Curiosities of Civilization
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Title: Curiosities of Civilization
Author: Andrew Wynter
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Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION ***
CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION.
CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION.
REPRINTED FROM THE
"QUARTERLY" & "EDINBURGH" REVIEWS.
BY ANDREW WYNTER, M.D.
SEVENTH EDITION.
LONDON:
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY,
AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.
[_The Right of Translation is reserved._]
TO THE READER.
The following Essays have been reprinted from the pages of the _Quarterly_
and _Edinburgh Reviews_, with the kind permission of their proprietors. It
may be necessary, however, to state that, with the exception of the paper
on the "Mortality in Trades and Professions," which was published in the
_Edinburgh Review_ of January, 1860, the whole of them have appeared in
the _Quarterly Review_ during the last six years. The date of each essay
is given in the list of contents; but, where necessary, corrections have
been made, so as to bring each article up to the knowledge of the present
day.
A. W.
COLEHERNE COURT, OLD BROMPTON.
_August, 1860._
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
ADVERTISEMENTS (1855) 1
FOOD AND ITS ADULTERATIONS (1855) 53
THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS (1855) 93
RATS (1857) 128
LUNATIC ASYLUMS (1857) 150
THE LONDON COMMISSARIAT (1854) 200
WOOLWICH ARSENAL (1858) 245
SHIPWRECKS (1858) 288
LODGING, FOOD, AND DRESS OF SOLDIERS (1859) 325
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH (1854) 349
FIRES AND FIRE INSURANCE (1855) 401
THE POLICE AND THE THIEVES (1856) 451
MORTALITY IN TRADES AND PROFESSIONS (1860) 499
ADVERTISEMENTS.
It is our purpose to draw out, as a thread might be drawn from some woven
fabric, a continuous line of advertisements from the newspaper press of
this country, since its establishment to the present time; and, by so
doing, to show how distinctly, from its dye, the pattern of the age
through which it ran is represented. If we follow up to its source any
public institution, fashion, or amusement, which has flourished during a
long period of time, we can gain some idea of our national progress and
development; but it strikes us that in no manner can we so well obtain at
a rapid glance a view of the salient points of generations that have
passed, as by consulting those small voices that have cried from age to
age from the pages of the press, declaring the wants, the losses, the
amusements, and the money-making eagerness of the people.
As we read in the old musty files of papers 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 candlelight" 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 generalizing eye of the historian,
however necessary to clothe and fill in the dry bones of his history.
The _English Mercurie_ of 1588, 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, among 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.
Newspapers, in the strict sense of the word--that is, publications of news
appearing at stated intervals, and regularly paged on--did not make their
appearance until the latter end of the reign of James I. The _Weekely
Newes_, 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. The
terrible contest of the succeeding reign was the hotbed which forced the
press of this country into sudden life and extraordinary vigour. Those who
have wandered in the vaults of the British Museum and contemplated the
vast collection of political pamphlets and the countless Mercuries which
sprang full armed, on either side of the quarrel, from the strong and
earnest brains which wrought in that great political trouble, will not
hesitate to discover, amidst the hubbub of the Rebellion, the first throes
of the press of England as a political power. At such a time, when
Marchmort Needham fell foul with his types of Sir John Birkenhead and the
court party which he supported, with as heavy a hand and as dauntless a
will as Cromwell hurled his Ironsides at the Cavaliers at Naseby, it is
not likely that we should find the press the vehicle to make known the
goods of tradesmen, or to offer a reward for stolen horses. The
shopkeepers themselves, as well as the nobility, were too hard at it, to
avail themselves of this new mode of extending their trade: they had to
keep guard over the malignants, to cover the five members with the shield
of their arms, to overawe Whitehall, to march to the relief of
Gloucester,--objects quite sufficient to account for the fact that the
train-bands were not advertisers. After the king's death, however, when
the Commonwealth had time to breathe, the people seem to have discovered
the use of the press as a means of making known their wants and of giving
publicity to their wares. The very first advertisement we have met with,
after an active search among the earliest newspapers, relates to a book
which is entitled--
Irenodia 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.
This appeared in the January number of the Parliamentary paper _Mercurius
Politicus_. It is evidently a piece of flattery to Cromwell upon his
victories in Ireland, and might have been inserted at the instigation of
the great Commonwealth leader himself. Booksellers appear to have been the
first to take advantage of this new medium of publicity, and for the
obvious reason that their goods were calculated for the readers of the
public journals, who at that time must have consisted almost exclusively
of the higher orders. From this date to the Restoration the quaintest
titles of works on the political and religious views, such as were then in
the ascendant, are to be found in the _Mercurius Politicus_: thus, we have
"Gospel Marrow;" "A few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul;"
"Michael opposing the Dragon, or a Fiery Dart struck through the Kingdom
of the Serpent." And in the number for September, 1659, we find an
advertisement which seems to bring us face to face with one of the
brightest names in the roll of English poets:--
Considerations 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 _Livewell Chapman_, at the Crown in
Pope's Head Alley.
In juxtaposition to these illustrious initials we find another
advertisement, which is the representative of a class that prevailed most
extensively at this early time--the Hue and Cry after runaway servants and
lost or stolen horses and dogs. Every generation is apt to praise, like
Orlando, "the antique service of the old world;" but a little excursion
into the regions of the past shows us how persistent this cry has been in
all ages. Employers who are in the habit of eulogising servants of the
"old school," would be exceedingly astonished to find that two hundred
years ago they were a very bad lot indeed, as far as we can judge from the
advertisements of rewards for the seizure of delinquents of their class.
Here is a full-length portrait of apparently a runaway apprentice, as
drawn in the _Mercurius Politicus_ of July 1st, 1658:--
If any one can give notice of one _Edward Perry_, being about the age
of eighteen or nineteen years, of low stature, black hair, full of
pockholes 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.
It will be observed that the dashing appearance of this runaway
apprentice, habited in his gray suit trimmed with green ribbons, and
furbished off so spicily with his cinnamon-coloured cloak, is rather
marred by the description of his face as "full of pockholes." Unless the
reader has scanned the long list of villanous portraits exhibited by the
Hue and Cry in the old papers of the last portion of the seventeenth and
first portion of the eighteenth centuries, he can form but a faint
conception of the ravages committed by the small-pox upon the population.
Every man seemed more or less to have been speckled with "pockholes," and
the race must have presented one moving mass of pits and scars. Here, for
instance, is a companion picture to hang with that of Edward Perry,
copied from the _Mercurius Politicus_ of May 31st, 1660:--
A Black-haired Maid, of a middle stature, thick set, with big breasts,
having her face full marked with the smallpox, 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.
Scarcely a week passes without such runaways being advertised, together
with a list of the quaint articles of which their booty consisted. At the
risk of wearying the reader with these descriptions of the "old-fashioned"
sort of servants, we give another advertisement from the _Mercurius
Politicus_ of July 1st 1658:--
One _Eleanor Parker_ (by birth _Haddock_), of a Tawny reddish
complexion, a pretty long nose, tall of stature, servant to Mr.
_Frederic 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 _Frederic 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.
An advertisement which appears in the same paper, of the date of August
11th, 1659, gives us the first notice we have yet found of the service of
negro boys in this country. From this period, however, as we shall
presently show, England, at least the fashionable part of it, seems to
have swarmed with young blackamoors in a greater degree than we should
have imagined even from the familiar notice made of them in the pages of
the "Tatler" and "Spectator." These early negroes must have been imported
from the Portuguese territories, as we did not deal in the article
ourselves till the year 1680. The amusing point of the following
advertisement, however, is the assurance it gives us that the Puritans
"polled" their negroes as well as themselves.
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 _S. Nicholas_ Lane, _London_. If any one can give notice of him to
Mr. _Tho. Barker_, at the Sugarloaf in that Lane, they shall be well
rewarded for their pains.
About this time we find repeatedly advertised the loss of horses. It is
observable that during the "troubles" such things as highwaymen were
unknown. The bold, unruly characters, who at a later date took to the
road, were then either enlisted under the banners of the state or had gone
over the sea to Charlie. The great extent to which horse-stealing
prevailed during the Commonwealth period, and, indeed, for the next
half-century, might possibly be ascribed to the value of those animals
consequent upon the scarcity produced by the casualties of the
battle-field. We cannot account, however, for one fact connected with the
horse-stealing of the Commonwealth period, namely, that when at grass they
were often kept _saddled_. The following advertisement, which is an
illustration of this singular custom, is very far from being an uncommon
one:--
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
20_s._ for his pains.--_Mercurius Politicus_, February 24, 1659.
It could scarcely have been, in this particular case at least, that the
exigencies of the time required such precautions, as the only rising that
took place this year occurred six months afterwards in the county of
Chester. The furniture of the nag, it must be confessed, seems remarkably
adapted for service, and might, from its colour, have belonged to a
veritable Ironside trooper. Another reason, perhaps, of the great value of
horses at this period, was the establishment of public conveyances, by
which means travellers as well as letters were conveyed from one part of
the kingdom to the other. Prior to the year 1636 there was no such thing
as a postal service for the use of the people in this country. The court
had, it is true, an establishment for the forwarding of despatches, but
its efficacy may be judged of from a letter written by one Bryan Tuke,
"master of the postes" in Henry VIII.'s time, to Cromwell, who had
evidently been sharply reproving him for remissness in forwarding the
king's papers:--
"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 oute of
ploues and cartes, wherein can be no extreme diligence_."
This was in the year 1533. Elizabeth, however, established horse-posts on
all the great routes for the transmission of the letters of the court; and
this, in 1633, was developed into a public post, which went night and day
at the rate of seven miles an hour in summer and five miles in winter--not
such bad travelling for those days. Still there was no means of forwarding
passengers until the time of Cromwell, when we find stagecoaches
established on all the great roads throughout the kingdom. We do not know
that we have ever seen quoted so early a notice of public stage
conveyances. We have evidently not given our ancestors so much credit as
they deserved. The following advertisement shows the time taken and the
fares of a considerable number of these journeys:--
From the 26 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 xx_s._ To _Blandford_ and _Dorchester_
in two days and half for xxx_s._ To _Burput_ in three days for xxx_s._
To _Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_ in four days for xl_s._
To _Stamford_ in two days for xx_s._ To _Newark_ in two days and a
half for xxv_s._ To _Bawtrey_ in three days for xxx_s._ To _Doncaster_
and _Ferribridge_ for xxxv_s._ To _York_ in four days for xl_s._
_Mondays_ and _Wednesdays_ to _Ockinton_ and _Plymouth_ for l_s._
Every _Monday_ to _Helperby_ and _Northallerton_ for xlv_s._ To
_Darneton_ and _Ferryhil_ for l_s._ To Durham for lv_s._ To
_Newcastle_ for iii_l._
Once every fortnight to _Edinburgh_ for iv_l._ a peece--_Mondays_.
Every _Friday_ to _Wakefield_ in four days, xl_s._
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_, _Helperly_, _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.--_Mercurius Politicus_, April
1, 1658.
Other announcements about the same time prove that the Great Western road
was equally provided, as well as the Dover route to the continent. It is
not a little singular, however, that regularly-appointed coaches, starting
at stated intervals, should have preceded what might be considered the
simpler arrangement of the horse service. That the development of the
postal system into a means of forwarding single travellers did not take
place until some time afterwards, would appear from the following:--
_The Postmasters on_ Chester _Road, petitioning, have received Order,
and do accordingly publish the following advertisement_:--
All Gentlemen, Merchants, and others, who have occasion to travel
between _London_ and _Westchester_, _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
Saturdays Morning, to go for _London_. And so likewise at 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 any further without
consent of the Post-Master by whom he rides, and so from Stage to
Stage to their 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.
The intimation that these horses might be had without the "charge of a
guide" gives us an insight into the bad condition of the roads up to that
period. We can scarcely imagine, in these days, the necessity for a guide
to direct us along the great highways of England, and can with difficulty
realize to ourselves the fact that as late as the middle of the
seventeenth century the interior of the country was little better than a
wilderness, as we may indeed gather from Pepy's journey from London to
Bristol and back, in which the item "guides" formed no inconsiderable
portion of his expenses.
In turning over the musty little quarto newspapers which mirror with such
vividness the characteristic lineaments of the Commonwealth period, not
yet left behind us, we chanced upon an advertisement which tells perhaps
more than any other of the dangerous complexion of those times. It is an
advertisement for some runaway young "sawbones," whose love of desperate
adventure appears to have led him to prefer the tossing of a pike to
pounding with a pestle:--
_George 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.--_Mercurius Politicus_, Dec. 8,
1659.
Here at least we have probably preserved the name of one of the fameless
men who were "slain in some of those fights," a phrase which in these days
opens to us a chapter in romance.
With the exception of book advertisements and quack medicines, we have not
up to this date met with a single instance of a tradesman turning the
newspaper to account in making known his goods to the public. The very
first announcement of this nature, independently of its being in itself a
curiosity, possesses a very strong interest, from the fact that it marks
the introduction of an article of food which perhaps more than all others
has served to wean the nation from one of its besetting sins of
old--drunkenness. Common report, Mr. Disraeli informs us, attributes the
introduction of "the cup which cheers but not inebriates," to Lord
Arlington and Lord Ossory, who are said to have brought over a small
quantity from Holland in 1666. The author of the "Curiosities of
Literature" does not think this statement satisfactory, and tells us that
he has heard of Oliver Cromwell's teapot being in the possession of a
collector. We never knew before of these teetotal habits of the Protector,
but we can so far back the story as to find chronologically correct bohea
to put into his pot; for though it is true that the date of the following
advertisement is three weeks after the death of his highness, it refers to
the article as a known and, by physicians, an approved drink, and
therefore must have been some time previously on sale:--
That Excellent and by all Physitians approved _China_ Drink called by
the _Chineans Tcha_, by other Nations _Tay alias Tee_, is sold at the
_Sultaness Head Cophee-House_, in _Sweetings_ Rents, by the Royal
Exchange, _London_.--_Mercurius Politicus_, September 30, 1658.
This is undoubtedly the earliest authentic announcement yet made known of
the public sale in England of this now famous beverage. The mention of a
"Cophee-house" proves that the sister stimulant was even then making way
in the country.[1] It took, however, a couple of centuries to convert
them, in the extended sense of the term, into national drinks; but, like
many other good things, it came too early. Tea may have sufficed for
fanatics, Anabaptists, Quakers, Independents, and self-denying sectaries
of all kinds; and for all we know, its early introduction, had the
Commonwealth lasted, might have accelerated the temperance movement a
century at least; but the wheel of fortune was about to turn once
more--mighty ale had to be broached, and many deep healths to be drunk by
those who had "come to their own again;" and tea, for full half a century,
was washed away by brown October and the French wines that came in with
the Merry Monarch.
We have now brought the reader upon the very borders of the period when
Charles, with his hungry followers, landed in triumph at Dover. The
advertisements which appeared during the time that Monk was temporizing
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 note 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 very midst of it,
however, we find one name still faithful to the "old cause," as the
Puritans call it: on the 8th of March, 1660--that is, while the sway of
Charles's sceptre had already cast its shadow from Breda--we find the
following advertisement in the _Mercurius Politicus_:--
The ready and easie way to establish a free Commonwealth, and the
excellence thereof compared with the inconveniences and dangers of
readmitting Kingship in this Nation. The Author, J. M. Wherein, by
reason of the Printers 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_; 1. 30, for _left_, _felt_. Sold by _Livewel Chapman_, at the
Crown, in Pope's-head Alley.
The calmness of the blind bard in thus issuing corrections to his
hastily-printed pamphlet on behalf of a falling cause, excites our
admiration, and gives us an exalted idea of his moral courage. In two
months, as might have been expected, he was a proscribed fugitive,
sheltering his honoured head from the pursuit of Charles's myrmidons in
some secret hiding-place in Westminster, whilst his works, by order of the
House, were being burned by the common hangman.
The lawyers were not slow in perceiving the way the wind was blowing, and
set their sails accordingly--if we may take the action of one Mr. Nicholas
Bacon, as shown in the following advertisement, as any index of the
feelings of his fellows:--
Whereas one Capt. _Gouge_, a witness examined against the late Kings
Majesty, in those Records stiled himself of the Honorable Society of
_Grays_ 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.--_Mercurius Politicus_, June 7, 1660.
Whilst all London was throwing up caps for the restored monarch, and
England seemed so glad that he himself wondered how he could have been
persuaded to stop away so long, let us catch the lost luggage of a poor
cavalier, who has just followed his royal master from his long banishment,
and turn out its contents for our reader, in order to show that even
ruined old courtiers carried more impedimenta than the famous "shirt,
towel, and piece of soap" of our renowned Napier. The _Mercurius Publicus_
is now our mine, in which we sink a shaft, and come up with this fossil
advertisement, which bears date July 5th, 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 Maiesty) 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._
The king had not been "in" a month ere his habits appear through the
public papers. The _Mercurius Politicus_ is now turned courtier, and has
changed its name to the _Mercurius Publicus_. Its columns, indeed, are
entirely under the direction of the king, and, instead of slashing
articles against malignants, degenerates into a virulent oppressor of the
Puritans, and a vehicle for inquiries after his majesty's favourite dogs
that have been stolen. In the number for June 28th, 1660, for instance, we
find the following advertisement:--
[Hand] A smooth black DOG, less than a Grey-hound, with white under
his breast, belonging to the Kings 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.
It is evident that "the smooth black dog" was a very great favourite, for
the next publication of the journal contains another advertisement with
respect to him, printed in larger Italic type, the diction of which, from
its pleasant raillery, looks as though it had come from the king's own
hand:--
[Hand] _We must call upon you again for a Black Dog, between a
Grey-hound and a Spaniel, no white about 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._
Pepys, about this time, describes the king with a train of spaniels and
other dogs at his heels, lounging along and feeding the ducks in St.
