NEWSPAPERS are publications issued in numbers, consisting generally of single sheets, which, appearing at short and regular intervals, convey intelligence of passing events, and at the same time advocate certain principles in politics, literature, and religion, but chiefly in the first of these departments.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of modern, as compared with ancient times, is the periodical press, an engine affecting society in all its relations, and forming one of the most important safeguards of public liberty. Under this head are usually included reviews, magazines, and other publications of a similar kind, as well as newspapers. But although, upon certain grave and important questions, the former sort of periodicals may contribute more to enlighten the public mind, and to guide public opinion into safe and proper channels; yet the wide diffusion of newspapers, their rapid communication of intelligence on subjects ofimmediate interest, their hasty and rough but often vigorous comments on the leading events of the day, and the means which they thus afford of acting immediately and constantly upon the public mind, in all its varied states, render them much more powerful as instruments of political influence, and thus secure to them a prominence to which, intrinsically, they are by no means entitled. They circulate every kind of information with equal celerity and regularity; they bring to every man’s home and fireside intelligence of all that is passing in the great world, whether at home or abroad, in war, in politics, in government, in commerce, and in the common affairs of life; they are registers of extraordinary events, as well as of ordinary occurrences, of discoveries and inventions, as well as accidents, offences, calamities, or crimes; they often diversify their contents with scientific[7:16:168] and literary notices; and from the variety of facts and information which they contain, they are indispensable to many classes of society, and more or less agreeable or instructive to all. To persons engaged in mercantile transactions they are peculiarly important, inasmuch as, from the advertisements they circulate, and the details they furnish respecting the supply and demand of commodities in all parts of the world, with the prices ’and the regulations by which these are affected, newspapers supersede a great mass of epistolary correspondence; place merchants in remote situations upon an equality, in point of information, with those frequenting the principal marts; and wonderfully quicken all the movements of commerce. Besides, these publications have themselves become a considerable article of commerce, in the production of which skill, talents, and capital are equally requisite.

An historical account of newspapers, and of periodical publications in general, is still a desideratum in literature; nor can it be doubted, that if the task were undertaken by an individual of competent ability, and executed with the requisite care and research, the result would be a work of the greatest interest and importance. From the researches of Mr Chalmers, it appears that to the state of Venice belongs the honour of having produced the first gazetta or newspaper, which appeared as early as the year 1536. The war which the republic of Venice then waged against Suleiman II. in Dalmatia, appears to have given rise to the custom in that state of communicating both military and commercial information in written sheets {notizie seritte), which were read at a particular place by those desirous of learning the news, and who paid for this privilege in a coin that is no longer in use, called gazetta. From this circumstance, it would seem, the name was, in course of time, transferred to the newspaper itself, not only in Italy and France, but at length also in England and in other countries.^[1. Some have thought that the word gazetta is derived from gazza or gazzera, a magpie, or chatterer; whilst others deduce it from the Latin gaza, colloquially lengthened into gazetta, and therefore signifying a little store or treasury of news. From the Italian the word passed into the Spanish language, which has also gazetista, signifying one fond of or partial to the gazette. In German, zeiiung is formed from the ancient theidinge or teidung, identical with the English tiding and the Swedish tidingar. ] The first of these notizie or gazettes was a monthly paper, circulated, or rather read, at Venice. The jealousy of the government prevented its being printed; and the gazetta continued to be distributed in manuscript till towards the. close of the sixteenth century. In the Magliabecchi library at Florence there are still preserved thirty volumes of these gazettas, all of them in manuscript. Those who first wrote newspapers in Italy were commonly called menanti, because, according to Vossius, they intended, by these loose papers or sybilline leaves, to spread about defamatory reflections; and for this reason all such gazettes were prohibited by Gregory XIII. in a bull entitled Minantes, from the Latin minari, to threaten. But Ménage, with more probability, derives the name from the Italian verb menare, which signifies to lead, direct, or produce.

The first English newspaper appeared in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, during the alarm occasioned by the approach of the Spanish Armada to our shores. In the British Museum, there are several copies which were printed in 1558, whilst the Spanish fleet was in the English Channel; in order that, during a moment of general anxiety, the circulation of false reports might be prevented by publishing real information. This newspaper is entitled The English Mercurie, which, by authority, “was imprinted at London, by Christopher Barker, her highnesses printer, 1583.” Burleigh’s newspapers, however, were all extraordinary gazettes, not regular journals, and they were published from time to time, according as that skilful statesman desired to soothe, inform, or exasperate the people. Periodical papers appear to have first come into general use during the civil wars in the reign of Charles I., and in the time of the commonwealth; in fact, each party had their newspapers, to disseminate sentiments of loyalty, or to foster a spirit of resistance against the inroads of power. The country was accordingly overflowed with tracts of every size, and of various denominations, many of them written with great ability, and displaying uncommon courage. Mercury, however, was the prevailing title, although generally qualified with some epithet; and the quaintness peculiar to the age is curiously exemplified in the names of some of the “news-books,” as the Dutch Spye, the Scots Dove, the Parliament Kite, the Secret Owle, Heraclitus Ridens, the Parliament Vulture, the Parliament’s Screech Owle, the Loyal Scout, and so forth. A catalogue of the different Mercuries would exhibit a curious picture of those singular times. Mercurius Acheronticus brought hebdomadal tidings from the infernal regions; Mercurius Democritus communicated marvellous intelligence from the world in the Moon; the Laughing Mercury gave exact information of proceedings at the antipodes; and the Mercurius Mastix lashed unmercifully all other Mercuries, Scouts, Posts, Spies, Discoverers, and Intelligencers. The Restoration and the Revolution occasioned each the establishment of a number of newspapers in England, all of which have long since disappeared; nor was it until the reign of Queen Anne that London could boast of a daily paper. The first of the class published in Great Britain was the Daily Courant, which for a considerable time occupied the field alone; but at length two rivals appeared in the Daily Post and the Daily Journal, and, in 1724, we find that these three papers were simultaneously published. Little change seems to have taken place during the reign of George I.; but in that of George II. every kind of periodical publication increased abundantly. The number of newspapers annually sold in England, according to an average of three years ending with 1753, was 7,411,757; in 1760 it amounted to 9,464,790; in 1767 it rose to 11,300,980; in 1790 it was as high as 1.4,035,636, and in 1792 it amounted to 15,005,760.

