Description:

17th C. London, England
London, England, ca. 1682-1685
London Newspapers from 1680s Discuss Religious Divisions
Newspaper

[LONDON, England.] Archive of London newspapers, 1682-1685. 4 issues, 2 pp. each, for a total of 8 pp., 8" x 13". Curled, irregular edges with light toning.

These four issues of two London newspapers represent Royalist views during the turbulent 1680s, when the religious persecution of Catholicism and non-conformist Protestants ultimately led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which replaced King James II and VII with joint monarchs William III of Orange and his wife Mary II.

Contents and Excerpts
The London Gazette, August 13-17, 1682
"Whitehal, April 15. The Addresses which follow, have been presented to His Majesty, who received them with his accustomed Grace and Goodness....
"The humble Address of the Mayor, Aldermen, Capital Burgesses, and other the Principal Burgesses and Inhabitants of Your Majesties Ancient Burrough of Barnstaple, in the County of Devon....
"The Principles of that Protestant Faith which separates Religion and Loyalty, (which Faith this Association pretends so zealously to defend) we confess, we do not understand. But we declare, we will stand by your Majesty in defence of the true Protestant religion establisht in the Church of England, by the Laws of the Kingdom, by all those Means and Methods which may consist with your Majesties Justice and Honour, and which your Majesty in your Princely Wisdom shall conceive to be Avowable and Expedient.
"We infinitly Regret and Grieve (Great SIR) that there should be any of such wicked Principles; and Conference so profligate, as to protect and defend such horrid Councils; but for our selves, we do in all Sincerity profess, that we are so far from any thought of lessening the Lustre of your Imperial Crown, or impairing in the least the Grandeur of this Ancient and most Illustrious Monarchy, that we will rather deposite our Lives in aggrandizing it." (p2/c1-2)

The Observator, July 3, 1685
"Trim[mer]. Where the Cause of Holy Mother lies at Stake, they'l make ye an Irish Bogg, Bleed Guinneys, as Franckly as the Mountains of Potosi. You cannot Reckon upon less than a Million of Pounds Sterling, for what's Already in Sight: Beside the Contributions of the Benedictines; Wakemans 15000 Pound; 24000 l. set a-part for the Murder of Sr Edmund-bury-Godfrey: At the rate of Six Persons Design'd, at 4000 l. a man. The Horrible Charge they were at for Fires, Intelligence, Black-Bills, Mustard-Balls; and a Thousand; Fifteen-Hundred; Or Two-Thousand-Pound-Jobbs, it may be, Innumerable: And yet This Poor Protestant Island, to Support it self thus, against All the Powers of Pope and Devils. London, Set a-fire, a purpose to Draw the King Out, and then Murder him, in the Hurry: And yet by a Wonderfull Providence, [They saw the King so Industrious about the Fire, that they could not find in their hearts to do it. Na. Ar.34]
"Obs[ervator]. And why will you say the Papists are such a company of Bloudy Doggs, now; when you see their Hearts Relented at the very Sight of the King? I am afraid his Majesty would hardly have found so Good Quarter if he had fall'n into the hands of the Society of the Rye-house: But Heark ye, Trimmer. The Papers were to have taken That Opportunity of a Massacre too. How came it that [they could not find it in their Hearts neither, to Cut the Protestants Throats?]" (p1/c1)

The Observator, August 20, 1685
"Trim. By the Token, that you would have That Indifference, to be Worse then a Downright Rebellion; and when we Parted, you were just about to give me Your Reasons for't.
"Obs. Not Worse in itself; but more Dangers in the Consequences: For a Rebellion could never do any thing by Dint of Sword, if the Minds of the People were not Previously Dispos'd for't by Defamatory Reports; Panick Fears; Outrageous Jealousies; False Reasonings, in fine and False Colours: The Oly Sure way to keep Rebellion from coming into the Field, is to Stifle the First Motions of it, in the heart." (p1/c1)

The Observator, March 15, 1685/6
"OBSERVATOR. And you are Convinc'd in your very Soul, and Conscience then, that the whole Generation of our Popish-Plot-makers; Our Popish-Plot-Believers, and all Pretenders to Believe it, when really they do not Believe it, are a parcel of Canary-Birds' or, to speak Modestly, the Other Part of the General Division of Mankind: And that an Honest Man, shall hardly find a Friend among a Million of 'em.
"TRIMMER. I don't know what it is that you call Soul, and Conscience, but I am Convinc'd in my Judgment, and Understanding, according to the Mouldy Measures of a Company of Sniv'ling, Bigotted Philosophers, that they are just such Men as I tell ye: And not One Grain, either of Salt, on the One side, or of Common Honesty on the Other, among Ten Thousand of 'em: But I must tell ye again, that Honesty is a Drugg: It lyes Heavy, and Long Time upon a Man's Hand, before he can make it turn to Account." (p1/c1)

The London Gazette (1665-present) is one of the official journals of record of the government of the United Kingdom. First published in November 1665 as The Oxford Gazette, when King Charles II and the Royal Court had moved to Oxford to escape the Great Plague of London. It was published "by authority" by Henry Muddiman. When the King returned to London after the plague, the first issue of The London Gazette appeared in February 1666. Before 1752, it was published with a date based on the Julian calendar with the beginning of the calendar year on March 25. As an official publication of the royal government, The London Gazette publishes proclamations, the royal assent to parliamentary bills, appointments to certain public offices, commissions and promotions of officers in the armed forces, grants of awards of honors and military medals, and notices of corporate and personal insolvency, among other matters. In 1889, His Majesty's Stationery Office took over the publication of the Gazette, and in 2006, it was transferred to the private sector as The Stationery Office, but remained under government supervision.

The Observator (1681-1687) was a newspaper written and published in London by Roger L'Estrange (1616-1704), who had been a Royalist in London for more than twenty years when he began this periodical. He had already produced two newspapers and dozens of political pamphlets and translations from Spanish, Latin, and French. He was notorious for ferreting out illegal presses and seditious publishers. He defended the monarchy after the Restoration and promoted an anti-whig agenda. The newspaper took the form of a dialogue between "Observator" and "Trimmer."

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