





                           NEWDIGATE NEWSLETTERS

                         NUMBERS  1 THROUGH  2100

                  (3 JANUARY 1673/4 THROUGH 11 JUNE 1692)


                         TRANSCRIBED AND EDITED BY

                              PHILIP HINES, JR.                            
  
                                               
































                                    1994                                   
  
                                         
                       





                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       THE NEWDIGATE NEWSLETTERS                           
  
    
                                                               
                                                               
                              INTRODUCTION                                 
  
    
                                                               
                                                               
     This is a printed version of the first 2100 manuscript newsletters    
  
 
                                                               
in the Newdigate series.  The whole collection has 3950 such letters,      
  
 
                                                               
most of them addressed to Sir Richard Newdigate (d. 1710), Arbury,         
  
 
                                                               
Warwickshire; they date from 13 January 1673/4 to 29 September 1715 and    
  
 
                                                               
are now at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.  They were    
  
 
                                                               
issued on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays by the Secretary of State's   
  
 
                                                               
office and were usually written on three sides of a bifolium--the first    
  
 
                                                               
recto, then first verso, then second recto.  The scribe next turned the    
  
 
                                                               
sheet sideways and filled the left margins of the three pages in inverse   
  
 
                                                               
order, ending on the first recto (except in the very few cases when        
  
 
                                                               
letters continued through the upper third or--rarely--upper half of the    
  
 
                                                               
second verso).  He then folded the letter in thirds and addressed it on    
  
 
                                                               
the (usually) blank second verso.  Letters in the present edition come     
  
 
                                                               
up through 11 June 1692.                                                   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     These letters are especially valuable as primary-document sources,    
  
 
                                                               
with much matter of intrinsic interest on the Stuart courts and those      
  
 
                                                               
of most of Europe; on social, diplomatic, and military history;            
  
 
                                                               
parliamentary news; commercial and maritime relations, particularly        
  
 
                                                               
those with the colonies in North America and the Indies, West and East.    
  
 
                                                               
They report on the whole history of the Popish Plot.  They have seventeen  
  
 
                                                               
items, from 29 December to 15 March, on activities on the River Thames     
  
 
                                                               
during the Great Frost of 1683-84.  They cast light on the early history   
  
 
                                                               
of the press in England.  Indeed, they cover nearly all the period from    
  
 
                                                               
the Restoration to the Hanoverian succession, when newsletters began in    
  
 
                                                               
Britain on a regular basis and then became the most important medium for   
  
 
                                                               
domestic news, their spread much stimulated by the coming of the penny     
  
 
                                                               
post in 1680.                                                              
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     My intention has been to let the worth of these unedited letters      
  
 
                                                               
speak for itself, to change as little of the original spelling and         
  
 
                                                               
punctuation as possible so as to preserve content, style, tone, and        
  
 
                                                               
linguistic integrity.  In fact, this edition began as an aid to readers    
  
 
                                                               
of the handwritten letters.  The collection is readable and clear in       
  
 
                                                               
such a printed form.  I have thus made a good road through the often       
  
 
                                                               
difficult, crowded, and faded "terrain" of the several handwritings,       
  
 
                                                               
enabling a reader to examine not eight or ten letters per day but perhaps  
  
 
                                                               
seventy-five or more.  If the problem has been that until recently few     
  
 
                                                               
scholars could find a sufficient number of newsletters to study, this      
  
 
                                                               
edition makes such a collection both accessible and easy to read.          
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     Since sentences in the letters frequently lack terminal punctuation,  
  
 
                                                               
I have been very careful to observe an interval of two spaces between      
  
 
                                                               
sentences; I omit the address to Newdigate on the second verso, and from   
  
 
                                                               
the relatively few letters that have them I omit salutations (usually      
  
 
                                                               
"Sr" or "Sir," often elaborately written).  Others of my editorial rules   
  
 
                                                               
are:                                                                       
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    -I indent the first line of paragraphs as the scribes do--three        
  
 
                                                               
     spaces or five (usually five)--and regularize larger indentations     
  
 
                                                               
     at five spaces.                                                       
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
    -I use the plus sign (+) to show the start of a new paragraph          
  
 
                                                               
     when the scribes do not indent, as they frequently do not at          
  
 
                                                               
     the beginning of letters and at the start of a paragraph at           
  
 
                                                               
     the top of a verso or new folio.                                      
  
 
                                                               
    -I note, usually at the start of letters, changes in handwriting       
  
 
                                                               
     since most changes occur there.  In very few cases changes come       
  
 
                                                               
     within a letter, but almost never more than once.  Some evidence      
  
 
                                                               
     emerges that letters were at least slightly edited, for at times      
  
 
                                                               
     a word is added or an error corrected in another contemporary         
  
 
                                                               
     hand.                                                                 
  
 
                                                               
    -I omit catchwords and words clearly repeated in error.                
  
