No More Learning

Mackworth Praed was for a time the editor of The Morning Post, but his early years of promise were closed by a premature death. He wanted the sturdy frame of his contemporary Macaulay, and fell prema turely under the weight of literary and political conflict.
The Morning Herald arose, as we have seen, in
consequence of a disagreement among the conductors of The Morning Post — the Rev. Mr. Bate seceding from that Paper, and starting an opposition Journal, under the title of " The Morning Herald and Daily
Advertiser;" No. 1 being dated Wednesday, Novem- vol. ir. K
146 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
ber 1, 1780. In the Paper of that date, the editor published the following address :—
Nov. 1, 1780. To the Public. — It can require but little apology for introducing a political publication to the world, that is meant to be conducted upon liberal principles. If The Morning Herald does not owe its general complexion to such principles, it cannot be entitled to public support. The editor natters himself it will appear early in the course of his arduous undertaking that he has been attentive to every arrangement from whence his readers
could derive information or entertainment. His power now being equal to the suppression of obscene trash and low invective, he trusts such articles will never stray from their natural channel to defile a single column of The Morning Herald ! To what ever system of politics he may individually be inclined, no prejudices arising from thence shall induce him to sacrifice at any time the sensible and dispassionate correspondence of either party. Never wishing to conceal a syllable of his own writing, he flatters himself that an open avowal of such, and holding himself accountable for it on every occasion, will prove all that can reasonably be required of him ;—yet, should any individual find himself really injured, either by the accidental
oversight of the printer, or the concealed arrow of an anony mous detractor—he trusts a temperate application for redress will never be made in vain !
Having thus candidly pledged himself to the world, he boldly lays The Morning Herald before them, convinced that a due observance of these declarations cannot fail to secure it the honourable and lasting patronage of the Public !
The new Paper gained considerable success, al though it had at first to encounter the difficulties that usually assail such undertakings. Bate, though a clergyman, entered on secular disputes, and his Paper felt the weight of more than one verdict. In 1781, when
THE MORNING HERALD. 147
the new Journal was barely a year old, it suffered in
company with several of its contemporaries who had
printed an offensive paragraph. Thus the printer of The London Courant was sentenced to stand in the pil lory for an hour, to be imprisoned for a year, and to pay a fine of £100 : the printer of The Noon Gazette, who had copied the paragraph, was fined £50, and ordered to be imprisoned for a year; and as he had put in another paragraph, justifying his conduct in reference to the first statement, he was further sentenced to an additional six months' imprisonment, and to stand in the pillory : the publisher of The Morning Herald came in also for a year's imprisonment, and a £100 fine ; whilst the printer of The Gazetteer (being a woman) escaped the pillory, but was mulcted in £50,
and laid six months in gaol, — all these sentences being inflicted for a " libel on the Russian ambassador. "
A few years later, Mr. Perryman, of The Morning Herald, was convicted of publishing a libel on the House of Commons respecting the trial of Warren Hastings. In 1809, another legal blow was struck at the Paper; the Earl of Leicester obtaining a verdict against it for libel, with no less than £1,000 damages. The Herald was for a long time the organ of the Prince of Wales's party ; and its editor, whilst thus engaged in politics and journalism, became also rather notorious
as a " man of the world," after the fashion of those days. Though a clergyman, he did not hesitate to
engage in three duels. " In justice to him," urges the chronicler of these encounters, " it must be observed that, in one of these instances, his having afforded pro
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tection to a female from the insults of a ruffian, was the cause of his being called into the field. "*
The Gentleman's Magazinef preserves some par ticulars of one of Bate's earlier personal contests, in which a lady was concerned: —"January 13, 1777, a rencontre happened at the Adelphi tavern in the Strand, between Captain Stoney and Mr. Bate, editor of The Morning Post. The cause of quarrel arose from some offensive paragraphs that had ap peared in The Morning Post, highly reflecting on the
character of a lady for whom Captain Stoney had a particular regard. Mr. Bate had taken every possible method, consistent with honour, to convince Mr. Stoney that the insertion of the paragraphs was wholly with out his knowledge, to which Mr. Stoney gave no credit, and insisted on the satisfaction of a gentleman or the discovery of the author. This happened some days
* Croker, in his edition of Boswell's Johnson, mentions Bate, where upon Macaulay, in his review of that book, indulges in a savage note. " Mr. Croker," says Macaulay, " states that Mr. Henry Bate, who afterwards assumed the name of Dudley, was proprietor of The Morn ing Herald, and fought a duel with George Robinson Stoney, in con sequence of some attacks on Lady Strathmore, which appeared in that Paper. Now, Mr. Bate was then connected not with The Morning Herald, but with The Morning Post ; and the dispute took place before The Morning Herald was in existence. The duel was fought in Janu ary, 1777. The chronicle of The Annual Register for that year con tains an account of the transaction, and distinctly states that Mr. Bate was editor of The Morning Post. The Morning Herald, as any person may see by looking at any number of was not established till some time after this affair. For this blunder there we must acknowledge, some excuse for certainly seems almost incredible to person living in our time that any human being should ever have stooped to fight with a writer in The Morning Post. "
Gent. Mag. , Vol. XLVIL, p. 43.