James's Park; and on occasions still later he was often seen talking to
Nelly, as she leaned from her garden-wall that abutted upon the Pall-Mall,
whilst his canine favourites grouped around him. On these occasions
perhaps the representatives of those gentlemen to be seen in
Regent-street, with two bundles of animated wool beneath their arms, were
on the look-out, as we find his majesty continually advertising his lost
dogs. Later we find him inquiring after "a little brindled greyhound
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." And when royalty had done,
his Highness Prince Rupert, or Buckingham, or "my Lord Albemarle,"
resorted to the _London Gazette_ to make known their canine losses. We
think the change in the temper of the age is more clearly marked by these
dog advertisements than by anything else. The Puritans did not like
sporting animals of any kind, and we much question whether a dog would
have followed a fifth-monarchy-man. Hence the total absence of all
advertisements bearing upon the "fancy." Now that the king had returned,
the old English love of field-sports spread with fourfold vigour. We
chance upon the traces too of a courtly amusement which had been handed
down from the middle ages, and was then only lingering amongst
us--hawking. Here is an inquiry after a lost lanner:--
Richard Finney, Esquire, of Alaxton, in Leicestershire, about a
fortnight since lost a LANNER 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 give tidings thereof to Mr. Lambert
at the golden Key in Fleet-street, they shall have forty shillings for
their pains.--_Mercurius Publicus_, September 6, 1660.
As London was the only place in which a newspaper was published during the
reign of Charles, and indeed for nearly fifty years afterwards, the hue
and cry after lost animals always came to town, as a matter of course. It
sounds strange to read these advertisements of a sport the very terms of
which are now unintelligible to us. What ages seem to have passed since
these birds, in all the glory of scarlet hoods, were carried upon some
"faire lady's" wrist, or poised themselves, with fluttering wing, as the
falconer uncovered them to view their quarry! We have skipped a few years,
in order to afford one or two more examples of these picturesque
advertisements, so different from anything to be seen at the present
day:--
Lost on the 30 of 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.--_The Intelligencer_, Nov. 6,
1665.
The next paper contains an inquiry for a goshawk belonging to Lord William
Petre, and two years later a royal bird is inquired after in the _London
Gazette_, as follows:--
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.
This Sir Allan Apsley is the brother of Mrs. Hutchinson, who has given us
such a vivid picture, in the memoir of her husband, of the Commonwealth
time. The _London Gazette_, from which we quote, is the only paper still
in existence that had its root in those days. It first appeared in Oxford,
upon the Court taking up its abode in that city during the time of the
Great Plague, and was therefore called the _Oxford Gazette_. On the return
of Charles to London it followed in his train, and became the _London
Gazette_, or Court and official paper, and the latter character it has
retained to the present hour. The gazettes of the seventeenth century were
widely different from those of our day. They contain foreign news, as well
as state papers, royal proclamations, &c., and, stranger still,
miscellaneous advertisements are mixed up with those upon the business of
the Court. The quack doctors, with an eye, we suppose, to the "quality,"
were the first to avail themselves of its pages to make known their
nostrums. It will astonish our readers to find what an ancestry some of
the quack medicines of the present day have had. "Nervous powders,"
specifics for gout, rheumatism, &c., seized upon the columns of the
newspapers almost as early as they were published. Here is a specimen
which might still serve as a model for such announcements:--
_Gentlemen_, 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 Consumptions, Coughs, Catarrhs, Asthmas,
Hoarness, 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 _Furnival's 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._--_Mercurius
Politicus_, Nov. 16, 1660.
The next is equally characteristic:--
Most 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 Gums and Mouth 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.
Paul's Church, near the School, in sealed papers, at 12_d._ the paper.
_The reader is desired to beware of counterfeits._
(_Mercurius Politicus_, Dec. 20, 1660.)
Other advertisements about this time profess to cure all diseases by means
of an "antimonial cup." Sir Kenelm Digby, the same learned knight who
feasted his wife upon capons fattened upon serpents, in order to make her
fair, advertises a book in which he professes to show a method of curing
wounds by a powder of sympathy; and here is a notification of a remedy
which shows still more clearly the superstitious character of the age:--
Small 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.--_The
Intelligencer_, Oct. 16, 1664.
It was left, however, to the reign of Anne for the mountebank to descend
from his stage in the fair and the market-place, in order to erect it in
the public newspapers. But we have yet to mention one, who might appear to
some to be the greatest quack of all, and who about this time resorted to
an advertisement in the newspapers to call his patients to his doors;--the
royal charlatan, who touched for the evil, makes known that he is at home
for the season to his people through the medium of the _Public
Intelligencer_ of 1664:--
Whitehall, 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.
No doubt there was much political significance in this pretended efficacy
of the royal touch in scrofulous afflictions; at the same time, there is
reason to believe that patients did sometimes speedily recover after
undergoing the regal contact. Dr. Tyler Smith, who has written a very
clever little book on the subject, boldly states his belief that the
emotion felt by these poor stricken people who came within the influence
of "that divinity which doth hedge a king," acted upon them as a powerful
mental tonic; in a vast number of cases, however, we might impute the
tonic to the gold coin which the king always bestowed upon his patient. Be
that as it may, the practice flourished down to the time of Anne, at whose
death it stopped; the sovereigns of the line of Brunswick never pretending
to possess this medicinal virtue, coming as they did to the throne by only
a parliamentary title. The reaction from the straightlaced times of the
Commonwealth, which set in immediately upon the Restoration, seems to have
arrived at its height about the year 1664, and the advertisements at that
period reflect very truly the love of pleasure and excitement which seized
hold of the people, as if they were bent on making up for the time that
had been lost during the Puritanic rule. They are mostly taken up, in
fact, with inquiries after "lost lace-work;" announcements of lotteries in
the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall, of jewels, tapestry, and lockets of "Mr.
Cooper's work," of which the following is a fair specimen:--
Lost, on the 27th of 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.--_The News_,
August 4, 1664.
The love of the people also for the strange and marvellous is shown by
announcements of rare sights; for instance, we are told that,--
At the Mitre, near the west end of St. Paul's, is to be seen a rare
Collection of Curiosityes, much resorted 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
Thigh-bone of a Giant; a Moon Fish; a Tropic Bird, &c.--_The News_ of
June 2, 1664.
A rather scanty collection of articles, it is true, but eked out
monstrously by the "huge thigh-bone of a giant," which in all probability
belonged to some huge quadruped. The ignorance of those times with
respect to natural history must have been something astonishing, as about
the same date we find the following print of what were evidently
considered very curious animals advertised in the _London Gazette_:--
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 _London Gazette_, Jan. 22, 1664.
In the succeeding year all advertisements of this kind stop; amusements,
from some great disturbing cause, have ceased to attract; there is no more
gambling under the name of lotteries at Whitehall; no more curiosities are
exhibited to a pleasure loving crew; no more books of amorous songs are
published; no more lockets or perfumed bags are dropped; all is stagnation
and silence, if we may judge as much from the sudden cessation of
advertisements with reference to them in the public papers. Death now
comes upon the stage, and rudely shuts the box of Autolycus, crops the
street with grass, and marks a red cross on every other door. It is the
year of the Great Plague. Those who could, fled early from the
pest-stricken city; those who remained until the malady had gained
irresistible sway were not allowed to depart, for fear of carrying the
contagion into the provinces, the Lord Mayor denying to such a clean bill
of health, in consequence of which they were driven back by the rustics as
soon as discovered. A singular instance also of the vigilance of the
authorities in confining, as they imagined, the mischief within the limits
of the metropolis is afforded by the succeeding advertisement:--
_Nicholas 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.--_London Gazette_, May 10, 1666.
Antidotes and remedies for the plague are also commonly advertised, just
as the visitation of the cholera in 1854 filled the columns of the _Times_
full of all sorts of specifics. Thus, for example, the _Intelligencer_ of
August the 28th, 1665, announces "an excellent electuary against the
plague, to be drunk at the Green Dragon, Cheap-side, at sixpence a pint."
The great and only cure, however, for this fearful visitation, which
carried off a hundred thousand persons in London alone, was at hand--the
purgation of fire. The conflagration, which burst out on the 2nd of
September, and destroyed thirteen thousand houses, gave the final blow to
its declining attacks. 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 extemporized 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 a tavern-keeper tells us the
number of his booth in Goodman's Fields, although quack medicine
flourished away in its columns as usual. In 1667 we see a notification,
now and then, of some change in the site of a government office, or of the
intention to build by contract some public structure, such as the
following notice relative to the erection of the old Royal Exchange:--
All Artificers of the several Trades that must be used in Rebuilding
the Royal Exchange may take 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.
The remainder of the reign of Charles is unmarked by the appearance of any
characteristic advertisements which give a clue to the peculiar complexion
of the time. If we go back two or three years, however, we shall find one
which bears upon the introduction of those monstrous flowing wigs which
continued in fashion to the middle of the succeeding century:--
Whereas _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 10_s._ the ounce, and for any other long
fine hayr after the Rate of 5_s._ or 7_s._ the ounce.--_The Newes_,
February 4, 1663.
Pepys describes, with amusing minuteness, how Chapman the periwig-maker
cut off his hair to make up one of these portentous head-dresses for him,
much to the trouble of his servants, Jane and Bessy; and on the Lord's
day, November 8th, 1663, he relates, with infinite _naïveté_, his entrance
into church with what must evidently have been the perruquier's latest
fashion. "To church, where I found that my coming in a periwig did not
prove so strange as I was afraid it would; for I thought that all the
church would presently have cast their eyes upon me, but I find no such
thing." Ten shillings the ounce for long flaxen hair shows the demand for
this peculiar colour by "persons of eminent condition and quality." We
have shown, from the advertisements of the time of Charles II., what was
indeed well known, that the age was characterized 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 general masquerade with its lurid and angry glare. Together with
the emasculate tone of manners, a disposition to personal violence and a
contempt of law 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 actually having 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.
We catch a glimpse of one of these street outrages in the following
announcement of an assault upon glorious John:--
Whereas _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.--_The London Gazette_, Dec. 22, 1679.
And here is another of a still more tragic character:--
Whereas a Gentleman was, on the eighteenth at night, mortally wounded
near Lincoln's Inn, in Chancery Lane, in view, as is supposed, of the
coachman that set him down: these are to give notice that the said
coachman shall come in and declare his knowledge of the matter; if any
other person shall discover the said coachman to John Hawles, at his
chamber in Lincoln's Inn, he shall have 5 guineas reward.--_London
Gazette_, March 29th, 1688.
To this period also may be ascribed the rise of that romantic felon, the
highwayman. The hue and cry after these genteel robbers is frequently
raised during the reign of James II. In one case we have notice of a
gentleman having been stopped, robbed, and then bound, by mounted men at
Islington, who rode away with his horse; another time these daring gentry
appeared at Knightsbridge; and a third advertisement, of a later date it
is true, offers a reward for three mounted Macheaths, who were charged
with stopping and robbing three young ladies in South Street, near Audley
Chapel, as they were returning home from visiting. The following is still
more singular, as showing the high social position of some of these
gentlemen who took to the "road" for special purposes:--
_Whereas Mr. Herbert Jones_, Attorney-at-law in the town of Monmouth,
well known by being several years together Under-Sheriff of the same
County, hath of late divers time robbed the Mail coming from that town
to London, and taken out divers letters and writs, and is now fled
from justice, and supposed to have sheltered himself in some of the
new-raised troops. These are to give notice, that whosoever shall
secure the said Herbert Jones, so as to be committed in order to
answer these said crimes, may give notice thereof to Sir Thomas
Fowles, goldsmith, Temple-bar, London, or to Mr. Michael Bohune,
mercer, in Monmouth, and shall have a guinea's reward.
The drinking tendencies of these Jacobite times are chiefly shown by the
numberless inquiries after lost or stolen silver tankards, and by the
sales of claret and canary which constantly took place. The hammer was not
apparently used at that time, as we commonly find announcements of sales
by "inch of candle," a term which mightily puzzled us until we saw the
explanation of it in our constant book of reference, the Diary of Pepys:--
"After dinner we met and sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship
hulkes; where pleasant to see how backward men are at first to bid;
and yet, when the candle is going out, how they bawl, and dispute
afterwards who bid the most. And here I observed one man cunninger
than the rest, that was sure to bid the last man and to carry it; and
inquiring the reason he told me that, just as the flame goes out, the
smoke descends, which is a thing I never observed before, and by that
he do know the instant when to bid last." (Sept. 3rd, 1662).
The taste for auctions, which became such a rage in the time of Anne, had
its beginning about this period. Books and pictures are constantly
advertised to be disposed of in this manner. The love of excitement born
in the gaming time of the Restoration might be traced in these sales, and
in the lotteries, or "adventures" as they were sometimes termed, which
extended to every conceivable article capable of being sold. The rising
taste of the town was, however, checked for the time by the Revolution,
which was doubtless hastened on by such announcements as the following,
which appeared in the _Gazette_ of March 1, 1688:--
Catholic loyalty, [Hand] upon the subject of Government and Obedience,
delivered in a SERMON before the King and Queen, in His Majesties
Chapel at Whitehall, on the 13 of June, 1687, by the Revnd. Father
Edward Scaraisbroke, priest of the Society of Jesus. Published by His
Majesty's Command. Sold by Raydal Taylor, near Stationers Hall,
London.
Up to this time advertisements only appeared in threes and fours, and
rarely, if ever, exceeded a dozen, in any newspaper of the day. They were
generally stuck in the middle of the diminutive journal, but sometimes
formed a tail-piece to it. They were confined in their character, and gave
no evidence of belonging to a great commercial community. Now and then, it
is true, sums of money were advertised as seeking investment; more
constantly a truss for a "broken belly," or an "excellent dentifrice,"
appeared; or some city mansion of the nobility is advertised to let,
showing the progress westward even then, as witness the following:--
The Earl of Berkeley's House, with Garden and Stables in St. John's
Lane, not far from Smith Field, is to be Let or Sold for Building.
Enquire of Mr. Prestworth, a corn chandler, near the said house, and
you may know further.--_London Gazette_, August 17, 1685.
Here is an instance of the singular manner in which fire-insurances were
conducted in that day:--
There having happened a fire on the 24th of the last month by which
several houses of the friendly society were burned to the value of 965
pounds, these are to give notice to all persons of the said society
that they are desired to pay at the office Faulcon Court in Fleet
Street their several proportions of their said loss, which comes to
five shillings and one penny for every hundred pounds insured, before
the 12th of August next.--_London Gazette_, July 6th, 1685.
Sometimes it is a "flee-bitten grey mare" stolen out of "Mary-le-bone
Park," or a lost lottery-ticket, or a dog, that is inquired after; but
they contained no hint that England possessed a commercial marine, or that
she was destined to become a nation of shopkeepers. As yet, too, there was
no sign given of that wonderful art of ingenious puffing which now exists,
and which might lead a casual observer to imagine that the nation
consisted of only two classes--cheats and dupes.
From the settlement of 1688 the true value of the advertisement appears to
have dawned upon the public. The country evidently began to breathe
freely, and with Dutch William and Protestant ascendancy, the peculiar
character of the nation burst forth with extraordinary vigour. Enterprise
of all kinds was called forth, and cast its image upon the advertising
columns of the public journals, now greatly increased both in size and in
numbers, no less than twenty-six having been set up within four years
after the Revolution. It is observable, too, that from this political
convulsion dates a certain rough humour, which, however latent, was not
before expressed in the public papers, especially on matters political.
Let us further elucidate our meaning by quoting the following from the
_New Observator_ of July 17, 1689, setting forth a popular and practical
method of parading the Whig triumph:--
Orange cards, representing the late King's reign and expedition of the
Prince of Orange: viz. The Earl of Essex Murther, Dr. Otes Whipping,
Defacing the Monument, My Lord Jeffries in the West hanging of
Protestants, Magdalen College, Trial of the Bishops, Castle Maine at
Rome, the Popish Midwife, A Jesuit Preaching against our Bible,
Consecrated Smock, My Lord Chancellor at the Bed's feet, Birth of the
Prince of Wales, The Ordinaire 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 and 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.
The editor of the _New Observator_ was Bishop Burnet, and these political
playing-cards were sold by his publisher; perhaps the great Protestant
bishop knew something of their "performers." In the year 1692 an
experiment was made which clearly shows how just an estimate was getting
abroad of the value of publicity in matters of business. A newspaper was
set up, called "The City Mercury, published gratis for the Promotion of
Trade," which lasted for two years, and contained nothing but
advertisements. The proprietor undertook to distribute a thousand copies
per week to the then chief places of resort,--coffee houses, taverns, and
bookshops. Even in these days of the "Times" double supplement such an
experiment has often been made and failed; our wonder, therefore, is not
that the _City Mercury_ went to that limbo which is stored with such
countless abortive journals, but that the interest felt in advertisements
should, at that early period, have kept it alive so long.
If the foregoing scheme proves that an attempt was then made to subdivide
the duties of a newspaper--that of keeping its readers informed of the
news of the day, and of forming a means of publicity for the wants and
losses of individuals--the advertisement we are about to quote clearly
shows that at the same time there was a plan in existence for combining
the printed newspaper with the more ancient written newsletter. It is well
known that long after the institution of public journals the old
profession of the newsletter-writer continued to flourish. We can easily
account for this fact when we remember that during the heat of a great
rebellion it was much more safe to write than to print the intelligence of
the day. Many of these newsletters were written by strong partisans, and
contained information which it was neither desirable nor safe that their
opponents should see. They were passed on from hand to hand in secret, and
often endorsed by each successive reader. We are told that the Cavaliers,
when taken prisoners, have been known to eat their newsletters; and some
of Prince Rupert's, which had been intercepted, are still in existence,
and bear dark-red stains, which testify to the desperate manner in which
they were defended. It is pretty certain, however, that, as a profession,
newsletter-writing began to decline after the Revolution; although we find
the editor of the _Evening Post_, as late as the year 1709, reminding its
readers that "there must be three or four pounds a year paid for written
news." At the same time the public journals, it is clear, had not
performed that part of their office which was really more acceptable to
the country reader than any other--the retailing the political and social
chit-chat of the day. We have only to look into the public papers to
convince ourselves how wofully they fell short in a department which must
have been the staple of the news-writer. This want still being felt, John
Salusbury devises a scheme to combine the old and the new plan after the
following manner, as announced in the _Flying Post_ of 1694:--
If any Gentleman has a mind to oblige his country friend or
correspondent with the Account of Public Affairs, he may have it for
twopence of J. Salusbury at the Rising-Sun in Cornhill, on a sheet of
fine paper, half of which being blank, he may thereon write his own
private business or the material news of the day.
