F. The Hampton-Courts place of Action, Commodore Brown.
G. The Norwich’s ditto, Cap. Herbert.
H. The Worcester’s ditto, Cap. Main.
I. The Admiral’s Ship, the Burford.
‘On the afternoon of the 21st about two o’clock we came up with Porto Bello Harbour, where the Spaniards had hoisted upon the Iron Castle the Flag of Defiance; and, as we were told by themselves afterwards, they wished earnestly for our attempting to come in, as believing they could sink us all immediately, but said they feared we were only making a second Bastimento Expedition, and would not give them the pleasure of engaging us.’ Then follows a long and circumstantial account of the conflict. ‘Notwithstanding they had discharged very few Guns for some Minutes before we came up; yet as if they had resolved to summon up all their Courage against the Flag, they welcomed us with a terrible Volley, which being at so short a Distance, took Place with almost every Shot. One struck away the Stern of our Barge; another broke a large Gun upon our upper Deck; a third went thro’ our Foretop-Mast; and a fourth, passing thro’ the Arning within two Inches of our Main-Mast, broke down the barricado of our Quarter-Deck, very near the Admiral, and killed three Men in a Moment, wounding five others which stood by them. This look’d as if we should have bloody work, but was far from discouraging our brave Fellows.’ The Spaniards being driven from their guns, the English landed:—‘One man set himself close under an Embossier, whilst another climbed upon his Shoulders and enter’d under the Mouth of a great Gun. This so dismay’d the Spaniards that they threw down their Arms and fled to the Top of the Castle; from whence scaling backwards we could see them run into the woods by hundreds and fly for their lives.’ The place being taken, the writer gives a minute account of the damage done and the booty taken. He says:—‘We have also had the good luck to find about 10,000 Dollars belonging to the King of Spain, which I had the Pleasure of being present at the searching for, when we found it in the Customhouse,’ &c.
The writer of the above account signs himself Wm. Richardson, and gives the explanations to the letters on the woodcut, a facsimile of which is engraved.
To account for the enthusiasm with which Admiral Vernon’s victory at Porto Bello was received we must remember that the nation had previously been wrought up to a high state of fever about Spain, and the declaration of war had been received in the most jubilant manner. We can therefore understand that the conductors of the Daily Post, infected by the popular fervour, would gladly seize the opportunity of producing in their pages the drawing and description by an eye-witness of this naval victory. This early example of illustrated news, though it has nothing pictorial about it, is extremely interesting, showing as it does the tendency of newspapers, in times of excitement, to call on the artist’s pencil to aid the writer’s pen. It was in reference to this war that Walpole said, when the bells were ringing joyfully, ‘They may ring the bells now, but they will soon be wringing their hands.’
To the preceding example of a daily paper attempting to illustrate current events I will add an instance of a penny paper doing a similar thing at about the same period. The Penny London Post, or, The Morning Advertiser, was a paper published three times a-week, and in the number for Jan. 9th, 1748-9, there is given ‘A view of the Public Fireworks to be exhibited on occasion of the General Peace concluded at Aix La Chapelle the 7th Day of October 1748.’ The engraving is little more than a diagram, and accompanies a description of the arrangements made for the occasion, amongst which there was to be a band of a hundred musicians to play before the fireworks began, ‘the Musick for which,’ says the Penny London Post, ‘is to be composed by Mr. Handel.’
We are accustomed to think of the immortal author of Tom Jones as a novelist only. Henry Fielding was, however, also a journalist, a pamphleteer, and a justice of the peace for Middlesex and Westminster. Amidst his other labours he found time to edit the Jacobite’s Journal, a paper started to support the House of Hanover after the Rebellion of 1745. It was a sheet of four pages, published every Saturday, and the first twelve numbers were adorned with a woodcut heading which has been attributed to Hogarth. This heading was discontinued after the twelfth number, and in number 13 there is an elaborate article, replete with sarcastic humour, explaining the reasons for its discontinuance. The Jacobite’s Journal purported to be edited by ‘John Trott-Plaid, Esq.,’ and was essentially satirical in its tone. In the second number there is the following reference to the engraved heading:—
‘As my Wife appears in her Plaid on Ass-back behind me at the Head of this Paper, it will not I hope be imagined that I have brought her abroad only to take the Air, without assigning to her any share in this undertaking.