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THE MORNING HERALD EDITORIAL DUEL. 149
before, but meeting as it were by accident on the day here mentioned, they adjourned to the Adelphi, called for a room, shut the door, and being furnished with pistols, discharged them at each other without effect. They then drew swords, and Mr. Stoney received a wound in the breast and arm, and Mr. Bate one in the thigh. Mr. Bate's sword bent and slanted against the Captain's breastbone, which Mr. Bate apprising him of, Captain Stoney called to him to straighten it— and in the interim, while the sword was under his foot for that purpose, the door was broken open, or the death of one of the parties would most certainly have been the issue. On the Saturday following, Captain Stoney was married to the lady in whose behalf he had thus hazarded his life. " Editors then had to main tain the point of a paragraph with the point of the sword.
Bate assumed the name of Dudley, in compliance with the will of a friend who left him an estate. In 1781 the advowson of Bradwell-juxta-mare in Essex was bought in trust for him, subject to the life of the incumbent. Here, it is said, he laid out nearly twenty- eight thousand pounds in restoring the church, rebuild ing the school and parsonage houses, and draining the glebe lands. When the incumbent died, the Bishop of London refused to induct Bate Dudley, and a legal contest took place which ended in a compromise. It is said,* that from the day on which Bate Dudley was deprived of Bradwell, up to the day on which he was collated to the rectory of Kilcoran, seven years had elapsed, and his loss of property during that inter-
* Gent. Mag. , Vol. XCIV. , 1824, p. 275.
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val, including his disbursements for improvements, amounted to £50,820.
The subject of the severe treatment to which Bate
Dudley had been subjected, was brought forward in a debate which had for its subject the residence of the clergy,* when " Mr. Sheridan," in a strain of over powering eloquence, " addressed the House of Com mons on the severe measures which had been directed against Mr. Dudley, and he conclusively commented on the proceedings as entirely at variance with that mild spirit which was the characteristic of the English Church. " The Prince Regent and the Duke of Clarence appear to have taken great interest in his welfare, and hence his subsequent good fortune. In 1805, Bate Dudley was made chancellor of the diocese of Ferns, with the valuable rectory of Kilcoran attached, and in 1812 he obtained a baronetcy. The new baronet did not exhaust his valorous
propensities simply by displaying somewhat doubtful acts of
courage in single combat ; as a county magistrate, assisted by a troop of yeomanry, a small number of dragoons and militia, he defeated a body of insurgents at Littleport, near Ely, on the 24th May, 1816, and secured several of the party with his own hands. The conflict while it lasted was sharply contested, the rioters firing upon the troops and magistrates from barricaded houses near the river. For this gallant service he was complimented by the grand jury, and received a vote of thanks from the magistrates and Lord Lieutenant of the county, and was presented with a
* Gent. Mag. , Vol. XCIV. , p. 275.
THE MORNING HERALD SIR BATE DUDLEY. 151
beautiful silver vase, modelled after a highly enriched antique brought from Rome by Sir W. Hamilton. * Hedied in 1824 at Cheltenham. He was the author of works on the Poor Laws and on Tythes; and of the following dramatic publications—Henry and Emma, an interlude, 1 774 ; Tbe Rival Candidates, a comic opera, 1775; The Blackamoor Washed White, a comic opera, 1776; The Flitch of Bacon, a comic opera, 1179; Dramatic Puffers, a prelude, 1782; The Magic Pic ture, 1783; The Woodman, a comic opera, 1791; Travellers in Switzerland, a comic opera, 1794. He also contributed to the Probationary Odes, and the Rolliad, and was likewise the author of a satirical work entitled, Vortigern and Rowena. f
Once the Blackamoor Washed White was being played, at a time when party spirit ran very high, and the audience differed so completely, that "a contest took place with drawn swords upon the stage itself;" — a fine illustration of the manners and customs of the English in those days. J
Bate Dudley made The Herald || successful, and
• Gent. Mag. , 1817, 1824.
t Annual Register, Vol. XXIV. , 1824, p. 297.
I Annual Register, 1824, p. 297.
|| An anecdote, given in the notes to Jon Bee's edition of Footc,
refers to the Herald, whilst under the control of Bate Dudley, the public supporter of the Prince and of Sheridan. Jon Bee is speaking of the authors of Newspaper critiques, and other paragraphs of those days, and states how they often gave the credit of saying good things to those perfectly innocent of the authorship. " I remember," says Jon Bee, " one of these collectors of scraps of intelligence for a certain Morning Herald, thirty years ago and more, always gave
the credit to Sheridan for all fathered jokes and for some witti cisms that he knew were manufactured by others. Example :—
152 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
sold it for a considerable sum. Mr. Thwaites, who was connected with a wealthy Lancashire manufacturing family, afterwards became the manager of the Paper, and under his direction, great efforts were made, and great expenses incurred, in the race for priority of in telligence.
Gcede,* a German, whose work on England was translated and published in London in 1821, says, when speaking of the English Newspapers :—" These
journalists are no famished authors, who pawn their civil honour for a piece of gold. Most of them are possessed of considerable property, no less a capital than £18,000 being required in order to bring a News paper into circulation ; and their revenues, therefore, often exceed those of a minister of state. The yearly income of the proprietor of The Morning Herald,
I am well assured, the sum of £8,000; and the clear profits of The Star, I have been informed by one of its co-owners, amounts to about three- fourths of that sum. The property of a Paper, how ever, is sometimes vested in fifty different persons, who
exceeds, as
A person who had been admitted to one of the convivial parties of the Prince, reported to that collector a certain good thing which had dropped from some gentleman at table, whose name he did not know. Our collector inquired whether Sheridan was present- Being answered in the affirmative —' Ay, aye, I know how it was ; it 's Sheridan all over. ' Dick Brinsley sat next to, or opposite the little gentleman, and so the little one caught it up. ' I know, I know, how these things go,' hastily observed the News-collector ; and so it was Heralded about next morning, and now appears in the Sheridaniana. The same cunning fox, I have reason for believing, gave to Sheridan in this manner several more good things that belonged to others, and I think I can myself recollect one score instances at least. " —Life ofl'oote-
* A Foreigner's Opinion of England. By C. A. Gottlieb Goede. London, 1821.