It does not say much for the energy with which the journals of that day
were conducted, that the purchasers are invited to write therein "the
material news of the day;" that, we should have thought, was the editor's
business to have supplied; but it was perhaps a contrivance by which the
Jacobites might circulate information, by means of the post, without
compromising the printer. We have seen many such papers, half print, half
manuscript, in the British Museum, which had passed through the post, the
manuscript portion of which, the Home Secretaries of our time would have
thought sufficiently treasonable to justify them in having broken their
seals.
As advertisements, from their earliest introduction, were used to make
known the amusements of the day and the means of killing time at the
disposal of persons of quality, it seems strange that it was not employed
sooner than it was to draw a company to the theatres. We have looked in
vain for the announcement of any theatrical entertainment before the year
1701, when the advertisement of the Lincoln's Inn Theatre makes its
appearance in the columns of the _English Post_. The lead of this little
house was, however, speedily followed by the larger ones, and only a few
years later we have regular lists of the performances at all the theatres
in the daily papers. The first journal of this description was the _Daily
Courant_, published in 1709. In this year also appeared the celebrated
"Tatler," to be speedily followed by the "Spectator" and "Guardian," the
social and literary journals of that Augustine age. The first edition of
the "Tatler," in the British Museum, contains advertisements like an
ordinary paper, and they evidently reflect, more than those of its
contemporaries, the flying fashions of the day and the follies of the
"quality." In them we notice the rage that existed for lotteries, or
"sales," as they were called. Every conceivable thing was put up to
raffle. We see advertisements headed "A Sixpenny Sale of Lace," "A Hundred
Pounds for Half-a-crown," "A Penny Adventure for a Great Pie," "A
Quarter's Rent," "A Freehold Estate," "Threepenny Sales of Houses," "A
fashionable Coach." Gloves, looking-glasses, chocolate, Hungary water,
Indian goods, lacquered ware, fans, &c., were notified to be disposed of
in this manner, and the fair mob was called together to draw their tickets
by the same means. This fever, which produced ten years later the
celebrated South Sea Bubble, was of slow growth. It had its root in the
Restoration, its flower in the reign of Anne, and its fruit and
_dénouement_ in the reign of George I. Before passing on from the pages of
the "Tatler," we must stop for a moment to notice one or two of those
playful advertisements which Sir Richard Steele delighted in, and which,
under the disguise of fun, perhaps really afforded him excellent matter
for his journal. Here is an irresistible invitation to his fair readers:--
Any Ladies who have any particular stories of their acquaintance which
they are willing privately to make public, may send 'em by the penny
post to Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., enclosed to Mr. John Morpheu, near
Stationers' Hall.--_Tatler_, May 8, 1709.
An excellent lion's mouth this wherein to drop scandal. A still more
amusing instance of the fun that pervaded Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., is to
be found in the series of advertisements in which he ought to have
convinced John Partridge, the astrologer, that he really had departed this
life; an assertion which the latter persisted in denying with the most
ludicrous earnestness. Of these we give one from the "Tatler" of August
24th 1710:--
Whereas an ignorant Upstart in Astrology has publicly endeavoured to
persuade the world that he is the late John Partridge, who died the 28
of March 1718, these are to certify all whom it may concern, that the
true John Partridge was not only dead at that time, but continues so
to the present day. Beware of counterfeits, for such are abroad.
The pleasant malice of the above is patent enough, but we confess we are
puzzled to know whether the following is genuine or not. We copied it from
among a number of others, from which it was undistinguishable by any
peculiarity of type:--
_The Charitable Advice Office_, where all persons may have the opinion
of dignified Clergymen, learned Council, graduate Physicians, and
experienced Surgeons, to any question in Divinity, Morality, Law,
Physic, or Surgery, with proper Prescriptions within twelve hours
after they have delivered in a state of their case. Those who can't
write may have their cases stated at the office. * * The fees are
only 1_s._ delivery, or sending your case, and 1_s._ more on
re-delivering that and the opinion upon it, being what is thought
sufficient to defray the necessary expense of servants and
office-rent.--_Tatler_, December 16, 1710.
To pass, however, from the keen weapons of the brain to those of the
flesh, it is interesting to fix with some tolerable accuracy the change
which took place in the early part of the eighteenth century in what might
be called the amusements of the fancy. The "noble art of defence," as it
was termed, up to the time of the first George seems to have consisted in
the broadsword exercise. Pepys describes in his "Diary" several bloody
encounters of this kind which he himself witnessed; and the following
advertisement, a half-century later, shows that the skilled weapon had not
at that time been set aside for the more brutal fist:--
A _Tryal of Skill_ to be performed at His Majesty's Bear Garden in
Hockley-in-the-Hole, on Thursday next, being the 9th instant, betwixt
these following masters:--Edmund 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.--_Postman_, July 4, 1701.
The savage character of the time may be judged from this public boast of
Mr. Edmund Button that he had cut down six men with a murderous weapon. We
question, however, if the age which could tolerate such ruffianism was not
exceeded by the change which substituted the fist for the sword, and
witnessed women entering the ring in the place of men. Some of the
earliest notices of boxing-matches upon record, singularly enough, took
place between combatants of the fair sex. In a public journal of 1722, for
instance, we find the following gage of battle thrown down, and
accepted:--
CHALLENGE.--I, Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some
words with Hannah Hyfield, and requiring satisfaction, do invite her
to meet me upon the stage, and box me for three guineas; each woman
holding half-a-crown in each hand, and the first woman that drops the
money to lose the battle.
ANSWER.--I, Hannah Hyfield, of Newgate Market, hearing of the
resoluteness of Elizabeth Wilkinson, will not fail, _God willing_, to
give her more blows than words, desiring home blows, and from her no
favour: she may expect a good thumping!
The half-crowns in the hands was an ingenious device to prevent
scratching! A still more characteristic specimen of one of these
challenges to a fisticuff between two women is to be found in the _Daily
Post_ of July 7th, 1728:--
At _Mr. Stokes' Amphitheatre_ in Islington Road, this present Monday,
being the 7 of October, will be a complete Boxing Match by the two
following Championesses:--Whereas I, Ann Field, of Stoke Newington,
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
her best skill in Boxing for 10 pounds, fair rise and fall; and
question not but to give her such proofs of my judgement that shall
oblige her to acknowledge me Championess of the Stage, to the entire
satisfaction of all my friends.
I, Elizabeth Stokes, of the City of London, have not fought in this
way since I fought the famous boxing-woman of Billingsgate 29 minutes,
and gained a complete victory (which is six years ago); but as the
famous Stoke Newington 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.
Other advertisements about this time relate to cock-matches, sometimes "to
last the week," to bull-baiting, and, more cruel still, to dressing up mad
bulls with fireworks, in order to worry them with dogs. The brutal tone of
manners, which set in afresh with the Hanoverian succession, might be
alone gathered from the so-called sporting advertisements of the day; and
we now see that Hogarth, in his famous picture, had no need to, and
probably did not, draw upon his imagination for the combination of horrid
cruelties therein depicted.
The very same tone pervaded the gallantry of the day, and we print two
advertisements, one of the time of Anne, and the other of the age we are
now illustrating, in order to contrast their spirit. We give the more
polished one precedence:--
A gentleman who, the twentieth instant, had the honour to conduct a
lady out of a boat at Whitehall-stairs, desires to know where he may
wait on her to disclose a matter of concern. A letter directed to Mr.
Samuel Reeves, to be left with Mr. May, at the Golden Head, the upper
end of New Southampton Street, Covent Garden.--_Tatler_, March 21,
1709.
A certain courtly style and air of good breeding pervades this
advertisement, of which Sir Richard Steele himself need not have been
ashamed; but what a falling-off is here!--
Whereas a young lady was at Covent Garden playhouse last Tuesday
night, and received a blow with a square piece of wood on her breast;
if the lady be single, and meet me on Sunday, at two o'clock, on the
Mall in St. James's Park, or send a line directed for A. B., to Mr.
Jones's, at the Sun Tavern in St. Paul's Churchyard, where and when I
shall wait on her, to inform her of something very much to her
advantage on honourable terms, her compliance will be a lasting
pleasure to her most obedient servant.--_General Advertiser_, Feb. 8,
1748.
It would seem as though the beau had been forced to resort to a missile to
make an impression, and then felt the necessity of stating that his
intentions were "honourable," in order to secure an interview with his
_innamorata_. Imagine, too, the open unblushing manner in which the
assignation is attempted! We are far from saying that such matters are not
managed now through the medium of advertisements, for we shall presently
show they are, but in how much more carefully concealed a manner! The
perfect contempt of public opinion, or rather the public acquiescence in
such infringements of the moral law, which it exhibits, proves the general
state of morality more than the infringements themselves, which obtain
more or less at all times. Two of the causes which led to this low tone of
manners with respect to women were doubtless the detestable profligacy of
the courts of the two first Georges, and the very defective condition of
the existing marriage law. William and Mary, and Anne, had, by their
decorous, not to say frigid lives, redeemed the crown, and, in some
measure, the aristocracy, from the vices of the Restoration. Crown, court,
and quality, however, fell into a still worse slough on the accession of
the Hanoverian king, who soiled afresh the rising tone of public life by
his scandalous connection with the 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 May Fair, and that at the Fleet, were the Gretna
Greens of the age, where children could get married at any time of the day
or night for a couple of crowns. It was said at the time, that at the
former chapel six thousand persons were annually married in this off-hand
way; the youngest of the beautiful Miss Gunnings was wedded to the Duke of
Hamilton, at twelve o'clock at night, with a ring off the bed-curtain, at
this very "marriage-shop." The fruits of such unions may be imagined. The
easy way in which the marriage bond was worn and broken through is clearly
indicated by the 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.
We have referred, in an early part of this paper, to the taste for
blackamoors, which set in the reign of Charles II., and went on increasing
until the middle of the next century, at which time there must have been a
very considerable population of negro servants in the metropolis. At first
the picturesque natives of the East were pressed into the service of the
nobility and gentry, and colour does not appear to have been a _sine quâ
non_. Thus we have in the _London Gazette_ of 1688 the following
hue-and-cry advertisement:--
Run away from his master, Captain St. Lo, the 21st instant, Obdelah
Ealias Abraham, a Moor, swarthy complexion, short frizzled hair, a
gold ring in his ear, in a black coat and blew breeches. He took with
him a blew Turkish watch-gown, a Turkish suit of clothing that he used
to wear about town, and several other things. Whoever brings him to
Mr. Lozel's house in Green Street shall have one guinea for his
charges.
The next advertisement we find also relates to what we must consider an
East Indian. The notion of property in these boys seems to have been
complete; their masters put their names upon their collars, as they did
upon their setters or spaniels:--
A black boy, an Indian, about thirteen years old, run away the 8th
instant from Putney, with a collar about his neck with this
inscription: 'the Lady Bromfield's black in Lincoln's Inn Fields.'
Whoever brings him to Sir Edward Bromfield's at Putney shall have a
guinea reward.--_The London Gazette_, 1694.
The traffic in African blacks, which commenced towards the end of the
seventeenth century, seems to have displaced these eastern servitors
towards the end of the century, for henceforth the word negro, blackamoor,
or black boy, is invariably used. No doubt the fashion for these negroes
and other coloured attendants was derived from the Venetian Republic, the
intercourse of whose merchants with Africa and India naturally led to
their introduction. Titian and other great painters of his school
continually introduced them in their pictures, and our own great bard has
for ever associated the Moor with the City in the Sea. In England the
negro boys appear to have been considered as much articles of sale as they
would have been in the slave-market at Constantinople. In the _Tatler_ of
1709 we find one offered to the public in the following terms:--
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.
Again, in the _Daily Journal_ of September 28th, 1728, we light upon
another:--
To be sold, a negro boy, aged eleven years. Enquire of the Virginia
Coffee-house in Threadneedle Street, behind the Royal Exchange.
These were the overflowings of that infamous traffic in negroes, commenced
by Sir John Hawkins in the year 1680, which tore from their homes, and
transferred to Jamaica alone, no less than 910,000 Africans between that
time and the year 1786, when the slave-trade was abolished.
We have brought the reader up to the date of the final battle which
extinguished the hopes of the Stuarts and settled the line of Brunswick
firmly on the throne. The year 1745 witnessed the commencement of the
_General Advertiser_, the title of which indicates the purpose to which it
was dedicated. This paper 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 the
people, that masquerades were prohibited by law, and the puppet-shows, the
rope-dancing, the china-auctions, and public breakfasts henceforth grow
scarcer and scarcer as the Ladies Betty and Sally, who inaugurated them,
withdrew by degrees, withered, faded, and patched, from the scene.
The only signs of the political tendencies of the time to be gathered from
the sources we are pursuing, are the party dinners, announcements of which
are now and then to be met with as follows:--
To the Joyous.--The Bloods are desired to meet together at the house
known by the name of the 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.--_General
Advertiser_, Jan. 13, 1748.
Or the following still more characteristic example from the same paper of
April 12:--
Half-Moon Tavern, Cheapside.--Saturday next, the 16 of April, being
the anniversary of the Glorious Battle of Colloden, 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.--ENDYMION.
Within five-and-twenty years from this date most of the existing morning
journals were established, and their advertising columns put on a guise
closely resembling that which they now present. We need not therefore
pursue our deep trenching into the old subsoil in order to turn up
long-buried evidences of manners and fashions, for they have ceased to
appear, either fossil or historical; we therefore boldly leap the gulf
that intervenes between these old days and the present.
The early part of the present century saw the commencement of that liberal
and systematic plan of advertising which marks the complete era in the
art. Princely ideas by degrees took possession of the trading mind as to
the value of this new agent in extending their business transactions.
Packwood, some thirty years ago, led the way by impressing his razor-strop
indelibly on the mind of every bearded member of the empire. Like other
great potentates he boasted a laureate in his pay, and every one remembers
the reply made to the individuals curious to know who drew up his
advertisements: "La, sir, we keeps a poet!"
By universal consent, however, the world has accorded to the late George
Robins the palm in this style of commercial puffing. His advertisements
were really artistically written. Like Martin, he had the power of
investing every landscape and building he touched with an importance and
majesty not attainable by meaner hands. He did perhaps go beyond the
yielding line of even poetical license, when he described one portion of a
paradise he was about to submit to public competition as adorned, among
other charms, with a "hanging wood," which the astonished purchaser found
out meant nothing more than an old gallows. But then he redeemed slight
manoeuvres of this kind by touches which really displayed a genius for
puffing. On one occasion he had made the beauties of an estate so
enchanting, that he found it necessary to blur it by a fault or two, lest
it should prove too bright and good "for human nature's daily food." "But
there are two drawbacks to the property," sighed out this Hafiz of the
Mart, "the litter of the rose-leaves and the noise of the nightingales!"
Certainly the force of exquisite puffing could no further go, and when he
died the poetry of advertising departed. Others, such as Charles Wright
of Champagne celebrity, have attempted to strike the strings; and Moses
does, we believe, veritably keep a poet; but none of them have been able
to rival George the Great, and we yawn as we read sonnets which end in the
invariable "mart," or acrostics which refer to Hyam and Co.'s superior
vests. Twenty years ago some of the daily newspapers admitted illustrated
advertisements into their columns; now it would be fatal to any of them to
do so. Nevertheless, they are by far the most effective of their class, as
they call in the aid of another sense to express their meaning. All but
the minors of the present generation must remember George Cruikshank's
exquisite woodcut of the astonished cat viewing herself in the polished
Hessian, which made the fortune of Warren. But in those days tradesmen
only tried their wings for the flight. It was left to the present time to
prove what unlimited confidence in the power of the advertisement will
effect, and a short list of the sums _annually_ spent in this item by some
of the most adventurous dealers will perhaps startle our readers.
"Professor" Holloway, Pills, etc. £30,000
Moses and Son 10,000
Rowland and Co. (Macassar oil, &c.) 10,000
Dr. De Jongh (cod-liver oil) 10,000
Heal and Sons (bedsteads and bedding) 6,000
Nicholls (tailor) 4,500
It does seem indeed incredible that one house should expend upon the mere
advertising of quack pills and ointment a sum equal to the entire revenue
of many a German principality. Can it possibly pay? asks the astonished
reader. Let the increasing avenue of assistants, to be seen "from morn to
dewy eve" wrapping up pills in the "professor's" establishment within the
shadow of Temple Bar, supply the answer.[2] Vastly as the press of this
country has expanded of late years, it has proved insufficient to contain
within its limits the rapid current of puffing which has set in.
Advertisements now overflow into our omnibuses, our cabs, our railway
carriages, and our steamboats. Madame Tussaud pays 90_l._ monthly to the
Atlas Omnibus Company alone for the privilege of posting her bills in
their vehicles. They are inked upon the pavement, painted in large letters
under the arches of the bridges and on every dead wall. Lloyd's weekly
newspaper is stamped on the "full Guelph cheek" of the plebeian penny; the
emissaries of Moses shower perfect libraries through the windows of the
carriages which ply from the railway stations; and, as a crowning fact,
Thackeray, in his "Journey from Cornhill to Cairo," tells us that Warren's
blacking is painted up over an obliterated inscription to Psammetichus on
Pompey's Pillar!