 
                                                               
    -When it is necessary to omit a blotted or illegible word or           
  
 
                                                               
     phrase, I note the size of the omission.  (An example is in           
  
 
                                                               
     the first paragraph of Letter 1.)                                     
  
 
                                                               
    -When a whole letter, a paragraph, or a sizable part (usually          
  
 
                                                               
     three or more lines) is identical with or very similar to an          
  
 
                                                               
     earlier part, I so note and omit the repetition.  (An example         
  
 
                                                               
     is in Letter 56.)                                                     
  
 
                                                               
    -I omit hyphens often placed on each side of written numbers           
  
 
                                                               
     (e. g., "-2-," "-5-").                                                
  
 
                                                               
    -I regularize when in doubt that a letter is upper or lower case.      
  
 
                                                               
    -I put editorial notes in the text and then only when absolutely       
  
 
                                                               
     necessary.  In the notes the phrase "outside of letter" is            
  
 
                                                               
     interchangeable with "second verso."                                  
  
 
                                                               
    -I make three small concessions to modern technology:                  
  
 
                                                               
       1. I regularize superior letters.                                   
  
 
                                                               
       2. I omit punctuation marks under such letters.                     
  
 
                                                               
       3. I omit the few circumflexes over vowels (e. g.,                  
  
 
                                                               
           "th," "thr,") and print dates in this form--                  
  
  
                                                               
           "Sept. 12/22" or "Dec. 20/30"--that the scribe
                  __ __           __ __          
                                                 
              
           writes "Sept. 12" or "Dec. 20."                                 
  
  
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
Dates on the letters are all old style.  The Folger Library's call         
  
 
                                                               
numbers for the letters start at L. c. 1 and end at L. c. 3950.  I use     
  
 
                                                               
this system to number the letters in this edition.                         
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     These letters cover more years than does Narcissus Luttrell's         
  
 
                                                               
"Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs" (6 vols., Oxford, 1857,       
  
 
                                                               
reprinted Wilmington, Del., 1974), which extends from late September       
  
 
                                                               
1678 to 1 April 1714.  The works have many items that are similar but      
  
 
                                                               
never identical; Luttrell's are usually briefer, less specific, and        
  
 
                                                               
often of later date, at times appearing to be from the same source as      
  
 
                                                               
Newdigate's but edited.  Also, gaps occur in both series, Newdigate's      
  
 
                                                               
having fifteen of from a month to almost four years:                       
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    -22 May--23 June 1674                                                  
  
 
                                                               
    -11 December 1684--18 February 1685/6 except for one letter on         
  
 
                                                               
     9 January 1685/6                                                      
  
 
                                                               
    -24 March 1687/8--23 October 1688                                      
  
 
                                                               
    -26 September 1689--10 November 1691 except for single letters         
  
 
                                                               
     on 16 and 30 January, 20 March 1689/90, and 7 February 1690/1         
  
 
                                                               
    -7 January 1691/2--4 June 1692                                         
  
 
                                                               
    -23 June--20 August 1692                                               
  
 
                                                               
    -23 March 1696/7--18 January 1700/1                                    
  
 
                                                               
    -20 March 1700/1--30 May 1704 except for an undated letter and         
  
 
                                                               
     other single letters on 5 July 1701, 14 May, 9 July, 20 August,       
  
 
                                                               
     and 13 and 20 October 1702                                            
  
 
                                                               
    -27 June--19 September 1704                                            
  
 
                                                               
    -2 February 1705/6--30 March 1706                                      
  
 
                                                               
    -8 May--1 July 1707                                                    
  
 
                                                               
    -6 September 1707--10 February 1707/8 except for single letters        
  
 
                                                               
     on 8 October and 6 December 1707 and two letters on 1 January         
  
 
                                                               
     1707/8                                                                
  
 
                                                               
    -30 July--17 September 1709                                            
  
 
                                                               
    -22 December 1709--2 April 1712 except for single letters on 16        
  
 
                                                               
     March 1709/10 and 8 June 1710 and an undated letter                   
  
 
                                                               
    -11 August--15 October 1713                                            
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
(See below, pp. 9-11, for a different presentation of these gaps.)         
  
 
                                                               
Luttrell's work has only two such gaps, 31 March 1711 to 1 January 1711/2  
  
 
                                                               
and 9 February 1711/2 to 25 March 1714.  But since he has entries for      
  
 
                                                               
only seventeen days in January and early February 1711/2 and four days     
  
 
                                                               
in late March 1714, his coverage in effect ends with 31 March 1711.        
  