The victorious arms of Cromwell communicated to Scotland the first newspaper. It appeared at Leith in October 1653, under the title of Mercurius Politicus, but, in November 1654, was transferred to Edinburgh, where it continued to be published until the 11th of April 1660, when it came out under the name of Mercurius Publicus. This paper was a reprint, for the information of the English soldiers, of a London publication, entitled a Diurnal of some Passages and Affairs. But a newspaper of native manufacture soon made its appearance, under the title of Mercurius Caledο∙ nius. The first number of this journal was published at Edinburgh on the 31st of December 1660, “comprising,” as its title bears, “the affairs in agitation in Scotland, with a summary of foreign intelligence.” The publication, however, extended only to ten numbers, which, as Chalmers says, “were very loyal, very illiterate, and very affected.” Even after the Restoration the newspapers published by authority continued to be reprinted in Edinburgh, and the Mercurius Publicus instructed the natives until it was superseded by the Kingdom’s Intelligencer. At the era of the Revolution there was not a newspaper printed in Scotland; nor was it until after ten years had elapsed that the Edinburgh Gazette was published, in the month of February 1699, by James Watson, author of a History of Printing, who, after the publication of forty numbers, transferred it to one John Reid, whose son continued to print the paper even after the union. In February 1705, Watson established the Edinburgh Courant, which he relinquished, after the publication of fifty-five numbers; and, in September 1706, [7:16:169] he commenced the Scots Courant, which he continued to print until after the year 1718. To these papers were added, in October 1708, the Edinburgh Flying Post; in August 1709, the Scots Postman, printed for David Fearne by John Moncur; and, in March 1710, the North Tatler, printed by John Reid for Samuel Colvil. In 1715, a newspaper was for the first time attempted in Glasgow, under the title of the Glasgow Courant; but this did not prevent the establishment of other newspapers in Edinburgh. In March 1714, Robert Brown began to print the Edinburgh Gazette, or Scots Postman, twice a week; and, in December 1718, the town-council gave an exclusive privilege to James MΕwen to publish three times a week the Edinburgh Evening Courant; upon the condition, however, that “the said James” should, before publication, “give ane coppie of his print to the magistrates.” This journal still continues to be published, but whether or not the original stipulation be complied with, we are unable to say. The establishment of the Courant was followed by that of the Caledonian Mercury, the sequel of Mercurius Caledonius, the first number of which appeared on the 28th of April 1720. The original proprietor was a lawyer of the name of Roland, upon whose decease, in 1729, the property of the paper was transferred to Mr Thomas Ruddiman, the original editor, and continued in his family until May 1772, when it uas sold by the trustees of his grandchildren to John Robertson, an opulent typographer, along with the printing-house and printing materials. From the commencement, the Caledonian ÁIercury, like the Courant, has been published three times a week.

Having given this slight sketch of the origin and progress of newspapers, we now proceed to consider the actual state and condition of this portion of the press amongst ourselves; and here our attention is naturally directed, in the first instance, to the metropolitan journals, which are pre-eminent for the amount and variety of matter they contain, the rapidity with which they are printed and circulated, and the fulness and accuracy of their reports. The establishment of a first-rate London paper is the most complete of the kind in existence. Its activity is immense, extending not only to all that is important at home, but to every thing that is particularly interesting abroad. In 1826, when Mr Canning sent a body of troops to Portugal, in compliance with a demand made by the government of that country, reporters belonging to several London journals accompanied the expedition; and since the commencement of the civil Avar in Spain, the head-quarters of Don Carlos, and those of the Christino generals, have respectively been frequented by emissaries of the leading morning papers. Reports of the proceedings in the Spanish Cortes, and the discussions in the French Chamber of Deputies, have on particular occasions accompanied those of the debates in the British houses of parliament. Indeed there is almost nothing beyond the reach of their enterprise and activity.

Employed upon each morning paper of the first class there are an editor and sub-editor; from ten to twelve, or even fourteen, regular reporters, at salaries of from four to six guineas each per week; from thirty to thirty-five compositors in the printing-office; several readers, who correct the proofs as they come from the compositors; a certain number of men and boys to attend to the printing machine, and take off the papers as they fall from the cylinders; a publisher and sub-publisher, besides a number of clerks in the office to receive advertisements and keep the accounts, with various other individuals engaged in the performance of subordinate duties. The salary of an editor varies from L.600 to L.1000 per annum, and that of a sub-editor from L.400 to L.600. Te largest item in the expenditure of a morning paper is that charged under the head of reporting, which generally amounts to upwards of L.3000 per annum. In fact, the salaries paid weekly to editors, reporters, and others upon the establishment, do not fall short of L.180; and if to this be added the expense of occasional reporting, the cost of foreign newspapers and private correspondence, the sums paid for expresses, and various other items which it is unnecessary to enumerate, the total weekly expenditure can scarcely be estimated under L.250, or L.13,000 per annum. The duty of the principal editor commences with the publication of the evening papers, the leading articles of which he has to read, that, if necessary, he may refute or support their statements and arguments. He generally remains at his post until a late hour, prepared to write comments on the foreign journals as they arrive (a duty in which he is generally assisted by the subeditor), and also to direct attention, in a leading article, to any topic of public interest. During the sitting of parliament, he is frequently obliged to remain at the office of the paper until two or three o’clock in the morning; and such is the energy with which the metropolitan press is directed, that it is not uncommon to see a leading article of nearly a column in length written on a subject which had been debated in the House of Commons until a late hour in the morning. The promptitude of execution which this presupposes is wonderful, and can only be the effect of habit invigorated by the impulses peculiar to the occasion.