Having shown the reader the slow growth of the advertising column; having
climbed, like "Jack in the Bean-stalk," from its humble root in the days
of the Commonwealth up its still increasing stem in the succeeding hundred
years, we now come upon its worthy flower in the shape of the
sixteen-paged _Times_ of the present day. Spread open its broad leaves,
and behold the greatest marvel of the age--the microcosm in type. Who can
recognize in its ample surface, which reflects like some camera-obscura
the wants, the wishes, the hopes, and the fears of this great city, the
news-book of the Cromwellian times with its leash of advertisements?
Herein we see how fierce is the struggle of two millions and a half of
people for dear existence. Every advertisement writhes and fights with its
neighbour, and every phase of society, brilliant, broken, or dim, is
reflected in this battle-field of life. Let us tell off the rank and file
of this army of announcements. On the 24th of May, 1855, the _Times_, in
its usual sixteen-paged paper, contained the incredible number of 2,575
advertisements. Amazing as this total appears, we only arrive at its full
significance by analyzing the vast array. Then, indeed, we feel what an
important power is the great British publie. Of old the antechambers of
the noble were thronged with poets, artists, publishers, tradesmen, and
dependants of all kinds, seeking for the droppings of their favour; but
what lordly antechamber ever presented such a crew of place-hunters,
servitors, literary and scientific men, schemers, and shopkeepers as
daily offer their services to the humblest individual who can spare a
penny for an hour's perusal of the _Times_? Let us take this paper of the
24th of May and examine the crowd of persons and things which cry aloud
through its pages, each attempting to make its voice heard above the
other. Here we see a noble fleet of ships, 129 in number, chartered for
the regions of gold, for America, for India, for Africa--for every port,
in fact, where cupidity, duty, or affection holds out an attraction for
the British race. Another column wearies the eye with its interminable
line of "Wants." Here in long and anxious row we see the modern "mop" or
statute-fair for hiring; 429 servants of all grades, from the genteel
lady's-maid or the "thorough cook," who will only condescend to accept
service where two footmen are kept, to the humble scullery-maid, on that
day passed their claims before us for inspection. Another column is noisy
with auctioneers; 136 of whom notify their intention of poising their
impatient hammers when we have favoured them with our company. Here we see
a crowd of booksellers offering, hot from the press, 195 new volumes, many
of which, we are assured by the appended critique, "should find a place in
every gentleman's library." There are 378 houses, shops, and
establishments presented to us to select from; and 144 lodging-house
keepers, "ladies having houses larger than they require," and medical men
who own "retreats," press forward with genteel offers of board and
lodging. Education pursues her claims by the hands of no less than 144
preceptors, male and female; whilst the hair, the skin, the feet, the
teeth, and the inward man are offered the kind attention of thirty-six
professors who possess infallible remedies for all the ills that flesh is
heir to. The remainder is made up of the miscellaneous cries of tradesmen,
whose voices rise from every portion of the page like the shouting of
chapmen from a fair. In the midst of all this struggle for gold, place,
and position, which goes on every day in this wonderful publication,
outcries from the very depths of the heart, passionate tears, bursts of
indignation, and heartrending appeals, startle one as they issue from the
second column of its front page. Here the father sees his prodigal son
afar off and falls upon his neck; the heartbroken mother implores her
runaway child to return; or the abandoned wife searches through the world
for her mate. It is strange how, when the eye is saturated with the thirst
after mammon exhibited by the rest of the broadsheet, the heart becomes
touched by these plaintive but searching utterances, a few of which we
reproduce:--
The one-winged Dove must die unless the Crane returns to be a shield
against her enemies.--_Times_ of 1850.
Or here is another which moves still more:--
B. J. C.--How more than cruel not to write. Take pity on such patient
silence.--_Times_, 1850.
The most ghastly advertisement which perhaps ever appeared in a public
journal we copy from this paper of the year 1845. It is either a threat to
inter a wrong body in the "family vault," or an address to a dead man:--
To the Party who Posts His Letters in Prince's Street, Leicester
Square.--Your family is now in a state of excitement unbearable. Your
attention is called to an advertisement in Wednesday's _Morning
Advertiser_, headed, "A body found drowned at Deptford." After your
avowal to your friend as to what you might do, he has been to see the
decomposed remains, accompanied by others. The features are gone; but
there are marks on the arm; so that, unless they hear from you to-day,
it will satisfy them that the remains are those of their misguided
relative, and steps will be directly taken to place them in the family
vault, as they cannot bear the idea of a pauper's funeral.
Sometimes we see the flashing eyes of indignation gleaming through the
very words. The following is evidently written to an old lover with all
the burning passion of a woman deceived:--
It is enough; one man alone upon earth have I found noble. Away from
me for ever! Cold heart and mean spirit, you have lost what
millions--empires--could not have bought, but which a single word
truthfully and nobly spoken might have made your own to all eternity.
Yet you are forgiven: depart in peace: I rest in my
Redeemer.--_Times_, Sept. 1st, 1852.
Sometimes it is more confiding love "wafting a sigh from Indus to the
pole," or, finger on lip, speaking secretly, and as he thinks securely,
through the medium of cipher advertisements to the loved one. Sweet
delusion! There are wicked philosophers abroad who unstring the bow of
harder toil by picking your inmost thoughts! Lovers beware! intriguers
tremble! Many a wicked passage of illicit love, many a joy fearfully
snatched, which passed through the second column of the first page of the
_Times_ as a string of disjointed letters, unintelligible as the
correspondents thought, to all the world but themselves, have we seen
fairly copied out in plain if not always good English in the commonplace
books of these cunning men at cryptographs. Here, for instance, we give an
episode from the life of "Flo," which appeared in the _Times_ of 1853-54,
as a proof:--
Flo.--Thou voice of my heart! Berlin, Thursday. I leave next Monday,
and shall press you to my heart on Saturday. God bless you!--_Nov. 29,
1853._
Flo.--The last is wrong. I repeat it. Thou voice of my heart. I am so
lonely, I miss you more than ever. I look at your picture every night.
I send you an Indian shawl to wear round you while asleep after
dinner. It will keep you from harm, and you must fancy my arms are
around you. God bless you! how I do love you!--_Dec. 23, 1853._
Flo.--My own love, I am happy again; it is like awaking from a bad
dream. You are, my life; to know that there is a chance of seeing you,
to hear from you, to do things to enough. [There is some error here.]
I shall try to see you soon. Write to me as often as you can. God
bless you, thou voice of my heart!--_Jan. 2, 1854._
Flo.--Thou voice of my heart! How I do love you! How are you? Shall
you be laid up this spring? I can see you walking with your darling.
What would I give to be with you! Thanks for your last letter. I fear
nothing but separation from you. You are my world, my life, my hope.
Thou more than life, farewell! God bless you!--_Jan. 6, 1854._
Flo.--I fear, dearest, our cipher is discovered: write at once to your
friend "Indian Shawl" (P.O.), Buckingham, Bucks.--_Jan. 7, 1845._
The advertisement of January 7th is written in a great fright, and refers
to the discovery and exposure of the cipher in the _Times_ newspaper; for
whenever the aforesaid philosophers perceive that a secret correspondence
has arrived at a critical point they charitably insert a marplot
advertisement in the same cipher. The "Flo" intrigue was carried on in
figures, the key to which is as follows:--
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
y. u. o. i. e. a. d. k. h. f.
s. t. n. m. r. l. d. g. w. p.
x. c. b.
v.
The reader will perhaps remember another mad-looking advertisement which
appeared in the year 1853, headed "Cenerentola." The first, dated Feb.
2nd, we interpret thus:--
Cenerentola, I wish to try if you can read this, and am most anxious
to hear the end, when you return, and how long you remain here. Do
write a few lines, darling, please: I have been very far from happy
since you went away.
One of the parties cannot frame an adequate explanation of some delicate
matter clearly, as we find on the 11th the following:--
Cenerentola, until my heart is sick have I tried to frame an
explanation for you, but cannot. Silence is safest, if the true cause
is not suspected; if it is, all stories will be sifted to the bottom.
Do you remember our cousin's first proposition?--think of it.
The following, which appeared on the 19th of the same month, is written in
plain language, and is evidently a specimen of the marplot advertisement
before alluded to:--
Cenerentola, what nonsense! Your cousin's proposition is absurd. I
have given an explanation--the true one--which has perfectly satisfied
both parties--a thing which silence never could have effected. So no
more such absurdity.
The secret of this cipher consisted in representing each letter by the
twenty-second onward continually. One more specimen of these singular
advertisements and we have done. On Feb. 20, 1852, there appeared in the
_Times_ the following mysterious line:--
Tig tjohw it tig jfhiirvola og tig psgvw.--F. D. N.
The general reader, doubtless, looked upon this jumble of letters with
some such a puzzled air as the mastiff gives the tortoise in a very
popular French bronze; but not being able to make anything out of it,
passed on to the more intelligible contents of the paper. A friend of
ours, however, was curious and intelligent enough to extract the plain
English out of it, though not without much trouble, as thus:--If we take
the first word of the sentence, Tig, and place under its second letter i
the one which alphabetically precedes it, and treat the next letters in a
similar manner, we shall have the following combination:--
T i g
h f
e
Reading the first letters obliquely we have the article "The;" if we treat
the second word in the same manner, the following will be the result:--
T j o h w
i. n. g. v.
m. f. u.
e. t.
s.
which, read in the same slanting way, produces the word _Times_, and the
whole sentence, thus ingeniously worked out, gives up its latent and
extraordinary meaning, thus--
"The _Times_ is the Jefferies of the press."
What could have induced any one to take so much trouble thus to plant a
hidden insult into the leading journal, we cannot divine. "East," "He
Blew," "Willie and Fanny," "Dominoes," and "My darling A.," need not feel
uncomfortable although we know their secrets. We have said quite enough to
prove to these individuals that such ciphers as they use, are picked
immediately by any cryptographic Hobbs; indeed, all systems of writing
which depend upon transmutations of the letters of the alphabet, or the
substitution of figures for letters, such as we generally find in the
_Times_, are mere puzzles for children, and not worthy of the more cunning
or finished in the art.
It is not to be expected, with all the caution exhibited by the morning
papers to prevent the insertion of swindling advertisements that rogues do
not now and then manage to take advantage of their great circulation for
the sake of forwarding their own nefarious schemes. Sir Robert Carden has
just done good service by running to earth the Mr. Fynn, who for years has
lived abroad in splendour at the expense of the poor governesses he
managed to victimize through the advertising columns of the _Times_. One's
heart sickens at the stream of poor young ladies his promises have dragged
across the continent, and the consequences which may have resulted from
their thus putting their reputation as well as their money into his power.
Such scandalous traps as these are, of course, rare; but the papers are
full of minor pitfalls, into which the unwary are continually falling,
sometimes with their eyes wide open. Of the latter class are the
matrimonial advertisements; here is a specimen of one of the most artful
of its kind we ever remember to have seen:--
To Girls of Fortune--Matrimony.--A bachelor, young, amiable, handsome,
and of good family, and accustomed to move in the highest sphere of
society, is embarrassed in his circumstances. Marriage is his only
hope of extrication. This advertisement is inserted by one of his
friends. Ingratitude was never one of his faults, and he will study
for the remainder of his life to prove his estimation of the
confidence placed in him.--Address, post-paid, L. L. H. L., 47, King
Street, Soho.--N.B. The witticisms of cockney scribblers deprecated.
The air of candour, and the taking portrait of the handsome bachelor,
whose very poverty is converted into a charm, is cleverly assumed. An
announcement of a much less flattering kind, but probably of a more
genuine and honourable nature, was published in _Blackwood_ some time ago,
which we append, as, like Landseer's dog-pictures, the two form a capital
pair illustrative of high and low life.
Matrimonial Advertisement.--I hereby give notice to all unmarried
women, that I, John Hobnail, am at this writing five-and-forty, a
widower, and in want of a wife. As I wish no one to be mistaken, I
have a good cottage, with a couple of acres of land, for which I pay
2_l._ a year. I have five children, four of them old enough to be in
employment; three sides of bacon, and some pigs ready for market. I
should like to have a woman fit to take care of her house when I am
out. I want no second family. She may be between forty and fifty if
she likes. A good sterling woman would be preferred, who would take
care of the pigs.
The following is also matter of fact, but it looks suspicious:--
Matrimony to Milliners and Dressmakers. A young man about to EMIGRATE
to SOUTH AUSTRALIA would be happy to form an alliance with a young
woman in the above line possessing 60_l._ or 100_l._ property. Any one
so disposed, by applying by letter (post-paid) to T. Hall, 175, Upper
Thames Street, till Saturday next, appointing an interview, may depend
on prompt attention and strict secrecy.--_Times_, 1845.
The matrimonial bait is so obviously a good one, that of late years we see
advertisements of institutions, at which regular lists of candidates for
the marriage state, both male and female, are kept, together with
portraits, and a ledger in which pecuniary and mental qualifications are
neatly posted. Such springes are only suited, however, for the grossest
folly; but there is another class of advertisements which empties the
pockets of the industrious and aspiring in a very workmanlike manner: we
allude to such as the following:--
Gentlemen having a respectable circle of acquaintance may hear of
means of INCREASING their INCOME without the slightest pecuniary risk,
or of having (by any chance) their feelings wounded. Apply for
particulars, by letter, stating their position, &c., to W. R., 37,
Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square.
Gentlemen whose feelings are so delicate that they must not be injured on
any consideration, who nevertheless have a desire for lucre, we recommend
not to apply to such persons, unless they wish to receive for their pains
some such a scheme as was forwarded to a person who had answered an
advertisement (enclosing, as directed, thirty postage-stamps) in _Lloyd's
Weekly Journal_, headed "How to make 2_l._ per week by the outlay of
10_s._":--
"First purchase 1 cwt. of large-sized potatoes, which may be obtained
for the sum of 4_s._, then purchase a large basket, which will cost
say another 4_s._, then buy 2_s._ worth of flannel blanketing, and
this will comprise your stock in trade, of which the total cost is
10_s._ A large-sized potato weighs about half a pound, consequently
there are 224 potatoes in a cwt.
"Take half the above quantity of potatoes each evening to a baker's,
and have them baked; when properly cooked put them in your basket,
well wrapped up in the flannel to keep them hot, and sally forth and
offer them for sale at one penny each. Numbers will be glad to
purchase them at that price, and you will for certain be able to sell
half a cwt. every evening. From the calculation made below you will
see by that means you will be able to earn 2_l._ per week. The best
plan is to frequent the most crowded thoroughfares, and make good use
of your lungs; thus letting people know what you have for sale. You
could also call in at each public-house on your way, and solicit the
patronage of the customers, many of whom would be certain to buy of
you. Should you have too much pride to transact the business yourself
(though no one need be ashamed of pursuing an honest calling), you
could hire a boy for a few shillings a week, who could do the work for
you, and you could still make a handsome profit weekly.
"The following calculation proves that 2_l._ per week can be made by
selling baked potatoes:--
"1 cwt., containing 224 potatoes, sold in two
evenings, at 1_d._ each £0 18 8
Deduct cost 0 4 0
-------
£0 14 8
3
-------
Six evenings' sale £2 4 0
Pay baker at the rate of 8_d._ per evening for
baking potatoes 0 4 0
-------
Net profit per week £2 0 0"
One more specimen of these baits for gudgeon, and we have done. We
frequently see appeals to the benevolent for the loans of small sums. Some
of these are doubtless written by innocent persons in distress, who
confide in the good side of human nature; and we have been given to
understand that in many cases this blind confidence has not been
misplaced; for there are many Samaritans who read the papers nowadays, and
feel a romantic pleasure in answering such appeals: at the same time, we
are afraid that the great majority of them are gross deceptions. The
veritable whine of "the poor broken-down tradesman" who makes a habit of
visiting our quiet streets and appealing, in a very solemn voice, to "my
brethren" for the loan of a small trifle, whilst he anxiously scans the
windows for the halfpence, is observable, for instance, in the following
cool appeal:--
To the Benevolent.--A Young Tradesman has, from a series of
misfortunes, been reduced to the painful necessity of asking for a
trifling SUM to enable him to raise 10_l._ to save himself from
inevitable ruin and poverty; or if any gentleman would lend the above
it would be faithfully repaid. Satisfactory references as to the
genuineness of this case.--Direct to A.Z., Mr. Rigby's, Post-Office,
Mile-end Road.
The receipt of conscience-money is constantly acknowledged in
advertisements by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day, and the sums
which in this manner find their way into the Exchequer are by no means
inconsiderable. It is honourable to human nature, amid all the roguery we
have exposed, to find that now and then some conscience is touched by a
very small matter, and that great trouble and no little expense is often
gone to in order that others may not suffer through the inadvertency or
carelessness of the advertiser. The following is a delicate example:--
To Hackney-Coachmen.--About the month of March last, a gentleman from
the country took a coach from Finsbury Square, and accidentally broke
the glass of one of its windows. Being unwell at the time, the
circumstance was forgotten when he quitted the coach, and it would now
be a great relief to his mind to be put in a situation to pay the
coachman for it. Should this meet the eye of the person who drove the
coach, and he will make application to A. B., at Walker's Hotel, Dean
Street, Soho, any morning during the next week, before eleven o'clock,
proper attention will be paid to it.--_Times_, 1842.
The more curious advertisements which from time to time appear in the
public journals, but particularly in the _Times_, do not admit of
classification; and they are so numerous, moreover, that if we were to
comment upon one tithe of those that have appeared within the last six
years, we should far exceed the limits of this article. We make no
apology, therefore, for stringing together the following very odd lot:--
Do you want a servant?--Necessity prompts the question.--The
advertiser OFFERS his SERVICES to any lady or gentleman, company, or
others, in want of a truly faithful confidential servant in any
capacity not menial, where a practical knowledge of human nature, in
various parts of the world, would be available. Could undertake any
affair of small or great importance, where talent, inviolable secrecy,
or good address would be necessary. Has moved in the best and worst
societies without being contaminated by either; has never been a
servant; begs to recommend himself as one who knows his place; is
moral, temperate, middle-aged; no objection to any part of the world.
