London in the Jacobite times, Volume II

VOL. II.
LONDON: PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. , NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET
LONDON IN THE JACOBITE TIMES BY Dᴿ DORAN, F.S.A. AUTHOR OF ‘TABLE TRAITS’ ‘QUEENS OF THE HOUSE OF HANOVER’ ‘THEIR MAJESTIES’ SERVANTS’ ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II.
LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen 1877 All rights reserved.
OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
LONDON IN THE JACOBITE TIMES.
LOYAL AND DISLOYAL PRINTERS.
singular illustration of the still partially troubled times which followed is furnished by a proceeding of Samuel Negus, printer. In 1724 he published a list of all the printers then exercising their craft in London, and he most humbly laid it before Lord Viscount Townshend; no doubt, for his guidance. The list is divided into four parts. The first consists of those ‘known to be well affected to King George.’ There are thirty-four of these ultra-loyal fellows, with Negus, of course, among them. The second list is headed ‘Nonjurors;’ in this, three names are entered, one of which is ‘Bowyer.’ In the third list, headed, ‘said to be High Flyers,’ there are two and thirty names; among them are found Alderman Barber (the friend of Swift, of Bolingbroke and Pope), Richardson (the novelist), and Mist (the Jacobite and something more!). The fourth list consists of three names, ‘Roman Catholics.’ Negus was probably a malicious though loyal busy-body. His list harmed neither Nonjuror nor High Flyer. When, in 1729, Mr. Speaker Onslow was instrumental in procuring for Bowyer the printing of the votes of the House of Commons, an alarmed and loyal Whig asked Mr. Speaker if he was aware that he was employing a Nonjuror. ‘I am quite sure of this,’ said Onslow, ‘I am employing a truly honest man.’ There was no lack of them among Nonjurors, and it is pleasant to find that even the High Flyers came soon to be looked upon by reasonable Whigs as honourable men. In 1732 Alderman Barber was elected by his fellow citizens Lord Mayor of London; and he was the first printer who enjoyed that dignity. This is the more remarkable, as poor Mrs. Manley, mistress of the alderman’s house and of the alderman, had bitterly satirised the Whig Ministry in her ‘New Atalantis.’ But the lady was now dead, and the High-Flying Barber lost nothing by his old Jacobite opinions.