his favourite, and, in the
event of his finding it not, condemning the book unconditionally. I hope that in the
event of a reconsideration some worthy representative will be found occupying the
missing one’s place. In like manner, and judging by my own friends’ observations, I
have found that almost every one would have treated the “history” differently, not
only from my way but from each other’s. Every one would have done something
wonderful with such a wonderful subject. It will not be out of place perhaps,
therefore, to ask the reader to think, that because the system adopted has not been that
which would have suggested itself to him, it is not necessarily the wrong one after all.
I have received much assistance during the time I have been at work, in the way of
hints and observations. For those which I have accepted, as well as for those I have
been compelled to reject, I hereby tender my heartfelt thanks. Little in the way of so-
called statistics of modern advertisers will be found in the book, as I fancy it is better
to be silent than to make untrustworthy statements; and this remark will particularly
apply to the amounts of annual outlay generally published in connection with the
names of large advertising firms. My own experience is that the firms or their
managers are not aware of the exact sums expended by them, or, if they are, do not
feel inclined to tell in anything but the vaguest manner. Another observation I have

made is, that extensive advertising is likely to result in a desire for the exaggeration
of facts—at all events, so far as the individual advertisers themselves are concerned.
That any firm, tradesmen, manufacturers, agents, quacks, perfumers, patentees, or
whatever they may be, pay a settled annual sum, no more and no less, for advertising,
I do not believe now, whatever I may have done before commencing my inquiries.
I have endeavoured as much as possible, and wherever practicable, to make the
advertisements tell their own story. At the same time I have tried hard to prevent
waste of space, and so far have, if in no other way, succeeded. This is but little merit
to claim, and if I am allowed that, I shall be satisfied. Also, if my endeavour should
lead to a development of that laudable spirit of emulation so apparent nowadays after
the ice has been once broken, I shall be happy to supply any fresh adventurer with
copious material which has grown up during the progress of this “history,” and which
has been omitted only through lack of room. As far as my judgment has allowed me, I
have selected what appeared best; other tastes might lead to other results. With this I
will take leave of a somewhat unpleasant and apparently egotistical task; and in doing
so beg to say that I trust to the reader’s kindness, and hope he will overlook the
blemishes of a hurried and certainly an unpretentious work, which may, however, be
found to contain a little amusement and some amount of information.
H. S.
London, September 1874.

A

HISTORY OF ADVERTISING.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY—NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING.

t must be patent to every one who takes the least interest in the subject, that the

I study of so important a branch of our present system of commerce as
advertising, with its rise and growth, cannot fail to be full of interest. Indeed it
is highly suggestive of amusement, as a reference to any of our old
newspapers, full as they are of quaint announcements, untrammelled by the
squeamishness of the present age, will show. Advertising has, of course, within the
last fifty years, developed entirely new courses, and has become an institution
differing much from the arrangement in which, so far as our references show, it first
appeared in this country; its growth has been attended by an almost entire revulsion
of mode, and where we now get long or short announcements by the hundred,
dictated by a spirit of business, our fathers received statements couched in a style of
pure romance, which fully compensated for their comparatively meagre proportions.
Of course, even in the present day, and in the most pure-minded papers, ignorance,
intolerance, and cupidity exhibit themselves frequently, often to the amusement, but
still more often to the annoyance and disgust, of thinkers; but in the good old days,
when a spade was a spade, and when people did not seek to gloss over their
weaknesses and frivolities, as they do now, by a pretence of virtue and coldness,
which, after all, imposes only on the weak and credulous, advertisements gave a real
insight into the life of the people; and so, in the hope that our researches will tend to
dispel some of the mists which still hang over the sayings and doings of folk who
lived up to comparatively modern days, we present this work to the curious reader.
It is generally assumed—though the assumption has no ground for existence
beyond that so common amongst us, that nothing exists of which we are ignorant—
that advertisements are of comparatively modern origin. This idea has probably been
fostered in the public mind by the fact that so little trouble has ever been taken by
encyclopædists to discover anything about them; and as time begets difficulties in
research, we are almost driven to regard the first advertisement with which we are
acquainted as the actual inaugurator of a system which now has hardly any bounds.
That this is wrong will be shown most conclusively, and even so far evidence is given
by the statement, made by Smith and others, that advertisements were published in
Greece and Rome in reference to the gladiatorial exhibitions, so important a feature
of the ancient days of those once great countries. That these advertisements took the

form of what is now generally known as “billing,” seems most probable, and Rome
must have often looked like a modern country town when the advent of a circus or
other travelling company is first made known.
The first newspaper supposed to have been published in England appeared in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth during the Spanish Armada panic. This journal was called
the English Mercurie, and was by authority “imprinted at London by Christopher
Barker, Her Highnesses printer, 1583.” This paper was said to be started for the
prevention of the fulmination of false reports, but it was more like a succession of
extraordinary gazettes, and had by no means the appearance of a regular journal, as
we understand the term. It was promoted by Burleigh, and used by him to soothe,
inform, or exasperate the people as occasion required.[1] Periodicals and papers really
first came into general use during the civil wars in the reign of Charles I., and in the
time of the Commonwealth; in fact, each party had its organs, to disseminate
sentiments of loyalty, or to foster a spirit of resistance against the inroads of power.[2]
The country was accordingly overflowed with tracts of every size and of various
denominations, many of them displaying great courage, and being written with
uncommon ability. Mercury was the prevailing title, generally qualified with some
epithet; and the quaintness peculiar to the age is curiously exemplified in the names
of some of the news-books, as they were called: the Dutch Spye, the Scots Dove, the
Parliament Kite, the Screech Owle, and the Parliamentary Screech Owle, being
instances in point. The list of Mercuries is almost too full for publication. There was
Mercurius Acheronticus, which brought tidings weekly from the infernal regions;
there was Mercurius Democritus, whose information was supposed to be derived
from the moon; and among other Mercuries there was the Mercurius Mastix, whose
mission was to criticise all its namesakes. It was not, however, until the reign of
Queen Anne that a daily paper existed in London—this was the Daily Courant, which
occupied the field alone for a long period, but which ultimately found two rivals in
the Daily Post and the Daily Journal, the three being simultaneously published in
1724. This state of things continued with very little change during the reign of George
I., but publications of every kind increased abundantly during the reign of his
successor. The number of newspapers annually sold in England, according to an
average of three years ending with 1753, was 7,411,757; in 1760 it amounted to
9,464,790; in 1767 it rose to 11,300,980; in 1790 it was as high as 14,035,636; and in
1792 it amounted to 15,005,760. All this time advertising was a growing art, and
advertisements were beginning to make themselves manifest as the main support and
chief source of profit of newspapers, as well as the most natural channel of
communication between the buyers and sellers, the needing and supplying members
of a vast community.

Numb. 49

Domestick Intelligence,
Or, News both from

CITY and COUNTRY.
Published to prevent false Reports.
Tuesday, Decemb. 23. 1679.
London Decemb. 22.
Ast Friday being the nineteenth of this Instant December, the Justices of the Peace of

L Middlesex and Westminster attended His Majesty in Council, to receive Power and
Instructions for the removal of all Papists from the Cities of London and Westminster, in
pursuance of His Majesties late Proclamation to that Purpose, and being called in, there
were Orders given them, to make strict search for all Papists that are His Majesties
Subjects, or any other Popish Recusants who have not the Priviledge of continuing here, (in
Sommerset House in the Absence of the Queen, as also in His Majesties Palace at St. Jame’s,) and
that the said Justices of the Peace, shall seize and Imprison all that be found Transgressors of the
Law, and Condemners of His Majesties Authority. His Majesty hath also sent Orders into the
Countrey to the several Knights of the Shire, to take an Exact List of the Names of all the Papists of
any repute in their Respective Counties, and to return the said List to the Secretary of State, to be
communicated to the Council, and that thereupon such Effectual proceedings would be used against
them as the utmost Severity and Rigour of the Law will allow, and the said Lists being accordingly
returned to the Lords of the Committee appointed to consider of the most Effectual means for
putting the Laws in Execution against Papists, and for the suppression of Popery (mentioned in our
last) the Lord Chancellor has order to prepare Commissions (in which the said Lists are to be
Inserted) which do Impower and require the Justices of Peace of the several Counties in England
and Wales, to tender the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to all Persons mentioned therein, and
in case of their Denial to take the same, to proceed against them according to Law, in order to their
speedy Conviction; with the said Commissions are also to be sent special Instructions for the better
direction of the said Justices therein, and also Letters from the Council Board, to require and
Encourage them diligently to Execute the said Commissions, and to send up an Account of their
proceedings, as likewise the Names of all other Papists and Suspected Papists as are not in the said
Commissions, And that no Papist shall be allowed a License or Dispensation to stay in Town;
Further that a List be taken of all House-keepers, and especially such as entertain Lodgers within
the Bills of Morality, and of all Midwives, Apothecaries and Physicians that are Papists or
suspected to be such, and to return the List to the Council: And that no Papist may Harbour in any
of His Majesties Palaces, a Commission is ordered for the Green-cloth to offer the Oaths of
Allegiance, Supremacy and the Test to all Papists and Suspected Papists as shall be found in
Whitehall, and the Precinct thereof, who upon refusal are to be proceeded against according to Law,
And the Messengers and Knight-Marshals men are ordered to seize and bring them before the said
Officers, and a Reward of Ten pound is to be paid to those who shall discover any Papist or
suspected Papist in any of His Majesties Houses, and the Officer that harbours them shall be turned
out of his Place, and Imployment. And the Officers of the Parishes, where Ambassadors and
Forreign Ministers reside shall have Lists brought them of their Menial Servants, and if any others
shall presume to resort to their Popish Chappels they shall be seized and prosecuted.
It hath been given out that Francis Smith the Bookseller, was upon the seventeenth of this Instant
December, by order of the Council Board, Committed to Newgate for Printing the Association, and
Seditious Queries upon it, and Promoting Tumultuous Petitions, but our last gave you a True
Account of his Committment as expelled in the Warrant, and that he had brought his Habeas
Corpus upon the late Act of Parliament, and we can now assure you that upon Friday the
Nineteenth Instant he was thereupon restored to his Liberty.
This day, December 22. was the Election (according to the Custom of the City of London) of the
Common-Council-men for the year ensuing, and all good Protestants are abundantly satisfied, that

those who are chosen are such as will stedfastly adhere to the Protestant Interest, and will upon all
occasions assert their own, and the Rights of this City.
The Gazette having told you, That the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, were directed by
the Lord Chancellor, by His Majesties Command, not to suffer such persons as should sign
tumultous Petitions to go unpunished, but that they should proceed against them, or cause them to
be brought before the Council Board to be punished as they deserve, according to a Judgment of all
the Judges of England 2 Jacobi, we suppose it may gratifie our Readers curiosity, (and prevent this
danger too) to see what the Law Books say therein. Judge Crook in his Reports, folio 37. saith, That
by command from the King, all the Justices of England, and divers of the Nobility, with the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop of London, were Assembled in the Star-chamber, when the
Lord Chancellor demanded of the Judges, whether it were an Offence punishable, and what
punishment they deserve, who framed Petitions, and Collected a multitude of hands thereto, to
present to the King in a publick cause, as the Puritans had done, (which was as it seems for
Alteration of the Law (with an intimation to the King, that if he denied their Suit, many Thousands
of his Subjects would be discontented;) whereto all the Justices answered, “That it was an Offence
fineable at Discretion, and very near Treason and Fellony, in the punishment, for they tended to the
Raising of Sedition, Rebellion, and Discontent among the People,” To which Resolution all the
Lords agreed, and then many of the Lords declared that some of the Puritans had raised a false
Rumor of the King, how he intended to to grant a Toleration to Papists, which offence the Justices
conceived to be highly fineable by the Rules of the Common Law, either in the Kings Bench, or by
the King and his Council, or now since the Statute of the 3. Henry 7. in the Star-chamber, The
Lords severally, declared how the King was discontented with the said false Rumor, and had made
but the day before a Protestation unto them, That he never Intended it, and that he would spend the
last Drop of Blood in his body before he would do it, and prayed that before any of his issue should
maintain any other Religion then what he truly professed and maintained, that God would take
them out of the world.
There were Eleven Persons Condemned to dye the last Sessions in the Old Baily, six Men and
five Women, but one man and three women received a Gracious Reprieve from His Majesty, the
other seven suffered at Tyburn upon Friday last the Nineteenth Instant, whose Names and Crimes
follow, John Parker by Trade a Watchmaker, for Clipping and Coining, having been formerly
Convicted of the like at Salisbury; Benjamin Penry, a lusty stout man, convicted of being a
Notorious Highway-man, and Companion with French Executed last Sessions; John Dell, who with
Richard Dean, his Servant were heretofore Tryed, for the Murder of Dells wives Brother, and now
of his wife, which seemed rather to want Proof then Truth, they were both Condemned for stealing
a Mare, and Executed for the same; This Dean set fire of the Room wherein he lay at two Places the
Night before he was Executed; William Atkins for Fellony, being an old Trader in that way; The two
women, Susan White, and Deborah Rogers were both old Offenders.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Shaftesbury hath been lately ill, but is pretty well recovered to
the Joy of all Good Protestants.
From Holland they write, That there are some hopes of a League Offensive and Defensive
between His Majesty and the States General of the United Provinces, but on the contrary many fear
that a League will be concluded between the said States, and the French King.
The Report of the Death of the Dutchess of Cleaveland is altogether false and groundless, she
having not been indisposed of late.
Mr. Benjamin Claypool attended the Council again upon Fryday last, and was discharged from
the custody of the Messenger being told that his word should be taken for his Appearance when he
should be summoned.
Mr. Mason Attended the Council about writing News Letters, and entred into Recognizance to
appear after the Holidays, upon which he was discharged from the custody of the Messenger.
Captain Sharp attended upon summons for erecting some buildings upon Tower-hill, and was
ordered to produce all his Deeds and Records to the Attorney General, who is to Inspect them and
make a Report thereof to the Council Board.
For the readier dispatch of Affairs, there are three Committees sit this day December, the 22th. at
Whitehall, one about Jamaica, Another concerning Trade and the Forreign Plantations, and a Third
about Tangier, to which place we hear there is order for sending more Forces and Provisions, for
the reinforcing that Garrison, and preventing any danger that may arise from the Moors. We hear
further from thence that there are several persons who were formerly Roman Catholicks, and

amongst the rest Captain St. Johns, Captain Talbut, and one Mr. White since made a Captain, with
divers others who have freely and voluntarily renounced the said Religion, and are become
Protestants, having received the Sacrament according to the usage of the Church of England, the
chief motive of their conversion proceeding from their conviction of the Horrid Principles and the
bloody Trayterous; and damnable practises of the Popish Faction, and especially since the
discovery of the Hellish Popish Plot against His Majesties Person, the Protestant Religion, and for
enslaving the Kingdom.
There is a Report that three Suns were lately seen about Richmond in Surrey, by divers credible
persons, of which different observations are made according to the fancy of the People.
This day, Decemb. 22. Captain William Bedlow one of the Kings Evidence, who has been so
instrumental in discovering the Hellish Popish Plot, and thereby (under God) for preserving his
Majesties Person and the whole Nation, was married to a Lady of a very considerable Fortune.
There being Intimation given, that Mrs. Celier the Popish Midwife now a Prisoner in Newgate,
would make some Discovery of the Plot, and the Counter Plot; She was brought before the Councill
last week, but would confess nothing; whereupon Justice Warcup produced some information
against her taken before him; Upon which she acknowledged the greatest part of what was charged
against her, and thereby gave very strong Confirmation to the Truth of Mr. Thomas Dangerfields
Depositions, concerning that cursed Conspiracy managed by the Lady Powis, herself, and several
others, for the destruction of many Hundreds of his Majesties Loyal Protestant Subjects.
It is reported, that a Quaker fell in love with a Lady of very great Quality, and hath
extraordinarily petitioned to obtain her for his Wife.
Upon the 17th. instant in the evening Mr. Dryden the great Poet, was set upon in Rose-street in
Covent Garden, by three persons, who calling him rogue, and Son of a whore, knockt him down
and dangerously wounded him, but upon his crying out murther, they made their escape; it is
conceived that they had their pay beforehand, and designed not to rob him but to execute on him
some Feminine, if not Popish vengeance.
Mr. Stretch the Custome-house Waiter, who seized the Papers in Colonel Mansells lodgings, and
was soon after suspended from his place, upon his humble Petition to His Majesty, was yesterday
restored.
In pursuance of His Majesties most strict order for the removing all Papists and Suspected
Papists, from his Palace, the Dutchess of Portsmouths Servants that are of the Romish Church are
discharged.
It hath pleased His Majesty to take from His Grace the Duke of Monmouth, the Office of the
Master of the Horse, that being the only place which remained to him; but we know not yet who
shall succeed him, and the Earl of Feversham is made Master of the Horse to the Queen.

Advertisements.
Hese are to give Notice That the Right Honourable the Lord Maior, and the Commissioners of
T Serveyors for the City of London, and the Liberties thereof; have constituted and appointed
Samuel Potts and Robert Davies, Citizens; to be the General Rakers of the said City and Liberties,
and do keep their Office in Red Lyon Court, in Watling-street, where any Person or Persons that
are desirous to be Imployed under them, as Carters and Sweepers of the Streets, may repair from
Eight a Clock in the morning, till Twelve a Clock at noon, and from two till six at night, where they
may be entertained accordingly: And if any Gardners, Farmers or others will be furnisht with any
Dung Soyl or Compost, may there agree for it at reasonable rates; and all Gentlemen having
private Stables, and all Inholders and Masters of Livery Stables and all others, are desired to
repair thither for the carrying away of their Dung and Soil from their respective Stables, and other
places, according to an Act of Common Council for that purpose.
Here is newly published a Pack of Cards, containing an History of all the Popish Plots that
T have been in England: beginning with those in Queen Elizabeth time, and ending with this last
damnable plot against his Majesty Charles II: Excellently engraved on Copper Plates, with very
larg descriptions under each Card. The like not extant. Sold by Randal Taylor near Stationers-hall,
and Benjamin Harris at the Stationers Arms under the Royal Exchange in Cornhill.
He Milleners Goods that was to be Sold at the Naked Boy near Strand Bridge, are Sold at Mr.
T Vanden Anker in Limestreet.

L ostCase,
on Sunday night the 11 Instant in the Meuse, a pocket with a Watch in a single Studded
made by Richard Lyons; also a Bunch of Keyes, and other things; whoever brings them
to Mr. Bently in Covent-Garden, or Mr. Allen at the Meuse Gate shall have 20 s. Reward.

ondon, Printed for Benjamin Harris at the Stationers Armes in the Piazza under the Roya
Exchange in Cornhill, 1679.
Facsimile of newspaper pages

The victories of Cromwell gave Scotland her first newspaper. This was called the
Mercurius Politicus, and appeared at Leith in October 1653; but it was in November
1654 transferred to Edinburgh, where it was continued until the 11th April 1660,
when it was rechristened, and appeared as the Mercurius Publicus. This paper was
but a reprint, for the information of the English soldiers, of a London publication. But
a newspaper of native manufacture, we are told by a contemporary writer, soon made
its appearance under the title of Mercurius Caledonius. The first number of this was
published at Edinburgh on the 31st December 1660, and comprised, as its title sets
forth, “the affairs in agitation in Scotland, with a summary of foreign intelligence.”
The publication, however, extended to no more than ten numbers, which, it is said by
Chambers, “were very loyal, very illiterate, and very affected.” After the Revolution
the custom was still to reprint in Scotland the papers published in London, an
economic way of doing business, which savours much of the proverbial thrift peculiar
to the Land o’ Cakes. In February 1699 the Edinburgh Gazette, the first original
Scotch newspaper or periodical, was published by James Watson, author of a
“History of Printing;” but he, after producing forty numbers, transferred it to a Mr
John Reid, whose son continued to print the paper till even after the Union. In
February 1705, Watson, who seems to have been what would now be called a
promoter of newspapers, established the Edinburgh Courant, but relinquished it after
the publication of fifty-five numbers, and in September 1706 commenced the Scots
Courant, with which he remained connected until about 1718. To these papers were
added in October 1708 the Edinburgh Flying Post; in August 1709 the Scots
Postman, “printed by David Fearne for John Moncur;” and in March 1710 the North
Tatler, “printed by John Reid for Samuel Colvil.” In 1715 the foundation was laid of
the present splendid Glasgow press by the establishment of the Courant, but this did
not in any way affect the publications in the then far more important town of
Edinburgh. In March 1714 Robert Brown commenced the Edinburgh Gazette or Scots
Postman, which was published twice a week; and in December 1718 the Town
Council gave an exclusive privilege to James M‘Ewen to publish three times a week
the Edinburgh Evening Courant, upon condition, however, that before publication
“the said James should give ane coppie of his print to the magistrates.” This journal is
still published, and it is but fair to assume that the original stipulation is yet complied
with. The Caledonian Mercury followed the Courant on the 28th of April 1720, and

was, like its forerunner, a tri-weekly organ. In these, as well as in those we have
mentioned, advertisements slowly but gradually and surely began to make their
appearance, and, as the sequel proves, to show their value.
It is stated by several writers that the earliest English provincial newspaper is
believed to be the Norwich Postman, which was published in 1706 at the price of a
penny, and which bore the quaint statement, that a halfpenny would not be refused.
Newspaper proprietors, publishers, and editors were then evidently, so far as Norwich
is concerned, less strong than they are now in their own conceit, and in their belief in
the press as an organ of great power. This Postman was followed in 1714 by the
Norwich Courant or Weekly Packet. York and Leeds followed in 1720, Manchester in
1730, and Oxford in 1740. It was not, however, until advertising became an important
branch of commercial speculation that the provincial press began in any way to
flourish. Now the journals published in our largest country towns command extensive
circulations, and are regarded by many advertising agents, whose opinions are fairly
worth taking, as being much more remunerative media than our best London papers.
For certain purposes, and under certain circumstances, the same may be said of
colonial newspapers, which have, of course, grown up with the colonies in which
they are published; for it must be always borne in mind that the essence of advertising
is to place your statement where it is most likely to be seen by those most interested
in it, and so a newspaper with a very limited supply of readers indeed is often more
valuable to the advertiser of peculiar wares or wants than one with “the largest
circulation in the world,” if that circulation does not reach the class of readers most
affected by those who pay for publicity. It would seem, however, that the largest class
of advertisers, the general public, who employ no agents, and who consider a large
sale everything that is necessary, ignore the argument of the true expert, and lose
sight of the fact that, no matter how extensive a circulation may be, it is intrinsically
useless unless flowing through the channel which is fairly likely to effect the purpose
for which the advertisement is inserted. It is customary to see a sheet, detached from
the paper with which it is issued, full of advertisements, which are, of course, unread
by all but those who are professedly readers of public announcements, and who are
also, of course, not only in a decided minority, but not at all the people to whom the
notices are generally directed. The smallest modicum of thought will show how
grievous is the error which leads to such a result, and how much better it is to regard
actual circulation but as so much evidence as to the value of an advertisement only,
and not as a whole, sole, and complete qualification. Not in any incautious way do
those who are most qualified to judge of value for money act. Turn to any paper of
repute, and it will be seen that the professional advertiser, the theatrical manager, the
publisher, the auctioneer, and the others whom constant practice has made wary, lay
out their money on quite a different principle from that of the casual advertiser. They
have learned their lesson, and if they pay extra for position or insertion, they know
that their outlay is remunerative; whereas, if it were not governed by caution and
system, it would be simply ruinous. In fact, advertising is a most expensive luxury if

not properly regulated, and a most valuable adjunct when coolness and calculation
are brought to bear upon it as accessories.
The heavy duties originally imposed upon newspapers, both on them and their
advertisements, were at first a considerable check to the number of notices appearing
in them. For, in the first place, the high price of the papers narrowed the limits of
their application; and, in the second, the extra charge on the advertisements made
them above the reach of almost all but those who were themselves possessed of
means, or whose business it was to pander to the unholy and libidinous desires of the
wealthy. This, we fancy, will be extensively proved by a reference to the following
pages; for while it is our endeavour to keep from this book all really objectionable
items, we are desirous that it shall place before the reader a true picture of the times
in which the advertisements appeared; and we are not to be checked in our duty by
any false delicacy, or turned from the true course by any squeamishness, which,
unfortunately for us in these days, but encourages the vices it attempts to ignore.
The stamp duty on newspapers was first imposed in 1713, and was one halfpenny
for half a sheet or less, and one penny “if larger than half a sheet and not exceeding a
whole sheet.” This duty was increased a halfpenny by an Act of Parliament, 30 Geo.
II. c. 19; and by another Act, 16 Geo. III. c. 34, another halfpenny was added to the
tax. This not being considered sufficient, a further addition of a halfpenny was made
(29 Geo. III. c. 50), and in the thirty-seventh year of the same wise monarch’s reign
(c. 90) three-halfpence more was all at once placed to the debit of newspaper readers,
which brought the sum total of the duty up to fourpence. An Act of 6 & 7 Will. IV. c.
76 reduced this duty to one penny, with the proviso, however, that when the sheet
contained 1550 superficial inches on either side, an extra halfpenny was to be paid,
and when it contained 2295, an extra penny. An additional halfpenny was also
charged on a supplement, which may be regarded, when the use of supplements in the
present day is taken into consideration, as an indirect tax on advertisements. In 1855,
by an Act 18 & 19 Vict. c. 27, this stamp duty was abolished, and immediately an
immense number of newspapers started into existence, most of which, however,
obtained but a most ephemeral being, and died away, leaving no sign. There are,
however, a large number of good and useful papers still flourishing, which would
never have been published but for the repeal of the newspaper stamp duty. To such
repeal many rich men owe their prosperity, while to the same source may now be
ascribed the poverty of numbers who were once affluent. At this time, of course, the
old papers also reduced their rates, and from thence has grown a system of newspaper
reading and advertising which twenty years ago could hardly have been imagined. Up
to the repeal of the stamp duty few people bought newspapers for themselves, and
many newsvendors’ chief duty was to lend the Times out for a penny per hour, while a
second or third day’s newspaper was considered quite a luxury by those whom
business or habit compelled to stay at home, and therefore who were unable to glance
over the news—generally while some impatient person was scowlingly waiting his
turn—at the tavern bar or the coffee-house. Now almost every one buys a penny

paper for himself, and with the increase in the circulation of newspapers has, in
proportionate ratio, gone on the increase in the demand for advertisements. The
supply has, as every one knows, been in no way short of the demand. The repeal of
the paper duty in 1861 also affected newspapers much, though naturally in a smaller
degree than the abolition of the compulsory stamp. Still the effect on both the papers
and their advertisements—especially as concerns those journals which were enabled
to still farther reduce their rates—was considerable, and deserves to be noted. In
September 1870 the compulsory stamp, which had been retained for postal purposes,
was abolished, and on the 1st of October papers were first sent by post with a
halfpenny stamp affixed on the wrappers, and not on the journals themselves.
But it was to the abolition of the impost upon advertisements that their present
great demand and importance can be most directly traced. For many years a very
heavy tax was charged upon every notice published in a paper and paid for, until 1833
no less than 3s. 6d. being chargeable upon each advertisement inserted, no matter
what its length or subject-matter. People then, we should imagine—in fact, as
application to the papers of that time proves—were not so fond of cutting a long
advertisement into short and separate pieces as they are now, for every cut-off rule
then meant a charge of 3s. 6d. In 1832, the last year of this charge, the produce of this
branch of the revenue in Great Britain and Ireland amounted to £170,649. Fancy what
the returns would be if 3s. 6d. were charged on every advertisement published
throughout the United Kingdom for the year ending December 31, 1873! It seems
almost too great a sum for calculation. There is no doubt, however, that many people
would be very glad to do the figures for a very slight percentage on the returns, which
would be fabulous, and which would, if properly calculated, amaze many of those
laudatores temporis acti who, without reason or provocation, are always deploring
the decay of everything, and who would unhesitatingly affirm in their ignorance that
even newspapers and newspaper advertisements have deteriorated in tone and
quantity since the good old times, of which they prove they know nothing by their
persistent praises. Certainly if they did say this, they would not be much more wrong
than they are generally when lamenting over a period which, could it but return, they
would be, as a rule, the very first to object to. Of the sum of £170,649 just referred to,
about £127,986, or three-fourths of the whole, may be regarded as being drawn from
newspapers, and the other fourth from periodical publications. In 1837, four years
after the reduced charge of 1s. 6d. for each advertisement had become law, a table
was compiled from the detailed returns of the first six months. As it will doubtless
prove interesting to those who take an interest in the growth and increase of
newspapers, as well as in those of advertisements, we append it:—
No. of
No. of No. of Amount of
Advertise-
Papers. Stamps. Advertisement Duty.
ments.
London Papers, 93 15,100,197 292,033 £21,902 9 6
English Provincial Papers, 217 7,290,452 317,474 23,810 11 0

Welsh Papers, 10 190,955 6,499 487 6 6
Edinburgh Papers, 13 768,071 20,579 1,543 9 6
Scotch Provincial Papers, 46 1,121,658 45,371 3,402 16 8
Dublin Papers, 21 1,493,838 45,848 2,292 8 0
Irish Provincial Papers, 60 1,049,358 41,284 2,064 4 0
Total in Great Britain and Ireland, 460 27,014,529 769,088 £55,503 5 2

The reduction to which we have alluded was followed in 1853 by the total
abolition of the advertisement duty, the effect of which can be best appreciated by a
glance at the columns of any daily or weekly paper, class or general, which possesses
a good circulation.
The first paper published in Ireland was a sheet called Warranted Tidings from
Ireland, and this appeared during the rebellion of 1641; but the first Irish newspaper
worthy of the name was the Dublin Newsletter, commenced in 1685. Pue’s
Occurrences, a Dublin daily paper, originated in 1700, was continued for half a
century, and was followed in 1728 by another daily paper, Faulkner’s Journal,
established by one George Faulkner, “a man celebrated for the goodness of his heart
and the weakness of his head.” The oldest existing Dublin papers are Saunders’s
(originally Esdaile’s) Newsletter, begun in 1744, and the Freeman’s Journal,
instituted under the title of the Public Register, by Dr Lucas in 1755. The Limerick
Chronicle, the oldest Irish provincial newspaper, dates from 1768. Ireland has now
nearly 150 newspapers, most of them celebrated for the energy of their language and
the extreme fervour of their political opinions. Their Conservatism and Liberalism are
nearly equally divided; about a score take independent views, and nearly fifty
completely eschew politics. Irish newspapers flourish as vehicles for advertisement,
and their tariffs are about on a par with those of our leading provincial journals.
Colonial newspapers are plentiful and good, and the best of them filled with
advertisements of a general character at fairly high rates. Those papers published in
Melbourne are perhaps the best specimens of colonial journalism, and best among
these are the Argus and Age (daily), and the Australasian and Leader (weekly). In
fact, we have hardly a weekly paper in London that is fit to compare on all-round
merits with the last-named, which is a complete representative of the best class of
Australian life, and contains a great show of advertisements, which do much to
enlighten the reader as to Antipodean manners and customs.
American newspapers are of course plentiful, and their advertisements, as will be
shown during the progress of this volume, are often of an almost unique character.
Throughout the United States, newspapers start up like rockets, to fall like sticks; but
now and then a success is made, and if once Fortune is secured by an adventurous
speculator, she is rarely indeed allowed to escape. The system of work on American
(U.S.) journals is very different from that pursued here, everything on such
establishments as those of the New York Herald, the Tribune, and the Times, being
sacrificed to news. This is more particularly the case with regard to the Herald, which
has an immense circulation and great numbers of highly-priced advertisements, most

of which are unfortunately regarded more in connection with the amount of money
they produce to the proprietor than in reference to any effect, moral or otherwise, they
may have on the community. It is the boast of American journalists that they have
papers in obscure towns many hundreds of miles inland, any one of which contains in
a single issue as much news—news in the strictest meaning of the word—as the
London Times does in six. And, singular as it may at first sight seem, there is a great
element of truth about the statement, the telegraph being used in the States with a
liberality which would drive an English proprietor to the depths of black despair. The
Associated Telegraph Company seem to enjoy a monopoly, and to exercise almost
unlimited powers; and not long ago they almost completely ruined a journal of
standing in California by refusing to transmit intelligence to it because its editor and
proprietor had taken exception to the acts of some members of the Associated
Telegraph Company’s staff, and it was only on receipt of a most abject apology from
the delinquents that the most autocratic power in the States decided to reinstate the
paper on its list. This Telegraph Company charges very high rates, and the only
visible means by which this system of journalism is successfully carried out is that of
advertisements, which are comparatively more plentiful in these papers than in the
English, and are charged for at considerably higher rates. Some of these newspapers,
notably a small hebdomadal called the San Francisco Newsletter, go in for a
deliberate system of blackmailing, and have no hesitation in acknowledging that their
pages, not the advertisement portions, but their editorial columns, are to be bought for
any purpose—for the promotion of blasphemy, obscenity, atheism, or any other
“notion”—at a price which is regulated according to the editor’s opinion of the
former’s value, or the amount of money he may have in his pocket at the time. This is
a system of advertising little known, happily, in this “effete old country,” where we
have not yet learned to sacrifice all that should be dear and honourable to humanity—
openly, at all events—for a money consideration. It is almost impossible to tell the
number of papers published throughout the United States of America, each individual
State being hardly aware of the quantity it contains, or how many have been born and
died within the current twelvemonths. The Americans are a truly great people, but
they have not yet settled down into a regular system, so far, at all events, as
newspapers and advertisements are concerned.[3]
The first paper published in America is said to have been the Boston Newsletter,
which made its appearance in 1704. The inhabitants of the United States have ever
been wideawake to the advantages of advertising, but it would seem that the Empire
City is not, as is generally supposed here, first in rank, so far as the speculative
powers of its denizens go, if we are to believe the New Orleans correspondent of the
New York Tribune, who says in one of his letters:—“The merchants of New Orleans
are far more liberal in advertising than those of your city, and it is they alone which
support most of our papers. One firm in this city, in the drug business, expends
20,000 dollars a year in job printing, and 30,000 dollars in advertising. A clothing
firm has expended 50,000 dollars in advertising in six months. Both establishments

are now enjoying the lion’s share of patronage, and are determined to continue such
profits and investments. A corn doctor is advertising at over 10,000 dollars a month,
and the proprietor of a ‘corner grocery’ on the outskirts of the city has found it
advantageous to advertise to the extent of 7000 dollars during the past winter.”
In London the Times and Telegraph absorb the lion’s share of the advertiser’s
money. The former, the leading journal of the day, of independent politics and
magnificent proportions, stands forth first, and, to use a sporting phrase, has no
second, so far is it in front of all others as regards advertisements, as well as on other
grounds. An average number of the Times contains about 2500 advertisements,
counting between every cut-off rule; and the receipts in the advertisement department
are said to be about £1000 a day, or 8s. each. A number of the Daily Telegraph in
December 1873 contains 1444 advertisements (also counting between every cut-off
rule), and these may fairly be calculated to produce £500 or thereabouts, the tariff
being throughout little less than that of the Times; for what it lacks in power and
influence the Telegraph is supposed to make up in circulation. This is rather a change
for the organ of Peterborough Court, which little more than eighteen years ago was
started with good advertisements to the extent of seven shillings and sixpence. The
Telegraph proprietors do not, however, get all the profit out of the advertisements, for
in its early and struggling days they were glad, naturally, to close with advertisement
agents, who agreed to take so many columns a day at the then trade price, and who
now have a vast deal the best of the bargain. To such lucky accidents, which occur
often in the newspaper world, are due the happy positions of some men, who live
upon the profits accruing from their columns, and ride in neat broughams, oblivious
of the days when they went canvassing afoot, and have almost brought themselves to
the belief that they are gentlemen, and always were such. This must be the only bitter
drop in the cup of the otherwise happy possessors of the Telegraph, which is at once a
mine of wealth to them, and an instrument by which they become quite a power in the
state. They can, however, well afford the lucky advertisement-agents their profits,
and, looking back, may rest satisfied that things are as they are.
But there are many daily papers in London besides the Times and Telegraph, and
all these receive a plentiful share of advertisements. The Standard has, within the past
few years, developed its resources wonderfully, and may be now considered a good
fair third in the race for wealth, and not by any means a distant third, so far as the
Telegraph is concerned. This paper has a most extensive circulation, being the only
cheap Conservative organ in London, if we may except the Hour, and as it offers to
advertisers a repetition of their notices in the Evening Standard, it is not surprising
that, spacious as are its advertisement columns, it manages to fill them constantly, and
at a rate which would have considerably astonished its old proprietors. The Daily
News, which a few years back reduced its price to one penny, has, since the Franco-
Prussian war, been picking up wonderfully, and with its increased health as a paper its
outer columns have proportionally improved in appearance; many experienced
advertisers have a great regard for the News, which they look upon as offering a good

return for investments. The Morning Advertiser, as the organ of the licensed
victuallers, is of course an invaluable medium of inter-communication among
members of “the trade,” and in it are to be found advertisements of everything to be
obtained in connection with the distillery, the brewery, and the tavern. Publicans who
want potboys, and potboys who want employers, barmaids, barmen, and people in
want of “snug” businesses, or with “good family trades” to dispose of, all consult the
’Tiser, which is under the special supervision of a committee of licensed victuallers,
who act as stewards, and annually hand over the profits to the Licensed Victuallers’
School. An important body is this committee, a body which feels that the eye of
Europe is upon it, and which therefore takes copious notes of everything; is broad
wideawake, and is not to be imposed on. But it is a kindly and beneficent body, as its
purpose shows; and a little licence can well be afforded to a committee which gives
its time and trouble, to say nothing of voting its money, in the interest of the widow
and the fatherless. A few years back great fun used to be got out of the ’Tiser, or the
“Gin and Gospel Gazette,” as it was called, on account of its peculiar views on
current questions; but all that is altered now, and since the advent of the present
régime the Advertiser has improved sufficiently to be regarded as a general paper, and
therefore as a general advertising medium. The Hour is a new journal, started in
opposition to the Standard, and professing the same politics. It is hardly within our
ken so far, and the same may be said of the Morning Post, which has its own
exclusive clientèle. In referring to the foregoing journals, we have made no remarks
beyond those to which we are guided by their own published statements, and we have
intended nothing invidious in the order of selection. For obvious reasons we shall say
nothing of the evening papers, beyond that all seem to fill their advertisement
columns with ease, and to be excellent mediums of publicity.
The weekly press and the provincial press can tell their own story without
assistance. In the former the advertisements are fairly classed, according to the
pretensions of the papers or the cause they adopt, while with the provincials it is the
story of the London dailies told over again. Manchester and Liverpool possess
magnificent journals, full of advertisements and of large circulation, and so do all
other large towns in the country; but we doubt much if, out of London, Glasgow is to
be beaten on the score of its papers or the energy of its advertisers.

[1] This paper seems to have been an imposture, which, believed in at the time, has been comparatively
recently detected. A writer in the Quarterly Review, June 1855, says, “The English Mercurie of 1588 [Qy.
1583], which professes to have been published during those momentous days when the Spanish Armada
was hovering and waiting to pounce upon our southern shores, contains amongst its items of news three or
four book advertisements, and these would undoubtedly have been the first put forth in England, were that
newspaper genuine. Mr Watts, of the British Museum, has, however, proved that the several numbers of
this journal to be found in our national library are gross forgeries; and, indeed, the most inexperienced eye
in such matters can easily see that neither their type, paper, spelling, nor composition are much more than
one instead of upwards of two centuries and a half old.” Haydn also says, “Some copies of a publication
are in existence called the English Mercury, professing to come out under the authority of Queen
Elizabeth in 1588, the period of the Spanish Armada. The researches of Mr J. Watts, of the British
Museum, have proved these to be forgeries, executed about 1766. The full title of No. 50 is ‘The English

Mercurie, published by authoritie, for the prevention of false reports, imprinted by Christopher Barker,
Her Highnesses printer, No. 50.’ It describes the Spanish Armada, giving ‘A journal of what passed since
the 21st of this month, between Her Majestie’s fleet and that of Spayne, transmitted by the Lord Highe
Admiral to the Lordes of Council.’”
[2] The Quarterly mentions a paper which appeared late in the reign of James I.: “The Weekly News,
published in London in 1622, was the first publication which answered to this description; it contained,
however, only a few scraps of foreign intelligence, and was quite destitute of advertisements.” And then,
as if to prove what has been already stated by the Encyclopædia Britannica, the writer goes on to say,
“The terrible contest of the succeeding reign was the hotbed which forced the press of this country into
sudden life and extraordinary vigour.”
[3] In 1830 America (U.S.), whose population was 23,500,000, supported 800 newspapers, 50 of these being
daily; and the conjoined annual circulation was 64,000,000. Fifteen years later these figures were
considerably increased—nearly doubled; but since the development of the Pacific States it has been
almost impossible to tell the number of papers which have sprung into existence, every mining camp and
every village being possessed of its organ, some of which have died, and some of which are still
flourishing. A professed and apparently competent critic assures us that there are quite 3000 newspapers
now in the States, and that at least a tithe of them are dailies.

CHAPTER II.

INTRODUCTORY—STREET AND GENERAL ADVERTISING.

t seems indeed singular that we are obliged to regard advertising as a

I comparatively modern institution; for, as will be shown in the progress of this
work, the first advertisement which can be depended upon as being what it
appears to be was, so far as can be discovered, published not much more than
two hundred years ago. But though we cannot find any instances of business notices
appearing in papers before the middle of the seventeenth century, mainly because
there were not, so far as our knowledge goes, papers in which to advertise, there is
little doubt that the desire among tradesmen and merchants to make good their wares
has had an existence almost as long as the customs of buying and selling, and it is but
natural to suppose that advertisements in some shape or form have existed not only
from time immemorial, but almost for all time. Signs over shops and stalls seem
naturally to have been the first efforts in the direction of advertisements, and they go
back to the remotest portions of the world’s history. Public notices also were posted
about in the first days of the children of Israel, the utterances of the kings and
prophets being inscribed on parchments and exposed in the high places of the cities.
It was also customary, early in the Christian era, for a scroll to be exhibited when any
of the Passion or other sacred plays were about to be performed, and comparatively
recently we have received positive intelligence that in Pompeii and similar places
advertising by means of signs and inscriptions was quite common. The “History of
Signboards,” a very exhaustive and valuable book, quotes Aristotle, and refers to
Lucian, Aristophanes, and others, in proof of the fact that signboard advertisements
were used in ancient Greece, but the information is extremely vague. Of the Romans,
however, more is known. Some streets were with them known by means of signs. The
book referred to tells us that the bush, the Romans’ tavern sign, gave rise to the
proverb, “Vino vendibili suspensa hedera non opus est;” and hence we derive our
own sign of the bush, and our proverb, “Good wine needs no bush.” An ansa or
handle of a pitcher was then the sign of a pothouse, and hence establishments of this
kind were afterwards denominated ansæ.
A correspondent writing to Notes and Queries, in answer to a question in reference
to early advertising, says that the mode adopted by the Hebrews appears to have been
chiefly by word of mouth, not by writing. Hence the Hebrew word kara signifies to
cry aloud, and to announce or make known publicly (κηρύσσειν); and the

announcement or proclamation, as a matter of course, was usually made in the streets
and chief places of concourse. The matters thus proclaimed were chiefly of a sacred
kind, as might be expected under a theocracy; and we have no evidence that secular
affairs were made the subject of similar announcements. In one instance, indeed (Isa.
xiii. 3), kara has been supposed to signify the calling out of troops; but this may be
doubted. The Greeks came a step nearer to our idea of advertising, for they made
their public announcements by writing as well as orally. For announcement by word
of mouth they had their κήρυξ, who, with various offices besides, combined that of
public crier. His duties as crier appear to have been restricted, with few exceptions, to
state announcements and to great occasions. He gave notice, however, of sales. For
the publication of their laws the Greeks employed various kinds of tablets, πίνακες,
ἄξονες, κύρβεις. On these the laws were written, to be displayed for public
inspection. The Romans largely advertised private as well as public matters, and by
writing as well as by word of mouth. They had their præcones, or criers, who not
only had their public duties, but announced the times, places, and conditions of sales,
and cried things lost. Hawkers cried their own goods. Thus Cicero speaks of one who
cried figs, Cauneas clamitabat (De Divin. ii. 40). But the Romans also advertised, in
a stricter sense of the term, by writing. The bills were called libelli, and were used for
advertising sales of estates, for absconded debtors, and for things lost or found. The
advertisements were often written on tablets (tabellæ), which were affixed to pillars
(pilæ columnæ). On the walls of Pompeii have been discovered various
advertisements. There will be a dedication or formal opening of certain baths. The
company attending are promised slaughter of wild beasts, athletic games, perfumed
sprinkling, and awnings to keep off the sun (venatia, athletæ, sparsiones, vela).[4]
One other mode of public announcement employed by the Romans should be
mentioned, and that was by signs suspended or painted on the wall. Thus a suspended
shield served as the sign of a tavern (Quintil. vi. 3), and nuisances were prohibited by
the painting of two sacred serpents. Among the French, advertising appears to have
become very general towards the close of the sixteenth century. In particular, placards
attacking private character had, in consequence of the religious wars, become so
numerous and outrageous, that subsequently, in 1652, the Government found it
necessary to interpose for their repression.[5]
Speaking of the signs of Herculaneum and Pompeii, the “History of Signboards”
says that a few were painted, but, as a rule, they appear to have been made of stone,
or terra cotta relievo, and set into the pilasters at the sides of the open shop fronts.
Thus there have been found a goat, the sign of a dairy, and a mule driving a mill, the
sign of a baker. At the door of a school was the highly suggestive and not particularly
pleasant sign to pupils of a boy being birched. Like to our own signs of two brewers
carrying a tun slung on a pole, a Pompeian publican had two slaves represented above
his door carrying an amphora, and another dispenser of drink had a painting of
Bacchus pressing a bunch of grapes. At a perfumer’s shop in the street of Mercury
were represented various items of that profession, notably four men carrying a box

with vases of perfume, and men laying out and perfuming a corpse. There was also a
sign of the Two Gladiators, under which, in the usual Pompeian cacography, was the
following:—“Abiam venerem Pompeiianama iradam qui hoc læserit.” Besides these
were the signs of the Anchor, the Ship (possibly a ship-chandler’s), a sort of a Cross,
the Chequers, the Phallus on a baker’s shop, with the words, “Hic habitat felicitas;”
whilst in Herculaneum there was a very cleverly painted Amorino, or Cupid, carrying
a pair of lady’s shoes, one on his head and the other in his hand. It is also probable
that the various artificers of Rome used their tools as signs over their workshops and
residences, as it is found that they were sculptured on their tombs in the catacombs.
On the tombstone of Diogenes, the grave-digger, there is a pickaxe and a lamp; Banto
and Maxima have the tools of carpenters, a saw, an adze, and a chisel; Veneria, a tire-
woman, has a mirror and a comb. There are others with wool-combers’ implements; a
physician has a cupping-glass; a poulterer, a case of fowls; a surveyor, a measuring
rule; a baker, a bushel measure, a millstone, and some ears of corn; and other signs
are numerous on the graves of the departed. Even the modern custom of punning on
the name, so common on signboards, finds its precedent on these stones. The grave of
Dracontius was embellished with a dragon, that of Onager with a wild ass, and that of
Umbricius with a shady tree. Leo’s grave received a lion; Doleus, father and son, two
casks; Herbacia, two baskets of herbs; and Porcula, a pig. It requires, therefore, but
the least possible imagination to see that all these symbols and advertisements were
by no means confined to the use of the dead, but were extensively used in the
interests of the living.

WALL INSCRIPTIONS IN POMPEII.—Signor Raphael Garrucci, to whom we are
indebted for these Plates, in commenting upon Group 5 (LX., IIII., IIII., VII., ZV., Ε.,
ΓΑ., III., S., CIA.), says, “I will now give my opinion upon this strange combination
of Greek and Roman signs—it seems to me a custom introduced even at Rome since
the epoch of Augustus, to mingle the Greek numeral elements with Latin signs.”
Large illustration: top (163 kB)
bottom (194 kB)

Street advertising, in its most original form among us, was therefore without doubt
derived from the Romans; and this system gradually grew, until, in the Middle Ages,
there was hardly a house of business without its distinctive sign or advertisement;

which was the more necessary, as in those days numbers to houses were unknown.
“In the Middle Ages the houses of the nobility, both in town and country, when the
family was absent, were used as hostelries for travellers. The family arms always
hung in front of the house, and the most conspicuous object in those arms gave a
name to the establishment amongst travellers, who, unacquainted with the mysteries
of heraldry, called a lion gules or azure by the vernacular name of the Red or Blue
Lion. Such coats of arms gradually became a very popular intimation that there
was—
Good entertainment for all that passes—
Horses, mares, men, and asses.

And innkeepers began to adopt them, hanging out red lions and green dragons as the
best way to acquaint the public that they offered food and shelter. Still, as long as
civilisation was only at a low ebb, the so-called open houses few, and competition
trifling, signs were of but little use. A few objects, typical of the trade carried on,
would suffice; a knife for the cutler, a stocking for the hosier, a hand for the glover, a
pair of scissors for the tailor, a bunch of grapes for the vintner, fully answered public
requirements. But as luxury increased, and the number of houses or shops dealing in
the same article multiplied, something more was wanted. Particular trades continued
to be confined to particular streets; the desideratum then was to give to each shop a
name or token by which it might be mentioned in conversation, so that it could be
recommended and customers sent to it. Reading was still a scarce acquirement,
consequently to write up the owner’s name would have been of little use. Those that
could advertised their name by a rebus—thus, a hare and a bottle stood for
Harebottle, and two cocks for Cox. Others, whose names could represent, adopted
pictorial objects; and as the quantity of these augmented, new subjects were
continually required. The animal kingdom was ransacked, from the mighty elephant
to the humble bee, from the eagle to the sparrow; the vegetable kingdom, from the
palm-tree and cedar to the marigold and daisy; everything on the earth and in the
firmament above it was put under contribution. Portraits of the great men of all ages,
and views of towns, both painted with a great deal more of fancy than of truth;
articles of dress, implements of trades, domestic utensils, things visible and invisible,
‘Ea quæ sunt tanquam ea quæ non sunt,’ everything was attempted in order to attract
attention and to obtain publicity. Finally, as all signs in a town were painted by the
same small number of individuals, whose talents and imagination were limited, it
followed that the same subjects were often repeated, introducing only a change in the
colour for a difference.”[6]
From the foregoing can be traced the gradual growth of street advertising until it
has reached its present extensive pitch; and though the process may be characterised
as slow, no one who looks around at the well-covered hoardings and the be-plastered
signs on detached and prominent houses can doubt that it is sure. Proclamations, and
suchlike official announcements, were probably the first specimens of street

advertising, as we now understand the term; but it was not until printing became
general, and until the people became conversant with the mysteries of reading and
writing, that posters and handbills were to any extent used. Mention is made in 1679
of a tradesman named Jonathan Holder, haberdasher, of the city of London, who gave
to every purchaser to the extent of a guinea a printed list of the articles kept in stock
by him, with the prices affixed. The paper in which this item of news was recorded
seems to have regarded Mr Holder’s practice as a dangerous innovation, and remarks
that it would be quite destructive to trade if shopkeepers lavished so much of their
capital in printing useless bills. This utterance now seems ridiculous; but in the course
of another two centuries many orthodox opinions of the present day will receive as
complete a downfall as that just recorded.
Within the recollections of men who are still young street advertising has
considerably changed. Twenty years ago the billsticker was a nuisance of the most
intolerable kind, and though we can hardly now consider him a blessing, his habits
have changed very much for the better. Never heeding the constant announcement to
him to beware, the billsticker cared nothing for the privacy of dead walls, or, for the
matter of that, of dwelling-houses and street doors; and though he was hardly ever
himself to be seen, his disfigurative work was a prominent feature of the metropolis.
It was also considered by him a point of honour—if the term may be used in
connection with billstickers—to paste over the work of a rival; and so the hoardings
used to present the most heterogeneous possible appearance, and though bills were
plentiful, their intelligibility was of a very limited description. Sunday morning early
used to be a busy time with the wandering billsticker. Provided with a light cart and
an assistant, he would make a raid on a whole district, sticking his notices and
disappearing with marvellous rapidity. And how he would chuckle as he drove away,
more especially if, in addition to disfiguring a private wall, he had succeeded in
covering over the handiwork of a rival! For this reason the artful billsticker used to
select a time when it was still early enough to evade detection, and yet late enough to
deface the work of those who had gone before him. Billsticking was thus an art
attended with some difficulties; and it was not until the advent of contractors, like
Willing, Partington, and others, that any positive publicity could be depended upon in
connection with posting.
Yet, in the days of which we have just been speaking, the man of paste considered
himself a very important personage; and it is not so very long since one individual
published himself under the style and title of “Champion Billposter,” and as such
defied all comers. It was for some time doubtful whether his claims depended upon
his ability to beat and thrash all rivals at fisticuffs, whether he was able to stick more
bills in a given time than any other man, or whether he had a larger and more
important connection than usually fell to the poster’s lot; in fact, the question has
never been settled, for exception having been taken to his assumption of the title of
champion from any point of view, and reference having been made to the editors of
sporting papers, the ambitious one gracefully withdrew his pretensions, and the

matter subsided. A generation ago one of the most popular songs of the day
commenced something like this—
“I’m Sammy Slap the billsticker, and you must all agree, sirs,
I sticks to business like a trump while business sticks to me, sirs.
There’s some folks calls me plasterer, but they deserve a banging,
Cause yer see, genteelly speaking, that my trade is paperhanging.
With my paste, paste, paste!
All the world is puffing,
So I’ll paste, paste, paste!”

