One hundred years ago
AMONG the Statutes now to be re- pealed, there are some very curious pieces of legislation. In the third year of Edward I was passed what in effect is a primitive Press Law. It is directed against 'the Devisors of Tales whereby Discord or occasion of Discard hath arisen between King and his people or great men of this Realm;' and under it it is commanded that 'henceforth none be so hardy 'as to publish false news. The penalty under this Act is an extremely amusing one. The publisher of the false news is to be put in prison, and kept there 'until he hath brought him into Court, which was the first author of the Tale'. This sort of 'Arabian Nights' justice would hardly suit the editors of our evening newspapers. This enact- ment proved, however, not strong enough; and in the second year of Richard II a fresh Act, directed against 'Horrible and False Lyes' had to be passed.
If there is curious matter to be found in the Acts just repealed, in a much greater degree is there matter of in- terest discoverable in those either re- pealed before or still adorning the Statute-Book. What, for instance, could be more delightfully naive than the Bill preferred by the Upholsterers' Com- pany in the reign of Henry VII, discus- sing 'what stuff Upholsterers shall put in Bolsters, Feather-beds, and Pillows'? The Company, we are informed in the recital, are much horrified to find that certain people, to the 'great jeopardy, loss and deceit' of the King's subjects, are making feather-beds and bolsters 'of two manner of corrupt stuffs — that is to say, scalded Feathers and dry pulled feathers together, which is contagious for man's body to lie one'. It must be admitted that the mixture does not sound a very fearful one. The Com- pany, however, wax very wroth at the notion, and go on to explain how, 'by the heat of man's body the savour and taste is so abominable and contagious that many of the King's subjects have been thereby destroyed'.
The Spectator, 20 August 1887
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