Roger L'Estrange facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Roger L'Estrange
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Portrait of L'Estrange by John Michael Wright, c. 1680.
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| Member of Parliament for Winchester |
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| In office 1685–1689 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 December 1616 Old Hunstanton |
| Died | 11 December 1704 (aged 87) |
| Nationality | English |
| Political party | Tory |
| Relations | Hamon le Strange (father) Hamon L'Estrange (brother) |
| Alma mater | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance | English Royalist |
Sir Roger L'Estrange (born December 17, 1616 – died December 11, 1704) was an important English writer, journalist, and government official. He was known for writing pamphlets, which were small books or leaflets about current events. He also worked as a censor, meaning he controlled what could be printed.
Roger L'Estrange was a strong supporter of King Charles II during a time called the Restoration. This was when the monarchy was brought back to England after a period of civil war. His writings helped create the 'Tory' political group. He often wrote against those who disagreed with the King.
One of his most famous writings was An Account of the Growth of Knavery. In this, he attacked the King's opponents. He said they were using public fear of Catholics to gain power. After a big political fight called the Exclusion Crisis, L'Estrange used his newspaper, The Observator, to support the King and the Tory ideas.
He became a Member of Parliament in 1685. However, his career changed when King James II came to power. L'Estrange was against religious tolerance for Protestants who didn't follow the Church of England. This disagreed with King James's goals. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, L'Estrange lost his public roles. But he later published his famous translation of Aesop's Fables in 1692.
Contents
Early Life and Royalist Support
Roger L'Estrange was born in Hunstanton, Norfolk. He was the youngest son of Sir Hamon L'Estrange. His father was a local official and supported the King. Roger likely studied at home, which made him love literature and playing the viol, a musical instrument.
In 1639, Roger and his father fought in the Bishops' Wars against the Scots. Later, they fought for the King's side in the First English Civil War. In 1643, they tried to take control of King's Lynn for the King, but they failed. Roger was even put in prison and sentenced to death for his actions.
He later played a part in a Royalist uprising in Kent in 1648. When this failed, he escaped to Holland. In 1653, he returned to England. He received a pardon from Oliver Cromwell, who was then the leader of England. L'Estrange lived quietly until Cromwell died in 1658.
By 1659, he was actively supporting the return of Charles II. He wrote many pamphlets for the King. He also attacked writers who supported the Commonwealth government. For example, he criticized John Milton for defending the execution of King Charles I.
Working for the King: 1660-1679
After the King returned in 1660, L'Estrange worked to strengthen his position. He wrote against people linked to the previous government. One of his writings, A Rope for Pol, attacked Marchamont Nedham, who had edited an official newspaper under Cromwell.
L'Estrange also competed with another journalist, Sir John Berkenhead, for official roles. L'Estrange gained favor because Berkenhead struggled to stop the printing of materials by religious groups who did not follow the Church of England.
As a reward, L'Estrange was given permission to seize rebellious books in 1662. The next year, he was made Surveyor of the Press. This meant he oversaw all printing. He also became Licenser of the Press, which gave him the power to approve or reject what was published. He held these jobs until 1679.
As a censor, L'Estrange was responsible for stopping the publication of writings that disagreed with the government. He could search printers' shops and bookstores. He was very good at finding hidden printing presses. He even used police and soldiers to stop them. People called him the "Bloodhound of the Press." His strict control helped limit political arguments and debates.
However, he sometimes went too far. For example, he objected to lines in John Milton's Paradise Lost that mentioned monarchs being "perplexed" by change. He also removed a comment from an astrologer's book that linked comets to the "fall of kings."
In 1663, L'Estrange also started his career as a journalist. He was given control over the official newspapers, The Public Intelligencer and The News. He used these papers to attack Nonconformists. He also asked for information about "libelous" (slanderous) printing. He had some success in stopping these prints, especially after two Nonconformist publishers died in prison.
During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, people wanted more news. But L'Estrange's papers were full of rants against Nonconformists and advertisements. Readers felt his large print hid a lack of real news. This made him lose his job to Joseph Williamson and Henry Muddiman. The famous diarist Samuel Pepys noted that Muddiman's new papers had "no folly," unlike L'Estrange's.
From 1665 to 1679, L'Estrange wrote less. He spent much of his time as a censor. He also worked with the Stationers' Company and the House of Lords to create rules for the press. He helped stop the printing of "libelous" materials.
During this time, he also helped Thomas Britton start his concert series. L'Estrange played the viol at the first event in 1678. He loved the viol his whole life. People sometimes called him 'Noll's Fiddler'. This was a jab at him, suggesting he played music for Oliver Cromwell before 1658. It implied he was a "hack" writer who would work for anyone.
Political Crisis and Response: 1679-1685
In 1679, the law controlling the press ended. This happened during a difficult time for the King. There was the Exclusion Crisis and the panic caused by the fake Popish Plot. Without his official censor job, L'Estrange went back to writing pamphlets. Writers like Andrew Marvell were saying the King's court was becoming too Catholic and tyrannical.
