BAD OLD DAYS

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 December 1934, Page 8

BAD OLD DAYS

WHEN WRITING WAS A CRIME. * In medieval times the path of the budding journalist was strewn witii pitfalls and dangers, and oftener than not, imprisonment, or worse, was the only reward for giving to the world the creations of his brain. In the seventeenth century there lived Dr. Leighton, a clergyman, whose writings so offended the powers that were that, he was arrested. He vas fined £lO,OOO, and was degraded the ministry. He was also pilloried, branded, and whipped; one of his ears was cut off and his nostrils were slit. By way of making his punishment really complete, .the doctor was sentenced to imprisonment for life. According to trust.worth.? records, he served 11 years in gaol and was then liberated, to be told by the authorities that his mutilation and imprisonment had been illegal. ’

The Rev. Benjamin Reach, the then Baptist minister.of Winslow (Bucks.), committed the crime of writing and issuing “The Child’s Instructor: or A New and Easy Primer.” The book was regarded as seditious, and the authorities ordered: “Ye shall stand upon the pillory at. Ailsbury for the space of two hours, with a. Papan on your head bearing a suitable inscription. . . And the next Thursday so stand in the same manner and for the same time in the market of Winslow; and there your hook shall he openly burnt, before your face by the common bangman, in disgrace to you.”

De Foe, author of “Robinson Crusoe,” was prosecuted for writing a severe satire by the title of “The Shortest Way to Deal with Dissenters.” So exasperated were the authorities with the booklet that a reward of £5O was offered for the author’s apprehension. De Foe managed to keep out of the arms of the law, but on hearing that the printers and publishers of his work had been thrust into prison he gave himself up, and the others were released. De Foe was fined 200 marks, ordered to appear three times in the pillory, and to remain in prison during the Queen’s pleasure. Instead of being pelted with rotten eggs and street garbage, as was the custom of the times, J)e Foe when in the pillory, was pelted with flowers, and the pillory was decorated with garlands. According to old records, Voltaire, the Frenchman, was flogged for writing an uncomplimentary epigram about .the King of Prussia. After being punished he was compelled to write the following acknowledgment: “Received from the right hand of Conrad Bochnoffner thirty lashes on my

bare back, being in full payment for epigram on Frederick 111, King of Prussia, Vive le Roi.” In the seventeenth century a book or pamphlet could be published only under licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, or the authorities of the two universities. Two printers, named Liburn and Warton, disregarded the regulation and printed what was termed a libellous and seditious work. They were each fined £5OO and ordered to be whipped from Fleet prison to the pillory at Westminster. When in the pillory Liburn gave away copies of his books and addressed the crowd on the tyranny of his persecutors. In order to stop his ravings he was gagged.