Could advise any capitalist wishing to increase his income, and have
the control of his own money. Could act as secretary or valet to any
lady or gentleman. Can give advice or hold his tongue, sing, dance,
play, fence, box, or preach a sermon, tell a story, be grave or gay,
ridiculous or sublime, or do anything, from the curling of a peruke to
the storming of a citadel, but never to excel his master.--Address, A.
B. C., 7, Little St. Andrew Street, Leicester Square.--_Times_, 1850.
The Mighty Angel's Midnight Roar.--"Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go
ye out to meet him." This awful cry, as is demonstrated, will very
shortly be heard, viz.: at the commencement of "the great day (or
year) of God's wrath," or the last of the 2,300 days (or years) in
Daniel's prophecy. By the authors of "Proofs of the Second Coming of
Messiah at the Passover in 1848." Price 6_d._ Fourth Edition.
This is a Muggletonian prophecy of the destruction of the world at a
certain date. The prediction failed, however, and the prophet found it
necessary to explain the reason:--
The Mighty Angel's Midnight Roar.--The authors, owing to their
disappointment, most sedulously investigated its cause, and instantly
announce its discovery. Daniel's vision, in chap. 8, was for 2,300
years, to the end of which (see 5-12) the "little horn" was to
practise and prosper, after which comes the year of God's wrath, which
was erroneously included in the 2,300 years, and thus the midnight cry
will be a year later than stated.--_Times_, 1851.
To P. Q. How Is Your Mother? I shan't inquire further, and must
decline entering upon the collateral branches of the family.--_Times_,
1842.
To Widowers and Single Gentlemen.--WANTED, by a lady, a SITUATION to
superintend the household and preside at table. She is agreeable,
becoming, careful, desirable, English, facetious, generous, honest,
industrious, judicious, keen, lively, merry, natty, obedient,
philosophic, quiet, regular, sociable, tasteful, useful, vivacious,
womanish, xantippish, youthful, zealous, &c.--Address, X. Y. Z.,
Simmond's Library, Edgeware Road.--_Times._
The Title of an Ancient Baron. Mr. George Robins is empowered to SELL
the TITLE and DIGNITY of a BARON. The origin of the family, its
ancient descent, and illustrious ancestry, will be fully developed to
those and such only as desire to possess this distinguished rank for
the inconsiderable sum of 1,000_l._ Covent-garden Market.--_Times_,
1841.
Postage stamps. A young lady, being desirous of covering her
dressing-room with cancelled POSTAGE STAMPS, has been so far
encouraged in her wish by private friends as to have succeeded in
collecting 16,000! these, however, being insufficient, she will be
greatly obliged if any good-natured persons who may have these
(otherwise useless) little articles at their disposal would assist in
her whimsical project. Address to E. D., Mr. Butt's, glover,
Leadenhall Street; or Mr. Marshall's, jeweller, Hackney.--_Times_,
1841.
To the Theatrical Profession.--WANTED, for a Summer Theatre and
Circuit, a Leading Lady, Singing Chambermaid, First Low Comedian,
Heavy Man, Walking Gentleman, and one or two Gentlemen for Utility. To
open July 9th.
Address (enclosing Stamp for reply) to Mr. J. WINDSOR, Theatre Royal,
Preston, Lancashire.--_Era_, July 1, 1855.
Wanted a Man and his Wife to look after a Horse and Dairy with a
religious turn of mind without any incumbrance.
The variety is perhaps as astonishing as the number of advertisements in
the _Times_. Like the trunk of an elephant, no matter seems too minute or
too gigantic, too ludicrous or too sad, to be lifted into notoriety by the
giant of Printing-house Square. The partition of a thin rule suffices to
separate a call for the loan of millions from the sad weak cry of the
destitute gentlewoman to be allowed to slave in a nursery "for the sake of
a home." Vehement love sends its voice imploring through the world after a
graceless boy, side by side with the announcement of the landing of a
cargo of lively turtle, or the card of a bug-killer. The poor lady who
advertises for boarders "merely for the sake of society" finds her "want"
cheek-by-jowl with some Muggletonian announcement gratuitously calculated
to break up society altogether, to the effect that the world will come to
an end by the middle of the next month. Or the reader is informed that for
twelve postage stamps he may learn "How to obtain a certain fortune,"
exactly opposite an offer of a bonus of 500_l._ to any one who will obtain
for the advertiser "a Government situation." The _Times_ reflects every
want, and appeals to every motive which affects our composite society. And
why does it do this? Because of its ubiquity: go where we will, there,
like the house-fly or the sparrow, we find it. The porter reads it in his
beehive-chair, the master in his library; Green, we have no doubt, takes
it with him to the clouds in his balloon, and the collier reads it in the
depths of the mine; the workman at his bench, the lodger in his two-pair
back, the gold-digger in his hole, and the soldier in the trench, pore
over its broad pages. Hot from the press, or months old, still it is read.
That it is, _par excellence_, the national paper, and reflects more than
any other the life of the people, may be gathered from its circulation.
They show in the editor's room a singular diagram, which indicates by an
irregular line the circulation day by day and year by year. On this sheet
the gusts of political feeling and the pressure of popular excitement are
as minutely indicated as the force and direction of the wind are shown by
the self-registering apparatus in Lloyd's Rooms. Thus we find that in the
year 1845 it ran along at a pretty nearly dead level of 23,000 copies
daily. In 1846--for one day, the 28th of January, that on which the report
of Sir Robert Peel's statement respecting the Corn Laws appeared--it rose
in a towering peak to a height of 51,000, and then fell again to its old
number. It began the year 1848 with 29,000, and rose to 43,000 on the 29th
of February--the morrow of the French revolution. In 1852 its level at
starting was 36,000, and it attained to the highest point it has yet
touched on the 19th of November, the day of the Memoir of the Great Duke,
when 69,000 copies were sold. In January, 1853, the level had arisen to
40,000; and at the commencement of the present year it stood at 58,000, a
circulation which has since increased to 60,000 copies daily!
Notwithstanding all the disturbing causes which make the line of its
circulation present the appearance of hill and dale, sometimes rising into
Alp-like elevations, its ordinary level at the beginning of each year for
some time past has constantly gone on advancing; insomuch that within ten
years its circulation has more than doubled by 7,000 daily.
This vigorous growth is the true cause of that wonderful determination of
advertisements to its pages, which have overflowed into a second paper, or
supplement, as it was formerly called. That this success has been fairly
won, we have never ourselves doubted; but a fact has come to our knowledge
which will pretty clearly prove that this great paper is conducted on
principles which are superior to mere money considerations; or rather its
operations are so large that it can afford to inflict upon itself
pecuniary losses, such as would annihilate any other journal, in order to
take a perfectly free course. In the year 1845, when the railway mania was
at its height, the _Times_ advertising sheet was overrun with projected
lines, and many a guess was made, we remember, at the time as to their
probable value; but high as the estimates generally were, they came far
short of the truth. We give the cash and credit returns of advertisements
of all kinds for nine weeks:--
Sept. 6 £2839 14 0
" 13 3783 12 0
" 20 3935 7 6
" 27 4692 7 0
Oct. 4 6318 14 0
" 11 6543 17 0
" 18 6687 4 0
" 25 6025 14 6
Nov. 1 3230 3 6
During the greater part of the time that the proprietors were reaping this
splendid harvest from the infatuation of the people, the heaviest guns
were daily brought to bear from the leading columns upon the bubbles which
rose up so thickly in the advertising sheet. The effect of their fire may
be measured by the falling off of nearly 3,000_l._ in the returns for a
single week. A journal which could afford to sacrifice such a revenue to
its independence, certainly deserved some consideration from the
Government; but, on the contrary, it appears to have been singled out for
annoyance by the act which relates to newspapers. We see certain trees on
our lawns whose upshooting branches are by ingenious gardeners trained
downwards, and taught to hold themselves in a dependent condition by the
imposition of weights upon their extremities. The state gardeners have
applied the same treatment to the journal in question, by hanging an extra
halfpenny stamp upon every copy of its issue--a proceeding which, in our
opinion, is as unfair as it is injudicious: and this they will find in the
future, when the crowd of mosquito-like cheap journals called forth by the
measure, and supported by the very life-blood of the leading journal,
begin to gather strength and to attack Whiggery with their democratic
buzz.
We have dwelt chiefly upon the advertising sheet of the _Times_, because
it is the epitome of that in all the other journals. It must be mentioned,
however, that some of the morning and weekly papers lay themselves out
for class advertisements. Thus the _Morning Post_ monopolizes all those
which relate to fashion and high life; and the _Morning Advertiser_, the
paper of the licensed victuallers, aggregates to itself every announcement
relating to their craft. _Bell's Life_ is one mass of advertisements of
various sports; the _Era_ is great upon all theatricals; the _Athenæum_
gathers to itself a large proportion of book advertisements. The
_Illustrated News_ among the weeklies, like the _Times_ among the dailies,
towers by the head above them all. A hebdomadal circulation of 170,000
draws a far more cosmopolitan collection of announcements to its pages
than any of its contemporaries can boast. We have said nothing of the
advertisements in the provincial journals; but it is gratifying to find
that they have more than kept pace with those which have appeared in the
metropolitan papers. Their enormous increase is best shown by the returns
of the advertisement duty; from which it appears that in 1851 no less than
2,334,593 advertisements were published in the journals of Great Britain
and Ireland--a number which has vastly augmented since the tax upon them
has been repealed.
It is curious to see the estimate which the different journals place upon
themselves as mediums of publicity, by comparing their charges for the
same advertisement. Thus the contents of the _Quarterly Review_ for
January, 1855, precisely similar as far as length is concerned, was
charged for insertion as an advertisement by the different papers as
follows:--_Times_, 4s.; _Illustrated News_, 1_l._ 8s.; _Morning
Chronicle_, 5s. 6d.; _Morning Post_, 6s.; _Daily News_, 5s. 6d.;
_Spectator_, 7s. 6d.; _Morning Herald_, 6s.; _Punch_, 15s.; _Observer_,
9s. 6d.; _English Churchman_, 5s. 6d.; _Examiner_, 3s. 6d.; _John Bull_,
5s. 6d.; _Athenæum_, 10s. 6d. Now the _Times_ did not "display" the
advertisement as all the others did, it is true, and therefore squeezed it
into half the space; but with this difference, its charge was absolutely
the lowest in the list, with the single exception of that of the
_Examiner_. How this moderation on the part of the Leading Journal is to
be accounted for we know not; but the apparent dearness of the
_Illustrated News_ meets a ready solution, and affords us an opportunity
of showing how vastly the prime cost of an advertisement, during the
present high price of paper especially, is augmented by a great increase
of the circulation of the paper in which it appears, and what the
advertiser really gets for his money. If we take the advertisement of our
contents (_Quarterly Review_), it will be found to measure about one inch
in depth; it is obvious, then, that we must multiply this measure by
170,000, the number of separate copies in which it appeared. Now 170,000
inches yield a strip of printed paper the width of a newspaper
column--_upwards of two miles and three-quarters long!_ Thus we have at a
glance the real amount of publicity which is procurable in a great
journal; and with so remarkable a statement it will be well to close our
paper.
FOOD AND ITS ADULTERATIONS.
A story is told of a European who, wishing to convince a Brahmin of the
folly of his faith in interdicting, as an article of food, anything that
once possessed life, showed him, by the aid of the microscope, that the
very water which he drank was full of living things. The Indian, thus
suddenly introduced to an unseen world, dashed the instrument to the
ground, and reproached his teacher for having so wantonly destroyed the
guiding principle of his life. We, too, have at home a Hindoo, in the
shape of the believing British public, to whose eye Dr. Hassall nicely
adjusts the focus of his microscope, and bids him behold what unseen
villanies are daily perpetrated upon his purse and person.
The world at large has almost forgotten Accum's celebrated work, "Death in
the Pot;" a new generation has indeed sprung up since it was written, and
fraudulent tradesmen and manufacturers have gone on in silence, and, up to
this time, in security, falsifying the food and picking the pockets of the
people. Startling indeed as were the revelations in that remarkable book,
yet it had little effect in reforming the abuses it exposed. General
denunciations of grocers did not touch individuals of the craft, and they
were consequently not driven to improve the quality of their wares. The
_Lancet_ Commission went to work in a different manner. In Turkey, when of
old they caught a baker giving false weight, or adulterating the staff of
life, they nailed his ear to the door-post, "pour encourager les autres."
Dr. Hassall, like a modern Al Raschid, perambulated the town himself, or
sent his trustworthy agents to purchase articles, upon all of which the
inexorable microscope was set to work, and every fraudulent sample, after
due notice given, subjected its vendor to be pinned for ever to the
terrible pages of the Commissioners' report. In this manner direct
responsibility was obtained. If the falsification denounced was not the
work of the retailer, he was glad enough to shift the blame upon the
manufacturer; and thus the truth came out.
A gun suddenly fired into a rookery could not cause a greater commotion
than this publication of the names of dishonest tradesmen; nor does the
daylight, when you lift a stone, startle ugly and loathsome things more
quickly than the pencil of light, streaming through a quarter-inch lens,
surprised in their naked ugliness the thousand and one illegal substances
which enter more or less into every description of food that it will pay
to adulterate. Nay, to such a pitch of refinement has the art of
falsification of alimentary substances reached, that the very articles
used to adulterate are adulterated; and while one tradesman is picking the
pockets of his customers, a still more cunning rogue is, unknown to
himself, deep in his own!
The manner in which food is adulterated is not only one of degree, but of
kind. The most simple of all sophistications, and that which is most
harmless, is the mixture of inferior qualities of the same substance.
Indeed, if the price charged were according to quality, it would be no
fraud at all; but this adjustment rarely takes place. Secondly, the
mixture of cheaper articles of another kind. Thirdly, the surreptitious
introduction of materials which, taken in large quantities, are
prejudicial to health; and, fourthly, the admixture of the most deadly
poisons in order to improve the appearance of the article "doctored."
The microscope alone is capable of detecting at one operation the nature
and extent of the more harmless but general of these frauds. When once the
investigator, by the aid of that instrument, has become familiar with the
configurations of different kinds of the same chemically composed
substances, he is armed with far greater detective power than chemical
agents could provide him with. It is beyond the limit of the test-tube to
show the mind the various forms of animal and vegetable life which exist
in impure water; delicate as are its powers, it could not indicate the
presence of the sugar-insect, or distinguish with unerring nicety an
admixture of the common Circuma arrowroot with the finer Maranta.
Chemistry is quite capable of telling the component parts of any article:
what are the definite forms and natures of the various ingredients which
enter into a mixture, it cannot so easily answer. This the microscope can
at once effect; and in its present application consists Dr. Hassall's
advantage over all previous investigators in the same field. The precision
with which he is enabled to state the result of his labours leaves no
appeal: he shows his reader the intimate structures of a coffee-grain, and
of oak or mahogany sawdust; and then a specimen of the two combined, sold
under the title of genuine Mocha. Many manufacturers and retailers who
have been detected falsifying the food of the public, have threatened
actions; but they all flinched from the test of this unerring instrument.
The system of adulteration is so wide-spread, and embraces so many of the
items of the daily meal, that we scarcely know where to begin--what corner
of the veil first to lift. Let us hold up the cruet-frame, for example,
and analyze its contents. There is mustard, pepper (black and cayenne),
vinegar, anchovy and Harvey sauce--so thinks the unsuspecting reader; let
us show him what else beside. To begin with mustard. "Best Durham," or
"Superfine Durham," no doubt it was purchased for; but we will summarily
dismiss this substance by stating that it is impossible to procure it pure
at all: out of forty-two samples bought by Dr. Hassall at the best as well
as inferior shops, all were more or less adulterated with wheaten flour
for bulk, and with turmeric for colour. Vinegar also suffers a double
adulteration. It is first watered, and then pungency is given to it by the
addition of sulphuric acid. A small quantity of this acid is allowed by
law; and this is frequently trebled by the victuallers. The pepper-castor
is another stronghold of fraud--fraud so long and openly practised, that
we question if the great mass of the perpetrators even think they are
doing wrong. Among the milder forms of sophistication to which this
article is subjected, are to be found such ingredients as wheaten flour,
ground rice, ground mustard-seeds, and linseed-meal. The grocer maintains
a certain reserve as to the generality of the articles he employs in
vitiating his wares; but pepper he seems to think is given up to him by
the public to "cook" in any manner he thinks fit. This he almost
invariably does by the addition of what is known in the trade as P. D., or
pepper-dust, _alias_ the sweepings from the pepper warehouses. But there
is a lower depth still: P. D. is too genuine a commodity for some markets,
and it is accordingly mixed with D. P. D., or dirt of pepper-dust.
A little book, published not long since, entitled "The Successful
Merchant," which gives the minute trade history of a gentleman very much
respected in Bristol, Samuel Budgett, Esq., affords us a passage bearing
upon this P. D. which is worthy of notice.
"In Mr. Budgett's early days," says his biographer, "pepper was under
a heavy tax, and in the trade universal tradition said that out of the
trade everybody expected pepper to be mixed. In the shop stood a cask
labelled P. D., containing something _very like_ pepper-dust,
wherewith it was usual to mix the pepper before sending it forth to
serve the public. The trade tradition had obtained for the apocryphal
P. D. a place amongst the standard articles of the shop, and on the
strength of that tradition it was vended for pepper by men who thought
they were honest. But as Samuel went on in life, his ideas on trade
morality grew clearer; this P. D. began to give him much discomfort.
He thought upon it till he was satisfied that, after all that could be
said, the thing was wrong: arrived at this conclusion, he felt that no
blessing could light upon the place while it was there. He instantly
decreed that P. D. should perish. It was night; but back he went to
the shop, took the hypocritical cask, carried it out to the quarry,
then staved it, and scattered P. D. among the clods and slag and
stones."
