The Express.
London, England, 1851-11-26 00:00:00

"WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER?"

DI. ZAZADOE ON ASTHMA AND DISEASES OF THE HEART.
Ow vol. am Ise
really pcored. Second Edam. pries lam ad,
ASTH MA : its-Varieties and Complications. With
Practical Rasiasika Oa tbelr Meseta@ ortolan at. Diastrual
then and Plater, coloured from nature. To with* is aneesed
e sumac@ Trawls@ os the Oast* Daman et the Mast. Be F.
H. Ramapo., M.D., Yellow of the Cullom of I byaleisaa. We Staler
?Spasm to lb. Royal lafistrary lot Asthma sad Ooroasiptko.
Leedom : Lemons. Brows, Orion, sad Lemur.

11 ENRY MILLS,
171, 1;1, and IA
VORD-STREET,'
LONDON, twoweestla
WATCHES
Mittly,
of tb• sbed
RORI. I GOLD
ZoNTAL CONSTRUCTION,
GOLD UT At" JEVILLLISD,
be., a* Pin Gainer each.
In 'Sew Ilea, at Two:t-
end-a-Half nig!~ amsb.
NEW SHOW-bOOMS, at
1;1, exh.4lt an 'Manatee
am Manna of New owl
%WON D-11 AN 0 PLATE,
and the NEW ELECTED
and oilier PLATED 000114.
et weredlngly 'Woad
picas.
II Ine /aid JEWEL-
LELT h Ow In melees
welmy. Mae 041 Owes
iron 30a. orb; elm AL.
112%.n411111111.30. web.
A firiailarri LIMO Priem and Inweabse, win be
UMus feWas by Wee; Wan early ingliwelon
Actin. ITS. sea 141 017011104121117.

WHIEDERRS AND MOUEITA CHIOB. The
onpreetdsoted meter of ROWLCCDtr MACASSAR OP.
U reialma Jim ersements of Moshe* le noisomely known end
=lsod le reseeded by Testimonies NMI. numerous In thew
mTesetilied by the highest authorities. This Oil to promet.
notwishtelt. improriag, sod hesetirt MI the ho-
n▪
es war et ell elloves, end in all -term ot existeme. It tneimmtes
bhebmmtie properties into the perm ot the imul, merishes the Heir
WY unary, maw. aceekestes ,ts mortal, Meows It from Maul sad
Brett soshius ill maturity sod contimses ne pommies of
kaki* wiper, slay softness, rod , hanurioni redo loser to the latest
wise sit h Ifs. Prim 3.. nd.. fa, lamf y botCes (equal to lour
meal) Ids. Id., sod deobie modelle, Its. per bottle.
Rosh Rattle el the 'maim artiete has the words "Rowlands' Ma.
mow 1141 welared is to-. tines no miter : sat on the beet
• c %mow mm.l%. 1,.100 tin en, nontaletng 39,02/1 letters. Sold by
don at go, IR AMON-GARDEN, LONDON, LW by all Cliambas sod
Perdurers.

with Ms same wed erFires.

(Pres the Deily Negri.)
Yesterday morning the Loan CHIEF BARON
of the EXCHEQUER intimated that the long-pend-
ing judgment in the special case framed to try whether
Dickens's Household Narrative of Current Events be
a statutory newspaper or not, would be again
deferred—in consequence, it would seem, of the
severe indecision of one member of the court—until
Monday next. Whether the judgment is thus post-
poned positively for the last time, Monday alone can
I show.

Meanwhile, who can answer the apparently simple
question ;—svhat is a newspaper ?
Is it a sheet containing " public news, intelli-
gence, or occurrences, printed in any part of the
ljnited Kingdom, to be dispersed and made public,"
las first propounded in the act of Queen ANSE ? Is
it a print recording all these ; and, in addition, emit-
ting " remarks and observations thereon, and pub-
lished periodically, or in parts, or numbers,at intervals
not exceeding twenty-six days," as is added in the
sixtieth of GEORGE lIL ? Is a publication a news-
paper according to law which gives public
Dews, into • nce &c. may ? Or is a perio-
dical • istnariCs and observations thereon,
sad ramelta and observations only, • taxable
print ? Or, suppose it to contain both, must it
be houed at lesser intervals than twenty-six days
" between the publication of any such papers, parts
or numbers," to have a stamp forced upoa it? Are the
country editions of the Atheneum, the Literary Ga-
zette, Chambers's Journal, Dickens's Household
Words, and other literary and class journals, which
are stamped to go free by post, newspapers ? And
are the rest of the sheets of the same periodicals—
which are printed from the same types, but are un-
stamped—not newspapers? Is a stamped trades-
man's price-list, or a bookseller's catalogue, or a
merchant's circular, a newspaper ?
Again: what, as the acts direct, is news?
Is an event which happened more than twenty-
six days ago, and which is recorded to-day, news?
And, if it be, is there no limit to the age of news?
Because, if there be not, JOSEPHUS'S " History" is a
newspaper; and, the oft-reported announcement of
the demise of that excellent lady in whose reign
newspapers were first stamped, is news. Then,
surely the legislature means something by specify-
ing intervals of publication not exceeding twenty-
six days ; but, on the other hand, is an
occurrence of yesterday which is chronicled to-
day not news, because it is printed upon
a sheet that reports the affairs of the twenty-sixth
antecedent day? Does this mixture of the new with
the stale neutralise the former, as the mixture of old
wine with new cheese produces blue mould ? Again,
at whatever time " dispersed and made public," what
kind of information, what class of facts, constitute
news? Is the QUEEN'S speech news? As the reader
can always learn her MAJESTY'S official sentiments
the day before they are delivered and published, he
timidly opines the negative ; but, the solicitor of
the Board of Inland Revenue tells us decisively,
in his evidence before the Committee on News-