AN OLD BILL-STATION.

The advent of advertisement contractors, who purchased the right, exclusive and
absolute, to stick bills on a hoarding, considerably narrowed the avocations of what
might almost have been called the predatory billsticker. For a long time the fight was
fierce and often; as soon as an “advertisement station” had been finished off, its bills

and announcements being all regulated with mathematical precision, a cloud of
skirmishers, armed to the teeth with bills, pots, and brushes, would convert, in a few
minutes, the orderly arrangements of the contractor to a perfect chaos. But time,
which rights all things, aided in the present instance by a few magisterial decisions,
and by an unlooked-for and unaccountable alacrity on the part of the police, set these
matters straight; and now it is hard to find an enclosure in London the hoarding of
which is not notified as being the “advertisement station” of some contractor or other
who would blush to be called billsticker. In the suburbs the flying brigade is still to be
found hard at work, but daily its campaigning ground becomes more limited, and
gradually these Bashi-Bazouks of billsticking are becoming absorbed into the regular
ranks of the agents’ standing corps.
Placard advertising, of an orderly, and even ornamental, character, has assumed
extensive proportions at most of the metropolitan railway stations, the agents to
whom we have just referred having extended their operations in the direction of blank
spaces on the walls, which they sublet to the general advertising public. Often firms
which advertise on an extensive scale themselves contract with the railway
companies, and not a few have extended their announcements from the stations to the
sides of the line, little enamelled plates being used for this purpose. Any one having a
vacant space at the side of his house, or a blank wall to the same, may, provided he
live in anything like a business thoroughfare, and that the vantage place is free from
obstruction, do advantageous business with an advertisement contractor; and, as
matters are progressing, we may some day expect to see not only the private walls of
the houses in Belgrave Square and suchlike fashionable localities well papered, but
the outsides and insides of our public buildings utilised as well by the hand of the
advertiser. One thing is certain, no one could say that many of the latter would be
spoiled, no matter what the innovation to which they were subjected.
The most recent novelty in advertising has been the introduction of a cabinet,
surmounted by a clock face, into public-house bars and luncheon rooms. These
cabinets are divided into spaces of say a superficial foot each, which are to be let off
at a set price. So far as we have yet seen, these squares have been filled for the most
part with the promoters’ advertisements only; and it is admitted by all who know
most about advertising that the very worst sign one can have as to the success of a
medium is that of an advertisement emanating from the promoters or proprietors of
anything in which such advertisement appears. Why this should be we are not
prepared to say. We are more able to show why it should not be; for no man,
advertisement contractor or otherwise, should, under fair commercial conditions, ask
another to do what he would not do himself. So we are satisfied to rest content with
the knowledge that what we have stated is fact, however incongruous it may seem,
which any one can endorse by applying himself to the ethics of advertising. Certainly,
in the instance quoted, the matter looks very suggestive; perhaps it depends on the
paradox, that he who is most anxious that others should advertise is least inclined to
do so himself.

Not long ago the promoters of a patent umbrella, which seems to have gone the
mysterious way of all umbrellas, patent or otherwise, and to have disappeared,
availed themselves of a great boat-race to attract public attention to their wares. Skiffs
fitted with sails, on each of which were painted the patent parapluie, and a
recommendation to buy it, dotted the river, and continually evaded the efforts of the
Conservancy Police, who were endeavouring to marshal all the small craft together,
so as to leave a clear course for the competitors. Every time one of these advertising
boats broke out into mid-stream, carrying its eternal umbrella between the dense lines
of spectators, the advertisement was extremely valuable, for straying boats of any
kind are on such occasions very noticeable, and these were of course much more so.
Still it would seem from the sequel that this bold innovation had been better applied
to something more likely to hit the public taste; for whether it was that people,
knowing how fleeting a joy is a good umbrella, were determined not to put
temptation in the way of their friends, or whether the experiment absorbed all the
spare capital of the inventor and patentees, we know not; but this we do know, that
since the time of which we speak little or nothing has been heard of the novel
“gingham.”
Another innovation in the way of advertisements was that, common a few years
back, of stencilling the flagstones. At first this system assumed very small
proportions, a parallelogram, looking like an envelope with a black border that had
been dropped, and containing the address of the advertiser, being the object of the
artist entrusted with the mission. Gradually, however, the inscriptions grew, until they
became a perfect nuisance, and were put down—if the term applies to anything on
such a low level—by the intervention of the police and the magistrates. The
undertakers were the greatest sinners in this respect, the invitations to be buried being
most numerous and varied. These “black workers” or “death-hunters,” as they are
often called, are in London most persistent advertisers. They can hardly think that
people will die to oblige them and do good for trade, yet in some districts they will,
with the most undeviating persistency, drop their little books, informing you how,
when, where, and at what rates you may be buried with economy or despatch, or
both, as the case may be, down your area, or poke them under your door, or into the
letter-box. More, it is stated on good authority, than one pushing contractor, living in
a poor neighbourhood, obtains a list of all the folk attended by the parish doctor, and
at each of the houses leaves his little pamphlet, let us hope with the desire of cheering
and comforting the sick and ailing. To such a man Death must come indeed as a
friend, so long, of course, as the grim king comes to the customers only.
A few years back, when hoardings were common property, the undertakers had a
knack of posting their dismal little price-lists in the centre of great broadsheets likely
to attract any unusual share of attention. They were not particular, however, and any
vantage space, from a doorpost to a dead wall, came within their comprehension.
Another ingenious, and, from its colour, somewhat suggestive, plan was about this
time brought into requisition by an undertaker for the destruction of a successful

rival’s advertisements. He armed one of his assistants with a great can of blacking
and a brush, and instructed him to go by secret ways and deface the opposition
placards. Of course the other man followed suit, and for a time an undertaker’s bill
was known best by its illegibility. But ultimately these two men of colour met and
fought with the instruments provided by their employers. They did not look lovely
when charged before a magistrate next morning, and being bound over to keep the
peace, departed to worry each other, or each other’s bills, no more. There is another
small bill feature of advertising London which is so objectionable that we will pass it
by with a simple thankful notice that its promoters are sometimes overtaken by tardy
but ironhanded justice.
Most people can recollect the hideous glass pillars or “indicators” which, for
advertising purposes, were stuck about London. The first one made its appearance at
Hyde Park Corner, and though, in deference to public opinion, it did not remain there
very long, less aristocratic neighbourhoods had to bear their adornments until the
complete failure of the attempt to obtain advertisements to fill the vacant spaces
showed how fatuous was the project. The last of these posts, we remember, was
opposite the Angel at Islington, and there, assisted by local faith and indolence, it
remained until a short time back. But it too has gone now, and with it has almost
faded the recollection of these hideous nightmares of advertising.
The huge vans, plastered all over with bills, which used to traverse London, to the
terror of the horses and wonder of the yokels, were improved off the face of the earth
a quarter of a century ago; and now the only perambulating advertisement we have is
the melancholy sandwich-man and the dispenser of handbills, gentlemen who
sometimes “double their parts,” to use a theatrical expression. To a playhouse
manager we owe the biggest thing in street and general advertising—that in
connection with the “Dead Heart”—that has yet been recorded. Mr Smith, who had
charge of this department of the Adelphi, has published a statement which gives the
totals as follows:—10,000,000 adhesive labels (which, by the way, were an
intolerable nuisance), 30,000 small cuts of the guillotine scene, 5000 reams of note-
paper, 110,000 business envelopes, 60,000 stamped envelopes, 2000 six-sheet cuts of
Bastile scene, 5,000,000 handbills, 1000 six-sheet posters, 500 slips, 1,000,000 cards
heartshaped, 100 twenty-eight sheet posters, and 20,000 folio cards for shop
windows. This was quite exclusive of newspaper wrappers and various other
ingenious means of attracting attention to the play throughout the United Kingdom.
Among other forms of advertising, that on the copper coinage must not be
forgotten. The extensive defacement of the pence and halfpence of the realm in the
interests of a well-known weekly paper ultimately led to the interference of
Parliament, and may fairly be regarded as the cause, or at all events as one of the
principal causes, of the sum of £10,000 being voted in July 1855 for the replacement
of the old, worn, battered, and mixed coppers by our present bronze coinage.

And now, having given a hurried and summarised glance at the growth and
progress of advertising of all kinds and descriptions, from the earliest periods till the
present time, we will begin at the beginning, and tell the story with all its
ramifications, mainly according to those best possible authorities, the advertisements
themselves.

[4] The opening notice of the baths at Pompeii was almost perfect when discovered, and originally read thus:
—“Dedicatone . Thermarum . Muneris . Cnæi . Allei . Nigidii . Maii . Venalio . Athelæ . Sparsiones .
Vela . Erunt . Maio . Principi . Coloniæ . Feliciter.”
[5] Notes and Queries, vol. xi., 3d series.
[6] “History of Signboards.”

CHAPTER III.

ANCIENT FORMS OF ADVERTISING.

hough it would be quite impossible to give any exact idea as to the period

T when the identical first advertisement of any kind made its appearance, or
what particular clime has the honour of introducing a system which now
plays so important a part in all civilised countries, there need be no
hesitation in ascribing the origin of advertising to the remotest possible times—to the
earliest times when competition, caused by an increasing population, led each man to
make efforts in that race for prominence which has in one way or other gone on ever
since. As soon as the progress of events or the development of civilisation had cast
communities together, each individual member naturally tried to do the best he could
for himself, and as he, in the course of events, had naturally to encounter rivals in his
way of life, it is not hard to understand that some means of preventing a particular
light being hid under a bushel soon presented itself. That this means was an
advertisement is almost certain; and so almost as long as there has been a world—or
quite as long, using the term as it is best understood now—there have been
advertisements. At this early stage of history, almost every trade and profession was
still exercised by itinerants, who proclaimed their wares or their qualifications with
more or less flowery encomiums, with, in fact, the advertisement verbal, which,
under some circumstances, is still very useful. But the time came when the tradesman
or professor settled down, and opened what, for argument’s sake, we will call a shop.
Then another method of obtaining publicity became requisite, and the crier stepped
forward to act as a medium between the provider and the consumer. This is, however,
but another form of the same system, and, like its simpler congener, has still an
existence, though not an ostentatious one. When the art of writing was invented, the
means of extending the knowledge which had heretofore been simply cried, was
greatly extended, and advertising gradually became an art to be cultivated.
Very soon after the invention of writing in its rudest form, it was turned to account
in the way of giving publicity to events in the way of advertisement; for rewards for
and descriptions of runaway slaves, written on papyri more than three thousand years
ago, have been exhumed from the ruins of Thebes. An early but mythical instance of
a reward being offered in an advertisement is related by Pausanias,[7] who, speaking
of the art of working metals, says that the people of Phineum, in Arcadia, pretended
that Ulysses dedicated a statue of bronze to Neptune, in the hope that by that deity’s

intervention he might recover the horses he had lost; and, he adds, “they showed me
an inscription on the pedestal of the statue offering a reward to any person who
should find and take care of the animals.”
The Greeks used another mode of giving publicity which is worthy of remark here.
They used to affix to the statues of the infernal deities, in the temenos of their
temples, curses inscribed on sheets of lead, by which they devoted to the vengeance
of those gods the persons who had found or stolen certain things, or injured the
advertisers in any other way. As the names of the offenders were given in full in these
singular inscriptions, they had the effect of making the grievances known to mortals
as well as immortals, and thus the advertisement was attained. The only difference
between these and ordinary public notices was that the threat of punishment was held
out instead of the offer of reward. A compromise was endeavoured generally at the
same time, the evil invoked being deprecated in case of restitution of the property. A
most interesting collection of such imprecations (diræ defixiones, or κατάδεσμοι) was
found in 1858 in the temenos of the infernal deities attached to the temple of Demeter
at Cnidus. It is at present deposited in the British Museum, where the curious reader
may inspect it in the second vase-room.
A common mode of advertising, about the same time, was by means of the public
crier, κήρυξ. In comparatively modern times our town-criers have been proverbial for
murdering the king’s English, or, at all events, of robbing it of all elecutionary
beauties. Not so among the Greeks, who were so nice in point of oratorical power,
and so offended by a vicious pronunciation, that they would not suffer even the public
crier to proclaim their laws unless he was accompanied by a musician, who, in case
of an inexact tone, might be ready to give him the proper pitch and expression. But
this would hardly be the case when the public crier was employed by private
individuals. In Apuleius (“Golden Ass”) we are brought face to face with one of these
characters, a cunning rogue, full of low humour, who appears to have combined the
duties of crier and auctioneer. Thus, when the slave and the ass are led out for sale,
the crier proclaims the price of each with a loud voice, joking at the same time to the
best of his abilities, in order to keep the audience in good humour. This latter idea has
not been lost sight of in more modern days. “The crier, bawling till his throat was
almost split, cracked all sorts of ridiculous jokes upon me [the ass]. ‘What is the use,’
said he, ‘of offering for sale this old screw of a jackass, with his foundered hoofs, his
ugly colour, his sluggishness in everything but vice, and a hide that is nothing but a
ready-made sieve? Let us even make a present of him, if we can find any one who
will not be loth to throw away hay on the brute.’ In this way the crier kept the
bystanders in roars of laughter.”[8]
The same story furnishes further particulars regarding the ancient mode of crying.
When Psyche has absconded, Venus requests Mercury “to proclaim her in public, and
announce a reward to him who shall find her.” She further enjoins the divine crier to
“clearly describe the marks by which Psyche may be recognised, that no one may
excuse himself on the plea of ignorance, if he incurs the crime of unlawfully

concealing her.” So saying, she gives him a little book, in which is written Psyche’s
name and sundry particulars. Mercury thereupon descends to the earth, and goes
about among all nations, where he thus proclaims the loss of Psyche, and the reward
for her return:—“If any one can seize her in her flight, and bring back a fugitive
daughter of a king, a handmaid of Venus, by name Psyche, or discover where she has
concealed herself, let such person repair to Mercury, the crier, behind the boundaries
of Murtia,[9] and receive by way of reward for the discovery seven sweet kisses from
Venus herself, and one exquisitely delicious touch of her charming tongue.” A
somewhat similar reward is offered by Venus in the hue and cry she raises after her
fugitive son in the first idyl of Moschus, a Syracusan poet who flourished about 250
years before the Christian era: “If any one has seen my son Eros straying in the cross
roads, [know ye] he is a runaway. The informer shall have a reward. The kiss of
Venus shall be your pay; and if you bring him, not the bare kiss only, but, stranger,
you shall have something more.”[10] This something more is probably the “quidquid
post oscula dulce” of Secundus, but is sufficiently vague to be anything else, and
certainly promises much more than the “will be rewarded” of our own time.
So far with the Greeks and their advertisements. Details grow more abundant when
we enter upon the subject of advertising in Rome. The cities of Herculaneum and
Pompeii, buried in the midst of their sorrows and pleasures, their joys and cares, in
the very midst of the turmoil of life and commerce, and discovered ages after exactly
as they were on the morning of that ominous 24th of August A.D. 79, show us that the
benefit to be derived from publicity was well understood in those luxurious and
highly-cultivated cities. The walls in the most frequented parts are covered with
notices of a different kind, painted in black or red. Their spelling is very indifferent,
and the painters who busied themselves with this branch of the profession do not
appear to have aimed at anything like artistic uniformity or high finish. Still these
advertisements, hasty and transitory as they are, bear voluminous testimony as to the
state of society, the wants and requirements, and the actual standard of public taste of
the Romans in that age. As might be expected, advertisements of plays and gladiators
are common. Of these the public were acquainted in the following forms,—
AEDILIS . FAMILIA . GLADIATORIA . PUGNABIT
POMPEIS . PR . K . JUNIAS . VENATIO ET VELA
ERUNT.

or,
N . FESTI AMPLIATI
FAMILIA GLADIATORIA . PUGNA ITERUM
PUGNA . XVI . K . JVN . VENAT . VELA.[11]

Such inscriptions occur in various parts of Pompeii, sometimes written on smooth
surfaces between pilasters (denominated albua), at other times painted on the walls.
Places of great resort were selected for preference, and thus it is that numerous
advertisements are found under the portico of the baths at Pompeii, where persons
waited for admission, and where notices of shows, exhibitions, or sales would be sure
to attract the attention of the weary lounger.
Baths we find advertised in the following terms,—
THERMAE
M . CRASSI FRUGII
AQUA . MARINA . ET . BALN.
AQUA . DULCI . JANUARIUS . L.

which of course means “warm, sea, and fresh water baths.” As provincials add to
their notices “as in London,” or “à la mode de Paris,” so Pompeians and others not
unfrequently proclaimed that they followed the customs of Rome at their several
establishments. Thus the keeper of a bathing-house near Bologna acquainted the
public that—
IN . PRAEDIS
C . LEGIANNI VERI
BALNEUM . MORE . URBICO . LAVAT.
OMNIA COMMODA . PRAESTANTUR.

At his establishments there were baths according to the fashion of “the town,” besides
“every convenience.” And a similar inscription occurred by the Via Nomentana, eight
miles from Rome—
IN . PRAEDIS . AURE
LIAE . FAUSTINIANAE
BALINEUS . LAVAT . MO
RE . URBICO . ET OMNIS.
HUMANITAS . PRAESTA
TUR.

WALL INSCRIPTIONS IN POMPEII.—Antigonus, the hero of 2112 victories. Superbus,
a comparatively unknown man. Casuntius, the master of the latter, is supposed to be
in the act of advising him to yield to the invincible retiarius. The other figure
represents Aniketos Achilles, a great Samnite gladiator, who merited the title of
invincible.
Large illustration (118 kB)

Those who had premises to let or sell affixed a short notice to the house itself, and
more detailed bills were posted at the “advertising stations.” Thus in Plautus’s
“Trinummus,” Act v., the indignant Callicles says to his spendthrift son, “You have
dared to put up in my absence, and unknown to me, that this house is to be sold”—
(“Ædes venales hasce inscribit literis”). Sometimes, also, the inscription, “Illico ædes
venales” (“here is a house for sale”) appears to have been painted on the door, or on
the album. An auctioneer would describe a house as “Villa bona beneque edificata” (a
good and well-built house), and full details of the premises were given in the larger
placards painted on walls. In the street of the Fullers in Pompeii occurs the following
inscription, painted in red, over another which had been painted in black and
whitewashed over,—
IN . PRAEDIS . JULIAE . S . P . F . FELICIS
LOCANTUR
BALNEUM . VENEREUM . ET . NONGENTUM . PERGULAE
CENACULA . EX . IDIBUS . AUG . PRIORIS . IN . IDUS . AUG .
SEXTAS . ANNOS . CONTINUOS . QUINQUE.
S . Q . D . L . E . N . C.

Which has been translated, “On the estate of Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius Felix,
are to let from the 1st to the 6th of the ides of August (i.e., between August 6th and
8th), on a lease of five years, a bath, a venereum, and nine hundred shops, bowers,
and upper apartments.”[12] The seven final initials, antiquaries, who profess to read

what to others is unreadable, explain, “They are not to let to any person exercising an
infamous profession.” But as this seems a singular clause where there is a venereum
to be let, other erudites have seen in it, “Si quis dominam loci eius non cognoverit,”
and fancy that they read underneath, “Adeat Suettum Verum,” in which case the
whole should mean, “If anybody should not know the lady of the house, let him go to
Suettus Verus.” The following is another example of the way in which Roman
landlords advertised “desirable residences,” and “commodious business premises”—
INSULA ARRIANA
POLLIANA . GN . ALIF I . NIGID I MAI
LOCANTUR . EX . I . JULIS . PRIMIS . TABERNAE
CUM . PERGULIS . SUIS . ET COENACULA
EQUESTRIA . ET . DOMUS . CONDUCTOR
CONVENITO . PRIMUM GN . ALIF I
NIGID I . MAI SER.

Said to mean, “In the Arrian Pollian block of houses, the property of Cn. Alifius
Nigidius, senior, are to let from the first of the ides of July, shops with their bowers,
and gentlemen’s apartments. The hirer must apply to the slave of Cn. Alifius
Nigidius, senior.”

WALL INSCRIPTIONS IN POMPEII.—Apparently remarks and opinions expressed by inhabitants,
with reference to their fancies and favourites, in the circuses and at other public exhibitions.
Large illustration (106 kB)

Both the Greeks and the Romans had on their houses a piece of the wall whitened
to receive inscriptions relative to their affairs. The first called this λεύκωμα, the latter
album. Many examples of them are found in Pompeii, generally in very inferior

writing and spelling. Even the schoolmaster Valentinus, who on his album, as was the
constant practice, invoked the patronage of some high personages, was very loose in
his grammar, and the untoward outbreak of Vesuvius has perpetuated his blundering
use of an accusative instead of an ablative: “Cum discentes suos.” All the Pompeian
inscriptions mentioned above were painted, but a few instances also occur of notices
being merely scratched on the wall. Thus we find in one place, “Damas audi,” and on
a pier at the angle of the house of the tragic poet is an Etruscan inscription scratched
in the wall with a nail, which has been translated by a learned Neapolitan, “You shall
hear a poem of Numerius.” But these so-called Etruscan inscriptions are by no means
so well understood as we could wish, and their interpretation is far from
incontestable. There is another on a house of Pompeii, which has been Latinised into,
“Ex hinc viatoriens ante turri xii inibi. Sarinus Publii cauponatur. Ut adires. Vale.”
That is, “Traveller, going from here to the twelfth tower, there Sarinus keeps a tavern.
This is to request you to enter. Farewell.” This inscription, however, is so obscure that
another savant has read in it a notification that a certain magistrate, Adirens Caius,
had brought the waters of the Sarno to Pompeii—a most material difference certainly.
We are made acquainted with other Roman bills and advertisements by the works
of the poets and dramatists. Thus at Trimalchion’s banquet, in the “Satyricon,” Pliny
mentions that a poet hired a house, built an oratory, hired forms, and dispersed
prospectuses. They also read their works publicly,[13] an occupation in which they
were much interrupted and annoyed by idlers and impertinent boys. Another mode of
advertising new works more resembled that of our own country. The Roman
booksellers used to placard their shops with the titles of the new books they had for
sale. Such was the shop of Atrectus, described by Martial—
Contra Cæsaris est forum taberna
Scriptis postibus hinc et inde totis
Omnes ut cito perlegas poetas
Illinc me pete.

[7] Pausanias Græc., lib. viii. c. 14, Arcadia.
[8] Apuleius, Golden Ass, Book viii., Episode 8.
[9] The spot here mentioned was at the back of the Temple of Venus Myrtia (the myrtle Venus), on Mount
Aventine in Rome.
[10] Apuleius, Book vi.
[11] That is, “The troop of gladiators of the ædil will fight on the 31st of May. There will be fights with wild
animals, and an awning to keep off the sun.” Wind and weather permitting, there were awnings over the
heads of the spectators; but, generally, there appears to have been too much wind in this breezy summer
retreat to admit of this luxury. “Nam ventus populo vela negare solet,” says Martial, and the same idea
occurs in three other places in this poet’s works (vi. 9; xi. 21; xiv. 29). Sometimes, also, the bills of
gladiators promise sparsiones, which consisted in certain sprinklings of water perfumed with saffron or
other odours; and, as they produced what was called a nimbus, or cloud, the perfumes were probably
dispersed over the audience in drops by means of pipes or spouts, or, perhaps, by some kind of rude
engine.
[12] Nine hundred shops in a town which would hardly contain more than about twelve hundred is rather
incredible—perhaps it should be ninety. Pergulæ were either porticos shaded with verdure, lattices with

creeping plants, or small rooms above the shops, bedrooms for the shopkeepers. Cœnacula were rooms
under the terraces. When they were good enough to let to the higher classes they were called equestria (as
in the following advertisement). Plutarch informs us that Sylla, in his younger days, lived in one of them,
where he paid a rent of £8 a year.
[13] A. L. Millin, Description d’un Mosaique antique du Musée Pio. Clementin, à Rome, 1819, p. 9.

C H A P T E R I V.

MEDIÆVAL AND OTHER VARIETIES OF ADVERTISING.

n the ages which immediately succeeded the fall of the Roman Empire, and the

I western migration of the barbarian hordes, darkness and ignorance held
paramount sway, education was at a terrible discount, and the arts of reading
and writing were confined almost entirely to the monks and the superior clergy.
In fact, it was regarded as evidence of effeminacy for any knight or noble to be able
to make marks on parchment or vellum, or to be able to decipher them when made.
Newspapers were, of course, things undreamt of, but newsmen—itinerants who
collected scraps of information and retailed them in the towns and market-places—
were now and again to be found. The travelling packman or pedlar was, however, the
chief medium of intercommunication in the Middle Ages, and it is not hard to
imagine how welcome his appearance must have been in those days, when a hundred
miles constituted an immense and almost interminable journey. We know how bad the
roads were, and how difficult travelling was in comparatively modern days, but we
can form very little idea of the obstacles which beset all attempts at the
communication of one commercial centre with another in the early Middle Ages.
Everybody being alike shrouded in the darkness of ignorance, it is safe to assume,
therefore, that written advertisements were quite unknown, as few beyond those who
had written them would have been able to understand them. Nearly the whole of the
laity, from the king to the villain or thrall, were equally illiterate, and once more the
public crier became the only medium for obtaining publicity; but from the simple
mode in which all business was conducted his position was probably a sinecure. An
occasional proclamation of peace or war, or a sale of slaves or plunder, was probably
the only topic which gave him the opportunity of exercising his eloquence. But with
the increase of civilisation, and consequent wealth and competition, the crier’s
labours assumed a wider field.
The mediæval crier used to carry a horn, by means of which he attracted the
people’s attention when about to make a proclamation or publication. Public criers
appear to have formed a well-organised body in France as early as the twelfth
century; for by a charter of Louis VII., granted in the year 1141 to the inhabitants of
the province of Berry, the old custom of the country was confirmed, according to
which there were to be only twelve criers, five of which should go about the taverns
crying with their usual cry, and carrying with them samples of the wine they cried, in

order that the people might taste. For the first time they blew the horn they were
entitled to a penny, and the same for every time after, according to custom. These
criers of wine were a French peculiarity, of which we find no parallel in the history of
England. They perambulated the streets of Paris in troops, each with a large wooden
measure of wine in his hand, from which to make the passers-by taste the wine they
proclaimed, a mode of advertising which would be very agreeable in the present day,
but which would, we fancy, be rather too successful for the advertiser. These wine-
criers are mentioned by John de Garlando, a Norman writer, who was probably a
contemporary of William the Conqueror. “Præcones vini,” says he, “clamant hiante
gula, vinum venumdandum in tabernis ad quatuor denarios.”[14] A quaint and
significant story is told in an old chronicle in connection with this system of
advertising. An old woman, named Adelheid, was possessed of a strong desire to
proclaim the Word of God, but not having lungs sufficiently powerful for the noisy
propagation contemplated by her, she paid a wine-crier to go about the town, and,
instead of proclaiming the prices of the wine, to proclaim these sacred words: “God is
righteous! God is merciful! God is good and excellent!” And as the man went about
shouting these words she followed him, exclaiming, “He speaks well! he says truly!”
The poor old body hardly succeeded according to her pious desire, for she was
arrested and tried, and as it was thought she had done this out of vanity (causa laudis
humanæ), she was burned alive.[15] From this it would seem that there was as much
protection for the monks in their profession as for the criers, who were very proud of
their special prerogatives.
The public criers in France, at an early period, were formed into a corporation, and
in 1258 obtained various statutes from Philip Augustus, some of which, relating to the
criers of wine, are excessively curious. Thus it was ordained that—
“Whosoever is a crier in Paris may go to any tavern he likes and cry its wine,
provided they sell wine from the wood, and that there is no other crier employed for
that tavern; and the tavern-keeper cannot prohibit him.
“If a crier finds people drinking in a tavern, he may ask what they pay for the wine
they drink; and he may go out and cry the wine at the prices they pay, whether the
tavern-keeper wishes it or not, provided always that there be no other crier employed
for that tavern.
“If a tavern-keeper sells wine in Paris and employs no crier, and closes his door
against the criers, the crier may proclaim that tavern-keeper’s wine at the same price
as the king’s wine (the current price), that is to say, if it be a good wine year, at seven
denarii, and if it be a bad wine year, at twelve denarii.
“Each crier to receive daily from the tavern for which he cries at least four denarii,
and he is bound on his oath not to claim more.
“The crier shall go about crying twice a day, except in Lent, on Sundays and
Fridays, the eight days of Christmas, and the Vigils, when they shall only cry once.
On the Friday of the Adoration of the Cross they shall cry not at all. Neither are they

to cry on the day on which the king, the queen, or any of the children of the royal
family happens to die.”
This crying of wines is frequently alluded to in those French ballads of street-criers
known as “Les crieries de Paris.” One of them has—
Si crie l’on en plusors leus
Li bon vin fort a trente deux,
A seize, a douze, a six, a huict.[16]

And another—
D’autres cris on faict plusieurs,
Qui long seroient à reciter,
L’on crie vin nouveau et vieu,
Duquel on donne à tatter.[17]

Early in the Middle Ages the public crier was still called Præco, as among the
Romans; and an edict of the town of Tournay, dated 1368, describes him as “the
sergeant of the rod (sergent à verge), who makes publications (crie les bans), and
cries whatever else there is to be made known to the town.” The Assizes of
Jerusalem, which contained the code of civil laws of the whole of civilised Europe
during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and which take us back to the most
ancient forms of our own civil institutions, make mention in the following manner of
the public crier: “Whosoever desires to sell anything by auction, must have it
proclaimed by the crier, who is appointed by the lord viscount; and nobody else has a
right to make any publication by crying. If anybody causes any such auction to be
proclaimed by any other than the public crier, then the lord has a right by assize and
custom to claim the property so cried as his own, and the crier shall be at the mercy
of the lord. And whoever causes anything to be cried by the appointed public crier in
any other way than it ought to be cried, and in any other way than is done by the lord
or his representative, the lord may claim the property as his own, and the crier who
thus cries it shall be amenable for falsehood, and is at the mercy of the lord, who may
take from him all he possesses. But if he [the lord] does not do that, then he shall not
suffer any other punishment; and if he be charged, he must be believed on his oath.”
From these very stringent and protective regulations it appears, then, that at this
early period the public criers, or præcones, appointed by the lord, had the exclusive
right of proclaiming all sales by auction, not only voluntary, but also judicial, of
movables, as well as of fixtures; of “personal,” as well as of “real” property.
In England criers appear to have been also a national institution at an early period.
They were sworn to sell truly and well to the best of their power and ability. They
proclaimed the cause of the condemnation of all criminals, and made proclamations
of every kind, except as concerned matters ecclesiastical, which were exclusively the
province of the archbishop. They also cried all kinds of goods. In London we find
Edmund le Criour mentioned in the documents relating to the Guildhall as early as
1299. That criers used horns, as in France, appears from the will of a citizen of

Bristol, dated 1388, who, disposing of some house property, desires “that the
tenements so bequeathed shall be sold separately by the sound of the trumpet at the
high cross of Bristol, without any fraud or collusion.” In Ipswich it was still
customary in the last century to proclaim the meetings of the town council, the
previous night at twelve o’clock, by the sound of a large horn, which is still preserved
in the town hall of that borough. These horns were provided by the mayors of the
different towns.

O per se O, or A New Cryer.

“THE BELMAN OF LONDON.”

From Thomas Decker’s Lanthorne and Candle Light; or,
The Bell-Man’s Second Night’s Walke. 1608-9.

The public crier, then, was the chief organ by which the mediæval shopkeeper, in
the absence of what we now know as “advertising mediums,” obtained publicity: it
was also customary for most traders to have touters at their doors, who did duty as
living advertisements. In low neighbourhoods this system still obtains, especially in
connection with cheap photographic establishments, whose “doorsmen” select as a
rule the most improbable people for their attentions, but compensate for this by their
pertinacity and glibness. Possibly the triumph is the greater when the customer has

been persuaded quite out of his or her original intentions. Most trades, in early times,
were almost exclusively confined to certain streets, and as all the shops were alike
unpretending, and open to the gaze—in fact, were stalls or booths—it behoved the
shopkeeper to do something in order to attract customers. This he effected sometimes
by means of a glaring sign, sometimes by means of a man or youth standing at the
door, and vociferating with the full power of his lungs, “What d’ye lack, sir? what
d’ye lack?” Our country is rather deficient in that kind of mediæval literature known
in France as dicts and fabliaux, which teem with allusions to this custom of touting,
which is noticeable, though, in Lydgate’s ballad of “London Lyckpenny” (Lack-
penny), written in the first half of the fifteenth century. There we see the shopmen
standing at the door, trying to outbawl each other to gain the custom of the passers-
by. The spicer or grocer bids the Kentish countryman to come and buy some spice,
pepper, or saffron. In Cheapside, the mercers bewilder him with their velvet, silk, and
lawn, and lay violent hands on him, in order to show him their “Paris thread, the
finest in the land.” Throughout all Canwick (now Cannon Street), he is persecuted by
drapers, who offer him cloth; and in other parts, particularly in East Cheap, the
keepers of the eating-houses sorely tempt him with their cries of “Hot sheep’s feet,
fresh maqurel, pies, and ribs of beef.” At last he falls a prey to the tempting invitation
of a taverner, who makes up to him from his door with a cringing bow, and taking
him by the sleeve, pronounces the words, “Sir, will you try our wine?” with such an
insinuating and irresistible accent, that the Kentish man enters and spends his only
penny in that tempting and hospitable house. Worthy old Stow supposes this
interesting incident to have happened at the Pope’s Head, in Cornhill, and bids us
enjoy the knowledge of the fact, that for his one penny the countryman had a pint of
wine, and “for bread nothing did he pay, for that was allowed free” in those good old
days. Free luncheons, though rare now, were commonly bestowed in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries on regular drinkers; and the practice of giving food to those
who pay for drink is still current in many parts of the United States. The “Lyckpenny”
story is one of the few instances in English literature of this early period, in which the
custom of touting at shop doors is distinctly mentioned, but, as before remarked, the
French fabliaux abound with such allusions. In the story of “Courtois d’Arras”—a
travestie of the Prodigal Son in a thirteenth-century garb—Courtois finds the host
standing at his door shouting, “Bon vin de Soissons, à six deniers le lot.” And in a
mediæval mystery entitled “Li Jus de S. Nicolas,” the innkeeper, standing on the
threshold, roars out, that in his house excellent dinners are to be had, with warm
bread and warm herrings, and barrelfuls of Auxerre wine: “Céans il fait bon diner,
céans il y a pain chaud et harengs chauds, et vin d’Auxerre à plein tonneau.” In the
“Trois Aveugles de Compiègne,” the thirsty wanderers hear mine host proclaiming in
the street that he has “good, cool, and new wine, from Auxerre and from Soissons;
bread and meat, and wine and fish: within is a good place to spend your money;
within is accommodation for all kind of people; here is good lodging:”—

Ci a bon vin fres et nouvel
Ça d’Auxerre, ça de Soissons,
Pain, et char, et vin, et poissons,
Céens fet bon despendre argent,
Ostel i a à toute gent
Céens fet moult bon heberger.

And in the “Débats et facétieuses rencontres de Gringald et de Guillot Gorgen, son
maistre,” the servant, who would not pay his reckoning, excuses himself, saying,
“The taverner is more to blame than I, for as I passed before his door, and he being
seated at it as usual, called to me, saying, ‘Will you be pleased to breakfast here? I
have good bread, good wine, and good meat.’” “Le tavernier a plus de tort que moy;
car, passant devant sa porte, et luy étant assiz (ainsy qu’ils sont ordinairement) il me
cria, me disant: Vous plaist-il de dejeuner céans? Il y a de bon pain, de bon vin, et de
bonne viande.”
Other modes of advertising, of a less obtrusive nature, were, however, in use at the
same time; as in Rome, written handbills were affixed in public places; and almost as
soon as the art of printing was discovered, it was applied to the purpose of
multiplying advertisements of this kind. We may fairly assume that one of the very
first posters ever printed in England was that by which Caxton announced, circa
1480, the sale of the “Pyes of Salisbury use,”[18] at the Red Pole, in the Almonry,
Westminster. Of this first of broadsides two copies are still extant, one in the Bodleian
Library, at Oxford, the other in Earl Spencer’s library. Their dimensions are five
inches by seven, and their contents as follows:—

If it please ony man spirituel or temporel to bye our pyes of two or
thre comemoracio’s of Salisburi use, emprynted after the form of
this prese’t letre, whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come
to Westmonester, into the almonestrye at the reed pole and he shal
haue them good and chepe:
Supplico stet cedula.

Foreigners appear to have appreciated the boon of this kind of advertising
equally rapidly, although, from the fugitive nature of such productions,
copies of their posters are rarely to be found. Still an interesting list of
books, printed by Coburger at Nuremberg in the fifteenth century, is
preserved in the British Museum, to which is attached the following
heading: “Cupientes emere libros infra notatos venient ad hospitium
subnotatum,” &c.—i.e., “Those who wish to buy the books hereunder
mentioned, must come to the house now named,” &c. The Parisian printers
soon went a step further. Long before the invention of the typographic art,
the University had compelled the booksellers to advertise in their shop
windows any new manuscripts they might obtain. But after the invention of
printing they soon commenced to proclaim the wonderful cheapness of the
works they produced. It did not strike them, however, that this might have
been done effectually on a large scale, and they were content to extol the
low price of the work in the book itself. Such notices as the following are
common in early books. Ulric Gering, in his “Corpus Juris Canonici,” 1500,
allays the fear of the public with a distich:—“Don’t run away on account of
the price,” he says. “Come rich and poor; this excellent work is sold for a
very small sum:”—
Ne fugite ob pretium: dives pauperque venite
Hoc opus excellens venditur ære brevi.

Berthold Remboldt subjoins to his edition of “S. Bruno on the Psalms,”
1509, the information that he does not lock away his wares (books) like a
miser, but that anybody can carry them away for very little money.
Istas Bertholdus merces non claudit avarus
Exiguis nummis has studiose geres.

And in his “Corpus Juris Canonici,” he boasts that this splendid volume is
to be had for a trifling sum, after having, with considerable labour, been
weeded of its misprints.
Hoc tibi præclarum modico patet ære volumen
Abstersum mendis non sine Marte suis.

Thielman Kerver, Jean Petit, and various other printers, give similar
intelligence to the purchasers of their works. Sometimes they even resort to
the process of having a book puffed on account of its cheapness by editors
or scholars of known eminence, who address the public on behalf of the
printer. Thus in a work termed by the French savant Chevillier, “Les
Opuscules du Docteur Almain,” printed by Chevalon and Gourmont, 1518,
a certain dignified member of the University condescends to inform the
public that they have to be grateful to the publishers for the beautiful and
cheap book they have produced:—“Gratias agant Claudio Chevallon et
Ægydio Gourmont, qui pulchris typis et characteribus impressum opus hoc
vili dant pretio.” This, be it observed, is the earliest instance of the puff
direct which has so far been discovered.
Meanwhile, though the art of printing had become established, and was
daily taking more and more work out of the hands of scribes, writing
continued to be almost the only advertising media for wellnigh two
centuries longer. Like the ancient advertisement already noticed, that of
Venus about her runaway son, they commenced almost invariably with the
words “If anybody,” or, if in Latin, Si quis; and from these last two words
they obtained their name. They were posted in the most frequented parts of
the towns, preferably near churches; and hence has survived the practice of
attaching to church doors lists of voters and various other notifications,
particularly in villages. In the metropolis one of the places used for this
purpose may probably have been London Stone. In “Pasquil and
Marforius,” 1589, we read, “Set up this bill at London Stone; let it be done
solemnly with drum and trumpet;” and further on in the same pamphlet, “If
it please them, these dark winter nights, to stick up these papers upon
London Stone.” These two allusions are, however, not particularly
conclusive.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the principal place for affixing
a siquis was in the middle aisle of St Paul’s. From the era of the
Reformation to the Restoration, all sorts of disorderly conduct was practised

in the old cathedral. A lengthy catalogue of improper customs and
disgusting practices might be collected from the works of the period, and
bills were stuck up in various parts to restrain the grossest abuses. “At every
door of this church,” says Weever, “was anciently this vers depicted; and in
my time [he died in 1632] it might be perfectly read at the great south door,
Hic Locus sacer est, hic nulli mingere fas est.”
There were also within the sacred edifice tobacco, book, and sempstress’
shops; there was a pillar at which serving-men stood for hire, and another
place where lawyers had their regular stands, like merchants on ’Change. At
the period when Decker wrote his curious “Gull’s Horn-Book” (1609), and
for many years after, the cathedral was the lounging place for all idlers and
hunters after news, as well as of men of almost every profession, cheats,
usurers, and knights of the post. The cathedral was likewise a seat of traffic
and negotiation, even pimps and procuresses had their stations there; and
the font itself, if credit may be given to a black-letter tract on the
“Detestable Use of Dice-play,” printed early in Elizabeth’s reign, was made
a place for the advance and payment of loans, and the sealing of indentures
and obligations for the security of the moneys borrowed. Such a busy haunt
was, of course, the very best place for bills and advertisements to be posted.
No bonâ fide siquis has come down to us, but it appears that among them
the applications for ecclesiastics were very common, as Bishop Earle in his
“Microcosmographia,” published in 1629, describes “Paul’s Walke” as the
“market of young lecturers, whom you may cheapen here at all rates and
sizes;” and this allusion is confirmed by a passage in Bishop Hall’s
“Satires” (B. ii. s. 5), in which also the custom of affixing advertisements to
a particular door is distinctly noticed:—
Saw’st thou ere siquis patch’d on Paul’s church door
To seek some vacant vicarage before?
Who wants a churchman that can service say,
Read fast and fair his monthly homily,
And wed, and bury, and make cristen souls,
Come to the left side alley of St Poule’s.

But the siquis door was not confined to notices of ecclesiastical matters;
it was appropriated generally to the variety of applications that is now to be
found in the columns of a newspaper or the books of a registry office.
Though no authentic specimens of the siquis remain, we are possessed of
several imitations, as the old dramatists delighted in reproducing the

inflated language of these documents. Thus, in Holiday’s “Technogamia”
(1618), Act i. scene 7, Geographus sets up the following notice:—

If there be any gentleman that, for the accomplishing of his natural endowment, intertaynes a
desire of learning the languages; especially the nimble French, maiestik Spanish, courtly Italian,
masculine Dutch, happily compounding Greek, mysticall Hebrew, and physicall Arabicke; or that is
otherwise transported with the admirable knowledge of forraine policies, complimentall behaviour,
naturall dispositions, or whatsoever else belongs to any people or country under heaven; he shall, to
his abundant satisfaction, be made happy in his expectation and successe if he please to repair to
the signe of the Globe.

Again, Ben Jonson’s “Every Man out of his Humour” introduces Shift, “a
threadbare shark,” whose “profession is skeldring and odling, his bank
Paul’s.” Speaking of Shift in the opening scene of the third act, which the
dramatist has laid in “the middle aisle of Paules,” Cordatus says that Shift is
at that moment in Paules “for the advancement of a siquis or two, wherein
he hath so varied himselfe, that if any one of them take, he may hull up and
doune in the humorous world a little longer.” Shift’s productions deserved
to succeed, as they were masterpieces of their kind, and might even now,
though the world is so much older, and professes to be so much wiser, be
studied with advantage by gentlemen who cultivate the literature of
advertisements in the interest of certain firms. Here are some of his
compositions, which would certainly shine among the examples of the
present day:—

If there be any lady or gentlewoman of good carriage that is desirous to entertain to her private
uses a young, straight, and upright gentleman, of the age of five or six and twenty at the most; who
can serve in the nature of a gentleman usher, and hath little legs of purpose,[19] and a black satin
suit of his own to go before her in; which suit, for the more sweetening, now lies in lavender;[20]
and can hide his face with her fan if need require, or sit in the cold at the stair foot for her, as well
as another gentleman; let her subscribe her name and place, and diligent respect shall be given.

The following is even an improvement:—

If this city, or the suburbs of the same, do afford any young gentleman of the first, second, or
third head, more or less, whose friends are but lately deceased, and whose lands are but new come
into his hands, that, to be as exactly qualified as the best of our ordinary gallants are, is affected to
entertain the most gentlemanlike use of tobacco; as first to give it the most exquisite perfume; then
to know all the delicate, sweet forms for the assumption of it; as also the rare corollary and practice
of the Cuban ebolition, euripus and whiff,[21] which we shall receive or take in here at London,
and evaporate at Uxbridge, or farther, if it please him. If there be any such generous spirit, that is
truly enamour’d of these good faculties; may it please him but by a note of his hand to specify the

place or ordinary where he uses to eat and lie; and most sweet attendance with tobacco and pipes of
the best sort, shall be ministered. Stet quæso, candide lector.

It is noticeable that most of these advertisements commence with the
English equivalent for the Latin si quis, and furthermore that Ben Jonson
concludes with the same formula as Caxton, stet quæso, imploring the
“candid reader” not to tear off the bill. The word siquis is of frequent
occurrence in the old writers. Green, for instance, in his “Tu Quoque,” says
of certain women that “they stand like the devil’s siquis at a tavern or
alehouse door.” At present the term has more particular reference to
ecclesiastical matters. A candidate for holy orders who has not been
educated at the University, or has been absent some time from thence, is
still obliged to have his intention proclaimed, by having a notice to that
effect hung up in the church of the place where he has recently resided. If,
after a certain time, no objection is made, a certificate of his siquis, signed
by the churchwardens, is given to him to be presented to the bishop when
he seeks ordination.
At the time when the siquis was the most common form of
advertisement, other methods were used in order to give publicity to certain
events. There were the proclamations of the will of the King, and of the
Lord Mayor, whose edicts were proclaimed by the common trumpeter.
There were also two richly carved and gilt posts at the door of the Sheriff’s
office,[22] on which (some annotators of old plays say) it was customary to
stick enactments of the Town Council. The common crier further made
known matters of minor and commercial importance, and every shopkeeper
still kept an apprentice at his door to attract the attention of the passers-by
with a continuous “What do you lack, master?” or “mistress,” followed by a
voluble enumeration of the wares vended by his master. The bookseller, as
in ancient Rome, still advertised his new works by placards posted against
his shop, or fixed in cleft sticks. This we gather from an epigram of Ben
Jonson to his bookseller, in which he enjoins him rather to sell his works to
Bucklersbury, to be used for wrappers and bags, than to force their sale by
the usual means:—
Nor have my little leaf on post or walls,
Or in cleft sticks advancèd to make calls
For termers or some clerk-like serving-man.

Announcements of shows were given in the manner still followed by the
equestrian circus troops in provincial towns, viz., by means of bills and
processions. Thus notice of bearbaitings was given by the bears being led
about the town, preceded by a flag and some noisy instruments. In the Duke
of Newcastle’s play of “The Humorous Lovers” (1677), the sham bearward
says, “I’ll set up my bills, that the gamesters of London, Horseleydown,
Southwark, and Newmarket, may come in and bait him before the ladies.
But first, boy, go, fetch me a bagpipe; we will walk the streets in triumph,
and give the people notice of our sport.” Such a procession was, of course, a
noisy one, and for that reason it was one of the plagues the mischievous
page sent to torment Morose, “the gentleman that loves no noise,” in Ben
Jonson’s “Silent Woman.” “I entreated a bearward one day,” says the page,
“to come down with the dogs of some four parishes that way, and I thank
him he did, and cried his game under Master Morose’s window.” And in
Howard’s “English Monsieur” (1674), William, a country youth, says, “I
saw two rough-haired things led by the nose with two strings, and a bull
like ours in the country, with a brave garland about his head, and an horse,
and the least gentleman upon him that ever I saw in my life, and brave
bagpipes playing before ’um;” which is explained by Comely as occasioned
by its being “bearbaiting day, and he has met with the bull, and the bears,
and the jack-an-apes on horseback.” Trials of skill in the noble art of self-
defence were announced in a similar manner, by the combatants
promenading the streets divested of their upper garments, with their sleeves
tucked up, sword or cudgel in hand, and preceded by a drum. Finally, for
the use of the community at large, there was the bellman or town crier, a
character which occupies a prominent place in all the old sets of “Cries of
London.” In one of the earliest collections of that kind,[23] engraved early in
the seventeenth century, we see him represented with a bunch of keys in his
hand, which he no doubt proclaims as “found.” Underneath is the following
“notice:”—
O yes. Any man or woman that
Can tell any tidings of a little
Mayden-childe of the age of 24
Yeares. Bring word to the cryar
And you shall be pleased for your labour
And God’s blessing.

This was an old joke, which, more or less varied, occurs always under the
print of the town crier. The prototype of this venerable witticism may be
found in the tragedy of “Soliman and Perseda” (1599), where one of the
characters says that he
—— had but sixpence
For crying a little wench of thirty yeeres old and upwardes,
That had lost herself betwixt a taverne and a b——y house.

Notwithstanding the immense development of advertising since the
spread of newspapers, the services of the bellman are still used in most of
the country towns of the United Kingdom, and even in London there are
still bellmen and parish criers, though their offices would appear to be
sinecures. The provincial crier’s duties are of the most various description,
and relate to objects lost or found, sales by public auction or private
contract, weddings, christenings, and funerals. Not much more than a
century ago the burgh of Lanark was so poor that there was in it only one
butcher, and even he dared never venture on killing a sheep till every part of
the animal was ordered beforehand. When he felt disposed to engage in
such an enterprise, he usually prevailed upon the minister, the provost, and
the members of the town council to take a joint each; but when shares were
not subscribed for readily, the sheep received a respite. On such occasion
the services of the bellman, or “skelligman,” as he was there named, were
called into request, and that official used to perambulate the streets of
Lanark acquainting the lieges with the butcher’s intentions in the following
rhyme:—
Bell-ell-ell!
There’s a fat sheep to kill!
A leg for the provost,
Another for the priest,
The bailies and the deacons
They’ll tak’ the neist;
And if the fourth leg we canna sell,
The sheep it maun leeve, and gae back to the hill!

Sir Walter Scott, in one of his notes, gives a quaint specimen of vocal
advertising. In the old days of Scotland, when persons of property (unless
they happened to be nonjurors) were as regular as their inferiors in
attendance on parochial worship, there was a kind of etiquette in waiting till
the patron, or acknowledged great man of the parish, should make his

appearance. This ceremonial was so sacred in the eyes of a parish beadle in
the Isle of Bute, that the kirk bell being out of order, he is said to have
mounted the steeple every Sunday to imitate with his voice the successive
summonses which its mouth of metal used to send forth. The first part of
this imitative harmony was simply the repetition of the words, “Bell, bell,
bell, bell!” two or three times, in a manner as much resembling the sound as
throat of flesh could imitate throat of iron. “Bellùm, Bellùm!” was sounded
forth in a more urgent manner; but he never sent forth the third and
conclusive peal, the varied tone of which is called in Scotland the “ringing-
in,” until the two principal heritors of the parish approached, when the
chime ran thus—
Bellùm Bellèllum,
Bernera and Knockdow’s coming!
Bellùm Bellèllum,
Bernera and Knockdow’s coming!

