Journal

1733 · 960624 — Printed for J. Wilford London : 1733 1733 11 leaves of 12 - No half title if one was ever present. 21 cm. Modestly soiled. Leather backed cloth boards. Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature: No. 7170. In Fog's Journal an early news sheet there was a call by way of historical allegory for the assassination of Robert Walpole and others. Walpole the Earl of Oxford 1676-1745 was really Britain's first Prime Minister. He governed through a time of relative peace and prosperity but not without controversies. In 1733 Walpole's influence received a profound blow. Serious frauds relating to excise duties were uncovered. He proposed to check smuggling and avoid fraud by levying the full tax on wine and tobacco not at their point of sale but upon their first removal from the various warehouses. "His opponents fastened on these proposals with irresistible force and so serious an agitation stirred the country that the ministerial measure was dropped amid general rejoicing. Several of his most active antagonists were dismissed from office or deprived of their regiments but their spirits remained unquenched." - William Prideaux Courtney in the 11th Ed. EB. Though intended as a defense of Walpole this pamphlet does not say that Fog's Weekly Journal was wrong to attack him - only that they overstepped their bounds by calling for his assassination. Juggling the power of political protest in the public press with freedom of speech was always a tricky affair. Responding in 1734 to the concerns of Queen Caroline over these and other controversies Walpole said not to worry too much about it: "Madame there are 50000 men slain in Europe and not one Englishman." VERY RARE. W140. Language: eng. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Printed for J. Wilford, London : 1733 hardcover