paper Stamps, that, so indubitably is the QUEEN'S
speech news, that if we presume to print it on pieces
- --- - -
MoRE CATHEDRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL ABUSES.— ties of 201. per piece ; yet the same gentleman
An important memorial has, it appears from the Worcester o doubts" (in his hundred and fifty-ninth answer)
papers, been recently adopted hy a very large majority of whether a speech by the CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
the mayor and corporation of Worcester, and presented to
CHEUVER is news.
the dean and chapter, on the subject of the Cathedral Gram-
mar School. The statements and prayer of this memorial Is there, then, no one who can pick out of this
are apparently founded on the pamphlet of the itev. R. mass of anomalies a definition of what is, in law, a
Whiaton, and the allegations made by him in several letters newspaper, and what is news ?
addressed to this journal, and reprinted in the provincial
papers. It alleges, " That King Henry VIII., after found-
No one. The Board of Inland Revenue does not
ing and endowing the Cathedral of Worcester, gave a body know ; its solicitor does not know; its secretary does
of statutes for its riltulatioa and government, by which he not know ' • the select committee on newspaper
ordained that it should fur ever consist of certain members, stamps does not know ; the Barons of the
to have their sustentation out of its endowment, with cer- Exchequer do net know ; for, if they did, they
taro limited allowances assigned to them therefrom, viz.:— would have told us five months ago ; or, accord
One dean, to have 133/. Gs. ad. per annum; ten canons, at .
EH.; one echoolmuster, 201. • one usher, 101.; forty gram- in to their promise to the ATTORNEY-GENERAL,
ear boys, at 21. 13‘ id.; and ten choristers, at 31. 6s. M., ' they would have told us yesterday. If, as these
*c. It further declares, " That to the observance of all delays imply, their lordships are equally divided in
these statutes, according to their plain and grammatical cLinuton, there will be no effective judgment, and we
sense, the founder bound the dean and chapter never know what is a newspaper and what is
by the most solemn obligations and imperative
news, until we get another act of parliament to la
ordinances, and that in this tense the statutes
do plainly and clearly express his intention, that the forty US. Then, indeed, the definition will not be of much
grammar bop should be maintained out of the funds of the moment, for it mayessibly take newspapers out
church :by the following clauses referring to them : of the jurisdiction of the Board of Inland Revenue
1. We ordain that there be for ever in our church of Wor- altogether. '
tester 10 boys to be maintained out of the goods of cur
It is to this too summitry jurisdiction of an
church (Ordinamus ut tint perpetuo in ecclesia nostra vigor-
quailraginta pueri, de bunts ecclesia, 'matrix alendi.) official Board that we wish to draw especial
2. We will that these boys be maintained at ire costs of attention. Before its officers were examined by
Our church. (11os pueros volumus impends ece.esice metre the Select Committee on Newspaper Stamps, the
ah.) 3. The boys learning grammar and having their main-
Board of Inland Revenue had uo doubt upon
tenance given them (Gratis within the church. ( Pei 2 the points which have been puzzling her MAJE9TeII
grammaticam addi.centibus et victum gratis intro ece'lelarin
datum habentibus.) 4. The grammar boys who are main- Barons of Exchequer for several months. With
tained at the expense of the church. (l'ileri grammatici the strong hand with which the law has gifted them,
qui aumptibus metes. ire alantur.)" The memorial then and, in the rash confidence of infallibility, they Rea
goes on to state, " That those intentions and provisions are the proprietor of the Wakefield Examiner, hammed
practically in abeyance under the following circumstances:
the editor of the Spalding Free Press, and demilinhed
—l. According to the returns made to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners by the Dean and Chapter, the income the Norwich Reformer. Should the judges decide
of a canon has been raised from 201. to 6261. 3s. Id that,.as respects the last case (which is identical with
2. No provision is made for the maintenance of the that of Dickens's Household Narrative), the Board
40 grammar boss, according to the founder's direction, and acted in error, a wrong will have been committed, for
out of the 2t. 13n. 4d. assigned and originally sufficient for
which_ there will be no remedy. Their Honours, as
that purpose, there is now deducted 21. Ts. 6d. for the mas-
ters and 2s. for tiring, so that only 3s. 10d. is left for the the MIRE BARON told Mr. SIIILLIBEER the other
boys. 3. The ten chorister., for whom • separate provision i day, " never pay back." They can no more restore
was made by the founder, are incorporated with the glair to the pee rietor of the West Ridiny Examiner his
mar boys, thereby reducing their number to thirty. 4. Ea- w sentinel fine of ten pounds, than they can rents-
eept the choristers, no boy is placed on the foundation of the
school, without the previous payment of 101. 10s. for • titre the Norwich Refbriner.
year's tuition." Accordingly the memorialists add, " That The newspaper stamp laws are not the only fiscal
in the discharge of what they believe to be their duty, they laws which require to be relaxed, or to be superseded
beg to represent to the dean and chapter, that in their law some fairer, less expensive, and more ready means
humble opinion the inhabitants of the city and neighbour- raising revenue. The powers they confer on the
hood are suffering undeservedly from the non-fulfilment of Board 0
the provisions of King Henry VIII., with regard to the