A story is also told of an old Welsh beadle, who, having no bell to his
church, or the bell being out of order, used to mount the tower before the
service on Sundays, and advertise the fact that they were just about to
begin, in imitation of the chimes, and in compliment to the most
conspicuous patronymics in the congregation list, thus—
Shon Morgan, Shon Shones,
Shon Morgan, Shon Shones,
Shon Shenkin, Shon Morgan, Shon Shenkin,
Shon Shones!

Continued à discretion. And with this most singular form of vocal
advertising we will conclude the chapter.

[14] Glossary, cap. xxvii. “Wine-criers cry with open mouth the wine which is for sale in the
taverns at four farthings.”
[15] Chronicles of the Monk Alberic des Trois Fontaines, under the year 1235.
[16]

All around here they cry wine at the rate
Of thirty-two, sixteen, twelve, six, and eight.

[17]

To name the other cries our time would waste—
They cry old wine and new, and bid you taste.

[18] No savoury meat-pies, as some gastronomic reader might think, since they came from the
county of sausage celebrity, but a collection of rules, as practised in the diocese of Salisbury,
to show the priests how to deal, under every possible variation in Easter, with the concurrence
of more than one office on the same day. These rules varied in the different dioceses.
[19] Small calveless legs are mentioned as characteristic of a gentleman in many of our old
plays, and will be observed in most full-length portraits of the sixteenth and seventeenth
century.
[20] To “lie in lavender” was a cant term for being in pawn.
[21] Tricks performed with tobacco smoke were fashionable amongst the gallants of the period,
and are recommended in Decker’s “Gull’s Horn-Book,” and commended in many old plays.
Making rings of smoke was a favourite amusement in those days.
[22] See prints in “Archæologia,” xix. p. 383.
[23] Vide Decker’s “Belman of London: Bringing to Light the most notorious Villanies that are
now practised in the Kingdome.” London, 1608.

C H A P T E R V.

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING FORESHADOWED—ITS
EARLIEST USE—HOUGHTON’S LESSONS.

y this time, and in various ways, the first transitory glimpses of a

B system at present all-powerful and universal began to show
themselves—vague and uncertain, and often unsatisfactory, it must
be admitted, but still the first evidences of the growth of an
unparalleled institution; in fact, the base upon which the institution
eventually reared itself. With improvements in printing, and the invention
of movable type, the supply of pamphlets on current topics—the first rude
forerunners of the newspaper as we understand it—began to be enlarged,
and this opportunity was not lost on the bold spirits who even in those days
could understand the advantages bound to accrue from a system of
intercommunication at once advantageous to buyer and seller, and calling
for special attention from both. There is a wonderful amount of attraction
about these discoloured and moth-eaten papers, with their rude types and
quaint spelling, which breathe, as much as do the words themselves, the
spirit of a bygone age, and those who are so fond of praising past times
might receive a valuable lesson from the perusal of these occasional
publications, which are full of the spirit of an age when comfort, as we
understand the word, was unknown to even the wealthy; when travelling
was a luxury—a woeful luxury, it must be admitted—known only to those
possessed of ample means, or others called forth on special or desperate
missions; when men lived long, and, as they thought, eventful lives, within
a circle of half-a-dozen miles; and when the natural consequences of this
isolation, ignorance and intolerance, held almost absolute sway over the
length and breadth of the land. And in these old papers, as we get nearer and
nearer to modern times, can be traced the gradual benefit which accrued

from man’s intercourse with man, not only by the construction and
improvement of roads, and the introduction of and competition among stage
coaches, but by means of the subject of this work,—and very much by their
means too,—advertisements.
As early as 1524, pamphlets or small books of news were printed in
Vienna and other parts of Germany, but their publication was very irregular,
and little or nothing is known of them beyond the fact of their being. It is
not easy to determine which nation first found its way towards newspaper
advertisements, but there is good reason to believe that France is entitled to
the honour, so far as regular and consecutive business is concerned. The
Journal Général d’Affiches, better known as the Petites Affiches, was first
published on the 14th of October 1612. It obtained from Louis XIII. by
letters-patent sundry privileges which were subsequently confirmed (1628
and 1635). Judging by the title of this publication, it would appear to have
been an advertising medium, but this must be left to surmise, there being no
opportunity, so far as we are aware, of inspecting the earliest numbers. Two
centuries and a half have passed away since the first appearance of this
periodical, and the Petites Affiches has neither changed its title, nor, it may
be fairly presumed, the nature of its publicity. It is now the journal of the
domestic wants of France; and servants seeking situations, or persons
wanting servants, advertise in it in preference to all others. It is especially
the medium for announcing any public or private sales of property, real or
personal; and the publication of partnership deeds, articles of association of
public companies, and other legal notices, are required to be inserted in the
Journal des Petites Affiches, which is published in a small octavo form.
The oldest newspaper paragraph approaching to an advertisement yet met
with, is in one of those early German newsbooks preserved in the British
Museum. It is printed in 1591, without name of place, and contains all the
memorable occurrences of the years 1588 and 1589, such as the defeat of
the Armada, the murder of King Henry III. of France, and other stale matter
of the same kind; a curious instance of the tardiness with which news,
whether good or ill, travelled in those times. Among the many signs and
tokens which were then supposed to give warning of divine wrath at the
general wickedness of mankind, was an unknown plant which had made its
appearance in one of the suburbs of the town of Soltwedel. It grew in a
garden amongst other plants, but nobody had ever seen its like. A certain Dr
Laster thereupon wrote a book describing the plant, and giving a print of it

in the frontispiece. “This book,” says the pamphlet, “which as yet is not
much known, shows and explains all what this plant contains. Magister
Cunan has published it, and Matthew Welack has printed it, in Wittemberg.
Let whoever does not yet know the meaning of this [portend] buy the book
at once, and read it with all possible zeal:”—
Ein wunderlichs Gewechs man hat,
Von Soltwedel der Alten stad,
Der Berber die Vorstadt genand,
Gefunden welchs gar niemand kend.
In einem Garten gewachsen ist,
Bey andern Kreutern ist gewis,
Sein Conterfey und recht gestalt,
Wird auffm Tittel gezeiget bald,
Ein Buch Hoffarts Laster genand,
Welches jetzt noch sehr unbekand
Darin gewiesen und vermied,
Was das gewechse in sich hilt,
Mag: Cunaw hats geben an den Tag
Zu Wittemberg druckts Matths Welack,
Wer des bedeutung noch nicht weis
Kauff das Buch lisz mit allem fleis.

Though this is an advertisement to all intents and purposes, still it is of
the kind now best known amongst those most interested as “puff pars,” and
is similar to those that the early booksellers frequently inserted in their
works. It is therefore not unlikely that the book in question and the
newsletter were printed at the same shop. Another, in fact, the earliest
instance of newspaper advertising, is that of Nathaniel Butler; still this also
only relates to books. The first genuine miscellaneous advertisements yet
discovered occur in a Dutch black-letter newspaper, which was published in
the reign of our James I., without name or title. The advertisement in
question is inserted at the end of the folio half-sheet which contains the
news, November 21, 1626, and, in a type different from the rest of the
paper, gives notice that there will be held a sale by auction of articles taken
out of prizes, viz., sugar, ivory, pepper, tobacco, and logwood. At that time
there appeared two newspapers in Amsterdam, and it is not a little curious
that Broer Jansz[24] occasionally advertised the books he published in the
paper of his rival, which was entitled “Courant from Italy and Germany.”
Gradually the advertisements become more frequent, the following being
some of them literally translated. The first is from the Courante uyt Italien
ende Duytschland of July 23, 1633:—

With the last ships from the East Indies have been brought an elephant, a tiger, and an Indian
stag, which are to be seen at the Old Glass house, for the benefit of the poor, where many thousands
of people visit them.

The Hollandsche Mercurius, which was issued more than
two hundred years ago, showed great interest in English
affairs, especially with regard to the Civil War. It was
much inclined to the Royal cause; and when in 1653
Cromwell assumed supreme power, the above was
issued as a title, and purported to show the various
events which had recently passed in Great Britain.
Large illustration (440 kB)

The heirs of the late Mr Bernardus Paludanus, Doctor, of the City of Enkhuyzen, will sell his
world-famed museum in lots, by public auction, or by private contract, on the 1st of August, 1634.

The two following are taken from the Tydinghen, the first appearing on
May 27, 1634:—

The Burgomasters and Council of the town of Utrecht have been pleased to found in this old and
famous town, an illustrious school [university], at which will be taught and explained the sacred
Theology and Jurisprudence, besides Philosophy, History, and similar sciences. And it will
commence and open at Whitsuntide of this present year.

A few days after, on June 7th, the inauguration of this school is
advertised as about to take place on the ensuing Tuesday. There is one
instance of an advertisement from a foreign country being inserted in this
paper; it runs as follows, and is dated June 2, 1635:—

Licentiate Grim, British preacher and professor at the University of Wesel, has published an
extensive treatise against all popish scribblers, entitled “Papal Sanctimony,” that is, catholic and
authentic proof that Pope John VIII., commonly called Pope Jutte [Joan], was a woman.

In England the first bonâ fide attempt at newspaper work was attempted
in 1622, when the outbreak of the great Civil War caused an unusual
demand to be made for news, and as the appetite grew by what it fed on,
this unwonted request for information may be regarded as the fount-spring
of that vast machine which “liners” delight to call “the fourth estate.” It was
this demand which suggested to one Nathaniel Butler, a bookseller and a
pamphleteer of twelve years’ standing, the idea of printing a weekly
newspaper from the Venetian gazettes, which used to circulate in
manuscript. After one or two preliminary attempts, he acquired sufficient
confidence in his publication to issue the following advertisement:—

If any gentleman or other accustomed to buy the weekly relations of newes be desirous to
continue the same, let them know that the writer, or transcriber rather, of this newes, hath published
two former newes, the one dated the 2nd and the other the 13th of August, all of which do carry a
like title with the arms of the King of Bohemia on the other side of the title-page, and have
dependence one upon another: which manner of writing and printing he doth purpose to continue
weekly by God’s assistance from the best and most certain intelligence: farewell, this twenty-three
of August, 1622.

Like most innovations, this attempt met with an indifferent reception, and
was greeted in the literary world with a shower of invective. Even Ben
Jonson joined in the outcry, and ridiculed the newspaper office in his
“Staple of News,” in which, among other notions, he publishes the paradox,

as it now appears to us, that the information contained in the gazette “had
ceased to be news by being printed.” Butler’s venture seems to have been
anything but a success, and but for the fact that it gave rise to speculation
on the subject of newspapers, and laid the foundation of our periodical
literature, might, so far at all events as its promoter was concerned, never
have had an existence. But the idea lost no ground, and newspapers began
to make their way, though they did not assume anything like regularity, or
definite shape and character, for nearly half a century. None of these
precursors of newspaper history exceeded in size a single small leaf, and the
quantity of news contained in fifty of them would be exceeded by a single
issue of the present day.
What is generally supposed to be, but is not, the first authenticated
advertisement is the following, the political and literary significance of
which is apparent at a glance. It appears in the Mercurius Politicus for
January 1652:—

I RENODIA GRATULATORIA, an Heroick Poem; being a congratulatory panegyrick for my
Lord General’s late return, summing up his successes in an exquisite manner.
To be sold by John Holden, in the New Exchange, London. Printed by Tho. Newcourt, 1652.

In this chapter we have no intention of giving any specimens beyond
those which are striking and characteristic. In subsequent chapters we shall
carry the history in an unbroken line to modern times, but our intention is
now to select special instances and specimens of particular interest, and so
we pass on to what may be almost considered a landmark in the history of
our civilisation and refinement, the introduction of tea. The Mercurius
Politicus of September 30, 1658, sets forth—

T HAT Excellent, and by all Physicians, approved, China drink, called by the Chineans Tcha, by
other nations Tay alias Tee, is sold at the Sultaness Head Cophee-House, in Sweeting’s Rents,
by the Royal Exchange, London.

This announcement then marks an era; it shows that “l’impertinente
nouveauté du siècle,” as the French physician, Guy Patin, called it in his
furious diatribes, has not only made its advent, but is fighting its way
forward. Patin is not without followers even in the present day, many
people who would be surprised if accused of wanting in sense believing all
“slops” to be causes of degeneracy. It must be observed that this is not the

first acquaintance of our countrymen with the Chinese leaf—the
advertisement simply shows the progress it is making—as tea is said to
have been occasionally sold in England as early as 1635, at the exorbitant
price of from £6 to £10 per pound. Thomas Garway, a tobacconist and
coffee-house keeper in Exchange Alley, the founder of Garraway’s Coffee-
house, was the first who sold and retailed tea, recommending it, as always
has been, and always will be the case with new articles of diet, as a panacea
for all disorders flesh is heir to. The following shop-bill, being more curious
than any historical account we have of the early use of “the cup that cheers
but not inebriates,” will be found well worth reading:—

Tea in England hath been sold in the leaf for £6, and sometimes for £10 the pound weight, and in
respect of its former scarceness and dearness it hath been only used as a regalia in high treatments
and entertainments, and presents made thereof to princes and grandees till the year 1657. The said
Garway did purchase a quantity thereof, and first sold the said tea in leaf or drink, made according
to the directions of the most knowing merchants into those Eastern countries. On the knowledge of
the said Garway’s continued care and industry in obtaining the best tea, and making drink thereof
very many noblemen, physicians, merchants, &c., have ever since sent to him for the said leaf, and
daily resort to his house to drink the drink thereof. He sells tea from 16s. to 50s. a pound.

The opposition beverage, coffee—mention is made of the “cophee-
house” in the “Tcha” advertisement—had been known in this country some
years before, a Turkey merchant of London, of the name of Edwards,
having brought the first bag of coffee to London, and his Greek servant,
Pasqua Rosee, was the first to open a coffee-house in London. This was in
1652, the time of the Protectorate, and one Jacobs, a Jew, had opened a
similar establishment in Oxford a year or two earlier. Pasqua Rosee’s
coffee-house was in St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill. One of his original
handbills is preserved in the British Museum, and is a curious record of a
remarkable social innovation. It is here reprinted:—

THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK,
First made and publicly sold in England by

PASQUA ROSEE.
The grain or berry called coffee, groweth upon little trees only in the deserts of Arabia. It is
brought from thence and drunk generally throughout all the Grand Seignour’s dominions. It is a
simple, innocent thing, composed into a drink, by being dried in an oven, and ground to powder,
and boiled up with spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk fasting an hour before, and

not eating an hour after, and to be taken as hot as can possibly be endured; the which will never
fetch the skin of the mouth, or raise any blisters by reason of that heat.
The Turk’s drink at meals and other times is usually water, and their diet consists much of fruit;
the acidities whereof are very much corrected by this drink.
The quality of this drink is cold and dry; and though it be a drier; yet it neither heats nor inflames
more than hot posset. It so incloseth the orifice of the stomach, and fortifies the heat within, that it
is very good to help digestion; and therefore of great use to be taken about three or four o’clock
afternoon, as well as in the morning. It much quickens the spirits, and makes the heart lightsome; it
is good against sore eyes, and the better if you hold your head over it and take in the steam that
way. It suppresseth fumes exceedingly, and therefore is good against the head-ache, and will very
much stop any defluxion of rheums that distil from the head upon the stomach, and so prevent and
help consumptions and the cough of the lungs.
It is excellent to prevent and cure the dropsy, gout, and scurvy. It is known by experience to be
better than any other drying drink for people in years, or children that have any running humours
upon them, as the king’s evil, &c. It is a most excellent remedy against the spleen, hypochondriac
winds, and the like. It will prevent drowsiness, and make one fit for business, if one have occasion
to watch, and therefore you are not to drink of it after supper, unless you intend to be watchful, for
it will hinder sleep for three or four hours.
It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk, that they are not troubled with the
stone, gout, dropsy, or scurvy, and that their skins are exceeding clear and white. It is neither
laxative nor restringent.
Made and Sold in St Michael’s Alley, in Cornhill, by Pasqua Rosee,
at the sign of his own head.

In addition to tea and coffee, the introduction and acceptance of which
had certainly a most marked influence on the progress of civilisation, may
be mentioned a third, which, though extensively used, never became quite
so great a favourite as the others. Chocolate, the remaining member of the
triad, was introduced into England much about the same period. It had been
known in Germany as early as 1624, when Johan Frantz Rauch wrote a
treatise against that beverage. In England, however, it seems to have been
introduced much later, for in 1657 it was still advertised as a new drink. In
the Publick Advertiser of Tuesday, June 16-22, 1657, we find the
following:—

I Ndrink,
Bishopsgate Street, in Queen’s Head Alley, at a Frenchman’s house, is an excellent West India
called chocolate, to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade,
at reasonable rates.

Chocolate never, except among exquisites and women of fashion, made
anything of a race with its more sturdy opponents, in this country at all
events, for while tea and coffee have become naturalised beverages,
chocolate has always retained its foreign prejudices.

In the Kingdom’s Intelligencer, a weekly paper published in 1662, are
inserted several curious advertisements giving the prices of tea, coffee,
chocolate, &c., one of which is as follows:—

A T 8d.
the Coffeehouse in Exchange Alley, is sold by retail the right coffee powder, from 4s. to 6s.
per pound, as in goodness; that pounded in a mortar at 2s. 6d. per pound, and that termed
the East India berry at 18d. per pound. Also that termed the right Turkey berry, well garbled at 3s.
per pound, the ungarbled for lesse, with directions gratis how to make and use the same. Likewise
there you may have chocolatta, the ordinary pound boxes at 2s. 6d. per pound; the perfumed from
4s. to 10s. per pound. Also sherbets, made in Turkie, of lemons, roses, and violets perfumed, and
Tea according to its goodness. For all which, if any gentleman shall write or send, they shall be sure
of the best, as they shall order, and, to avoid deceit, warranted under the house-seal—viz., Morat
the Great. Further, all gentlemen that are customers and acquaintance, are (the next New Year’s
day), invited at the sign of the Great Turk, at the new coffee house, in Exchange Alley, where coffee
will be on free cost.

Leaving the enticing subject of these new beverages, we find that in May
1657 there appeared a weekly paper which assumed the title of the Public
Advertiser, the first number being dated 19th to 26th May. It was printed for
Newcombe, in Thames Street, and consisted almost wholly of
advertisements, including the arrivals and departures of ships, and books to
be printed. Soon other papers also commenced to insert more and more
advertisements, sometimes stuck in the middle of political items, and
announcements of marine disasters, murders, marriages, births, and deaths.
Most of the notices at this period related to runaway apprentices and black
boys, fairs and cockfights, burglaries and highway robberies, stolen horses,
lost dogs, swords, and scent-bottles, and the departure of coaches on long
journeys into the provinces, and sometimes even as far as Edinburgh. These
announcements are not devoid of interest and curiosity for us who live in
the days of railways and fast steamers; and so we quote the following from
the Mercurius Politicus of April 1, 1658:—

F ROM the 26th day of April 1658, there will continue to go Stage Coaches from the George Inn,
without Aldersgate, London, unto the several Cities and Towns, for the Rates and at the times
hereafter mentioned and declared.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
To Salisbury in two days for xxs. To Blandford and Dorchester in two days and half for xxxs. To
Burport in three days for xxxs. To Exmaster, Hunnington, and Exeter in four days for xls.
To Stamford in two days for xxs. To Newark in two days and a half for xxvs. To Bawtry in three
days for xxxs. To Doncaster and Ferribridge for xxxvs. To York in four days for xls.
Mondays and Wednesdays to Ockinton and Plimouth for ls.

Every Monday to Helperby and Northallerton for xlvs. To Darneton and Ferryhil for ls. To
Durham for lvs. To Newcastle for iii£.
Once every fortnight to Edinburgh for iv£ a peece—Mondays.
Every Friday, to Wakefield in four days, xls.
All persons who desire to travel unto the Cities, Towns, and Roads herein hereafter mentioned
and expressed, namely—to Coventry, Litchfield, Stone, Namptwich, Chester, Warrington, Wiggan,
Chorley, Preston, Gastang, Lancaster and Kendal; and also to Stamford, Grantham, Newark,
Tuxford, Bawtrey, Doncaster, Ferriebridge, York, Helperby, Northallerton, Darneton, Ferryhill,
Durham, and Newcastle, Wakefield, Leeds, and Halifax; and also to Salisbury, Blandford,
Dorchester, Burput, Exmaster, Hunnington, and Exeter, Ockinton, Plimouth, and Cornwal; let them
repair to the George Inn, at Holborn Bridge, London, and thence they shall be in good Coaches
with good Horses, upon every Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, at and for reasonable Rates.

Among the advertisements which prevailed most extensively in those
early times, may, as has been remarked, be ranked those of runaway
servants, apprentices, and black boys. England at that time swarmed with
negro or mulatto boys, which the wealthy used as pages, in imitation of the
Italian nobility. They were either imported from the West Indies, or brought
from the Peninsula. The first advertisement of a runaway black page we
meet with is dated August 11, 1659, but in this instance the article is
advertised as “lost,” like a dog, which is after all but natural, the boy being
a chattel:—

A Negro-boy, about nine years of age, in a gray Searge suit, his hair cut close to his head, was
lost on Tuesday last, August 9, at night, in St Nicholas Lane, London. If any one can give
notice of him to Mr Tho. Barker, at the Sugar Loaf, in that Lane, they shall be well rewarded for
their pains.

It is amusing to see, from this advertisement, that the wool of the negro
found no grace in the eye of his Puritan master, who cropped the boy’s head
as close as his own. Black boys continued in fashion for more than a
century after, and were frequently offered for sale, by means of
advertisements, in the same manner as slaves used to be, within recent
years, in the Southern States of America. Even as late as 1769 sales of
human flesh went on in this country. The Gazetteer, April 18, of that year,
classes together “for sale at the Bull and Gate, Holborn: a chestnut gelding,
a trim-whiskey, and a well-made, good-tempered black boy;” whilst a
Liverpool paper of ten years later, October 15, 1779, announces as to be
sold by auction, “at George Dunbar’s offices, on Thursday next, 21st inst.,
at one o’clock, a black boy about fourteen years old, and a large mountain

tiger-cat.” This will be news to many blind worshippers of the ideal creature
known as “a man and a brother.”
Another curiosity of the advertisement literature of the seventeenth
century is the number of servants and apprentices absconding with their
masters’ property. Nearly all those dishonest servants must have had
appearances such as in these days might lead to conviction first and trial
afterwards. First of all, there is scarcely one of them but is “pock-marked,”
“pock-pitted,” “pock-fretted,” “pock-holed,” “pit-marked,” or “full of pock-
holes,” a fact which furnishes a significant index of the ravages this terrible
sickness must have made amongst our ancestors, and offers a conclusive
argument—though argument is unfortunately inadmissible among them—to
those blatant and illogical people, the opponents of vaccination. Besides the
myriads who annually died of small-pox, it would, perhaps, not be an
exaggeration to assume that one-fourth of mankind at that time was pock-
marked, and not pock-marked as we understand the term. Whole features
were destroyed, and a great percentage of blindness was attributable to this
cause. Indeed, so accustomed were the people of those times to pock-
marked faces, that these familiar inequalities of the facial surface do not
appear to have been considered an absolute drawback even upon the charms
of a beauty or a beau. Louis XIV. in his younger days was considered one of
the handsomest men of France, notwithstanding that he was pock-marked,
and La Vallière and some other famous beauties of that period are known to
have laboured under the same disadvantage. This is a hard fact which
should destroy many of the ideas raised by fiction. The following is a fair
specimen of the descriptions of the dangerous classes given in the early part
of the latter half of the seventeenth century, and is taken from the Mercurius
Politicus of May 1658:—

A Black-haired Maid, of a middle stature, thick set, with big breasts, having her face full marked
with the small-pox, calling herself by the name of Nan or Agnes Hobson, did, upon Monday,
the 28 of May, about six o’Clock in the morning, steal away from her Ladies house in the Pal-Mall,
a mingle-coloured wrought Tabby gown of Deer colour and white; a black striped Sattin Gown with
four broad bone-black silk Laces, and a plain black watered French Tabby Gown; Also one Scarlet-
coloured and one other Pink-coloured Sarcenet Peticoat, and a white watered Tabby Wastcoat,
plain; Several Sarcenet, Mode, and thin black Hoods and Scarfs, several fine Holland Shirts, a
laced pair of Cuffs and Dressing, one pair of Pink-coloured Worsted Stockings, a Silver Spoon, a
Leather bag, &c. She went away in greyish Cloth Wastcoat turned, and a Pink-coloured Paragon
upper Peticoat, with a green Tammy under one. If any shall give notice of this person or things at
one Hopkins, a Shoomaker’s, next door to the Vine Tavern, near the Pal-mall end, near Charing

Cross, or at Mr Ostler’s, at the Bull Head in Cornhill, near the Old Exchange, they shall be
rewarded for their pains.

In the same style was almost every other description; and though
embarrassed by the quantity as well as quality we have to choose from, we
cannot pass over this bit of word-painting, which is rich in description. It is
from the Mercurius Politicus of July 1658:—

O NEofEleanor Parker (by birth Haddock), of a Tawny reddish complexion, a pretty long nose, tall
stature, servant to Mr Ferderic Howpert, Kentish Town, upon Saturday last, the 26th of
June, ran away and stole two Silver Spoons; a sweet Tent-work Bag, with gold and silver Lace
about it, and lined with Satin; a Bugle work-Cushion, very curiously wrought in all manners of
slips and flowers; a Shell cup, with a Lyon’s face, and a Ring of silver in its mouth; besides many
other things of considerable value, which she took out of her Mistresses Cabinet, which she broke
open; as also some Cloaths and Linen of all sorts, to the value of Ten pounds and upwards. If any
one do meet with her and please to secure her, and give notice to the said Ferderic Howpert, or else
to Mr Malpass, Leather seller, at the Green Dragon, at the upper end of Lawrence Lane, he shall be
thankfully rewarded for his pains.

But besides the ravages of small-pox, the hue and cry raised after felons
exhibits an endless catalogue of deformities. Hardly a rogue is described
but he is “ugly as sin.” In turning over these musty piles of small quarto
newspapers which were read by the men of the seventeenth century, a most
ill-favoured crowd of evil-doers springs up around us. The rogues cannot
avoid detection, if they venture out among good citizens, for they are
branded with marks by which all men may know them. Take the following
specimens of “men of the time.” The first is from the London Gazette of
January 24-28, 1677:—

O NEhisJohn Jones, a Welchman, servant to Mr Gray, of Whitehall, went away the 27th with £50 of
master’s in silver. He is aged about 25 years, of a middle stature, something thick, a down
black look, purblind, between long and round favoured, something pale of complexion, lank, dark,
red hair; a hair-coloured large suit on, something light; a bowe nose a little sharp and reddish,
almost beetle brow’d and something deaf, given to slabber in his speech. Whoever secures the said
servant and brings him to his master, shall have £5 reward.

This portrait was evidently drawn by an admirer; and it is with evident
pleasure that the artist, after describing the “lank, dark, red hair,” and the
suit like it, returns to the charge, and gives the finishing touches to the
comely features. Here is another pair of beauties, whose descriptions appear
in the Currant Intelligence, March 6-9, 1682:—

S AMUEL SMITH, Scrivener in Grace Church Street, London, about 26 years old, crook-backed,
of short stature, red hair, hath a black periwig and sometimes a light one, pale complexion,
Pock-holed full face, a mountier cap with a scarlet Ribbon, and one of the same colour on his cravat
and sword, a light coloured campaign coat faced with blue shag, in company with his brother John
Smith, who has a slit in his nose, a tall lusty man, red hair, a sad grey campaign coat, a lead colour
suit lined with red: they were mounted, one on a flea-bitten grey, the other on a light bay horse.

For powers of description this next is worthy of study. It is contemporary
with the other:—

W ILLIAM WALTON, a tall young man about sixteen years of age, down-look’d, much
disfigured with the Small-pox, strait brown hair, black rotten teeth, having an impediment in
his speech, in a sad coloured cloth sute, the coat faced with shag, a white hat with a black ribbon on
it, went away from his master, &c. &c.

And so on, as per example; the runaways and missing folk—for all that
are advertised are not offenders against the law—seem to have exhausted
the whole catalogue of human and inhuman ugliness. By turns the attention
of the public is directed to a brown fellow with a long nose, or with full
staring grey eyes, countenance very ill-favoured, having lost his right eye,
voice loud and shrill, teeth black and rotten, with a wide mouth and a hang-
dog look, smutty complexion, a dimple in the top of his nose, or a flat wry
nose with a star in it, voice low and disturbed, long visage, down look, and
almost every other objectionable peculiarity imaginable. What a milk-and-
water being our modern rough is, after all!
Dr Johnson, in a bantering paper on the art of advertising, published in
the Idler, No. 40, observes: “The man who first took advantage of the
general curiosity that was excited by a siege or battle to betray the readers
of news into the knowledge of the shop where the best puffs and powder
were to be sold, was undoubtedly a man of great sagacity, and profound
skill in the nature of man. But when he had once shown the way, it was easy
to follow him.” Yet it took a considerable time before the mass of traders
could be brought to understand the real use of advertising, even as the great
Doctor understood it. Even he could hardly have comprehended advertising
as it is now. The first man who endeavoured to systematically convince the
world of the vast uses which might be made of this medium was Sir Roger
L’Estrange. That intelligent speculator, in 1663, obtained an appointment to
the new office of “Surveyor of the Imprimery and Printing Presses,” by
which was granted to him the sole privilege of writing, printing, and

publishing all narratives, advertisements, mercuries, &c. &c., besides all
briefs for collections, playbills, quack-salvers’ bills, tickets, &c. &c. On the
1st of August 1663 appeared a paper published by him, under the name of
the Intelligencer, and on the 24th of the same month the public were
warned against the “petty cozenage” of some of the booksellers, who had
persuaded their customers that they could not sell the paper under twopence
a sheet, though it was sold to them at about a fourth part of that price. The
first number of the Newes (which was also promoted by Sir Roger
L’Estrange) appeared September 3, 1663, and, as we are told by Nicholls in
his “Literary Anecdotes,” “contained more advertisements of importance
than any previous paper.” Still, the benefit of the publicity which might be
derived from advertising was so little understood by the trading community
of the period, that after the Plague and the Great Fire this really valuable
means of acquainting the public with new places of abode, the resumption
of business, and the thousand and one changes incidental on such
calamities, were almost entirely neglected. Though nearly the entire city
had been burnt out, and the citizens must necessarily have entered new
premises or erected extempore shops, yet hardly any announcements appear
in the papers to acquaint the public of the new addresses. The London
Gazette, October 11-15, 1666, offered its services, but hardly to any effect;
little regard being paid to the following invitation:—

Such as have settled in new habitations since the late fire, and desire for the convenience of their
correspondence to publish the place of their present abode, or to give notice of goods lost or found,
may repair to the corner house in Bloomsbury, or on the east side of the great square [Bloomsbury
Square] before the house of the Right Honourable the Lord Treasurer, where there is care taken for
the receipt and publication of such advertisements.

Among the very few advertisements relating to those great calamities is
the following, produced by the Plague, which is inserted in the
Intelligencer, June 22-30, 1665:—

T HISTemple
is to certify that the master of the Cock and Bottle, commonly called the Cock alehouse, at
bar, hath dismissed his servants, and shut up his house for this long vacation,
intending (God willing) to return at Michaelmas next, so that all persons who have any accounts or
farthings belonging to the said house, are desired to repair thither before the 8th of this instant, July,
and they shall receive satisfaction.

Relating to the Fire, the following from the London Gazette, March 12,
1672-73, was the notification:—

T HESE are to give notice that Edward Barlet, Oxford carrier, hath removed his Inn in London
from the Swan at Holborn Bridge to the Oxford Arms in Warwick Lane, where he did inne
before the Fire. His coaches and waggons going forth on their usual days, Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays. He hath also a hearse, with all things convenient to carry a corpse to any part of
England.

There is not, however, a single advertisement relating to any of those
temporary conveniences of every kind which invariably arise, as by magic,
on any great and unusual emergency. Indeed, about this period, and for a
long time after, the London Gazette, which was the official organ of the day,
appeared frequently without a single advertisement; and till the end of the
reign of Charles II., it was only very rarely that that paper contained more
than four advertisements of a general kind, very frequently the number
being less. The subjects of these were almost exclusively thefts, losses, and
runaways. Booksellers’ and quacks’ advertisements were, however, even
then frequent in this paper; their announcements always preceded the
others, and were printed in a different type.
In 1668 Mr (afterwards Sir) Roger L’Estrange commenced the Mercury,
or Advertisements concerning Trade, which does not seem to have
answered, for it soon became extinct. Some years after, the now well-
known scheme of issuing sheets of advertisements gratuitously, trusting for
profit to the number of advertisers, was for the first time attempted. The
paper started on this principle was called the City Mercury, and appears to
have had a hard struggle for existence, since the publishers thought it
necessary to insert in No. 52 (March 30, 1673) a notice of this tenor:—

Notwithstanding this paper has been published so long, there are many persons ignorant of the
design and advantage of it. And it every week comes to the hand of some, both in City and Country,
that never see it before: For which reason the Publisher thinks himself obliged (that all may have
benefit by it), to inform them that:—
1. He gives away every Monday above a thousand of them to all the Booksellers, shops and inns,
and most of the principal coffee-houses in London and Westminster. Besides they are now sent to
most of the cities and principal towns in England.
2. Any person that has anything to insert in it, as the titles of books, houses or land to be lett or
sold, persons removing from one place to another, things lost or stole, physitians’ advertisements,
or inquiries for houses or lands to be lett or sold, for places or for servants, &c., may bring or send
them to the Publisher, Tho. Howkins, in George Yard, in Lombard Street, London, who will
carefully insert them at reasonable rates.

3. That this way of publishing is much more advantageous than giving away Bills in the street, is
certain, for where there is one of them read, there’s twenty is not; and a thousand of these cannot be
supposed to be read by less than twenty times the number of persons; and done for at least the
twentieth part of the charge, and with much less trouble and greater success; as has been
experienced by many persons that have things inserted in it.

This paper lived but a short time; though the fact that the proprietor
undertook to furnish above a thousand copies per week to booksellers,
shops, inns, and coffee-houses in London, and that it was sent to “most of
the cities and principal towns in England,” clearly indicates that the trade
began to be aware of the advantages to be derived from publicity. Soon
afterwards a paper of the same denomination, but published by another
speculator, was commenced. Its appearance and purposes were told to the
public in the autumn of 1675 by circulars or handbills, one of which has
fortunately been stored up in the British Museum. As this curious document
gives a comprehensive outline of the system of newspaper advertising, as it
appeared to the most advanced thinkers in the reign of Charles II., we
reprint it here in extenso:—

ADVERTISEMENT.

W HEREAS divers people are at great expense in printing, publishing, and dispersing of Bills of
Advertisements: Observing how practical and Advantagious to Trade and Business, &c. this
Method is in parts beyond the Seas.
These are to give notice, That all Persons in such cases concerned henceforth may have
published in Print in the Mercury or Bills of Advertisements, which shall come out every week on
Thursday morning, and be delivered and dispersed in every house where the Bills of Mortallity are
received, and elsewhere, the Publications and Advertisements of all the matters following, or any
other matter or thing not herein mentioned, that shall relate to the Advancement of Trade, or any
lawful business not granted in propriety to any other.
Notice of all Goods, Merchandizes, and Ships to be sold, the place where to be seen, and day and
hour.
Any ships to be let to Freight, and the time of their departure, the place of the Master’s
habitation, and where to be spoken with before and after Exchange time.
All Ships, their Names, and Burthens, and capacities, and where their Inventaries are to be seen.
All other Parcels and Materials or Furniture for shipping in like manner.
Any Houses to be Let or Sold, or Mortgaged, with Notes of their Contents.
Any Lands or Houses in City or Country, to be Sold or Mortgaged.
The Erection, Alteration, or Removal of any Stage-coach, or any common Carrier.
Advertisements of any considerable Bargains that are offered.
Any curious Invention or Experiment that is to be exposed to the Public view or Sale, may be
hereby notified when and where.
Hereby Commissioners upon Commissions against Bankrupts may give large notice.
In like manner any man may give notice as he pleaseth to his Creditors.
Hereby the Settlement or Removal of any Publick Office may be notified.

Hereby all School-masters, and School-mistresses, and Boarding-schools, and Riding-schools or
Academies, may publish the place where their Schools are kept.
And in like manner, where any Bathes or Hot-houses are kept.
And the Place or Key at the Waterside, whereto any Hoy or Vessel doth constantly come to bring
or carry Goods; as those of Lee, Faversham, and Maidstone, &c.

A T any
the Office, which is to be kept for the Advertisements, any Person shall be informed (without
Fee) where any Stage-coach stands, where any common Carrier lies, that comes to any
Inn within the Bills of Mortallity, and their daies of coming in and going out.
In like manner all the accustomed Hoys or Vessels that come to the several Keys from the several
Ports of England.
All Masters and Owners of the several Stage-coaches, and the Master-Carriers, and the Masters
of all the Hoys and Vessels above mentioned, are desired to repair between this and Christmas day
next, to the Office kept for the receipt of the Advertisements, to see if no mistakes be in their several
daies and rates, that the said Books may be declared perfect, which shall be no charge to the
Persons concerned.
The Office or Place where any Person may have his desires answered in anything hereby
advertised, is kept in St Michael’s Alley in Cornhil, London, right against Williams Coffee-house,
where constant attendance every day in the Week shall be given, from Nine in the Morning, to Five
in the Evening; to receive the desires of all Persons in matters of this nature, carefully to answer
them in the same.
With Allowance.
LONDON:
Printed by Andrew Clark, in Aldersgate Street, 1675.

In accordance with this prospectus, the first number of the City Mercury
appeared November 4, 1675.
We, who are familiar with the thousand and one tricks resorted to by
traders in order to attract attention to their advertisements, may be apt to
ridicule the artless manner in which these notices were brought before the
public of the seventeenth century. Different types, dividing lines, woodcuts,
and other contrivances to catch the wandering eye, were still unknown; and
frequently all the advertisements were set forth in one string, without a
single break, or even full stop, as in the subjoined specimen from the Loyal
Impartial Mercury, November 14-17, 1681:—

THE House in the Strand wherein the Morocco Embassador lately resided is to be let,
☞ furnished or unfurnished, intirely or in several parts; a house in Marklane fit for a marchant;
also very good lodgings not far from the Royal Exchange, fit for any marchant or gentleman
to be let, inquire at the North West corner of the Royal Exchange, and there you may know further;
inquiry is made at the said office for places to be Stewards of courts, liberties or franchises, or any
office at law, or places to be auditor, or receiver, or steward of the household, or gentleman of horse
to any nobleman or gentleman; or places to be clarks to brew-houses, or wharfs, or suchlike; also

any person that is willing to buy or sell any estates, annuities, or mortgages, or let, or take any
house, or borrow money upon the bottom of ships, may be accommodated at the said office.

Conciseness was of course necessary when it is recollected that the paper
was only a folio half-sheet, though the news was so scanty that the few
advertisements were a boon to the reader, and were sure to be read. This
was an advantage peculiar to the early advertisers. So long as the papers
were small, and the advertisements few in number, the trade announcements
were almost more interesting than the news. But when the papers increased
in bulk, and advertisements became common, it behoved those who wished
to attract special attention to resort to contrivances which would distinguish
them from the surrounding crowd of competitors.
The editor of the London Mercury, in 1681, evidently with an eye to
making his paper a property on the best of all principles, requests all those
who have houses for sale to advertise in his columns, “where,” says he,
“farther care will be taken for their disposal than the bare publishing them,
by persons who make it their business.” Consequently we frequently meet
in this paper with notices of “A delicate House to lett,” agreeably varied
with advertisements concerning spruce beer, scurvy grass, Daffy’s elixir,
and other specifics. Notwithstanding that the utility of advertising as a
means of obtaining publicity was as yet hardly understood, the form of an
advertisement, according to modern plans, was, it is curious to observe,
frequently adopted at this period to expose sentiments in a veiled manner, or
to call attention to public grievances. Thus, for instance, the first numbers
of the Heraclitus Ridens, published in 1681, during the effervescence of the
Popish plots, contained almost daily one or more of these political satires,
of which the following may serve as examples. The first appears February
4.

I F sorts
any person out of natural curiosity desire to be furnished with ships or castles in the air, or any
of prodigies, apparitions, or strange sights, the better to fright people out of their senses,
and by persuading them there are strange judgments, changes, and revolutions hanging over their
heads, thereby to persuade them to pull them down by discontents, fears, jealousies, and seditions;
let them repair to Ben Harris, at his shop near the Royal Exchange, where they may be furnished
with all sorts and sizes of them, at very cheap and easy rates.
There is also to be seen the strange egg with the comet in it which was laid at Rome, but sent
from his Holiness to the said Ben, to make reparations for his damages sustained, and as a mark of
esteem for his zeal and sufferings in promoting discord among the English hereticks, and sowing
the seeds of sedition among the citizens of London.

The edition of February 15 contains the following:—

I F protestant
any protestant dissenter desire this spring time to be furnished with sedition seeds, or the true
rue, which they call “herb of grace,” or any other hopeful plants of rebellion, let
them repair to the famous French gardeners Monsieur F. Smith, Msr. L. Curtis, and Msr. B. Harris;
where they may have not only of all the kinds which grew in the garden of the late keepers of the
liberty of England; but much new variety raised by the art and industry of the said gardeners, with
directions in print when to sow them, and how to cultivate them when they are raised.
You may also have there either green or pickled sallads of rumours and reports, far more grateful
to the palate, or over a glass of wine, than your French Champignons or mushrooms, Popish Olives,
or Eastland Gherkins.

And on March 1 there was given to the world:—

A MOST ingenious monkey, who can both write, read, and speak as good sense as his master,
nursed in the kitchen of the late Commonwealth, and when they broke up housekeeping
entertained by Nol Protector, may be seen do all his old tricks over again, for pence apiece, every
Wednesday, at his new master’s, Ben. Harris, in Cornhill.

This was a species of wit similar to that associated with the imaginary
signs adopted in books with secret imprints, in order to express certain
political notions, the sentiments of which were embodied in the work; for
instance, a pamphlet just before the outbreak of the Civil War is called,
“Vox Borealis, or a Northerne Discoverie, etc. Printed by Margery
Marprelate, amidst the Babylonians, in Thwack Coat Lane, at the sign of
the Crab Tree Cudgell, without any privilege of the Catercaps.”
One John Houghton, F.R.S., who combined the business of apothecary
with that of dealer in tea, coffee, and chocolate, in Bartholomew Lane,
commenced a paper in 1682, entitled A Collection for the Improvement of
Husbandry and Trade,[25] which continued to be issued weekly for some
time; and though it failed, it was revived again on March 30, 1692. It was
modelled on the same plan as the City Mercury of 1675, and was rather
ambitious in its views. It consisted of one folio half-sheet, and was intended
to “lay out for a large correspondence, and for the advantage of tenant,
landlord, corn merchant, mealman, baker, brewer, feeder of cattle, farmer,
maltster, buyer and seller of coals, hop merchant, soap merchant, tallow
chandler, wood merchant, their customers,” &c. But no advertisements
proper were mentioned at first; it was a mere bulletin or price-current of the
above-named trades and of auctions, besides shipping news and the bills of
mortality. The first advertisement appeared in the third number, it was a

“book-ad,” and figured there all by itself; and it was not till the 8th of June
that the second advertisement appeared, which assumed the following
shape:—

FOR the further and better Improvement of Husbandry and Trade and for the Encouragement
☞ thereof, especially in Middlesex and the bordering counties, a Person, now at my house in
Bartholomew Lane, does undertake to make or procure made, as good malt of the barley of
these counties, and of that Malt as good Ale as is made at Derby, Nottingham, or any other place
now famous for that liquor, and that upon such reasonable terms as shall be to general satisfaction,
the extraordinary charge not amounting to above one penny per bushel more than that is now; only
thus much I must advise, if provision be not made speedily, the opportunity will be lost for the next
malting time.

Under the fostering influence of Houghton, who appears to have been
keenly aware of the advantage to be derived from this manner of obtaining
publicity, advertisements of every kind began gradually to appear, and ere
long the booksellers, who for some time had monopolised this paper, were
pushed aside by the other trades; and so the attention of the public is by
turns directed to blacking balls, tapestry hangings, spectacles, writing ink,
coffins, copper and brass work, &c. &c.; and these notices increased so
rapidly that, added to No. 52, which appeared on July 28, 1693, there is a
half-sheet of advertisements, which is introduced to the public with the
following curious notice:—

My Collection I shall carry on as usual. This part is to give away, and those who like it not, may
omit the reading. I believe it will help on Trade, particularly encourage the advertisers to increase
the vent of my papers. I shall receive all sorts of advertisements, but shall answer for the
reasonableness of none, unless I give thereof a particular character on which (as I shall give it) may
be dependance, but no argument that others deserve not as well. I am informed that seven or eight
thousand gazettes are each time printed, which makes them the most universal Intelligencers; but
I’ll suppose mine their first handmaid, because it goes (though not so thick yet) to most parts: It’s
also lasting to be put into Volumes with indexes, and particularly there shall be an index of all the
advertisements, whereby, for ages to come, they may be useful.

This first sheet consists solely of advertisements about newly published
books, but it concludes:—

☞Whither ’tis worth while to give an account of ships sent in for lading or ships arrived, with
the like for coaches and carriers; or to give notice of approaching fairs, and what commodities are
chiefly sold there, I must submit to the judgment of those concerned.

The advertisements in Houghton’s Collection may appear strange to the
reader accustomed to rounded sentences and glowing periods, but in the
reign of William III. the general absence of education rendered the social
element more unsophisticated in character. In those old days the advertiser
and editor of the paper frequently speak in the first person singular; also the
advertiser often speaks through the editor. A few specimens taken at random
will give the reader a tolerably good idea of the style then prevalent:—

——A very eminent brewer, and one I know to be a very honest gentleman, wants an apprentice;
I can give an account of him.
——I want a house keeper rarely well accomplished for that purpose. ’Tis for a suitable
gentleman.
——I know of valuable estates to be sold.
——I want several apprentices for a valuable tradesman.
——I can help to ready money for any library great or small or parcels of pictures or household
goods.
——I want a negro man that is a good house carpenter and a good shoemaker.
*** I want a young man about 14 or 15 years old that can trim and look after a peruke. ’Tis to wait
on a merchant.
——I want a pritty boy to wait on a gentleman who will take care of him and put him out an
apprentice.
——If any gentleman wants a housekeeper, I believe I can help to the best in England.
——Many masters want apprentices and many youths want masters. If they apply themselves to
me, I’ll strive to help them. Also for variety of valuable services.
By reason of my great corresponding, I may help masters to apprentices and Apprentices to
Masters. And now is wanting Three Boys, one with £70, one with £30, and a Scholar with £60.
——I know of several curious women that would wait on ladies to be housekeepers.
——Now I want a good usher’s place in a Grammar school.
——I want a young man that can write and read, mow and roll a garden, use a gun at a deer, and
understand country sports, and to wait at table, and such like.
——If any young man that plays well on the violin and writes a good hand desires a clerkship, I
can help him to £20 a year.
——I want a complete young man, that will wear livery, to wait on a very valuable gentleman,
but he must know how to play on a violin or a flute.
——I want a genteel footman that can play on the violin to wait on a person of honour.
——If I can meet with a sober man that has a counter tenor voice, I can help him to a place
worth £30 the year or more.

This continual demand for musical servants arose from the fashion of
making them take part in musical performances, of which custom we find
frequent traces in Pepys. Altogether the most varied accomplishments
appear to have been expected from servants; as, for instance,—

——If any Justice of the Peace wants a clerk, I can help to one that has been so seven years;
understands accounts, to be butler, also to receive money. He also can shave and buckle wigs.

The editor frequently gives special testimony as to the respectability of
the advertiser:—

——If any one wants a wet nurse, I can help them, as I am informed, to a very good one.
——I know a gentlewoman whose family is only her husband, herself and maid, and would to
keep her company take care of a child, two or three, of three years old or upwards. She is my good
friend, and such a one that whoever put their children to her, I am sure will give me thanks, and
think themselves happy, let them be what rank they will.
——I have been to Mr Firmin’s work house in Little Britain, and seen a great many pieces of
what seems to me excellent linen, made by the poor in and about London. He will sell it at
reasonable rates, and I believe whatever house keepers go there to buy will not repent, and on
Wednesdays and Saturdays in the forenoon he is always there himself.
——I have met with a curious gardener that will furnish any body that sends to me for fruit trees,
and floreal shrubs, and garden seeds. I have made him promise with all solemnity that whatever he
sends shall be purely good, and I verily believe he may be depended on.
——One that has waited on a lady divers years, and understands all affairs in housekeeping and
the needle, desires some such place. She seems a discreet, staid body.

At other times Houghton recommends “a tidy footman,” a “quick, well-
looking fellow,” or “an extraordinary cook-maid;” and observes of a certain
ladysmaid, who offered her services through his Collection, “and truly she
looks and discourses passing well.” Occasionally he also guarantees the
situation; thus, applying for “a suitable man that can read and write, and
will wear a livery,” he adds for the information of flunkeys in general: “I
believe that ’twill be a very good place, for ’tis to serve a fine gentleman
whom I well know, and he will give £5 the year besides a livery.” Imagine
Jeames of Belgravia being told he should have £5 for his important annual
services! Another time “’tis to wait on a very valuable old batchelor
gentleman in the City.” Again, he recommends a Protestant French
gentleman, who is willing to wait on some person of quality, and Houghton
adds, “from a valuable divine, my good friend, I have a very good character
of him.” Of a certain surgeon, whom he advertises, he says, “I have known
him, I believe, this twenty years.” All these recommendations bear an
unmistakable character of truth and honesty on their face, and are very
different from the commendatory paragraphs which nowadays appear in the
body of a paper because of long advertisements which are to be found in the
outer sheet. Nor is the worthy man ever willing to engage his word further
than where he can speak by experience; in other cases, an “I believe,” or

some such cautious expression, invariably appears. Recommending a
hairdresser, he says—

——I know a peruke maker that pretends to make perukes extraordinary fashionable, and will
sell good pennyworths; I can direct to him.

And once, when a number of quack advertisements had found their way
into the paper, old Houghton, with a sly nod and a merry twinkle in his eye,
almost apparent as one reads, drily puts his “index” above them, with the
following caution:—

☞Pray, mind the preface to this half sheet. Like lawyers, I take all causes. I may fairly; who likes
not may stop here.

A tolerably broad hint of his disbelief in the said nostrums and elixirs. Even
booksellers had to undergo the test of his ordeal, and having discovered
some of their shortcomings, he warned them—

*** I desire all booksellers to send me no new titles to old books, for they will be rejected.

When a book of the right reverend father in God John Wilkins, late
Bishop of Chester, was published, Houghton recommended it in patronising
terms—

——I have read this book, and do think it a piece of great ingenuity, becoming the Bishop of
Chester, and is useful for a great many purposes, both profit and pleasure.

Of another work he says—

——With delight have I read over this book, and think it a very good one.

Thus, notwithstanding the primitive form of the advertisements, the
benefit to be derived from this mode of publicity began to be more and
more understood. It was not without great trouble, however; and it was
necessary that Houghton should constantly direct the attention of the
trading community to the resources and advantages of advertising, which he
did in the most candid manner. He simply and abruptly puts the question
and leaves those interested to solve it. Thus:—

——Whether advertisements of schools, or houses and lodgings about London may be useful, I
submit to those concerned.

And the answer came; for a few days after the public were informed that

——At one Mr Packer’s, in Crooked Lane, next the Dolphin, are very good Lodgings to be let,
where there is freedom from noise, and a pretty garden.

Freedom from noise and a pretty garden in a street leading from Eastcheap
to Fish Street Hill! Shortly after Houghton calmly observes:—

——I now find advertisements of schools, houses and lodgings in and about London are thought
useful.

He then starts other subjects:—

——I believe some advertisements about bark and timber might be of use both to buyer and
seller.
*** I find several barbers think it their interest to take in these papers, and I believe the rest will
when they understand them.