But perhaps the most extraordinary part of the machinery of a morning paper is the reporting. The establishment of reporters varies, as already stated, from ten to fourteen; and most of the persons so engaged are gentlemen of education, sometimes students of law, remarkable for their activity and intelligence. During the session of parliament, the reporters of the leading papers attend by turns each day, from the time the business commences, one succeeding the other, according to previous arrangement, and each remaining in the house for half or three quarters of an hour. If the debate be not protracted, or “heavy,” as it is called, the reporter in the House of Commons, when relieved, enters a small apartment at the end of the lobby, appropriated exclusively for the purpose, and there arranges his notes, which are seldom taken in short-hand, from the impossibility, in ordinary cases, of finding room in a newspaper for all that a member may say, or even the half of it. He then proceeds at once to the office of the paper on which he is engaged, and by him the attention of the editor is directed to any thing of commanding interest which may have transpired. His slips, as they are written, are handed by the printer to the compositors, whose number during the session of parliament is generally increased; and as one reporter follows another, it is not unusual for a debate which has terminated at midnight to be set up in types, and ready for printing, by two o’clock in the morning. On nights of prolonged discussion, when the houses sit late, some of the reporters, particularly those whose previous task may have proved least onerous, are required to return to the gallery, and take what is called “a double turn.” In general, however, owing to the subdivision of labour, the duty of an individual reporter is by no means burdensome, and requires promptitude and facility rather than prolonged exertion. The expertness produced by habit is remarkable, and it not unfrequently happens that a single reporter, from the notes taken in three quarters of an hour, supplies from one to three columns of printed matter to the paper on which he is engaged. Besides the corps of regular reporters attached to a newspaper, there are several occasional ones,called “penny-a-line men,” from the circumstance of their furnishing articles of intelligence at a fixed price per line. The reporters of this class are to the body of the press what the Cossacks are to a disciplined army; a species of active but irregular troops, who forage for news in all directions, pick up every scrap that comes in their way, and having dressed it up in their best style, straightway offer it for sale at the newspaper offices.
[7:16:170]

In obtaining intelligence by express, and also in forwarding it in this manner, some of the evening papers have latterly made great exertions. The Courier and the Sun have sometimes published the speech of the king of the French twenty-six or twenty-seven hours after it had been obtained by their agents at Paris; and the latter journal has, on many occasions, forwarded “express editions” to all parts of the country, containing the conclusion of an important debate which terminated several hours after the departure of the mail, and thus anticipating by a day the ordinary course of publication.

Newspapers, in London, are, for the most part, sold to newsmen or news-venders, by whom they are distributed to the purchasers both in town and country. The newsmen, therefore, are the retailers, and for the business of distribution they receive a certain regulated allowance, amounting to two shillings and threepence upon a quire (as it is called) of twenty-seven papers. Some of the clerks at the post-office, called clerks of the roads, are likewise considerable news-agents. The stamp-duty charged upon each newspaper was formerly fourpence, with a discount, however, of twenty per cent, on such as were sold at a price not exceeding sevenpence, which reduced the stamp-duty actually paid to threepence and one fifth. But, by the act 6 and 7 William IV. c. 76, this duty has been repealed, and the following duties are now imposed in its stead:

For every sheet, or other piece of paper, whereon any newspaper shall be printed, one penny. But where such sheet or piece of paper shall contain on one side a superficies, exclusive of the margin of the letter-press, exceeding 1530 inches, and not exceeding 2295, the additional duty of one halfpenny is charged; and where the same shall contain on one side a superficies, exclusive of margin, exceeding 2295 inches, a further duty of one penny; provided always that any sheet or piece of paper containing on one side a superficies, exclusive of the margin of the letter-press, not exceeding 765 inches, which shall be published with and as a supplement to any newspaper chargeable with any of the foresaid duties, shall in that case be charged only with the duty of one halfpenny. Then follow definitions of what are to be deemed and taken to be newspapers chargeable with these duties. These are, 1st, Any paper containing public news, intelligence, or occurrences, printed in any part of the united kingdom, to be dispersed and made public; 2dly, any paper printed in any part of the united kingdom weekly or oftener, or at intervals not exceeding twenty-six days, containing only or principally advertisements; and, 3dly, any paper containing any public news, intelligence, or occurrences, or any remarks or observations thereon, printed in any part of the united kingdom, for sale, and published periodically, or in parts or numbers, at intervals not exceeding twenty-six days between the publication of any two such papers, parts, or numbers, where any of the said papers, parts, or numbers shall not exceed two sheets of the specified dimensions, exclusive of any cover or blank leaf, or shall be published for sale for a less sum than sixpence, exclusive of the duty imposed by the act. With reference to this last description of newspapers, it is provided, that no quantity of paper less than a quantity equal to twenty-one inches in length by seventeen inches in breadth, in whatever way or form the same may be made or divided into leaves, or in whatever way the same may be printed, shall, with reference to any such paper, part, or number, as has been above described, be deemed or taken to be a sheet. And it is also generally provided, that any of the several papers before described shall be liable to the duties imposed by the act, in whatever way or form they may be printed or folded, or divided into leaves or stitched, and whether the same shall be folded, divided, or stitched, or not. The exemptions are, the Police Gazette or Hue and Cry; daily accounts or bills of goods imported and exported; warrants or certificates for the delivery of goods, and the weekly bills of mortality; and also papers containing lists of prices current, the state of the markets, accounts of the arrival, sailing, or other circumstances relating to merchant ships or vessels, and generally any other matter wholly of a commercial nature; provided such bills, lists, or accounts do not contain any other matter than that which has usually been comprised in them.