THE TIMES* 153
have advanced the capital requisite for this under taking, divide the annual profits among themselves, and from their joint stock deduct a certain stipend to the writer of the Paper, who is generally a respectable author. But it may easily be conceived that they pro ceed with great caution in appointing any one to this office, and that they keep a strict and jealous eye over all his motions. Such a writer is under the imme diate inspection of the public, of the proprietors, of the opposite party, and of his brother editors, who
detect his failings, and are his professional rivals. They live, indeed, in a perpetual warfare with each other : all the artifices usual with authors, are devised and put in practice amongst them ; and their mutual jealousies sometimes give birth to scenes of an extraordinary nature. "
The Times is still in the hands of the family of its founder, and in this respect stands alone amongst the Morning Papers. It was commenced by John Walter, of Printing House Square, and its first num ber (as we have already seen) was published on the first of January, 1788, and was a continuation of The Daily Universal Register, of which 939 numbers had previously appeared. Both The Times and its forerunner are described in the heading as being " printed Logographically. " This strange-looking term was applied to a patent which Walter had ob tained, for casting in metal whole words, instead of single letters in the usual mode, these words being placed side by side by the working printer, instead of leaving him to compose with single letters.
eagerly
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In short, Walter used stereotyped words, and parts of words, instead of separate metal letters. This new mode is described in a pamphlet,* printed by this process, and published in 1783 by a compositor named H. Johnson, one of its inventors. Walter, who is spoken of as " part contriver of this new method," patented and then went to work to bring the plan into use. He evidently worked with great energy and perseverance, and like all projectors was sanguine of success. The advantages expected to be gained by the logographic mode were, that the ortho graphical errors would be far less than by ordinary printing; indeed, that they must be almost impos sible in the majority of cases that less time and labour would be required; and, consequently, that printing would be cheaper. But practical difficulties arose, and many jokes were made at the expense of the new plan. It was said that the orders to the
ran after this fashion —" Send me hundred weight, made up in separate pounds, of heat,
cold, wet, dry, murder, fire, dreadful robbery, atro cious outrage, fearful calamity, and alarming explo sion. " Another hundred would be made up of honour able gentlemen, loud cheers, gracious majesty, inte resting female, and so on. But neither jokes nor difficulties were regarded Walter. He brought out, on the first of January, 1785, The Daily Uni versal Register, printed in the new manner. This had four pages, had halfpenny stamp, and was sold for twopence-halfpenny and in Mr. Walter issued
An Introduction to Logography. By Henry Johnson. London Printed Logographically. 8vo. Walter.
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THE TIMES LOGOGRAPHIC PRINTING. 155
a long address to the public, on introducing his new Paper to their notice, and, in an advertisement, returns thanks for the patronage bestowed on his " new im provements in printing. " It would seem also that the founder of The Times cultivated the acquaintance of
for this first number of his new Paper refers to a Literary Society, established for the
purpose of publishing works which their authors found it difficult to bring before the public. The first num ber of The Daily Register displays no less than fifty- seven advertisements ; some of them, however, rela ting to books, and other speculations of its projector, who was evidently a man of active and energetic mind. In No. 510* we find the following notice of the logographic art, from the pen of its promoter him self. It may be called a passage from the autobio graphy of the founder of The Times : —
To the Public —The indispensable duty I owe to the public, and gratitude to those noble and generous persons from whom I have received encouragement, call upon me to lay be fore them the improvements I have accomplished in printing, by the introduction of logographic types, formed out of letters cemented into syllables and words, and substituted instead of single letters.
The history of arts and sciences evince, that every invention, however rational in appearance, laudable in motive, or useful in its end, becomes obnoxious to a variety of impediments, from the prejudice of custom, the envy of the dull, and the avarice of interested individuals. Suchimpedimentslhaveexpcrienced; but they have stimulated, not damped my endeavours : philosophy, like religion, has always flourished under persecution ; and, as the established truth of an existing Deity, and the axioms of
* No. 510, August 10, 1786. Its price had by this time been raised to threepence.
literary aspirants,
156 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
science have been denied by the disciples of impiety, and the slaves to superstition, it is no wonder that arts should suffer from the dogmatical opposition of folly and dulness.
My enemies have not only openly attacked my plan, but have insidiously attempted to undermine it; but, it being founded on a firm basis, I have stood the test unshaken, while my assailants have been defeated with an exposition of their ignorance, malevolence, and envy.
The end I proposed has been held forth as impracticable ; the means I have adopted for its perfection has been described to be the ebullition of an enthusiastic speculator ; but I am now able to contradict both. I have the power to convince the world that my ideas were not visionary, but founded on reason ; for the justness of my theory is fully proved by practice.
Ignorance and malice, however, have not totally failed in their intent ; they have not only produced many obstacles, but have been a means of considerably encreasing my expenses, which have by far exceeded my original calculations ; but a persever ing and sedulous attention has supported me, and the logo- graphic press is now in a state of improvement that insures the ultimate object of public benefit.