The barber’s shop was then the headquarters of gossip, as it took a long
time to shave the whole of a man’s beard and curl a sufficient quantum of
hair or wig, as worn in those old days, and so the man of suds was expected
to entertain his customers or find them entertainment. Next turning his
attention to the clergy, Houghton offers that body a helping hand also:—

*** I would gladly serve the clergy in all their wants.

How he understood this friendly help soon appeared:—

——If any divine or their relicts have complete sets of manuscript sermons upon the Epistles and
the Gospels, the Catechism or Festivals, I can help them to a customer.

The use of second-hand sermons was not unknown in those days, and
detection was of course much less imminent than now. Then—

——I have sold all the manuscript sermons I had and many more, and if any has any more to
dispose of that are good and legibly writ, I believe I can help them to customers.

Possibly the “many more” was a heavy attempt at humour; but anyhow
the sermon article was in great demand, and his kindly services did not rest
there:—

——If any incumbent within 20 miles of London will dispose of his living, I can help him to a
chapman.
——A rectory of £100 per annum in as good an air as any in England, 60 miles off, and an easy
cure is to be commuted.
——A vicaridge and another cure which requires service but once a month, value £86. ’Tis in
Kent about 60 miles from London.

And so on, proving that the clergy had not refused the friendly offer, and
were fully as ready as the tradesman to avail themselves of this means of
giving vent to their wants and requirements.
Houghton would occasionally do a little business to oblige a friend,
though it is fair to assume that he participated in the profits:—

*** For a friend, I can sell very good flower of brimstone, etc., as cheap or cheaper than any in
town does; and I’ll sell any good commodity for any man of repute if desired.
——I find publishing for others does them kindness, therefore note: I sell lozenges for 8d. the
ounce which good drinkers commend against heartburn, and are excellent for women with child, to
prevent miscarriages; also the true lapis nephriticus which is esteemed excellent for the stone by
wearing it on the wrist.
——I would gladly buy for a friend the historical part of Cornelius a Lapide upon the Bible.

Besides the above particular advertisements, the paper frequently
contained another kind, which to us may appear singularly vague and
unbusinesslike, but which no doubt perfectly answered their purpose among
a comparatively minute metropolitan population, the subjects of William
III. We allude to general advertisements such as these:—
Last week was imported
Bacon by Mr Edwards.
Cheese by Mr Francia.
Corral Beads by Mr Paggen.
Crabs Eyes by Mr Harvey.
Horse Hair by Mr Becens.
Joynted Babies by Mr Harrison.
Mapps by Mr Thompson.
Orange Flower Water by Mr Bellamy.
Prospective Glasses by Mr Mason.
Saffron by Mr Western.
Sturgeon by Mr Kett.

If any desire it other things may be inserted.

In similar style a most extraordinary variety of other things imported are
advertised in subsequent numbers, including crystal stones, hops, oxguts,
incle, juniper, old pictures, onions, pantiles, quick eels, rushes, spruce beer,
sturgeon, trees, brandy, chimney backs, caviar, tobacco-pipes, whale-fins,
bugle, canes, sheep’s-guts, washballs and snuff, a globe, aqua fortis,
shruffe, quills, waxworks, ostrich feathers, scamony, clagiary paste, Scotch
coals, sweet soap, onion seed, gherkins, mum, painted sticks, soap-berries,
mask-leather, and so on, for a long time, only giving the names of the
importers, without ever mentioning their addresses, until at last a bright idea
struck this gentleman, who seems to have been one of those vulgarly said to
be before their time, but who are in fact the pioneers who pave the way for
all improvements; and so the Collection was enriched with the following
notice:—

——If desired I’ll set down the places of abode, and I am sure ’twill be of good use: for I am
often asked it.

Houghton was indeed so well aware of the utility of giving the addresses,
that in order to render his paper more permanently useful, he published,
apparently on his own account, not only the addresses of some of the
principal shops, but also a list of the residences of the leading doctors. From
this we gather that in June 1694 there were 93 doctors in and about London,
also that Dr (afterwards Sir) Hans Sloane lived at Montague House (now
the British Museum), Dr Radcliffe in Bow Street, and Dr Garth, by Duke
Street. At the conclusion of this list the publisher says:—

——I shall also go the round, I. of Counsellors and Attorneys; II. of Surgeons and Gardiners; III.
of Lawyers and Attorneys; IV. Schools and Woodmongers; V. Brokers, coaches and carriers, and
such like, and then round again, beginning with Physitians.

Thus by untiring perseverance, and no small amount of thought and
study, Houghton trained his contemporaries in the art of advertising, and
made them acquainted with the valuable assistance to be derived from a
medium which, as Alexis de Tocqueville remarks, drops the same thought
into a thousand minds at almost the same period. Apart from the interest
which his papers have on the subject we have been considering, they are
full of graphic details which throw a clear and effective light on these old

and bygone times. What can give a more vivid picture of the state of the
roads in this country in winter-time, nearly two centuries ago, than the
following notice extracted from the Collection for Husbandry and Trade,
March 10, 1693:—

——Roads are filled with snow, we are forced to ride with the paquet over hedges and ditches.
This day seven-night my boy with the paquet and two gentlemen were seven hours riding from
Dunstable to Hockley, but three miles, hardly escaping with their lives, being often in holes and
forced to be drawn out with ropes. A man and a woman were found dead within a mile hence. I fear
I have lost my letter-carrier, who has not been heard of since Thursday last. Six horses lie dead on
the road between Hockley and Brickhill, smothered. I was told last night that lately was found dead
near Beaumarais three men and three horses.

At this picture of those good old times for which people who know nothing
about them now weep, we will stop. The rest of the story, so far as the
development of advertisements is concerned, will be told in strict
chronological order.

[24] Broer Jansz styles himself “Couranteer in the Army of his Princely Excellence,” i.e., Prince
Frederic Henry, the Stadtholder. Subsequently, in 1630, Jansz commenced a new series,
which he entitled “Tidings from Various Quarters.”
[25] John Nicholl, in his “Literary Anecdotes,” vol. iv. p. 71, calls the editor of this paper
Benjamin Harris, a well-known publisher of pamphlets in the reign of Charles II., and says
that J. Knighton was the editor in 1692. This last name may be a clerical error for Houghton.

CHAPTER VI.

DEVELOPMENT OF ADVERTISING.

e have now arrived at a period when the value of advertising was

W beginning to make itself felt among even the most
conservative, and when it at last began to dawn upon the minds
so unaccustomed to change or improvement, that a new era in
the history of trade was about to commence, even if it had not commenced
already. So the newspapers of the latter half of the seventeenth century
begin to offer fresh inducements to the reader, no matter whether to the
antiquarian or simply curious. And he must be a flippant reader indeed who
is not impressed by these files of musty and bygone journals, pervaded by
the spirit of a former age, and redolent of the busy doings of men who
generations ago were not only dead but forgotten. Few things could be more
suggestive of the steady progress of Time, and the quite as steady progress
of his congeners, Death and Forgetfulness, than these papers. Novelists and
essayists have described in most eloquent words the feelings which are
aroused by the perusal of suddenly-discovered and long-forgotten letters;
and similar feelings, though of a much more extended description, are
evoked by a glance through any volume of these moth-eaten journals. A
writer of a few years back, speaking of the advertisements, says, “As we
read in the old musty files of newspapers those naïve announcements, the
very hum of bygone generations seems to rise to the ear. The chapman
exhibits his quaint wares, the mountebank capers again upon his stage, we
have the living portrait of the highwayman flying from justice, we see the
old-china auctions thronged with ladies of quality with their attendant
negro-boys, or those by ‘inch of candle-light,’ forming many a Schalken-
like picture of light and shade; or later still we have Hogarthian sketches of
the young bloods who swelled of old along the Pall-Mall. We trace the
moving panorama of men and manners up to our own less demonstrative,

but more earnest times; and all these cabinet pictures are the very
daguerreotypes cast by the age which they exhibit, not done for effect, but
faithful reflections of those insignificant items of life and things, too small,
it would seem, for the generalising eye of the historian, however necessary
to clothe and fill in the dry bones of his history.” Indeed, turning over these
musty volumes of newspapers is for the imaginative mind a pleasure equal
to reading the Tatler or Spectator, or the plays of the period. By their means
Cowper’s idea of seeing life “through the loopholes of retreat” is realised,
and characteristic facts and landmarks of progress in the history of
civilisation are brought under our notice, as the busy life of bygone
generations bursts full upon us. We see the merchant at his door, and inside
the dimly-lit shops observe the fine ladies of the time deep in the mysteries
of brocades and other articles of the feminine toilet, whose very names are
now lost to even the mercers themselves. And not alone intent on flowered
mantuas and paduasoys are they, for we can in fancy see them, keen ever to
a fancied bargain, pricing Chinese teapots or Japanese cabinets, and again
watch them as, with fluttering hearts, they assist at lotteries for valuables of
the quality familiar to “knockouts” of our own time. We hear the lament of
the beau who has lost his clouded amber-headed cane or his heart at the
playhouse, and listen to the noisy quacks vending their nostrums, each
praising his own wares or depreciating those of his rivals. We see the
dishonest serving-man rush past us on the road carrying the heterogeneous
treasures which have tempted his cupidity. Soon the “Hue and Cry” brings
the same ill-favoured malefactor before us in an improved character as
horse-stealer and highwayman; and ere long we hear of the conclusion of
his short drama at Tyburn. Thus the various advertisements portray, with
more or less vividness, lineaments of the times and the characters of the
people.
That the newspapers were early used for the purpose of giving
contradictions by means of advertisement, or effecting sly puffs, is shown
by the following, which was doubtless intended to call attention to the
work, and which was published in the form of an ordinary paragraph in the
Modern Intelligence, April 15-22, 1647:—

There came forth a book this day relating how a divil did appear in the house or yard of Mr
Young, mercer in Lombard St., with a great many particulars there related; It is desired by the
gentleman of that house, and those of his family, that all that are credulous of those things (which
few wise are), may be assured that its all fabulous, and that there was never any such thing. It is

true there is a dog, and that dog hath a chain, and the gentleman’s son played upon an instrument of
music for his recreation,—but these are to be seen, which a spirit sure never was.

There is a logical deduction about the conclusion of this which it is to be
hoped forced itself upon the minds of those who were ready to believe not
only in the existence but in the visibility of spirits; and if the paragraph was
but a lift for the book after all, it surely deserved success, if only for the
quaint way in which it admits to the dog and the boy and the musical
instrument, a combination equal upon an emergency to the simulation of a
very powerful devil. In the very next edition of the same paper we come
upon a paragraph which is even more direct in its advertising properties,
which, in fact, might have been dictated by editorial “friendship” in these
days, instead of in the first half of the seventeenth century. It runs thus:—

You should have had a notable oration made by the Bishop of Angoulesme and Grand Almoner
to his Majesty of England, at a Convention in Paris in favour of the Catholicks in England and
Ireland, but being overlarge it will be made public the beginning of next week by itself it is worth
reading especially by those who are for a generall toleration when they may clearly see it is the
broad way to the destruction of these kingdommes.

The 23. of May.

VVEEKELY
Nevves from Italy,
GERMANIE, HVNGARIA,
BOHEMIA, the PALATINATE,

France, and the Low Countries.

Translated out of the Low Dutch Copie.

London,
Printed by I. D. for Nicholas Bourne and Thomas
Archer, and are to be sold at their shops at the
Exchange, and in Popes-head Pallace.
1 6 2 2.

Facsimile of newspaper page

What is considered by many to be the first bonâ fide and open
advertisement ever published appears in a paper entitled Several
Proceedings in Parliament, and is found under the date November 28-
December 5, 1650. It runs thus:—

B Ytime
the late tumult made the 27 of November, whereof you have the narration before; in the night
in Bexfield, in the county of Norfolk, about 12 Horses were stolen out of the town,
whereof a bay-bald Gelding with three white feet, on the near buttock marked with R. F., 9 or 10
years old. A bay-bald Mare with a wall-eye and a red star in her face, the near hind foot white, 7
years old. A black brown Mare, trots all, 6 years old. Whomsoever brings certain intelligence where
they are to Mr Badcraft of Bexfield, in Norfolk, they shall have 20s. for each Horse.

The following number of the same paper, that for December 5-12, 1650,
contains this:—

A bright Mare, 12 hands high, one white foot behind, a white patch below the saddle, near the
side, a black main, a taile cut, a natural ambler, about 10li. price, stolne, Decemb. 3. neare
Guilford. John Rylands, a butcher, tall and ruddy, flaxen haire, about 30 years of age, is suspected.
Mr. Brounloe, a stocking dier, near the Three Craynes, in Thames’s Streete, will satisfy those who
can make discovery.

In 1655, Lilly the astrologer availed himself of what was then considered
the new plan for ventilating a grievance, and accordingly, in the Perfect
Diurnal of April 9-16, he published the following full-fledged
advertisement, one of the earliest extant:—

An Advertisement from Mr William Lilly.

W HEREAS there are several flying reports, and many false and scandalous speeches in the
mouth of many people in this City, tending unto this effect, viz.: That I, William Lilly,
should predict or say there would be a great Fire in or near the Old Exchange, and another in St
John’s Street, and another in the Strand near Temple Bar, and in several other parts of the City.
These are to certifie the whole City that I protest before Almighty God, that I never wrote any such
thing, I never spoke any such word, or ever thought of any such thing, or any or all of those
particular Places or Streets, or any other parts. These untruths are forged by ungodly men and

women to disturb the quiet people of this City, to amaze the Nation, and to cast aspersions and
scandals on me: God defend this City and all her inhabitants, not only from Fire, but from the
Plague, Pestilence, or Famine, or any other accident or mortality that may be prejudicial unto her
greatnesse.

This, if noticed and recollected, must have destroyed, or at least
damaged, Lilly’s fame, when the great fire really did take place; but then
eleven years is a long time, long enough indeed to have included many and
various prophecies. Certainly modern astrologers would have turned to
account the mere fact of having been accused of prophesying such a fire or
any portion of it. In a previous chapter we have given a specimen of the
earliest advertisements with regard to the coaching arrangements of this
time, and now append the following, which would seem to show, singular
as it may appear, that the simpler form, in fact the first principle, of
travelling by means of saddle-horses, was not arranged until after coaches
had been regularly appointed. It appears in the Mercurius Politicus toward
the end of the year 1658:—

The Postmasters on Chester Road, petitioning, have received Order, and do accordingly publish
the following advertisement:—

A LLWestchester,
Gentlemen, Merchants, and others, who have occasion to travel between London and
Manchester, and Warrington, or any other town upon that Road, for the
accommodation of Trade, dispatch of Business, and ease of Purse, upon every Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday Morning, betwixt Six and ten of the Clock, at the house of Mr Christopher Charteris, at
the sign of the Hart’s-Horn, in West-Smithfield, and Post-Master there, and at the Post-Master of
Chester, at the Post-Master of Manchester, and at the Post-master of Warrington, may have a good
and able single Horse, or more, furnished at Threepence the Mile, without the charge of a Guide;
and so likewise at the house of Mr Thomas Challenor, Post-Master, at Stone in Staffordshire, upon
every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday’s Morning, to go for London. And so likewise at all the
several Post-Masters upon the Road, who will have all such set days so many Horses with Furniture
in readiness to furnish the Riders without any stay to carry them to or from any the places
aforesaid, in Four days, as well to London as from thence, and to places nearer in less time,
according as their occasions shall require, they ingaging at the first Stage where they take Horse,
for the safe delivery of the same to the next immediate Stage, and not to ride that Horse without
consent of the Post-Master by whom he rides, and so from Stage to Stage to the Journeys end. All
those who intend to ride this way are desired to give a little notice beforehand, if conveniently they
can, to the several Post-masters where they first take horse, whereby they may be furnished with so
many Horses as the Riders shall require with expedition. This undertaking began the 28 of June
1658 at all the Places abovesaid, and so continues by the several Post-Masters.

It is hard to understand how, even if he received notice beforehand, the
first postmaster was enabled to guarantee the readiness of the remaining
officials, unless indeed messengers were constantly passing backwards and

forwards on each route. The intimation that the threepence per mile does
not include a guide does something to clear up the mystery, and at the same
time gives an idea as to the state of the roads at that time. One would
imagine from the existence of such a being that the track was across a
morass, or by the side of a precipice, and not along a highroad of “merrie
England,” in those good old times for which so many sigh now. Who,
although the necessity for the highway is far less than it was two hundred
years ago, can imagine a guide being required nowadays for no other
purpose than that of preventing the wayfarer from straying off the beaten
track, and losing his horse, and probably himself, in some gigantic slough
or quagmire! It is with difficulty one can now realise to himself the fact,
that as late as the middle of the seventeenth century, the interior of the
country was little better than a wilderness; but that it was so may be easily
gathered by a reference to Pepys, who, in the diary of his journey to Bristol
and back, makes frequent mention of guides, and finds them far from
unnecessary or inexpensive.
The servants of the olden time do not improve upon acquaintance, as the
following specimen advertisement from the Mercurius Politicus of July
1658 will show:—

I F years,
any one can give notice of one Edward Perry, being about the age of eighteen or nineteen
of low stature, black hair, full of pock-holes in his face; he weareth a new gray suit
trimmed with green and other ribbons, a light Cinnamon-colored cloak, and black hat, who run
away lately from his Master; they are desired to bring or send word to Tho. Firby, Stationer, at
Gray’s Inne gate, who will thankfully reward them.

This gay and dashing youth, whose pock-holes were possibly in those
days regarded as but beauty-spots, with the additional recommendation of
showing that their wearer had passed through the then dreaded and terrible
ordeal, was doubtless an idle apprentice travelling in the direction since
made famous by one who served his full indentures. Ugly as the young
gentleman just described may seem to the hypercritical tastes of the
nineteenth century, he, as we will presently show, is a perfect beauty
compared with any individual specimen picked out at random from the long
lists of criminals published in old newspapers. From these lists some
conception may be formed of the ravages of the small-pox, and its effect
upon the appearance of the great bulk of the population. Every man and
woman seems to have been more or less marked—some slightly, some

frightfully pitted or fretted, as the term then was; yet even now we have
every day instances of violent and ignorant opposition to vaccination, an
opposition which is loud-mouthed and possessed of considerable influence
over the lower orders, who are led to believe that vaccination is the primary
cause of all epidemic disease, including that which it most professes to
prevent.
About this time highwaymen, who during the wars were almost
unknown, began to exhibit a strong interest in the portable property of
travellers; and as they took horses whenever they could find them, notices
of lost, stolen, or strayed animals became frequent. It is much to be feared
that the dashing knight of the road, who robbed the rich to give to the poor,
is a complete myth, and that the thieves who infested the highway were
neither brave nor handsome, and not above picking up, and keeping, the
most trifling things that came in their way. The quality of these riders may
be guessed by means of the following, from the Mercurius Politicus of
February 1659, the subject of which, singularly different from the “prancing
prads” of which enthusiasts have written, seems to have been borrowed by
one of them:—

A Small black NAG, some ten or eleven years old, no white at all, bob-Tailed, wel forehanded,
somewhat thin behind, thick Heels, and goeth crickling and lamish behind at his first going
out; the hair is beat off upon his far Hip as broad as a twelvepence; he hath a black leather Saddle
trimmed with blew, and covered with a black Calves-skin, its a little torn upon the Pummel; two
new Girths of white and green thread, and black Bridle, the Rein whereof is sowed on the off side,
and a knot to draw it on the near side, Stoln out of a field at Chelmsford, 21 February instant, from
Mr Henry Bullen. Whosoever can bring tidings to the said Mr Bullen, at Bromfield, or to Mr
Newman at the Grocer’s Arms in Cornhil, shall have 20s. for his pains.

It is supposed by some that the great amount of horse-stealing which
prevailed during the Commonwealth, and for the next fifty years, was
caused by an inordinate scarcity of animals consequent upon casualties in
the battle-field. This can hardly be correct, unless, indeed, the object of the
foe was always to kill horses and capture men, a state of things hardly
possible enough for the most determined theorist. One fact is noticeable,
and seems to have been quite in the interest of the thieves—namely, that
when at grass most horses were kept ready saddled. This practice may have
arisen during the Civil Wars from frequent emergency, a ready-saddled
horse being of even greater comparative value than the traditional bird in
the hand; and we all know how hard it is to depart from custom which has

been once established. That the good man was merciful to his beast in those
days hardly appears probable, if we are to take the small black nag as
evidence. His furniture, too, seems much more adapted for service than
show, despite its variety of colours; and perhaps the animal may have been
seized, as was not uncommon, by some messenger of State making the best
of his way from one part of the kingdom to another. Before the year 1636
there was no such thing as a postal service for the use of the people. The
Court had, it is true, an establishment for the forwarding of despatches, and
in Cromwell’s time much attention was paid to it; but it was, after all, often
in not much better form than when Bryan Tuke wrote as follows during the
sixteenth century: “The Kinges Grace hath no mor ordinary postes, ne of
many days hathe had, but betweene London and Calais.... For, sir, ye knowe
well that, except the hackney-horses betweene Gravesende and Dovour,
there is no suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme, as in the
accustomed places of France and other partes; ne men can keepe horses in
redynes withoute som way to bere the charges; but when placardes be sent
for suche cause [to order the immediate forwarding of some State packet],
the constables many tymes be fayne to take horses out of ploues and cartes,
wherein can be no extreme diligence.” In Elizabeth’s reign a horse-post was
established on each of the great roads for the transmission of the letters for
the Court; but the Civil Wars considerably interfered with this, and though
in the time of Cromwell public posts and conveyances were arranged,
matters were in a generally loose state after his death, and during the reign
of his sovereign majesty Charles II. Truly travelling was then a
venturesome matter.
In 1659, also, we come upon an advertisement having reference to a
work of the great blind bard John Milton. It appears in the Mercurius
Politicus of September, and is as follows:—

C ONSIDERATIONS touching the likeliest means to remove Hirelings out of the Church;
wherein is also discours’d of Tithes, Church Fees, Church Revenues, and whether any
maintenance of Ministers can be settled by Law. The author, J. M. Sold by Livewel Chapman, at the
Crown in Pope’s Head Alley.

Here we are, then, brought as it were face to face with one of the
brightest names in the brightest list of England’s poets. This work is almost
swamped amid a host of quaintly and sometimes fiercely titled
controversial works, with which the press at that time teemed. The poet

seems to have known what was impending, and to have conscientiously put
forth his protest. We can guess what weight it had with the hungering
crowds anxiously awaiting the coming change, and ready to be or do
anything so long as place was provided for them. In something like contrast
with the foregoing is this we now select from a number of the same paper in
December of the same year:—

G eorge Weale, a Cornish youth, about 18 or 19 years of age, serving as an Apprentice at
Kingston, with one Mr Weale, an Apothecary, and his Uncle, about the time of the rising of
the Counties Kent and Surrey, went secretly from his said Uncle, and is conceived to have engaged
in the same, and to be either dead or slain in some of those fights, having never since been heard of,
either by his said Uncle or any of his Friends. If any person can give notice of the certainty of the
death of the said George Weale, let him repair to the said Mr Graunt his House in Drum-alley in
Drury Lane, London; he shall have twenty shillings for his pains.

This speaks volumes for the peculiarities of the times. Nowadays, in the
event of war, anxious relatives are soon put out of their suspense by means
of careful bulletins and regular returns of killed and wounded; but who can
tell the amount of heart-sickness and hope deferred engendered by the
“troubles” of the seventeenth century, or of anxious thought turned towards
corpses mouldering far away, among whom was most likely George Weale,
perhaps the only one of the obscure men slain in “some of those fights,”
whose name has been rescued from oblivion.
In 1660 we find Milton again in the hands of his publisher, just at the
time when the Restoration was considered complete, alone amid the pack
that were ready to fall down before the young King, who was to do so much
to prove the value of monarchy as compared with the Commonwealth. “The
advertisements,” says a writer, referring to this period, “which appeared
during the time that Monk was temporising and sounding his way to the
Restoration, form a capital barometer of the state of feeling among political
men at that critical juncture. We see no more of the old Fifth-Monarchy
spirit abroad. Ministers of the steeple-houses evidently see the storm
coming, and cease their long-winded warnings to a backsliding generation.
Every one is either panting to take advantage of the first sunshine of royal
favour, or to deprecate its wrath, the coming shadow of which is clearly
seen. Meetings are advertised of those persons who have purchased
sequestered estates, in order that they may address the King to secure them
in possession; Parliamentary aldermen repudiate by the same means charges
in the papers that their names are to be found in the list of those persons

who ‘sat upon the tryal of the late King;’ the works of ‘late’ bishops begin
again to air themselves in the Episcopal wind that is clearly setting in; and
‘The Tears, Sighs, Complaints, and Prayers of the Church of England’
appear in the advertising columns, in place of the sonorous titles of sturdy
old Baxter’s works. It is clear there is a great commotion at hand; the leaves
are rustling, and the dust is moving.” In the midst of this, however, there
was one still faithful to the “old cause,” as Commonwealth matters had got
to be called by the Puritans; and on the 8th of March, just when the shadow
of the sceptre was once again thrown upon Great Britain, we find the
following in the Mercurius Politicus:—

T HEcompared
ready and easie way to establish a free Commonwealth, and the excellence thereof
with the inconveniences and dangers of readmitting Kingship in this Nation. The
Author, J. M. Wherein, by reason of the Printer’s haste, the Errata not coming in time, it is desired
that the following faults may be amended. Page 9, line 32, for the Areopagus read of Areopagus. P.
10, l. 3, for full Senate, true Senate; l. 4, for fits, is the whole Aristocracy; l. 7, for Provincial States,
States of every City. P. 17, l. 29, for cite, citie; l. 30, for left, felt. Sold by Livewel Chapman, at the
Crown, in Pope’s-head Alley.

Numb. 2.

The Weekly Account:
Containing,

Certain Special and Remarkable Passages
from both Houses of Parliament; And
Collections of severall Letters from the
Armies.

This Account is Licensed, and Entred into the Register-Book of the
Company of Stationers; And Printed by Bernard Alsop,
According to Order of Parliament.

From Wednesday the 6. of Jan. to Wednesday the 13. of January. 1646.

W E D N E S D A Y, January 13.
He Commissioners appointed by the Parliament to go to the North, and
receive the Kings Person, and then conduct him to Holmsby house, are these
The Earle of Pembroke.
The E. of Denbigh.
The L. Montague.

Sir Iohn Holland.
Sir Waker Earl.
Sir Iohn Cook.
Sir Iames Harrington.
Major Gen. Brown.
Mr. Iohn Crew.

Two Ministers, viz. Mr. Marshal, and Mr. Carol, go with the Commissioners.
The Commissioners to the Scots Army, are the Earl of Stamford.
B Mr.

Facsimile of newspaper page

Who would think, while reading these calm corrections, that the poet
knew he was in imminent danger, and that in a couple of months he was to
be a proscribed fugitive, hiding in the purlieus of Westminster from
Royalty’s myrmidons? Yet it was so, and the degradation to which literature
may be submitted is proved by the fact that within the same space of time
his works were, in accordance with an order of the House of Commons,
burned by the hangman.
The excessive loyalty exhibited about this time by the lawyers, who were
then, as now, quite able to look after their own interests, shows in rather a
ludicrous light, viewed through the zealous officiousness of Mr Nicholas
Bacon, who must have been the fountspring of the following effusion,
which appears in a June, 1660, number of the Mercurius Politicus:—

W HEREAS one Capt. Gouge, a witness examined against the late King’s Majesty, in those
Records stiled himself of the Honorable Society of Gray’s Inne. These are to give notice that
the said Gouge, being long sought for, was providentially discovered in a disguise, seized in that
Society, and now in custody, being apprehended by the help of some spectators that knew him,
viewing of a banner with His Majesties arms, set up just at the same time of His Majesties landing,
on an high tower in the same Society, by Nicholas Bacon, Esq., a member thereof, as a memorial of
so great a deliverance, and testimony of his constant loyalty to His Majesty, and that the said Gouge
upon examination confessed, That he was never admitted not so much as a Clerk of that Society.

The King does not seem to have enjoyed his own very long before he
was subjected to loss by the dog-stealers, who, less ready to revere royalty
than the lawyers, led to the publication of the following in the Mercurius
Publicus of June 28, 1660:—

☞ AKings
Smooth Black DOG, less than a Grey-hound, with white under his breast, belonging to the
Majesty, was taken from Whitehall, the eighteenth day of this instant June, or
thereabouts. If any one can give notice to John Ellis, one of his Majesties servants, or to his
Majesties Back-Stairs, shall be well rewarded for their labour.

And one who could very probably afford to be despoiled still less—one
of the poor Cavaliers who expected so much from the representative of
Divine right, and who were to be so terribly disappointed—is also
victimised, his whole stock of bag and baggage being annexed by some of
those vagabonds who only see in any public excitement a means to their
own enrichment at the expense of others. Fancy the state of mind of the
elderly gentleman who is so anxious to present himself at Court, while
waiting the return of the articles thus advertised in the Mercurius Publicus
of July 5, 1660:—

A LEATHERN Portmantle lost at Sittingburn or Rochester, when his Majesty came thither,
wherein was a suit of Camolet Holland, with two little laces in a seam, eight pair of white
Gloves, and a pair of Does leather; about twenty yards of skie-colourd Ribbon twelvepenny broad,
and a whole piece of black Ribbon tenpenny broad, a cloath lead-coloured cloak, with store of
linnen; a pair of shooes, slippers, a Montero, and other things; all which belong to a gentleman (a
near servant to His Majesty) who hath been too long imprisoned and sequestered to be now robbed,
when all men hope to enjoy their own. If any can give notice, they may leave word with Mr Samuel
Merne, His Majesties Book-binder, at his house in Little Britain, and they shall be thankfully
rewarded.

This Mercurius Publicus from which we have just quoted is said to be the
Politicus we have mentioned in reference to earlier advertisements, which

turned courtier in imitation of the general example, and changed its name
also in emulation of popular practice. All England seemed then to have
gone mad with excessive loyalty, and it is no wonder that Charles was
surprised that he could have been persuaded to stop away so long. The
columns of the Mercurius Publicus were placed entirely under the direction
of the King, and instead of the slashing articles against malignants, which
were wont to appear before its change of title, it contains, under Restoration
dates, virulent attacks upon the Puritans, and inquiries after his Majesty’s
favourite dogs, which had a curious knack of becoming stolen or lost. In
addition to the canine advertisement already given, we take the following,
which appears during July, and which would seem to have been dictated, if
not actually written, by Charles:—

☞ Weabout
must call upon you again for a Black Dog, between a Grey-hound and a Spaniel, no white
him, onely a streak on his Brest, and Tayl a little bobbed. It is His Majesties own Dog,
and doubtless was stoln, for the Dog was not born nor bred in England, and would never
forsake his Master. Whosoever findes him may acquaint any at Whitehal, for the Dog was better
known at Court than those who stole him. Will they never leave robbing His Majesty? must he not
keep a Dog? This Dogs place (though better than some imagine) is the only place which nobody
offers to beg.

This is evidently the dog advertised before, and seems to have been an
especial favourite with the merry monarch, who, one might think, would
have had so many dogs that he could not possibly have missed an individual
from their number. Pepys about this time describes the King, with a train of
spaniels and other dogs at his heels, lounging along and feeding the water-
fowl in the Park; and on later occasions he was often seen talking to his
favourite Nell Gwyn as she leaned from her garden wall in Pall Mall, whilst
his four-footed favourites were grouped about. It was possibly on these
occasions that the gentlemen who have such an extraordinary faculty for
“finding” dogs, even unto this day, saw their opportunities, and marched off
with the choicest specimens. Certainly the dogs were being constantly lost,
and just as constantly advertised. In turn we find him inquiring after “a little
brindled grey-hound bitch, having her two hinder feet white;” for a “white-
haired spaniel, smooth-coated, with large red or yellowish spots;” and for a
“black mastiff dog, with cropped ears and cut tail.” So it would seem that,
fond as his Majesty was of dogs, he was not above their being cropped and
trimmed in the manner which has of late years caused all the forces of a
well-known society to be arrayed against the “fancy” and the “finders.” And

not alone did the King advertise his lost favourites. As the fashion was set,
so it was followed, and the dogmen’s lives must then have been cast in
pleasant places indeed, for Prince Rupert, “my lord Albemarle,” the Duke
of Buckingham, and many other potent seigniors, are constantly inquiring
after strayed or stolen animals. The change in the general habits of the time
is very clearly shown by these advertisements. The Puritans did not like
sporting animals of any kind, and it has been said that no dog would have
followed a Fifth-Monarchy man. Perhaps this dislike accounts for the total
absence of all advertisements having reference to field-sports, or to animals
connected therewith, until the return of the Court to England. With its return
came in once more an aristocratic amusement which had faded out during
the stern days of the Commonwealth, hawking, and we are reminded of this
by the following advertisement for a lost lanner, which appears in the
Mercurius Publicus of September 6, 1660:—

R ichard Finney, Esquire, of Alaxton, in Leicestershire, about a fortnight since, lost a L anner
from that place; she hath neither Bells nor Varvels; she is a white Hawk, and her long feathers
and sarcels are both in the blood. If any one can give tidings thereof to Mr Lambert at the Golden
Key in Fleet-street, they shall have forty shillings for their pains.

If it be true that the Mercurius changed its name from Politicus to
Publicus out of compliment to the new King and his Court, second thoughts
seem to have been taken, and the original name resumed, for there is a
Mercurius Politicus in November 1660, from which is the following:—

G entlemen, you are desired to take notice, That Mr Theophilus Buckworth doth at his house on
Mile-end Green make and expose to sale, for the publick good, those so famous Lozenges or
Pectorals, approved for the cure of Consumption, Coughs, Catarrhs, Asthmas, Hoarseness,
Strongness of Breath, Colds in general, Diseases incident to the Lungs, and a sovoraign Antidote
against the Plague, and all other contagious Diseases, and obstructions of the Stomach: And for
more convenience of the people, constantly leaveth them sealed up with his coat of arms on the
papers, with Mr Rich. Lowndes (as formerly), at the sign of the White Lion, near the little north
door of Pauls Church; Mr Henry Seile, over against S. Dunstan’s Church in Fleet Street; Mr
William Milward, at Westminster Hall Gate; Mr John Place, at Furnivals Inn Gate in Holborn; and
Mr Robert Horn, at the Turk’s Head near the entrance of the Royal Exchange, Booksellers, and no
others.
This is published to prevent the designs of divers Pretenders, who counterfeit the said Lozenges,
to the disparagement of the said Gentleman, and great abuse of the people.

It will be seen from this that quack medicines are by no means modern
inventions—in fact, the wonder is, if our ancestors took a tithe of the

articles advertised, that there is any present generation at all; so numerous
and, even according to their own showing, powerful were the specifics
advertised on every possible opportunity and in connection with every
possible disease. As, however, we shall devote special space to charlatans
further on, we will here simply pass to the following, which promises rather
too much for the price. This is also in the Mercurius Politicus, and appears
in December 1660:—

M OST Excellent and Approved Dentifrices to scour and cleanse the Teeth, making them white
as Ivory, preserves from the Toothach; so that, being constantly used, the parties using it are
never troubled with the Toothach; it fastens the Teeth, sweetens the Breath, and preserves the
mouth and gums from Cankers and Imposthumes. Made by Robert Turner, Gentleman; and the
right are onely to be had at Thomas Rookes, Stationer, at the Holy Lamb at the East end of St Pauls
Church, near the School, in sealed papers, at 12d. the paper.
The Reader is desired to beware of counterfeits.

We can now mark the advent of those monstrous flowing wigs which
were in fashion for nearly a century, and may be fairly assumed to have
made their appearance about the date of this advertisement, which was
published in the Newes of February 4, 1663:—

W HEREAS George Grey, a Barber and Perrywigge-maker, over against the Greyhound Tavern,
in Black Fryers, London, stands obliged to serve some particular Persons of eminent
Condition and Quality in his way of Employment: It is therefore Notifyed at his desire, that any one
having long flaxen hayr to sell may repayr to him the said George Grey, and they shall have 10s.
the ounce, and for any other long fine hayr after the Rate of 5s. or 7s. the ounce.

Pepys, in his quaint and humorous manner, describes how Chapman, a
periwig-dresser, cut off his hair to make up one of these immense coverings
for him, much to the trouble of his servants, Jane and Bessy. He also states
that “two perriwiggs, one whereof cost me £3 and the other 40s.,” have
something to do with the depletion of his ready money on the 30th of
October 1663. On November 2nd, he says, “I heard the Duke [Buckingham]
say that he was going to wear a perriwigg; and they say the King also will. I
never till this day observed that the King is mighty gray.” And then on
Lord’s day, November 8th, he says, with infinite quaintness, “To church,
where I found that my coming in a perriwigg did not prove so strange as I
was afraid it would, for I thought that all the church would presently have
cast their eyes all upon me.” Pepys was, it seems, possessed of that rather
unpleasant consciousness which prompts a man who wears anything new or

strange for the first time to believe that all the world, even that portion of it
which has never seen him before, knows he feels anxious and
uncomfortable because he has got new clothes on. The price, ten shillings
the ounce, shows that there must have been an exceptionally heavy demand
for flaxen colour by the wearers of the new-fashioned wigs. Judging by the
advertisements just quoted, as well as by those which follow, there can be
no controverting the statement that the reign of Charles II. “was
characterised by frivolous amusements and by a love of dress and vicious
excitement, in the midst of which pestilence stalked like a mocking fiend,
and the great conflagration lit up the masquerade with its lurid and angry
glare. Together with the emasculate tone of manners, a disposition to
personal violence stained the latter part of this and the succeeding reign.
The audacious seizure of the crown jewels by Blood; the attack upon the
Duke of Ormond by the same desperado, that nobleman having actually
been dragged from his coach in St James’s Street in the evening, and
carried, bound upon the saddle-bow of Blood’s horse, as far as Hyde Park
Corner, before he could be rescued; the slitting of Sir John Coventry’s nose
in the Haymarket by the King’s guard; and the murder of Sir Edmondbury
Godfrey on Primrose Hill, are familiar instances of the prevalence of this
lawless spirit.” There is still one other memorable and dastardly assault to
note, that on “Glorious John,” and we shall do so in due course.
The London Gazette now appears upon the scene, and this is noticeable,
because of all the papers started before, or for a very considerable time
after, this is the only one which has still an existence. It has been stated by
some writers to have first appeared at Oxford during the time the Court took
up its abode there, while the Great Plague was raging, but that this was not
so is shown by the following, which is extracted from the London Gazette
of January 22, 1664, nearly twelve months before the outbreak of the
Plague. The fact is that during the residence of the King and Court at
Oxford, the official organ changed its title, and was called the Oxford
Gazette, to resume its original name as soon as it resumed its original
publishing office.[26]

A TRUE representation of the Rhonoserous and Elephant, lately brought from the East Indies to
London, drawn after the life, and curiously engraven in Mezzotinto, printed upon a large
sheet of paper. Sold by Pierce Tempest, at the Eagle and Child in the Strand, over against Somerset
House, Water Gate.

The ignorance of natural history at this time seems to have been
somewhat marvellous, and anything in the way of a collection of curiosities
was sure to attract a credulous multitude, as is shown by another notice,
published in the News of a date close to that of the foregoing. The articles
are rather scanty, to be sure, but probably the “huge thighbone of a giant,”
whatever it was in reality, was in itself sufficient to attract, to say nothing of
the mummy and torpedo.

A T resorted
the Mitre, near the west end of St Paul’s, is to be seen a rare Collection of Curiosityes, much
to and admired by persons of great learning and quality; among which a choyce
Egyptian Mummy, with hieroglyphicks; the Ant-Beare of Brasil; a Remora; a Torpedo; the Huge
Thighbone of a Giant; a Moon Fish; a Tropic Bird, &c.

Evidently something must have been known of mummies, or how could
the exhibitor tell that his was a choice one? Our next item introduces us to
one of those old beliefs which are still to be found in remote parts of the
country. The King, like any mountebank or charlatan, advertises the time
when he will receive, for the purpose of giving the royal touch, supposed to
be sufficient to cure the horrible distemper. Surely he of all people must
have known how futile was the experiment; and it is passing strange that a
people who had tried, condemned, and executed one king like any common
man, should have put faith in such an announcement as that published in the
Public Intelligencer of May 1664, which runs as follows:—

W HITEHALL, May 14, 1664. His Sacred Majesty, having declared it to be his Royal will and
purpose to continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the Month of May, and then
to give over till Michaelmas next, I am commanded to give notice thereof, that the people may not
come up to Town in the Interim and lose their labour.

Surely such men as Sedley, Rochester, Buckingham, and even Charles
himself, must have laughed at the infatuation of the multitude; for if ever
there was a king whose touch was less likely than another’s to cure the evil,
that king was, in our humble opinion, “his Sacred Majesty” Charles II. But
then people were prepared to go any lengths to make up for their
shortcomings in the previous reign. There was possibly a political
significance about these manifestations of royal ability and clemency, and
some enthusiasts, who believe devoutly in the triumph of mind over matter,
think there is reason to believe in the efficacy of the touch in scrofulous
affections, and even believe that people did really recover after undergoing

the process. Dr Tyler Smith, who has written on the subject, boldly states
his belief that the emotion felt by these poor stricken people who came
within the influence of the King’s “Sacred Majesty” acted upon them as a
powerful tonic; though, as the King always bestowed a gold piece upon the
patient, we think that if good was derived, it was derived from the comfort
procured by that—for those who suffered and believed were generally in
the lowest and poorest rank of life—and perhaps travelling and change of
air had something to do with it as well. If the arguments of those who
believe in the emotional effect are to be admitted, it must be allowed by
parity of reasoning that where the touch failed, its failure would be likely to
cause the sufferers to become rabid republicans, the Divine right having
refused to exhibit itself. Maybe these latter symptoms, like the symptoms of
other diseases, did not develop in the individual, but came out in course of
generations, which may perhaps account for the large amount of democracy
which has exhibited itself during the present century. There is certainly
something rather ludicrous in the fact that the practice of touching for the
evil ceased with the death of Anne; not because the people had become
more enlightened, but because the sovereigns who followed her were
supposed to have lost the medicinal virtue through being kings merely by
Act of Parliament, and not by Divine right.
The reaction which set in from the strait-laced rule of the Puritans at the
time of the Restoration, must have reached its height about 1664, if we may
judge by the advertisements then constantly inserted, which reflect the love
of pleasure and folly exhibited by all classes, as if they were anxious to
make up for previous restrictions. In fact, the chief inquiries are after
lacework, or valuables lost at masquerade or water party, announcements of
lotteries at Whitehall, of jewels and tapestry, and other things to be sold.
The following is a fair specimen of the advertisements of the time, and
appears in the News of August 4, 1664:—

L OST on the 27th July, about Boswell Yard or Drury Lane, a Ladyes picture set in gold, and three
Keys, with divers other little things in a perfumed pocket. Whosoever shall give notice of or
bring the said picture to Mr Charles Coakine, Goldsmith, near Staples Inne, Holborn, shall have 4
times the value of the gold for his payns.

There are also about this time all sorts of quack and nostrum
advertisements, an “antimonial cup,” by means of which every kind of
disease was to be cured, being apparently very popular. Sir Kenelm Digby,

a learned knight, who is said to have feasted his wife with capons fattened
upon serpents for the purpose of making her fair, advertises a book in which
is shown a method of curing the severest wounds by a sympathetic powder.
But even the knight’s efforts pall before the following, which will go far to
show the superstitious leaven which still hung about the populace:—

S MALL BAGGS to hang about Children’s necks, which are excellent both for the prevention and
cure of the Rickets, and to ease Children in breeding of Teeth, are prepared by Mr Edmund
Buckworth, and constantly to be had at Mr Philip Clark’s, Keeper of the Library in the Fleet, and
nowhere else, at 5 shillings a bagge.

We see in the papers of 1665 an increased number of advertisements for
lost and stolen animals, mostly those used in connection with sport; but this
does not go to prove that more dogs, hawks, &c., were missing, so much as
that the advantages of advertising were being discovered throughout the
country; and as London was the only place in which at that time a
newspaper was published, the cry after stray favourites always came up to
town. Strange, indeed, are many of the advertisements about sports long
since passed from amongst us, and the very phrases of which have died out
of the language. It seems hard to imagine that hawks in all the glory of
scarlet hoods were carried upon fair ladies’ wrists, or poised themselves
when uncovered to view their prey, so late as the time of Charles II., but
that it was so, an advertisement already quoted, as well as the following,
shows. It is taken from the Intelligencer of November 6, 1665:—

L OST on the 30 October, 1665, an intermix’d Barbary Tercel Gentle, engraven in Varvels,
Richard Windwood, of Ditton Park, in the county of Bucks, Esq. For more particular marks—
if the Varvels be taken off—the 4th feather in one of the wings Imped, and the third pounce of the
right foot broke. If any one inform Sir William Roberts, Knight and Baronet (near Harrow-on-the-
Hill, in the county of Middlesex), or Mr William Philips, at the King’s Head in Paternoster Row, of
the Hawk, he shall be sufficiently rewarded.

Inquiries for hawks and goshawks are by no means scarce, and so we
may imagine that these implements of hunting were hardly so much to be
depended upon as those from the workshop of art and not of nature, which
are in use in the present day. Indeed, the falcon seemed to care much less,
when once set free, for his keeper, than writers of books are prone to
imagine. The King was apparently no more fortunate than the rest of those

who indulged in falconry, for in a copy of the London Gazette, late in 1667,
the following is seen:—

A Sore ger Falcon of His Majesty, lost the 13 of August, who had one Varvel of his Keeper,
Roger Higs, of Westminster, Gent. Whosoever hath taken her up and give notice Sir Allan
Apsley, Master of His Majesties Hawks at St James’s, shall be rewarded for his paines. Back-Stairs
in Whitehall.

Sir Allan Apsley was the brother-in-law of the celebrated Colonel
Hutchinson, and brother of the devoted wife whose story everybody has
read. The next advertisement we shall select is published in the London
Gazette of May 10, 1666, and has reference to the precautions taken to
prevent the spread of the Plague. Long before this all public notices of an
idle and frivolous nature have ceased, amusements seem to have lost their
charm, and it is evident from a study of the advertisements alone, that some
great disturbing cause is at work among the good citizens. No longer does
the authorised gambling under the roof of Whitehall go on; no more are
books of Anacreontics published; stopped are all the assignations but a short
time back so frequent; and no longer are inquiries made after lockets and
perfumed bags, dropped during amorous dalliance, or in other pursuit of
pleasure. Death, it is evident, is busy at work. The quacks, and the writers
of semi-blasphemous pamphlets, have it all to themselves, and doubtless
batten well in this time of trouble. The Plague is busy doing its deadly
work, and already the city has been deserted by all who can fly thence, and
only those who are detained by duty, sickness, poverty, or the want of a
clean bill of health, remain. These bills or licences to depart were only
granted by the Lord Mayor, and the greatest influence often failed to obtain
them, as after the Plague once showed strength it was deemed necessary to
prevent by all and every means the spread of the contagion throughout the
country. The advertisement chosen gives a singular instance of the manner
in which those who had neglected to depart early were penned within the
walls:—

N icholas Hurst, an Upholsterer, over against the Rose Tavern, in Russell-street, Covent-Garden,
whose Maid Servant dyed lately of the Sickness, fled on Monday last out of his house, taking
with him several Goods and Household Stuff, and was afterwards followed by one Doctor Cary and
Richard Bayle with his wife and family, who lodged in the same house; but Bayle having his usual
dwelling-house in Waybridge, in Surrey. Whereof we are commanded to give this Public Notice,
that diligent search may be made for them, and the houses in which any of their persons or goods
shall be found may be shut up by the next Justice of the Peace, or other his Majesty’s Officers of

Justice, and notice immediately given to some of his Majesty’s Privy Councill, or to one of his
Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State.

A great demand seems at this time to have been made for an electuary
much advertised as a certain preventive of the Plague, which was to be
drunk at the Green Dragon, Cheapside, at sixpence a pint. This is, however,
only one among hundreds of specifics which continued to be thrust upon
the public in the columns of the papers, until the real deliverer of the
plague-stricken people appeared—a dreadful deliverer, it is true, but the
only one. The Great Fire, which commenced on the 2nd of September 1666,
and destroyed thirteen thousand houses, rendering myriads of people
homeless, penniless, and forlorn, had its good side, inasmuch as by it the
Plague was utterly driven out of its stronghold, but not until nearly a
hundred thousand persons had perished. Imagine two such calamities
coming almost together; but the purgation by fire was the only one which
could fairly be expected to prove effectual, as it destroyed the loathsome
charnel-houses which would long have held the taint, and removed a great
part of the cause which led to the power of the fell epidemic. We have in the
preceding chapter referred to the paucity of advertisements which appeared
in reference to the new addresses of those who had been burnt out, and a
writer a few years back makes the following remark upon the same subject:
“Singularly enough, but faint traces of this overwhelming calamity, as it
was considered at the time, can be gathered from the current
advertisements. Although the entire population of the city was rendered
houseless, and had to encamp in the surrounding fields, where they
extemporised shops and streets, not one hint of such a circumstance can be
found in the public announcements of the period. No circumstance could
afford a greater proof of the little use made by the trading community of
this means of publicity in the time of Charles II. If a fire only a hundredth
part so destructive were to occur in these days, the columns of the press
would immediately be full of the new addresses of the burnt-out
shopkeepers; and those who were not even damaged by it would take care
to ‘improve the occasion’ to their own advantage. We look in vain through
the pages of the London Gazette of this and the following year for one such
announcement: not even the tavern-keeper tells us the number of his booth
in Goodman’s-fields, although quack medicine flourished away in its
columns as usual.” We have already shown that one advertisement at least
was published in reference to removal caused by the fire, but as it did not

appear till six or seven years afterwards, it is a solitary exception to the rule,
indeed. In 1667, notifications occurred now and then of some change in the
site of a Government office, caused by the disturbances incident on the fire,
or of the intention to rebuild by contract some public structure. Of these the
following, which appears in the London Gazette, is a good specimen:—

A LLtakeArtificers of the several Trades that must be used in Rebuilding the Royal Exchange may
notice, that the Committee appointed for management of that Work do sit at the end of
the long gallery in Gresham Colledge every Monday in the forenoon, there and then to treat with
such as are fit to undertake the same.

As nothing occurs in the way of advertisements worthy of remark or
collection for the next few years, we will take this convenient opportunity
of obtaining a brief breathing space.

[26] The London Gazette was first published 22d August 1642. The first number of the existing
“published-by-authority” series was imprinted first at Oxford, where the Court was stationed
for fear of the Plague, on November 7, 1665, and afterwards at London on February 5, 1666.

CHAPTER VII.

CONCLUSION OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

et us commence here with the year 1674, a period when the rages

L and fashions, the plague and fire, and the many things treated of
by means of advertisements in the preceding chapter, had plunged
England into a most unhappy condition. The reaction from
Puritanism was great, but the reaction from royalty and extravagance
threatened to be still greater. Speaking of the state of affairs about this time,
a famous historian, who has paid particular attention to the latter part of the
seventeenth century, says: “A few months after the termination of hostilities
on the Continent, came a great crisis in English politics. Towards such a
crisis things had been tending during eighteen years. The whole stock of
popularity, great as it was, with which the King had commenced his
administration, had long been expended. To loyal enthusiasm had
succeeded profound disaffection. The public mind had now measured back
again the space over which it had passed between 1640 and 1660, and was
once more in the state in which it had been when the Long Parliament met.
The prevailing discontent was compounded of many feelings. One of these
was wounded national pride. That generation had seen England, during a
few years, allied on equal terms with France, victorious over Holland and
Spain, the mistress of the sea, the terror of Rome, the head of the Protestant
interest. Her resources had not diminished; and it might have been expected
that she would have been, at least, as highly considered in Europe under a
legitimate king, strong in the affection and willing obedience of his
subjects, as she had been under an usurper whose utmost vigilance and
energy were required to keep down a mutinous people. Yet she had, in
consequence of the imbecility and meanness of her rulers, sunk so low, that
any German or Italian principality which brought five thousand men into
the field, was a more important member of the commonwealth of nations.