The regulations prescribed by this act are the following, viz. A discount of twenty-five per cent, on the above duties is allowed to newspapers printed in Ireland. To prevent fraud in the returns as to newspapers, it is enacted that, from the 31st of December 1836, a separate or distinctive stamp or die must be employed for each paper. No person can print or publish a newspaper until after a declaration has been made and lodged at the stamp-office, containing certain particulars specified in the act as to the names and addresses of the printer and certain of the proprietors, &c. of such paper, under a penalty of fifty pounds; and persons wilfully making a false or defective declaration are, upon conviction, to be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour. There are also a number of regulations intended to provide for the discovery and liability of the printer and proprietors, the security of the duties, and the prevention of the sale of unstamped papers. Any person publishing, selling, or disposing of newspapers not duly stamped, is subjected to a penalty of twenty pounds; and it is declared to be lawful for any officer of stamps, or any person authorized by the commissioners for that purpose, to seize any such offender, and take him before any justice having jurisdiction where the offence is committed, who shall summarily determine the matter, and, in default of payment upon conviction, commit such offender to prison for some term not exceeding three calendar months, nor less than one. The penalty for sending abroad newspapers not duly stamped is L.50. Justices may grant warrants to search for unstamped néwspapers, to seize presses, &c. used in printing them; on admittance being refused, officersand others may enter forcibly; and persons offering resistance to officers in the discharge of their duty incur a penalty of twenty pounds.

Such are the provisions, exemptions, and regulations of the act 6 and 7 William IV. c. 76. The duty, which formerly amounted (deducting the discount) to threepence one fifth, being thus reduced to one penny, the price of the great majority of the London papers has in consequence been lowered from sevenpence to fivepence; but provincial papers, which are got up at comparatively little expense, are now generally sold for fourpence halfpenny or fourpence; and this is also the case with one or two of the metropolitan journals. The reduction of the price occasioned a considerable increase in the demand for the established journals; and, since the reduction of the duty, a considerable number of new weekly papers also started into existence, both in the metropolis and throughout the country; but hitherto no new daily paper has been established, and several of the weekly prints have already disappeared. Supposing it to have been expedient to reduce the duty, and to fix it at an uniform amount upon all papers, the arrangements prescribed in the act 6 and 7 William IV. are perhaps as unexceptionable as any that could be devised; but some persons are of opinion that it might have been better to assess the duty upon an ad valorem principle, making it in every case a certain aliquot part of the price.

The returns of the London journals arise from two sources; the profits on the circulation, and those derived from advertisements. Each paper being now sold to the newsman at fourpence, the sum received by the proprietor for [7:16:171]paper, printing, and the expense of his establishment, is threepence, or one halfpenny more than under the former law. Advertisements form a considerable source of profit to newspapers; indeed, without this, some of the most widely circulated of their number could not support the great expenditure necessary for carrying them on. Each advertisement published in Great Britain is now charged with a duty of one shilling and sixpence, without distinction of length; but until the year 1833 the duty charged was three shillings and sixpence. In 1832, the advertisements produced L.155,400 in Great Britain, and L.15,249 in Ireland, at least three fourths of which were derived from newspapers.

The following table has been constructed from detailed returns showing the number of stamps issued to each newspaper in Great Britain and Ireland, with the number of advertisements published, and the amount of advertisement duty paid, by each paper during the first six months of the year 1837. The duty is charged at one shilling and sixpence upon each advertisement published in Great Britain, and at one shilling upon each advertisement published in Ireland.
[table]

In 1832, when the government duty was charged at three shillings and sixpence upon each advertisement, the produce of this branch of the revenue in Great Britain and Ireland amounted to L.170,649. The portion of this sum derived from newspapers, as distinguished from other periodical publications, has not been stated; but it may fairly be taken at not less than three fourths of the whole, or L.127,986. From the above table, however, it appears that the newspaper advertisement duty, for the first six months of 1837, amounted to L∙55,503s. 5s. 2d. which, for the whole year, would give a return from this source alone of L.l 11,006. 10s. 4d. But in 1833 the duty was reduced to one shilling and sixpence in Great Britain, and one shilling in Ireland, at which rates it is now charged upon advertisements in each country respectively; yet notwithstanding this reduction, it appears that, if the second half of 1837 equal the first, the total produce of that year, arising from advertisements, will fall short of the total produce of 1832, the year before the duty was reduced, by only L.16,980.

