William Arnall facts for kids

William Arnall (died May 1736) was an English writer who focused on politics. He lived during a time when newspapers and pamphlets were very important for sharing ideas and influencing people.

Early Life and Political Writing

William Arnall trained to be a lawyer, but he started writing about politics before he was even 20 years old. He worked for the Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. Walpole was the leader of the government, and Arnall's job was to write articles that supported Walpole's policies.

Arnall often wrote to defend the government against its critics. These critics included other politicians like Bolingbroke and Pulteney, and newspapers like The Craftsman. He used a pen name, "Francis Walsingham," when he wrote for a paper called The Free Briton. He also took over writing for British Journal after Matthew Concanen.

Arnall was a very important writer for the government. Records show that between 1731 and 1741, a lot of money was spent on writers who supported the government. Arnall himself received a good salary of about £400 each year. This made him one of the highest-paid government writers in London at the time. He also helped manage money for other journalists and for printing costs.

His Published Works

Besides his work for Prime Minister Walpole, William Arnall also wrote many short books, called pamphlets. These pamphlets covered political and religious topics.

Some of his known works include:

• A Letter to the Revd Dr Codex (1733)
• Opposition No Proof of Patriotism (1735)
• The Complaint of the Children of Israel (1736), which he wrote using the name Solomon Abrabanel.

He also wrote Animadversions on Bishop Sherlock's Remarks on the Tythe Bill. In this work, he disagreed with some ideas from church leaders about "tithes," which were like taxes paid to the church. This pamphlet was later reprinted in a collection called The Pillars of Priestcraft and Orthodoxy Shaken.

Being a Target for Critics

Because William Arnall worked so closely with the government and defended Prime Minister Walpole, he became a target for those who opposed the government. Newspapers like The Craftsman and Fog's Journal often criticized him.

Famous writers also made fun of him in their poems. For example, the well-known poet Alexander Pope mentioned Arnall in his poem The Dunciad and in another poem called Satires. Pope used Arnall's name to represent writers who he thought were not very good or who were paid to write for political reasons.

William Arnall died in May 1736. His death was reported in the London Evening Post on June 3, 1736.