With the sense of national humiliation was mingled anxiety for civil liberty.
Rumours, indistinct indeed, but perhaps the more alarming by reason of
their indistinctness, imputed to the Court a deliberate design against all the
constitutional rights of Englishmen. It had even been whispered that this
design was to be carried into effect by the intervention of foreign arms. The
thought of such intervention made the blood, even of the Cavaliers, boil in
their veins. Some who had always professed the doctrine of non-resistance
in its full extent, were now heard to mutter that there was one limitation to
that doctrine. If a foreign force were brought over to coerce the nation, they
would not answer for their own patience. But neither national pride nor
anxiety for public liberty had so great an influence on the popular mind as
hatred of the Roman Catholic religion. That hatred had become one of the
ruling passions of the community, and was as strong in the ignorant and
profane as in those who were Protestants from conviction. The cruelties of
Mary’s reign—cruelties which even in the most accurate and sober
narrative excite just detestation, and which were neither accurately nor
soberly related in the popular martyrologies—the conspiracies against
Elizabeth, and above all, the Gunpowder Plot, had left in the minds of the
vulgar a deep and bitter feeling, which was kept up by annual
commemorations, prayers, bonfires, and processions. It should be added
that those classes which were peculiarly distinguished by attachment to the
throne, the clergy and the landed gentry, had peculiar reasons for regarding
the Church of Rome with aversion. The clergy trembled for their benefices,
the landed gentry for their abbeys and great tithes. While the memory of the
reign of the Saints was still recent, hatred of Popery had in some degree
given place to hatred of Puritanism; but during the eighteen years which
had elapsed since the Restoration, the hatred of Puritanism had abated, and
the hatred of Popery had increased.... The King was suspected by many of a
leaning towards Rome. His brother and heir-presumptive was known to be a
bigoted Roman Catholic. The first Duchess of York had died a Roman
Catholic. James had then, in defiance of the remonstrances of the House of
Commons, taken to wife the Princess Mary of Modena, another Roman
Catholic. If there should be sons by this marriage, there was reason to fear
that they might be bred Roman Catholics, and that a long succession of
princes hostile to the established faith might sit on the English throne. The
constitution had recently been violated for the purpose of protecting the
Roman Catholics from the penal laws. The ally by whom the policy of

England had during many years been chiefly governed, was not only a
Roman Catholic, but a persecutor of the Reformed Churches. Under such
circumstances, it is not strange that the common people should have been
inclined to apprehend a return of the times of her whom they called Bloody
Mary.” Such was the unhappy state of affairs at this period, and though its
effect is soon shown in the advertisement columns of the papers, one would
think times were piping and peaceful indeed to read the following, extracted
from the London Gazette of October 15-19, 1674:—

W HITEHALL, October 17.—A square Diamond with his Majesty’s Arms upon it having been
this day lost out of a seal in or about Whitehall, or St James’s Park or House; Any person that
shall have found the same is required to bring it to William Chiffinch, Esq., Keeper of his Majesty’s
Closet, and he shall have ten pounds for a Reward.

Doubtless this Chiffinch, the degraded being who lived but to pander to
the debauched tastes of his royal and profligate employer, thought nothing
of politics or of the signs of the times, and contented himself with the
affairs of the Backstairs, caring little for Titus Oates, and less for his
victims. Some short time after the foregoing was published (March 20-23,
1675), Chiffinch published another loss in the Gazette. This is it:—

F LOWN out of St James’s Park, on Thursday night last, a Goose and a Gander, brought from the
river Gambo in the East Indies, on the Head, Back and Wings they are of a shining black,
under the Throat about the Eyes and the Belly white. They have Spurs on the pinions of the Wings,
about an inch in length, the Beaks and Legs of a muddy red; they are shaped like a Muscovy
Mallard, but larger and longer legg’d. Whoever gives notice to Mr Chiffinch at Whitehall, shall be
well rewarded.

Whether the prince of pimps ever had to give the reward, we are not in a
position to state; we should, however, think that his advertisement attracted
little attention, for we are now in the midst of the excitement which led to
the pretended plots and troubles that made every man suspect his neighbour,
and when the cry of Recusant or Papist was almost fatal to him against
whom it was directed. That this feeling once roused was not to be subdued
even in death, is shown by a notice in the Domestick Intelligence of July 22,
1679:—

W HEREAS it was mentioned in the last “Intelligence” that Mr Langhorn was buried in the
Temple Church, there was a mistake in it, for it was a Loyal Gentleman, one Colonel Acton,

who was at that time buried by his near relations there: And Mr Langhorn was buried that day in
the Churchyard of St Giles-in-the-Fields, very near the five Jesuits who were executed last.
John Playford, Clerke to the Temple Church.

Here is intolerance with a vengeance, but in the year 1679 reverence for
persons or things was conspicuously absent, and this is best shown by the
advertisement which was issued for the purpose of discovering the ruffians,
or their patron, who committed the brutal assault upon John Dryden. It
appears in the London Gazette of December 22, 1679:—

W HEREAS John Dryden, Esq., was on Monday, the 18th instant, at night, barbarously assaulted
and wounded, in Rose Street in Covent Garden, by divers men unknown; if any person shall
make discovery of the said offenders to the said Mr Dryden, or to any Justice of the Peace, he shall
not only receive Fifty Pounds, which is deposited in the hands of Mr Blanchard, Goldsmith, next
door to Temple Bar, for the said purpose, but if he be a principal or an accessory in the said fact, his
Majesty is graciously pleased to promise him his pardon for the same.

Notwithstanding the offer of this money, it was never discovered who
were the perpetrators, or who was the instigator of this cudgelling. Some
fancy its promoter was Rochester, who was offended at some allusions to
him in an “Essay on Satire,” written jointly by Dryden and Lord Mulgrove;
while others declare that the vanity of the Duchess of Portsmouth, one of
the King’s many mistresses, having been offended by a jeu d’esprit of the
poet’s, she procured him a rough specimen of her favours. Others, again,
have suspected Buckingham, who was never on the best of terms with
Dryden, and who sat for the portrait drawn in Zimri (“Absalom and
Achitophel”); but profligate and heartless libertine as Villiers was, he was
above such a ruffianly reprisal. In the Domestick Intelligence of December
23, 1679, the assault is thus described: “Upon the 17th instant in the
evening Mr Dryden the great poet, was set upon in Rose Street in Covent
Garden, by three persons, who, calling him rogue, and son of a whore,
knockt him down and dangerously wounded him, but upon his crying out
murther, they made their escape; it is conceived that they had their pay
beforehand, and designed not to rob him but to execute on him some
Feminine, if not Popish, vengeance.” In a subsequent number of the same
paper there is the following advertisement:—

W HEREAS there has been printed of late an Advertisement about the Discovery of those who
assaulted Mr Dryden, with a promise of pardon and reward to the Discoverer; For his
further encouragement, this is to give notice, that if the said Discoverer shall make known the

Person who incited them to that unlawful action, not only the Discoverer himself but any of those
who committed the fact, shall be freed from all manner of prosecution.

As a seasonable illustration we present an exact facsimile of a newspaper
containing reference to the attack. It is complete as it appears, being simply
a single leaf printed back and front, and so the stories of men repeating a
whole newspaper from memory are not so wonderful after all. This year
(1679) is memorable among journalists as being the first which saw a rising
press emancipated, a fact which is sufficiently interesting to be chronicled
here, although our subject is not newspapers, but only the advertisements
contained in them.[27]
During all this time it must not be supposed that the vendors of quack
medicines were at all idle. No political or religious disturbance was ever
allowed to interfere with them, and their notices appeared as regularly as, or
if possible more regularly than, ever. In a paper we have not before met, the
Mercurius Anglicus, date March 6-10, 1679-80, we are introduced for the
first time to the cordial which was destined to become so popular among
nurses with whom neither the natural milk nor that of human kindness was
plentiful, viz., Daffy’s Elixir:—

W HEREAS divers Persons have lately exposed to sale a counterfeit drink called E S lixir
the true drink so called being first published by Mr Anthony Daffy, who is the only person
, alutis

that rightly and truly prepares it, he having experienced its virtues for above 20 years past, by
God’s blessing curing multitudes of people afflicted with various distempers therewith, the receit
whereof he never communicated to any person living; and that these persons the better to colour
their deceit, have reported Mr Anthony Daffy to be dead, these are to certify That the said Mr
Anthony Daffy is still living and in good health, at his house in Prujean court in the old Bailey, and
that only there and at such places as he has appointed in his printed sheets of his Elixir’s virtues
(which printed sheets are sealed with his seal) the true Elixir Salutis or choice Cordial Drink of
Health is to be sold.

It is noticeable that about this time people were never sure what year they
were in until March, and often during that month; and this is not only so in
the dates on newspapers, but is found in Pepys and other writers of the
period. Some journals do not give the double date as above, for we have
before us as we write two copies of the Domestick Intelligence; or, News
both from City and Country, “Published to prevent false Reports,” No. 49
being dated “Tuesday, Decemb. 23, 1679;” and No. 52, “Friday, January 2,
1679.” This has not, as many people have imagined, anything to do with the
difference between the New Calendar and the Old, as our alteration of style

did not take place till the middle of the next century. It must have been a
relic of the old Ecclesiastical year which still affects the financial budget.
That the “agony column” of the present day is the result of slow and
laborious growth is shown by an advertisement, cut from a Domestick
Intelligence of March 1681, which contains an urgent appeal to one who
has in umbrage departed from home:—

WHEREAS a Person in London on some discontent did early on Monday morning last retire
☞ from his dwelling-house and not yet return’d, it is the earnest request of several of his
particular friends, that the said person would speedily repair to some or one of them, that he
thinks most fit; it being of absolute necessity, for reasons he does not yet know off.

An advertisement of this kind, without name or initials, might now, like
the celebrated appeal to John Smith, apply itself to the minds of so many
who had left their families “on some discontent,” that there would be quite
a stampede for home among the married men making a temporary sojourn
away from the domestic hearth and its attendant difficulties. Many of them
would perhaps find themselves as unwelcome as unexpected.
Our next selection will be interesting to those who are curious on the
subject of insurance, which must have been decidedly in its infancy on July
6, 1685, the day on which the following appeared in the London Gazette:—

T HERE 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.

Advertisements are so far anything but plentiful, there being rarely more
than two or three at most beyond the booksellers’ and quack notices; and
although nowadays the columns of a newspaper are supposed to be
unequalled for affording opportunities for letting houses and apartments, the
hereunder notice was, at the time of its publication in the London Gazette,
August 17, 1685, perfectly unique:—

T HESmith
EARL of BERKELEY’S HOUSE, with Garden and Stables, in St John’s Lane, not far from
Field, is to be Let or Sold for Building. Enquire of Mr Prestworth, a corn chandler, near
the said house, and you may know farther.

Any one who passes through St John’s Lane now, with its squalid
tenements, dirty shops, and half-starved population, will have to be
possessed of a powerful imagination indeed to picture an earl’s residence as
ever standing in the dingy thoroughfare, notwithstanding the neighbourhood
has the advantage of a beautiful brand-new meat-market, in place of the old
cattle-pens which formerly stood on the open space in front of
Bartholomew’s Hospital. Yet as proof of the aristocratic meetings which
used to be held in St John’s Lane, the Hospitallers’ Gate still crosses it—the
gate which even after the days of chivalry had departed had still a history to
make, not of bloodshed and warfare certainly, but of a connection with the
highest and finest description of literature.
We now come to the year 1688, when advertising was more common
than before, and when Charles having passed away, James held temporary
possession of the throne. One, published in the Gazette of March 8, is
suggestive of the religious tumult which would shortly end in his
downfall:—

C ATHOLIC LOYALTY, ☞ 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.

Just about this period dreadful outrages were of common occurrence;
men were knocked down in the street in open daylight, robbed, and
murdered, and not a few deaths were the outcome of private and party
hatred. Municipal law was set at defiance, and any small body of
desperadoes could do as they liked unchecked, unless they happened to be
providentially opposed by equal or superior force, when they generally
turned tail, for their practice was not to fight so much as to beat and plunder
the defenceless. Here is a notice which speaks volumes for the state of
affairs. It is published in the London Gazette, and bears date March 29,
1688:—

W HEREAS 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.

About this time some show is made on behalf of those credulous folk
who believe that all highwaymen in the good old times were brave, dashing,
highly educated, and extremely handsome; for we find several inquiries
after robbers who, before troubles came upon them, held superior positions
in society. Here is one of the year 1688:—

W HEREAS 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 times 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.

Mr Jones, culpable as he undoubtedly was, seems to have possessed a
sense of honour, and probably he served his friends as well as himself by
taking the writs from the mail. The reward offered for his apprehension is
so paltry in proportion to the outcry raised, that a disinterested reader, i.e.,
one who has never felt the smart of highway robbery, cannot help hoping
that he got clear off, or that at all events he cheated the gallows by earning a
soldier’s death “in some of the new-raised troops.” Although Mr Jones was
a gentleman thief, and had gentlemanly associates, he and his friends are
the exceptions to the rule; for robbers generally are described as a very sad
as well as a very ugly lot of reprobates. Also in the same eventful year of
delivery we find the following, which appears in the London Gazette, the
subject of it having evidently thought to avail himself of the disturbances of
the time, but whether successfully or the reverse, does not appear:—

R UNswarthy
away from his master, Captain St Lo, the 21st instant, Obdelah Ealias Abraham, a Moor,
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.

This advertisement is suggestive of the taste in blackamoors, which
began to manifest itself about this time, and which had a long run—the
coloured creature who was in later times a negro, but in these a Moor, being
often regarded as a mere soulless toy, a companion of the pug-dog, or an
ornament to be classified with the vases and other china monstrosities
which were just then the vogue. The next advertisement we have is of a

very different character, and has a distinct bearing upon the political
question of the times; it also seems to show that the value of advertising
was beginning to be still more understood, and that with the advent of a
new sovereign the attention of the commercial classes was once more
directed so much to business that even party feeling was to be made a
source of profit. The extract is from the New Observator of July 17,
1689:—

O RANGE CARDS, representing the late King’s reign and expedition of the Prince of Orange;
viz. The Earl of Essex Murther, Dr Otes Whipping, Defacing the Monument, My Lord
Jeferies 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 Ordinare Mass-house pulling down
and burning by Captain Tom and his Mobile, Mortar pieces in the Tower, The Prince of Orange
Landing, The Jesuits Scampering, Father Peter’s Transactions, The fight at Reading, The Army
going over to the Prince of Orange, Tyrconnel in Ireland, My Lord Chancellor in the Tower. With
many other remarkable passages of the Times. To which is added the efigies of our Gracious K.
William & Q. Mary, curiously illustrated and engraven in lively figures, done by the performers of
the first Popish Plot Cards. Sold by Donnan Newman, the publisher and printer of the New
Observator.

This was a popular and rather practical method of celebrating the triumph
of the Whigs, and as Bishop Burnet was the editor of the New Observator,
and these cards were sold by his publisher, he is very likely to have had a
hand in their promotion. About now the traffic in African slaves
commenced, and these full-blooded blacks gradually displaced the Moors
and Arabs, who had formerly been the prevalent coloured “fancy.” It is
supposed that the taste for these dark-skinned servants was derived from the
Venetians, whose intercourse with the traders of India and Africa naturally
led to their introduction. Moors are constantly being associated with the
sea-girt Republic, both in literature and art, Shakespeare’s “Moor of
Venice” being somewhat of an instance in point; while Titian and other
painters of his school were extremely fond of portraying coloured men of
all descriptions. By 1693, however, the negro had not altogether pushed out
the Moor, if we may judge by an advertisement dated January 9-12, 1692-
93, and appearing in the London Gazette:—

T HOMAS GOOSEBERRY, a blackamoor, aged about 24 years, a thin slender man, middle
stature, wears a periwig: Whoever brings him to Mr John Martin at Guildhall Coffeehouse,
shall have two guineas Reward.

Another advertisement, which appears in the same paper a couple of
years later, shows that the owners of these chattels considered their rights of
property complete, as they put collars round their necks with names and
addresses, just the same as they would have placed on a dog, or similar to
that worn by “Gurth the thrall of Cedric.” This individual seems to have
been different from any of the others we have met, as he is evidently a
dusky Asiatic who has been purchased from his parents by some
adventurous trader, and whose thraldom sits heavily upon him. This is his
description:—

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.

It seems hardly possible that a poor little wretch like this would have run
away—for whither could he run with any hope of securing his freedom?—
unless he had been unkindly treated. There is little doubt—though we are,
through the medium of the pictures of this and a later time, in the habit of
regarding the dark-faced, white-turbaned, and white-toothed slaves as
personifications of that happiness which is denied to higher intellects and
fairer fortunes—that often they were the victims of intense cruelty, and now
and then of that worst of all despotisms, the tyranny of an ill-natured and
peevish woman.
We now come upon an advertisement, which shows something of the
desire that was always felt by residents in the country for the least
scintillations of news; and the concoctor of the notice seems fully aware of
this desire, as well as possessed of a plan by means of which he may make
it a source of profit to himself. It occurs in a copy of the Flying Post of the
year 1694:—

I F Public
any Gentleman has a mind to oblige his country friend or correspondent, with an account of
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.

By this means the newspaper and the private letter were combined, and it
is easy to understand the delight with which a gossiping and scandalising
effusion, possessed of the additional advantage of being written on this kind
of paper, was received at a lonely country house, by people pining after the

gaieties of metropolitan life. The newsletter proper was a very ancient
article of intercommunication, and it seems strange that it should have
flourished long after the introduction of newspapers, which it certainly did.
This may be accounted for by the fact, that during the time of the Rebellion
it was much safer to write than to print any news which was intended to be
read at a distance, or which had any political significance. It has been
remarked that many of these newsletters “were written by strong partisans,
and contained information which it was neither desirable nor safe that their
opponents should see. They were passed on from hand to hand in secret,
and often indorsed 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, though 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 woefully they
fell short in a department which must have been the staple of the
newswriter.” It would seem, therefore, that this effort of Mr Salusbury was
to combine the old letter with the modern paper, and thus at once oblige his
customers and save a time-honoured institution from passing away. It would
seem as if he succeeded, for there are in the British Museum many
specimens of papers, half print half manuscript; and as most of the written
portions are of an extremely treasonable nature, possibly the opportunity to
send the kind of news which suited them best, and thus combine friendship
and duty, was eagerly seized by the Jacobites. But how singular after all it
seems for an editor to invite his subscribers to write their own news upon
their own newspapers!
We are now getting very near the end of the seventeenth century, and
among the curious and quaint advertisements which attract attention, as we
pore over the old chronicles which mark the close of the eventful cycle
which has seen so much of revolution and disaster, and of the worst forms
of religious and political fanaticisms carried to their most dreadful

extremes, is the following. It appears in Salusbury’s Flying Post of October
27, 1696, and gives a good idea of manners and customs, which do not so
far appear to have altered for the better:—

W HEREAS six gentlemen (all of the same honourable profession), having been more than
ordinary put to it for a little pocket-money, did, on the 14th instant, in the evening near
Kentish town, borrow of two persons (in a coach) a certain sum of money, without staying to give
bond for the repayment: And whereas fancy was taken to the hat, peruke, cravate, sword and cane,
of one of the creditors, which were all lent as freely as the money: these are, therefore, to desire the
said six worthies, how fond soever they may be of the other loans, to unfancy the cane again, and
send it to Will’s Coffee-house, in Scotland yard; it being too short for any such proper gentlemen as
they are, to walk with, and too small for any of their important uses and withal, only valuable as
having been the gift of a friend.

And just about this time we come upon some more applications from our
old friend Houghton, who seems to be doing a thriving business, and is as
full of wants as even he could almost desire. In a number of his Collection
for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade he expresses a wish as
follows:—

——I want an Englishman that can tolerably well speak French (if Dutch too so much the
better), and that will be content to sit at home keeping accounts almost his whole time, and give
good security for his fidelity, and he shall have a pretty good salary.

And again, his wishes being evidently for the perfection of servants, even
to—which is rather an anomaly in domestic servitude—getting security.
Many servants must in those days have wished to get security for the
honesty of their masters:—

——I want to wait on a gentleman in the City a young man that writes a pretty good hand, and
knows how to go to market, must wait on company that comes to the house and wear a livery, has
had the small-pox, and can give some small security for his honesty.

Houghton was noticeable for expressing a decided opinion with regard to
the quality of whatever he recommends, and, as we have shown, was not at
all modest in his own desires. Even he, however, could rarely have designed
such a bargain as this:—

——One that is fit to keep a warehouse, be a steward or do anything that can be supposed an
intelligent man that has been a shopkeeper is fit for, and can give any security that can be desired as

far as ten thousand pounds goes, and has some estate of his own, desires an employment of one
hundred pounds a year or upwards. I can give an account of him.

This is the last we shall see of old Houghton, who did much good in his
time, not only for other people but for himself as well, and who may be
fairly regarded as, if not the father, certainly one of the chief promoters of
early advertising.
The next public notice we find upon our list is one which directs itself to
all who may wish to be cured of madness, though why people who are
really and comfortably mad should wish to have the trouble of being sane,
we do not profess to understand. However, it is not likely that this
gentleman helped them, for he overdoes it, and offers rather too much. The
notice appears in the Post Boy of January 6-9, 1699:—

I NBlessing
Clerkenwell Close, where the figure of Mad People are over the gate, Liveth one who by the
of God, cureth all Lunitck distracted or Mad People, he seldom exceeds 3 months in
the cure of the maddest Person that comes in his house, several have been cured in a fortnight and
some in less time; he has cured several from Bedlam and other mad-houses in and about this City
and has conveniency for people of what quality soever. No cure no money. He likewise cureth the
dropsy infallibly and has taken away from 10, 12, 15, 20 gallons of water with a gentle preparation.
He cureth them that are 100 miles off as well as them that are in town, and if any are desirous they
may have a note at his house of several that he hath cured.

Notwithstanding the writer’s proficiency in the cure of lunatics, he seems
to have been sorely exercised with regard to the spelling of the word, and he
is ingenious enough in other respects. The remark about no cure no pay, it is
noticeable, refers only to the cases of lunacy, and not to those of dropsy, for
the evident reason that it is quite possible to make a madman believe he is
sane, while it would be rather hard to lead a dropsical person into the
impression that he is healthy. Quacks swarm about this period, but as we
shall devote special attention to them anon, we will now step into the year
1700, beginning with the Flying Post for January 6-9, which contains this, a
notice of a regular physician of the time:—

A T University
the Angel and Crown in Basing-lane near Bow-lane liveth J. Pechey, a Graduate in the
of Oxford, and of many years standing in the College of Physicians in London:
where all sick people that come to him, may have for Six pence a faithful account of their diseases,
and plain directions for diet and other things they can prepare themselves. And such as have
occasion for Medicines may have them of him at any reasonable rates, without paying anything for
advice. And he will visit any sick person in London or the Liberties thereof in the day time for two
shillings and Six pence, and anywhere else within the Bills of Mortality for Five shillings. And if he

be called in by any person as he passes by in any of these places, he will require but one shilling for
his advice.

This is cheap enough, in all conscience, and yet there is little doubt that
the afflicted infinitely preferred the nostrums so speciously advertised by
empirics to treatment according to the pharmacopœia. We have good
authority for the statement that faith will move mountains, and it seems, if
we are to judge by the testimonials published from time immemorial by
vendors of ointment and pills, to have moved mountainous tumours, wens,
and carbuncles, for without it soft soap, bread, and bacon fat would be of
little use indeed. Glorious John Dryden died early in this year, and a
hoaxing advertisement appeared in the Post Boy of May 4-7, which called
for elegies, &c.:—

T HECharles
Death of the famous John Dryden Esq. Poet Laureat to their two late Majesties, King
and King James the Second; being a Subject capable of employing the best pens, and
several persons of quality and others, having put a stop to his interment, which is to be in Chaucer’s
grave, in Westminster Abbey: This is to desire the gentlemen of the two famous universities, and
others who have a respect for the memory of the deceas’d, and are inclinable to such performances,
to send what copies they please as Epigrams, etc. to Henry Playford at his shop at the Temple-
Change in Fleet street, and they shall be inserted in a Collection which is design’d after the same
nature and in the same method (in what language they shall please) as is usual in the composures
which are printed on solemn occasions at the two Universities aforesaid.

Other advertisements followed this, and from them it appears that the
shop of Henry Playford was inundated with manuscripts of all lengths and
kinds, and in many languages. What became of them does not make itself
known, which is a pity, as many must have been equal to any specimen
which occurs in the “Rejected Addresses,” with the advantage and
recommendation of being genuine.
It is strange that so far we have met with no theatrical or musical
advertisement or public notice of any forthcoming amusement, for it
appeared most probable that as soon as ever advertising became at all
popular it would have been devoted to the interest of all pursuits of
pleasure. In 1700, however, we come upon what must be considered the
really first advertisement issued from a playhouse, and, as a curiosity,
reproduce it from the columns of the Flying Post of July 4:—

AT the request and for the Entertainment of several persons of quality at the New Theatre in
☞ Lincolns-Inn-Fields, to morrow, being Friday the 5th of this instant, July, will be acted “The

Comical History of Don Quixote,” both parts made into one by the author. With a new entry by the
little boy, being his last time of dancing before he goes to France: Also Mrs. Elford’s new entry,
never performed but once and Miss Evans’s jigg and Irish dance: with several new comical dances,
composed and performed by Monsier L’Sac and others. Together with a new Pastoral Dialogue, by
Mr Gorge and Mrs Haynes, and variety of other singing. It being for the benefit of a gentleman in
great distress, and for the relief of his wife and 3 children.

This lead was soon followed by more important houses, and in a very
few years we have lists regularly published of the amusements at all
theatres. Theatrical managers have in all times been blessed with a strong
faculty of imitation, and though it seems immensely developed just now, the
lessees of a hundred and seventy years ago were just as keen to follow the
scent of anything which had proved fortunate on the venture of any one
possessed of pluck or originality.
We have reserved for the end of this chapter two advertisements of an
individual who, according to his own showing, would have been invaluable
to some of the members of the various school boards of the present, and
have enabled them to keep pace with the pupils under their supervision, a
consummation devoutly to be wished. However, if we cannot have Mr
Switterda, some other deus ex machinâ may yet arise. The first is from the
Postman of July 6-9, and runs thus:—

A LLorGentlemen and Ladies who are desirous in a very short time to learn to speak Latin, French
High Dutch fluently, and that truly and properly without pedantry, according to Grammar
rules, and can but spare two hours a week, may faithfully be taught by Mr. Switterda or his assistant
at his lodgings in Panton Street, at the Bunch of Grapes, near Leicester Fields, where you may have
Latin and French historical cards. Children may come every day, or as often as parents please at his
house in Arundel Street, next to the Temple Passage, chiefly those of discretion, who may be his or
her assistant, entring at the same time. And if any Gent. will take two children or half a dozen of
equal age, whose capacity are not disproportionable, and let any Gent. take his choice, and leave to
the abovenamed S. the other, and he is content to lose his reward, if he or his assistant makes not a
greater and more visible improvement of the Latin tongue in the first three months time, than any
Gent. whatsoever. Et quamquam nobili Germano est dedecori linguas profiteri, tamen non abscondi
talenta mea quæ Deus mihi largitus est, sed ea per multos annos publicavi, et omnes tam divites
quam paupores ad domum meam invitavi, sed surdas semper aures pulsavi, multos mihi invidos
conciliavi, quos confidentia et sedulitate jam superavi. Omnes artes mechanicæ quotidie
excoluntur, artes vero liberales sunt veluti statua idolatrica quæ addorantur non promoventur. He
intends to dispose of two copper plates containing the ground of the Latin tongue, and the highest
bidder shall have them. Every one is to pay according to his quality from one guinea to 4 guineas
per month, but he will readier agree by the great.

It is evident that Mr Switterda was of an accommodating disposition, and
doubtless did well not only out of those who agreed by the great—a species

of scholastic slang we are unable to understand positively, however much
we may surmise—but out of those who were content, or were perforce
compelled to put up, with the small. Here is another “high-falutin’” notice
which appears in the same paper about a month later, and which shows that
the advertiser is also possessed of a power of puffing his own goods which
must have aroused the envy and admiration of other quacks, in an age when
they were not only numerous but singularly fertile in expedient:—

W HEREAS in this degenerate age, Youth are kept so many years in following only the Latin
tongue and many of them are quite discouraged Mr. Switterda offers a very easy, short, and
delightful method, which is full, plain, most expeditious and effectual, without pedantry, resolving
all into a laudable and most beneficial practice by which Gent. and Ladies, who can but spare to be
but twice in a week with him, may in two years time learn Latin, French and High Dutch, not only
to speak them truly and properly, but also to understand a classical author. Antisthenes, an eminent
Teacher being ask’d why he had so few scholars? answer’d Quoniam non compello, sed depello
illos virga argentea. Mr. Switterda who loves qualitatem non quantitatem may say the same of a
great many, except those who are scholars themselves, and love to give their children extraordinary
learning, who have paid not only what he desired, but one, two, or three guineas above their
quarteridge, and some more than he asked. He is not willing to be troubled with stubborn boys, or
those of 8 or 9 years of age, unless they come along with one of more maturity, that shall be able to
instruct them at home, and such as may be serviceable to the public in Divinity, Law and Physick,
or teaching school. There is £20 offered for the two copper plates, and he that bids most shall have
them. He teacheth Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at his house in Arundel Street, next door
above the Temple Passage, and the other three days in Panton Street, at the Bunch of Grapes near
Leicester Fields, where you may have Latin and French Historical Cards, and a pack to learn Copia
Verborum, which is a great want in many gentlemen. Every one is to pay according to his quality,
from one Guinea to 4 Guineas per month. But poor Gent. and Ladies he will consider, chiefly when
they agree by the great, or come to board with him.

How different from the puffing and pretentious announcements just given
is the one of the same time which follows, as we read which we can hear
the hum of the little country schoolroom, and see the master with his wig all
awry, deep in snuff and study, the mistress keenly alive to the disposition of
her girls, and the pupils of both sexes, as pupils are often even nowadays,
intent upon anything but their lessons or work. London is forty miles away,
and the coach is an object of wonder and admiration to the villagers, who
look upon the pupils who have come from the great city with awe and
reverence, while the master is supposed to diffuse learning from every pore
in his body, and to scatter knowledge with every wave of his hand. The
mistress is also an object of veneration, but her accomplishments are more
within the ken of rustic folk, and she, good simple dame, who imagines her
husband to be the most learned man in all the King, God bless him’s,

dominions, delights to talk about the clergymen they have educated, and has
been the principal cause of his inditing and publishing this notice:—

A BOUT forty miles from London is a schoolmaster has had such success with boys as there are
almost forty ministers and schoolmasters that were his scholars. His wife also teaches girls
lacemaking, plain work, raising paste, sauces, and cookery to a degree of exactness. His price is
£10 or £11 the year, with a pair of sheets and one spoon, to be returned if desired; coaches and
other conveniencies pass every day within half a mile of the house, and ’tis but an easy journey to
or from London.

And with these proofs that the schoolmaster was very much abroad at the
time, we will take leave of the seventeenth century.

[27] A nominal censorship was continued till 1695, but the freedom of the press is considered by
many to date from the year named above, and an inspection of the papers themselves would
seem to justify the opinion.

CHAPTER VIII.

EARLY PART OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

t is now apparent that advertising has become recognised as a means of

I communication not only for the conveniencies of trade, but for
political, lovemaking, fortune-hunting, swindling, and the thousand
and one other purposes which are always ready to assert themselves
in a large community. It is also evident that as years have progressed,
advertising has become more and more necessary to certain trades, the
principals in which a comparatively short time before would have scorned
the idea of ventilating their wares through the columns of the public press.
So it is therefore as well to notice the rates which were charged by some of
the papers. This was before the duty was placed upon advertisements, when
the arrangement was simply between one who wished a notice inserted in a
paper, and another who possessed the power of making such insertion. It is
of course impossible to tell what the rates were on all papers, but as some
had notices of price per advertisement stated at foot, a fair estimate may be
made. The first advertisements were so few that no notice was called for,
and it was not until every newspaper looked forward to the possession of
more or less that the plan of stating charges became common. About the
period of which we are now writing, long advertisements were unknown;
they generally averaged about eight lines of narrow measure, and were paid
for at about a shilling each, with fluctuations similar in degree to those of
the leading papers of the present day. Various rules obtained upon various
papers. One journal, the “Jockey’s Intelligencer, or Weekly Advertisements
for Horses and Second-Hand Coaches to be Bought and Sold,” which
appeared towards the end of the seventeenth century, charged “a shilling for
a horse or coach for notification, and sixpence for renewing.” Still later, the
County Gentleman’s Courant seems to have been the first paper to charge
by the line, and in one of its numbers appears the following rather non-

sequitous statement: “Seeing promotion of trade is a matter which ought to
be encouraged, the price of advertisements is advanced to twopence per
line.” Very likely many agreed with the writer, who seems to have had a
follower several years afterwards—a corn dealer, who during a great dearth
stuck up the following notification: “On account of the great distress in this
town, the price of flour will be raised one shilling per peck.” But neither of
these men meant what he said, though doubtless he thought he did.
The first advertisement with which we open the century is of a semi-
religious character, and betrays a very inquiring disposition on the part of
the writer. Facts of the kind required are, however, too stubborn to meet
with publication at the request of everybody, and if Mr Keith and other
controversialists had been trammelled by them, there is every probability
that the inquiry we now republish would never have seen the light:—

WHEREAS the World has been told in public papers and otherwise of numerous conversions
☞ of quakers to the Church of England, by means of Mr Keith and others, and whereas the
quakers give out in their late books and otherwise, that since Mr Keith came out of America,
there are not ten persons owned by them that have left their Society, Mr Keith and others will very
much oblige the world in publishing a true list of their proselytes.

The foregoing is from the Postman of March 1701, and in July the same
paper contains a very different notice, which will give an idea of the
amusements then in vogue, and rescue from oblivion men whose names,
great as they are in the advertisement, seem to have been passed over
unduly by writers on ancient sports and pastimes, who seem to regard Figg
and Broughton as the fathers of the backsword and the boxing match:—

A Tryal of Skill to be performed at His Majesty’s Bear Garden in Hockley-in-the-Hole, on
Thursday next, being the 9th instant, betwixt these following masters;—Edmund Button,
master of the noble science of defence, who hath lately cut down Mr Hasgit and the Champion of
the West, and 4 besides, and James Harris, an Herefordshire man, master of the noble science of
defence, who has fought 98 prizes and never was worsted, to exercise the usual weapons, at 2
o’clock in the afternoon precisely.

Exhibitions of swordsmanship and cudgel-play were very frequent in the
early part of the eighteenth century, but ultimately pugilism, which at first
was merely an auxiliary of the other sports, took the lead, most probably
through the invention of mufflers or gloves, first brought into notice by
Broughton, who was the most skilful boxer of his time. This was, however,
many years subsequent to the date of the foregoing.

The year 1702 is noticeable from the fact that in it was produced the first
daily paper with which we have any acquaintance, and, unless the doctrine
that nothing is new under the sun holds good in this case, the first daily
paper ever published. From it we take the following, which appears on
December 1, and which seems—as no name or address is given, and as the
advertiser does not even know the name of the gentleman, or anything
about him beyond what is told in the advertisement—to have emanated
from one of the stews which were even then pretty numerous in London:—

M ISSED, on Sunday night, a large hanging coat of Irish frieze, supposed to be taken away (thro’
mistake) by a gentleman in a fair campaign wig and light-coloured clothes; if he will please
to remember where he took it, and bring it back again, it will be kindly received.

We should imagine that, unless both coats and gentlemen were more
plentiful, in proportion to the population, in those days than they are now,
the rightful owner, who had probably also been a visitor at the
establishment, went without a garment which, judging by the date, must
have been peculiarly liable to excite cupidity. Nothing noticeable occurs for
a long time, except the growth of raffle advertisements, and notices of
lotteries. These arrangements were called sales, though the only things sold
were most likely the confiding speculators. Everything possible was during
this age put up to be raffled, though, with the exception of the variety of the
items, which included eatables, wearing apparel, houses, carriages and
horses, &c. &c., there is nothing calling for comment about the style of the
notices. In the Postman of July 19-22, 1707, we at last come upon this,
which is certainly peculiar from more than one point of view:—

M R from
Benjamin Ferrers, Face-painter, the gentleman that can’t neither speak nor hear, is removed
the Crown and Dagger at Charing Cross into Chandois Street, next door to the sign of
the Three Tuns in Covent Garden.

This must have been one of the few cases in which physical disability
becomes a recommendation. Yet the process of whitening sepulchres must
after a time have become monotonous to even a deaf and dumb man. We
suppose the highest compliment that could have been paid to his work was,
that the ladies who were subjected to it looked “perfect pictures.” Just about
this time the use of advertisements for the purposes of deliberate puffery
began to be discovered by the general trader, and in the Daily Courant of

March 24, 1707, occurs a notice couched in the style of pure hyperbole, and
emanating from the establishment of G. Willdey and T. Brandreth, at the
sign of the Archimedes and Globe, on Ludgate Hill, who advertised a
microscope which magnified objects more than two million times, and a
concave metal that united the sunbeams so vigorously that in a minute’s
time it melted steel and vitrified the hardest substance. “Also,” the notice
went on to say, “we do protest we pretend to no impossibilities, and that we
scorn to impose on any gentleman or others, but what we make and sell
shall be really good, and answer the end we propose in our advertisements.”
Spectacles by which objects might be discovered at twenty or thirty miles’
distance, “modestly speaking,” are also mentioned; “and,” the ingenious
opticians finish off with, “we are now writing a small treatise with the aid
of the learned that gives the reasons why they do so, which will be given
gratis to our customers.” This is an effort which would not have disgraced
the more mature puffers of following ages. But it aroused the anger and
indignation of the former employers of Willdey and Brandreth, who having
duly considered the matter, on April 16 put forth, also in the Daily Courant,
an opposition statement, which ultimately led to a regular newspaper
warfare:—

B Yfirst
John Yarwell and Ralph Sterrop, Right Spectacles, reading and other optic glasses, etc., were
brought to perfection by our own proper art, and needed not the boasted industry of our
two apprentices to recommend them to the world; who by fraudently appropriating to themselves
what they never did, and obstinately pretending to what they never can perform, can have no other
end in view than to astonish the ignorant, impose on the credulous, and amuse the public. For
which reason and at the request of several gentlemen already imposed on, as also to prevent such
further abuses as may arise from the repeated advertisements of these two wonderful performers,
we John Yarwell and Ralph Sterrop do give public notice, that to any person who shall think it
worth his while to make the experiment, we will demonstrate in a minute’s time the insufficiency of
the instrument and the vanity of the workmen by comparing their miraculous Two-Foot, with our
Three and Four Foot Telescopes. And therefore, till such a telescope be made, as shall come up to
the character of these unparalleled performers, we must declare it to be a very impossible thing.

Then the old-established and indignant masters proceed to recommend
their own spectacles, perspectives, &c., in more moderate terms than were
employed by their late apprentices, but still in an extremely confident
manner. This appeared for several days, and at last, on April 25, elicited the
following reply:—

W HEREAS Mr Yarwell, Mr Sterrop, and Mr Marshall, the 2 first were our Masters with whom
we served our Apprenticeships, and since for several years we have made the best of work
for them and Mr Marshall. And now they being envious at our prosperity have published several
false, deceitful and malicious advertisements, wherein they assert that we cheat all that buy any of
our goods, and that we pretend to many impossibilities, and impose on the public, they having
wrested the words and sense of our advertisements, pretend that we affirm that a 2 Foot Telescope
of our making will do as much as the best 4 Foot of another man’s make, and they fraudulently
show in their shops one of their best 4 Foots against our small one, and then cry out against the
insufficiency of our instrument. Now we G. Willdey and Th. Brandreth being notoriously abused,
declare that we never did assert any such thing, or ever did pretend to impossibilities, but will make
good in every particular all those [note, these are their own words] (impossible, incredible,
miraculous, wonderful, and astonishing) things mentioned in our advertisements; which things
perhaps may be impossible, incredible, miraculous, wonderful, and astonishing to them, but we
assure them they are not so to us: For we have small miraculous telescopes, as they are pleased to
call them, that do such wonders that they say it is impossible to make such, by the assistance of
which we will lay any person £10, that instead of 2 miles mentioned, we will tell them the hour of
the day 3 if not 4 miles by such a dial as St James’s or Bow.

After this the recalcitrant apprentices repeat all their former boasts, and
conclude: “All these things are as they say impossible to them, but are and
will be made by G. Willdey and T. Brandreth.... Let ingenuity thrive.”
Willdey and Brandreth now, no doubt, thought that they had turned the
tables upon their former masters, and had all the best of the battle; but the
duel was not yet over, as the second time this advertisement appeared
(Daily Courant, April 26), the following was immediately under it:—

A CONFIDENT Mountebank by the help of his bragging speech passes upon the ignorant as a
profound doctor, the commonest medicines and the easiest operations in such an one’s hand,
shall be cried up as miracles. But there are mountebanks in other arts as well as in physick:
Glasgrinding it seems is not free from ’em, as it is seen in the vain boastings of Willdey and
Brandreth. ’Tis well known to all gentlemen that have had occasion to use optic glasses that J.
Yarwell was the true improver of that art, and has deservedly a name for it, in all parts abroad as
well as at home. He and R. Sterrop, who lives in the old shop in Ludgate Street, have always and do
now make as true and good works of all kinds in that art as any man can do. And we are so far from
discouraging any improvement, that we gladly receive from any hand, and will be at any expence to
put in practice an invention really advantageous in the art. But Willdey’s performances are so far
from improvements that we are ready to oppose any of our work to his and stake any wager upon
the judgment of a skilful man. And because he talks so particularly of his two foot telescope, to let
the world see that there is nothing in that vaunt, we will stake 10 Guineas upon a two-foot telescope
of ours against the same of his. And further to take away all pretensions of our preparing one on
purpose, if any gentleman that has a two-foot telescope bought of us within a year past, and not
injured in the use, will produce it, we will lay 5 Guineas upon its performance against one of theirs
of the same date. This is bringing the matter upon the square, and will, we hope, satisfy the world
that we are not worse workmen than those we taught.

Again the young men ventured into print (May 1, 1707), to reply, and to
defend what they were pleased to call the naked truth, “against the apparent
malicious lies and abuse” of their former employers, in whose last
advertisement they pointed out some inconsistencies, claimed the invention
of the perfected spectacles as theirs, and ended in offering to bet “20
guineas to their 10, that neither they nor Mr Marshall can make a better
telescope than we can.” This, though rather a descent from the high horse
previously occupied by them, was sufficient to rouse the anger of an
interested yet hitherto passive spectator, and Mr Marshall presently (May 8)
indignantly growled forth:—

T HEandbestpains
method now used for Grinding Spectacles and other glasses, was by me at great charge
found out, which I shewed to the Royal Society in the year 1693, and by them
approved; being gentlemen the best skilled in optics, for which they gave me their certificate to let
the world know what I had done. Since which I have made spectacles, telescopes, and microscopes,
for all the Kings and Prince’s Courts in Europe. And as for the 2 new spectacle makers, that would
insinuate to the world that they were my best workmen for several years: the one I never employed,
the other I found as I doubt not but many gentlemen have and will find them both, to be only
boasters and not performers of what they advertise, &c. &c.

After pursuing this strain till he had run down, Mr Marshall concludes by
saying, “What I have inserted is nothing but truth.” At the same time
Yarwell and Sterrop overwhelmed the raisers of this hornets’ nest with a
new attention, in which among other things was the following:—

Mr Willdey and Brandreth have the folly to believe that abundance of words is sufficient to gain
applause, and therefore throw ’em out without regard to truth and reason, but as that is an affront to
the understanding of gentlemen that use the goods they sell, they being persons of discerning
judgment, there needs no other answer to what they have published than to compare one part with
another. They set forth with a lying vaunt that their two-foot telescope would perform the same that
a common four-foot one would do, and when ’twas replied that was false, and a four-foot one
offered to try, they poorly shift off with crying “That’s one of your best four-foot ones.” Now we
profess to make none but best, the glasses of every one being true ground and rightly adjusted, and
the difference in price arrises only from the goodness, ornaments, and convenience of the case,
neither can he produce a four-foot one of anybody’s make, that does not far exceed his two-foot,
nor does his two-foot one at all exceed ours, which they don’t now pretend. And therefore the lie is
all on his side, and the impossibility in his pretensions is as strong as ever, and what we have said is
just truth, and his foul language no better than Billingsgate railing. But it seems because we do not
treat him in his own way and decry his goods as much as he does other men’s, he has the folly to
construct it as an acknowledgement that his excel. But we are so far from allowing that, that we do
aver they have nothing to brag of but what they learnt of us, and Brandreth was so indifferent a
workman that Marshall, who had taken him for a journeyman, was fain to turn him off. The secrets
they brag of is all a falsehood, and the microscope the same that any one may have from Culpeper
who is the maker. We have already told the world that we will venture any wager upon the

performance of our two foot telescope against theirs, and we would be glad to have it taken up that
we might have the opportunity of showing that ours exceeds, and letting the world see that his
brags are only such as mountebanks make in medicine.

Finally, in the Daily Courant for May 12, 1707, Willdey and Brandreth
once again insert their vaunt, and then proceed to demolish their late
employers thus:—

We do affirm it [the telescope made by W. & B.] to be the pleasantest and usefullest instrument
of this kind, and what our adversaries have said against it is false and proceeds from an ill design;
we have already offered to lay them 20 guineas to their 10 that they could not make a better, but
they knowing they were not capable to engage us in that particular, said in their answer that there
needs no more than to compare one instrument with another that they may have the opportunity of
shewing that theirs exceeds; to which proposal we do agree, and to that purpose have bought 3 of
their best telescopes that we might be sure of one that was good, though they say in their
advertisements that they make none but the best, and we are ready to give our oaths that no damage
has been done them since they were bought. And now to bring these matters to an end, we will lay
them 20 guineas to their 10, that 3 of our best of the same sizes are better than them; and any
gentleman that will may see the experiment tried in an instant at our shop, where they may also see
that our best pocket telescope comes not far short of their best large 4 Foot one. And several other
curiosities all made to the greatest perfection. And whereas Mr Yarwell, Mr Sterrop, and Mr
Marshall have maliciously, falsly, and unjustly insinuated that we are but indifferent workmen,
several persons being justly moved by that scandalous aspersion, have offered to give their oaths
that they have often heard them say that we were the best of workmen, and that we understood our
business as well as themselves. And as such we do each of us challenge them all 3 severally to
work with them, who does most and best for £20. As for the Microscope it is our own invention,
and 2 of them were made by us before any person saw them, as we can prove by witnesses; as we
also can their railing and scandalous aspersions to be false. All persons may be assured that all our
instruments do and will answer the character given them in the advertisements of T. Brandreth and
G. Willdey, &c. &c.

Whether the game was too expensive, or whether the old firm was shut
up by this, we know not, but anyhow they retired from the contest, and it is
to be hoped found that rivalry fosters rather than injures business. We have
given particular attention to this conflict of statements, as it shows how
soon advertisements, after they had become general, were used for
aggressional and objectionable trade purposes. Passing on for a little space,
until 1709, the Tatler appears on the scene, and commences with a full
share of advertisements, and very soon one is found worthy of quotation.
This appears on March 21, and is a form of application which soon found
favour with the gallants and ladies of pleasure of the day:—

A GENTLEMAN who, the twentieth instant, had the honour to conduct a lady out of a boat at
Whitehall Stairs, desires to know when 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.

There are about this time many instances appearing in the notice columns
of what has been called love at first sight, though from the fact that
advertisements had to bring their influence to bear on the passion, it looks
as though the impression took some time to fix itself. Otherwise the
declaration might have been made at once, unless, indeed, timidity
prevented it. Perhaps, too, the occasional presence of a gentleman
companion might have deterred these inflammable youths from prosecuting
their suits and persecuting the objects of their temporary adoration. Just
after the foregoing we come upon a slave advertisement couched in the
following terms:—

A BLACK boy, twelve years of age, fit to wait on a gentleman, to be disposed of at Denis’s
Coffee house in Finch Lane, near the Royal Exchange.

There is no mincing the matter about this, and as, at the same time, a very
extensive traffic was carried on in “white flesh” for the plantations, the
advertiser would doubtless have regarded sympathy with his property as not
only idiotic but offensive. And then we light on what must be regarded as
an advertisement, though it emanates from the editorial sanctum, and is
redolent of that humour which, first identified with the Tatler, has never yet
been surpassed, and, as many still say, never equalled:—

A NYprivately
ladies who have any particular stories of their acquaintance which they are willing
to make public, may send ’em by the penny post to Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., enclosed
to Mr John Morpheu, near Stationers’ Hall.

What a chance for the lovers of scandal, and doubtless they readily
availed themselves of it. Many a hearty laugh must Steele have had over the
communications received, and many of them must have afforded him the
groundwork for satires, which at the time must have struck home indeed. In
the following year “Isaac Bickerstaff, Esquire,” seems to have taken it into
his head that John Partridge, the astrologer, ought to be dead, if he really
was not, and so inserted a series of advertisements to the effect that that
worthy had really departed this life, which, however amusing to the Tatler

folk and the public, seem to have nearly driven the stargazer wild.[28] One
of the best of this series, which appears on August 10, 1710, runs thus:—

W HEREAS 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 quiet yet pungent drollery of this is almost irresistible, but it has the
effect of making us rather chary of accepting any of the remaining
advertisements which look at all like emanations from the quaint fancy of
the editor. Take the following, for instance, which is found among a number
of others of an ordinary character, undistinguished from them by any
peculiarity of type or position. It seems, however, to betray its origin:—

T helearned
Charitable Advice Office, where all persons may have the opinion of dignified Clergymen,
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 1s. at delivery or sending your case, and 1s. 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.

The theory of advertising must about this time have been found
considerably interesting to men who were unlikely to participate in its
benefits unless it were through the increased prosperity of the newspapers
to which they contributed, for essays and letters on the subject, some
humorous and others serious, appear quite frequently. Most noticeable
among the former is an article from the pen of Addison, which appears in
No. 224 of the Tatler, date September 14, 1710. It will speak better for itself
than we can speak for it:—
“Materiem superabat opus.—Ovid. Met. ii. 5.
“The matter equall’d not the artist’s skill.—R. Wynne.

“It is my custom, in a dearth of news, to entertain myself with those
collections of advertisements that appear at the end of our public prints.
These I consider as accounts of news from the little world, in the same
manner that the foregoing parts of the paper are from the great. If in one we
hear that a sovereign prince is fled from his capital city, in the other we hear
of a tradesman who has shut up his shop and run away. If in one we find the

victory of a general, in the other we see the desertion of a private soldier. I
must confess I have a certain weakness in my temper that is often very
much affected by these little domestic occurrences, and have frequently
been caught with tears in my eyes over a melancholy advertisement.
“But to consider this subject in its most ridiculous lights, advertisements
are of great use to the vulgar. First of all as they are instruments of
ambition. A man that is by no means big enough for the Gazette, may easily
creep into the advertisements; by which means we often see an apothecary
in the same paper of news with a plenipotentiary, or a running footman with
an ambassador. An advertisement from Piccadilly goes down to posterity
with an article from Madrid, and John Bartlett[29] of Goodman’s Fields is
celebrated in the same paper with the Emperor of Germany. Thus the fable
tells us, that the wren mounted as high as the eagle, by getting upon his
back.
“A second use which this sort of writings have been turned to of late
years has been the management of controversy, insomuch that above half
the advertisements one meets with nowadays are purely polemical. The
inventors of ‘Strops for Razors’ have written against one another this way
for several years, and that with great bitterness;[30] as the whole argument
pro and con in the case of the ‘Morning Gown’ is still carried on after the
same manner. I need not mention the several proprietors of Dr Anderson’s
pills; nor take notice of the many satirical works of this nature so frequently
published by Dr Clark, who has had the confidence to advertise upon that
learned knight, my very worthy friend, Sir William Read:[31] but I shall not
interpose in their quarrel: Sir William can give him his own in
advertisements, that, in the judgment of the impartial, are as well penned as
the Doctor’s.
“The third and last use of these writings is to inform the world where
they may be furnished with almost every thing that is necessary for life. If a
man has pains in his head, colics in his bowels, or spots in his clothes, he
may here meet with proper cures and remedies. If a man would recover a
wife or a horse that is stolen or strayed; if he wants new sermons,
electuaries, asses’ milk, or anything else, either for his body or mind, this is
the place to look for them in.
“The great art in writing advertisements, is the finding out a proper
method to catch the reader’s eye, without which a good thing may pass
unobserved, or be lost among commissions of bankrupt. Asterisks and

hands were formerly of great use for this purpose. Of late years the N.B. has
been much in fashion, as also little cuts and figures, the invention of which
we must ascribe to the author of spring-trusses. I must not here omit the
blind Italian character, which being scarce legible, always fixes and detains
the eye, and gives the curious reader something like the satisfaction of
prying into a secret.
“But the great skill in an advertiser is chiefly seen in the style which he
makes use of. He is to mention the ‘universal esteem,’ or ‘general
reputation’ of things that were never heard of. If he is a physician or
astrologer, he must change his lodgings frequently; and though he never
saw anybody in them besides his own family, give public notice of it, ‘for
the information of the nobility and gentry.’ Since I am thus usefully
employed in writing criticisms on the works of these diminutive authors, I
must not pass over in silence an advertisement, which has lately made its
appearance and is written altogether in a Ciceronian manner. It was sent to
me with five shillings, to be inserted among my advertisements; but as it is
a pattern of good writing in this way, I shall give it a place in the body of
my paper.