Embarked in a business, into which I entered a mere novice, consisting of several departments, want of experience laid me open to many and gross impositions, and I have been severely injured by the inattention, neglect, and ignorance of others. These reasons, though they will not excuse, will palliate and account for the errors which have appeared in several of the books published at the first working of the logographic press ; for, in fact, these errors were not owing to any defect in the art of printing logographically, but to the readers and editors,
whose duty is was to correct the proof sheets. Complaints, however, will now subside, the cause having been removed, and every branch of the business being at present superintended by men on whose skill, industry, and integrity I can impli citly rely. I shall lay my plan before the public in The Universal Register of to-morrow. John Walter.
Onred letter days, the title of The Daily Register was
THE TIMES LOGOGRAPHIC PRINTING. 157
printed with red ink, and the character of the day stated under the date line. The publication of Friday, the 11th August, 1786, No. 511, is a specimen. It has a red heading ; and, underneath the date, the words, "Princess of Brunswick born. Holiday at the Stamp and Excise Offices, and the Exchequer. " In this number is published the promised Letter II.
In the first letter which I took the liberty of submitting to the public, I slightly touched upon the opposition given to the logographic press, by individuals, and I shall now point out several of the impediments and difficulties which I had to encounter in the arrangement and regulation of the system.
The whole English language lay before me in a confused arrangement ; it consisted of above 90,000 words. This multi tudinous mass I reduced to about 5,000, by separating the par ticles, and removing the obsolete words, technical terms, and common terminations.
Considering, and being advised, that this reduction and ar rangement was sufficiently simple for a first experiment, I had cases formed for different-sized founts, and printed the English Dictionary, on that plan ; but, after severe labour, un remitting attention, and a heavy expense to compositors, whom I was obliged to pay by the week, instead of by the quantity
printed, I discovered many serious objections to this essay, particularly that a great number of the words distributed through the founts were useless, being seldom called for in printing, that, by the rejection of them, the founts might be lessened, and the cells for the types increased in space, the narrowness of which was found extremely inconvenient.
In consequence of these observations, I resolved to alter the whole system, after having incurred a considerable loss, as the cases became useless, and it was necessary to separate again most of the cemented letters from the types of the rejected words, which is done with much ease, and obviates a principal objection thrown out by the trade, that if a single letter was battered, it destroyed the whole word.
158 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
The cases upon which I made my first experiments, were eight in number —their dimensions, six feet and a-half, by four feet and a-half. I afterwards reduced them to six cases, and have now brought the fount in four cases, by reducing the num ber of words, though I have enlarged the cells so far as to answer every purpose of convenience, and facilitate the work of the compositor. In one of those cases is deposited the com mon Roman letter, and it is surrounded by the common particles. A second contains the capitals, and common terminations, with a part of the alphabet in words, the remainder of which, are contained in the third and fourth cases.
The first general arrangement was so far conducive to the end of perfection proposed, that every simple word and root of the language might be joined with facility to the termination required to form the necessary compound, and would answer, with very little variation, not only for English, but for the Latin and French languages (accents excepted), which, to a speculative mind, would have been a fund of amusement. This acquisition, though short of expectation, inspired encourage ment, it expanded hope, and opened a prospect of honour and profit, though shorter of expectation, than my expectation had led me to believe ; but the disappointments I have experienced, and which, in my next letter, I shall explain more fully, has protracted the progress of my endeavours, though they could not sufficiently arrest them, and I am now enabled to assure those patrons, from whom I received encouragement, that I have so far improved the art of printing, as not to retain a doubt of fulfilling my wishes in a very short time.
John Walter.
In the number for 12th August, 1786, we have another display of red ink, it being the birthday of the Prince of Wales ; and also — a subject of more interest to us — Walter's third letter : —
The use of the logographic press may be divided into two heads —saving of time, and saving of labour.
The opposition I have met with could have originated but in
THE TIMES —LOGOGRAPHIC PRINTING. 159
two motives, envy and avarice ; but I have the satisfaction to say, that those who have acted against me, under the influence of either, have been disappointed. The first printer in the country pronounced my plan impracticable ; the critical reviewers at tempted to turn it into ridicule ; but the prophecy of the one has failed, and the ridicule of the others I could now retort upon themselves. Mr. Caslon (the founder), whom I at first em ployed to cast my types, calumniated my plan— he censured what he did not understand, wantonly disappointed me in the work he engaged to execute, and would meanly have sacrificed me to establish the fallacious opinion he had promulgated. How contrary this mercenary conduct to the liberality of Mr.
Jackson, who, comprehending the utility of the plan, exerted his acknowledged abilities in its promotion. Thus attacked and traduced on all sides, and by every branch of the trade, I resolved to cement the materials myself, and, for that purpose, erected a foundry adjoining my printing-house, where I have, with much success, carried on that business, and from which I am able to supply any gentleman with logographic types, who may have
reasons for executing any work of secrecy or amusement, as the types of the words are so easily used in preference to single letters, and, consequently, the knowledge of printing may be acquired with facility. The experiment already made by a nobleman of the first rank and abilities, both in station and knowledge, fully evinces the truth of what is asserted.