 
                                                               
(Similarly, the two largest gaps in Newdigate, March 1696/7 to January     
  
 
                                                               
1700/1 and March 1700/1 to late May 1704, connected by only the twenty-    
  
 
                                                               
six letters of January, February, and March, 1700/1 and the seven others   
  
 
                                                               
until almost June 1704, make in effect a "crater" of more than seven       
  
 
                                                               
years in the coverage of this series.)  Of course, both works have dozens  
  
 
                                                               
of smaller gaps.                                                           
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     Further as to two gaps in Newdigate cited above, the second one       
  
 
                                                               
shows that the collection is silent upon the last two months of Charles    
  
 
                                                               
II's reign, his final illness and death, and the first year of James II's  
  
 
                                                               
reign.  Even so, more than 340 letters are dated within the rest of        
  
 
                                                               
James's tenure, and the letters feature no one or nothing more than they   
  
 
                                                               
do the sovereign.  And a note in Newdigate's hand on the second verso of   
  
 
                                                               
Letter 230 shows that he knew of the first gap:                            
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
              R. H. Newes being a transcript of                            
  
  
                                                               
              Sr Joseph Williamson from ye 13 of Jan: 73/4                 
  
  
                                                               
              at wch time I began to have them untill the                  
  
  
                                                               
              1st of Oct 75. but many are wanting viz                      
  
  
                                                               
              all May June 74 & Mar. 75 and many others.                   
  
  
                                                               
                                                               
But this note raises confusion too: the collection has ten letters from    
  
 
                                                               
May 1674 (including two each on 2 and 9 May) and three from late June.     
  
 
                                                               
And from March 1674/5--to which the note must refer--the collection has    
  
 
                                                               
fourteen letters (including two on 18 March) with only one four-day gap;   
  
 
                                                               
from March 1675/6--which is later than the last date in the note--it has   
  
 
                                                               
eleven letters (including two on 4 March) and one six-day gap; even in     
  
 
                                                               
March 1673/4 it has eleven letters (including two on 14 March) and a       
  
 
                                                               
four-day and an eight-day gap.  So which March is meant?  Perhaps the      
  
 
                                                               
letters from "Mar. 75" were acquired later since it is very unlikely that  
  
 
                                                               
those from Williamson are just part of the collection.  Or perhaps the     
  
 
                                                               
note-writer has made an error.  (Williamson was Under-Secretary of State,  
  
 
                                                               
1660-74; Secretary of State, 1674-79; and Keeper of State Papers and of    
  
 
                                                               
the Royal Library, 1661-1701.)                                             
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     Other good points are made in the next five indented paragraphs and   
  
 
                                                               
list of letters per month, 1674-1715, quoted from the Folger Library's     
  
 
                                                               
brief "Key" to the series, although some points have to do with letters    
  
 
                                                               
later than June 1692.  The "Key" also uses the note just discussed         
  
 
                                                               
above:                                                                     
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
   That these were at the beginning the official Newsletter of             
  
 
                                                               
   Sir Joseph Williamson is shown by the pencilled note in Sir             
  
 
                                                               
   Richard Newdigate's hand on the verso of L. c. 230, 28 Sep. 1675.       
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
   That at least two other newsletters are included is suggested by        
  
 
                                                               
   the following evidence:                                                 
  
 
                                                               
   a. Letters of Henry Muddiman: L. c. 1411, 2 Aug. 1683 gives proof       
  
 
                                                               
      through the note on its verso that Sir Richard also subscribed       
  
 
                                                               
      to the letters of his personal friend, Muddiman.  (The Whitehall     
  
 
                                                               
      heading is, in itself, sufficient identification.)  These letters    
  
 
                                                               
      ran regularly for a period of several months.  Now and then they     
  
 
                                                               
      appear at other times ... as may be seen in ... L. c. 2317, 28 Apr.  
  
 
                                                               
      1694....                                                             
  
 
                                                               
      b. In 1708 and 1709 a second series of letters appears once again.   
  
 
                                                               
      Letters received during that period were dated and identified on     
  
 
                                                               
      the verso, one of the following codes being usual: nNl, oNL, WNL,    
  
 
                                                               
      DNL.  On L. c. 3271 and 3272, however, is found "6 nov 1708 News     
  
 
                                                               
      old" and "Nov 6: 1708 new N'let."  News old is equal to oNL which,   
  
 
                                                               
      in turn, is equal to W[for Williamson]NL.  The identification of     
  
 
                                                               
      the DNL is still in doubt, at least from the evidence of the         
  
 
                                                               
      letters alone.  Williamson's letters were franked, while those of    
  
 
                                                               
      "D" were paid.                                                       
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
   That the newsletters were usually sent out with a one page              
  
 
                                                               
   printed advice ("The Gazette"?--see L. c. 2360 which is the only        
  
 
                                                               
   printed matter in the collection) is easily seen by the frequency       
  
 
                                                               
   of faint fresh ink transfers on the first page.                         
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
   Ordinarily ... 12, 13, or 14 [letters were sent] each month.  In        
  
 
                                                               
   some periods two were occasionally sent on the same day, and for a      
  
 
                                                               
   time during 1708 and 1709 this became common practice (there being      
  
 
                                                               
   22 letters each for June and October 1708).  In all parts of the        
  
 
                                                               
   42-year span there were small irregularities in the spacing.  ...also,  
  
 
                                                               
   letters appear to have been lost, so that there are many gaps....  It   
  
 
                                                               
   is impossible to determine how many of these losses occurred after      
  
 
                                                               