“The highest compounded Spirit of Lavender, the most glorious, if the expression may be used,
enlivening scent and flavour that can possibly be, which so raptures the spirits, delights the gusts,
and gives such airs to the countenance, as are not to be imagined but by those that have tried it. The
meanest sort of the thing is admired by most gentlemen and ladies; but this far more, as by far it
exceeds it, to the gaining among all a more than common esteem. It is sold in neat flint bottles, fit
for the pocket, only at the Golden Key in Wharton’s Court, near Holborn Bars, for three shillings
and sixpence, with directions.

“At the same time that I recommend the several flowers in which this
spirit of lavender is wrapped up, if the expression may be used, I cannot
excuse my fellow-labourers for admitting into their papers several
uncleanly advertisements, not at all proper to appear in the works of polite
writers. Among them I must reckon the ‘Carminative Wind-Expelling Pills.’
If the Doctor had called them ‘Carminative Pills,’ he had been as cleanly as
any one could have wished; but the second word entirely destroys the
decency of the first. There are other absurdities of this nature so very gross,
that I dare not mention them; and shall therefore dismiss this subject with
an admonition to Michael Parrot, that he do not presume any more to
mention a certain worm he knows of, which, by the way, has grown seven

foot in my memory; for, if I am not much mistaken, it is the same that was
but nine feet long about six months ago.
“By the remarks I have here made, it plainly appears, that a collection of
advertisements is a kind of miscellany; the writers of which, contrary to all
authors, except men of quality, give money to the booksellers who publish
their copies. The genius of the bookseller is chiefly shown in his method of
ranging and digesting these little tracts. The last paper I took up in my
hands places them in the following order:—
“The true Spanish blacking for shoes, etc.
“The beautifying cream for the face, etc.
“Pease and Plasters, etc.
“Nectar and Ambrosia, etc.
“Four freehold tenements of fifteen pounds per annum, etc.
“The present state of England, etc.
“Annotations upon the Tatler, etc.
“A commission of Bankrupt being awarded against R. L., bookseller,
etc.”
This essay probably aroused a good deal of attention, and among the
letters of correspondents is one from a “Self-interested Solicitor,” which
appears in No. 228, and runs thus:—
“Mr Bickerstaff.
“I am going to set up for a scrivener, and have thought of a project which
may turn both to your account and mine. It came into my head upon reading
that learned and useful paper of yours concerning advertisements. You must
understand I have made myself Master in the whole art of advertising, both
as to the style and the letter. Now if you and I could so manage it, that
nobody should write advertisements besides myself, or print them anywhere
but in your paper, we might both of us get estates in a little time. For this
end I would likewise propose that you should enlarge the design of
advertisements, and have sent you two or three samples of my work in this
kind, which I have made for particular friends, and intend to open shop
with. The first is for a gentleman who would willingly marry, if he could
find a wife to his liking; the second is for a poor Whig, who is lately turned
out of his post; and the third for a person of a contrary party, who is willing
to get into one.
“Whereas A. B. next door to the Pestle and Mortar, being about thirty
years old, of a spare make, with dark-coloured hair, bright eye, and a long

nose, has occasion for a good-humoured, tall, fair, young woman, of about
£3000 fortune; these are to give notice That if any such young woman has a
mind to dispose of herself in marriage to such a person as the above
mentioned, she may be provided with a husband, a coach and horses and a
proportionable settlement.
“C. D. designing to quit his place, has great quantities of paper,
parchment, ink, wax, and wafers to dispose of, which will be sold at very
reasonable rates.
“E. F. a person of good behaviour, six foot high, of a black complexion
and sound principles, wants an employ. He is an excellent penman and
accomptant, and speaks French.”
And so on, advertisements being then considered proper sport for wits of
all sizes and every peculiarity. In 1711 we come upon the first edition of the
Spectator, which certainly did not disdain to become a medium for most
barefaced quacks, if we may judge by this:—

A Npersons,
admirable confect which assuredly cures Stuttering and Stammering in children or grown
though never so bad, causing them to speak distinct and free without any trouble or
difficulty; it remedies all manner of impediments in the speech or disorders of the voice of any
kind, proceeding from what cause soever, rendering those persons capable of speaking easily and
free, and with a clear voice who before were not able to utter a sentence without hesitation. Its
stupendous effects in so quickly and infallibly curing Stammering and all disorders of the voice and
difficulty in delivery of the speech are really wonderful. Price 2s. 6d. a pot, with directions. Sold
only at Mr Osborn’s Toyshop, at the Rose and Crown, under St Dunstan’s church Fleet street.

This is a truly marvellous plan for greasing the tongue. The only wonder
is that the advertiser did not recommend it as invaluable to public speakers
for increasing the fluency to such an extent that the orator had but to open
his mouth and let his tongue do as it willed. And certainly the most
rebellious and self-willed tongue could hardly give utterance to more
remarkable statements, if left entirely to itself, than appears in the
following, which is also from the original edition of the Spectator:—

L OSS of Memory, or Forgetfulness, certainly cured by a grateful electuary peculiarly adapted for
that end; it strikes at the primary source, which few apprehend, of forgetfulness, makes the
head clear and easy, the spirits free, active, and undisturbed, corroborates and revives all the noble
faculties of the soul, such as thought, judgment, apprehension, reason and memory, which last in
particular it so strengthens as to render that faculty exceeding quick and good beyond imagination;
thereby enabling those whose memory was before almost totally lost, to remember the minutest
circumstances of their affairs, etc. to a wonder. Price 2s. 6d. a pot. Sold only at Mr Payne’s, at the
Angel and Crown, in St Paul’s Churchyard, with directions.

It is sometimes possible to remember too much; and if the specific sold
by Mr Payne had but a homœopathic tendency, and caused those who
recollected things which never happened to become cured of their
propensities, it is a pity its recipe has to be numbered among the lost things
of this world. In the beginning of 1712, one Ephraim How seems to have
been possessed of a fear that evil folks had been trying to injure him or his
business, or else he felt it incumbent on himself to take the hint thrown out
in the Tatler essay. Accordingly he published in the Daily Courant the
following:—

W HEREAS several persons who sell knives, for the better vending their bad wares spread
reports that Ephraim How, Cutler of London is deceased. This is to certify That he is living,
and keeps his business as formerly, with his son in partnership, at the Heart and Crown on Saffron
Hill; there being divers imitations, you are desired to observe the mark, which is the Heart Crown
and Dagger, with How under it.

About this period shopkeepers were or pretended to be particularly loyal,
for a very large percentage of their signs contained the emblem of royalty,
coupled with various other figures. Though the Methuen treaty, which
favoured the importation of Portuguese wines, and discouraged the use of
claret, was signed in 1703, it does not appear to have made much difference
in this country for some years, as the first mention we find of the new wine
is in a Postboy of January 1712, and is caused by the rivalry which sprang
up among those who first began to sell it:—

N OTICE is hereby given, That Messieurs Trubey, at the Queen’s Arms Tavern, the West End of
St Paul’s Church, have bought of Sir John Houblon, 76 pipes of New natural Oporto Wines,
red and white, perfect neat, and shall remain genuine, chosen out of 96 pipes, and did not buy the
cast-outs. Also they have bought of other merchants large quantities of new natural Oporto wines,
with great choice (by the last fleet). And altho’ the aforesaid did buy of Messieurs Brook and
Hellier, new natural Oporto wines of the earliest importation, which they have yet by them; and ’tis
not only their own opinion, that the said Sir John Houblon’s and other merchant’s Oporto wines,
which they have bought are superior, and do give us more general satisfaction: for the same is daily
confirm’d by gentlemen and others of undoubted judgment and credit. Further this assertion
deserves regard, viz. That the said Messieurs Brook and Helliers have bought of several merchants
entire parcels of Oporto and Viana wines, red and white, good and bad, thereby continuing
retailing, under the specious and fallacious pretences of natural red and neat of their own importing.
N.B.—The intentions of the above-named Vintners are not any way to reproach or diminish the
reputation of their brethren, nor insinuate to their detriment, sympathizing with them. Note the
aforesaid new natural Oporto wines, are to be sold by the aforesaid vintners at £16 per hogshead, at
18d. per quart, without doors, and at 20d. per quart, within their own houses.

Brook & Hellier, whose wine is spoken of so slightingly, kept the
Bumper Tavern in Covent Garden, which had formerly belonged to Dick
Estcourt. They seem quite able to bear what has been said of them, for they
have the Spectator, who has evidently tasted, and quite as evidently liked
their wines, at their back, one of the numbers of this disinterested periodical
being devoted almost entirely to their praise. The Spectator was by no
means averse to a bit of good genuine puffery, and Peter Motteux, formerly
an author who had dedicated a poem or two to Steele, and who at that time
kept one of the Indian warehouses so much in fashion, received kindnesses
in its columns more than once. So did Renatus Harris the organ-builder,
who competed with Smith for the Temple organ, and many others. So it is
not extraordinary that their advertisement is found in the Spectator very
shortly after that just quoted. They seem, however, to have been disinclined
to quarrel, as their notice makes no mention of their rivals:—

B ROOK and Hellier, &c. having discovered that several gentlemen’s servants who have been
sent to their taverns and cellars for neat Oporto wines (which is 18d. per quart) have instead
thereof bought the small Viana, which is but 15d. a quart; and that some who have been sent
directly to the above taverns and cellars have never come there, but carried home (like traitors)
something else from other places for Brook and Helliers. Gentlemen are therefore desired, when
they suspect themselves imposed on, to send the wine immediately to the place they ordered it
from, or a note of what it was they sent for, in order to know the truth, and Brook and Helliers will
bear the extraordinary charge of porters on this occasion.

From this and kindred advertisements it looks as though gentlemen were
not at the time in the habit of keeping large quantities of wine in the house,
but rather of having it in fresh and fresh as required from the tavern, or of
going round themselves, and taking it home under their belts. Also the
servants of the time do not appear to be possessed of much more honesty
than falls to the lot of the domestics of even these degenerate days. The
effect of the rage for port as soon as it was once tried, is shown by the
following, which also appeared in the January of 1712, in the Daily
Courant:—

T HECrooke
first loss is the best especially in the Wine Trade, and upon that consideration Mr John
will now sell his French Claret for 4s. a gallon, to make an end of a troublesome and
losing trade. Dated the 7th of January from his vault in Broad street, 5 doors below the Angel and
Crown Tavern, behind the Royal Exchange. John Crooke.

But this appeal to the lovers of bargains, as well as of claret, was
evidently a failure; for three or four days afterwards, and also in the same
paper, another, and quite different attempt, is made to draw the unwilling
drinkers to the Angel and Crown:—

I T French
having been represented to Mr John Crooke that notwithstanding the general approbation his
claret has received, yet many of his customers out of a covetous disposition do resort to
other places to buy much inferior wine, and afterwards sell the same for Mr Crooke’s claret, which
practices (if not timely prevented) do manifestly tend to the ruin of his undertaking, and he being
firmly resolved to establish and preserve the reputation of his vault, and also willing to give his
customers all fitting encouragement; for these causes and others hereunto him moving, he gives
notice that from henceforth he will sell his very good French claret for no more than 4s. a gallon at
his vault.

The fight between port and claret was very fierce this year, but the new
drink had almost from the first the best of the battle, if we may judge from
the strenuous appeals put forth by those who have much claret to sell, and
who evidently find it very like a drug upon their hands. One individual
seems at last to arrive at the conclusion that he may as well ask a high price
as a low one for his claret, seeing that people are unwilling to buy in either
case. The advertisement occurs in the Daily Courant for December 29,
1712. The wily concocter of the plan also thinks that by making three
bottles the smallest limit of his sale, the unwary may fancy a favour is being
conferred upon them, and buy accordingly:—

T HEflavour,
noblest new French claret that ever was imported, bright, deep, strong and of most delicious
being of the very best growth in France, and never in any cooper or vintner’s hands,
but purely neat from the grape, bottled off from the lee. All the quality and gentry that taste it, allow
it to be the finest flower that ever was drunk. Price 42s. the dozen, bottles and all, which is but 3s.
6d. a bottle, for excellence not to be matched for double that price. None less than 3 bottles. To be
had only at the Golden Key, in Haydon Yard, in the Minories, where none but the very best and
perfectly neat wine shall ever be sold.

There is good reason to believe that the claret which had been so popular
up till this period, was a very different wine from that which is now known
by the same name. It was, most probably, a strong well-sweetened drink;
for, as it has ever been necessary to make port thick and sweet for the public
taste, it is most likely this was at first done for the purpose of rivalling the
claret, and folk would hardly have turned suddenly from one wine to
another of a decidedly opposite character. The amount of advertising,
probably fostered by the wine rivalry, grew so much this year, that the

Ministry were struck with the happy idea of putting a tax upon every notice,
and accordingly there is a sudden fall off in the number of advertisements in
and after August, the month in which the change took place. In fact, the
Daily Courant appears several times with only one advertisement, that of
Drury Lane Theatre, the average number being hitherto about nine or ten.
However, the imposers of the tax were quite right in their estimate of the
value of advertisements; as, though checked for a time, they ultimately
grew again, though their progress was comparatively slow compared with
previous days. We find a characteristic announcement just at the close of the
year, one not to be checked by the duty-charge, and so we append it:—

T HIS£50isorto £100,
give notice That there is a young woman born within 30 miles of London will run for
a mile and an half, with any other woman that has liv’d a year within the same
distance; upon any good ground, as the parties concern’d shall agree to.

Unnatural and unfeminine exhibitions, in accordance with this
advertisement, of pugilism, foot-racing, cudgel-playing, &c., were at this
time not unfrequent, and the spectacle of two women stripped to the waist,
and doing their best to injure or wear down each other, was often enjoyed
by the bloods of the early eighteenth century. At the same time that the tax
was placed on advertisements, the stamp-duty on newspapers became an
accomplished fact, and Swift in his journal to Stella of July 9, 1712, says,
“Grub Street has but ten days to live, then an Act of Parliament takes place
that ruins it by taxing every half-sheet a halfpenny.” And just about a month
after, he chronicles the effect of this cruelty: “Do you know that Grub Street
is dead and gone last week? No more ghosts or murders now for love or
money. I plied it close the last fortnight and published at least seven papers
of my own, besides some of other people’s; but now every single half-sheet
pays a halfpenny to the Queen. The Observator is fallen; the Medleys have
jumbled together with the Flying Post; the Examiner is deadly sick; the
Spectator keeps up and doubles its price. I know not how long it will hold.
Have you seen the red stamp the papers are marked with? Methinks the
stamping is worth a halfpenny.” Thieves about this time seem to have had
delicate susceptibilities, for it was the custom to advertise goods which
were undoubtedly stolen as lost. Thus we see constantly in the reign of
Queen Anne such notices as this: “Lost out of a room in Russell Street a
number of valuable objects.... Whoever brings them back shall have ten
guineas reward, or in proportion for any part, and no questions asked.” This
style of advertising grew so that just about the middle of the century it was
found necessary to put a stop to it by Act of Parliament, which took effect
on the 21st of June 1752, the penalty being £50 for any one who advertised
“no questions asked,” and £50 for the publisher who inserted any such
notice in his paper. Haydn gives this date as 1754, but a reference to the
General Advertiser of February 21, 1752, in which the notice of the date on
which the law is to come into effect appears, shows that it was two years
earlier. Also a reference to any Parliamentary record of forty years before
that will show that not in 1713, as Haydn has it, but on the 22nd April 1712,
Mr Conyers reported from Committee of the whole House, who were

considering further ways and means for raising the supply granted to her
Majesty; when among other measures it was resolved that a duty of 12d. be
charged for every advertisement in any printed paper, besides the stamp-
duty which was at the same time imposed on the newspapers. This and
other extra taxes were levied, because France having refused to
acknowledge the title of Queen Anne till the peace should be signed, it was
resolved to continue the war “till a safe and honourable peace could be
obtained.” For this purpose money was of course required; and if they never
did good any other way, or at any other time, quacks and impostors,
libertines and drunkards, did it now, as they mainly contributed all that was
gathered for some years by means of the advertisement tax. There seems to
have been a good deal of drunkenness going on in the time of Queen Anne,
and the tavern keepers contributed in many ways to swell the revenue. But
even their advertisements drop off after the imposition of the tax, as do
those of promoters of nostrums and lotteries, and the managers of theatres.
These public benefactors are, however, not so blind to their own interests,
but that they soon return.
Notwithstanding the many important events of the next few years,
nothing worthy of chronicling in the way of advertisements is to be found
till 1720, when we come upon the following, which is peculiar as being one
of the earliest specimens of the ventilation of private quarrels by means of
advertisements. It occurs in the Daily Post of January 16th:—

W HEREAS an advertisement was lately put in Heathcote’s Halfpenny Post, by way of challenge
for me to meet a person (whose name to me is unknown) at Old Man’s Coffeehouse near
Charing Cross, the 28 instant in order to hear that said person make out his assertions in that
Dialogue we had in Palace Yard, the 11th of November 1718, This will let that person know that as
he would not then tell me his name, nor put it to his advertisement, I conclude he is ashamed to
have it in print. When he sends me his name in writing, that I may know who to ask for, I shall be
willing to meet him at any convenient time and place, either by ourselves or with two friends on
each side, till then I shall have neither list nor leisure to obey his nameless summons.
Robert Curtis.
Southwark, Jan. 13th, 1719-20.

Certainly time enough seems to have elapsed between the dialogue and
the publication of this advertisement to allow of all angry passions to have
subsided; but Robert Curtis, whose name is thus preserved till now, would
seem to have been a careful youth, picking his way clear of pitfalls, and
with shrewdness sufficient to discover that anonymity but too often

disguises foul intent. In that particular matters have not considerably
improved even up to the present time.
The year 1720 is memorable in the history of England, as seeing the
abnormal growth and consequent explosion of the greatest swindle of
comparatively modern times, and one of the most colossal frauds of any
time, the South Sea Scheme, which has been best known since as the South
Sea Bubble. Its story has been told so often, and in so many ways, that it is
hardly necessary to dwell upon it here; but as, though nearly every one has
heard of the scheme, there are but few who know anything about it, we may
as well give once again a short résumé of its business operations. It was
started by Harley in 1711, with the view of paying off the floating national
debt, which at that time amounted to about £10,000,000. A contemporary
writer says: “This debt was taken up by a number of eminent merchants, to
whom the Government agreed to guarantee for a certain period the annual
payment of £600,000 (being six per cent. interest), a sum which was to be
obtained by rendering permanent a number of import duties. The monopoly
of the trade to the South Seas was also secured to these merchants, who
were accordingly incorporated as the ‘South Sea Company,’ and at once
rose to a high position in the mercantile world. The wondrously extravagant
ideas then current respecting the riches of the South American continent
were carefully fostered and encouraged by the Company, who also took
care to spread the belief that Spain was prepared, on certain liberal
conditions, to admit them to a considerable share of its South American
trade; and as a necessary consequence, a general avidity to partake in the
profits of this most lucrative speculation sprang up in the public mind. It
may be well to remark in this place, that the Company’s trading projects
had no other result than a single voyage of one ship in 1717, and that its
prominence in British history is due entirely to its existence as a purely
monetary corporation. Notwithstanding the absence of any symptoms of its
carrying out its great trading scheme, the Company had obtained a firm
hold on popular favour, and its shares rose day by day; and even when the
outbreak of war with Spain in 1718 deprived the most sanguine of the
slightest hope of sharing in the treasures of the South Seas, the Company
continued to flourish. Far from being alarmed at the expected and
impending failure of a similar project—the Mississippi Scheme—the South
Sea Company believed sincerely in the feasibility of Law’s Scheme, and
resolved to avoid what they considered as his errors. Trusting to the

possibility of pushing credit to its utmost extent without danger, they
proposed, in the spring of 1720, to take upon themselves the whole national
debt (at that time £30,981,712) on being guaranteed 5 per cent. per annum
for seven and a half years, at the end of which time the debt might be
redeemed if the Government chose, and the interest reduced to 4 per cent.
The directors of the Bank of England, jealous of the prospective benefit and
influence which would thus accrue to the South Sea Company, submitted to
Government a counter-proposal; but the more dazzling nature of their
rival’s offer secured its acceptance by Parliament—in the Commons by 172
to 55, and (April 7) in the Lords by 83 to 17; Sir Robert Walpole in the
former, and Lords North and Grey, the Duke of Wharton and Earl Cowper
in the latter, in vain protesting against it as involving inevitable ruin. During
the passing of their bill, the Company’s stock rose steadily to 330 on April
7,[32] falling to 290 on the following day. Up till this date the scheme had
been honestly promoted; but now, seeing before them the prospect of
speedily amassing abundant wealth, the directors threw aside all scruples,
and made use of every effective means at their command, honest or
dishonest, to keep up the factitious value of the stock. Their zealous
endeavours were crowned with success; the shares were quoted at 550 on
May 28, and 890 on June 1. A general impression having by this time
gained ground that the stock had reached its maximum, so many holders
rushed to realise that the price fell to 630 on June 3. As this decline did not
suit the personal interests of the directors, they sent agents to buy up
eagerly; and on the evening of June 3, 750 was the quoted price. This and
similar artifices were employed as required, and had the effect of ultimately
raising the shares to 1000 in the beginning of August, when the chairman of
the Company and some of the principal directors sold out. On this
becoming known, a widespread uneasiness seized the holders of stock;
every one was eager to part with his shares, and on September 12 they fell
to 400, in spite of all the attempts of the directors to bolster up the
Company’s credit. The consternation of those who had been either unable or
unwilling to part with their scrip was now extreme; many capitalists
absconded, either to avoid ruinous bankruptcy, or to secure their ill-gotten
gains, and the Government became seriously alarmed at the excited state of
public feeling. Attempts were made to prevail on the Bank to come to the
rescue by circulating some millions of Company’s bonds; but as the shares
still declined, and the Company’s chief cashiers, the Sword Blade

Company, now stopped payment, the Bank refused to entertain the
proposal. The country was now wound up to a most alarming pitch of
excitement; the punishment of the fraudulent directors was clamorously
demanded, and Parliament was hastily summoned (December 8) to
deliberate on the best means of mitigating this great calamity. Both Houses
proved, however, to be in as impetuous a mood as the public; and in spite of
the moderate counsels of Walpole, it was resolved (December 9) to punish
the authors of the national distresses, though hitherto no fraudulent acts had
been proved against them. An examination of the proceedings of the
Company was at once commenced; and on Walpole’s proposal nine millions
of South Sea bonds were taken up by the Bank, and a similar amount by the
East India Company. The officials of the Company were forbidden to leave
the kingdom for twelve months, or to dispose of any of their property or
effects. Ultimately various schemes, involving the deepest fraud and
villany, were discovered to have been secretly concocted and carried out by
the directors; and it was proved that the Earl of Sunderland, the Duchess of
Kendal, the Countess Platen and her two nieces, Mr Craggs, M.P., the
Company’s secretary, Mr Charles Stanhope, a secretary of the Treasury, and
the Sword Blade Company, had been bribed to promote the Company’s bill
in Parliament by a present of £170,000 of South Sea stock. The total
amount of fictitious stock created for this and similar purposes was
£1,260,000, nearly one-half of which had been disposed of. Equally flagrant
iniquity in the allocation of shares was discovered, in which, among others,
Mr Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was implicated. Of these
offenders, Mr Stanhope and the Earl of Sunderland were acquitted through
the unworthy partiality of the Parliament; but Mr Aislabie, and the other
directors who were members of the House of Commons, were expelled;
most of the directors were discovered, and all of them suffered confiscation
of their possessions. The chairman was allowed to retain only £5000 out of
£183,000, and others in proportion to their share in the fraudulent
transactions of the Company. At the end of 1720, it being found that
£13,300,000 of real stock belonged to the Company, £8,000,000 of this was
taken and divided among the losers, giving them a dividend of 331⁄3 per
cent.; and by other schemes of adjustment the pressure was so fairly and
wisely distributed, that the excitement gradually subsided.” It will thus be
seen that the South Sea Bubble was, after all, not more disastrous in its
effects than many modern and comparatively unknown speculations.

It is singular that the South Sea Bubble led to little—almost nothing—in
the way of advertisements. When we think of the columns which now
herald the advent of any new company, or for the matter of that, any new
idea of an old company, or any fresh specific or article of clothing, it seems
strange that at a time when the art of advertising was fast becoming
fashionable, no invitations to subscribe were published in any of the daily
or weekly papers that then existed. Just before the consent of Parliament
was obtained we find one or two stray advertisements certainly, but they
have no official status, as may be judged by this, which is from the Post
Boy, April 2-5, 1720:—

⸸*⸸ Some Calculations relating to the Proposals made by the South Sea Company and the Bank
of England, to the House of Commons; Showing the loss to the New Subscribers, at the several
Rates in the said Computations mention’d; and the Gain which will thereby accrue to the
Proprietors of the Old South Sea Stock. By a Member of the House of Commons. Sold by J.
Morphew near Stationers Hall. Pr. 1s. Where may be obtained Mr. Hutchison’s Answer to Mr.
Crookshank’s Seasonable Remarks.

In the Daily Courant of April 4 is also the following, which shows the
immense amount of the stock possessed by private individuals. The reward
offered for the recovery of the warrant seems ridiculously small, let its
value be what it might to the finder:—

L ostoutortomislaid, a South Sea Dividend Warrant No. 1343 dated the 25th of February last, made
John Powell Esq. for 630l being for his Half Years Dividend on 21,000l stock due the
25th of December last. If offered in Payment or otherwise please to stop it and give Notice to Mr
Robert Harris at the South Sea House, and you shall receive 10s Reward, it not being endorsed by
the said John Powell Esq. is of no use but to the Owner, Payment being Stopt.

The only official notification in reference to the Bubble is found in the
London Gazette, “published by authority,” of April 5-9, 1720. It is the
commencement of a list of Acts passed by the King, and runs thus:—

Westminster, April 7.
IS Majesty came this Day to the House of Peers, and being in his Royal Robes seated on the
H Throne with the usual Solemnity, Sir William Saunderson, Gentleman-Usher of the Black
Rod, was sent with a Message from His Majesty to the House of Commons, commanding their
Attendance in the House of Peers; the Commons being come thither accordingly, His Majesty was
pleased to give the Royal Assent to
An Act for enabling the South Sea Company to increase their present Capital Stock and Fund, by
redeeming such publick Debts and Incumbrances as are therein mentioned, and for raising Money
for lessening several of the publick Debts and Incumbrances, and for calling in the present

Exchequer Bills remaining uncancelled, and for making forth new Bills in lieu thereof to be
circulated and exchanged upon Demand at or near the Exchequer.

The advertisement then goes on to state what other Acts received the
royal assent, but with none of them have we anything to do. In the Post Boy
of June 25-28 there is a notice of a contract being lost, which runs thus:—

W Hereas a Contract for the Delivery of South Sea Stock made between William Byard Grey,
Esq. and Mr. William Ferrour is mislaid or dropt: If the Person who is possess’d of it will
bring it to the Wheat-Sheaf in Warwick-Lane, he shall have Ten Guineas Reward, and no Questions
ask’d.

And in the issue of the same paper for June 30-July 1 we find this, which
refers to the Company on which all the South Sea directors’ orders were
made payable:—

F Ound at the South Sea House Saturday the 17th of June a Sword-Blade Company’s Note. If the
Person that lost it will apply to Mr. Colston’s, a Toy Shop at the Flower-de-Luce against the
Exchange in Cornhill, and describe the said Note shall have it return’d, paying the Charge of the
Advertisement.

These are, however, only incidental advertisements, which might have
occurred had the Company been anything but that which it was; and so we
have only to remark on the peculiar quietness with which all rigging
operations were managed in those days. One of the paragraphs quoted in a
note a short distance back will, however, account for the fact that
advertisements were not found in the usual places.
The growth of the disgusting system which permitted of public combats
between women is exhibited in several advertisements of 1722, the most
noticeable among them being one in which a challenge and reply are
published as inducements to the public to disburse their cash and witness a
spectacle which must have made many a strong man sick:—

C HALLENGE.—I, Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some words with Hannah
Hyfield, and requiring satisfaction, do invite her to meet me upon the stage, and box me for
three guineas; each woman holding half a crown in each hand, and the first woman that drops the
money to lose the battle.
Answer.—I, Hannah Hyfield, of Newgate Market, hearing of the resoluteness of Elizabeth
Wilkinson, will not fail, God willing, to give her more blows than words, desiring home blows, and
from her no favour; she may expect a good thumping!

The precaution taken with the half-crowns to keep the hands clenched
and so prevent scratching, shows that even these degraded creatures had not
quite forgotten the peculiarities of the sex. And that there is piety in
pugilism—even of this kind—is proved by the admittance that the Deity
had to give his consent to “the ladies’ battle.” But Mesdames Wilkinson and
Hyfield sink into insignificance when compared with the heroines of the
following, which is cut from the Daily Post of July 17, 1728:—

A T beMr.aStokes’ Amphitheatre in Islington Road, this present Monday, being the 7 of October, will
complete Boxing Match by the two following Championesses:—Whereas I, Ann Field,
of Stoke Newington, ass-driver, well known for my abilities in boxing in my own defence wherever
it happened in my way, having been affronted by Mrs. Stokes, styled the European Championess,
do fairly invite her to a trial of the best skill in boxing for 10 pounds, fair rise and fall; and question
not but to give her such proofs of my judgment 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 ass-woman dares me to fight her for the 10 pounds, I do assure
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 asses. 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.

Pugilism was evidently a much valued accomplishment among the lower-
class ladies in 1728, and there is no doubt that Mrs Stokes and Mrs Field
were considered very estimable persons as well as great athletes in their
respective circles. There is, moreover, a suspicion of humour about the
reference to the asses in the reply of Mrs Stokes. In the happily-named
Rugged and Tuff we see the forerunner of that line of champions of the ring
which, commencing with Figg and Broughton, ran unbroken up to
comparatively modern days. Other advertisements about this period relate
to cock-matches and mains, sometimes specified to “last the week,” to bull-
baiting in its ordinary and sometimes in its more cruel form of dressing up
the beasts with fireworks, so as to excite both them and the savage dogs to
their utmost. Perhaps brutality was never so rampant, or affected so many
phases of society as it did in the first half of the eighteenth century. Slavery
was considered a heaven-born institution, not alone as regards coloured
races, for expeditions to the Plantations went on merrily and afforded
excellent opportunities for the disposal of any one who happened to make
himself objectionable by word or deed, or even by his very existence. The

wicked uncle with an eye on the family property had a very good time then,
and the rightful heir was often doomed to a slavery almost worse than
death. Apropos of slavery, we may as well quote a very short advertisement
which shows how the home trade flourished in 1728. It is from the Daily
Journal of September 28:—

T OThreadneedle
be sold, a Negro boy, aged eleven years. Enquire of the Virginia Coffee-house in
street, behind the Royal Exchange.

Negroes had in 1728 become quite common here, and had pushed out
their predecessors, the Moors and Asiatics, who formerly held submissive
servitude. This was probably owing to the nefarious traffic commenced in
1680 by Hawkins, which in little more than a hundred years caused the
departure from their African homes and the transplanting in Jamaica alone
of 910,000 negroes, to say nothing of those who died on the voyage, or who
found their way to England and other countries.

[28] This is Partridge the almanac-maker, who was fortunate enough to be mentioned in the
“Rape of the Lock.” After the rape has taken place the poem goes on to say—

“This the beau monde shall from the Mall survey,
And hail with music its propitious ray;
This the blest lover shall for Venus take,
And send up prayers from Rosamunda’s lake;
This Partridge soon shall view in cloudless skies,
When next he looks through Galileo’s eyes;
And hence the egregious wizard shall foredoom
The fate of Louis and the fall of Rome.”

It would seem, therefore, that the guiding spirits of the Tatler, fancying that he had received
undue publicity in a favourable manner, were disposed to show Partridge that all
advertisements are not necessarily adjuncts to business.
[29] An advertising trussmaker of that day.
[30] A specimen advertisement of one of these inventors appears in the Postman of January 6-9,
1705:—
INCE so many upstarts do daily publish one thing or other to counterfeit the original
S strops, for setting razors, penknives, lancets, etc., upon, And pretend them to be most
excellent; the first author of the said strops, does hereby testify that all such sort of things are
only made in imitation of the true ones, which are permitted to be sold by no one but Mr
Shipton, at John’s Coffee House, in Exchange Alley, as hath been often mentioned in the
Gazettes, to prevent people being further imposed upon.
An opposition notice appears shortly afterwards in the Daily Courant of January 11:—
HE Right Venetian Strops, being the only fam’d ones made, as appears by the many
T thousands that have been sold, notwithstanding the many false shams and ridiculous

pretences, as “original,” etc., that are almost every day published to promote the sale of
counterfeits, and to lessen the great and truly wonderful fame of the Venetian Strops, which
are most certainly the best in the world, for they will give razors, penknives, lancets, etc.,
such an exquisite fine, smooth, sharp, exact and durable edge, that the like was never known,
which has been experienced by thousands of gentlemen in England, Scotland and Ireland. Are
sold only at Mr Allcraft’s, a toy shop at the Blue Coat Boy, against the Royal Exchange, &c.
&c.
[31] Both oculists of some renown, who advertised largely.
[32] On January 1, 1720, the Daily Courant, and other papers, quote South Sea Stock at 1273⁄4,
1285⁄8, to 128. Bank 1501⁄4. India 200, 2001⁄2, to 200. The quotation for Thursday, April 7 (in
Daily Post, Friday, April 8), is, “Yesterday South Sea Stock was 314, 310, 311, 309, 3091⁄2, to
310. Bank 145. India 223.” On the 27th May it was 555, and Bank was 205 (Post Boy, May
28). It then fell a little, but in the Daily Courant of June 2 it is quoted at 610 to 760, Bank 210
to 220, India 290 to 300. The Daily Post of Wednesday, June 8, contains the following puff
for the scheme: “’Tis said that the South Sea Company being willing to have all the Annuities
subscribed to their Stock, now offer forty-five years’ purchase for those which have not yet
been bought in.” And again: “The Annuities which have been subscribed into the South Sea
Stock are risen to a very great height, so that what would formerly sell but for £1500, is now
worth £8000.” In the Post Boy of June 23-25, we find this: “Yesterday South Sea Stock was
for the opening of the Book 1100. 1st Subscr. 565, 2d Subscr. 610, 3rd Subscr. 200. Bank 265.
East India 440.” On Friday, June 24, the Daily Post says, “We hear that South Sea Stock was
sold yesterday at 1000 per cent., and great wagers are laid that it will be currently sold before
the opening of the Books at 1200 per cent. exclusive of the Dividend.” It is several times after
this quoted at 1100, but never over. These compilations show that a higher rate was attained
by the stock than is given in the article quoted above, or is generally believed.

CHAPTER IX.

MIDDLE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

he further we advance into the years which mark the Hanoverian

T succession, the more profligate, reckless, and cruel do the people
seem to become. Public exhibitions of the most disgusting
character are every day advertised; ruffians and swashbucklers
abound, and are ready to do anything for a consideration; animals are
tortured at set periods for the delectation of the multitude; and we see
verified, by means of the notices in the papers, the peculiarities which
Hogarth seized and made immortal, and which so many squeamish people
consider to be overdrawn nowadays. Assignations of the most immoral
character are openly advertised, and men of the time may well have
attempted to ignore the existence of female virtue. A recent writer,
commenting on this state of affairs, says, in reference to the latter class of
shameless advertisements: “We are far from saying that such matters are not
managed now through the medium of advertisements, for 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 Duchess 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 Mayfair, 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
offhand 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 advertisements 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.” It must not be imagined, though, that wives were the only
sinners, or that vice was confined to any particular and exclusive class. It
was the luxury of all, and according to their opportunities all enjoyed it.
About this time Fleet marriages, and the scandals consequent upon them,
were in full swing. In a number of the Weekly Journal this statement is
made: “From an inspection into the several registers for marriages kept at
the several alehouses, brandy-shops, &c., within the Rules of the Fleet
Prison, we find no less than thirty-two couples joined together from
Monday to Thursday last without licences, contrary to an express Act of
Parliament against clandestine marriages, that lays a severe fine of £200 on
the minister so offending, and £100 each on the persons so married in
contradiction to the said statute. Several of the above-named brandy-men
and victuallers keep clergymen in their houses at 20s. per week, hit or miss;
but it is reported that one there will stoop to no such low conditions, but
makes at least £500 per annum of Divinity jobs after that manner.” A fair
specimen of the kind of advertisement published by these gentlemen is
this:—

G R.—At
. the True Chapel, at the old Red Hand and Mitre, three doors up Fleet Lane, and next
door to the White Swan, Marriages are performed by authority by the Rev. Mr. Symson,
educated at the University of Cambridge, and late chaplain to the Earl of Rothes.
N.B.—Without imposition.

A curious phase of the dangers of the streets is found in a narrative
published in the Grub Street Journal of 1735, which is well worth
reproducing: “Since midsummer last a young lady of birth and fortune was
deluded and forced from her friends, and by the assistance of a wrynecked
swearing parson, married to an atheistical wretch, whose life is a continued
practice of all manner of vice and debauchery. And since the ruin of my
relative, another lady of my acquaintance had like to have been trepanned in
the following manner: This lady had appointed to meet a gentlewoman at
the Old Playhouse in Drury Lane, but extraordinary business prevented her
coming. Being alone when the play was done, she bade a boy call a coach
for the city. One dressed like a gentleman helps her into it, and jumps in
after her. ‘Madam,’ says he, ‘this coach was called for me, and since the
weather is so bad, and there is no other, I beg leave to bear you company; I
am going into the City, and will set you down wherever you please.’ The
lady begged to be excused, but he bade the coachman drive on. Being come
to Ludgate Hill, he told her his sister, who waited his coming but five doors
up the court, would go with her in two minutes. He went, and returned with
his pretended sister, who asked her to step in one minute, and she would
wait upon her in the coach. The poor lady foolishly followed her into the
house, when instantly the sister vanished, and a tawny fellow in a black coat
and a black wig appeared. ‘Madam, you are come in good time, the doctor
was just agoing!’ ‘The doctor!’ says she, terribly frighted, fearing it was a
madhouse; ‘what has the doctor to do with me?’ ‘To marry you to that
gentleman. The doctor has waited for you these three hours, and will be
paid by you or that gentleman before you go!’ ‘That gentleman,’ says she,
recovering herself, ‘is worthy a better fortune than mine;’ and begged hard
to be gone. But Doctor Wryneck swore she should be married; or if she
would not he would still have his fee, and register the marriage for that
night. The lady finding she could not escape without money or a pledge,
told them she liked the gentleman so well she would certainly meet him to-
morrow night, and gave them a ring as a pledge, ‘which,’ says she, ‘was my
mother’s gift on her deathbed, enjoining that, if ever I married, it should be
my wedding ring;’ by which cunning contrivance she was delivered from
the black doctor and his tawny crew.” Pennant, in his “Some Account of
London,” says: “In walking along the street in my youth, on the side next
the prison, I have often been tempted by the question, ‘Sir, will you be
pleased to walk in and be married?’ Along this most lawless space was hung

up the frequent sign of a male and female hand enjoined, with ‘Marriages
performed within’ written beneath. A dirty fellow invited you in. The parson
was seen walking before his shop; a squalid, profligate figure, clad in a
tattered plaid nightgown, with a fiery face, and ready to couple you for a
dram of gin or a roll of tobacco.” Some of the notes found in the registers
purchased by Government in 1821, and deposited with the Registrar of the
Consistory Court of London, are very amusing. Here are one or two
extracts: “June 10, 1729. John Nelson, of ye parish of St George, Hanover,
batchelor and gardener, and Mary Barnes, of ye same, sp. married. Cer.
dated 5 November 1727, to please their parents.” “1742, May 24.—A
soldier brought a barber to the Cock, who I think said his name was James,
barber by trade, was in part married to Elizabeth: they said they were
married enough.” “A coachman came, and was half married, and would
give but 3s. 6d., and went off.” “Edward —— and Elizabeth —— were
married, and would not let me know their names.” A popular error was
current at this time, that if a newly-married woman ran across the street
with nothing on but her shift, she would free her husband from all liability
as to her debts. More than once the following, or words akin to it, is found:
“The woman ran across Ludgate Hill in her shift.” Riotous persons often
terrified these parsons, such memoranda as the following occurring now
and again: “Had a noise for four hours about the money.” “Married at a
barber’s shop one Kerrils, for half a guinea, after which it was extorted out
of my pocket, and for fear of my life delivered.” “Harrowson swore most
bitterly, and was pleased to say that he was fully determined to kill the
minister that married him. He came from Gravesend, and was sober.” And
so on through infinite variety. But to return to our advertisements.
Though advertisements were by no means scarce about this time, the
imposition of the duty still told heavily with regard to the regular business
community, for in regular trade few things were advertised with the
exception of books and quack medicines, all other commercial matters
being disposed of by means of agents who advertised in a general manner,
of which the following, from the London Journal of February 7, 1730, is a
fair specimen:—

T HESome
Public General C orrespondence of affairs, for Improving Money, Trade and Estates, etc.
Persons want to B uy Estates held by Lease from any Bishop, Dean and Chapter, or
College, either for Lives or Term of Years.

A Person desires to dispose of considerable Sums of Money, in such manner as will bring him in
the best interest, tho’ liable to some uncertainty.
A Rev. Clergyman is willing to Exchange a Rectory of about £250 a year, in a pleasant cheap
country, for a Rectory in or near London, tho’ of less value.
Persons who want to raise a considerable sum of money on Estates, Freehold or For Life, may
be served therein, and in such a manner as not to be obliged to repayment, if they do not see fit.
Estates which some Persons want to Buy.
Some Freehold Lands not far from Hertford.—An Estate from £200 to about £500 a year, within
60 miles of London.—A large Estate in Middlesex or Hertfordshire.—A good Farm in Sussex or
Surrey.—And several persons want to buy and some to hire other estates.
Estates which some Persons want to Sell.
Several good Houses in and about London, both Freehold and Leasehold.—A very good house
for a Gentleman, pleasantly situated near Bury, with good gardens, etc. and some estate in land.—
Several houses fit for gentlemen in the country, within 20 miles of London, some with and some
without land.—And several persons want to sell, and some to let other estates.
The Particulars will be given by Mr Thomas Rogers, Agent for persons who want any such
business to be done. He answers letters Post-paid, and advertises if desired, not otherwise, All at
his own charge if not successful.
He gives Attendance as undermentioned:
Daily except Saturdays from 4 to 6 o’clock at home in Essex Street, then at Rainbow Coffee-
house, by the Temple.
At 12 Tuesday at Tom’s Coffee-house, by the Exchange.
o’clock Thursday at Will’s Coffee-house, near Whitehall.
And on sending for he will go to persons near.

The next advertisement which offers itself for special notice is of a
somewhat ludicrous character, and shows into what straits a man may get
by means of a highly-developed imagination and an indiscreet tongue. It
runs thus:—

Bristol, January 19, 173 23 .

W HEREAS on or about the 10th day of November last I did say in the Presence of Several
People, That Anthony Coller, living at the Sign of the Ship and Dove in the Pithay in Bristol,
was sent to Newgate for putting Live Toads in his Beer, in order to fine it; I do solemnly declare,
That I never knew any such Thing to have been done by the said Coller nor do I believe he was
ever guilty of the aforesaid or any like Practice; I am therefore heartily sorry for what I have said
and hereby ask Pardon for the same of the above said Person, who, I fear, has been greatly injur’d
by the unguarded Tongue of Joseph Robins .

To this curious confession, which was evidently extorted from the
imaginative but timid Joseph, four witnesses appended their names. The
next gentleman to whom our attention is directed was still more unfortunate
than Mr Robins, for he received punishment without having committed any

particular offence. He, however, seems to have been made of very different
mettle from the Bristol man, for he is anxious to try his chances on better
terms with those who assaulted him. The advertisement is from the Daily
Post of January 22, 1739-40:—

W HEREAS on Saturday the 12th instant between six and seven at night, a gentleman coming
along the north side of Lincolns Inn fields was set upon by three persons unknown and
receiv’d several blows before he could defend himself, upon a presumption, as they said that he
was the author of a Satire call’d “the Satirist.” This is to inform them that they are greatly mistaken,
and that the insulted person is neither the author of that Satire nor of any Satire or Poem whatever,
nor knows what the said Satire contains: and therefore has reason to expect, if they are Gentlemen,
that they will not refuse him a meeting, by a line to A. Z., to be left at the Bar of Dick’s Coffee
House, Temple Bar, in order to make him such atonement as shall be judged reasonable by the
friends on each side; otherwise he is ready to give any one of them, singly, the satisfaction of a
Gentleman, when and wherever shall be appointed, so as he may not have to deal with Numbers.

A. Z. must have been possessed of a considerable amount of faith if he
believed that the rufflers who set upon him unawares would consent either
to expose themselves, or to give what he and others called, in a thoughtless
manner, “the satisfaction of a gentleman.” It must have been rare
satisfaction at any time to be run through the body or shot through the head,
after having been insulted or injured. In the London Daily Post and General
Advertiser, shortly after this (February 5, 1739-40), is an advertisement
which looks suspiciously like a hoax, unless, indeed, it was believed at the
time that one swallow would make a summer. As the advertiser was
probably devoted to the agricultural interest, this is a not unlikely solution
of the problem, more especially as a caged bird would naturally not be
expected to possess the desired power:—

I F Mr
any person will deliver a Swallow, Swift (commonly called a Jack Squeeler) or Martin, alive to
Thomas Meysey, at Bewdley in Worcestershire, before the 22d day of this instant February,
he shall have Ten Guineas Reward paid him, and all reasonable charges allowed him for his journey
by the said Thomas Meysey: Or if any person will deliver either of the said birds to Mr John
Perrins, Distiller, in Butcher Row, London, soon enough to send it to the said Thomas Meysey at
Bewdley before the 22d Instant February, and the bird shall be alive when delivered, or come to
live after it is delivered to the said Thomas Meysey, he shall have Ten Guineas Reward paid him,
and all reasonable charges allowed him by the said John Perrins.
These birds are oftentimes found in the clifts in great rocks, old chimneys, and old houses,
seemingly dead; but when they are put before a fire, they will come to life.
N.B.—It must not be a Swallow, Swift or Martin that has been kept in a cage.

There must have been much capturing of small birds, and many may
have been roasted alive in attempts to preserve them for the benefit of
Thomas Meysey. It certainly does appear as if about this time humour was
so rife that it had to find vent in all sorts of strange advertisements, and the
quacks were not slow to follow the lead thus set, as is shown by the
exercising swindle which follows, and which certainly must have exercised
the minds of many who read it at the time. It appears in the same paper as
the foregoing, on March 7, 1739-40. (It is almost time by March to know
what year one is in.)

F U L L E R on Exercise.
(A Book worth reading)
OTHING ought to be thought ridiculous that can afford the least ease or procure health. A very
N worthy gentleman not long ago had such an odd sort of a cholick, that he found nothing
would relieve him so much as lying with his head downwards; which posture prov’d always so
advantageous that he had a frame made to which he himself was fastened with Bolts, and then was
turned head downwards, after which manner he hung till the pain went off. I hope none will say
that this was unbecoming a grave and wise man, to make use of such odd means to get rid of an
unsupportable pain. If people would but abstract the benefit got by exercise from the means by
which it is got, they would set a great value upon it, if some of the advantages accruing from
exercise were to be procured by any other medicine, nothing in the world would be in more esteem
than that Medicine.
This is to answer some objections to the book of the Chamber Horse (for exercise) invented by
Henry Marsh, in Clement’s Inn Passage, Clare Market; who, it is well known, has had the honour
to serve some persons of the greatest distinction in the Kingdom; and he humbly begs the favour of
Ladies and Gentlemen to try both the Chamber Horses, which is the only sure way of having the
best. This machine may be of great service to children.

Mr Marsh may have been clever at making horses for chamber use, but
he doesn’t seem to have understood argument much; for whatever pleasure
there may be in bolting oneself on to a board, and then standing on one’s
head, it isn’t much in the way of exercise, even though Fuller may have
been at the bottom of it. We beg his pardon on it. Still, the idea is ingenious,
and in a population, the majority of which, we are informed, consists
mainly of fools, would succeed now. From this same London Daily Post
and General Advertiser, which is full of strange and startling
announcements, we take another advertisement, that is likely to arouse the
attention and excite the envy of all who nowadays suffer from those
dwellers in tents and other forms of bedsteads, the “mahogany flats” or
Norfolk Howards, who are particularly rapacious in lodgings which are let

after a long term of vacancy. This knowledge is the result of actual
experience. The date is March 15, 1740:—

M A RY S O U T H A L L
Successor to John Southall, the first and only person that ever found out the nature of Buggs,
Author of the Treatise of those nauseous venomous Insects, published with the Approbation (and for
which he had the honour to receive the unanimous Thanks) of the Royal Society,
Gives Notice,

T HAT since his decease she hath followed the same business, and lives at the house of Mrs Mary
Roundhall, in Bearlane, Christ Church Parish, Southwark. Such quality and gentry as are
troubled with buggs, and are desirous to be kept free from those vermin, may know, on sending
their commands to her lodgings aforesaid, when she will agree with them on easy terms, and at the
first sight will justly tell them which of their beds are infested, &c., and which are free, and what is
the expense of clearing the infested ones, never putting any one to more expense than necessary.
Persons who cannot afford to pay her price, and is willing to destroy them themselves, may by
sending notice to her place of abode aforesaid, be furnish’d with the Non Pareil Liquor, &c. &c.

