After this, who can wonder if some editors had rather a rough time of it, especially Roper. He gives us[516] one glimpse of his condition: 'Last night William Thompson Esq., came to the Proprietor of this Paper, and told him, That if he did not insert the following Paragraph in his Paper of this Day, God Damn him, he would cut his Throat, and he had a Penknife in his Pocket for that purpose; for which the Proprietor of this Paper designs to prosecute him according to Law, but thought fit to publish this, that the Nation may be Judges, whether a Person of such a Character is proper to be employ'd in his Station in the Law? or, Whether our Constitution ought to be entrusted in such Hands as will not scruple to commit Murder whenever it may serve their Purpose.'
In 1704 the House of Commons took umbrage at some remarks which John Tutchin, the conductor of the Observator, had made on some mismanagement of public affairs (and they were undoubted libels), and cited him, the printer, and publisher before their Bar, to be brought in custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms. Tutchin gave bail for his appearance: and his trial came on on Nov. 4, 1704.[517] He got off somehow, and was never tried again. Earlier in life he had been tried at the Bloody Assizes, where he had the brutal Jeffreys for his judge, and he was sentenced 'to be imprisoned for Seven Years; that once every year he should be whipt through all the Market Towns in Dorsetshire; that he should pay a fine of one hundred marks to the King, and find security for his good behaviour during life.... Upon passing the Sentence, the Clerk of the Arraigns stood up, and said, My lord, there are a great many market towns in this County; the sentence reaches to a whipping about once a fortnight, and he is a very young man. Aye, says Jeffreys, he is a young man but an old rougue; and all the interest in England shall not reverse the sentence I have past upon him.' So poor Tutchin's heart died within him, and he petitioned the King that he 'will be mercifully pleased to grant him the favour of being hanged with those of his fellow prisoners, that are condemned to die.' But to no avail.
His friends tried to buy him a pardon, but Jeffreys frustrated all their efforts. At length Tutchin fell ill of the smallpox, and nearly died of it, being only tended by his fellow-prisoners. During his illness his mother bought his pardon of Jeffreys[518]; then she fell sick of the smallpox, and died.
Of Tutchin's trial in 1704 we have the following contemporary evidence from Luttrell: '18 May. Mr. Tutchin, author of the Observator, against whom a proclamation was out at the desire of the House of Commons, has given 1000l. bail to answer what shall be objected against him'; and on May 29 he gave fresh bail. His trial began, as we know, on Nov. 4, and he was found guilty, but sentence was deferred. On the 14th we hear 'Yesterday, Mr. Tutchin, found guilty of publishing the Observator, appeared at the Queen's bench Court, when his council inform'd the Court of an error in the information, and the Attorney General desiring time to consider of it, Tutchin is to attend again on Saturday.' The point was the false dating of the writ; and he attended on the 20th and 23rd, when it was argued; and on Nov. 28 judgment was given in Tutchin's favour, 'the Attorney General at liberty to try him again,' which he never did.
This trial is interesting, as it furnishes us with evidence as to the pay of an editor, or rather author (for Tutchin wrote the whole paper), of that time. John How was the proprietor of the paper, which appeared first on April 1, 1702. In his evidence is the following:—
How. About the latter end of March, 1702, I treated with Mr. Tutchin about writing an Observator, to be published weekly: the first of which was published in April 1702. And all that have been printed since, I had from him to this year.
Att. Gen. You looked on these papers here: were those printed by the direction of Mr. Tutchin?
How. To the best of my knowledge, they were. They were always brought from him to me.
Att. Gen. Was there any agreement made between you about the writing of it?
How. Yes, it was agreed at first to write once a week; and I was to give him half a guinea for it.[519] ...