When William IV. Was King

by John Ashton

When William IV. came to the throne the stamp duty on newspapers was 4d., less 20 per cent. discount, and the price of the Times was 7d. Each advertisement had to pay a duty of 3s. 6d. The consequence of the newspaper stamp being so high was that leaflets were perpetually being started which bore no stamp, as it was contended that they contained no news. Still the vendors were always being haled before the magistrates; but the publication of these vexatious leaflets was settled in May, 1831, in the case of Rex v. William Carpenter, which came off in the Court of Exchequer, before the Lord Chief Baron. The Crown obtained the verdict, and Mr. Carpenter was let off very cheaply, by being fined only £120. The duty on newspapers brought in a large revenue. In 1830, 30,158,741 stamps were issued, and in 1835, 32,874,652; but in 1836 the duty was reduced to 1d. per newspaper, and 1/2d. for each supplement; and the Times on September 15, 1836, reduced its price to 4d. Of the number of newspapers I have already written.

Many lived by the pen, whether quill or steel. In 1830, although not a novelty, steel pens were dear, as we see by an advertisement in the Times of October 18th—

"Pen-mending totally superseded.—Patent Perryian Pens, warranted not to require mending, and to write better than any other pen whatever, as cheap as the common pen. Price per packet (containing nine pens of the best quality), 3s. 6d."

In 1837 they had got somewhat cheaper, vide Times, March 23rd—

"Perryian Pens, protected by five patents.—Double patent pen, with holder, 2s. per card; Indiarubber spring pen, 2s. 6d. ditto; office pen, 1s. ditto. Any of the above, with patent elastic holder, at 3d. extra per card. Under-spring pen, with holder, 2s. per card; side-spring pen, 2s. ditto; flat-spring pen, 2s. ditto; three-pointed pen, 2s. 3d. ditto. Each card contains nine pens."

This reign saw the commencement of cheap, good literature, which was to overrun the country and utterly abolish the chap book, which till then had been the literary mainstay of the country folk. The year in which this transformation began was 1832, for then were published for the first time The Penny Magazine, and Chambers' Edinburgh Journal; whilst, during the reign, were published all kinds of books, from the watered-silk-bound annuals, such as the Gem, the Offering, the Bijou, the Remembrancer, the Coronal, the Iris, or the Bouquet, to abstruse scientific books—for it was, to a certain extent, a book-reading age, and people bought and kept their favourite authors.