Would we could say that the reduction of the tax upon pepper had
stimulated the honesty of other grocers to act a similar part to that of
Mr. Budgett; but P. D. flourishes as flagrantly as ever; and if every
possessor of the article in London were to stave his casks in the roadway,
as conscientiously as did the "Successful Merchant," there would be hard
work for the scavengers. In the days of Accum it was usual to manufacture
peppercorns out of oiled linseed-cake, clay, and cayenne-pepper, formed
into a mass, and then granulated: these fraudulent corns were mixed with
the real to the extent of seventeen per cent. This form of imposition,
like that of wooden nutmegs among our American friends, has, we are happy
to say, long been abandoned. The adulterations we have mentioned are
simply dirty and fraudulent; but in the cayenne-cruet we find, in
addition, a deadly poison. Out of twenty-eight samples submitted to
examination, no less than twenty-four were adulterated with white
mustard-seed, brickdust, salt, ground rice, and _deal sawdust_, by way of
giving bulk; but as all of these tend to lighten the colour, it is
necessary to heighten it to the required pitch. And what is employed to do
this? Hear and tremble, old Indians and lovers of high-seasoned food--with
RED LEAD. Out of twenty-eight samples, red lead, and _often in poisonous
quantities_, was present in thirteen! Who knows how many "yellow admirals"
at Bath have fallen victims to their cayenne-cruets? Nor can it be said
that the small quantity taken at a time could do no permanent mischief;
for lead belongs to the class of poisons which are cumulative in their
effects.
He who loves cayenne, as a rule is fond of curry-powder; and here also the
poisonous oxide is to be found in large quantities. Some years ago, a
certain amiable duke recommended the labouring population, during a season
of famine, to take a pinch of this condiment every morning before going to
work, as "warm and comforting to the stomach." If they had followed his
advice, thirteen out of every twenty-eight persons would have imbibed a
slow poison. Those who are in the habit of using curry, generally take it
in considerable quantities, and thus the villanous falsification plays a
more deadly part than even in cayenne-pepper. Imagine a man for years
pertinaciously painting his stomach with red lead! We do not know whether
medical statistics prove that paralysis prevails much among "Nabobs;" but
of this we may be sure, that there could be no more fruitful source of it
than the two favourite stimulants we have named.
The great staple articles of food are not subject to adulteration in the
same proportion as many other articles of minor demand. We need scarcely
say that meat is exempt so long as it remains in the condition of joints;
but immediately it is prepared in any shape in which its original fibre
and form can be hidden, the spirit of craft begins to work. The public
have always had certain prejudices against sausages and polonies, for
example; and, if we are to believe a witness examined on oath before the
Smithfield Market Commissioners in 1850, not without reason. It is a very
old joke that there are no live donkeys to be found within twenty miles of
Epping; but if all the asinine tribe in England were to fall victims to
the chopping-machine, we question if they could supply the _à-la-mode_,
polony, and sausage establishments. Mr. J. Harper, for instance, being
under examination, upon being asked what became of the diseased meat
brought into London, replied:--
"It is purchased by the soup-shops, sausage-makers, the _à-la-mode_
beef and meat-pie shops, &c. There is one soup-shop, I believe, doing
five hundred pounds per week in diseased meat. This firm has a large
_foreign_ trade [thank goodness!]. The trade in diseased meat is very
alarming, as anything in the shape of flesh can be sold at about one
penny per pound, or eightpence per stone.... I am certain that if one
hundred carcases of cows were lying dead in the neighbourhood of
London, I could get them all sold within twenty-four hours: _it don't
matter what they died of_."
It must not be imagined that the _à-la-mode_ beef interest is supplied
with this carrion by needy men, whose necessities may in some degree
palliate their evil dealings. In proof of this we quote further from Mr.
Harper's evidence. In answer to the question, "Is there any slaughtering
of bad meat in the country for the supply of the London market?" he
says,--
"The London market is very extensively supplied with diseased meat
from the country. There are three insurance offices in London in which
graziers can insure their beasts from disease. It was the practice of
one of these offices to send the unsound animals dying from disease to
their own slaughter-houses, situate a hundred and sixty miles from
London, to be dressed and sent to the London market.... Cattle, sheep,
&c., are insured against all kinds of diseases; and one of the
conditions is, that the diseased animal, when dead, becomes the
property of the insurance company, the party insuring receiving
two-thirds of the value of the animal and one-third of the salvage;
or, in other words, one-third of the amount the beast is sold for when
dead."
Upon being asked, "Do you believe it is still the habit of this company to
send up the diseased animals to London?" he replied,--
"Yes, I do; until lately they were regularly consigned to a
meat-salesman in Newgate market of the name of Mathews.... The larger
quantities are sold to people who manufacture it into soup, meat-pies,
sausages, &c."
We have no wish to destroy the generally robust appetite of the persons
who visit such shops by any gratuitous disclosure; but we question whether
the most hungry crossing-sweeper would look any more with a longing eye
upon the huge German sausages, rich and inviting as they appear, if, like
Mr. Harper, he knew the too probable antecedents of their contents. The
only other preparations of flesh open to adulteration are preserved meats.
Some years ago, "the Goldner canister business" so excited the public
against this invaluable method of storing perishing articles of food, that
a prejudice has existed against it ever since; and a more senseless
prejudice could not be. Goldner's process, since adopted by Messrs. Cooper
and Aves, is simple and beautiful. The provisions, being placed in tin
canisters having their covers soldered down, are plunged up to their necks
in a bath of chloride of calcium (a preparation which imbibes a great heat
without boiling), and their contents are speedily cooked; at the same time
all the air in the meat, and some of the water, are expelled in the form
of steam, which issues from a pin-hole in the lid. The instant the cook
ascertains the process to be complete, he drops a plug of solder upon the
hole, and the mass is thus hermetically sealed. Exclusion of air, and
coagulation of the albumen, are the two conditions which enable us to hand
the most delicate-flavoured meats down to remote generations,--for as
long, in fact, as a stout painted tin canister can maintain itself intact
against the oxidating effect of the atmosphere. We have ourselves partaken
lately of a duck that was winged, and of milk that came from the cow, as
long as eight years ago. Fruit which had been gathered whilst the
free-trade struggle was still going on, we found as delicate in flavour as
though it had just been plucked from the branch. Out of the many cases of
all kinds of provisions opened and examined by Dr. Hassall, scarcely any
have been found to be bad. When we remember that the graves of so many of
our soldiers in the Crimea may be justly inscribed, "Died of salt pork,"
we cannot forbear to call attention to a neglected means of feeding our
troops with good and nutritious food, instead of with the tough fibre
called meat, from which half the blood-making qualities have been
extracted by the process of boiling, whilst the remaining half is rendered
indigestible by the action of salt, and poisonous by the extraction of one
of its most important constituents. It would seem as if we were living in
the days of Anson, who lost 626 men of scurvy, out of a crew of 961,
before he could reach the island of Juan Fernandez, or of the still later
cruise of Sir C. Hardy, who sent 3,500 to hospital with this fatal
disease, after a six weeks' sail with the Channel fleet. It may be urged
that the sailors in the late war did not sicken on salt pork; but while
they had the necessary amount of potass, which the stomach requires to
make blood, in the lime-juice served out to them, our troops were without
this indispensable accompaniment, and consequently died. In the preserved
meats, which are made up with potatoes and other vegetables, the needful
potass exists, and such food may be purchased as cheaply as the pernicious
salt junk which is patronized by the Government.
Bread, the great blood-producer, claims particular attention. It often
surprises persons who walk about the metropolis to find that prices vary
according to the locality; thus the loaf that costs in the Borough or the
New Cut 7_d._ a quartern, is 10-1/2_d._ at the West End. Can plate-glass
windows and rent cause all this difference? Certainly not. We are glad,
however, to find that many of the adulterations mentioned by our older
writers have vanished with free trade. Prince and Accum mention plaster of
Paris, bone-dust, the meal of other cereal grains, white clay, alum,
sulphate of copper, potatoes, &c. All of these sophistications have
disappeared, with the exception of potatoes, which are occasionally
employed when the difference between their value and that of flour makes
it worth while for the baker or miller to introduce them. When we see a
loaf marked under the market price, we may rest assured that it is made of
flour ground from inferior and damaged wheat. In order to bring this up to
the required colour, and to destroy the sour taste which often belongs to
it, bakers are in the habit of introducing a mixture called in the trade
"hards" and "stuff," which is nothing more than alum and salt, kept
prepared in large quantities by the druggists. The quantity of alum
necessary to render bread white is certainly not great--Mitchell found
that it ranged from 116 grains to 34-1/2 grains in the four-pound loaf;
but the great advantage the baker derives from it, in addition to
improving the colour of his wares, is, that it absorbs a large quantity of
water, which he sells at the present time at the rate of 2_d._ a pound.
Out of twenty-eight loaves of bread bought in every quarter of the
metropolis, Dr. Hassall did not find one free from the adulteration of
alum; and in some of the samples he found considerable quantities. As a
general rule, the lower the neighbourhood, the cheaper the bread, and the
greater the quantity of this "hards" or "stuff" introduced. We must not,
however, lay all the blame upon the baker. This was satisfactorily shown
by the Sanitary Commissioners, when dealing with the bread sold by the
League Bread Company, whose advertisement to the following effect is
constantly to be seen in the _Times_:--
"The object for which the above company was established, and is now in
operation, is to insure to the public bread of a pure and nutritious
character. Experience daily proves how much our health is dependent
upon the quality and purity of our food; consequently, how important
it is that an article of such universal consumption as bread should be
free from adulteration. That various diseases are caused by the use of
_alum_ and other deleterious ingredients in the manufacture of bread,
the testimony of many eminent men will fully corroborate. Pure
unadulterated bread, full weight, best quality, and the lowest
possible price."
Upon several samples of this _pure bread_, purchased of various agents of
the company, being tested, they were found to be contaminated with _alum_!
Here was a discovery. The company protested that the analyses were
worthless; and all their workmen made a solemn declaration that they had
never used any alum whilst in their employ. The agents of the company
also declared that they never sold any but their bread. The analyst looked
again through his microscope, and again reiterated his charge, that alum
their bread contained. It was then agreed to test the flour supplied to
the company, and three samples were proved to contain the obnoxious
material. Thus we find that the miller still, in some instances, maintains
his doubtful reputation, and is at the bottom of this roguery.
Our succeeding remarks will fall, we fear, like a bomb upon many a
tea-table, and stagger teetotalism in its stronghold. A drunkard's stomach
is sometimes exhibited at total-abstinence lectures, in every stage of
congestion and inflammation, painted up to match the fervid eloquence of
the lecturer. If tea is our only refuge from the frightful maladies
entailed upon us by fermented liquors, we fear the British public is in a
perplexing dilemma. Ladies, there is death in the teapot! Green-tea
drinkers, beware! There has always been a vague idea afloat in the public
mind about hot copper plates--a suspicion that gunpowder and hyson do not
come by their colour honestly. The old duchess of Marlborough used to
boast that she came into the world before "nerves were in fashion." We
feel half inclined to believe this joke had a great truth in it; for since
the introduction of tea, nervous complaints of all kinds have greatly
increased; and we need not look far to find one at least of the causes in
the teapot. There is no such a thing as pure green tea to be met with in
England. It is adulterated in China; and we have lately learnt to
adulterate it at home almost as well as the cunning Asiatic. The pure
green tea made from the most delicate green leaves grown upon manured
soil, such as the Chinese use themselves, is, it is true, wholly
untainted; and we are informed that its beautiful bluish bloom, like that
upon a grape, is given by the third process of roasting which it
undergoes. The enormous demand for a moderately-priced green tea which has
arisen both in England and China since the opening of the trade, has led
the Hong merchants to imitate this peculiar colour; and this they do so
successfully as to deceive the ordinary judges of the article. Black tea
is openly coloured in the neighbourhood of Canton in the most wholesale
manner.
Mr. Robert Fortune, in his very interesting work, "The Tea Districts of
China and India," gives us a good description of the manner in which this
colouring process is performed, as witnessed by himself:--
"Having procured a portion of Prussian-blue, he threw it into a
porcelain bowl, not unlike a chemist's mortar, and crushed it into a
very fine powder. At the same time a quantity of gypsum was produced
and burned in the charcoal fires which were then roasting the teas.
The object of this was to soften it, in order that it might be readily
pounded into a very fine powder, in the same manner as the
Prussian-blue had been. The gypsum, having been taken out of the fire
after a certain time had elapsed, readily crumbled down, and was
reduced to powder in the mortar. These two substances, having been
thus prepared, were then mixed together in the proportion of four
parts of gypsum to three parts of Prussian-blue, and formed a light
blue powder, which was then ready for use.
"This colouring matter was applied to the teas during the process of
roasting. About five minutes before the tea was removed from the
pans--the time being regulated by the burning of a joss-stick--the
superintendent took a small porcelain spoon, and with it he scattered
a portion of the colouring matter over the leaves in each pan. The
workmen then turned the leaves round rapidly with both hands, in order
that the colour might be equally diffused. During this part of the
operation the hands of the workmen were quite blue. I could not help
thinking, if any green-tea drinkers had been present during the
operation, their taste would have been corrected, and, I believe,
improved.
"One day an English gentleman in Shanghae, being in conversation with
some Chinese from the green-tea country, asked them what reason they
had for dyeing the tea, and whether it would not be better without
undergoing this process. They acknowledged that tea was much better
when prepared without having any such ingredients mixed with it, and
that _they never drank dyed teas_ themselves, but justly remarked,
that, as foreigners seemed _to prefer having a mixture of
Prussian-blue and gypsum with their tea_ to make it look uniform and
pretty, and as these ingredients were cheap enough, the Chinese had no
objection to supply them, especially as such teas always fetched a
higher price.
"I took some trouble to ascertain precisely the quantity of colouring
matter used in the process of dyeing green teas, not certainly with
the view of assisting others, either at home or abroad, in the art of
colouring, but simply to show green-tea drinkers in England, and more
particularly in the United States of America, what _quantity_ of
Prussian-blue and gypsum they imbibe in the course of one year. To
14-1/2 lbs. were applied 8 mace 2-1/2 candareens of colouring matter,
or rather more than an ounce. To every hundred pounds of coloured
green-tea consumed in England or America, the consumer actually drinks
more than half a pound of Prussian-blue and gypsum. And yet, tell the
drinkers of this coloured tea that the Chinese eat cats and dogs, and
they will hold up their hands in amazement, and pity the poor
Celestials."
If the Chinese use it in these quantities to tinge the genuine leaf, how
much more must the English employ in making up afresh exhausted leaves!
That every spoonful of hyson or gunpowder contains a considerable quantity
of this deleterious dye will be seen by any one who places a pinch upon a
fine sieve, and pours upon it a gentle stream of water, when the tinging
of the liquid will show at once the extent of the adulteration, and the
folly of drinking painted tea. Assam tea, though not so inviting in
colour, is free from adulteration. A word to the wise is enough.
Of fifty samples of green tea analyzed by Dr. Hassall, all were
adulterated. There is one particular kind which is almost entirely a
manufactured article--gunpowder, both black and green--the former being
called scented caper. Both have a large admixture of what is termed "lye
tea," or a compound of sand, dirt, tea-dust, and broken-down portions of
other leaves worked together with gum into small nodules. This detestable
compound, which, according to Mr. Warrington,[3] who has analyzed it,
contains forty-five per cent. of earthy matter, is manufactured both in
China and in England, for the express purpose of adulterating tea. When
mixed with "scented caper," it is "faced" with black lead; when with
gunpowder, Prussian-blue: turmeric and French chalk give it the required
bloom. Mr. Warrington states that about 750,000 lbs. of this spurious tea
have been imported into Great Britain within eighteen months! Singularly
enough, the low-priced teas are the only genuine ones. Every sample of
this class which was analyzed by Dr. Hassall proved to be perfectly pure.
Here at least the poor have the advantage of the better classes, who pay a
higher price to be injured in their health by a painted beverage.
The practice of redrying used-up leaves is also carried on to some extent
in England. Mr. George Philips, of the Inland Revenue Office, states that
in 1843 there were no less than eight manufactories for the purpose of
redrying tea-leaves in London alone, whilst there were many others in
different parts of the country. These manufacturers had agents who bought
up the used leaves from hotels, clubs, coffeehouses, &c., for twopence
halfpenny and threepence per lb. With these leaves, others of various
trees were used, and very fine pekoe still flourishes upon the
hawthorn-bushes, sloe-trees, &c., around the metropolis. As late as the
year 1851 the following account of the proceedings of one of these
nefarious manufacturers appeared in the _Times_:--
"CLERKENWELL.--Edward South and Louisa his wife were placed at the
bar, before Mr. Combe, charged by Inspector Brennan, of the E
division, with being concerned in the manufacture of spurious tea. It
appeared, from the statement of the inspector, that, in consequence of
information that the prisoners and others were in the habit of
carrying on an extensive traffic in manufacturing spurious tea, on the
premises situate at 27-1/2, Clerkenwell Close, Clerkenwell Green, on
Saturday evening, at about seven o'clock, the witness, in company with
Serjeant Cole, proceeded to the house, where they found the prisoners
in an apartment busily engaged in the manufacture of spurious tea.
There was an extensive furnace, before which was suspended an iron
pan, containing sloe-leaves and tea-leaves, which they were in the
practice of purchasing from coffeeshop-keepers after being used. On
searching the place they found an immense quantity of used tea,
bay-leaves, and every description of spurious ingredients for the
purpose of manufacturing illicit tea, and they were mixed with a
solution of gum and a quantity of _copperas_. The woman was employed
in stirring about the bay-leaves and other composition with the
solution of gum in the pan; and in one part of the room there was a
large quantity of spurious stuffs, the exact imitation of genuine tea.