Newspapers were of later origin in France than in England. The earliest notice we have of any publication of this kind is that contained in Saint Foix’s curious Essai Historique sur Paris, where it is stated that Renaudot, a physician of Paris, sought to amuse his patients by collecting and circulating news, and thus greatly increased his practice. As the seasons were not always sickly, and the doctor had a taste for newsmongering, he considered that he might turn both his time and his talents to account by giving weekly to his patients some fugitive sheets containing the news of various countries; and for this he obtained a privilege in 1632. But there was really no political press in France until the year 1789, when the Constituent Assembly, in the declaration of rights, decreed (õth October) that the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of man, and that every citizen may therefore speak, write, and print freely, “sauf a repondre de l’abus de cette liberté dans le cas déterminé par la loi.” This decree, which formally recognised the liberty of the press, at the same time called it into existence. But no distinction was made between the various modes of publication, and no greater securities were required for newspapers than for books and pamphlets. The periodical press was a stranger to the habits of the country, and the public were not prepared for it. Violent and witty pamphlets were indeed written, but no one had yet learned either to write or to read a journal. In this respect the Moniteur, an official paper, began the education of the community in France. No journals were previously known, except the Mercure, the Gazette de France, and the Courrier de Provence, which had been the depository of Mirabeau’s harangues, before the opportunity had arrived for launching them in the National Assembly. As the passions of men became heated, a new brood was hatched, amongst which Marat’s Ami du Peuple, and Hébert’s Pere Duchesne, enjoyed a bad pre-eminence. The rapidity and accrbity of the pamphlets of the time were suited to the taste of a people which lived upon excitement. But still a journalist was, in fact, an individual who united and confounded all the branches of the work in his own person; it was Marat, or Hébert, or Camille-Desmoulins. Violent alternations of license and despotism distinguished the most stormy period of the Revolution; yet, in spite of the extravagance of the one, and the disproportionate severity of the other, the press continued to make way. Under the consulate and the empire it was subjected to systematic control. No journal could appear without the authority of the minister of the interior; the number of provincial papers was limited to one for each department, and these were placed under the authority of the prefects. On some occasions, however, Napoleon himself became a journalist, and replied in the Moniteur to the manifestoes of the British government. He also encouraged a revival of religious doctrines, the influence of which was felt in literature before it reached the sphere of politics. Of this school the Journal des Débats was, the centre, and Chateaubriand and Bonald were the organs. Things proceeded in this way till after the disastrous campaign of Moscow, when the liberty of writing and speaking began to be once more asserted, and public opinion was ardently supported by the rising generation; so that, upon the whole, when the French empire was broken up, the press had in some measure taken root in the habits of the country, and the demand for newspapers had become general. Even whilst the expression of opinion was checked, the means of publicity were established and increased. The Moniteur, the Idulleun des Loix, and the Journal de la Librairie, awakened attention to the public interests; each department had a paper of its own; and [7:16:172]Paris had already several journals, particularly the Gazette, the Journal de Paris, the Quotidienne, and the Journal des Debats, which, under the title of Journal de l’Empire, had as many as 20,000 subscribers. Literary criticism was installed in the daily papers, and gave birth to the Feuileton, to which the pens of Dussault and Geoffroy imparted that sharp and sparkling vivacity which still preserves its traditional charm. At first, however, it was no better treated by the government of the restoration than it had been by that of the empire. Its history during this period is filled with laws and ordinances, succeeding each other at short intervals, and marking the various turns of the conflict between the men of the past and those of the present time, the restored government, and the liberal party, as it is called. But in 1819 a law was passed which had the merit of acknowledging sound principles respecting the rights of publicity; and by another enactment, made in 1828, a sort of compromise was entered into between the rights of the press and the prejudices of the government. Since the revolution of July 1830, however, a material change has taken place. In 1819, the interest and the position of the parliamentary tribune and the press were identical; since 1830, they have become two distinct and rival powers, one or other of which must ultimately give way. In the meanwhile, the gagging enactments of the year 1835, which characterize the existing legislation, have given a decided preponderance to the tribune, and, through it, to the government.

The French journals fluctuate so greatly that they can only be described generally in connection with the events of the time. When M. de ViIIèle came into office, the two organs of the liberal party were the Constitutionnel (established in 1815), the Courrier Français, the Journal du Commerce, and the Journal de Paris ; whilst the royalist party divided their patronage between the Journal des Debats, the Gazette de France, and the Quotidienĭze. The Aristarqιιe and the Oriflamme were then set up by the ultra-royalists; and Villèlc established the Etoile, an evening paper devoted to the personal defence of the minister. The Journal des Debats now seceded from the side of government, and brought over to the liberal party the support of that portion of the middle classes which had espoused the interests of the restored monarchy. The Globe and the Producteur led on the public to the study of science, literature, politics, political economy, and philosophy, and sowed the seeds of instruction in many minds where they have since ripened into an abundant harvest. The daily papers obtained an entire mastery over public opinion. The Constitutionnel and the Journal des Débats were really the kings of the multitude; and their slightest hint acted sympathetically upon the resolutions of the community.^[2. When General Foy died, the daily press called upon the country to provide for his children, and a million of francs was soon subscribed. The same power collected 200,000 persons to attend the obsequies of Manuel, in presence of the guards drawn out, and at the risk of a battle. At the general election, in 1827, the press designated the candidates, and decided the contests. More recently, the funeral of General Lamarque was attended by an immense assemblage, which the press had called together, at the imminent hazard of another conflict in the streets of Paris. ] The administration of Μ. de Martignac, which was a compromise with the liberal party, abolished the censorship, and reduced the securities paid in by the journals. It only gave birth to one ministerial paper. But that of Μ. de Polignac, which was openly hostile to the liberty of the press, elicited a new class, resolved to go all lengths, and to yield to no obstacle. Then appeared the Universel, a partisan of absolute power; the Temps, representing the centre gauche ; the National, detached from the Constitutionnel, and conducted by M. Thiers, in the interest of the house of Orleans; and the Globe, which now became a daily paper. In the provinces appeared the Tribune des Departements, and the Courrier des Electeurs; but the great body of the people still clung to the old-established and well-known papers. The popularity of the Constitutionnel, the Journal des Débats, and the Courrier Français, increased with the danger. When the revolution of July broke out, the first of these papers had a circulation of 22,000, and the second of 18,000; and each of the twelve shares in the former journal, which were originally taken at L.200, though the money was never paid, returned a dividend of L.2000. In fact, the revolution of July was the royal reign of the press, when the two journals already mentioned enjoyed an almost supreme authority. But since that period it appears to have undergone very considerable changes. The republican party was the first to multiply its organs. In a short time it brought out the National, the Mouvement, the Révolution, the Tribune, the Patriote, the Avenir, the Réformateur, the Populaire, and the Rons Sens. The two last were Sunday papers, which only cost one penny each, and were sold by hawkers. As many as 50,000 copies of the Rons Sens have been sold in this manner in one day. But the law which subjected the public hawkers to the monopoly of the police put a stop to this traffic; the republican press shared the same fate as the republican erneutes ; and subsequent enactments gave it the coup de grace. The Rons Sens and the National, however, still maintain ∙a languishing existence as daily papers. From 1832 to 1835, whilst the tiers-parti, headed by Dupin, had a majority in the Chambers and in the country, several journals were published in harmony with that state of affairs, and some of the old ones moderated their tone, or changed their denominations. In 1836, newspapers were founded, not in support of any party or opinion, but purely on speculation, the profits realized by a few fortunate journals having tempted adventurers to embark in such undertakings. We may add, that a few enterprising individuals have undertaken to bring the daily press in France to the level of the humblest fortunes, by publishing newspapers at forty francs, or L.l. 12s. per annum. The projector of this system was Μ. Emile Girardin, deputy of the Creuse, whose own paper, La Presse, has obtained a circulation of about 12,000. But the ultimate success of the experiment is far from being certain.