   Newdigate received the letters and how many, if any, resulted from      
  
 
                                                               
   loss in transit.  It is possible also that for some periods, long or    
  
 
                                                               
   short, the letters were not sent.  There are indications, however,      
  
 
                                                               
   that losses did occur after receipt.  The total of the gaps may be      
  
 
                                                               
   appreciated by calculating that 13 letters per month would have         
  
 
                                                               
   amounted to 6500 letters over the whole period, while what we have      
  
 
                                                               
   are 3950, or approximately 60 percent.                                  
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
   In the list below, for each month the date of the first letter is       
  
 
                                                               
   given, followed by the Folger serial number.  From these numbers it     
  
 
                                                               
   will be apparent how many letters will be found for any month.  ...     
  
 
                                                               
   for ... simplicity the dates are [here] modernized.  Undated letters    
  
 
                                                               
   (of which there are perhaps a score) remain in the positions in which   
  
 
                                                               
   they were found in the bound volumes.                                   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
    1674          1675           1676           1677          1678         
  
 
                                                               
  Jan 13 1      Jan 2  128     Jan 1  270     Jan 3  418     Jan 3  571    
  
 
  Feb 3  11     Feb 2  141     Feb 2  283     Feb 3  430     Feb 2  585    
  
 
  Mar 3  24     Mar 1  151     Mar 4  295     Mar 1  442     Mar 2  596    
  
 
  Apr 2  35     Apr 1  165     Apr 1  306     Apr 1  456     Apr 4  610    
  
 
  May 2  43     May 1  177     May 3  320     May 4  470     May 2  621    
  
 
  Jun 23 53     Jun 1  189     Jun 2  330     Jun 1  481     Jun 1  635    
  
 
  Jul 4  56     Jul 1  200     Jul 4  343     Jul 3  496     Jul 1  648    
  
 
  Aug 1  67     Aug 5  209     Aug 1  356     Aug 4  509     Aug 1  662    
  
 
  Sep 3  78     Sep 4  221     Sep 1  369     Sep 7  522     Sep 2  676    
  
 
  Oct 1  88     Oct 2  232     Oct 3  383     Oct 3  534     Oct 3  689    
  
 
  Nov 1  102    Nov 2  246     Nov 1  392     Nov 1  546     Nov 1  699    
  
 
  Dec 1  114    Dec 2  259     Dec 1  405     Dec 1  559     Dec 2  713    
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    1679          1680           1681           1682           1683        
  
 
                                                               
  Jan 2  727    Jan 1  881     Jan 4  1028    Jan 3  1168    Jan 2  1319   
  
 
  Feb 1  740    Feb 2  895     Feb 1  1036    Feb 2  1179    Feb 1  1332   
  
 
  Mar 1  753    Mar 1  907     Mar 1  1048    Mar 2  1188    Mar 1  1344   
  
 
  Apr 3  767    Apr 1  919     Apr 2  1060    Apr 1  1200    Apr 3  1358   
  
 
  May 1  779    May 1  929     May 3  1071    May 4  1214    May 1  1370   
  
 
  Jun 2  792    Jun 3  942     Jun 4  1083    Jun 1  1224    Jun 2  1384   
  
 
  Jul 3  805    Jul 1  954     Jul 2  1095    Jul 1  1236    Jul 3  1397   
  
 
  Aug 2  818    Aug 3  968     Aug 4  1108    Aug 1  1252    Aug 2  1410   
  
 
  Sep 1  829    Sep 7  979     Sep 1  1119    Sep 2  1269    Sep 1  1427   
  
 
  Oct 2  843    Oct 2  990     Oct 1  1132    Oct 3  1282    Oct 2  1444   
  
 
  Nov 1  856    Nov 1  1002    Nov 5  1144    Nov 2  1295    Nov 1  1458   
  
 
  Dec 1  868    Dec 1  1015    Dec 1  1155    Dec 2  1307    Dec 6  1464   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    1684          1685          1686           1687           1688         
  
 
                                                               
  Jan 1  1472                 Jan 9  1626    Jan 1  1755    Jan 3  1903    
  
 
  Feb 2  1491                 Feb 18 1627    Feb 1  1768    Feb 2  1916    
  
 
  Mar 1  1504                 Mar 2  1631    Mar 1  1779    Mar 1  1922    
  
 
  Apr 1  1517                 Apr 1  1642    Apr 2  1792                   
  
 
  May 1  1530                 May 1  1654    May 3  1804                   
  
 
  Jun 3  1544                 Jun 1  1665    Jun 2  1815                   
  
 
  Jul 1  1556                 Jul 1  1676    Jul 2  1828                   
  
 
  Aug 2  1570                 Aug 3  1690    Aug 2  1838                   
  
 
  Sep 2  1583                 Sep 2  1703    Sep 1  1851                   
  
 
  Oct 2  1596                 Oct 2  1715    Oct 1  1864    Oct 23 1932    
  
 
  Nov 1  1609                 Nov 2  1728    Nov 1  1877    Nov 8  1933    
  
 
  Dec 2  1621                 Dec 2  1742    Dec 1  1889    Dec 1  1942    
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
    1689          1690           1691           1692           1693        
  