I had scarcely extricated myself from the trouble of one opponent, when another arose. Mr. Caslon was succeeded in the generous service of opposing my plan, by one Bell, who has the modesty to style himself a representative of Apollo. Hav ing a pecuniary dispute with this man, respecting a catchpenny publication which I printed, he attacked the logographic press,
through the dull medium of The Morning Post, of which he was then a proprietor ; but the Court of King's Bench deter mined his demands upon me, and a Court of Conscience decided my claims against him, for I recovered in the Court of Conscience, and he lost his suit in the Court of King's Bench.
These disappointed champions have had many successors, who have been equally unfortunate in their attacks.
Thus, through a series of difficulties, naturally arising from
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the pursuit of a new undertaking, and a succession of impedi ments artfully raised against me, I have nearly brought to per fection, an undertaking which has long been an object of contem plation among the greatest men, and the most eminent modern philosophers. Whatever I have already suffered in the execution of a plan so liberal and useful, my country must ultimately reap honour and profit, as it lies open to the inspection of all mankind ;* and, on the expiration of my patent, will become common property. I still, however, confide in the generosity of my country, and trust, that a native, who has dedicated the fragments of a fortune, wrecked in the service of his fellow-sub jects, and his time and labour in the pursuit of an art salutary to the public at large, will not suffer the crash of disappoint ment in the very moment he arrives at the goal, where he has long expected reward to crown his toil.
I beg leave now to lay before the public a catalogue of the books (among a variety of other publications) printed at the logographic press, and also a list of those who are subscribers to a series of works printing at the logographic press by sub scription. John Walter.
* Any gentlemen who chooses may inspect the logographic founts and types, at the printing-office, or at the British Museum, to which place, a fount has been ordered to be removed from the Queen's Palace.
To this letter is appended a catalogue of books published at the logographic press, and a list of sub scribers.
The first number of The Times is not so large as the sheets of The Morning Herald and Morning Chronicle of the same date, but is larger than The London Chronicle, and of the same dimensions and appearance as The Public Advertiser ; which, however, it surpassed in the number of its advertisements. *
* The first number of The Times, in the British Museum Collec tion, has no stamp, showing that sheets sometimes escaped the eye and mark of the Stamp Office in those days.
HISTORY OF THE TIMES. 161
Here is the original prospectus of the Paper, which explains the reasons why the title had been changed from The Daily Universal Register to The Times. The italics and capital letters are given exactly as in the original :
The Times.
Why change the head ?
This question will naturally come from the Public—and we, the Times, being the Public's most humble and most obedient Servants, think ourselves bound to answer :—
All things have heads — and all heads are liable to change.
Every sentence and opinion advanced by Mr. Shandy on the influence and utility of a well-chosen surname, may be properly applied in shewing the recommendations and advan tages which result from placing a striking title-page before a book, or an inviting Head on the front page of a Newspapeb.
A Head so placed, like those heads which once ornamented Temple-Bar, or those of the great Attorney, or great Contractor, which, not long since, were conspicuously elevated for their great actions, and were exhibited in wooden frames, at the East and West ends of this metropolis, never fails of attracting the eyes of passengers —though indeed we do not expect to experience the lenity shown to these great exhibitors, for probably the
Times will be pelted without mercy.
But then a head with a good face is a harbinger, a gentle
man-usher, that often strongly recommends even Dulness, Folly, Immorality, or Vice. The immortal Locke gives evidence to the truth of this observation. That great philo sopher has declared that, though repeatedly taken in, he never could withstand the solicitations of a well-drawn title-page — authority sufficient to justify us in assuming a new head, and a new set offeatures, but not with a design to impose, for we flatter ourselves the Head of the Times will not be found deficient in intellects, but by putting a new face on affairs, will be admired for the light of its countenance, wherever it appears.
To advert to our first position.
VOL. II. L
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The Universal Register has been a name as injurious to the Logographic-News-Paper as Tristram was to Mr. Shandy's son. But Old Shandy forgot he might have rectified by con
firmation the mistake of the parson at baptism —-with the touch of a Bishop, have Tristram to Trismegestus.
The Universal Register, from the day of its first appear ance, to the day of its confirmation, has, like Tristram, suffered from unusual casualties, both laughable and serious, arising from its name, which, on its introduction, was immediately cur tailed of its fair proportion by all who called for it—the word
Universal being universally omitted, and the word Register being only retained. "Boy, bring me the Register. " The waiter answers—" Sir, we have not a library—but you may see it at the New-Exchange Coffee-house. " —"Then I'll see it there," answers the disappointed politician, and he goes to the New-Exchange, and calls for the Register ; upon which the waiter tells him that he cannot have as he not subscriber, and presents him with the Court and City Register the Old Annual Register, or the New Annual Register or, the coffee house be within the purlieus of Covent Garden, or the hundreds of Drury, slips into the politician's hand — Harris's Register of Ladies. For these and other reasons, the parents of the Uni versal Register have added to its original name that of the
TIMES;
which, being monosyllable, bids defiance to corruptors and mutilators of the language.
The Times what monstrous name Granted—for the Times many-headed monster, that speaks with an hundred tongues, and displays thousand characters and in the course of its transformations in life, assumes innumerable shapes and humours.
The critical reader will observe, we personify our new name, but as we will give no distinction or sex, and though will be active in its vocations, yet we apply to the neuter gender.
The Times being formed of materials, and possessing quali ties of opposite and heterogeneous natures, cannot be classed
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HISTORY OF THE TIMES. 163
either in the animal or vegetable genus, but, like the Polypus, is doubtful, and in the discussion, description, dissection, and illustration, will employ the pens of the most celebrated among the literati.
The Heads of the Times, as has been said, are many ; they will, however, not always appear at the same time, but casually, as public or private affairs may call them forth.