We have no means of ascertaining with any degree of precision the actual number of the French journals, and the extent of their circulation respectively. In an article written in 1829, and inserted in the Compilateur, the author, speaking of things as they then stood, says, “There are in Paris a hundred and fifty-two journals, literary, scientific, and religious, and seventeen political; in all a hundred and sixty-nine. Of these papers a hundred and fifty-one are constitutional, or, as they are called, liberal, the eighteen others being more monarchical in their spirit. The hundred and fifty-one constitutional journals have, it is stated, 197,000 subscribers, 1,500,000 readers, and produce an income of 1,155,000 francs (L.46,200); the eighteen others have 21,000 subscribers, 192,000 readers, with an income of 437,000 francs (L.17,480). The Moniteur, the official paper, has from 2500 to 4000 subscribers, principally public functionaries; the Constitutionnel, from 18,000 to 20,000 subscribers; the Journal des Débats, from 13,000 to 14,000 subscribers; the Quotidienne, 5000 subscribers; the Courrier Français, 4500 subscribers; the Journal du Commerce, 3500 subscribers; the Gazette de France, 7000 subscribers; the Messager des Chambres, 2500 subscribers; the Tribune des Départements, a new paper, 100 subscribers; and the Nouveau Journal de Paris, from 1000 to 1500 [7:16:173]subscribers. All these are published in the capital. The journals printed in the provinces are calculated at seventy-five, exclusive of papers for advertisements and ministerial bulletins. Of these, sixty-six are constitutional, being supported only by subscribers of the same way of thinking. One, the Memorial de Toulouse, is supported by the archbishop of that diocese; four are, it is asserted, paid from the secret funds of the Jesuits; and the other four are monarchical, but possess little influence.” Since the period to which this applies, however, great changes have taken place, and the circulation of some of the leading daily journals has declined. Nevertheless, it appears that a share in the Constitutionnel is still worth twenty-five times its original cost; that the shares in the Gazette des Tribunaux, which, at the outset, were worth only 500 francs, are now sold for 30,000; and that the Gazette de France has, for a long time, brought the proprietor an income of 200,000 francs, or L.8000 a year.

In Germany, newspapers originated in the Relations, as they were termed, which sprung up at Augsburg and Vienna in 1524, at Ratisbon in 1528, at Dillingen in 1569, and at Nuremberg in 1571, and which appeared in the form of letters printed, but without date, place, or number. The first German newspaper in numbered sheets was printed in 1612, and entitled “Account of what has happened in Germany and Italy, Spain and France, the East and West Indies, and other countries.” Since that time, public papers have successively appeared in different places, and under various titles, but all of them subject to a strict censorship. In Germany, however, as in France, the periodical press was of little importance till the era of the French Revolution, and, in comparison with the state of matters in these countries, it has always remained so. By the resolutions of the German Diet in 1819, it was placed under strict supervision, and still continues subject to a vigilant censorship. Till the commencement of the French Revolution, the Hamburger Correspondent was almost the only paper in Germany which derived its information respecting foreign countries from original correspondence; and at that time its sale was estimated at between 30,000 and 36,000 copies. Subsequently, however, it declined, principally owing to the occupation of Hamburg by the French, and its sale amounted to only a few thousands. In the year 1828, twenty-one gazettes, daily and weekly, were published at Hamburg. But a new kind of periodical sprang up in Germany in the year 1798, and soon outstripped all others. This was the Allgemeine Zeitung, or Universal Gazette, established by Cotta, a bookseller in Tubingen, and destined to become an important political organ. The Allgemeine Zeitung is now published at Augsburg. In all the countries of Europe it has correspondents, who supply it with intelligence; and both the German and foreign governments frequently make use of it to influence public opinion by demi-official articles. This has been done with much dexterity by the Austrian government, especially in its transactions respecting paper money and the public stocks; and even the French ministry have, it is said, occasionally made use of it for similar purposes. But with all these advantages, the sale is small, not exceeding 2000 or 2500, and barely covers the expenses. The deliverance of Germany in the year 1813 gave rise to a number of political papers, all imbued with the awakened spirit of the times. Kotzebue and Niebuhr each commenced a journal of this description; but both were soon discontinued. The most celebrated gazette of this period was the Rheinische Merkur of Görres, which appeared in January 1814, and terminated its career in the beginning of 1816. The Oestereichische Reobaster, or Austrian Observer, was established by the private secretary of Prince Metternich, and, as the official organ of the cabinet of Vienna, it speedily acquired a considerable circulation. The German papers of amusement originated with the Zeitung fur die Elegante Welt, which was established at Leipzig in 1801. The number of papers of this description has since been constantly increasing, although many of them have perished as rapidly as they arose. But of those which have maintained their ground, the most important are, the Morgenblatt of Stuttgart, the Abendzeitung of Dresden, the Gesellschafter of Berlin, and the Litterarische Wochenblatt, established by Kotzebue. Of all these, however, the Mor-genblatt has the greatest sale.

