Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1813-11-11


and intricate channels, sEall convey to the
people falSehood instead of truth. He who
knows nothing OF any event that takes place,
IS IN better situation. in point of knows
ledge, than he who believes that which is
false with respect to the events which take
place. No knowledge at all is better than n
belief that you know facts, of which Won re-
any know only the contrary. The man who
has lost horse, which has been stolen. and
taken towards the East, is i'm a worse situa
ton from believing that the horse is gone
towards the West, than he would be i'm. if
wholly at a loss to guess which way his
horse was gone. Toleave hounds at a fault
is Rpeh better than to call them off and put
tffoSFnpon a wrong scent. These are al.
most self evident propositions, and upon the
principle on which these propositions pro,
ceed, we may, think, safely affirm, that
1t would be better for nation to have no
Ppress at all, than a press which feeds it with
falsehoods. A press which has no preten>
sionS to freedom; press, like that i'm France,
winch rs well known, which is openly avow.
ed, to be under the previous inspection of
the government ; press. like the press in
india, which can send forth nothing which
has not hrst received the appreciation OF
some ofhcer under the government who
sometimes, crosses out advertisements, if they
relate to publications of which he disap
provost say, that a press like this is less
mischievous, because less calculated TO de-
ceive, than press which the people believe
20 be tree, but which is, in fact, under the
Control OF those. who find it their interest,
ninety nine times out of a hundred, to pub
hsh ialseho"d and not truth. Such press
as this is the grand instrument of deception,
or deiusion, OF producing in nation a total
N Nhs@ I'D. IL.
now exists in England.
The people of France read the news pa
pers aspublications made by the government,
and, OF course, they believe no more of them
than they see supported by real acts and oc-
currences. They judge from the evidence
Oh tner senses and accordingly they are
not deceived But the people in Eng, and
looking upon every editor Of a newspaper as
being at perfectliberty to- say what he thinks,
and more especially to publish true accounts
OF what IS passing in the world and the
SAID people, not being able to get behind the
curtain, to see the reason why editors of pa
pers should prefer falsehood to truth, nat
9raily believe all that they read and there
Tore, they are, as 70 political events. the
most deceived people in the world. There
are CERTAIN documents, however, which,
though calculated to circulate disagreeable
because, through some channel or other.
such documents, like the famous BOOK
would md their way into print, and this
"ouid totally blast he reputation of those
newspapers, whose business it is, not only To
Promulgate faisehoods, but to cause them
20 De regarded as truths.-The way they eo
10 "ork, therefore, when they get hold OF
Que OF theSe documents, is, to keep il back
IN the first place, as long as they can but
TINS cannot be done for any considerable
length OF time. Seldom for more than forfu-
eiShf hours-During this interval, they go
10 work with both bands, t. weaken the ef-
Iect OF the document upon the public mind
with one hand they make a sort of summa.
~ oil the contents OF the document, in which
summary they contrive to break down the
documents TO about one half of its real force.
L o TINS summary they subjoin a commenta
ny OF their own, in which they endeavour
TO show, that the facts related in the docu-
ment cannot be true; or, if true in part, on
~ 10 a trliilng extent. At the same time
with the other hand, they introduce some
piece OF intelligence of a very favorable ma
ture. his is, in general, intelligence who'll
" invented for the purpose. Hatched, as
the saying is. 1t usually makes its appear
ance under the head of" SECOND EDf.
lion" printed in enormously large letters,
ana gives AN account of some very signal
victory on our side. The union of these two
tricks weakens the effect of the adverse in
telligence at its first going forth. The next
day nothing is said of the good news announ>
ced IN the second edition the day before. 1t
passes, OF course, uncontradicted, and, by
a vast majority OF the people, and becomes
recorded in their minds as true. The - ri
ters oil these news papers the literary i'm
posters who play these tricks, know very
well, that the well-inlormed part of the
community regard them as most impudent
and prohgate scoundrels; but they also
Know, that ninety nine persons out of hun
dred are not well informed and to a great
part OF the remainder they know that false
hood, even glaring falsehood, in the shape of
good news, IS more pleasing than truth, in
the shape of bad news and with this.lsnowl-
edge IN heir minds, they pocket the prof
IL heir impudeRoe, aud laugh at the
contempt of the sensible few.
III wanted any thing to convince me Of the
vast Importance of the recent victories Of Napo
leon, should find it at once in the tricks of
these men, in announcing to the people the ac
count OF these victories. The London press
was in possession Of the French bulletins on
Thursday, the II inst. 1t took very good care
not TO publish them Till Saturday, the 18th inst
In the mean while 1T was at work in the man
ner he ore described and / appeal to every
reader who lives in country town, whether
he did not believe, during the whole of Fri
day and saturday last, that the French army
had been defeated by the allies Such viii
venture To say, was the general bel through
the Whole kingdom. Al last, on SUNDAY morn
ing, the French bulletins themselves reached
lac DeODlc in tI,c cotfufry chic .t.....e. e.,