The principal, or leading heads, are :— The Literary. —- Political. —Commercial. —Philosophical. —Critical. —Theatrical. —Fashionable. —Humourous. —Witty, &e. Each of which are supplied with a competent share of intellects, for the pursuit of their several functions, an endowment which is not in all time to be found even in the Heads of the State—the heads of the Church —the heads of the Law — the heads of the Navy—the heads of the Army — and, though last, not least—the great heads of the Universities.
The Political Head of The Times, like that of Janus, the Roman Deity, is double-faced; with one countenance it will smile continually on the friends of Old England, and with the other, will frown incessantly on her enemies.
The alteration we have made in our head is not without precedents. The World has parted with half its Caput Mortuum, and a moiety of its brains. The Herald has cut off half of its head, and has lost its original humour. The Post, it is true, retains its whole head, and its old features, and as to the other public prints, they appear as having neither heads nor tails.
On the Parliamentary Head, every communication, that ability and industry can produce, may be expected. To this great National object, The Times will be most sedulously atten tive—most accurately correct—and strictly impartial in its reports.
Though probably a successful Paper whilst in the hands of the first Walter, the logographic printer, The Times did not begin to rise towards the eminence it afterwards attained l
until its management devolved upon 2
164 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
the late Mr. Walter. * He it was who laid the broad foundations of its future prosperity ; the first steps to wards which were taken shortly after his first connec tion with the Journal in 1803, when a bold front was shown to the Pitt ministry, and when the delinquencies of Lord Melville were exposed in its columns. In defending himself against the attack of Wyndham, Mr. Walter described these early days of his connec
tion with The Times, and gave an account, in the columns of that Journal, of the principles he adopted
* The first "Walter endured his share of persecution, having been more than once imprisoned for articles which appeared in his Paper. It has been asserted that he stood in the pillory ; but though sentenced to such punishment, for telling what was no doubt the truth about one of George the Third's sons, he appears to have escaped that portion of the sentence. Here are some notices of the affair from the publications of the time : —
February 3, 1790. —The printer of The Times was brought up from Newgate to the King's Bench, to receive judgment for two libels of which he had been convicted. He was sentenced for the first, which was on the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York (charging their Royal Highnesses with having so demeaned themselves as to incur the just disapprobation of His Majesty), to pay a fine of £100, and to be imprisoned in Newgate for one year, after the expiration of his present confinement ; and for the second, which was on the Duke of Clarence, he was fined £100. The libel against the Duke of Clarence asserted, that His Royal Highness returned from his station without authority from the Admiralty, or the Commanding Officer. — (Ann. Reg. , 1790, p. 195. ) The printer was at that time undergoing his sentence of imprisonment in Newgate, for a libel on the Duke of York, for which he had been sentenced to pay a fine of £50, a year's imprisonment in Newgate, to stand in the pillory for one hour between twelve and three, and to enter into recognizances for his good behaviour for seven years, himself in £500, and two securities in £100 each. —(Ann. Reg. ,
1789, p. 229. ) On the 9th of March, 1791, Mr. Walter was liberated from his confinement in Newgate, after sixteen months' imprisonment at the intercession of the Prince of Wales. — (Ann. Reg. , 1791, p. 16. ) Thus it would appear that the whole sentences were not carried out.
HISTORY OF THE TIMES. 165
when called upon to assume the editorial management of a Morning Paper. * He says, " The joint proprie tor and exclusive manager of this Paper became so in the beginning of the year 1803, and from that date it is that he undertakes to justify the independent spirit with which it has been conducted. On his commenc ing the business, he gave his conscientious and disin terested support to the existing Administration —that of Lord Sidmouth. The Paper continued that support of the men in power, but without suffering them to repay its partiality by contributions calculated to pro duce any reduction whatsoever in the expense of man aging the concern; because, by such admission, the editor was conscious he should have sacrificed the right of condemning any act which he might esteem detrimental to the public welfare. That Administra tion, therefore, had, as he before stated, his disinterested support, because he believed it then, as he believes it now, to have been a virtuous and upright Administra tion ; but not knowing how long it might continue so, he did not choose to surrender his right of free judg ment by accepting of obligations, though offered in the most unexceptionable manner.
" This Ministry was dissolved in the spring 1804, when the places of Lord Sidmouth, Lord St. Vincent, &c, were supplied by Mr. Pitt, Lord Melville, &c. It was not long before the Catamaran expedition was undertaken by Lord Melville ; and again, at a subse quent period, his Lordship's practices in the Navy Department were brought to light by the 10th Eeport of the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry. The editor's
* Times, February 11, 1810.