Inland Revenue—especially since the excise
Cathedral Grammar School, and therefore, in the name and commission woe absorbed into it--would not be
on behalf of their fellow-citizens, they respectfully pray tolerated but for the temperate manner in which
that the dean and chapter will considerately take woe they are generally exercised. But the exceptions
early and effectual measures for carrying out these provi- to thin. general rule of clemency are startling.
slops in the spirit in which they were conceived, and with •
din wee The rum of soap-boilers by systematic perseen-
View to realise the beneficent objects for which
originally designee]." Such are the allegations and prayer tion ; the seizure of whole fortunes in tobacco upon
of this memorial, and as the demi and chapter ere area-
em- mistaken evidence of adulteration ; the vexatious
bled this week for their half-yearly audit. the titimult st , meddling of the excise officer during the making of
Worcester are anxiously awaiting an answer to It.
/
e . paper and of a hundred other articles; and the bar
FRIGHTFUL DEATH OF A BLIND CHlLD.—ame tom"' - - MOO exciseman . to all improvement in
evening Mr. W. Baker held an inquiry at the Lesdenshisw 1
pit.iL respecting the death of a blind child, aged tbeee ire ost7 meaufact ere which it is his duty to inter-
years named George Hubbard. Caroline all* et Ilk. a I fere, will hardly be tolerated long after the first step
OresiSsleolk-etreot. Be o stated that the leether towards an amelioration of our revenue system has
wit hivingwith • et" 816111, ml err woo fa the bona tales. by an alteration of so much of it as affects
habitetlieviag the deesred, who liadosny fropetly
demo. On geode, emoung led. was babout tee edeali, wha
ms
i 111=
bled the ehild ay " mother, mother," sad as greYes
I the specific point at issue between Mr.
the ram disserred the skewed running about eat , Cameo DICKENS and the Board of Inland Re-
in limes. Wham veiled the child on the bed, ad I verge does not embrace the whole question ; yet, for
did mane pat set the Spited clothing wee • : whichever party the judges decide--or, whether
See la the manage% km which the they come to no practical decision—their doubts
in the anew of the loather, who had ...11:1=
fate Me neat meet. Mr. Jaime, the house . and hisitations will have so forcibly exhibited the
said the doomed was admitted vine bliad...= etudrodiellous of the law by which newspapers are
emery banal ere the body sod lower pigs
_of the oppressed, sad so completely demonstrates the ego-
Ths2llltin Is••••.._e_wee• weds
..._1•14 the__.__lllteteetge_ stale, miaow pigsties of its administrators, that a new
111.mooseasi Ilimid asuutis vis instelalialbs''"iesaw'r""rou assu',4l7; get et paiiisatent is inevitable. The wedge of fiscal
het that he hed ere met with, sad me width eeshe te he relays ogee inserted, it must be driven through the
seas se resew tribunal, ter leaven • child is red • ' whole body of the revenue statutes till they undergo
"laicise, berg without eight, and the Ere leariellini ; bet' a wholesome rifirkilea.
he was shed If He seat the "habits to Neiman ft WM
her tifsl the ease would be throws out by the judge, thesegh
the snidest ledispodtio• of ail parties to catenate seek _ _ _ Prins van
Orange,
owe. lie had eommeniseted with the Secretary ef State r glitilgeotrrs, Nov. 23.—The
with • view to get the present act of parliament altered, hr Dula neoef-war frigate, Captaia De Vreu, and corvette
many guilty meow escaped through the defective Mate of Sum s. arrived at St Helen's aisehorage this wining,
the law. The Jury orcurred I. the enervating* of the bet hem Marg. They ship have put in from stress
eartmer, sod severely reprisaaaded her gror conduit while a wattles, she helm Sens holm kr Camps,. mod the
mewing a verdict of .. Aeotgeotel death." The sees..,i sanalla be do Moditernmiaa. The leg er
_Admiral Sir
told her sheought to be thankful to nein, he thole ; Tbomeespiase Ossameaderbeatiet, wee beheld es beard
=mild couideratioa of the case, which was dearly see el Ito merreerst, 5kM seseries, mg he Theme
manslaughter. I west es he esaveyries to Oshersse, es • visa to ler
Twit BLACK EAGLE'S Swoop ore Tun Simi: =llssorrillutsitli We samosa. The Bloodhound a
NICNANO/L—Die British stack broker ought to be VIM. , item week, WINO takes into the deem
fal that his lot has Mks I. the plasmas pines of Capri "be ,_1040,.. .. • The. BaPid, Is Commilleridassad Blew, battled
eta
Court, London, noosed of the Bonne at View. Is t 1 rosea Me latehlia wormy to try Mr. John
blessed cowry the “ balls" an goaded its boYoooor g —ons...qp." the idles.
sad the .. bean" balled &.olicemas, till in the 0 • cmidi, brig, lately
mere eery to end is si Ythem, air all the arrived be. tbe West Imam an a sharp ddrnaken-
trameeted kin Antrim is, wilds, to use the shag nist-
a the messy market, thee* ie el . tee_ ,__lmmeb,dibo___temet Soma-Wnerns Dirruicr.—This district, is
to he pleasent—lt I. ••11•41117 • t ....too at ..." semperary chug, of Lieuc-Oesseal /reveller, will, it h
ler" sod his friend the Toth Captaia of Vilna!, by way mgism.g. bi woe , 10.6...rei--iiie-thaot,who►
et pretesting • pear la stook+. to get op • Pa" tread Win the keret, was ealonA ea the ref at Siewilegbea
steekbrakins, sad to make • rush cm the beakers, as a
imam of polyesters • ran es the beaks. But as the TES WIOIIIIIOUSD OOLLIMIL—The bet=
Antrim 'overuses. issued of leakiest measy, MI may maim while bar bees me kag wrdbauril ia
sped it, they will and it nits to arrest Web= gra pm set bee fierriapede the Tees. Weer, and
bialerptcy ; sad may shortly look to see Animism Mies WeemWreging. TM stall& eel Mims are
Obis. r. ii.
as mesh as • iiiiesmas an err lamp* as /maims pre red they will be haled sad reedy he ma by the
sarniney.—Perah. the week.