 
                                                               
  Jan 1  1955   Jan 16 2068                   Jan 2  2095    Jan 3  2123   
  
 
  Feb 2  1967                  Feb 7  2071                   Feb 2  2134   
  
 
  Mar 2  1983   Mar 20 2070                                  Mar 2  2146   
  
 
  Apr 2  1997                                                Apr 1  2159   
  
 
  May 2  2010                                                May 2  2172   
  
 
  Jun 1  2023                                 Jun 4  2098    Jun 6  2182   
  
 
  Jul 2  2035                                                Jul 1  2193   
  
 
  Aug 1  2047                                 Aug 20 2105    Aug 1  2203   
  
 
  Sep 3  2059                                 Sep 13 2106    Sep 2  2217   
  
 
                                                   Oct 4  2111    Oct 3 
2229 
      
                                  Nov 10 2072    Nov 3  2115    Nov 2 
2242   
    
                                  Dec 1  2081    Dec 6  2119    Dec 2 
2254   
    
                                                               
                                                               
    1694          1695           1696           1697           1698        
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
  Jan 2  2268   Jan 1  2415    Jan 2  2567    Jan 2  2716                  
  
 
  Feb 1  2281   Feb 2  2429    Feb 1  2579    Feb 2  2729                  
  
 
  Mar 1  2294   Mar 2  2441    Mar 3  2591    Mar 2  2745                  
  
 
  Apr 3  2308   Apr 2  2454    Apr 2  2604                                 
  
 
  May 3  2318   May 2  2467    May 2  2617                                 
  
 
  Jun 2  2330   Jun 1  2480    Jun 2  2631                                 
  
 
  Jul 3  2342   Jul 2  2491    Jul 2  2644                                 
  
 
  Aug 4  2355   Aug 1  2502    Aug 1  2652                                 
  
 
  Sep 1  2366   Sep 3  2516    Sep 1  2663                                 
  
 
  Oct 2  2378   Oct 1  2528    Oct 1  2676                                 
  
 
  Nov 1  2392   Nov 2  2542    Nov 3  2690                                 
  
 
  Dec 1  2404   Dec 3  2554    Dec 1  2702                                 
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    1699          1700           1701           1702           1703        
  
 
                                                               
                                  Jan 18 2755                              
  
    
                                  Feb 1  2761                              
  
    
                                  Mar 1  2772                              
  
    
                                                               
                                                   May 14 2782             
  
      
                                                               
                                  Jul 5  2781    Jul 9  2783               
  
    
                                                   Aug 20 2784             
  
      
                                                               
                                                   Oct 13 2785             
  
      
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
                                                               
    1704          1705           1706           1707           1708        
  
 
                                                               
                  Jan 2  2837    Jan 1  2963    Jan 2  3092    Jan 1  3157 
  
   
                  Feb 1  2850    Feb 2  2977    Feb 1  3104    Feb 10 3159 
  
   
                  Mar 1  2862    Mar 30 2978    Mar 1  3117    Mar 2  3166 
  
   
                  Apr 3  2874    Apr 4  2979    Apr 5  3131    Apr 1  3171 
  
   
  May 30 2787   May 1  2881    May 4  2986    May 3  3133    May 1  3173   
  
 
  Jun 3  2788   Jun 2  2890    Jun 1  3000                   Jun 1  3185   
  
 
                  Jul 5  2903    Jul 2  3014    Jul 1  3136    Jul 13 3208 
  
   
                  Aug 2  2912    Aug 1  3027    Aug 5  3143    Aug 5  3216 
  
   
  Sep 19 2794   Sep 1  2923    Sep 3  3041    Sep 6  3154    Sep 4  3232   
  
 
  Oct 3  2800   Oct 2  2935    Oct 1  3053    Oct 18 3155    Oct 2  3247   
  
 
  Nov 2  2812   Nov 1  2947    Nov 2  3066                   Nov 2  3269   
  
 
  Dec 2  2824   Dec 6  2957    Dec 3  3079    Dec 6  3156    Dec 2  3286   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    1709          1710           1711           1712           1713        
  
 
                                                               
  Jan 1  3297                                                Jan 1  3557   
  
 
  Feb 1  3319                                                Feb 3  3571   
  
 
  Mar 1  3335   Mar 16 3454                                  Mar 3  3583   
  
 
  Apr 2  3357                                 Apr 2  3457    Apr 7  3598   
  
 
  May 3  3376                                 May 1  3460    May 2  3609   
  
 
  Jun 2  3399   Jun 8 3455                    Jun 3  3471    Jun 2  3622   
  
 
  Jul 5  3415                                 Jul 1  3481    Jul 2  3635   
  
 
                                                   Aug 5  3493    Aug 4 
3648 
      
  Sep 17 3435                                 Sep 2  3505                  
  
 
  Oct 11 3436                                 Oct 2  3518    Oct 15 3651   
  
 
  Nov 5  3438                                 Nov 1  3531    Nov 3  3659   
  
 
  Dec 1  3452                                 Dec 2  3544    Dec 1  3671   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
    1714          1715                                                     
  
 
                                                               
  Jan 2  3685   Jan 1  3840         10 Oct 1745 is to be found as          
  
 
  Feb 2  3698   Feb 1  3852         L. c. 749 -- it is not a newsletter.   
  
