NINETEENTH CENTURY.
067
and nerer dreamed of by 'critics in any past period sincethe alphabet was invented. FoTmerly reviews were, on the whole, what they professed to be — critical essays on new publications ; and they filled a respectable office in the republic of letters. The commencement of the Edinburgh Review (1802) was the discovery of a new world in criticism, to which all authors were liable to , be transported as criminals, and there dealt with according to laws made on the spot,and executed by those who made them. The Quarterly Re- view, the Weslmituter Review, the British Critic, the Literary Gazette, and the Atherueum, bare flourished no less than their prototype, and in their respective departments, exercise no small influence over respectable classes of readers. On the whole) periodical publications of every order may be regarded as propitious in their influence to the circulation of knowledge and the interests of literature. Cyclopedias without measure, compilations without number, besides original treatises, which equally show the industry,talent, and acquirements of authors hi all ranks of society, and every gradation of intellect. Nor are there wanting works of history, voyages and travels, divinity, law, and physic, oi sterling value, and worthy of the British nation.
From the era of the French revolution, much of the prosperity and greatness of England is to be dated. Commercial enterprize received an impetus from the war, unexampled in the history of any nation. Newspapers increased with the national prosperity and independence. An elegant writer, and liberal statesman of the present day, speaking of the daily and the weekly press, says,
" Good : yet no base oompUancea we try | CooTteoas, we thank them ; chorlish, we defy ; Their sway may reach o'er statesmen, senates, kings — No craven fear shall curb the mnse's wingrs ; On the pure breeze of heaven she baoys her flight. Her course is freedom, and her track is light ; Above the din of strife, the frown of power. Neglects slow chill, or fashions transient hour ; With Joyous ease, and native strength, she moves Superior even to the praise she loves."
Contrasting the present state of our periodicals with what they were a century ago, will strikingly illustrate the extension of this description of our literature. In the year 1731, when the Gtntle- man't Magazine commenced its monthly course, about four hundred half sheets were sufficient for the demand of the whole empire ; now above fifty millions of sheets find eager purchasers. In 1770 there were only four circulating libraries in London, where there are now above one hundred, and nearly one thousand scattered through the
kingdom ; besides these, there are about two thousand book societies, and other means, distri- buting laTge masses of information on history, voyages, and every species of science by which the sum of human knowledge can be improved. ' Newspapers, or some kind of periodical publi- cation, answering thepurpose of newspapers, are slowly spreading themselves all over the world ; but they can hardly be said to have taken root anywhere but in Europe, or in countries peopled by Europeans ; in fact, with the single exception of China,* (even the jealous vigilance of the celestial empire has not been able to shut out this " barbarian" feature) all the newspapers in the world owe their origin to Europeans. Few, if any, of the British colonies ate without a newspaper. In the vast regions of Hindostan several journals in the native dialects have ap- peared within the last few years; and, without doubt, owe their origin to the labours of the missionaries, who have imparted a spirit of inquiry to the half-civilized natives. Where the rude and uncultivated state of the population is not attended to by the government, or where the press is under the strictest luneillance, and a censorship, as is the case in most of the continen- tal kingdoms, true freedom of opinion can be but litUe appreciated.
Returns of the number of newspapers to which stamps were issued, and of the number of stamps issued to newspapers, in the years ending lAth September, 1830 and 1637 ; distinguishing the number issued to London newspapers, to English provincial newspapers, and to Irish and Soots' newspapers respectively, and showing the total number and amount each year ; also, the amount of newspaper stamp duty received in each of the above periods.
Year ending Sept. I6,
Year ending Sept. 15, 1837.
II
Number
of Stamps.
Number of Newspap.
Number
of Stamps.
Duty.
Newspaper, London . . . Bngl. prov. Scotch do. Irish do.
71 IIH S4
7»
19,141,640 8,S3S,39« a,6S4,438 S,]44,S83
238SS6! 85 113804 137 33393 65 37535 71
19,171,797 14,996,113 4,133,330 5,303,967
111553 61483 I7I8I
397
3S,S7a,05«
443177 458
53,496,107
117480
- When Paul came to Athens, he perceived, that all the
Athenians and stran^rs which were there spent their time in uothiof else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing'. — Acts xvii. 21. At a period, more early, per- haps, than the time of Paul, the goTemmeot of China distributed, tbroagb that most extensive empire, a written paper, containing alistof the mandarins, who were appoint- ed to rule in every province. Yet, this Chinese Red Book, which was afterwards printed, and for a long time distri- buted, can scarcely be deemed a newspaper.
" To thee, oh Press I let despots qoaU, Oppressors crouch, and tyrants rail,
And own thy righteous sway ; On thy predestinated course, Religion's handmaid I virtue's norse !
Hold thy appointed way, TiU every soul the " light within," Chase every form of grief and sin
From every heart's recess ; Thy goal is reached— thy race is run — The canse of God— the rights of man- Shall crown ' the Press ! the Press ! *
LjOOQ IC