Of authors, what a lot there was! The following does not pretend to be exhaustive, but it will serve to give an idea of those who lived or wrote during the time when William IV. was King. Let us take them alphabetically. John Adolphus, who wrote the History of the Reign of George III., etc. W. H. Ainsworth, the novelist, who brought out Rookwood in 1834. Sir Archibald Alison, to whom we are indebted for his History of England. T. K. Arnold, headmaster of Rugby. John Banim, whom we remember by the Tales by the O'Hara Family. Rev. R. H. Barham, whose Ingoldsby Legends came out with the starting of Bentley's Miscellany in 1837. The lyric poet, Thomas H. Bayly, whose I'd be a Butterfly, She wore a wreath of Roses, and Oh no, we never mention her, are classics in ballad song. Laman Blanchard, who was a contributor to the lighter periodicals of his day. George Borrow, who during the reign was an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society—to which we owe his Bible in Spain. The Rev. Jos. Bosworth, to whom we are indebted for his Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Dictionary, etc. The Very Rev. W. Buckland, Dean of Westminster, famous for his writings on Geology and Palæontology. Bulwer-Lytton, who published Paul Clifford in 1830, Eugene Aram and Godolphin in 1833, The Pilgrims of the Rhine and The Last Days of Pompeii in 1834, and Rienzi in 1835. Thos. Campbell, poet, author of Pleasures of Hope, Gertrude of Wyoming, Lord Ullin's Daughter, etc. Thos. Carlyle, who came to London in 1834, and then wrote and re-wrote his French Revolution, which was published in 1837. Captain F. Chamier, R.N., whose sea tales are only surpassed by Marryat. T. C. Croker, to whom we are indebted for The Fairy Tales and Legends of the South of Ireland. Dr. Croly, who will be chiefly remembered by his Salathiel. Allan Cunningham, whose Songs of Scotland will always live. His son Peter, who wrote Songs of England and Scotland, and, among many other books, a Handbook of London, which is most valuable. De Quincey, whose Confessions of an Opium Eater is an English classic. Thos. Dibdin—son of Charles, of sea-song fame—who was a most voluminous playwright. Charles Dickens, who published The Pickwick Papers in 1836. Isaac D'Israeli, who had almost written his last book. His son Benjamin, who was then beginning to make a political name. Dr. Doran, who in this reign published his History and Antiquities of the Town and Borough of Reading. Pierce Egan, of Boxiana and Life in London notoriety. Grote, the historian, was alive, but devoted himself more to his parliamentary duties than to writing history. Then, too, flourished S. C. Hall and his wife, the latter of whom will doubtless live longest in remembrance. William Hone, whatever may be thought of his politics, etc., has given us a mine of folk and archæological lore. If genial Thomas Hood had never written anything but the Bridge of Sighs and the Song of the Shirt, he would have made his name; but, happily, he will be the source of wholesome laughter to future generations. Theodore Hook, too, novelist and dramatist, will live in his Jack Brag. William and Mary Howitt are names not likely to be lost. Douglas Jerrold, dramatist, novelist, and humourist, seems almost of to-day. The Rev. John Keble will live for ever in his Christian Year. Charles Knight, with his Penny Magazine and Penny Cyclopædia, did much to popularize cheap and wholesome literature. James Sheridan Knowles, dramatist, produced his play of The Hunchback in 1832, and The Love Chase in 1837, both classics in the drama. Walter Savage Landor wrote several books during this reign. Of Mark Lemon, who was "indispensable to Punch" nothing need be said—every one remembers his name. The same may be said of Charles James Lever, the novelist, whose Harry Lorrequer, Jack Hinton, etc., are so well known. Students will reverence the name of John Lingard, the Roman Catholic historian; and botanists are familiar with the writings of John Claudius Loudon and his wife. The Handy Andy of Samuel Lover, novelist, poet, musician, and artist, though probably written in this reign, was not published until 1838. Thomas Babington Macaulay, so well known as an historian, was in India from 1834 to 1838. To mention the name of Captain F. Marryat is to kindle a thrill in every English boy's breast. Samuel Maunder, whose Treasuries were text books in their day, and still are very useful. John Stuart Mill, of Political Economy memory, was during this reign writing for magazines, when he was not editing the Westminster Review. Thomas Moore, poet and musician, brought out in 1834 a complete edition of his Irish Melodies, which were commenced in 1807. Sir Francis Palgrave produced in 1831 his History of England, Anglo-Saxon Period, and was knighted the following year. J. R. Planché published in 1834 The History of British Costume for The Library of Entertaining Knowledge. A. W. N. Pugin, the revivalist of mediæval architecture, wrote thereon, in 1836, Contrasts; a parallel between the noble edifices of the 14th and 15th Centuries and the Present Day. Table Talk Rogers was getting an old man; and Robert Southey was Poet Laureate with, in 1834, a pension of £300 per annum. The "bitter Bengalee," W. M. Thackeray, came of age in 1832, and his first regular literary employment was for Fraser's Magazine, wherein The History of Samuel Titmarsh, and The Great Hoggarty Diamond appeared during 1837-38. Nor, in this list, must be forgotten painstaking John Timbs, whose works are indispensable for reference. John Wilson, perhaps better known as Christopher North, contributed his celebrated Noctes Ambrosinæ to Blackwood's Magazine up to 1835; in which year Wordsworth published his Yarrow revisited.

Nor must we omit mention of the fair sex in their literary work. Mrs. Sarah Austin, who produced two of her famous translations in this reign—viz. A Tour in England, Ireland, and France by a German Prince (1832), and Raumer's England in 1835, in 1836; in which year Joanna Baillie published three volumes of dramas. In 1836, also, Mrs. Bray brought out her Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy. The Brontës were too young to write, but were young women. E. M. Barrett Browning produced her first acknowledged work, a translation of Prometheus Bound, and some of her early poems in 1835. Maria Edgeworth was getting too old to write; and Mrs. Gaskell had not commenced. Mrs. Jameson published her first book in 1831—Memoirs of Female Sovereigns, and, in 1837, Sketches of Germany. Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) wrote her best prose work, Ethel Churchill, in 1836. Miss Mitford published a fifth series of Our Village in 1832. Hannah More died in 1833. Lady Morgan, The Wild Irish Girl, was writing, and making money by it. The Hon. Mrs. Norton, who let all the world know her grievances, brought out her poem of the Undying One in 1831, and her novel of Stuart of Dunleath in 1835. Miss Jane Porter produced, in 1831, what was probably her best work, Sir Edward Seaward's Diary, which was frequently mistaken, at the time, for genuine history. And last, though not least, Miss Agnes Strickland published the Pilgrims of Walsingham in 1835.

I had almost forgotten; which would have been inexcusable, that Sir Walter Scott died in September, 1832.

The New British School of Art was just commencing. The National Collection of pictures was commenced in 1824, and in 1832 Parliament voted £15,000 to build a gallery for their reception. The Royal Academy of Arts, instituted in 1768, held their annual exhibition of pictures, up to 1836, at Somerset House, but in 1837 they removed to the new National Gallery. There were, besides, exhibitions of paintings held by the Society of British Artists, the Society of Painters in Water Colours, and the New Society of ditto. In May, 1834, there was an Exhibition of the works of the Old Masters; and in 1832 Haydon held an exhibition of his own pictures.