Italy, Spain, and Portugal, present little worthy of notice as respects the newspaper press. Of the Italian journals, the Gazetta di Firenze, the Gazetta di Milano, and the Diario di Roma, are almost the only ones which are read in foreign countries. ∙ The Giornale Arcadico di Roma embraces literature, the fine arts, and miscellaneous subjects, and the Eco di Milano endeavours to keep up a literary intercourse between Italy and other countries. The Ga-ceta of Madrid has a semi-official character, but in other respects is undeserving of notice. Lisbon has also its organ for the publication of official documents and communications. In Belgium and Holland there are, in French and Dutch respectively, a considerable number of daily and weekly papers, besides monthly publications. In 1830 Switzerland had twenty-four weekly papers, and five others which appeared once a fortnight. The first Russian paper was published in 1703, under Peter I. In 1829 the number of papers and periodicals published in the Russian empire was seventy-three; but the only important political journals are the Gazette de St Petersbourg and the Journal de St Petersbourg, both of which are written in the French language. In Sweden there is not much opposition nor independence amongst the newspapers, and political discussion is at a very low ehb. An interesting account of the Norwegian journals will be found in Laing’s Residence in Norway, to which the reader is referred. Denmark has about eighty journals, of which twenty-three are devoted to politics, and twenty-five to the sciences.

The Greeks have now several newspapers in their own language, though none of them exerts any considerable influence, or has a numerous subscription. A journal is also published at Corfu. In Smyrna the Spectateur Oriental was in 1827 displaced by the Observateur Impartial, and subsequently by the Courrier de Smyrne, which is conducted in a spirit friendly to the sultan. At Constantinople the Moniteur Ottoman is published in French under the sanction of the sultan; and the viceroy of Egypt has likewise his official organ, in the same language, printed at Boulak, near Cairo.

The increase of newspapers in the United States has been much more rapid than in England. The total number of newspapers annually issued in the Union has been estimated at from 55,000,000 to 60,000,000, whereas the total number issued in Great Britain and Ireland during the year 1833 was only 34,515,221. It follows that, making allowance for the difference of population, every individual in America has, at an average, more than twice the supply of newspapers enjoyed by each person in England. From the low price of the American, as compared with the English and even the French newspapers, they are liberally patronised by all classes, and are to be seen in almost every dwelling and counting-house, and in all hotels, taverns, and shops. But we must not estimate the value nor the influence of newspapers by their quantity alone. Regard must likewise be had to its quality, which indeed is the principal consideration to be attended to. But in whatever degree the American may exceed the English or French journals in number, they sink immeasurably below them in point of quality. In the United States the state of the newspaper press is such that it can scarcely descend lower; indeed it may be considered as a disgrace [7:16:174]to the country. These journals, with but few exceptions, indulge in the most offensive, and often brutal personalities. Instead of examining the principles of measures, they assail the character and misrepresent the motives of those by whom they are introduced; and, in fact, it would be difficult to name an individual of any distinction who has not been libelled and calumniated by a large portion of the press, to a degree which can scarcely be imagined. The magnitude of the evil, however, will in all probability lead to its cure. It can scarcely be supposed that an intelligent and well-instructed people will long continue to patronise a press which traffics in misrepresentation, scurrility, and exaggeration, and which, besides the outrages it commits against individuals, opposes a serious obstacle to wise government and well-considered improvement.

From the immense number of newspapers circulated in the United States, as compared with the population of the country, it follows that the number of subscribers to each paper must be limited; indeed 2000 is considered as a respectable list. The consequence is, that one paper is unable to command the talents of several able men, as in France, and that, in the general scramble, the object is rather to flatter the known prejudices, and minister to the bad passions of the people, than to enlighten their understandings by inculcating sound principles, or enforcing salutary truths. Their abundance, however, happily neutralises their effects. Declamation and sophistry are rendered comparatively innocuous by running in a thousand conflicting currents. But the case would be very different, and the evil altogether intolerable, if there were in the United States only a few papers, with from 25,000 to 30,000 subscribers, and perhaps five times as many readers. Upon such a supposition, journalism would be as influential in America as in France, and in its effects ten times more dangerous. To show the progressive extension of the American newspaper press, it is only necessary to state, that at the commencement of the revolutionary war in 1775, the number of newspapers published in the United States was only thirty-seven; that in 1810 it had increased to 359; that in 1828 it exceeded 850; and that in 1834 it amounted to no less than 1265. At this time the number of daily papers published within the Union was ninety, and that of other periodical journals 130.

A comparison of the number of periodicals and inhabitants of different countries, made in the year 1827, gave the following results. At that time there appeared in the United States upwards of 800 journals to 11,600,000 inhabitants; in Great Britain, 483 different newspapers to 23,400,000 inhabitants; in Sweden and Norway, eighty-two journals to 3,866,000 inhabitants; in Denmark, eighty journals to 1,950,000 inhabitants; in Prussia, 288 journals to 12,416,000 inhabitants; in the Netherlands, 150 journals to 6,143,000 inhabitants; in the German confederation, exclusive of both Austria and Prussia, 305 journals to 13,300,000 inhabitants; in Saxony, fifty-four newspapers to 1,400,000 inhabitants; in Hanover, sixteen newspapers to 1,550,000 inhabitants; in Bavaria, forty-eight newspapers to 3,960,000 inhabitants; and in France, 490 periodical publications of all kinds to a population of about 32,000,000. A comparison of the number of periodicals and inhabitants in different capitals gives results scarcely less varied. Thus, Stockholm, with 38,000 inhabitants, has thirty journals; Rome, with 154,000, has only three; Berlin, with 221,000, has fifty-three periodical works; Copenhagen, with 109,000 inhabitants, has fifty-seven journals; and in Paris, which contains a population of nearly 900,000, there are 176 periodical works. Since the date to which this comparison refers, however, the numbers in both respects must have varied considerably; but it is probable that the relative proportions remain pretty nearly the same. It may also be observed, that no general conclusion as to the state of intellectual culture or of political information amongst a people can safely be deduced from such comparative expositions as that which is above given. The proportional number of journals circulated in the United States is much greater than in any other country; yet, as we have already shown, they are the most worthless, and consequently the least calculated to diffuse useful knowledge, or to excite a spirit of inquiry, of any in the world.