 
  Mar 2  3710   Mar 1  3863                                                
  
 
  Apr 1  3723   Apr 2  3875                                                
  
 
  May 1  3736   May 3  3888                                                
  
 
  Jun 1  3748   Jun 2  3901                                                
  
 
  Jul 1  3762   Jul 2  3914                                                
  
 
  Aug 3  3776   Aug 2  3927                                                
  
 
  Sep 2  3789   Sep 1  3940                                                
  
 
  Oct 2  3803                                                              
  
 
  Nov 2  3814                                                              
  
 
  Dec 2  3827                                                              
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     I find few works that comment very much on newsletters: a biography   
  
 
                                                               
of Sir Richard with much matter from these newsletters and his other       
  
 
                                                               
papers; a biography of Henry Muddiman, perhaps the best writer of          
  
 
                                                               
newsletters from 1667 to 1689, when he ceased writing; a work on the       
  
 
                                                               
gathering of official intelligence by the two Secretaries of State and     
  
 
                                                               
their network of correspondents (especially Williamson's); an article on   
  
 
                                                               
John Dyer (d. 1713), "the best-known and most influential newswriter"      
  
 
                                                               
from the Revolution of 1688 to the Hanoverian Succession; and three notes  
  
 
                                                               
that record items on the theater, actors, playwrights, and entertainments  
  
 
                                                               
from the collection.  The first four of these works have good information  
  
 
                                                               
on the period, and the careers of Henry Muddiman and John Dyer cover all   
  
 
                                                               
but two years of the Newdigate series.  But newsletters of the time as a   
  
 
                                                               
genre need more studies with penetration and studies on the many other     
  
 
                                                               
aspects of the subject; newsletters are part of the history of             
  
 
                                                               
journalism.                                                                
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
1. Lady Newdigate-Newdegate's "Cavalier and Puritan in the Days of the     
  
 
                                                               
Stuarts" (London, 1901), the life of Sir Richard, also has information     
  
 
                                                               
from his diary and his account books.  For her the collection dates from   
  
 
                                                               
only 1675 to 1712.  After citing five "momentous events" from 1685, a      
  
 
                                                               
year of "overwhelming interest to Protestant England," she gives a         
  
 
                                                               
political explanation for the "ominous" second gap in the series:          
  
 
                                                               
"Charles II's sudden illness on ... February 2, ending in his death four   
  
 
                                                               
days later; James's accession to the throne; the subsequent risings in     
  
 
                                                               
Scotland and England, headed respectively by the Earl of Argyle and the    
  
 
                                                               
Duke of Monmouth; their speedy suppression; the capture of the two         
  
 
                                                               
leaders, followed by their death upon the scaffold....  It was probably    
  
 
                                                               
due to necessary precaution" that no newsletters were kept at this time.   
  
 
                                                               
"... with his pronounced opinions and well-known championship of ...       
  
 
                                                               
Monmouth, [Sir Richard] could hardly have escaped being a marked man....   
  
 
                                                               
Suspicion was rife on all sides, and ... warned by previous experience,"   
  
 
                                                               
he may have feared a raid on his papers.  "Otherwise we cannot suppose     
  
 
                                                               
that he voluntarily dispensed with ... intelligence which was afterwards   
  
 
                                                               
resumed and continued for many years...."  She also regrets the third gap  
  
 
                                                               
(of seven months in 1688): "In this last year of James II's reign we are   
  
 
                                                               
left in ignorance of the newsmen's version of the crisis ... impending.    
  
 
                                                               
They give us no subtle indications of the slumberous discontent which was  
  
 
                                                               
shortly to be roused" and which ended the Stuart kings' rule.  "Nor have   
  
 
                                                               
we any record of the ... advent of a Prince of Wales [and] ... disbelief   
  
 
                                                               
in the genuineness of the royal babe."  Not until October when Prince      
  
 
                                                               
William arrived "with a small following, to be rapidly increased in his    
  
 
                                                               
progress ... [do] the news-letters recommence...."  (x, 263-64, 264-65)    
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
2. J. G. Muddiman's "The King's Journalist, 1659-1689: Studies in the      
  
 
                                                               
Reign of Charles II" (London, 1923; reprinted New York, 1971) is on Henry  
  
 
                                                               