166 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
father held at that time, and had held for eighteen years before, the situation of printer to the Customs. The editor knew the disposition of the man whose conduct he found himself obliged to condemn ; yet he never refrained a moment, on that account, from speak ing of the Catamaran expedition as it merited, or from bestowing on the practices disclosed in the Tenth Report the terms of reprobation with which they were greeted by the general sense of the country. The
result was as he had apprehended. Without the alle
gation of a single complaint, his family was deprived of the business, which had been so long discharged by of printing for the Customs — business which was performed by contract, and which, he will venture to say, was executed with an economy and precision
that have not since been exceeded. The Government advertisements were at the same time withdrawn. "
Walter then goes on to describe the further history of his Paper. " On the death of Mr. Pitt, in January, 1806, an Administration was formed, containing portion of that preceding Ministry which the editor had so distinterestedly supported on his undertaking the management of the Paper. It was by one of these that he was directed to state the injustice that had been sustained in the loss of the Custom
house business. Various plans were proposed for the recovery of at last, in the following July, copy of memorial, to be presented to the Treasury, was sub
mitted to the editor for his signature but believing
for certain reasons, that this bare reparation of an in jury was likely to be considered as favour entitling those who granted to certain degree of influence
it a
a
;
a
it,
it ;
a
a
a
a
HISTORY OF THE TIMES. 167
over the politics of the Journal, the editor refused to sign, or to have any concern in presenting the me morial. But he did more than even this ; for, finding that a memorial was still likely to be presented, he wrote to those from whom the restoration of the em ployment was to spring, disavowing on his part (with whom the sole conducting of the Paper remained) all share in an application which he conceived was meant to fetter the freedom of that Paper. The prin t- ing business to the Customs, has, as may perhaps be anticipated, never been restored. "
This spirit of independence —the very life-blood of a Journal—brought down upon the man who had the courage to manifest it the anger of the Government, whose officials did not hesitate to throw various im pediments in the way of his obtaining early informa tion. Let him tell the story in his own words :— " The editor will now speak of the oppression which he has sustained while pursuing this independent line of conduct. Since the war of 1805, between Austria
and France, his arrangements to obtain foreign in telligence were of a magnitude to create no ordinary anxiety in his mind respecting their result; yet from the period of the Sidmouth Administration, Govern ment from time to time employed every means in its power to counteract his designs, and he is indebted for his success only to professional exertion, and the private friendship of persons unconnected with politics. First, in relation to the war of 1805, the editor's pack ages from abroad were always stopped by Government at the outports, while those for the Ministerial Jour nals were allowed to pass. The foreign captains were
168 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
always asked by a Government officer at Gravesend, if they had papers for The Times. These, when acknowledged, were as regularly stopped. The Graves- end officer, on being spoken to on the subject, replied, that he would transmit to the editor his papers with the same punctuality as he did those belonging to the publishers of the Journals just alluded to, but that he was not allowed. This led to a complaint at the Home Secretary's office, where the editor, after
repeated delays, was informed by the Under Secretary that the matter did not rest with him, but that it was even then in discussion, whether Government should throw the whole open, or reserve an exclusive channel
for the favoured Journals ; yet was the editor informed that he might receive his foreign papers as a favour from Government. This, of course, implying the expectation of a corresponding favour from him in the spirit and tone of his publication, was firmly rejected ; and he, in consequence, suffered for a time (by the loss or delay of important packets) for this resolution to maintain, at all hazards, his independence.
quent period. They produced the same complaints on the part of the editor ; and a redress was then offered to his grievances, provided it could be known what party in politics he meant to support. This, too, was again declined, as pledging the independence of his Paper. And, be it observed, respecting the whole period during which the present conductor has now spoken, that it was from no determinate spirit of opposition to Government that he rejected the pro posals made to him, On the contrary, he has on
" The same practices were resorted to at a subse
HISTORY OF THE TIMES. 169
several, and those very important occasions, afforded those men his best support, whose offers, nevertheless, at any time, to purchase, or whose attempts to com pel that support, he has deemed himself obliged to reject and resist. Nay, he can with great truth add, that advantages in the most desirable forms have been offered him, and that he has refused them.
" Having thus established his independence during the several Administrations whose measures it has been his office to record, he will not omit the occasion which offers to declare that he equally disclaims all and any individual influence ; and that, when he offers individual praise, it is from a sense of its being
particularly due to the character which calls it forth. " To the courage that could brave a Government,
was added sagacity, enterprise, and unflagging zeal. It was evidently the object of Walter's life to rear up The Times, and year by year he went on laboriously, working out various plans for its improvement. The Government having interfered with his despatches from abroad, he arranged a system which, in spite of the authorities, procured him information of events abroad, often before the Ministry themselves were acquainted with them. " Amongst other acts of his early exertions for the press," says the writer who contributed a notice of his career to The Times, " let
us mention his successful competition for priority
of intelligence with the Government during the Euro
pean war, which (to give a single instance) en abled his Journal to announce the capitulation of Flushing forty-eight hours before the News had arrived through any other channel; and the extinction of
170 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
what, before his time, had been an invariable practice with the General Post Office, strange as it may now appear —the systematic retardation of foreign intelli gence, and the public sale of foreign News for the benefit of the Lombard Street officials. "
Walter's greatest merit, however, was that, un daunted by difficulties and disappointments, he first brought the steam-engine to the assistance of the Newspaper press. "Familiar as this discovery is now," says his biographer in The Times,* "there was a time when it seemed fraught with difficulties as great as those which Fulton has overcome on one element, and Stephenson on another. To take off 5,000 im
to have thought nothing impossible that was useful and good, was early resolved that there should be no
impossibility in printing by steam. It took a long time in those days to strike off the 3,000 or 4,000 copies of The Times. Mr. Walter could not brook the tedium of the manual process. As early as the year 1804, an ingenious compositor, named Thomas Martyn, had invented a self-acting machine for working the press, and had produced a model which satisfied Mr. Walter of the feasibility of the scheme. Being assisted by Mr. Walter with the necessary funds, he made con
siderable progress towards the completion of his work, in the course of which he was exposed to much per- « Times, July 29, 1847.
in an hour was once as ridiculous a con
pressions
ception as to paddle a ship fifteen miles against wind and tide, or to drag in that time a train of carriages weighing a hundred tons fifty miles. Mr. Walter, who, without being a visionary, may be said
THE TIMES AND THE STEAM-PRESS. 171
sonal danger from the hostility of the pressmen, who vowed vengeance against the man whose innovations threatened destruction to their craft. To such a length was their opposition carried, that it was found necessary to introduce the various pieces of the ma chine into the premises with the utmost possible secrecy, while Martyn himself was obliged to shelter
himself under various disguises in order to escape their fury. Mr. Walter, however, was not yet per mitted to reap the fruits of his enterprise. On the very eve of success he was doomed to bitter disappoint ment. He had exhausted his own funds in the attempt, and his father, who had hitherto assisted him, became disheartened, and refused him any further aid. The"project was therefore for the time abandoned.
