Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/453

Rh IRELAND.] NEWSPAPERS 423 The Edinburgh Weekly Journal dates from 1744, but it only attained celebrity when, almost seventy years afterwards, it became the joint property of Sir Walter Scott and of James Ballantyne. Scott wrote in its columns many characteristic articles. Ballantyne edited it until his death in 1833, and was succeeded in the editor ship by Thomas Moir. The paper was discontinued about 1840. The Scotsman was established as a twice-a-week paper in January 1817, and became a daily in June 1855. It has always ranked as the chief organ of the Liberal, party in Scotland. The proprietor ship continues to be in the family of William Ritchie, by whom, in conjunction with Charles Maclaren, the paper was founded. For a short period it was edited by J. R. M Culloch, the eminent political economist. He was succeeded by Maclaren, who edited the paper until 1845, and he in turn by Alexander Russel, who continued to conduct it with great ability until 1876. In 1854 its average circulation was 3451 copies. In 1859 the first of Hoe s rotary machines brought into Scotland was erected for The Scotsman, and the productive power was raised from 1500 in the hour to 7500. The North British Advertiser, founded in 1826, had in 1854 an average circulation of 15,423 copies, the greater part of the issue distributed gratuitously. The Witness began in 1840 as the avowed organ of what speedily became the Free Church party in Scotland. In its first prospectus it calls itself The Old Whig. The paper appeared twice a week, and its editor, Hugh Miller, very soon made it famous. Ill the course of less than sixteen years he wrote about a thousand articles and papers, conspicuous for literary ability, still more so for a wide range of acquirement and of original thought, most of all for deep conscientiousness. It survived its first editor s lamented death (1855) only a few years. Edinburgh has now five daily and six weekly papers. In Glasgow, where six newspapers are published daily, the lead is taken by the Glasgow Herald (Independent). Founded in 1782, it has risen gradually to the level of the great metropolitan news papers. The North British Daily Mail (Liberal), the oldest daily in Scotland, was established in April 1847. George Troup, its first editor, made it specially famous for the organizing skill with which he brought his intelligence at an unprecedented rate of speed from Carlisle, the nearest point then connected with London by railway. 1 Glasgow has also thirteen newspapers of weekly issue. The earliest in date of the provincial newspapers of Scotland is The Aberdeen Journal (Conservative), founded as a weekly paper in 1748, and a daily from 1876. The Aberdeen Daily Free Press (Liberal), originally a weekly, dates from 1853. The Dundee Advertiser (Liberal) was established in 1801. The aggregate number of Scottish journals metropolitan and provincial together 79 in 1846, had grown in 1866 to 138, in 1876 to 164, and in 1883 to 184. Taken as a whole in regard as well to literary character and scope as to the specially industrial characteristics of journalism they occupy at least an equal rank with the best journals of the leading provincial towns of England, whilst the metropolitan press of Scotland ranks exceptionally high. A very large number of the men who have distinguished themselves by their labours on the great newspapers of London, and several who rank as founders of these, began their career, and have left their mark, on the newspapers of Scotland. Ireland s True Diurnal (1642), Mercurius Hibcrnicus (1644), The Irish Courant (1690), are all of them London newspapers containing Irish news. The newspaper press of Ireland begins with The Dublin News-Letter of 1685, just at the close of the lieu tenancy of the illustrious duke of Ormond. 8 Five years later appeared the Dublin Intelligencer (No. 1, September 30, 1690). Both of these were short-lived. PUB S Occurrences followed in 1700, and lasted for more than fifty years, as the pioneer of the daily press of Ireland. In 1710 or in 1711 (there is some doubt as to the date of the earliest number) The Dublin Gazette began to appear, and it continues still (1883) as the official organ of the vice-regal government. Falkener s Journal was established in 1728, and also appeared daily. Esdaile s News-Letter began in 1744, took the title of Saunders s News-Letter in 1754 (when it appeared three times a week), and became a daily newspaper in 1777. It long possessed the largest circulation ever attained by an Irish daily paper. The famous Freeman s Journal was long pre-eminent amongst the Dublin papers for ability and vigour. It was established as a daily paper by a committee of the first society of &quot; United Irish- 1 See Notes and Queries, 5th series, vii. 45, viii. 205. 2 The appearance of the earliest of Irish newspapers during the very last year in which that great statesman was in Ireland made it a matter of special interest to the present writer to ascertain if Ormond who had a keen zest for literature as well as for field sports had in any way patronized or noticed the new literary venture. But a perusal of some scores of his original letters (now in Oxford), dated in that year, finds no mention of The Dublin News-Letter. Ormond s own collection of &quot; news-letters &quot; in MS. is, it may be added, one of the finest known to exist in the kingdom. men&quot; in 1763, and its first editor was Dr Lucas. Flood and Grattan were at one time numbered amongst its contributors ; although the latter, at a subsequent period, is reported to have exclaimed in his place in the Irish parliament, &quot;the Freeman s Journal is a liar, .... a public, pitiful liar.