Bugs are said to have been very little if at all known in the days of our
ancestors. It is indeed affirmed in that valuable addition to zoology,
Southall’s “Treatise of Bugs” (London, 1730, 8vo), referred to in the
advertisement just quoted, that this insect was scarcely known in England
before the year 1670, when it was imported among the timber used in
rebuilding the city of London after the fire of 1666. That it was, however,
known much earlier is not to be doubted, though probably it was far less
common than at present, since Dr Thomas Muffet, in the “Theatrum
Insectorum,” informs us that Dr Penny, one of the early compilers of that
history of insects, relates his having been sent for in great haste to Mortlake
in Surrey, to visit two noble ladies who imagined themselves seized with
symptoms of the plague; but on Penny’s demonstrating to them the true
cause of their complaint—viz., having been bitten by those insects, and
even detecting them in their presence—the whole affair was turned into a
jest. This was in the year 1583. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, well
known to those whose misfortunes subject them to contiguity with these
highly-scented bloodsuckers, that within the past few years bugs have
altered considerably. The old, nearly round-bellied, and possibly jovial
fellow, has given way to a long dangerous creature who is known to experts
as the “omnibus bug,” not so much on account of his impartiality as
because of his shape. It is believed by some that this change is the result of
bugs being discontented with their position, and their natural (and laudable)

attempt to become something else in accordance with scientific theory; but
we fancy that the true reason of this change is that foreign bugs have been
imported in large numbers among cargoes, and not infrequently about
passengers, and that the original settlers are being gradually exterminated in
a manner similar to that which led to the extirpation of the black rat in this
country. There is yet another theory with regard to the change which it
would be unfair to pass over. It is that the bugs have altered—it is admitted
on all sides that the alteration first exhibited itself at the East End of
London—in consequence of feeding on mixed and barbarous races about
Ratcliffe Highway and other dock purlieus. Any one who pays his money
for this book is at liberty to take his choice of hypotheses, but we can assure
him that the change is undoubtedly matter of fact.
The next specimen taken is of a literary turn, and appears in the
Champion, or the Evening Advertiser, of January 2, 1741. From it we may
judge of the number of burlesques and travesties which, some large, some
small, were called into existence by the publication of what many consider
to be Richardson’s masterpiece. Whatever rank “Pamela” may hold as
compared with “Clarissa Harlowe,” “Sir Charles Grandison,” and other
works by the same author, it is very little regarded now, while one of the
books to which it gave rise is now a representative work of English
literature. Here is the literary advertisement of the day:—

This Day is publish’d
(Price One Shilling and Sixpence),
N APOLOGY for the LIFE of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, in which the many notorious
A Falsehoods and Misrepresentations of a book called Pamela are all expos’d and refuted; and
the matchless Arts of that young Politician set in a true and just light. Together with a full Account
of all that passed between her and Parson Arthur Williams, whose character is represented in a
Manner somewhat different from what he bears in Pamela, the whole being exact Copies of
authentick Papers deliver’d to the Editor. Necessary to be had in all Families. With a modern
Dedication after the Manner of the Antients, especially Cicero. By Mr. Conny Keyber.
Printed for A. Dodd, at the Peacock without Temple Bar,
Where may be had, Price 1s.,
1. The Court Secret, a Melancholy Truth. Translated from the Original Arabic. By an Adept in
the Oriental Tongues.
Remember that a Prince’s Secrets are Balm conceal’d;
But Poison if discover’d. —Massinger.
Also, Price 1s.,
2. A Faithful Narrative of the Unfortunate Adventures of Charles Cartwright, M.D., who in his
voyage to Jamaica was taken by a Spanish Privateer, and carried into St Sebastians. His hard usage
there, and wonderful Escape from thence, &c. &c.

The “Court Secret” is possibly a satire on the evil doings which were
notorious in connection with high places at that time, but which happily
died out with their primary causes; and the other book is doubtless one of
those quaint stories of slavery and adventure which form interesting reading
even to this day. Next we come upon an advertisement which offers special
temptation to the female mind, as it combines the gratification of more than
one ruling passion of the time. It is from the General Advertiser of April 27,
1745:—

The Interpretation of
Women’s
DREAMS,
With the Prints of these Dreams finely Engraved.
If a Single Woman Dreams the 18th Dream, it tells when she’ll be married. If the 19th, she may
make her fortune.—The 35th tells what children she’ll have. But if she dreams the 34th Dream
She may as well wed Farinelli, All one
With a curious print of Farinelli finely engraved,
Plainly shewing to open and clear view, etc.
The 42d Dream describes the man she’s to have, and
The 33d tells a Wife also to Look about Her.
The rest of the Dreams tell, etc. etc. etc.
To which is added A Lottery
For Husbands for young Maids,
With the Prints of these Husbands, Finely Engraved.
Not one Blank, but All Prizes, the Lowest of which
Is a very Handsome and Rich Young Gentleman that keeps his Coach.
—And if she draws of the 6th class of Tickets, she is then sure to be
My Lady.
To be drawn as soon as full—And
Any Maiden that will put off Two Tickets, shall have One for Her
Self to put her in Fortune’s way.
’Tis Given Gratis at Mr Burchell’s Anodyne Necklace Shop in Long Acre, Cutler and
Toyshop. The sign of the case of knives next shop to Drury Lane,
Where on the counter it does Ready Lie
For All who’ll step in for’t in Passing by.

This Mr Burchell of the Anodyne Necklace was a notorious quack of the
time, to whom reference is made further on. It is patent to the most casual
observer that he is able to dispose his wares in the most tempting manner,
and the book, as well as the tickets, must have had a very good sale indeed.
Also portraying the tastes and peculiarities of this portion of the eighteenth
century is an invitation taken from the General Advertiser in October 1745,
which displays inordinate vanity on the part of the writer, or, to put it in the

mildest form, peculiarity of behaviour on that of the lady to whom he
addresses himself:—

W HEREAS a lady last Saturday evening at the playhouse in Drury Lane in one of the left-hand
boxes, was observed to take particular notice of a gentleman who sat about the middle of the
pit, and as her company would be esteemed the greatest favour, she is humbly desired to send him
directions, where and in what manner she would be waited upon, and direct the said letter to be left
for P. M. Z. at the Portugal Coffee house near the Exchange.

Notices of this kind—many of the most barefaced, and not a few of a
decidedly indelicate description—must have been a fruitful source of
income to the proprietors of newspapers; and that professions of adoration
for unknown women—most of whom were presumably married, else why
all the concealment and strategy?—did not fall off as years progressed is
shown by the following, taken from a wealth of the same kind in the
commencement of 1748. It is also from the General Advertiser:—

W HEREAS 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 at 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.

This man, though somewhat rude in his style, and, judging from the
description of his adventure at the playhouse, rather coarse in his manners,
is noticeable for stipulating that his charmer shall be single. Let us hope
that, if his intentions were honourable, he prospered in his suit. If he didn’t,
then perhaps he felt consoled by the knowledge that virtue is its own
reward.

T Othe
THE JOYOUS.—The Bloods are desired to meet together at the house known by the name of
Sir Hugh Middleton, near Saddler’s Wells, Islington, which Mr Skeggs has procured for
that day for the better entertainment of those Gentlemen who agreed to meet at his own house.
Dinner will be on the Table punctually at two o’clock.

The advertisement just given, which appears in the General Advertiser
for January 13, 1748, is one of the rare instances of anything relating to
politics in advertisements. The only time when political significance is
given to an advertisement is when party dinners, of which the foregoing

seems to be one, are advertised. The Sir Hugh Middleton is still in
existence, and a few years back, when Sadler’s Wells was the only home for
legitimacy in London, was much frequented by theatrical stars and the
lesser lights of the drama. Comparatively recently a music-hall has been
added to the establishment, which, however profitable in a pecuniary sense,
hardly adds to the reputation of this well-known and once suburban tavern.
In another preliminary notice, which appears early in April, attention is
directed to another part of the town, and probably to another phase of
political and party existence. It is, like the others, from the General
Advertiser, which at the time was a great medium. The two which follow it
are also from the same paper:—

H ALF-MOON TAVERN, CHEAPSIDE.—Saturday next, the 16 April, being the anniversary of
the Glorious Battle of Culloden, the Stars will assemble in the Moon at six in the evening.
Therefore the choice spirits are desired to make their appearance and fill up the joy.

It is not hard to determine the sentiments of those who then called
Culloden a glorious battle, though we should think there are few nowadays
who, whatever their tastes and sympathies, would affix the adjective to a
victory which, however decisive, was marred by one of the most disgraceful
and cowardly massacres of any time. But the shame still rests on the
memory of that man who was truly a butcher—a butcher of the defenceless,
but an impotent officer and arrant coward in the presence of armed equality;
and so, as his name leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, we will pass on to a
contemporary card put forth by an enterprising tradesman:—

JOHN WARD, Stay-Maker,
T the Golden Dove, in Hanover Street, Long Acre, Makes Tabby all over for £1, 13s. 0d., for
A large sizes £1, 16s. 0d.; ticken backs £1, 7s. 0d., for large sizes two or three shillings advance,
with the very best of goods and the very best of work; neither would I accept a ship-load of the
second-best bone, and be obliged to use it, to deceive people, nor tabby nor trimming. I am willing
to produce receipts in a court of justice for tabby, bone, &c., and be entirely disannulled business,
or counted an impostor and a deceiver, if I act contrary to what I propose; which if I did I should be
guilty of nothing but deceit, nor nothing less than fraud, and so don’t ought to be allowed; but I can
give the direct contrary proofs; for I can prove I have had eighteen measures at a time by me since
Christmas, for people as I have made for several times before, and all the winter never less than
five or six in a week, often more, all old customers; and in consideration its all for ready money, it
shows a prodigious satisfaction. I buy for ready money, and that commands the best of goods, and
the allowance made in consideration thereof.

Mr Ward speaks like a conscientious man, but so do most of the
manufacturers of female apparel—or at least they endeavour to—who
advertise. The General Advertiser was started in 1745, and its title indicates
the purpose for which it was intended. It was “the first successful attempt to
depend for support upon the advertisements it contained, thereby creating a
new era in the newspaper press. From the very outset its columns were
filled with them, between fifty and sixty, regularly classified and separated
by rules, appearing in each publication; in fact the advertising page put on
for the first time a modern look. The departure of ships is constantly
notified, and the engravings of these old high-pooped vessels sail in even
line down the column. Trading matters have at last got the upper hand. You
see ‘a pair of leather bags,’ ‘a scarlet laced coat,’ ‘a sword,’ still inquired
after; and theatres make a show, for this was the dawning of the age of
Foote, Macklin, Garrick, and most of the other great players of the last
century; but, comparatively speaking, the gaieties and follies of the town
ceased gradually from this time to proclaim themselves through the medium
of advertisements.” The great earthquake at Lisbon so frightened people
about this time that a law was passed prohibiting masquerades; and the
other means of amusement, the china auctions, the rope-dancing, the puppet
shows, and the public breakfasts, became scarcer and scarcer as a new
generation sprang into being, and the padded, powdered, and patched ladies
of high descent and doubtful reputation faded from the world of fashion.
This, however, was a work of time, and the crop of noticeable
advertisements, though smaller, is still sufficiently large for the purpose of
making extracts.
Continuing, then, on our way, we do not travel far from the staymaker’s
announcement, and are still in the same month, when we drop upon a notice
which requires no explanation, so well does it apply itself to the minds of
those whom it may concern. It runs thus:—

W HEREAS Ministers of State and other persons in power are often importuned for places and
preferments which are not in their disposal, and whereas many Gentlemen waste their lives
and fortunes in a long but vain dependance on the Great; This is to give notice, that in order to
preserve the suitors, on the one hand, from such disappointments, and the vexation, expense, and
loss of time with which they are attended; and men in power, on the other, from being solicited on
matters not in their department of business:
At No. 15, one pair of stairs, in the King’s-bench Walk, in the Temple, gentlemen at an easy
charge may be informed what is in their patrons’ power to bestow, and what with consistency and
propriety they may ask for; (either civil, ecclesiastical, or military, by land or sea, together with the

business of each employment, salaries, fees, &c.) as also by what methods to apply, and obtain a
speedy and definite answer.
At the same place the most early and certain intelligence may be had of the vacancies which
occur in all public offices. Those who have any business to transact with the Government, may be
put into the easiest and readiest way to accomplish it, and those who have places to dispose of may
depend on secrecy and always hear of purchasers.
N.B.—At the same place, accompts depending in Chancery, or of any other kind, are adjusted; as
likewise the business of a money scrivener transacted, in buying and selling estates, lending money
upon proper securities, and proper securities to be had for money.

This agency, if properly conducted, must have been as convenient for
patrons as for place applicants, and doubtless the “ministers of State and
other persons in power” must often have been astonished to discover what
power they really possessed, which discovery would never have been made
had it not been for the services of the gentleman up one pair of stairs.
In January 1752, the widow Gatesfield discovered the advantage likely to
accrue from the quotation in an advertisement of any independent
testimony, no matter how remote, and so being anxious to acquaint the
public with the superiority of the silver spurs, for fighting cocks,
manufactured at her establishment, she concluded her announcement in the
Daily Advertiser as follows:—

☞ Mr Gatesfield was friend and successor to the late Mr Smith mentioned in Mr Hallam’s
ingenious poem called the Cocker, p. 58.
As curious artists different skill disclose,
The various weapon different temper shows;
Now curving points to soft a temper bear,
And now to hard their brittleness declare.
Now on the plain the treach’rous weapons lye,
Now wing’d in air the shiver’d fragments fly:
Surpris’d, chagrin’d, the others gaze,
And Smith alone ingenious artist praise.

The following, which appears about the same time, is of a rather doubtful
order. It is inserted in the General Advertiser of January 6, 1752, and seems
to be an attempt to renew a friendship broken off by some frolicsome fair
ones at the sacrifice of as little dignity as possible. The advertiser certainly
seems to know a good deal about the missing ladies:—

W HEREAS two young ladies of graceful figure, delicate turned limbs and noble aspect, lately
absenting themselves from their admirers, are suspected maliciously to have sent an
expensive Packet, containing four indecent Words in various Languages, to a gentleman near

Hanover Square: This is to give notice whosoever shall induce these ladies to surrender themselves
to that gentleman, shall receive a suitable reward. The ladies may depend on the gentleman’s
discretion.

The tender honour of the fine gentlemen of sixscore years ago is
admirably shown by the next two public announcements, the first of which
appears in the General Advertiser for January 13, 1752:—

D URING the performance on Saturday night at Drury Lane playhouse, a dispute was carried to a
great length, between two gentlemen, but all the reparation demanded by the injured party
being publicly granted, the affair had no bad consequences.

Three days after, the advertisement was repeated in the same paper with
the addition of some particulars:—

D URING the performance on Saturday night at Drury Lane playhouse, a dispute was carried to a
great length between Mr V——n and a gentleman unknown; but on the stranger being made
sensible of his error, and making public submission and gentleman-like reparation, it was amicably
terminated.

Mr V——n was evidently very anxious that his friends should know he
had borne himself bravely, and like a gentleman, even at the risk of
bloodshed. Nowadays he would have endeavoured to get his advertisement
into another portion of the paper, and “Jenkins’s” services and leaded type
would doubtless have been brought into requisition.
The General Advertiser seems to have been a medium for affairs of
gallantry, for just at this period we find the annexed:—

A TALL, well-fashion’d, handsome young woman, about eighteen, with a fine bloom in her
countenance, a cast in one of her eyes, scarcely discernable; a well-turned nose, and dark-
brown uncurled hair flowing about her neck, which seemed to be newly cut; walked last new year’s
day about three o’clock in the afternoon, pretty fast through Long acre, and near the turn into Drury
Lane met a young gentleman, wrapp’d up in a blue roccelo cloak, whom she look’d at very
steadfastly: He believes he had formerly the pleasure of her acquaintance: If she will send a line
directed to H. S. Esq. to be left at the bar of the Prince of Orange Coffeehouse, the corner of Pall
Mall, intimating where she can be spoke with, she will be inform’d of something greatly to her
advantage. She walked in a dark coloured undressed gown, black hat and capuchin; a low middle-
aged woman plainly dressed, and a footman following close behind, seemed to attend her.

It is to be presumed that the hair, and not the neck, is referred to as being
newly cut, though at this distance of date it certainly does not matter much
which, except for the purpose of discovering probable fresh peculiarities

among our very peculiar ancestors. That more than one cunning tradesman
began about now to understand the full value of judicious puffery, is well
shown by the following ingenious advertisement, in the form of a letter to
the editor of the General Advertiser, of January 19, 1752, which is a good
specimen of that disinterested friendship which people always have for
themselves:—

Sir,
Your inserting this in your paper will be of great service to the public, and very much oblige,
Your humble servant, E. G.

That Mr Parsons, staymaker at the Golden Acorn, James Street, Covent Garden, makes stays for
those that are crooked, in a perfect easy pleasant manner: so that the wearer is as easy in them,
though ever so crooked, as the straitest woman living, and appears so strait and easy a shape that it
is not to be perceived by the most intimate acquaintances. As to misses that are crooked or inclined
to be so, either by fall, sickness, etc., he always prevents their growing worse, and has often with
his care and judgment, in particular methods he has in making their coats and stays, brought them
intirely strait, which I can attest, if required, by several which were infants at my boarding School
and are now good-shap’d women. I have often persuaded Mr Parsons to let this be published in the
Papers, for the good of my sex, for what would not any gentlewoman give, who has this
misfortune, either in themselves or their children, to know of a man that can make them appear
strait and easy, and their children made strait or preserved from growing worse. But his answer was
that he did not like it to be in the Papers; and not only that, but the Public might think he work’d
only for those who have the misfortune of being crook’d. But certainly in mine, and every thinking
person’s opinion, as he is so ingenious to make such vast additions to a bad shape, he must and can
add some beauties to a good one by making a genteel stay. He has been in business for himself to
my knowledge 26 years; consequently has, and does work, for genteel shapes as well as bad. I have
several fine-shaped misses in my School that he works for, whose parents always give me thanks
for recommending him, and are pleased to say that he makes the genteelest stays, robes, or coats
they ever saw; and I doubt not, but every one that employs him will say the same.

Sir, as the publishing this in the Papers (which I acknowledge was first without your consent),
has been of such universal service, therefore I desire you’ll permit the continuance of it, for I
sincerely do it for the good of my sex, knowing whoever applies to you will receive great benefit
thereby.
Elizabeth Gardiner.

Mrs Gardiner seems to have known just as much about Mr Parsons as Mr
Parsons knew about himself, or at all events as much as he cared to let other
people know. Very different is the next selection, which goes to show that
however unfashionable a thing love at first sight may be now, it had some
claims to consideration in 1752, from the Daily Advertiser of March 30, in
which year, this is taken:—

I F gained
the young gentleman who came into the Oratorio last Wednesday and by irresistible address
a place for the lady he attended is yet at liberty, Sylvia may still be happy. But, alas! her
mind is racked when she reflects on all the tender anxiety he discovered (or she fears she saw) in all
his care of her that evening. How much, how deep was all his attention engaged by that too lovely,
too happy fair! At all events an interview is earnestly sought, even if it be to talk to me of eternally
lasting sorrow. Notice how to direct to him shall not want gratitude. He may remember a
circumstance of a lady’s mentioning as he passed the sentimental look and sweetness of his eye.

There is just a suspicion of humbug about this, unless, indeed, it
emanated from an amorous dame of the Lady Bellaston school, for no
young lady of even those days would have penned such an effusion. Of
quite a different kind is the following, and yet there is a covert satire upon
the doings of the day in it, which suggests a relationship. It is not
impossible that both this, which is from the Daily Advertiser of October 27,
1752, and that which precedes it, emanate from the same source:—

An Address to the Gentlemen.
ENTLEMEN,—It is well known that many of you spare neither pains nor cost when in pursuit
G of a Woman you have a mind to ruin, or when attached to one already undone. But I don’t
remember to have heard of any considerable benevolence conferred by any of you upon a virtuous
Woman: I therefore take this method to let you know, that if there should be any among you who
have a desire to assist (with a considerable present) an agreeable Woman, for no other reason than
because she wants it, such Person or Persons (if such there be), may by giving their Address in this
Paper, be informed of an occasion to exercise their disinterested Generosity.

There seems to have been no hurry on the part of the gentlemen to
respond to this appeal, which might have stirred the heart of a knight-errant,
but which had no effect on the bloods and fribbles of the middle of last
century. In this year 1752, as previously noticed, the Act was passed
forbidding a notification of “no questions asked” in advertising lost or
stolen property.[33] The Edinburgh Courant of October 28, 1758, supplies
us with our next example, and also shows that the course of true love was as
uneven then as now:—

Glasgow, Octob. 23, 1758.
E Robert M‘Nair and Jean Holmes having taken into consideration the way and manner our
W daughter Jean acted in her Marriage, that she took none of our advice, nor advised us before
she married, for which reason we discharged her from our Family, for more than Twelve Months;
and being afraid that some or other of our Family may also presume to marry without duly advising
us thereof, We, taking the affair into our serious consideration, hereby discharge all and every one
of our Children from offering to marry without our special advice and consent first had and
obtained; and if any of our Children should propose or presume to offer Marriage to any, without as
aforesaid our advice and consent, they in that case shall be banished from our Family Twelve

Months, and if they should go so far as to marry without our advice and consent, in that case they
are to be banished from the Family Seven Years; but whoever advises us of their intention to marry
and obtains our consent, shall not only remain Children of the Family, but also shall have a due
proportion of our Goods, Gear, and Estate, as we shall think convenient, and as the bargain
requires; and further if any one of our Children shall marry clandestinely, they, by so doing, shall
lose all claim or title to our Effects, Goods, Gear or Estate; and we intimate this to all concerned,
that none may pretend ignorance.

There is something original about discharging a member of one’s family
for twelve months or seven years, and then taking her back again; and so
there is in the idea that all members of this same house are not only over-
anxious to marry, but that they are unduly sought after. The family must
have been, indeed, a large one to necessitate notification through the public
press; and though our ignorance may be lamentable, we must confess to not
knowing why Mrs M‘Nair declined to call herself by her husband’s name.
We presume—nay, we hope—that Robert and Jean did not upon principle
object to wedlock, though the advertisement, coupled with the fact of the
dissimilarity of names, might lead any one to suppose so. Marriage was
much thought of in 1758, so far as advertisers are concerned, as the
following, culled from many of the same kind, which now began to appear
in the Daily Advertiser, will show:—

A PERSON of character, candour and honour, who has an entire knowledge of the World, and has
great Intimacy with both Sexes among the Nobility, Gentry and Persons of Credit and
Reputation; and as it often happens, that many deserving Persons of both Sexes are deprived of the
opportunity of entering into the state of Matrimony, by being unacquainted with the merit of each
other, therefore upon directing a letter to A. Z. of any one’s intention of entering into the above
State, to the advantage of each, to be left at Mr Perry’s, Miller’s Court, Aldermanbury, Secrecy and
Honour will be observed in bringing to a Conclusion such their Intention. Any Person who shall
send a Letter, is desired to order the bearer to put it into the Letter-box for fear it may be mislaid:
and it is desired that none but those who are sincere would make any application on the above
subject.

That people were, however, quite capable of conducting their own little
amours whenever a chance offered, the following, which is another of the
love-at-first-sight effusions, and a gem in its way, will show. It is from the
London Chronicle of August 5, 1758:—

A Ycould not
L
oung who was at Vauxhall on Thursday night last, in company with two Gentlemen,
ady
but observe a young Gentleman in blue and a gold-laced hat, who, being near her
by the Orchestra during the performance, especially the last song, gazed upon her with the utmost
attention. He earnestly hopes (if unmarried) she will favour him with a line directed to A. D. at the

bar of the Temple Exchange Coffee-house, Temple-bar, to inform him whether Fortune, Family, and
Character, may not entitle him, upon a further knowledge, to hope an interest in her Heart. He begs
she will pardon the method he has taken to let her know the situation of his Mind, as, being a
Stranger, he despaired of doing it any other way, or even of seeing her more. As his views are
founded upon the most honourable Principles, he presumes to hope the occasion will justify it, if
she generously breaks through this trifling formality of the Sex, rather than, by a cruel Silence,
render unhappy one, who must ever expect to continue so, if debarred from a nearer acquaintance
with her, in whose power alone it is to complete his Felicity.

This goes to prove what we have before remarked, that the concocters of
these advertisements were in the habit of falling in love with the women
whom they saw with other men; and so it is only natural to suppose, that
however honourable they may have protested themselves in print, they were
in reality mean, cowardly, and contemptible. The well-known Kitty Fisher
finds the utility of advertising as a means of clearing her character, and in
the Public Advertiser of March 30, 1759, puts forth the following petition,
which had little effect upon her persecutors, as the little scribblers
continued, as little scribblers will even nowadays, and “scurvy
malevolence” also held sway over her destinies for a considerable period:—

T OCensure;
err is a blemish entailed upon Mortality, and Indiscretions seldom or ever escape from
the more heavy as the Character is more remarkable; and doubled, nay trebled, by
the World, if the progress of that Character is marked by Success; then Malice shoots against it all
her stings, the snakes of Envy are let loose; to the human and generous Heart then must the injured
appeal, and certain relief will be found in impartial Honour. Miss Fisher is forced to sue to that
jurisdiction to protect her from the baseness of little Scribblers and scurvy Malevolence; she has
been abused in public Papers, exposed in Printshops, and to wind up the whole, some Wretches,
mean, ignorant and venal, would impose upon the Public by daring to pretend to publish her
Memoirs. She hopes to prevent the success of their endeavours by thus publicly declaring that
nothing of that sort has the slightest foundation in Truth. C. Fisher.

We have already referred to an article written by Dr Johnson, in an Idler
of 1759, on the subject of advertisements. It is very amusing, and in it he
says that “whatever is common is despised. Advertisements are now so
numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become
necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquence
sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic.” He then passes in review
some of the most inflated puffs of that period, and continues: “Promise,
large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. I remember a washball that
had a quality truly wonderful—it gave an exquisite edge to the razor. And
there are now to be sold, for ready money only, some duvets for bed-
coverings, of down, beyond comparison superior to what is called ottar

down, and indeed such, that its many excellences cannot be here set forth.
With one excellence we are made acquainted—it is warmer than four or
five blankets, and lighter than one. There are some, however, that know the
prejudice of mankind in favour of modest sincerity. The vendor of the
beautifying fluid sells a lotion that repels pimples, washes away freckles,
smooths the skin, and plumps the flesh; and yet, with a generous abhorrence
of ostentation, confesses that it will not restore the bloom of fifteen to a
lady of fifty. The true pathos of advertisements must have sunk deep into
the heart of every man that remembers the zeal shown by the seller of the
anodyne necklace, for the ease and safety of poor toothing infants, and the
affection with which he warned every mother, that she would never forgive
herself if her infant should perish without a necklace. I cannot but remark to
the celebrated author, who gave, in his notifications of the camel and
dromedary, so many specimens of the genuine sublime, that there is now
arrived another subject yet more worthy of his pen—A famous Mohawk
Indian warrior, who took Dieskaw, the French general, prisoner, dressed in
the same manner with the native Indians when they go to war, with his face
and body painted, with his scalping knife, tom-axe, and all other
implements of war! A sight worthy the curiosity of every true Briton! This
is a very powerful description: but a critic of great refinement would say
that it conveys rather horror than terror. An Indian, dressed as he goes to
war, may bring company together; but if he carries the scalping knife and
tom-axe, there are many true Britons that will never be persuaded to see
him but through a grate. It has been remarked by the severer judges, that the
salutary sorrow of tragic scenes is too soon effaced by the merriment of the
epilogue: the same inconvenience arises from the improper disposition of
advertisements. The noblest objects may be so associated as to be made
ridiculous. The camel and dromedary themselves might have lost much of
their dignity between the true flower of mustard and the original Daffy’s
Elixir; and I could not but feel some indignation when I found this
illustrious Indian warrior immediately succeeded by a fresh parcel of
Dublin butter. The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection, that it is
not easy to propose any improvement. But as every art ought to be
exercised in due subordination to the public good, I cannot but propose it as
a moral question to these masters of the public ear, Whether they do not
sometimes play too wantonly with our passions? as when the registrar of
lottery tickets invites us to his shop by an account of the prizes which he

sold last year; and whether the advertising controversists do not indulge
asperity of language without any adequate provocation? as in the dispute
about strops for razors, now happily subsided, and in the altercation which
at present subsists concerning Eau de Luce. In an advertisement it is
allowed to every man to speak well of himself, but I know not why he
should assume the privilege of censuring his neighbour. He may proclaim
his own virtue or skill, but ought not to exclude others from the same
pretensions. Every man that advertises his own excellence should write with
some consciousness of a character which dares to call the attention of the
public. He should remember that his name is to stand in the same paper
with those of the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Germany, and
endeavour to make himself worthy of such association. Some regard is
likewise to be paid to posterity. There are men of diligence and curiosity
who treasure up the papers of the day merely because others neglect them,
and in time they will be scarce. When these collections shall be read in
another century, how will numberless contradictions be reconciled; and how
shall fame be possibly distributed among the tailors and bodice-makers of
the present age?” Judging by the advertisements which continued, the
worthy advertisers of 1759 had a very poor opinion of men yet to come, and
might have asked, had they thought of it, with the Irish member, “What’s
posterity ever done for us?”—a query which would have puzzled even Dr
Johnson.
The short-sleeved dresses of 1760 must have called for all kinds of
apparatus for whitening and beautifying the arms, and among many a
kindred and attractive advertisement of the time we take the following from
the Chronicle of April 19-21:—

Gloves for Ladies.

T HEandtruearms,
prepared French Chicken and Dog-skin Gloves, for clearing and whitening the hands
perfumed and plain. As some ladies have had but small confidence in these Gloves,
till they have been prevailed upon to wear one Glove for eight or ten Nights, when they have
evidently seen to their agreeable satisfaction that hand and arm brought to such a superior degree of
whiteness over the other, as though they did not belong to the same Person.
The above Gloves are prepared and sold only by Warren & Co., Perfumers, at the Golden Fleece,
in Marybone Street, Golden Square, at 5s. a pair, who import, make and sell, all sorts of perfumery
Goods, in the utmost perfection. The Violet-Cream Pomatum, and celebrated quintessence of
Lavender, by no other person.
☞ Ladies sending their servants are humbly desired to send a Glove of the size.
N.B.—Just landed, a fine parcel of the famous India Pearl.

*** The Queen’s Royal Marble, at 20s., and Chinese Imperial Wash ball, at 5s., that are so well
known to the Nobility, &c. Ladies’ Masks and Tippets.

All this effort at decoration and beautifying is very wrong, but we are
stopped in our desire to “improve the occasion” by the recollection that no
age has been more deep in the mysteries of cosmetic, enamel, pearl powder,
and paint than our own, in which quacks abound, and old ladies have been
known to submit themselves to the operation of being made beautiful, not
for all time, but for ever. A little further on, in the Evening Post, we come
upon an ambitious author who has attempted to regenerate the drama, and
who advertises his work. Shakespeare seems always to have been
considered capable of improvement by somebody, but as the mania for
touching the immortal bard up, and making him respectable and fit for the
understandings of small tradesmen, still goes on, and fortunes are made at
it, we will give the following without comment, lest some original author of
the present day might think we were obliquely alluding to him:—

In the press and shortly will be published
HE Students, a Comedy, altered from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour Lost, and adapted to the
T stage, with an original Prologue and Epilogue.
Printed for Thomas Hope, opposite the north gate of the Royal Exchange, Threadneedle St.

Deserters are plentiful about this period, our soldiers, however brave they
may have been when put to it, having an evident objection to the pomp and
circumstance of war. That was, perhaps, because their share of the latter
was unduly large as compared with their participation in the former. The
following is from Lloyd’s Evening Post of April 26-28, and is a fair
specimen of the remainder:—

Deserted
ROM the 16th Regiment of Dragoons, Captain Walmesly’s troop,
F WILLIAM BEVEN,
Aged 16 years, about five feet five inches high, stoops a good deal as he walks, and but very
indifferently made; absented himself from his Quarters last Saturday night, the 17th instant; he says
he was born in the parish of the Hays, in the County of Brecknockshire, and by trade a labourer; he
went away with a light horse man’s cap, a coarse red frock faced with black, a striped flannel
waistcoat, and a pair of leather breeches.
Whoever apprehends and secures the above Deserter, so as he may be committed to any of His
Majesty’s gaols, shall, by applying to George Ross, Esq., Agent to the regiment, in Conduit Street,
London, receive twenty Shillings, over and above the reward given by Act of Parliament.

Those who are in the habit of expressing themselves as to the decadence
of the British soldier, and of the British human being generally, will do well
to ponder over this advertisement, and judge from it the difference between
the defenders of hearths and homes of then and now. Yet, with all his want
of size and possession of awkwardness, this same youth, who would not
nowadays be admitted into the worst regiment of militia fallbacks in
existence, is deemed worthy of an extra reward. So much for “our army” in
the middle of the eighteenth century.

[33] This Act seems to have been forgotten, or capable of evasion, for a statute of the 7 & 8
Geo. IV., c. 29, s. 59, imposes a penalty on any person who shall advertise, or print, or publish
an advertisement of a reward for the return of property stolen or lost, with words purporting
that no questions shall be asked, or promising to pawnbrokers or others the return of money
which may have been lent upon objects feloniously acquired.

CHAPTER X.

THE EDUCATION COMPLETED.

o far, as has been shown, advertisements have had to struggle against

S foreign war, internecine disorder, the poverty of the State, and many
other drawbacks; but by the commencement of the seventh decade
of the eighteenth century, these difficulties have all in turn been
surmounted, and the most modern means of obtaining publicity, despite
prejudice, and, still worse, taxation, is fixed firmly in the land, and doing
much towards the management of its affairs. The country is at peace with
the world, so far as Europe is concerned; and even the Canadian campaign
is as good as over. Clive has made himself felt and the name of England
feared throughout the length and breadth of India, and merchants are
beginning to reap the advantages of conquest. George III. has ascended the
throne, has been married and crowned, and looks forward to a long and
prosperous reign. In fact, everything seems bright and smiling, for never,
through many a long year, was the country so free from troubles and
anxieties, or with so little to direct her attention from those two great
essentials to English existence—profit and pleasure. And so, as marked in
the preceding chapter, advertisements of all kinds progressed as the century
became older; and when the ordinary style failed, dodges of all kinds were
adopted to give a factitious importance to announcements, no matter
whether of quacks, of publishers, or of the infinite variety of other trades
and professions which just now began to be bitten by the fast-growing
mania. Some of the sly puffs were of a most specious order, and attention is
called to one of them by the indignation it evoked in the Monthly Review
(vol. xxvii. 1762). The object of the puff paragraph had been an insipid
panegyric on Lord Halifax, called “The Minister of State,” which sacrificed
on the altar of Halifax the characters of all preceding premiers, from
Burleigh to Bute, and the attempt to force its sale evoked the wrath of the

Review, which commences as follows:—“As the practice of puffing is now
arrived at the utmost height of assurance, it will not be improper for the
Reviewers occasionally to mark some of the grosser instances that may
occur of this kind.” Thereupon it notices the “lying paragraph,” to which we
have already referred, the words within brackets being the comments of the
Reviewer:

A noble Peer has absolutely given directions to his Solicitor to commence a Prosecution against
the Author of the Poem called, The Minister of State, a Satire, as a most licentious and libellous
composition.—The writer, no doubt, merits a severer censure of the Law than any of his brethren,
because instead of employing those great talents for poetry and satire for which he is so deservedly
celebrated [what does he not deserve for his effrontery?] in the service of Virtue and his Country,
he has basely [basely enough!] prostituted them to the unworthy purpose of defaming, lampooning
and abusing some of the greatest characters in this Kingdom. [All a puff to excite curiosity.] We
think this literary Luminary, of the age [this illiterate farthing candle!] should pay a greater
deference to the words of his predecessor Mr Pope:
“Curs’d be the verse, how smooth soe’er it flow,” etc.
[We doubt, however, if any of this honest gentleman’s readers will think his verses worth a curse,
whatever they may think he deserves for his impudence.]

This energetic effort on the part of the Review to prevent undue
reputations being made by disguised advertisements, had little effect in
checking an evil which flourishes unto this day—which will, in fact,
flourish as long as a majority exist ready to believe anything they are told,
and to be more than usually prompt with their credulity when what they are
told is more than usually wrong. The next notification we select is from the
British Chronicle of January 4-6, 1762, and is of a literary character also,
though, judging by the motto adopted, the work is more likely to produce
melancholy than amusement:—

This day are published, Price 1s.,
HE Songs of Selma, attempted in English verse, from the original of Ossian, the son of Fingal.
T . . . . Quis talia fando Tempenet a lacrymis?. . . . Printed for R. Griffiths, opposite Somerset
House in the Strand; C. Henderson, at the Royal Exchange; and G. Woodfall, Charing Cross.

How many books of this kind have been published, thrown aside, and
forgotten, or consigned to the pastrycook and trunkmaker, since the “Songs
of Selma” saw the light, is a question easier to ask than to solve. One thing
is, though, certain—the number of people who will write, whether they
have anything to say or not, increases every year, and in due course we may

expect an ingenious Chancellor of the Exchequer to impose a tax on
authors; which, after all, will hardly, so far as brilliancy is concerned, be so
destructive as the window-tax, or so uncalled for as Mr Robert Lowe’s
famous “ex luce lucellum” imposition. A couple of weeks later, in the same
paper (January 18-20), is the following of a very different character from
that which has been already selected:—

READING MACHINE

I S the
removed from the Three Kings, Piccadilly, to the George Inn, Snow Hill, London; sets out from
Broad Face, Reading, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at seven o’clock in the
morning, and from the George Inn, Snow Hill, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at seven
o’clock in the morning; carries passengers to and from Reading at 6s. each, children in lap, and
outside passengers at 3s.
Thomas Moore and
Performed by Richard Mapleton.

N.B.—Takes no charge of Writings, Money, Watches, or Jewels, unless entered and paid for as
such.

This machine was evidently a nondescript, partly slow coach, partly
waggon, and was extremely reasonable in its rates if it journeyed at any
pace, seeing that outside passengers paid no more than present
Parliamentary rates, while the insides had no occasion to complain of
excessive expenditure. But fancy the journey at seven o’clock on a January
morning, with the knowledge that no brisk motion would keep the blood in
circulation, that the roads were heavy, the weather indifferent, the society
worse, the conversation, if any, very heavy, and the purse proportionally
light! Such a company as Roderick Random and Strap fell in with in the
waggon, must often have been seen on the outside of the Reading Machine.
In the same paper of January 20-22, we find the advertisement of a
pamphlet issued for the gratification of a morbid taste which has its
representative nowadays—though, by the way, there is more excuse for a
little excitement over murder and execution now than there was in the days
when every week saw its batch of criminals led forth to take their final
dance upon nothing:—

This day was published, price 1s.,
OME authentic particulars of the life of John Macnaghton, Esq., of Ben ——, who was
S executed in Ireland, on tuesday the 25th day of December, for the Murder of Miss Mary Anne
Knox, the only daughter of Andrew Knox, Esq., of Prehen, representative in the late and present
Parliament for the county of Donegal. With a full account of his pretended Connexion with the

young Lady; of the measures he took to seize her person previous to the Murder; the circumstances
of that fact; the manner of his being apprehended; and his conduct and behaviour from that time till
his Death. Compiled from papers communicated by a gentleman in Ireland, to a person of
distinction of that Kingdom now residing here.
Printed for H. Payne & W. Croply, at Dryden’s Head in Paternoster Row.

John Macnaghton, Esq., was a real gentleman criminal, and though food
for the halter was plenty in 1762 and thereabouts, gentlemen were “tucked
up” still more rarely than within ordinary recollections; for stern as was the
law a hundred years ago, it had very merciful consideration for persons of
quality, and the hanging of a landed proprietor for a mere paltry murder was
a very noticeable event. In the London Gazette of February 23-27, we find a
record of the coronation of their illustrious and sacred Majesties, George
and Charlotte, which runs thus:—

Albemarle St., Feby. 26, 1762.
HE Gold Medals intended for the Peers and Peeresses who in their robes attended at the
T Coronation of their Majesties (according to a list obtained from the proper officers) will be
delivered at the Earl of Powis’s house in Albemarle Street, on Wednesday and Thursday next, from
ten to twelve o’clock each day.
It is therefore desired that the Peers and Peeresses, as above mentioned, will send for their
Medals; and that the persons who shall be sent for them shall bring Cards, signed by such Peers or
Peeresses, as the Medals shall be required for, and sealed with their Arms.

In the same paper we come upon the advertisement of a book which is
even now read with interest, though the price at which a modern issue of it
is offered is ludicrously small compared with that of the original edition:—

T HISAnecdotes
day is published, in small quarto, Price Thirty Shillings, Printed at Strawberry Hill,
of Painting in England, with incidental Notes on other Arts. Collected by the late
Mr George Vertue, and now first digested and published from his original Manuscripts. By Mr
Horace Walpole. Vol. I. and II. With above forty Copper plates, four of which are taken from
antient Paintings; the rest, heads of Artists, engraved by Grignion, Muller, Chambers, and
Bannerman.
To be had of W. Bathoe, Bookseller, in the Strand, near Exeter Exchange.

As we have no wish whatever to paint the lily, we will, although the
subject is a kindred one, leave Horace Walpole’s book without a fresh
criticism to add to the thousand and odd already passed upon it, and will
pass on to the land “where the men are all brave and the women all
beautiful,” and where, in Faulkner’s Dublin Journal, also of February 1762,
we come upon the cry of a young man for his mother. In the advertisement

is the nucleus of a story quite equal to “Tom Jones,” provided, of course,
that its author possessed the fancy of a Fielding. We are not aware of any
literary gentleman who would succeed, though we are acquainted with
plenty who would most confidently make the attempt; their only doubt, if
doubt possessed them at all, being not in their own powers, but in the
discernment of the reading public. To them, therefore, we present the
groundwork of a story which would naturally enlist the sympathies of
England and Ireland. A little might also be thrown in for the benefit of
Scotland, which would hardly like to be left out of so fascinating a
romance:—

W HEREAS a lady who called herself a native of Ireland was in England in the year 1740, and
resided some time at a certain village near Bath, where she was delivered of a son, whom
she left with a sum of money under the care of a person in the same parish, and promised to fetch
him at a certain age, but has not since been heard of; now this is to desire the lady, if living, and this
should be so fortunate as to be seen by her, to send a letter, directed to T. E. to be left at the Chapter
Coffee house, St Paul’s Churchyard, London, wherein she is desired to give an account of herself,
and her reasons for concealing this affair: or if the lady should be dead, and any person is privy to
the affair, they are likewise desired to direct as above.—N.B. This advertisement is published by the
person himself, not from motives of necessity, or to court any assistance (he being, by a series of
happy circumstances, possessed of an easy and independent fortune) but with a real desire to know
his origin.—P.S. The strictest secrecy may be depended on.

Foundlings seem to have been better off a hundred years ago than now,
for in all stories they come out very well, and in this present instance T. E.
seems to have been able to help himself. It is not unlikely, however, that
some sharp adventurer, knowing how weak is human nature, had hit upon
the expedient of attracting maternal sympathies—Bath was a great place at
that time for interesting invalids—with a view to a system of extortion. This
may, or may not be, and at this distance of time it is useless to speculate.
Accordingly we turn once more to the London Gazette, and in a number for
April 1762 find this:—

T HEfifthfollowing persons being fugitives for debt, and beyond the seas, on or before the twenty-
day of October, one thousand seven hundred and sixty, and having surrendered
themselves to the Gaolers or Keepers of the respective Prisons or Gaols hereafter mentioned, do
hereby give notice, that they intend to take the benefit of an Act of Parliament passed in the first
year of the reign of His present Majesty King George the Third, intituled An Act for relief of
Insolvent Debtors, at the next General or Quarter Sessions of the Peace, to be held in and for the
County, Riding, Division, City, Town, Liberty or Place, or any adjournment thereof, which shall
happen next after thirty days from the first Publication of the undermentioned names, viz.,
James Colburn, late of Smith Street, in the parish of St James, in the county of Middlesex, Baker.

Fugitive surrendered to the Keeper of Whitechapel Prison, in the County of Middlesex.
Second Notice.
Charles Watkins, late of the Bankside, in the parish of St Saviour, Southwark, in the county of
Surrey, Waterman.
Fugitive surrendered to the Keeper of the Poultry Compter, in the City of London.
Third Notice.
James Buckley, formerly of Cock Alley, late of Star Alley, in the Parish of Aldgate, Lower
Precinct, London, Cordwainer.

This is one of the first notices given of an intention to take the benefit of
an Act that was much wanted. The slowness of people to take advantage of
any boon, no matter how priceless, is here once again shown, for there are
but three claimants for redemption, two of whom had been published
before. By the middle of 1762 the Cock Lane ghost had had its two years’
run and was discovered, and it must have been just about the time of the
trial of Parsons and his family—viz., in June—that the following appeared
in the British Chronicle:—

This day is published, price 6d.
TRUE account of the several conversations between the supposed Apparition in Cock Lane,
A and the Gentlemen who attended. Together with the Death and Funeral of Mrs K——, and
many other circumstances not made known to the World.
Published for the conviction of the incredulous.

“I would take the ghost’s word for a thousand pounds.”
Hamlet.

Printed for E. Cabe, at his Circulating library in Ave Marie lane; and to be had of all Pamphlet
shops and News carriers.

It is hard to tell whether the writer is in favour of the ghost’s existence or
not from the advertisement, for while he in one breath speaks of the
supposed apparition, he immediately afterwards refers to the incredulous,
and quotes no less an authority than Shakespeare in support of the
imposition. Doubtless this was a trick to secure the purchase-money, if not
the support, of the partisans of both sides. Next, in the same paper, we come
upon a notice of the post-office in reference to the foreign mails of that day,
which runs thus:—

General Post Office, Aug. 8, 1762.
UBLIC Notice is hereby given to all persons corresponding with His Majesty’s island of
P Belleisle, that Letters for the future will be regularly forwarded from Plymouth to and from
that Island, by two Vessels, lately hired and appointed for that purpose.

By Order of the Postmaster-General,
Henry Potts, Secretary.

The mail service across the Atlantic was somewhat different in 1762
from what it is now, when a continuous stream of letters is every day
poured forth, either by way of Liverpool or by means of the later delivery at
Queenstown. Soldiers seem to have been shorter, too, not only in height but
in quantity, about this time, if the evidence of an advertisement of January
1, 1763, is to be taken. We are still quoting from the British Chronicle, and
shall continue to do so until another journal is named:—

T HEGranby,
Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, commanded by the Right Honourable the Marquis of
is willing to entertain any young Man under 23 years of age, having a good
Character, strait and well made, in height from five feet ten, to six feet one inch. Apply to Quarter
Master Campbell, at the Market Coffee House, Mayfair.

From the same copy we take another notice, which shows that the
executors of Mr Ward not only considered it their duty to get rid of his stock
at the best possible advantage, but also to continue a defence of the business
which had been instituted by the late proprietor against the attacks of an
impostor. The reason they give for the republication is curious, unless they
fancied its omission would trouble the spirit of the late compounder of
drugs:—

T HEMedicines
late Joshua Ward of Whitehall, Esq., having left very considerable quantities of his principal
ready prepared, such and such only as may be applied for by name, will be
delivered at his late dwelling-house in Whitehall.
As not the least pretence is made by us, of having any judgment in the application of Medicine,
we presume to say no more than that the specified orders shall be delivered with the utmost care
and fidelity.—Ralph Ward, Thomas Ward, Executors.
As the following was published by the late Mr Ward it is necessary to adjoin the same.—“Having
seen in the public papers that a woman servant discharged from my service advertises herself as
(late) my housekeeper and assistant in preparing my medicines. It is a justice I owe the public and
myself, to declare, that this woman was hired and lived with me as, and at the wages of a common
working servant, keeping no other. And as to what knowledge she may have in preparing my
medicines, every living servant in my family, with the same propriety, may pretend to it, being all
assistants to me by their manual labour. Signed—Joshua Ward.”

Soon after this, February 10-12, comes an announcement which must
have filled the lady readers of the Chronicle—for ladies ever loved bargains

—with anxiety and their husbands with terror. The last paragraph shows
that the warehouseman knew well how to bait his trap for the unwary:-

A REAL SALE OF SILKS
T the Coventry Cross, Chandos Street, Covent Garden. Consisting of a very great assortment of
A Rich brocades, Tissues, flowered and plain Sattins, Tabbies, Ducapes, black Armozeens,
Rasdumores, Mantuas, &c. Being purchased of the executors of an eminent weaver and factor,
deceased, and of another left off trade.
Merchants, &c., may be supplied with rich Silks fit for exportation, fresh and fine patterns,
greatly under prime cost, for ready money only, the price marked on each piece.
It is hoped Ladies will not be offended that they cannot possibly be waited on at their own
Houses.

Within a very short period, little more than a week, we come across an
advertisement which we admit fairly puzzles us. We are certainly far more
able to believe that the precious balsam does all that is promised for it, than
we are to understand the reason for its having but one title. It runs thus:—

W ARHAM’S Apoplectic Balsam, so well known as an excellent remedy against Fits,
Convulsions, &c., cures Deafness, bad Humours in the Eyes, inward Bruises, dissolves hard
Lumps in the Breast, and has often cured Cancers, as can be proved by Facts; is a sovereign salve
for green Wounds, Burns, &c. Is prepared and sold only by W. Strode, at the Golden Ball,
Tottenham Court Road, London.
Who also prepares and sells Warham’s Cephalick Snuff, of a most grateful smell, and an
effectual remedy for giddiness, nervous pains in the Head, &c.
Also Warham’s excellent Mouth water, which certainly cures the toothache, strengthens and
preserves the Teeth, takes off all smells proceeding from bad Teeth, &c.

In a number for February 26 to March 1, 1764, there is an announcement
of one of those dinners without which no English charity ever has
succeeded, or, so long as English nature remains as it is, ever will succeed
without. It is noticeable for various reasons, and especially for the notices
of “Mr” Handel and the airing of the hall:—

MAGDALEN HOUSE CHARITY.
Prescot Street, Goodman’s Fields, Feb. 10, 1764.
HE Anniversary Feast of the Governors of this Charity will be held on Thursday the 18th of
T March next, at Drapers-Hall, in Throgmorton Street, after a sermon to be preached at the
Parish Church of St George, Hanover Square, before the Right Honourable the Earl of Hertford,
President; the Vice-Presidents; Treasurer and Governor of this Charity; by the Rev. William Dodd,
A.M., Chaplain to the Bishop of St David’s.
Prayers will begin at eleven o’clock precisely, and Dinner will be on table at Three o’clock.

Stewards.
The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Spencer.
The Right Hon. Lord Scarsdale.

Joseph Martin, Esq. John Smith, Esq.
John Weyland, Esq. Jacob Wilkinson, Esq.
John Barker, Esq. John Lefevre, Esq.
John Eddows, Esq. Jacob Bosanquet, Esq.

N.B.—A Te Deum, composed by Mr Handel for the late Duke of Chandos’s Chapel, with Jubilate
and other Anthems, will be performed by Mr Beard, and a proper Band of the best performers, both
vocal and instrumental.
The Hall will be properly aired.
Tickets for the Feast may be had at the following places, at five shillings each, viz., Mr
Winterbottom’s, the Secretary, in Old Broad Street, and at the following Coffee-Houses; Arthur’s,
in St James’s Street; Mount’s, Grosvenor Square; Tom’s, in Devereux Court; Richard’s, in Fleet
Street; Tom’s, John’s, and Batoon’s, in Cornhill; and Waghorn’s, at the Court of Requests.
Two ladies Tickets for the Church will be given
with each Feast Ticket.

Mr Gibson, whose advertisement appears in the edition for April 5-7,
1764, would have been invaluable to Julia Pastrana and the Bearded Lady,
while his aid would have been equally in demand among those anxious to
cover themselves with the glory of hirsute appendages. Unfortunately for
him, moustaches and beards were not then in demand, nor was baldness so
noticeable as now; but the request for his beautifying paste doubtless
compensated him for other neglects:—

A CARD TO THE LADIES.
R GIBSON’S Innocent Composition, so greatly admired for its wonderful effects, in removing
M by the Roots in half a minute, the most strong Hair growing in any part of the Head or Face,
without the least hurt to the finest Skin of Ladies or Children; he sells this useful composition at 5s.
an ounce, with such full directions that any Person may use it themselves.
Also his curious Preparation for coaxing Hair to grow on bald Parts when worn off by illness, it
being allowed by many who have tried many approved remedies, to fully answer the desired
Purpose.
Likewise his Beautifying Paste for the Face, Neck, and Hands, so well known to the Ladies for
giving a true Enamel to the Skin; in pots at 10s. 6d. In lesser pots at 5s. each. The above things to
be had of him and nowhere else in England, next door to the Golden Star in Lower Cross Street,
Hatton Garden, Holborn.—No less a quantity of the composition can be had than one Ounce, nor of
the preparation or paste than one Pot.
N.B.—Gibson in gold Letters over the Door.