Much has been said both as to the absolute and the comparative effects, moral and political, produced by newspapers, in those countries where they are freely circulated; and there is room for considerable diversity of opinion respecting the degree and the kind of influence which they exert upon the sentiments and opinions of the public. But that this influence must be considerable, in whatever mode or direction it may operate in particular cases, or under peculiar circumstances, there can be no doubt at all, even amongst those who differ most widely as to its real character and effects. It will of course vary according to the relative condition of different classes or communities in point of information; but the joint effect and full result of its continual appliance can scarcely fail to be very considerable, even where its action is least concentrated. The power of the newspaper press depends, not on single and disjoined impulsions, but on the aggregate effects of constantly reiterated action; it is a practical exemplification of the proverb, that the drop hollows the stone, non vi sed saepe cadendo. All experience shows, that any agency or force, however small, if continually applied in the same direction, and towards the same object or objects, will in course of time produce the greatest results. Still, in different countries, variously circumstanced in point of education and general information, considerable diversity may be observed in the operation of this power, and in the mode in which it attains its ultimate effect upon the public mind. Where the mass of the people are comparatively enlightened, and more or less habituated to reflection, the press, in order eventually to govern, must begin by following the current of opinion. It cannot stem, but it may divert, the stream; it must not begin by opposing a direct resistance, but by skill and address it may ultimately succeed in turning it into a new channel, and in some measure governing it at pleasure. In such cases, there is both action and re-action. Public opinion acts upon the press, and the press re-acts upon public opinion, with an accumulating force, of which, in certain circumstances, it is difficult to exaggerate the extent and the power. But it is otherwise in countries where the mass of the people are comparatively unenlightened, and unaccustomed to form an independent judgment amidst the conflict of antagonist opinions. There the press is a real and direct poyer, which acts at once on the public mind, and which, if left to act uncontrolled, may eventually produce the most baneful, not to say fatal, impressions. In the former case, there is a check in the preexistent condition of society; in the latter, there is none whatever, except that which may happen to be applied by the law.

From an elaborate calculation made in the year 1819, it was inferred that, including the provincial journals, an Englishman reads daily twenty or thirty times as much as a Frenchman does of the newspapers of his country. This calculation may have been exaggerated, and the disparity is probably much less now than it was eighteen years ago; but it is nevertheless evident that the balance of the newspaper reading, all kinds of journals included, is still on the side of the Englishman, who, again, is exceeded in this respect by the North-American. Yet, in France, the journals exert a much more direct influence upon public opinion than either in England or in America. They constitute a sort of power in the state, which is altogether irresponsible within the limits prescribed by the law, that is, in its [7:16:175]ordinary exercise; and they give the tone to the sentiments and opinions of the nation. They are not so much mirrors which reflect the state of the public mind, as agencies which impart to it whatever bias or tendency they please. Journalism in that country is therefore seen under a different aspect from that in which it appears in almost any other; and hence it has been an object of constant vigilance and suspicion on the part of the general government. But if its influence be greater in France than elsewhere, that influence has also been more contested. From its birth, as it displayed a tendency to absorb every thing, so nothing was granted to it without a struggle. No power has ever excited more alarm, has had more enemies, has survived severer trials, or has undergone more singular revolutions. From 1789 to 1830, the ordinary condition of the French press was a rule of censorship and oppression; the rare intervals of liberty vouchsafed to it only served as moments of rest to take breath in that adventurous campaign, every advance in which was won by hard fighting. Yet the power of the press has grown amidst these trials; the bonds which were imposed upon it to check its movement have fortified its strength, and it is now a sort of dictatorship in the state. The existence of this extraordinary power is accounted for by the circumstances of the country. In Great Britain, and in the United States, where a representative government is firmly established, each political power occupies its natural place, without transgressing the limits of its proper sphere of action. The press does not invade the province of the legislative chambers, nor do the latter encroach upon the domain of the press. But in France the government is still at a stage of experiment and difficulty; it alternately looks back to the past, and forward to the future, seeking its equilibrium and its point of rest. The time is not yet come for it peaceably to work out its established principle, because that principle is still a matter of doubt and debate; and as long as this experimental state of things shall continue, the constituted powers will have only a secondary importance, and the press, which takes the lead and opens the road to discovery, will necessarily govern the country. But, in a country like Great Britain, where the great body of the people are possessed of information, and the habit of political discussion has long been formed and matured; where the conflicts of party enter as an essential element into the practical working of the constitution, and there exists a steady independent opinion, upon which violence and exaggeration are powerless, except in periods of great public excitement; the press is rather an exponent or index of the feelings, sentiments, and opinions of the people, than a controlling or governing power, assuming the form of a dictatorship, and really constituting an imperium in imperio, as in France. The whole action of government is concentrated in the houses of parliament and in the hands of the administration; and the press is restricted to its proper function, namely, the criticism of events and of public opinions. The people, too, are trained and habituated to this state of things. They are not the slaves, but the patrons, and even the critics, of the press; nor are their minds primarily moved by its speculations, commentaries, and arguments, directed, as these generally are, towards the support of some particular set of opinions. Party journals are for the most part read as such, and the statements or reasonings of one set of writers are coolly compared with those of another. There is nothing, or next to nothing, of that undoubting faith, or that blind credulity, which leads men to believe merely because it is written. Even the warmest partisan will not submit his understanding to the exclusive guidance of the writer whom, perhaps, he in general most admires and approves of; and hence the best safeguard against the abuse of free discussion, or the licentiousness of the press, is to be found in the inherent stability of our institutions, and the sense, intelligence, and morality of the people.

(See Chalmers’ Life of Ruddiman ; Periodical Press of Great Britain ; Babylon the Great; The Great Metropolis ; M‘Culloch’s CommercialDictionary and Supplement, 1836 and 1837; Le Compilateur; Girardin, Moyens Legislatifs pour regenerer la Presse, 1835; Encyclopaedia Americana, article Newspapers ; the American Almanac for 1835; La Chronique Suisse; Swedish Language and Literature ; Statistique et Itinéraire de la Russie; Edinburgh Review, vols. xxxii. and xxxviii.; British and Foreign Review, No. xiii. April 1837.) (a.)