&quot; 3 The relations between the journalism and the oratory of Ireland have been not unfrequently of this stormy character. Dublin has now six daily papers and fifteen others, mostly appearing once or twice a week. It had in 1875 eight dailies and seventeen weeklies. Waterford possessed a newspaper as early as 1729, entitled The Waterford Flying Post. It professed to contain &quot;the most material news both foreign and domestic,&quot; was printed on common writing paper, and published twice a week at the price of a halfpenny. The paper of earliest origin now published in Waterford is The Waterford Chronicle, which dates from 1766. The Belfast Ncws- Lctter was started in 1737, and still flourishes. In all Ireland the number of daily papers was 19 in 1875, and in 1883 only 16. The number issued once or twice a week was in the former year 118, in the latter 131. There are five other news papers of varying periodicity, making an aggregate, in 1883, of 152. The total increase since 1862 is 18, the increase in Scotland during the same period having been 45. The newspaper press of the Isle of Man dates only from 1821. Isle of The island possesses six journals in 1883, one of which, The Mona Man. Daily News, appears daily from July to September. The Gazette de Guernsey earliest of existing Channel Island Channel neAvspapers dates from 1788 ; the Chronique de Jersey from 1814. Islands. Guernsey has in all seven papers, and Jersey eight. An Act of Parliament of 1869 (32 & 33 Viet. c. 24), entitled British An Act to Repeal certain Enactments relating to Newspapers,&quot; news- simplified the process for discovering the names of proprietors and paper publishers, but until the year next following (1870) the establish- legisla- ment of a newspaper still required compliance with most of the tion. regulations of the 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 76. In that year, by the Act 33 & 34 Viet. c. 32, the (until then optional) stamp duties on newspapers were wholly repealed, and their postal transmission became subject only to the regulations of the post-office. It is now subject, under the Post-Office Act of 1870, to an annual registration with a fee of five shillings, and without such annual registration a newspaper can pass through the post only at the book rate of postage. In 1881 the registration of newspapers in order to the enforcement of responsibility for libel passed to the office of the registrar of joint-stock companies (44 & 45 Viet. c. 60). Authorities. Miscellaneous newspapers in the Burney, Stamp-Office, and other collections of the British Museum, ami in the Hope collection and miscellaneous collection of the Bodleian at Oxford; Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Ci ntiin/, iv. 33-97; Returns relating to Newspaper Stamps, 1836-54; Report of the Select Committee on Newspaper Stamps, 1850 ; Hansard, Parliamentary History of England, 1712-1742, and Debates, Sessions 1835, 1836, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1881, and 1882; First Report of the Commissioners on the Inland Revenue, 1857, 28, cxxiv; Andrews, History of British Journalism, 2 vols., 1860; Hunt, The Fourth Estate; Grant, The Newspaper Press, 3 vols., 1871-73; Win. Lee, Life and Newly Discovered Writings of Daniel Defoe, 3 vols., 1869; CoeriHge,.BiographiaLiteraria, Supp., 392-305 ; Life of Edward Baines, 346 sq.; Mitchell, The Newspaper Press Directory, 1846, 1857, 1859 to 1883 inclusive, 26 vols. ; Plummer, &quot;The British Newspaper Press,&quot; Companion to the Almanac, 1876 ; Second, Third, and Twenty- eighth Reports of the Postmaster-General, 1856, p. 19, 1857, p. 10 sq., 1882; Scott, Memoirs of Swift, ISO sq.; Alex. Chalmers, articles &quot;Amhurst,&quot; &quot; Birkenhead,&quot; &quot;Heylyn,&quot; &quot;Johnson,&quot; &quot;Needham.&quot; &amp;lt;fec., in General Biographical Dictionary, 1812-17; Gentleman s Magazine, vol. vii.; &quot;The Newspaper Press,&quot; Quarterly Review, cl. 498-537, October 1880; Hatton, Journalistic London, 1882; George Chalmers, Life of Ruddiman, part 2, 1794 ; Bayne, Life and Letters of Hugh Miller, vol. ii. ; H. G. Graham, &quot; Russel of the Scotsman,&quot; Fraser s Magazine, n.s., xxii. 301-317, 1880. Information concerning North of England newspapers has been contributed by Mr V. Hill, Newcastle-npon-Tyne. NEWSPAPERS OF FRANCE. The annals of French journalism begin with the Gazette, Gazette established by The ophraste Kenaudot in 1631, under ihede patronage of Richelieu, and with his active co-operation. France. Much of its earliest foreign news came direct from the minister, and not seldom in his own hand. Louis XIII. took a keen, perhaps a somewhat childish, interest in the progress of the infant Gazette, and was a frequent con tributor, now and then taking his little paragraphs to the printing office himself, and seeing them put into type. Renaudot was born at Loudun in 1584, studied medicine in Paris and at Montpellier, established himself in the capital in 1612, and soon became conspicuous both within and beyond the limits of his profession. Endowed by nature with great energy and versatility, he seems at an early period of his career to have attracted the attention of the great cardinal, and to have obtained permission to establish a sort of general agency office, under the designa- 3 Delates of the Irish House of Commons, 3d March 1789.