Muddiman and his newsletters, which were "in a class apart" since he       
  
 
                                                               
wrote "with privilege" as the King's journalist, and which are easily      
  
 
                                                               
identified by the heading "Whitehall" that was reserved for him.  The      
  
 
                                                               
author discusses Muddiman's relations with Sir Joseph Williamson at        
  
 
                                                               
length.  Muddiman kept his monopoly of issuing the written news until the  
  
 
                                                               
end of 1687.  He kept drafts of all his newsletters with dates in a        
  
 
                                                               
"continuous journal from 1667 to 1689 ...."  The author says of the        
  
 
                                                               
journal that it "is the only complete record extant of the reigns of the   
  
 
                                                               
last two Stuart kings" and of Muddiman's newsletters that they "are one    
  
 
                                                               
of the most valuable records" of James II's reign.  Since practically no   
  
 
                                                               
state papers exist for that reign, the newsletters for those three years   
  
 
                                                               
"ought to be printed almost in their entirety."  Up to the Revolution of   
  
 
                                                               
1688 the "London Gazette" has little domestic news; "... Muddiman's        
  
 
                                                               
news-letters took its place."  Newsletters competed so well and so long    
  
 
                                                               
with printed news, particularly the "London Gazette," because the prints   
  
 
                                                               
could not carry without permission the votes and proceedings of the House  
  
 
                                                               
of Commons; newsletters had no such stricture.  To show Muddiman's         
  
 
                                                               
influence at Court, the author cites Sir Richard's asking Muddiman in      
  
 
                                                               
1677 for aid in declining a baronetcy that the King was to confer on him.  
  
 
                                                               
(vi, 125, 187n, 195, 204, 207, 245)                                        
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
3. To Peter Fraser in "The Intelligence of the Secretaries of State,       
  
 
                                                               
1660-1688" (Cambridge, 1956) the great value of newsletters of the time    
  
 
                                                               
is that "they record the immediate reaction of the Secretaries or their    
  
 
                                                               
subordinates to the events of the day."  Until 1688 the two Secretaries    
  
 
                                                               
had a monopoly of licensed news, and up to 1676 only official newsletters  
  
 
                                                               
circulated, "each Secretary sending about a hundred of these per week to   
  
 
                                                               
a select list of domestic and foreign correspondents...."  In this medium  
  
 
                                                               
Henry Muddiman was famous as the most reliable source of news, many        
  
 
                                                               
people taking him in error as an independent journalist.  "... Williamson  
  
 
                                                               
repaid his correspondents in kind" by having a newsletter compiled that    
  
 
                                                               
took the best from the weekly letters of some fifty correspondents "from   
  
 
                                                               
all over the kingdom, added news of his own such as official appointments  
  
 
                                                               
and parliamentary proceedings, employed ... four or five clerks to         
  
 
                                                               
multiply the copy ... and sent out these newsletters every week as a       
  
 
                                                               
'quid pro quo' to all his correspondents and to ... 'country friends,'     
  
 
                                                               
who [paid] 5 p. a. for the privilege."  Money thus raised covered the     
  
 
                                                               
wages and upkeep of the office.  So no profit was made; the "chief         
  
 
                                                               
purpose was to get intelligence, not to sell it."  The best news usually   
  
 
                                                               
went to the newsletters to raise their value in exchange for other         
  
 
                                                               
(especially foreign) newsletters.  Abraham Casteleyn, who founded the      
  
 
                                                               
"Haarlem Gazette," put his best domestic news in his newsletters and sent  
  
 
                                                               
copies only to foreign newswriters who he thought could "send him a        
  
 
                                                               
newsletter of equal quality."  In fall 1674 Henry Ball, who managed        
  
 
                                                               
Williamson's "paper office," reported that he had four clerks who on post  
  
 
                                                               
days copied the letters.  Each man copied some with a week's news and      
  
 
                                                               
other short letters "with two days' news for ... correspondents who        
  
 
                                                               
[received] three newsletters weekly.  Late at night the letters were       
  
 
                                                               
sent, with a list of [addressees] to ... the Post Office."  Fraser         
  
 
                                                               
roughly analyzes the domestic correspondents of 1667-69:                   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
  1. Lieutenants and titled persons in the counties who wrote only on      
  
 
     extraordinary occasions and paid 5 p. a. for the newsletters....37   
  
 
                                                               
  2. Customs officers, naval storekeepers, and others in the ports....35   
  
 
                                                               
  3. Postmasters and others inland....................................23   
  
 
                                                               
  4. Governors of garrisons, commanders of fleets, etc................ 9   
  
 
                                                               
  5. Williamson's personal friends.................................... 9   
  
 
                                                               
  6. Privy Councillors and office-holders in London................... 6   
  
 
                                                               
  7. Unidentified persons............................................. 3   
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
After 1676 unlicensed newsletters grew in volume, sold by professional     
  
 
                                                               
newswriters, which the Secretaries tried to stop together with unlicensed  
  
 
                                                               
printed journals that spread with the Popish Plot.  Whig newsletters       
  
 
                                                               