--.......—
J. teaches ge ats a ew eatehod of tapping eolith Tiorrantod Dn
delight all mt. tete it, Rod *amino wholessie sod retail Ws NEW
INVENTED TAP WI APPLit.i (to supersede the bungling ntothou
at UMW tior.rl, tt Od. and Is. ner rocket. The Wale sooptioL
E.S. It to to the tin Peatioei 12, No. 441

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P. ~.,.• ~--.: B,A•Lits rLEAIWA..P.ABCTiNMEOWIIT PHION;
TAY. Kr:tw Iny:4 No 91:14T-PF.O ::
It 3PS ,111 Prennt. at -, beer. eider, or otbrr liquors
OS-
from bee min/ flat or acid ro eflietualli
I— • •
N .."-- . w that the las pint sli.al lye draws woods,
it, - A
t AMP I
l. li----------
. 3 :17 r -
.--_, --- , i •-=-.. . •
t----
-I! „.• I I the fleet; warranted to rem Its eat 1s
• 3 1 • , i two ennui of ale ; prier 4s ed.; ditto
Ii 1, eretro.plat,d for sherry, lts, 9s
.4. 11 The rbure enteraving will errs It.
action. S ben the VIM key In tied on
t 4
r the top of the adage (giblet, ism • hole ow
po•Pe the air-tube 11 t. rueleirnt air rierhe•
E -±
thruush it into tints* totters the liquor
g to me off freely; wises tbe tap is tamed
••• ' on no wove air ean enter.
!AOSTA BAILLOW, 14, Lbw Inglioni
street. Manolosboare. lirteMtbed 1410.
N.H.—None are armament:oft stamped