That the practice of inserting “dummy” advertisements for the purpose of
drawing others had been adopted before this, is shown by a caution inserted
in the Public Advertiser of January 1, 1765, though why theatrical managers
should have objected to gratuitous publicity we cannot understand.
Misrepresentation of the title of a play to be performed would rarely act
detrimentally, while it would often be beneficial. Managers of the present
day never object to anything but adverse criticism in a newspaper, and this
affects them in various ways. Critics may be as favourable as they like, but
let them condemn a piece and they raise a storm not easily allayed. The
managerial feeling is then shown at once. Sometimes the advertisement of
the theatre is summarily stopped, at others the usual first-night privilege is
suspended, and not rarely of late years letters have been written and
published showing how utterly biassed the criticism has been. But not one
of the whole theatrical fraternity ever objects to a gratuitous advertisement.
Even a man who comes on with a message likes it, though he in common
with all the outsiders of “the profession” affects to despise criticism, and
will, on the slightest provocation, speak about well-known writers for the
press in a most contemptuous manner. But here is the advertisement:—

T HEtheirManagers of Drury Lane think it proper to give notice that Advertisements of their Plays by
authority are published only in this Paper and the Daily Courant, and that the Publishers
of all other Papers who presume to insert Advertisements of the same Plays, can do it only by some
surreptitious intelligence or hearsay which frequently leads them to commit gross Errors, as
mentioning one Play for another, falsely representing the Parts, etc. to the misinformation of the
Town and the great detriment of the said Theatre.

As different in style as it is distant in date and place of publication is the
next item which attracts our attention. It looks suspiciously like a hoax, for
though other Newcastle papers of the time have been rigorously searched,
no news is discovered of Mrs Bell having shared the fate which is said to
overtake all who pry unduly into the secrets of the Craft for the purpose of
making capital out of their information. The advertisement appears in the
Newcastle Courant of January 4, 1770, and runs as follows:—

T HISMeeting)
is to acquaint the Public, That on Monday the first instant, being the Lodge (or Monthly
night of the Free and Accepted Masons of the 22d Regiment, held at the Crown,
near Newgate (Newcastle) Mrs Bell, the Landlady of the House, broke open a Door (with a Poker)
that had not been opened for some Years past, by which means she got into an adjacent Room,
made two Holes through the Wall, and by that stratagem discovered the secrets of Masonry; and
she, knowing herself to be the first Woman in the World that ever found out the Secret, is willing to

make it known to all her Sex. So any Lady who is desirous of learning the Secrets of Free Masonry,
by applying to that well-learned Woman (Mrs Bell that lived 15 years in and about Newgate) may
be instructed in all the Secrets of Masonry.

Coming back to London again, we find the following announcement
published in more papers than one. It is well worthy of perusal, as giving a
picture of the loneliness of Chelsea and its approaches a hundred years ago,
when it was a little outlying village, and when the whole duty of a
watchman was to evade by any and every means in his power, contact with
footpads, “high tobymen,” or burglars:—

Chelsea, Middlesex, Feb. 20, 1770.
HE Inhabitants of the Parish of Chelsea, being desirous to prevent, as far as in them lies, any
T Robberies or Felonies being committed in the said Parish, do hereby give Notice, that they
have entered into a Subscription, for a Reward for the Discovery of Robberies or Felonies, and
have therefore paid into the Hands of Mr Edward Anderson, of Chelsea aforesaid, as Treasurer, a
Sum of Money to answer the several Purposes hereafter mentioned, to such Person or Persons who
shall, during the Space of one whole Year from the Date hereof, apprehend or take any Offender or
Offenders, as are herein after described, the several and respective Rewards hereafter mentioned, in
fourteen Days after Conviction, over and above what such Person or Persons may be entitled unto
by such Apprehending and Conviction by any Law now in Being.
For every Robbery that shall be committed by any Highwayman or Highwaymen, Footpad or
Footpads, within the said Parish (except that Part of the Parish and Road leading from London to
Harrow on the Hill, which belongs to the said Parish), the Sum of Ten Pounds.
For any Person or Persons who shall break into the Dwelling House of any Subscriber, or send
any Incendiary Letter to any Subscriber, the Sum of Ten Pounds.
For any Person or Persons who shall steal any Horse, Mare, Colt, or other Cattle, belonging to a
Subscriber, or commit any Thefts or Robberies in any of their Outhouses, the Sum of Five Pounds.
For every Theft or Robbery that shall be committed in any Garden, Garden-Grounds, or Fields,
Orchard, Court Yard, Backside or Fish-ponds, or any Barge or Craft lying ashore, belonging to any
of the Subscribers, or shall steal any of their Fruit, Poultry, Fish, Linen, Lead, Iron-Gates, or Gate-
Hinges, Pales, or Fences, the Sum of Forty Shillings.
And the Subscribers do hereby promise to pay and discharge the whole, or such Part of the
Expence of such Prosecution or Prosecutions of the several Offences above-mentioned, as upon
Application to any five or more of the Subscribers, at a Meeting called for that Purpose, shall judge
reasonable.
And for the farther Encouragement of all and every the Person and Persons who shall apprehend
and convict any Offender or Offenders in any of the Offences aforesaid, the said Subscribers do
hereby promise to use their Endeavours for procuring the speedy Payment of such Reward as such
Person or Persons may be entitled to by any Law now in Being.
And the said Subscribers do farther promise and agree, That if any Offenders shall, before his or
her own Apprehension for any of the Offences aforesaid, voluntarily discover, or apprehend any of
his or her Accomplices, so as he, she, or they, be convicted thereof, such Person so apprehending as
aforesaid, shall be entitled to, and have such Reward or Sums of Money as before provided for
apprehending and taking the said several Offenders as aforesaid, upon Conviction.

The popularity of the Daily Courant and Public Advertiser with the
managers of Drury Lane Theatre seems to have come to a sudden end in
1771, probably for the reasons we have noticed as affecting modern
managerial bosoms, for in the Daily Post this appears:—

T OTheatre,
prevent any Mistake in future in advertising the Plays and entertainments of Drury Lane
the Managers think it proper to declare that the Playbills are inserted by their
direction in this Paper only.

The St James’s Chronicle (a weekly paper which is still alive, and as strong in its
Toryism as ever), in July 1772, contains an advertisement which for coolness and
audacity is very noticeable, even at a time when requests were put forth in the
columns of the public press with most unblushing effrontery:—

W ANTED immediately, Fifteen Hundred or Two Thousand Pounds by a person not worth a
Groat, who having neither Houses, Lands, Annuities or public Funds, can offer no other
Security than that of simple Bond, bearing simple interest and engaging the Repayment of the Sum
borrowed in five, six or seven Years, as may be agreed upon by the Parties. Whoever this may suit
(for it is hoped it will suit somebody) by directing a line to A. Z. in Rochester, shall be immediately
replied to or waited on, as may appear necessary.

Benevolence must have been very strongly developed in any one who acceded to
the requests of A. Z. But that there was a deal of that commodity afloat at the time of
which we are writing, our next specimen, one of disinterestedness and charity, shows.
It is from the Gazetteer of November 29, 1773:—

A LADY of strict Honour and Benevolence, who lives in a genteel sphere of Life, influenced by
a variety of critical Circumstances, offers her Service as an Advocate to Persons under the
most intricate Circumstances, especially to those of her own Sex, whose Troubles she can with a
secret Sympathy share, and who will point out certain Means of alleviating their Distress. The
Advertiser has a Genteel House to accommodate such Persons, while their Affairs are settled. The
greatest Delicacy, Discretion, and most Inviolable Secrecy may be depended on. Therefore to
prevent being made the sport of Curiosity, the Advertiser is determined to answer such Letters only
that appear explicit and satisfactory, with the Principal’s Name and Place of Abode. Please to
address a line (post paid) for Mrs Gladen, at No. 5 Church Row, Aldgate Church, Whitechapel.

Especially those of her own sex. It would be hard to discover what any one of an
opposite gender could want as resident with this nice old lady, unless indeed he
wished to put in practice the advice given to Nicodemus. But, as for money this
benevolent beldame would have done anything, there is little doubt she had plenty of
visitors of both sexes. It does not do, however, to be too hard on Mrs Gladen, when it
is considered that she has many highly successful and extremely respectable
representatives of the present day. We therefore pass on to the latter part of 1774,
when it is evident, from a perusal of the advertisements alone, that a general election
is impending. In September we find this in the Morning Post:—

A GENTLEMAN
H
of Character and considerable Fortune is extremely desirous of a H
at an approaching Period. Any one who can assist him, or point out an eligible
onour
igh

means of succeeding, shall be amply recompensed both at present and in future.—In short, name
your Terms; secrecy is all required on his part. A Line to Mr Dormer, at No. 24 Ludgate Hill, will
be attended to.

The Morning Post seems to have been a particular medium for the process by
which legislators were made in the “good old days”—good enough for the rich and
unscrupulous, of course—for very shortly afterwards many of the same kind appear.
The following stipulates the amount, and with true unselfishness recommends the
candidate:—

A GENTLEMAN of Honour, Character, and Fortune, who has £1,500 at his Bankers’, has some
desire to obtain a Seat. A connection with him will do no discredit to any Man of Rank, or
Body of Men. As he is serious, he expects no Application but from such as are so, to Q. at New
Lloyd’s Coffee-house, Cornhill.

One who follows is much more generous, so far as money is concerned, though he
lacks the disinterested recommendation of Q. Still as money and not mind is the
desideratum among election agents, there is little fear that the chances were in favour
of W. W., though doubtless there was room enough found at St Stephen’s for both.
Room for two! room for two hundred who had money with which to pave their
way:—

A GENTLEMAN of independent fortune is ready to give three Thousand Guineas to be
accommodated with a certain purpose to answer the advertiser’s end at this Crisis. Any one
inclined to treat about the above, may be further informed by Line, or otherwise, directed for W.
W., at George’s Coffee-house, upper end of the Haymarket.

It must not be supposed that the advertisements in reference to the elections
emanated only from persons desirous of writing themselves down M.P.’s. There were
plenty anxious as well as willing to assist them for a consideration. From many of
that time we select one, still taking the Morning Post as our guide:—

A NYaccomplish
Man of Fortune or Family wishing to enjoy an Honourable Station for seven Years, and to
it without the anxiety which generally accompanies the attaining it by
Contention, may probably be accommodated to the utmost of his Wishes, by addressing himself to
C. C. to be left at the bar of the Chapter Coffee-house, Paternoster Row, and disclosing his Name,
the which he may do without the risk of being divulged, as the advertiser pledges himself that the
most inviolable Delicacy and Secrecy will be observed.

We commend the foregoing to the notice of the gentlemen who talk of
Conservatism as the bulwark of the nation, and rejoice over any so-called political
reaction. However, as Conservatism now means “dishing the Whigs” by the most
advanced measures, we can put up with it, and so pass on to another specimen from
the Morning Post, which is published at the same time as the foregoing, and is found
snugly ensconced among those of quite a different tendency:—

A YOUNG Gentleman of the most liberal education and a genteel Address, would be happy in
having an opportunity of devoting his services to a Lady of real fashion and fortune, who
may wish to have some particular deficiencies thoroughly supplied, without subjecting herself to

any disagreeable restraint. Any lady to whom such an offer may be suitable, will receive the fullest
Explanation, in answer to a letter addressed to A. X. Turk’s head Coffee House, Strand.

We will leave this without further comment than the expression of a sad idea that
this young gentleman knew what was marketable, as well as a belief that he and
others like him may have done much to prevent the titles and fortunes of noblemen
and gentlemen who married late in life from passing to remote branches. We have no
wish to intrude our opinions, which are strong as our faith in human nature is weak,
but the advertisement is only a specimen of many others, and, like its congeners,
appears in one of the highest class daily papers of the time. Folk are not so outspoken
now as was the fashion a hundred years ago, yet is there any one who will venture to
state that we are more virtuous? It will be the natural impulse of many who read the
next advertisement, which is also from the now fashionable and severely virtuous
Post (date January 21, 1775), to cry out against the unnatural guardian who offers to
sell his ward. Perhaps though, if they take time to reflect, they may remember
instances of marriage for money, which, if not so public, were quite as iniquitous.
Listen to a gentleman of honour of the last century:—

A GENTLEMAN of Honour and Property, having in his disposal at present a young Lady of
good Family, with a fortune of Sixty Thousand Pounds, on her Marriage with his
approbation, would be very happy to treat with a Man of Fashion and Family, who may think it
worth his while to give the Advertiser a Gratuity of Five thousand pounds on the day of Marriage.
As this is no common advertisement, it is expected no Gentleman will apply whose Family and
Connections will not bear the strictest enquiry. The Advertiser having always lived retired from the
World, immersed in business, is unacquainted with those of that Rank of Life that the Lady’s
fortune entitles her to be connected with, for which reason he has made this public application.
Letters addressed to L. M., at Tom’s Coffee House, Devereux Court, near the Temple, mentioning
real Name, and places of Abode, will punctually be attended to.

This is not so bad for a poor innocent who has lived retired from the world. And
doubtless, though he was unacquainted with those of that rank of life to which a lady
with sixty thousand pounds might well aspire, he was not to be deceived by even the
most specious of fortune-hunters, Irishmen included. But here is another notice quite
as interesting, though of a very different kind. It is also from the Morning Post, and
appears a few days after that we have chosen to precede it:—

To the Ladies on Money Affairs.
HEREAS there are Sundry Ladies Who Have Two, Three, Or Four thousand pounds, or even
W more Money at their command, and who, from not knowing how to dispose of the same to
the greatest advantage, but by living on the Small Interests which the stocks produce, afford them
but a scanty Maintenance, especially to those who have been accustomed to Affluence, and would
wish to live so still; the Advertiser (who is a Gentleman of independent Fortune, strict Honour and
Character, and above any other reward than the pleasure of serving the Sex) acquaints such Ladies,
that if they will favour him with their Name and Address, so as he may wait on them as opportunity
best suits, he will put them into a Method by which they may, without any Trouble, and with an
absolute Certainty, place out their Money, so as for it to produce them a clear and lawful interest of

Ten or Twelve per cent, and that too on equally as good and safe Securities as if in the Funds, or on
Mortgage at the common low interest, etc.
Please to direct to R. J. Esq. at the Turks Head Coffee house, opposite Catharine Street, in the
Strand, and the same will be duly attended to.

There was no Associate Institute then to look after the interests of unprotected
females; and perhaps if there had been, so plausible a rogue would not have attracted
the attention of its highly paid officials. But the “weaker vessels” seem able to take
their own parts at advertising, for the following is by no means a unique specimen of
their effusions. Once again we draw from the Morning Post, the date being December
15, 1775:—

A LADY wishes to borrow One Hundred Pounds. The Security, though personal, may probably
be very agreeable to a single Gentleman of spirit. Every particular will be communicated
with Candour and Sincerity, where confidence is so far reposed as to give the real Name and
Address of the party willing to oblige the Advertiser. Gentlemen of real Fortune and liberal
Sentiments, and those only, are requested to address a line to Y. N. at Mr Dyke’s, Cross Street,
Long-Acre.

This lady was modest as well as candid and sincere; it is to be hoped she was pretty
also, or else she had small chance. But now comes not virtue but honours in distress,
and sufficiently hungry to be satisfied with very dirty pudding. In our own times
baronets have seen unpleasantnesses; we remember one who used to do casual
reporting, fires, accidents, coroners’ inquests, &c., and another who took to the stage,
unsuccessfully. But he who advertised in the Daily Advertiser of January 23, 1776,
was worse off than any titled successor. Judge for yourselves:—

MATRIMONY.
For Fifty Pounds only, may gain One Hundred and Forty Thousand.
BARONET of Great Britain, that has an eligible chance and right in thirteen distinct Claims to
A speedily recover the above Sum, or to expect part by a Compromise, inforced by a very little
Assistance, will marry any Woman, though with Child, or having Children by a former Husband,
that will put such a Fifty-pound ticket in such Lottery; the remainder of her Money, if any, will be
settled upon her; his person may not be objected to, and her Attorney may liberally inspect
Writings, &c. which in form set forth his expectancies perspicuously; and any young Counsel or
others may gain an Advantage, even a Fortune, by offering a small benevolent Assistance. Direct
for the Baronet, at No. 2, near Blenheim Steps, in Oxford St., opposite Oxford Market, who has
also a profession that may be made very advantageous for any new Adventurer in the physical way,
that has a little money to join with him as a Partner. A patient hearing will obviate all Objection,
and the strictest Secrecy and Honour may be depended on.

It is noticeable that “the Baronet,” like those of his rank already referred to, was
not above turning his hand to earn an honest penny. A little way back we invited the
attention of Conservatives to an edifying extract; may we now dedicate the baronet’s
appeal to those who would abolish the laws of primogeniture? Let them be advised in
time, unless they should wish to see a duke reduced to despondency, or an earl
holding horses for his living. No matter what happens to younger sons. Let them and

their younger sons be swallowed up in the middle and lower classes, as they are now,
though nobody seems to notice it; but let us preserve, no matter who else suffers, our
titled aristocracy in its present exalted position. But what is to become of the scions
of nobility who have no claim upon landed estate, when nepotism ceases to exist,
sinecures are abolished, and all Government clerkships are matter of open
competition! Frankly we do not know, but doubtless Providence will always be
tenderly disposed towards persons of good family. Turning once more to the Morning
Post (February 15, 1776), we come upon an announcement the merits of which are
hard to determine. It promises rather too much:—

FEMALE COMPANION.
LADY of independent Fortune and liberal Sentiments would be glad if, in procuring to herself
A an agreeable Companion she could at the same time relieve from Distress, and perhaps
prevent from utter Ruin, some still deserving although unfortunate fair one; for she can make
allowance for the frailty of her own Sex, and knows the base arts of the other; in a word, a single
faux pas will be no objection, provided there remain a virtuous Disposition, and that the person
wanted be good-natured, affable, and sincere in the account she may give of herself, which for that
purpose may at first be anonymous. She must also possess the usual accomplishments required by a
good Education; know something of Music, have an agreeable Voice, and a genteel Person, not
under twenty nor above the age of twenty-five years. Such as come within this description may
apply by letter to B. D. at the York Coffee House, St James’s Street, and the apparently most
deserving will be enquired after. No kept Mistress or lady of Pleasure need apply.

There seems more of the procuress than the patron about this; still there is no
knowing what the taste of an elderly single lady who fancied herself injured by the
opposite sex would not lead her to do. So leaving the question open, and trusting the
reader will be able to satisfy himself as to the purity or the reverse of the advertiser’s
motives, we will pass on to Lloyd’s Evening Post, in which, about the same time, we
find the following, which is worthy of notice:—

M ONEY wanted—when it can be procured—£100. No security can be given for the Principal,
and possibly the Interest may not be punctually paid. Under the above circumstances should
any one be found willing to lend the desired Sum, he will much surprise, and particularly oblige the
author of this advertisement.—Direct for A. B. C. George’s Coffeehouse, Haymarket.

Even the “author” of this, confident and assured as he must be generally, seems to
doubt the readiness of people to part with their money without some inducement, no
matter how slight. If A. B. C. had offered something impossible of fulfilment in return
for the desired loan, he would very likely have had many applications, whereas it
would be hard to believe that in the present instance he had even one. Now, if he had
adopted a plan similar to that which is advertised in the Morning Chronicle of April 9,
1776, he would have had a much better chance of raising the wind. This must have
arrested the attention and diverted the current of pocket-money of many young
lovers:—

AFFECTION.
NY Lady or Gentleman who has made an honourable Connection, may be acquainted if the
A other party has a reciprocal Affection; and so nice is the method, that it gives in a great
measure the degree of esteem. No fortune-telling, nor anything trifling in it, but is a serious and
sincere Procedure. To divest any apprehension of discovery of parties, the initials of their names is
sufficient. That the meaning of the advertiser may be ascertained, it is only asked for A. B. to know
if C. D. has a genuine affection; and of C. D. if A. B. has the like. It is requested that honest Initials
be sent, else the deposit of two shillings and sixpence is useless. But to convince those that send for
the intelligence of the use of this, they need only to send with the real, other Initials indifferent to
them, and they will be satisfied. Absence or distance does not abate the certainty of the then present
Esteem and Affection.
Letters (free) directed to S. J., No. 11, Duke-street, Grosvenor Square, will have honest answers
left there, or sent conformable to the address, in a day or two after their Receipt.

The next advertisement we find in our collection savours less of affection, for the
desire of the inserter seems to be to prevent some one to whom he has an objection
inheriting entailed estates. It has its value, in addition to what consideration may be
given to it as a specimen of the manners of the last century, as showing the kind of
people who then made the laws. Decency must have made a decided advance, look at
it from what point we will, since April 16, 1776, when this appeared in the Public
Advertiser:—

A GENTLEMAN who hath filled two succeeding seats in Parliament, is near sixty years of age,
lives in great splendour and hospitality, and from whom a considerable Estate must pass if he
dies without issue, hath no objection to marry any Widow or single Lady, provided the party be of
genteel birth, polite manners, and five, six, seven, or eight Months gone in her Pregnancy.
Letters directed to —— Brecknock, Esq., at Will’s Coffee House, facing the Admiralty, will be
honoured with due attention, secrecy, and every possible mark of respect.

In the Daily Advertiser of July, in the same year, we find the following, which,
though of a much more legitimate character than that just quoted, and directed to the
interests of fair and honest trading, will repay perusal:—

T WOin allMenLondon,
beg leave to acquaint the Public in general that they keep the cleanest Barber’s Shop
where the people can have their Hair cut for 2d., dressed for 3d., and be shaved
for 1d. One of these Men can bleed and draw teeth very well; he bleeds both in the English and
German manner, as well at home as abroad, and is exceeding careful. Bleeding 3d., drawing teeth
4d. There is a parlour made in the shop on purpose for bleeding and drawing teeth. The people may
depend on being served immediately and well in every respect. No satisfaction, no pay. The above-
mentioned Shop is at No. 7 King Street, Seven Dials.

Bleeding nowadays is still done by barbers, though not in the same way, nor so
scientifically, as practised by the two clean shopkeepers of King Street. Shaving as a
high art is neglected nowadays, a state of affairs traceable to the beard and moustache
movement of the last twenty years, which has rendered shaving below the attention of
true artists, who now give their attention to “cutting and curling,” &c. Any one who
doubts this had better trust himself to the untender mercies of half-a-dozen different
barbers, in ordinary thoroughfares, and where the prices are fixed at ordinary rates.

Before he has tried the sixth establishment he will not only have conformed to our
views, but will be a considerably altered, if not an improved, man. In the Morning
Post of October 13, 1778, we come across an appeal to the short-sighted, which is
worthy of the tribes of welchers who in our own times have made large fortunes
through advertising in the columns of the sporting papers. This must have been
something like the “discretionary investment” dodge, which brought in large sums to
swindling firms who professed to govern the turf a few years back, and whose
advertisements occupied whole columns in the newspapers:—

A Serious though Surprising Offer.
OR the compliment of One Hundred Guineas, any enterprizing Gentleman or Lady may have
F revealed to them an eligible method of converting hundreds into Thousands, in a few weeks,
and of continuing so to do yearly. The requiring so inadequate a consideration, is because the
proposer is under misfortunes. Only letters with real names and residencies will be regarded. Direct
for W. W., at the King’s Bench Coffee-House.

In the early part of 1778 (May 7) the Morning Post contained the following appeal
for an article which has been scarce ever since the world began, which is not valued
much when possessed, and which is about the last thing one could hope to obtain
through the medium of an advertisement, no matter how cunningly contrived, nor
how great the circulation of the paper in which it appeared:—

W ANTED immediately, the most difficult thing to be met with in the world, A S F ,
incere
by a person, who, though in the meridian of life, has outlived all he had. He wishes to meet
riend

with a Person in whom he may repose the most implicit Confidence; a Person who has a good
heart, and abilities to second that goodness of heart; who will give his advice cordially, and
assistance readily. The advertiser is a person in a genteel situation of life; has a decent income, but
is at present so circumstanced as to want a sincere friend.—Any Person willing (from principles of
Friendship, not Curiosity) to reply to the above, by directing a line to T. S., at Mr Sharp’s, stationer,
facing Somerset House, Strand, will be immediately waited on or properly replied to.

Money, the sincerest of all friends, is probably the object of T. S.’s ambition. If he
was not suited in the year ’78, an opportunity occurred soon after; for specially
directed to the cupidity of persons who desire to get money, and are not at all
particular what the means so long as the end is attained, is the following, which
appears in the Morning Post of March 1779:—

A GENTLEMAN of Fortune, whom Family reasons oblige to drop a connection which has for
some time subsisted between him and an agreeable young Lady, will give a considerable sum
of Money with her to any Gentleman, or person in genteel Business, who has good sense and
resolution to despise the censures of the World, and will enter with her into the Holy state of
Matrimony. Letters addressed to Mr G. H., at the Cecil Street Coffee-House, will be paid due
attention to.

As this kind of arrangement has not yet fallen into desuetude, although the aid of
advertisements is no longer invoked for it, we had better not give an opinion about its

morality, though it is but fair to admit that if the system of selling soiled goods, of
which the foregoing is an example, had but been out of date, we should have been
loud in our objections. For no vice is so bad as one that has exploded, and the
weaknesses which we can regard with complacency while they are current, cause
strong emotions of disgust when, their day being over, we look back upon them, and
wonder how people could have been so extremely wicked. About the same time, and
in the same paper, is another application of a peculiar nature, though in this instance
the advertiser wishes not to part with, but to obtain a similar commodity to that
advertised by G. H. This is it:—

A SINGLE Gentleman of Fortune, who lives in a genteel private style, is desirous of meeting
with an agreeable genteel young Lady, of from 20 to 30 years of age, not older, to superintend
and take upon her the management of his House and Servants, for which she will be complimented
with board, &c. As the situation will be quite genteel, it will not suit any but such who has had a
liberal Education, and who has some independance of her own, so as to enable her always to appear
very genteel, and as a relation or particular friend, in which character she will always be esteemed,
and have every respect paid her, so as to render the situation and every thing else as agreeable as
possible.
Any lady inclining to the above, will please to direct with name and address, to M. H., Esq., to be
left at No. 7, the Bookseller’s, in Great Newport Street, near St Martin’s Lane; she will be waited
on, or wrote to, but with the greatest delicacy, and every degree of strict honour and secrecy.

Strict honour and secrecy seems to be an essential to the successful completion of
the designs of many advertisers of this time, but they are to be all on one side, in
company with an amount of blind credulity which would be wonderful if it were not
repeatedly exhibited in modern days. Here is an honourable and secret venture which
appears in the Morning Post of December 17, 1779, and which was doubtless very
successful:—

A GENTLEMAN who knows a Method which reduces it almost to a certainty to obtain a very
considerable sum, by insuring of Numbers in the Lottery, is advised by his Friends to offer to
communicate it to those who wish to speculate in that Way. The advantage that is procured by
proceeding according to his Principles and Directions, will be plainly demonstrated and made
perfectly evident to any who chuses to be informed of it. The terms are Ten Guineas each person,
and they must engage not to discover the plan for the space of eighteen months. If those who are
willing to agree to the above terms will be pleased to address a line to J. R. C. at the Union Coffee-
House, Cornhill, or the York Coffee House, St James’s Street, they will be immediately informed
where to apply. Those who have lost money already (by laying it out improperly) insuring of
Numbers, may soon be convinced how much it will be to their advantage to apply as above.
N.B.—This advertisement will be inserted in this morning’s Paper only.

A suspicious person would have fancied that the friends of J. R. C., unless they
were dissimilar from other friends, would have used the information for their own
benefit—but generous and self-abnegating people do turn up in history in the most
unexpected and unaccountable ways. Another specimen of the secret and honourable
kind, though in it the secrecy and honour have to be on the side of the advertiser,
follows. It is in the Morning Post, April 18, 1780, and runs thus:—

A NYagreeable
Lady whose Situation may require a Temporary Retirement, may be accommodated
to her wishes in the house of a Gentleman of eminence in the Profession, where
honour and secrecy may be depended on, and where every vestige of Pregnancy is obliterated; or
any Lady who wishes to become Pregnant may have the causes of sterility removed in the safest
manner. Letters (Post-paid) addressed to A. B. No. 23, Fleet Street, will be attended to.

A. B. offers a double convenience, the second item in which is well worthy of note.
The house must have been somewhat similar, except that the accommodation was for
human beings, to those establishments advertisements in connection with which
frequently appear in the sporting and agricultural papers. Much about the same date
as the specimen just quoted appears another of quite a different kind, inserted in
several journals. It is rather unique as a way of reminding customers that life is short
and debt is long, and is suspiciously sartorial:—

To whom it may Concern.
ICHARD Guy returns thanks to all his good old Friends for their kind Recommendation, which
R he will always acknowledge with gratitude, by being ready to oblige them on all occasions,
but earnestly desires to settle Accounts, to pay and to be paid; which he hopes will be of
satisfaction to both parties; for as it is fully observed, short Reckonings keep long Friends; so to
preserve good friendship and prevent disputes in Accompts, he always pays ready Money, that is
doing as he would be done unto.
N.B.—He courts neither Honour nor Riches, his whole and sole motive being to serve his good
old Friends; the sin of Ingratitude he utterly abhors.

The shameless manner in which sinecures in Government offices were bought and
sold even so late as 1781 is shown by the following specimen advertisement, which is
taken from the Morning Herald of September 22:—

A GENTLEMAN of Character who wishes for some Employ under Government merely for the
sake of Amusement, would be willing to advance any Nobleman or Gentleman the sum of
Three Thousand Pounds, upon Mortgage, upon legal Interest, provided the Mortgager will, thro’ his
Interest, procure a place in any genteel Department, where the emoluments are not less than two or
three hundred Pounds per annum. The Advertiser flatters himself this will not be deemed an
ineligible Offer, if compared with the present mode of raising Money upon Annuities; as a
gentleman must be obliged to grant five hundred per annum out of his income to raise the like Sum.
If any Gentleman who may be inclined to answer this Advertisement does not know of any
Vacancy, the Advertiser will point out several, which may be easily procured by interest. A line
addressed to S. X. to be left at the bar of the Chapter Coffee-house, St Paul’s, will be attended to.
Secrecy may be depended on. No Broker will be treated with.

Those were happy times, indeed, when no such vulgar thing as merit was allowed
to interfere with a man’s upward progress in life, provided he possessed capital,
which could always secure him good interest in more ways than one. Money was at
full value then, and the following, from the Morning Post of October 18, 1781, is one
among many endeavours to obtain it in larger or smaller quantities:—

W ANTED immediately, or as soon as can be met with, that invaluable acquisition (when once
gained) A S Friend, by a person who in the early part of his life had many; but who,
incere

from the all-powerful hand of Death and other fortuitous incidents, has been deprived of all those
whom he could once call by that sacred Name, and to whom he could apply either for Counsel or
Assistance. The author of this Advertisement is a Middle-aged man, in a genteel situation of Life, a
Housekeeper, has a decent Income, but yet, is so circumstanced as to have a particular occasion for
Fifty or Sixty Pounds, for a Year and a half or thereabouts. He wishes therefore to meet with a
Person of liberal and generous Sentiments, who would assist him with the above trifling Sum. He
flatters himself he can make the mode of payment quite agreeable to any Gentleman, Lady, or
Tradesman of credit, who may be induced to answer this advertisement from a motive arising from
the secret satisfaction there is in rendering a Service.—A line directed for S. E., and left at the
Morning Post Office, will be immediately attended to.

In 1785 was established the Daily Universal Register, a paper which was, under a
new title, adopted in 1788, to develop into the greatest and most powerful organ in
the world. On the 1st of January, in the last-named year, the Register appeared with
the following heading: The Times, or Daily Universal Register, printed
Logographically. The price was threepence, and for many years the Times gave no
promise of future greatness; but it was always fearless, and very early was fined,
while its editor narrowly escaped imprisonment. In 1790 Mr Walter was actually
incarcerated in Newgate, where he remained sixteen months, besides being fined
£200, for a libel on the Dukes of York and Clarence. He was released eventually at
the intercession of the Prince of Wales. The history of the Times has been told so
often that particulars are hardly needed here; but as showing how its present
eminence is due to nothing but perseverance and integrity, as well as the everpresent
desire to be first wherever possible, we quote the following from a short notice of the
life of one of its proprietors: “It was under John Walter II., born in 1784, that the
Times rose to the place of the first newspaper in the world. Whilst yet a youth, in
1803 he became joint proprietor and sole manager of the Times, and very soon his
hand became manifest in the vigour and independence of its politics, and the
freshness of its news. Free speech, however, had its penalties. The Times denounced
the malpractices of Lord Melville, and the Government revenged itself by
withdrawing from the Walters the office of printers to the Customs, which had been
held by the family for eighteen years. During the war between Napoleon and Austria
in 1805, the desire for news was intense. To thwart the Times the packets for Walter
were stopped at the outports, while those for the ministerial journals were hurried to
London. Complaint was made, and the reply was given that the editor might receive
his foreign papers as a favour; meaning thereby that if the Government was gracious
to the Times, the Times should be gracious to the Government; but Walter would
accept no favour on such terms. Thrown on his own resources, he contrived, by
means of superior activity and stratagem, to surpass the ministry in early intelligence
of events. The capitulation of Flushing in August 1809, was announced by the Times
two days before the news had arrived through any other channel. In the editorship of
the paper he spared neither pains nor expense. The best writers were employed, and
wherever a correspondent or a reporter displayed marked ability, he was carefully
looked after and his faculty utilised. Correspondents were posted in every great city

in the world, and well-qualified reporters were despatched to every scene of public
interest. The debates in Parliament, law proceedings, public meetings, and
commercial affairs, were all reported with a fulness and accuracy which filled readers
with wonder. What a visionary could scarcely dare to ask, the Times gave. To other
journals imitation alone was left. They might be more consistent politicians, but in the
staple of a newspaper, to be nearly as good as the Times was their highest praise.”

THE TIMES

. 940. (Price Three-p
TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1788.
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
By his MAJESTY’S COMPANY,
THIS EVENING,
Will be presented the Tragedy of
J UL I A ,
OR, THE ITALIAN LOVER.
The principal Characters by
Mr. KEMBLE and Mrs. SIDDONS.
The Prologue to be spoken by Mr. Kemble;
And the Epilogue by Mrs. Siddons.
With New Dresses, Decorations, &c.
To which will be added
T h e D E S E RT E R
Henry, Mr. KELLY, Skirmish, Mr. BANNISTER, jun.
And Louisa, by Mrs. CROUCH.
To-morrow (by Desire) The Wonder, with, the 6th time, Harlequin, Jun. On Thursday, the
tragedy of Percy; Elwina, Mrs. Siddons.

BY COMMAND OF HIS MAJESTY,
And under the same DIRECTORS as the CONCERT
of ANTIENT MUSIC.
HE Oratorios of SOLOMON, ALEXANDER’S FEAST, with the CHOICE OF HERCULES;
T JOSEPH; ACIS and GALATEA, with DRYDEN’S ODE; ESTHER; and MESSIAH, will be
performed on the six FRIDAYS in LENT, at the CONCERT ROOM in TOTTENHAM STREET.
Subscriptions taken at Messrs. Longman and Broderip’s Music Shops in the Haymarket and
Cheapside, and at Mr. Ashley’s, No. 4, Pimlico, at Three Guineas each, the Tickets NOT
transferable.

ROYALTY THEATRE,
WELL STREET, NEAR GOODMAN’S FIELDS
THIS EVENING,
AN OCCASIONAL ADDRESS.

By MR. PALMER,
In the Character of Christmas.
A Musical Entertainment called
T H O M A S and S U S A N ; Or,
The GENEROUS TAR
For the 3rd time, a New Pantomimic Entertainment,
called
The DESERTER of NAPLES;
Or, ROYAL CLEMENCY.
Under the Direction of MR. DELPINI.
The Airs, Duets, and Choruses composed by Mr. REEVE.
The DESERTER by MR. PALMER.
The other Characters by
Mr. W Palmer, Mr. Cooper, Mr. L’Estrange, Mr. Hudson,
and Mr. DELPINI.
Mrs. Delpini, Madems. Bitthemer, and Mrs. GIBBS.
End of the First Part, a Grand Representation of
MOUNT VESUVIUS at the Time of the Eruption, with
the Flowing of the Lava.
The Dances by Mr. Holland, Mad. Bitthemer, and Mad.
Constance; composed by M. MALTER.
A SONG by Master BRAHAM.
The Whole to conclude with (37th time) a new Pantomimic
Entertainment, called
H A R L E Q U I N. M U N G O;
OR, A PEEP INTO THE TOWER.
Harlequin, Mr. RAYNER, Jun.
Mungo Harlequin, Mr. BOURKE,
Pantaloon, Mr. FOLLETT, Sen.
Keeper of Wild Beasts and Warder of the Tower
(with a Chaunt), Mr. GRACE.
Captain, Sailor, and first waterman (with Songs),
Mr. ARROWSMITH.
Clown, Mr. FOLLETT, Jun.
Planter’s Wife, Mrs. BURNETT,
And, Columbine, Mrs. GIBBS.
In Part First a Dance of Slaves by Messrs. Hollands,
Bourke, Menage, &c.
To Conclude with a grand Ballet,
by Mons. Malter, Mr. Holland, Mad. Bitthemer, and
Mademoiselle Constance.
Boxes, 5s; Pit, 3s; First Gall., 2s; Second Gall., 1s.
Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. Clark, at the Stage Door of the Theatre.
The Doors to be opened for the future at half-past Five, and to begin precisely at half-past Six
o’clock.
°⸸° No Money will be returned after the Curtain is drawn up, nor will any person be admitted
behind the scenes. Vivant Rex & Regina.
N.B. Nothing under . . . . will be taken.

TO BE LETT, OR SOLD.
XTENSIVE Premises in the Neighbourhood of Cheapside.
E
Apply at No. 9, Cheapside.

A CAUTION to prevent IMPOSITION.
SHARP’S CONCAVE RAZORS
A retempered,
made of the very best steel that can be possibly procured in this or any other country,
and finished with the greatest nicety and circumspection. Their superior excellence
above all others has made then more esteemed than any Razor now in use; the consequence of
which is that some persons have offered, and still do offer, an inferior article under their name.
C. SHARP, Perfumer and Razor Maker to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, at No. 131,
Fleet Street, and No. 57, Cornhill,
Most respectfully intreats the public to observe that his Concave Razors are not sold at any other
places in London, but at his shops as above, Sharp stamped on the blade of the Razors; all others
are counterfeit.
Sharp’s Metallic Razor Strops, which keep the Razor to good order, without the use of a Hone or
grinding, are not to be equalled; but the above articles are too well esteemed to need anything being
said in their behalf. His Alpine Soap, for shaving, is by far the best adapted for that purpose of any
yet invented; it never causes the least smarting sensation, but is perfectly soft, sweet, and pleasing.
Likewise his curious Cyprian Wash balls, great variety of shaving cases and pouches, that hold all
the implements necessary for shaving, dressing, &c.
Sharp’s sweet hard and soft pomatums, are remarkable for keeping good in any climate longer
than any other. His Lavender Water, drawn from the flowers, his warranted Tooth brushes and the
Prince of Wales Tooth Powder, are articles worthy the attention of the public.
Combs, Soaps, Wash balls, and every article in the Perfumery branch, wholesale, retail, and for
exportation.
N.B. Families, &c., who take any of Sharp’s articles by the dozen save considerably.
A complete Dressing case fitted up with razor, combs &c., for 10s. 6d.

K I N G ’ S T H E AT R E , H a y m a r k e t .
By P A R T I C U L A R D E S I R E, on Thursday next, January 3rd, 1788,
WILL BE PRESENTED THE SERIO COMIC OPERA called
IL RE THEODORO in VENEZIA.
OR, THEODORE KING OF CORSICA AT VENICE.
The Principal Characters by
Sig. MORELLI, Sig. MORIGI,
Sig. BALELI, Sig. CALVESI,
And Sig. FINESCHI,
Signora SESTINI, and Signora STORACE.
The Music composed, in his best style, by the celebrated
Mr. PAESIELO.
Under the Direction of
Sig. MAZZINGHI;
And Leader of the Orchestra, Mr. CRAMER.
Painter and Mechanist, Sig. GAETANO MARINARI.
Inventor & Maker of the Dresses, Sig. LUPINO.
The doors to be opened at Six and to begin precisely at
Half-past Seven o’clock.
Pit, 10s. 6d. First Gallery, 5s. Upper Gallery, 3s.
Tickets to be had and Subscriptions paid as usual, at Messrs. Ransome, Moreland, and
Hammersley’s, Bankers, No. 57, Pall Mall.
End of Act I., A NEW DIVERTISEMENT, composed
by Mons. CHEVALIER, and performed by
Mons. VESTRIS, Mons. COULON,
And Mons. CHEVALIER;
The Two Miss SIMONETS, Signora REDINI,
And Mad. COULON.
End of the Opera, a new BALLET, composed by
Mons. NOVERRE, called

LES OFFRANDES A L’AMOUR,
And Performed by
Mons. VESTRIS, Mons. COULON,
And Mons. DIDELOT,
Miss HELLESBERG, Mad. VEDIE,
The other Characters by
Messrs. SAUNLIER, COULON, HENRY, SALA,
Mademoiselles GRENIERS, &c. &c.,
And MEZUKES.
N.B. For the Better accommodation of the Subscribers, the office is removed back to Union
Court, Haymarket.
The Nobility and Gentry are requested to take notice that the first Masque Ball will be given at
this place on Monday, the 4th of February, 1788.

NEW MUSIC.
This day is Published,
By LONGMAN and BRODERIP,
Musicsellers and Musical Instrument Makers to his Royal
Highness the PRINCE of WALES
No. 26, Cheapside, and No. 13, Haymarket.

Authors. £. s. d.
J. Haydn.
T HREE SYMPHONIES for a grand Orchestra, dedicated to his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Op. 5 0 10 6
Ditto. A set of QUARTETTS for two Violins, Tenor and Violoncello,
expressive of the Passion of our Saviour. Op. 48 0 8 0
Mozart. Two SYMPHONIES for a Grand Orchestra. Op. 5 and 9, each 0 6 0
Ditto. Six QUARTETTS, dedicated to Mr. Haydn. Op. 1 0 15 0
Ditto. QUARTETT for the Harpsichord 0 3 0
Storace. CARE DONNE CHE BRAMATE, sung by Signora Storace in Il Re
Theodore in Venezia 0 2 6
Pleyel. Two SONATAS for the Harpsichord, with an accompaniment for a
Violin. Op. 7 0 4 0
Ditto. TRIOS for a Violin, Tenor, and Violoncello. Op. 11 0 6 0
Gìordano. Three GRAND DUETS for the Harpsichord, from the works of
Haydn 0 7 6
Chalon. THREE DUETS for the Harpsichord. Op. 7 0 7 6
Barthelemon. COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS for the Pedal Harp, with Airs,
Arpegias, and Sonatas, and an easy method for tuning 0 10 6
Percy. Six ITALIAN ARIETTAS in the Venetian style, for the voice and
Piano Forte. Op. 5 0 5 0
Starkel. Three SONATAS for the Harpsichord, with Accompaniments. Op. 22 0 7 6
Millico. A Fourth set of Six ITALIAN CANZONETS, dedicated to Lady
Louisa Hervey 0 5 0
Bishop. Six MINUETS and Twelve COUNTRY DANCES for the year 1788 0 2 6
Jones. Ditto ditto ditto 0 2 6
Shield. The FARMER. A comic opera, for the Voice and Harpsichord 0 6 0

NEW MUSIC.
This Day are Published,
By J. BLAND, No. 45, Holborn,

T HEBowden,
SONGS in Robin Hood, of “Charming Clorinda,” and “When generous Wine,” sung by Mr.
1s. each. “When ruddy Aurora,” and “The Trump of Fame,” each 6d. “Aurora,” a
ballad, 1s. He vowed to love me, Goodwin cantata; O, thou wert born to please me, a duet; Ye
woods and ye mountains, an elegy; each 6d. Bland’s 13th and 14th Ladies’ Glees, each, 1s. 6d.
Ditto, first vol. of ditto, bound, 18s. Periodical Ital.; song No. 35, 2s. 6d.; ditto, No. 36, 2s. 6d.
Pleyel’s Sonatas, composed for the Harpsichord. Op. 7, 4s. C. I. T. L. Sonatinas, dedicated to Dr.
Burney, 5s. Mozart’s Terzette, 2s. 6d. Bland’s Harpsichord Collection, Nos. 1 to 6, each, 5s.
Hoffmeister’s Duetts, violin and violoncello, Op. 6 & 13, 4s. Ditto, Flute Trios 6s. Ditto, Flute
Quartets, 10s. 6d. And a variety of new publications.

OIL AND LAMP WAREHOUSE.
No. 5, New Street, Covent Garden.
EORGE DOWNING, Oil Merchant, proprietor of the above Warehouse, begs leave to offer the
G most proper tender of his grateful acknowledgments to the Nobility, Gentry, and public in
general, for the repeated favours conferred upon him. He respectfully informs his friends, that the
OIL and LAMP TRADE continues to be transacted upon the same liberal terms that first
recommended him to their particular attention.
N.B. Orders for Town or Country executed with punctuality.
New Street, Covent Garden, Jan. 1, 1788.

CALEDONIAN MACABAU SNUFF.
OHN YOUNG, Manufacturer and Vendor of the Hibernian high dried or Lundy Foot’s Snuff,
J presents his respects to the Nobility, Gentry, &c., with his Caledonian Macabau Snuff, which
upon trial he is convinced will be found deserving the estimation his Irish Snuff has so justly
acquired. Orders sent to his Snuff-Manufactory, No. 73 in Drury Lane, near Russell Court, will be
attended to with the highest respect and gratitude.
N.B. Snuffs and Tobacco in the highest perfection.

STATIONARY.
DAM THOMPSON, at his paper Manufacturers’ Warehouse, Hand Court, Upper Thames
A Street, begs leave to return to his friends sincere thanks for all past favours, and as he is now
well stocked with a general and choice assortment of Writing and Printing, Wrapping, Sugar, and
Blue Papers, summer made, shall be happy to receive their further orders, which shall be duly
attended to on the most moderate terms. Notes and Bills taken in Payment at one, two, and three
months.
N.B. Has also about fifty reams French Mezzotinto Bay to be sold 20 per cent. below current
price.

NEW MUSIC.
This Day is Published,
By LONGMAN and BRODERIP, No. 26, Cheapside; No. 13, Haymarket, and at their Manufactory
in Tottenham Court Road,
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS AND SELLERS TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE
PRINCE OF WALES,
he New Comic Opera, now performing at Covent Garden Theatre, with great applause, called
T The Farmer, composed and compiled by Mr. Shield, 6s. Pleyel’s two Grand Sonatas Op. 7, for
the Piano Forte, 4s. Pleyel’s three Trio Concertante, Op. 11, for a Violin Tenor and Violoncello, 6s.
Percy’s Italian Arietta Op. 5th, 5s. Mozart’s Harpsichord Quartett, 2s. 6d. Complete Instructions for
Pedal Harp, with a Selection of Favourite Songs and Sonatas by Mr. Barthelemon, 10s. 6d.
Stocket’s three Sonatas, Op. 22, with accompaniments, 7s. 6d. Thomas and Susan; or, The
Fortunate Tar, performed at the Royalty Theatre, 3s. 6d. Chalon’s three Duets for the Pianoforte,
Op. 7th, 7s. 6d. Mozart’s Airs, with Variations, for the Pianoforte, each 2s. Breval’s easy Solos for
the Violoncello, Op. 28, 7s. 6d. Clementi’s Sonata, Op. 10, 3s. Lately imported from the Continent,
great variety of Harp Music, by the most Eminent Masters; together with the most distinguished

New Works of the following Authors, consisting of Symphonies, Concertas, Quartetts, Trios,
Duetts, Solos, and Harpsichord Sonatas by Haydn, Pleyel, Kozeluch, Mozart, Breval, Trickler,
Todor, Devienne, Vanhal, Starkel, Viotti, &c. Also the Overture and Songs of Tarare, and select
collections of the most favourite songs from the latest French Operas, for the Harpsichord.—Where
may be seen their new-improved grand & small Piano Fortes, and Mr. Corri’s new invented
Harpsichord Desk, with a Dictionary of Musical Terms, Examples, &c. Also his newly invented
Piano Forte Board, with a Dictionary, &c. Each One Guinea.

THE OPERA FANS.
To the Subscribers and Frequenters of the
KING’S THEATRE.
Last Saturday were published, according to Act of Parliament.
HE Delivery, however, was put off till the Re-opening of the Opera House next week, for the
T purpose of presenting them in the best state of improvement.
These FANS, calculated to present at one view both the number of boxes, including the
additional ones, names of Subscribers, &c., have been carefully compared, with the plan of the
House as kept at the Office, and will be sold only by the Proprietor,
Mrs. H. M., No. 81, Haymarket,
Where she will receive with respectful gratitude any commands from the ladies, and wait on
them if required.

HANDEL’S SUBSCRIPTION
Dedicated by Permission to His MAJESTY
This day is published,
HE ELEVENTH NUMBER OF HANDEL’S WORKS. The four First Numbers comprehending
T the completest Score of the Oratorio of Athalia, the four following the whole of Theodora, and
the remainder a large portion of the Messiah. The elegant Apotheosis of Handel will be delivered to
Subscribers only with the Twelfth Number.
Subscriptions are received by Dr. Arnold, No 480, Strand; Messrs. Longman and Broderip, No.
13, Haymarket; and Birchall and Co., New Bond Street.

This day is Published,
Price 2s. 6d. separately, or 4s. together,
N ABRIDGMENT of the MEMORIAL
A Address to the KING OF FRANCE,
By M. DE CALONNE,
Minister of State.
In FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
Translated from the French by W. WALTER
Printed at the Logographic Press, by J. Walter, Printing House Square, Blackfriars; and sold by
Messrs. Robson and Clarke, and T. Hookham, New Bond Street; P. Elmsley, Strand; Messrs.
Egeron, Charing Cross; and W. Richardson, Royal Exchange.

This day is Published,
Price One Shilling,
R A Z Y K A T E A
C
favourite Ballad,
Taken from Cowper’s Task.
Set to Music, with accompaniments,
By JOHN MOULDS.
THE FEAST OF APOLLO, No. IV.,
Price One Shilling,
Containing a Favourite Overture for the Piano Forte
“Sans Vous, Ma Chère,” a Favourite Song

“The Sailor he fears not the Roar of the Seas,” ditto
London: Printed for G. Goulding, Haydn’s Head,
No. 6, James Street, Covent Garden,
Where may be had
LA FEVRE,
Taken from SIERNE.
A Favourite SONG, set to Music by HAYDN,
Price only Sixpence.
“The Sailor he fears not the Roar of the Seas,”
A Favourite SONG, set to Music, with Accompaniments,
by RELFE, Price One Shilling.
SANS VOUS, MA CHERE,
A Favourite SONG, sung by Mr. INCLEDON at Bath,
Composed by MOULDS, Price Sixpence.

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
THIS EVENING
Will be presented the revived Tragedy of
The R O M A N F AT H E R .
Horatius, Mr. Farren: Tullius Hostilius, Mr. Aickin;
Valerius, Mr. Davis; and Publius, Mr. Pope. Valeria,
Mrs. Merton; and Horatia, Miss Bruton.
In Act V will be introduced a Roman Oration,
To which will be added (6th time) a new Pantomime,
called
The DUMB CAKE;
Or, the REGIONS OF FANCY.
With new Music, Scenery, Dresses, Machinery, and
Decorations.
N.B. Nothing under full price will be taken.
To-morrow (not acted this season), The Suspicious Husband. Ranger, Mr. LEWIS; and Clarinda,
Mrs. Abingdon.

PROPAGATION OF A LIE.
.DICKINSON, Bond Street, has this day published a Print, from an original Drawing by H.
W Bunbury, Esq., representing the Propagation of a Lie, being a companion to the much
admired prints of the Long Minuet.
Likewise just published,
An Academy for Grown Horsemen; containing the completest
instructions for
Walking, Galloping,
Trotting, Stumbling, and
Cantering, Tumbling
Illustrated with Copperplates, and adorned with a Portrait of the Author, by Geoffry Cambado,
Esq., Riding Master, Master of the Horse, Grand Equerry to the Doge of Venice.
Where likewise is published all Mr Bunbury’s elegant and caricature Prints.

FESTIVAL OF ANACREON.
This Day is Published, Price 3s. 6d,
A New Edition of
HE FESTIVAL OF ANACREON, containing the Songs of Capt. Morris, Mr. Hewerdine, and
T other Lyric Writers, as sung at the Anacreons Society, the Beefsteak and Humbug Clubs.