ABSTRACT
In 1639, Henry De Vic found himself back in England under unhappy circumstances. After spending his career attached to the British legation in Paris, the Guernsey native was assigned to attend the court as King Charles and his army moved north to confront the rebellious Scots. While some of his colleagues were pleasantly surprised by the Scots’ pious conduct and moderate demands, De Vic was horrified and began to consider how to rally the King’s English subjects against this new threat. In late May, De Vic wrote to Secretary of State Sir Francis Windebank, stressing the importance of making ‘the people … acquainted with the Rebels intentions for invadinge England, & the cruelties they exercise upon their owne people’. Informing them in this way, De Vic hoped, would mobilise ‘the people’ to the King’s cause and aid him in his efforts to stop the rebels. The best way to spread this information, De Vic advised, was a ‘Gazette’: ‘The French’, he wrote, ‘make a wondrous good use of it in giving what impressions they thinke good to their subjects’ (26 May 1639).
