Page:The Newspaper and the Historian.djvu/104

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ime of The formal journalistic creed is occasionally found and it be

comes a permanent feature of the paper . The Prospectus of the

Evening Post, dated November 16 , 1801, states: “ The design of this paper is to diffuse among the people correct information on all interesting subjects , to inculcate just principles in religion ,

morals, and politics ; and to cultivate a taste for sound literature .” The World ,as established by Joseph Pulitzer, May 10, 1883, has carried this creed at the head of its editorial columns: “ An insti

tution that should always fight for progress and reform , never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties , never belong to any party, always oppose privileged

classes and public plunderers , never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied

with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutoc racy or predatory poverty ." The Evening Mail goes back to the civic oath of the young man of Athens and it states as its creed : “ We will never bring dis

grace to this our city by any act of dishonesty or cowardice , nor the American Revolution, and immediately after it for example, the mottoes frequently used were “ Freedom and unity ,” “ E pluribus unum ," “ For

the country,” “ Our country, and our country 's friends," " Join or die," “ Appeal to Heaven : Independence,” “ Liberty and Independence.” An exceptionally interesting collection has been made of the Latin and

Greek mottoes of the Spectators, Tatlers, and Guardians; the second edition added the mottoes of the Freeholders.

They were translated into English

and both originals and translations published in London , the second edi tion , in 1737 .

The Spectator itself says, No. 370, “ Many ofmy Fair Readers, as well as very gay and well -received Persons of the other Sex, are extremely per

plex'd at the Latin Sentences at the Head of my Speculations; I do not know whether I ought not to indulge them

with Translations of each of

them .” — The translations given in the collected edition are for the most part quite different from

the English lines that accompany, but do not always

translate, the original mottoes. - In the 1247 numbers of the four publica tions, nearly 30 Latin authors are represented in the mottoes and about a dozen Greek authors, while only six mottoes are cited from English writers .

No greater contrast can be found than is that between the selections made by Addison from the Latin and Greek classics and their modern up to -date counterparts that head the newspaper of the day .

Among the most modern as well as the most characteristic of these

remarks were probably those used by the London Daily Mail during the recent war, — " The Paper that Persistently Forewarned the Public about

the War," " The Paper that is Trying to Drag out the Truth ," " The Paper that secured 'Single Men First', ” “ The Paper that Helped to get the Shells," " The Paper that Developed Airmanship .”