Marvell used the phrase 'Popery and Arbitrary Government'. He argued that too much Catholic influence would lead to a harsh government. This played on English fears that Catholicism was foreign and oppressive. The King's opponents, who became known as the Whigs, wanted to remove James, Duke of York (the King's Catholic brother) from becoming the next king. They wanted Charles II's Protestant son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, to be the heir instead.
L'Estrange turned these arguments around. In An Account of the Growth of Knavery, he accused Marvell and others of scaring people to cause disorder. His work Popery in Masquerade said that Nonconformists were actually working for the Pope. He claimed they wanted to attack the social order and create their own harsh government. In Citt and Bumpkin, he appealed to English patriotism. He said London-based Whigs were using clever words to attack the King, to whom loyal Englishmen owed their support.
The Popish Plot was a bigger danger for L'Estrange. From 1680, he spent more time attacking people linked to Titus Oates, who invented the plot. L'Estrange did not openly attack Oates at first, but he did attack Oates's allies. When Miles Prance accused L'Estrange of being Catholic, L'Estrange feared for his safety. He briefly went into exile in Edinburgh and The Hague in 1680. A cartoon at the time mocked him as 'Towzer', the King's attack dog running to the Pope.
This event hurt his reputation at court. His harsh attacks on Oates's allies also made the public more angry. By late 1681, Oates's wild accusations made his plot unbelievable. Attempts to replace the Duke of York as heir also failed. This was a big win for the King's supporters, who were now called 'Tories'. But L'Estrange found himself less popular.
In 1681, L'Estrange started The Observator, his own newspaper. It was written as a conversation between a Whig and a Tory. The Tory side always won the argument. For six years, L'Estrange wrote fiercely, attacking his enemies with sharp wit. One of his main targets was Titus Oates. Oates's false claims eventually led to his conviction for lying in 1685.
The Observator was not just for the King's court. It spoke for Tories in the countryside. These were people like L'Estrange who felt upset by the court's actions. After years of stopping others from printing, L'Estrange was now writing for a large audience. He believed his paper was needed to "set the masses right" after misleading writings had turned them against their leaders.
The dialogue style of the paper made it easy to read aloud in public. The strong attacks entertained people who loved the drama of politics. When a Whig writer, Stephen College, was executed in 1681, L'Estrange was very happy. This made him bolder in attacking Titus Oates. L'Estrange argued that there was no Popish Plot. He said the only conspiracy was a Nonconformist one, just like he showed in Popery in Masquerade.
The discovery of the Rye House Plot in 1683 made L'Estrange feel justified. Several leading Whigs were involved in a plan to kill Charles II. L'Estrange had always looked for hidden messages in writings. He had also claimed there was a "Presbyterian Plot." Now, it seemed he was right. The Whig group was broken by this plot. Several Whigs, like William Russell, were executed.
L'Estrange then changed the Whig character in The Observator to a "Trimmer." This was a moderate figure, like George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, who tried to balance between Tories and Whigs. This showed L'Estrange's lifelong habit of attacking moderates. He believed they were not fully loyal to the King and the Tory cause. L'Estrange had always feared "moderate" Presbyterians who he thought helped extremists.
Later Career and Writings
In 1685, King James II made L'Estrange a knight. He also became a Member of Parliament for Winchester from 1685 to 1689. However, L'Estrange was a strong Tory and a devoted member of the Church of England. He did not agree with King James's policy of religious tolerance for Catholics. This put him at odds with the new King.
After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, when William III became king, L'Estrange lost all his government jobs. He was arrested several times because people suspected him of being involved in plots against the new King.
L'Estrange then focused on writing again. He published translations of important ancient works. These included Morals by Seneca the Younger and Offices by Cicero. His most important work from this time was Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists (1692). This book included many fables from different writers. His style was easy to understand. Each fable had a short moral and a longer reflection. This set the standard for fable collections for the next hundred years.
In 1702, he finished his well-known English translation of The works of Flavius Josephus. He also wrote a 'Key' to Hudibras, a 17th-century satire by Samuel Butler about the English Civil War. This 'Key' was included in many later editions of Hudibras.
Family Life
L'Estrange married Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Dolman. After she died in April 1694, he wrote to his grand-nephew about his sadness. He mentioned that her difficulties had caused her much pain. He said, "never any creature lost a dearer wife."
Only two of their children lived to adulthood: Roger and Margery. Roger died just three months after his father. Margery was described by her cousin as "addle-headed and stubborn." In 1702 (or 1703 by modern calendar), L'Estrange wrote to a friend about Margery leaving the Church of England to become a Catholic. He said it "wounds the very heart of me." He swore he knew nothing about it and that he had always been loyal to the Church of England.
Legacy and Impact
For a long time, scholars did not pay much attention to L'Estrange. Recently, his life and works have been studied more to understand the culture and politics of the Restoration era. One biography used L'Estrange's life to study the 17th-century press.
His biographer, Kitchin, thought L'Estrange's writings were not great literature. He saw them mostly as examples of harsh, angry writing. This view followed the historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, who described L'Estrange as just a bully who defended the King's court.
Images for kids
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Portrait of L'Estrange by John Michael Wright, c. 1680.
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L'Estrange's The Observator of 11 May 1681
