The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-07-13
English journalism.

The first weekly newspaper was
established in England, we are told, by
one Nathaniel Butler, in 1922. Before
that time English gentlemen who lived
on their country estates portion of the
year, dubbed together and employed q
news writer. who gathered the gossip CT
the day and sent it to them at regular
intervals. These writers were some
times retired captains, sometimes prin.
ters, sometimes men who made this
work profession by itself. a peer
kept his special correspondent and paid
him handsome salary. Milton, Dry.
den, Andrew Marvel and Defoe were
all contributors to the weekly news
paper press during the Commonwealth
The first daily paper in London was
called the Courdnt. It appeared in
1902, three days after the accession of
Queen Anne. It was about the size of
a single page of the Spectator, was
printed only on one side, and contained
nothing but few scraps of intelligence
that would hardly pass for news at this
day. Till the year 1929 there was no
such thing as parliamentary reports,
and these were made at first against the
house of lords, whose members thou2 ht
the press had no rightto discuss political
questions. The plan Of reporting was
Tor two or three persons to steal into
the gallery, listen attentively, then
retire to an alehouse, where they COM
pared memories and wrote out the
result. This was for several years the
labor of DIR. johnson, who did the work
in garret or behind screen at ST..
Johns gate. The right of the press to
criticise the royal speeches and the
conduct of parliament came through
the North Britop and the arrest of
Wilkes, before which time such liberties
had not been attempted. To the love
OF freedom may be ascribed the
letters of Junius, which were
published soon afterward by Sampson
Woodfall in the Public Advertiser.
This newspaper had at the time circu-
lation OF 10000 copies monthly.
1t thereby increased in popularity, and
took Il position at the head of the Lon
don press The Morning Chronicle was
started about the same time, and greatly
changed the character of parliamentary
reporting, principally through the re-
ma,EaOle memory of William Woodfall,
woo, it is said, could walk down to the
house OF commons with a hard. boiled
egg in his pocket, and then returning
without single scrap of paper write
ont fifteen CT sixteen short col
umns of speeches. A story somewhat
similar is told of Coleridge, who, having
to report a speech of Pitt, fell asleep
and only heard few words of the end
of it; yet having received few hints
from others, he proceeded to write out a
brilliant oration, whose authenticity
was only discovered some timc after
ward. The Morning Chronicle invented
the leading editorial, which, through
the skill and learning of Coleridge
in the Morning Post and
Courier, was developed into
work of art. This was near the close
OF the eighteenth century, about which
time English journalism began to take
the shape it has at present, with edi,
torials, public reports and other depart.
ments covering every branch of news.
But as Charles Peabody, the author of
thisinteresting volume of Cassell's Pop
ular Library, remarks, the story of Eng
lish journalism is yet to be told, aud
there is certainly no place for its elab-
oration in these columns.