(that sprang up at about that time) "were in general restricted to much    
  
 
                                                               
the same classes who paid for the Secretaries' newsletters, the nobility   
  
 
                                                               
and gentry in the counties, and the merchants, lawyers, and professional   
  
 
                                                               
men in the City.  The exception was that copies of Whig newsletters were   
  
 
                                                               
also by then bought by London coffeehouses and "reached a wide general     
  
 
                                                               
public."  (1-2, 8, 28, 30, 32-33, 34, 40, 44, 127)                         
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
4. Henry L. Snyder, "Newsletters in England, 1689-1715, with Special       
  
 
                                                               
Reference to John Dyer--A Byway in the History of England," in             
  
 
                                                               
"Newsletters to Newspapers: Eighteenth-Century Journalism," ed. Donovan    
  
 
                                                               
H. Bond and William R. McLeod (Morgantown, W. Va., 1977), 3-19.  Dyer, a   
  
 
                                                               
Tory who lived about sixty years, "seems to have begun ... his newsletter  
  
 
                                                               
soon after the Revolution" and was well known by 1693.  The Newdigate      
  
 
                                                               
series has more than 150 of his newsletters.  (4, 5, 7)                    
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
5. John Harold Wilson's two articles in "Theatre Notebook," "Theatre       
  
 
                                                               
Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters," 15, 3 (1961), 79-84, and "More      
  
 
                                                               
Theatre Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters," 16, 2 (1961-62), 59, have   
  
 
                                                               
a total of 59 references to the theater, actors, playwrights, and          
  
 
                                                               
entertainments of the time.                                                
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
6. My "Theatre Items from the Newdigate Newsletters," "Theatre Notebook,"  
  
 
                                                               
39, 2 (1985), 76-83, has 76 such entries, including 23 from Luttrell.      
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     If the heading "Whitehall" safely identifies Henry Muddiman's         
  
 
                                                               
newsletters (see above, p. 13), then in this edition five early letters--  
  
 
                                                               
239 and 240, 19 and 21 October 1675; 331, 3 June 1676; 416, 30 December    
  
 
                                                               
1676; and 464, 17 April 1677--are his.  Other letters through 464 have     
  
 
                                                               
only a date at the top.  From that point through 751, 24 February          
  
 
                                                               
1678/9, more than two-thirds (about 195) of the letters are headed         
  
 
                                                               
"Whitehall."  Then "Whitehall" disappears, with no change in handwriting   
  
 
                                                               
at first, and is not used for four and a half years.  Nearly all letters   
  
 
                                                               
from 800 to 960 are headed "London"; handwritings then change, but         
  
 
                                                               
"London" heads nearly all letters through 2100.  However, from 1411, 2     
  
 
                                                               
August 1683, a Thursday, until the next 7 February Sir Richard received    
  
 
                                                               
on Thursdays letters headed "Whitehall" with the "W" written elaborately.  
  
 
                                                               
In fact, from 25 October to 20 December 1683 the series has only letters   
  
 
                                                               
so headed, including one--1460, 10 November, a Saturday.  These 29         
  
 
                                                               
letters, in my opinion, are the most likely of all to be Muddiman's.       
  
 
                                                               
(There are perhaps 20 to 24 different handwritings through 2100.  One--    
  
 
                                                               
"Ra: Hope"--prevails through 250; another clearer, easier-to-read hand     
  
 
                                                               
prevails from 548, 8 November 1677, to 962, 17 July 1680, and from 1467,   
  
 
                                                               
22 December 1683, to 2070, 20 March 1689/90, almost half the letters in    
  
 
                                                               
this edition.)                                                             
  
 
                                                               
                                                               
     Advice and help have come to me from many friends, colleagues, and    
  
 
                                                               
former students, all of which I gratefully acknowledge.  I wish especially 
  
 
                                                               
to thank Laetitia Yeandle, Manuscript Curator at the Folger Library;       
  
 
                                                               
Garland F. White III, former Director of the Computer-Based Laboratory     
  
 
                                                               
for Instruction and Analysis at Old Dominion University; and Henry L.      
  
 
                                                               
Snyder of the University of California, Riverside, Director of "The        
  
 
                                                               
Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue--North America," for much very    
  
 
                                                               
fundamental aid.  I thank the Research Foundation and the Research and     
  
 
                                                               
Publication Committees of the College of Arts and Letters and of the       
  
 
                                                               
Department of English (all of Old Dominion University) for grants-in-aid   
  
 
                                                               
in support of this project.  And for their faithful and effective help in  
  
 
                                                               
transcribing the letters I thank Eric Bing, Wayne E. Bowman, Kevin         
  
 
                                                               
Farley, Frances Johnson, Daniel Martin, Gwen McAlpine, Alison Rand, Nancy  
  
 
                                                               
Rector, and Mark Thorsen.                                                  
  
 
                                                                
                                                               
                                             Philip Hines, Jr.
                                             Norfolk, VA USA
June, 1994                                                                 
  
    

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