In a back room they found nearly a hundred pounds weight of redried
tea-leaves, bay-leaves, and sloe-leaves, all spread on the floor
drying.... Mr. Brennan added, that the prisoners had pursued this
nefarious traffic most extensively, and were in the habit of dealing
largely with grocers, chandlers, and others in the country."
This poisonous imitation green tea, "so largely supplied to country
grocers," was no doubt used for adulterating other green teas already
dosed with Prussian-blue, turmeric, &c. These have found their way into
many a country home of small means. When the nephew comes on a visit, or
the curate calls of an afternoon, the ordinary two spoonfuls of black are
"improved" with "just a dash of green," and the poor innocent gentleman
wonders afterwards what it can be that keeps him awake all night.
We often hear the remark from old-fashioned people that we have never had
any good tea since the monopoly of the East-India Company was broken up:
in this remark there is some truth and much error. There can be no
possible doubt that the higher-priced teas have fallen off since the trade
has been open, as the buyers of the company were perfectly aware of the
frauds perpetrated by the Hong merchants, and never allowed a spurious
article to be shipped. On the other hand, the great reduction which has
taken place in the price of the common black teas, both on account of the
cessation of monopoly and the reduction of the duty, has in a great
measure destroyed the English manufacture of spurious tea from indigenous
leaves. The extent to which this formerly took place may be judged from a
report of the Committee of the House of Commons, in 1783, which states
that no less than four millions of pounds were annually manufactured from
sloe and ash leaves in different parts of England; and this, be it
remembered, when the whole quantity of genuine tea sold by the East-India
Company did not amount to more than six millions of pounds annually.
If the better class of black and all green teas[4] are thus vilely
adulterated, the reader may fancy he can at least take refuge in
coffee--alas! in too many cases he will only avoid Scylla to fall into
Charybdis. Coffee, as generally sold in the metropolis and in all large
towns, is adulterated even more than tea. The Treasury minute, which
allowed it to be mixed with chicory, is at the head and front of the
offending. In the year 1840, this celebrated minute was issued by the
sanction of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir C. Wood, the
immediate consequence of which was that grocers began to mix it with pure
coffee in very large quantities, quite forgetting to inform the public of
the nature of the mixture, and neglecting at the same time to lower the
price. The evil became so flagrant that upon the installation of the Derby
administration Mr. Disraeli promised to rescind this license to
adulterate; but before the promise was redeemed, the administration was
rescinded itself. Mr. Gladstone, upon his acceptance of office, loath, it
appears, to injure the chicory interest, modified the original minute, but
allowed the amalgamation to continue, provided the package was labelled
"Mixture of Chicory and Coffee." It was speedily found, however, that this
announcement became so confounded with other printing on the label that it
was not easily distinguishable, and in consequence it was provided that
the words, "This is sold as a mixture of Chicory and Coffee," should be
printed by themselves on one side of the canister. It may be asked what is
the nature of this ingredient, that the right to mix it with coffee should
be maintained by two Chancellors of the Exchequer, during a period of
fifteen years, as jealously as though it were some important principle of
our constitution? Chicory, to say the best of it, is an insipid root,
totally destitute of any nourishing or refreshing quality, being utterly
deficient in any nitrogenized principle, whilst there are strong doubts
whether it is not absolutely hurtful to the nervous system. Professor
Beer, the celebrated oculist of Vienna, forbids the use of it to his
patients, considering it to be the cause of amaurotic blindness. Even
supposing it to be perfectly harmless, we have a material of the value of
8_d._ a pound, which the grocer is allowed to mix, _ad libitum_, with one
worth 1_s._ 4_d._ If the poor got the benefit of the adulteration, there
might be some excuse for permitting the admixture of chicory, but it is
proved that the combination is sold in many shops at the same price as
pure coffee.
Analyses made by Dr. Hassall of upwards of a hundred different samples of
coffee, purchased in all parts of the metropolis before the issuing of the
order for the labelling of the packages 'chicory and coffee,' proved that,
in a great number of cases, articles sold as "finest Mocha," "choice
Jamaica coffee," "superb coffee," &c., contained, in some instances, very
little coffee at all; in others "only a fifth, a third, half," &c., the
rest being made up mainly of chicory. Nothing is more indicative of the
barefaced frauds perpetrated by grocers upon the public than the manner in
which they go out of their way to puff in the grossest style the most
abominable trash. The report of the sanitary commission gives many
examples of these puff and announcements, which, we are informed, are kept
set up at the printers, and may be had in any quantities. We quote one as
an example:--
"JOHN ----'S COFFEE,
"_The richness, flavour, and strength of which are not to be
surpassed._
"Coffee has now become an article of consumption among all classes of
the community. Hence the importance of supplying an article of such a
character as to encourage its consumption in preference to beverages
the use of which promotes a vast amount of misery.
"John ----'s coffee meets the requirement of the age, and, as a
natural result, the celebrity to which it has attained is wholly
unparalleled. Its peculiarity consists in its possessing that rich
aromatic flavour, combined with great strength and deliciousness,
which is to be found alone in the choicest mountain growths. It may,
with perfect truth, be stated that no article connected with _domestic
economy_ has given such general satisfaction, and the demand for it is
rapidly increasing.
"John ----'s establishment, both for extent and capability, is the
first in the empire.
"Observe!
"Every canister of John ----'s coffee bears his signature, without
which none is _genuine_."
At the end of this puff the analyst places the words--
"_Adulterated with a considerable quantity of chicory!_"
More erudite grocers treat us to the puff literary, as in the following
instance:--
"Rich-flavoured coffees fresh-roasted daily.
"USE OF COFFEE IN TURKEY.
"Sandys, the translator of 'Ovid's Metamorphoses,' and who travelled
in Turkey in 1610, gives the following passage in his 'Travailes,'
page 51 (edit. 1657). Speaking of the Turks, he says, 'Although they
be destitute of taverns, yet they have their coffee-houses, which
sometimes resemble them. There sit they chatting most of the day, and
sip of a drink called coffa, of the berry that it is made of, in
little china dishes, as hot as they can suffer it, black as soot,
which helpeth, as they say, digestion, and procureth alacrity.'"
This pleasant sample of the puff indirect has also appended to it the
naked sentence--
"_Adulterated with chicory, of which not less than half the sample
consists._"
The worst kinds of adulterated coffee are to be found in that which is
sold in canisters. The value of the tin envelope cannot be less than 2d.,
and, as the coffee so sold is charged at the same price as that in a paper
wrapper, it must be evident that a more extensive adulteration is
necessary in order to make up the difference. Such, upon examination,
proves to be the case, as it appeared--
"That the whole twenty-nine packages, bottles, and canisters submitted
to analysis, with a single exception,[5] were adulterated.
"That in these twenty-eight adulterated samples the falsification
consisted of so-called chicory, which in many instances constituted
the chief part of the article.
"That three of the samples contained mangold-wurzel, and two of them
roasted wheat-flour."
We have said it often happens that the adulterations are adulterated.
Chicory is an instance of it. The original fraud is found to have ramified
in an endless manner; and Sir Charles Wood will doubtless be astonished to
hear of the hideous crop of falsifications his most unfortunate order has
caused to spring out of the ground.
Immediately the process of transforming chicory into coffee became
legalized by the Government, that article came into very extensive
consumption, and factories were set up especially for its secret
manufacture. The reason for this secrecy may be gathered from the list of
articles which are made to subserve the purpose: roasted wheat, ground
acorns, roasted carrots, scorched beans, roasted parsnips, mangold-wurzel,
lupin-seeds, dog's biscuits, burnt sugar, _red earth_, roasted
horse-chestnuts,--and above and beyond all _baked horses' and bullocks'
livers_. This statement rests upon the authority of Mr. P. G. Simmonds, in
a work entitled "Coffee as it is, and as it ought to be:"--
"In various parts of the metropolis," he says, "but more especially in
the east, are to be found 'liver bakers.' These men take the livers of
oxen and horses, bake them, and grind them into a powder, which they
sell to the low-priced coffeeshop-keepers, at from fourpence to
sixpence per lb., horse's liver coffee being the highest price. It may
be known by allowing the coffee to stand until cold, when a thick
pellicle or skin will be found on the top. It goes farther than
coffee, and is generally _mixed with chicory_, and other vegetable
imitations of coffee."
In confirmation of this horrible statement the sanitary commissioners of
the Lancet state that, on analysis, this substance, which
"possessed a disagreeable animal smell, ... consisted of some
imperfectly-charred animal matter."
The new regulation, enjoining grocers to sell coffee and chicory properly
labelled as such, is, no doubt, observed in respectable shops; but in the
low neighbourhoods the mixture as before is passed off for genuine Mocha.
However, the purchaser has the means of protection in his own hands. If he
prefers coffee pure, let him buy the roasted berry and grind it himself;
he will thus be sure of having the real article, and will get it in
greater perfection than by purchasing it ready ground.
In close proximity to the tea and coffee-pots stand the milk-jug and the
sugar-basin. What find we here? A few years ago the town was frightened
from its propriety by a little work entitled "Observations on London
Milk," published by a medical gentleman of the name of Rugg, which gave
some fearful disclosures relative to the manner in which London milk was
adulterated. Dr. Hassall's analyses go to show that, with the exception of
the produce of the "iron-tailed cow," none of the supposed defilements
really exist, and that the milkman is a sadly maligned individual. Water
is added in quantities varying in different samples from 10 to 50 per
cent.; and in the more unfashionable parts of the town _all_ the cream is
abstracted to be forwarded to the West-end. If milk _must_ be adulterated
in large towns, water is undoubtedly the most harmless ingredient; at the
same time it will be seen what a fraud is perpetrated upon the public by
selling milky water at 4d. a quart.
That the London milking-pail goes as often to the pump as to the cow we
have no manner of doubt. To bring the diluted goods up to a delicate
cream colour, it is common to swing round a ball of annatto in the can;
and other careful observers and writers upon the adulteration of food have
detected flour, starch, and treacle. All medical men know that children
are often violently disordered by their morning or evening portion,--an
effect which could not come from the mere admixture of water--and we must
confess that we ourselves believe the milkman to be a very wicked fellow.
We are afraid, if we look into the sugar-basin, we shall not find much
more comfort than in the milk-jug. We refer here to the ordinary brown
sugars, such as are generally used at the breakfast-table for coffee. It
is scarcely possible to procure moist sugar which is not infested with
animalculæ of the acari genus, a most disgusting class of creatures. In
many samples of sugars they swarm to that extent that the mass moves with
them; and in almost every case, by dissolving a spoonful in a wine-glass
of water, dozens of them can be detected by the naked eye, either floating
upon the liquid or adhering to the edge of the glass. Those who are in the
habit of "handling" sugars, as it is termed, are liable to a skin
affection called the grocer's itch, which is believed to be occasioned by
these living inhabitants of our sugar-basins. Horrible as it is to think
that such creatures are an article in daily use, we cannot charge the
grocer directly with their introduction; the evil is, however, increased
by the manner in which he mixes, or "handles," as it is termed in the
trade, higher-priced sugars with muscovados, bastards, and other inferior
kinds, in which the animalculæ abound.
In addition to this foreign animal element, grocers sometimes mix flour
with their sugar, and, if we are to put any credit in popular belief,
sand; but of the presence of this gritty ingredient we have never seen any
trustworthy evidence. Nevertheless we have said enough to show that the
tea-dealer and grocer do their best to supply the proverbial "peck of
dirt" which all of us must eat before we die. Would that we were fed with
nothing more deleterious or repulsive! Let us see, however, the base
admixtures one is liable to swallow in taking--
A CUP OF TEA _or a_ CUP OF COFFEE.
_In the Tea._
If Green--
Prussian-blue.
Turmeric.
China clay or French chalk.
Used tea-leaves.
Copperas.
If Black--
Gum.
Black lead.
Dutch pink.
Used tea-leaves.
Leaves of the ash, sloe, hawthorn, and of many other kinds.
_In the Milk._
On an average 25 per cent. of water.
Annatto.
Treacle.
Flour.
Oxide of iron.
And other unknown ingredients.
_In the Sugar._
If Brown--
Wheat flour.
Hundreds of the sugar-insect.
If White--
Albumen of bullock's blood.
_In the Coffee._
Chicory.
_In the Chicory._
Roast wheat.
" acorn.
" mangold-wurzel.
" beans.
" carrots.
" parsnips
" lupin-seeds.
" dog-biscuits.
" horse-chestnuts.
Oxide of iron.
Mahogany sawdust.
Baked horse's liver.
" bullock's liver.
_In the Milk._
Water 25 per cent.
Annatto.
Flour.
Treacle.
Oxide of iron.
And other unknown ingredients.
_In the Sugar._
If Brown--
Wheat flour.
Hundreds of the sugar-insect.
If White--
Albumen of bullock's blood.
As we perceive the teetotalers are petitioning Parliament and agitating
the towns for the closing of public-houses, we beg to present them, in
either hand, with a cup of the above mixtures, with the humble hope that
means will be found by them to supply the British public with some drink a
little less deleterious to health, a little more pleasant to the palate,
and somewhat less disgusting to the feelings. Some of the sugar impurities
may be avoided by using the crystallized East-Indian kind--the size of the
crystals not permitting of its being adulterated with inferior sorts.
We shall not dwell upon cocoa further than to state that it is a still
rarer thing to obtain it pure than either tea or coffee. The almost
universal adulterations are sugar, starch, and flours together with red
colouring matter, generally some ferruginous earth; whilst, as far as we
can see, what is termed homoeopathic cocoa is only distinguished from
other kinds by the small quantity of that substance contained in it.
There is scarcely an article on the breakfast-table, in fact, which is
what it seems to be. The butter, if salt, is adulterated with between 20
and 30 per cent. of water. A merchant in this trade tells the _Lancet_
that "between 40,000 and 50,000 casks of adulterated butter are annually
sold in London, and the trade knows it as well as they know a bad
shilling." Lard when cheap also finds its way to the butter-tub. Perhaps
those who flatter themselves that they use nothing but "Epping" will not
derive much consolation from the following letter, also published in the
same journal:--
"_To the Editor of the Lancet._
"SIR,--Having taken apartments in the house of a butterman, I was
suddenly awoke at three o'clock one morning with a noise in the lower
part of the house, and alarmed on perceiving a light below the door of
my bed-room; conceiving the house to be on fire, I hurried down
stairs. I found the whole family busily occupied, and, on my
expressing alarm at the house being on fire, they jocosely informed me
they _were merely making Epping butter_. They unhesitatingly informed
me of the whole process. For this purpose they made use of
fresh-salted butter of a very inferior quality: this was repeatedly
washed with water in order to free it from the salt. This being
accomplished, the next process was to wash it frequently with milk,
and the manufacture was completed by the addition of a small quantity
of sugar. The amateurs of fresh Epping butter were supplied with this
dainty, which yielded my ingenious landlord a profit of at least 100
per cent., besides establishing his shop as being supplied with Epping
butter from one of the first-rate dairies.--I am, sir, your obedient
servant,
"A STUDENT."
If we try marmalade as a succedaneum, we are no better off--at least if we
put any faith in "real Dundee, an excellent substitute for butter," to be
seen piled in heaps in the cheap grocers' windows. Dr. Hassall's analysis
proves that this dainty is adulterated to a large extent with turnips,
apples, and carrots: we need not grumble so much at these vegetable
products, excepting on the score that it is a fraud to sell them at 7d. a
pound; but there is the more startling fact that, in twelve out of
fourteen samples analysed, copper was detected, and sometimes in large and
deleterious quantities!
Accum, in his "Death in the Pot," quotes, from cookery-books of reputation
in his day, recipes which make uninitiated persons stare. For instance,
"Modern Cookery, or the English Housewife," gives the following serious
directions "to make Greening:"--"Take a bit of _verdigris the bigness of
an hazel-nut_, finely powdered, half a pint of distilled vinegar, and a
bit of alum-powder, with a little baysalt; put all in a bottle and shake
it, and let it stand till clear. _Put a small teaspoonful into codlings,
or whatever you wish to green!_"
Again, the "English Housekeeper," a book which ran through eighteen
editions, directs--"to make pickles green _boil them with halfpence_, or
allow them to stand for twenty-four hours in copper or brass pans!" Has
the notable housewife ever wondered to herself how it is that all the
pickles of the shops are of so much more inviting colour than her own? We
will satisfy her curiosity in a word--she has forgotten the "bit of
verdigris the bigness of a hazel-nut," for it is now proved beyond doubt
that to this complexion do they come by the use of copper, introduced for
the sole purpose of making them of a lively green. The analyses of twenty
samples of pickles bought of the most respectable tradesmen proved,
firstly, that the vinegar in the bottles owed most of its strength to the
introduction of sulphuric acid; secondly, that, out of sixteen different
pickles analysed for the purpose, copper was detected in various amounts.
Thus, "two of the samples contained a small quantity; eight rather much,
one a considerable quantity, three a very considerable quantity; in one
copper was present in a highly deleterious amount, and in two _in
poisonous amounts_. The largest quantity of this metal was found in the
bottles consisting entirely of green vegetables, such as gherkins and
beans."
