The abuse of the Crown's prerogative in the granting of patents and monopolies was very frequent in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, and was not diminished under Charles the First. The practice did not fail to attract the notice of the satirical writers of the day, and caricature laid hold on the 'Projectors and Patentees,' and held them up to ridicule. '_A Dialogue or accidental discourse betwixt Mr. Alderman Abell, and Richard Kilvert, the two maine Projectors for Wine_, 1641, contains a woodcut showing 'The manner and forme how Projectors and Patentees have rode a Tylting in a Parliament time.' The wit of the illustration is a little obscure to the modern reader, but at the time of its publication it was no doubt understood, and relished accordingly. The pamphlet describes how Messrs. Abell and Kilvert laid their heads together to obtain the patent for wine; how they put the patent in force, and how, after the tide turned against them, they reviled one another. As the excitement of the Civil War increased, political animosity rose to a red heat. Cavaliers and Roundheads belaboured each other in many a merciless pamphlet, to which they often endeavoured to give additional bitterness by woodcut caricatures. Prominent individuals, such as Prince Rupert, became marks for the satirist's wit. Even the throne itself did not escape, and it was broadly hinted that the Protestant king was unduly influenced by the Roman Catholic queen. The curious subject of the growth of caricature might be illustrated by numerous examples from the publications of this period, but it will be sufficient to refer to two or three more woodcut satires of this date. The distractions of the times were epitomised by John Taylor, the Water Poet, in an illustrated rhyming pamphlet, published in 1642. It is entitled, '_Mad Fashions, Od Fashions, all out of Fashion, or the Emblems of these distracted Times_.' [Illustration: EMBLEMS OF THE DISTRACTED TIMES, 1642.] The author compares England to the engraving on his title-page, where everything is represented upside down:--