We trust after this the good housewife will feel jealous no longer, but
rest satisfied that the home-made article, if less inviting and vivid in
colour, is at least more wholesome. A simple test to discover the presence
of copper in such articles is to place a bright knitting-needle in the
vinegar, and let it remain there for a few hours, when the deleterious
metal will speedily form a coating over it, dense or thin, according to
the amount which exists. Wherever large quantities are found, it is
wilfully inserted for the purpose of producing the bright green colour,
but a small quantity may find its way into the pickles in the process of
boiling in copper pans. Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, the great pickle and
preserve manufacturers in Soho, immediately they became aware, from the
analyses of the _Lancet_, that such was the case, in a very praiseworthy
manner substituted silver and glass, at a great expense, for all their
former vessels. The danger arising from the introduction of this virulent
poison into our food would not be so great if it were confined to pickles,
of which the quantity taken is small at each meal, but it is used to paint
all kinds of preserves, and fruits for winter pies and tarts are bloomed
with death. The papa who presents his children the box of sweetmeats
bedded in coloured paper, and enclosed in an elegant casket, may be
corroding unawares the very springs of their existence. As a general rule,
it is found that the red fruits, such as currants, raspberries, and
cherries, are uncontaminated with this deleterious metal, but owe their
deep hue to some red colouring matter, such as a decoction of logwood or
an infusion of beetroot, in the same way that common white cabbage is
converted into red by the nefarious pickle-merchant. The green fruits are
not all deleterious in the same degree; there seems to be an ascending
scale of virulence, much after the following manner:--Limes, gooseberries,
rhubarb, greengages, olives--the last-mentioned fruit, especially those of
French preparation, generally containing verdigris, or the acetate of
copper, _in highly dangerous quantities_. The _Lancet_ publishes a letter
from Mr. Bernays, F.C.S., dated from the Chemical Library, Derby, in which
he shows the necessity of watchfulness in the purchase of these articles
of food:--
"Of this," he says, "I will give you a late instance. I had bought a
bottle of preserved gooseberries from one of the most respectable
grocers in the town, and had its contents transferred to a pie. It
struck me that the gooseberries looked fearfully green when cooked;
and in eating one with a steel fork its intense bitterness sent me in
search of the sugar. After having sweetened and mashed the
gooseberries, with the same steel fork, I was about to convey some to
my mouth, when I observed the prongs to be completely coated with a
thin film of bright metallic copper. My testimony can be borne out by
the evidence of others, two of whom dined at my table."
It was fortunate that these three gentlemen used steel forks, which
instantly disclosed the mischief; if they had chanced to use silver, all
three might have fallen victims to these poisonous conserves.
But we are not yet at the worst. When Catherine de' Medici wished to get
rid of obnoxious persons in an "artistic" manner, she was in the habit of
presenting them with delicately made sweetmeats, or trinkets, in which
death lurked in the most engaging manner; she carried--
"Pure death in an earring, a casket,
A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket."
Her poisoned feasts are matters of history, at which people shudder as
they read; but we question if the diabolical revenge and coldblooded
wickedness of an Italian woman ever invented much more deadly trifles than
our low, cheap confectioners do on the largest scale. We select from some
of these articles of bonbonerie the following feast, which we set before
doting mothers, in order that they may see what deadly dainties are
prepared for the especial delectation of their children:--
"A FISH.
"_Purchased in Shepherd's Market, May Fair._
"The tip of the nose and the gills of the fish are coloured with the
usual pink, while the back and sides are highly painted with that
virulent poison _arsenite of copper_."
"A PIGEON.
"_Purchased in Drury Lane._
"The pigments employed for colouring this pigeon are light yellow for
the beak, red for the eyes, and orange yellow for the base or stand.
The yellow colour consists of the light kind of chromate of lead, for
the eyes bisulphate of mercury, and for the stand the deeper varieties
of chromate of lead, or orange chrome."
"APPLES.
"_Purchased in James Street, Covent Garden._
"The apples in this sample are coloured yellow, and on one side deep
red; the yellow colour extending to a considerable depth in the
substance of the sugar. The red consists of the usual non-metallic
pigment, and the yellow is due to the presence of CHROMATE OF LEAD in
really _poisonous amount_!"
"A COCK.
"_Purchased in Drury Lane._
"The beak of the bird is coloured bright yellow, the comb brilliant
red, the wings and tail are variegated, black, two different reds, and
yellow; while the stand, as in most of these sugar ornaments, is
painted green. The yellow of the beak consists of CHROMATE OF LEAD;
the comb and part of the red colour on the back and wings is
VERMILION; while the second red colour on the wings and tail is the
usual pink non-metallic colouring matter, and the stripes of yellow
consist of gamboge; lastly, the green of the stand is MIDDLE BRUNSWICK
GREEN, and, therefore, contains CHROMATE OF LEAD. In the colouring of
this article, then, no less than three active poisons are employed, as
well as that drastic purgative gamboge!"
"ORANGES.
"_Purchased in Pilgrim Street, Doctors' Commons._
"This is a very unnatural imitation of an orange, it being coloured
with a coarse and very uneven coating of RED LEAD."
"MIXED SUGAR ORNAMENTS.
"_Purchased in Middle Row, Holborn._
"The confectionery in this parcel is made up into a variety of forms
and devices, as hats, jugs, baskets, and dishes of fruit and
vegetables. One of the hats is coloured yellow with CHROMATE OF LEAD,
and has a green hatband round it, coloured with ARSENITE OF COPPER; a
second hat is white, with a blue hatband, the pigment being
PRUSSIAN-BLUE. The baskets are coloured yellow with CHROMATE OF LEAD.
Into the colouring of the pears and peaches the usual non-metallic
pigment, together with CHROMATE OF LEAD and MIDDLE BRUNSWICK GREEN,
enter largely; while the carrots represented in a dish are coloured
throughout with a RED OXIDE OF LEAD, and the tops with BRUNSWICK
GREEN. This is one of the worst of all the samples of coloured sugar
confectionery submitted to analysis, as it contains no less than four
_deadly poisons_!"
The painted feast contains, then, among its highly injurious ingredients,
ferrocyanide of iron or Prussian-blue, Antwerp-blue, gamboge, and
ultramarine, and among its deadly poisons the three chrome yellows, red
lead, white lead, vermilion, the three Brunswick greens, and Scheele's
green or arsenite of copper. The wonder is that, considering we set such
poison-traps for children, ten times more enticing and quite as deadly as
those used to bane rats, that the greater number of youngsters who partake
of them are not at once despatched; and so undoubtedly they would be if
nurses were not cautious about these coloured parts, which have always
enjoyed a bad name under the general denomination of "trash and messes."
As it is, we are informed by Dr. Letheby that "no less than seventy cases
of poisoning have been traced to this source" within three years!
In France, Belgium, and Switzerland the colouring of confectionery with
poisonous pigments is prohibited, and the vendors are held responsible for
all accidents which may occur to persons from eating their sugar
confectionery. It is absolutely essential that some such prohibition
should be made in England. Arsenic, according to law, must be sold
coloured with soot, in order that its hue may prevent its being used by
mistake for other substances; how absurd it is that we should allow other
poisons, quite as virulent, to be mixed with the food of children and
adults, merely for the sake of the colour! All kinds of sugar-plums,
comfits, and "kisses," in addition to being often adulterated with large
quantities of plaster of Paris, are always open to the suspicion of being
poisoned. Necessity cannot be urged for the continuance of this wicked
practice, as there are plenty of vegetable pigments which, if not quite as
vivid as the acrid mineral ones, are sufficiently so to please the eye. Of
late years a peculiar lozenge has been introduced, in which the flavour of
certain fruits is singularly imitated. Thus we have essence of jargonel
drops, essence of pine-apple drops, and many others of a most delicate
taste. They really are so delicious that we scarcely like to create a
prejudice against them; but the truth is great, and must prevail: all
these delicate essences are made from a preparation of æther and rancid
cheese and butter.
The manufacturer, perhaps unaware of the cumulative action of many of his
chemicals, thinks that the small quantity can do no harm. We have seen, in
the matter of preserved fruits and sugar confectionery, how fallacious is
that idea. But the practice of adulteration often leads to lamentable
results of the same nature, which are quite unintentional on the part of
their perpetrators, and which occur in the most roundabout manner. An
instance of this is related by Accum, which goes directly to the point. A
gentleman, perceiving that an attack of colic always supervened upon
taking toasted Gloucestershire cheese at an inn at which he was in the
habit of stopping, and having also noticed that a kitten which had
partaken of its rind was rendered violently sick, had the food analyzed,
when it was found that lead was present in it in poisonous quantities.
Following up his inquiries, he ascertained that the maker of the cheese,
not finding his annatto sufficiently deep in colour, had resorted to the
expedient of colouring the commodity with vermilion. This mixture,
although pernicious and discreditable, was not absolutely poisonous, and
certainly could not account for the disastrous effects of the food on the
human system. Trying back still further, however, it was at last found
that the druggist who sold the vermilion had mixed with it a portion of
_red lead_, imagining that the pigment was only required for house paint.
"Thus," as Accum remarks, "the druggist sold his vermilion, in a regular
way of trade, adulterated with red lead, to increase his profit, without
any suspicion of the use to which it would be applied; and the purchaser
who adulterated the annatto, presuming that the vermilion was genuine, had
no hesitation in heightening the colour of his annatto with so harmless an
adjunct. Thus, through the diversified and circulatory operations of
commerce, a portion of deadly poison may find admission into the
necessaries of life in a way that can attach no criminality to the parties
through whose hands it has successively passed." The curious aspect of
this circuitous kind of poisoning is, that it occurs through the belief of
each adulterating rogue in the honesty of his neighbour.
If we could possibly eliminate, from the mass of human disease, that
occasioned by the constant use of deleterious food, we should find that it
amounted to a very considerable percentage on the whole, and that one of
the best friends of the doctor would prove to be the adulterator. But even
our refuge fails us in our hour of need; the tools of the medical man,
like those of the sappers and miners before Sebastopol, often turn out to
be worthless. Drugs and medical comforts are perhaps adulterated as
extensively as any other article. To mention only a few familiar and
household medicines for instance: Epsom salts are adulterated with
sulphate of soda; carbonate of soda with sulphate of soda--a very
injurious substitute. Mercury is sometimes falsified with lead, tin, and
bismuth; gentian with the poisonous drugs aconite and belladonna; rhubarb
with turmeric and gamboge; cantharides with black pepper; and cod-liver
and castor-oils with common and inferior oils; whilst opium, one of the
sheet-anchors of the physician, is adulterated to the greatest extent in a
dozen different ways. Medical comforts are equally uncertain. Thus
potato-flour forms full half of the so-called arrowroots of commerce;
sago-meal is another very common ingredient in this nourishing substance.
Out of fifty samples of so-styled arrowroot, Dr. Hassall found twenty-two
adulterated, many of them consisting _entirely_ of potato-flour and
sago-meal. One half of the common oatmeals to be met with are adulterated
with barley-meal, a much less nutritious substance--an important fact,
which boards of guardians should be acquainted with. Honey is
sophisticated with flour-starch and sugar-starch. And lastly, we wish to
say something important to mothers. Put no faith in the hundred and one
preparations of farinaceous food for infants which are paraded under so
many attractive titles. They are all composed of wheat-flour,
potato-flour, sago, &c.,--very familiar ingredients, which would not take
with anxious parents unless christened with extraordinary names, for which
their compounders demand an extraordinary charge. To invalids we would
also say, place no reliance on the Revalentas and Ervalentas advertised
through the country as cures for all imaginary diseases. They consist
almost entirely of lentil-powder, barley-flour, &c., which are charged
cent. per cent. above their real value.
Of all the articles we have touched upon, not one is so important as
water. It mixes more or less with all our solid food, and forms
nine-tenths of all our drinks. Man himself, as a sanitary writer has
observed, is in great part made up of this element, and if you were to put
him under a press you would squeeze out of him 8-1/2 pailfuls. That it
should be furnished pure to the consumer is of the first importance in a
sanitary and economic point of view. We are afraid, however, that but
feeble attempts have been made to secure this advantage to the metropolis.
At present London, with its two and a half millions of population, is
mainly supplied by nine water companies, six of which derive their supply
from the Thames, one from the New River, one from the Ravensbourne, and a
third from ponds and wells. Besides this supply, which ramifies like a
network over the whole metropolis, we find dotted about both public and
private wells of various qualities. We do not intend to follow Dr. Hassall
into his microscopic representations of the organic matter, vegetable and
animal, by which the customers of one company can compare the water served
to them with that dealt out to others, and thus at a glance assure
themselves that they have not more than their share of many-legged,
countless-jointed, hideous animalculæ, which look formidable enough to
frighten one from ever touching a drop of London water, but shall content
ourselves with giving the general characteristics of the whole of them.
With one exception they were all of a hardness ranging from 11 to 18
degrees. This hardness depends upon the earthy salts present, such as
sulphates and bicarbonates of lime and magnesia. They were also to some
extent saline, as all the salt used in the metropolis ultimately finds its
way into the Thames, or great sewer-stream. Not long ago two, at least, of
these six Thames water companies procured their supply within a short
distance of the mouths of great drains, and all of them resorted to the
river at different points below Battersea, or that portion of it which
receives the drainage of the metropolis, and is consequently crowded with
animal and vegetable matter, both living and dead, and thick with the mud
stirred up by the passage to and fro of the steamers. The violent outcry
made, however, by the Board of Health, caused an Act to be passed by
parliament against the supply of the sewage rates, and now all the
companies taking their supplies from the Thames, are compelled to go at
least as high as Kingston, and to submit them to a process of filtration;
but even at this point the river is in some degree sewage-tainted, and
the chemically-combined portion of baser matter cannot be removed by any
filter.
The impurities of the Thames are not all we have to deal with--its
hardness must cost the Londoners hundreds of thousands a year in the
article of soap alone. The action upon lead is also marked; hence we find
poisonous carbonates of that metal held in solution. Plumbers are well
aware of this fact, and frequently meet with leaden cisterns deeply
corroded. This corrosion may arise from either chemical or voltaic action.
The junction of lead and solder, or iron, immersed in water impregnated
with salts or acid of any kind, will cause erosion of the metal. A
familiar instance of this is seen in the rapid manner in which iron
railings rust away just where they are socketed in the stonework with
lead. The presence of a piece of mortar on the lead of a cistern may even
set up this action, and result in giving a whole family the colic.
The pumps of the metropolis are liable to even more contamination than
river-water, inasmuch as the soil surrounding them is saturated with the
sewage of innumerable cesspools, and with that arising from the leakage of
imperfect drains. Medical men entertained the opinion that the terrible
outbreak of cholera in Broad Street, Golden Square, in 1854, arose from
the fact that the people in the neighbourhood were in the habit of
visiting a public pump which was proved to be foul with drain-water, and
the handle of which was taken off, to prevent further mischief. Some of
these public pumps appear to yield excellent water--cold, clear, and
palatable; but the presence of these qualities by no means proves that
they are pure. The bright sparkling icy water issuing from the famous
Aldgate pump, according to Mr. Simon, the city officer of health, owes its
most prized qualities to the nitrates which have filtered into the well
from the decaying animal matter in an adjoining churchyard.
The porter and stout of the metropolis have long been famous. The virtues
of the latter drink are celebrated all over the world; and a royal duke,
ascribed the great mortality among the guards in the East to the want of
their favourite beverage. No doubt the pure liquor, as it comes from the
great brewers, is wholesome and strengthening; but it no sooner gets into
the possession of the publicans than, in a great majority of cases, the
article is made up. A stranger would naturally suppose that the foaming
tankard of Meux's entire which he quaffs at the "Marquis of Granby" has an
identical flavour with that at the "Blue Boar," where the same brewer's
name shines resplendent on the house-front. Not a bit of it: one shall be
smooth, pleasantly bitter, slightly acid, and beaded with a fine and
persistent froth; the other, bitter with the bitterness of soot, salt,
clammy, sweet, and frothing with a coarse and evanescent froth. The body
of the liquor is undoubtedly the same, but the variations are all supplied
by the publicans and sinners. We do not make _émeutes_, as they are
continually doing in Bavaria, on account of our beer; but we have strong
feelings on a matter of such national importance; and the wicked ways of
brewers and publicans have been made, over and over again, the subject of
parliamentary inquiry. The reports of various committees prove that, in
times past, porter and stout were doctored in the most ingenious manner,
and so universally and unreservedly, that a trade sprang up termed
brewers' druggists, whose whole business it was to supply to the
manufacturers and retailers of the national beverage, ingredients for its
adulteration; nay, to such an extent did the taste for falsifying beer and
porter extend, that one genius, hight Jackson, wrote a hand-book to show
the brewers how to make Beer _without any Malt or Hops at all_! Accum has
preserved, in his now antique pages, some of the recipes in vogue in his
day. The boldness with which our fathers went to work is amusing. For
instance, Mr. Child, in his "Practical Treatise on Brewing," after having
made his non-professional reader aghast by mentioning a score of
pernicious articles to be used in beer, remarks, in the mildest possible
manner,--
"That, however much they may surprise--however pernicious or
disagreeable they may appear, he has always found them requisite in
the brewing of porter, and he thinks they must invariably be used by
those who wish to continue the taste, flavour, and effervescence of
the beer. And, though several acts of Parliament have been passed to
prevent porter brewers from using many of them, yet the author can
affirm, from experience, he could never produce the present flavoured
porter without them. _The intoxicating qualities of porter are to be
ascribed to the various drugs intermixed with it._ It is evident some
porter is more heady than other, and it arises from the greater or
less quantity of stupefying ingredients. Malt, to produce
intoxication, must be used in such large quantities as would very much
diminish, if not totally exclude, the brewer's profit."
It is clear from this extract that Mr. Child considered the end of all
successful brewing was to make people dead-drunk at the cheapest possible
rate, regardless of consequences. Among the ingredients that Mr. Morris,
another instructor in the art of brewing, tells us are requisite to
produce a popular article, are--cocculus indicus and beans, as
intoxicators; calamus aromaticus, as a substitute for hops; quassia, as a
bitter; coriander-seeds to give flavour; capsicums, carraway-seeds,
ginger, and grains of paradise, to give warmth; whilst oyster-shells are
recommended to afford a touch of youth to old beer, and alum to give a
"smack of age" to new; and when it is desired to bring it more rapidly
"forward," the presiding Hecate is told to drop sulphuric acid into her
brew; by this means an imitation of the age of eighteen months was given
in a few instants. Even the "fine cauliflower head," which is held to be
the sign of excellence in stout, was--and, for all we know, still
is--artificially made by mixing with the article a detes
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