Mr. Walter, however, was not the man to be de terred from what he had once resolved to do. He gave his mind incessantly to the subject, and courted aid from all quarters, with his usual munificence. In the year 1814 he was induced by a clerical friend, in whose judgment he confided, to make a fresh experi ment ; and accordingly the machinery of the amiable and ingenious Kcenig, assisted by his young friend
Bauer, was introduced —not, indeed, at first into The Times office, but into the adjoining premises, such caution being thought necessary from the threatened violence of the pressmen. Here the work advanced, under the frequent inspection and advice of the friend alluded to. At one period these two able mechanics suspended their anxious toil, and left the premises in disgust. After the lapse, however, of about three days, the same gentleman discovered their retreat,
172 THE FOURTH ESTATE.
induced them to return, showed them to their surprise
their difficulty conquered, and the work still in pro
The night on which this curious machine was first brought into use in its new abode was one of great anxiety, and even alarm. The suspicious pressmen had threatened destruction to any one whose inven tions might suspend their employment —' destruction to him and his traps. ' They were directed to wait for expected News from the Continent. It was about six o'clock in the morning when Mr. Walter went into the press-room, and astonished its occupants by telling them that ' The Times was already printed by steam ! That if they attempted violence, there was a force ready to suppress it ; but that if they were peaceable, their wages should be continued to every one of them till similar employment could be pro cured ;' — a promise which was, no doubt, faithfully performed ; and having so said, he distributed several copies among them. Thus was this most hazardous enterprise undertaken and successfully car ried through, and printing by steam, on an almost
gress.
scale, given to the world. On that memor able day, the 29th of November, 1814, the following announcement appeared in The Times: —
Our journal of this day presents to the public the practical result of the greatest improvement connected with printing, since the discovery of the art itself. The reader of this para graph now holds in his hand one of the many thousand impres sions of The Times Newspaper, which were taken off last night by a mechanical apparatus. A system of machinery, almost or ganic, has been devised and arranged, which, while it relieves the human frame of its most laborious efforts in printing, far exceeds all human powers in rapidity and despatch. That the magnitude
gigantic
THE TIMES AND THE STEAM-PRESS. 173
of the invention may be justly appreciated by its effects, we shall inform the public, that, after the letters are placed by the compositors, and enclosed in what is called the form, little more remains for man to do, than to attend upon and watch this un conscious agent in its operations. The machine is then merely supplied with paper—itself places the form, inks it, adjusts the paper to the form newly inked, stamps the sheet, and gives it forth to the hands of the attendant, at the same time withdraw ing the form for a fresh coat of ink, which itself again distributes, to meet the ensuing sheet, now advancing for impression ; and the whole of these complicated acts is performed with such a velocity and simultaneousness of movement, that no less than
1,100 sheets are impressed in one hour.
That the completion of an invention of this kind, not the
effect of chance, but the result of mechanical combinations, me thodically arranged in the mind of the artist, should be attended with many obstructions, and much delay, may be readily ad mitted. Our share in the event has, indeed, only been the application of the discovery, under an agreement with the pa tentees, to our own particular business ; yet few can conceive, even with this limited interest, the various disappointments and deep anxiety to which we have, for a long course of time, been subjected.
From that day to the end of his life, Mr. Walter never ceased to improve on the original plan ; and his successor following in his footsteps, a machine was ultimately perfected, which produces 8,000 copies in an hour—the machine with which The Times is now printed.
Whilst Walter was perfecting a steam-press to produce a rapid supply of Papers, he was equally energetic and successful in securing literary talent, without which his Journal could never have required such means for satisfying the public demand. In the early days of the Paper, he threw his columns open to
174 THE FOCETH ESTATE.
contributions, and encouraged a supply of " Letters to the Editor. " By these means he now and then found a writer of more than average excellence, and when he did so he sought the name of his correspondent, and
secured his help to supply a few articles on the sub ject he was best acquainted with. The copy thus obtained, was subjected to very careful and judicious
editing ; and to the talent and tact with which this was done, may be ascribed one element of the success ulti mately secured. His plan seems to have been not so much to secure a writing- editor, as an editor who could write when called upon, but whose chief duty was a sagacious selection of contributors, and a prompt and laborious editing of the articles they supplied.
Dr. Stoddart, whose name will long live in the satirical verses of Moore, and others, as Dr. Slop, was an editor of The Times, but differed from Walter so completely in his opinions on the subject of Napoleon and his character, that an explanation became requisite between them. Dr. Stoddart seems to have laboured under a perfect mania as"regarded Bonaparte, who, to his mind, was the real Corsican fiend. " In spite of all suggestions, Stoddart continued to pour out his ultra opinions, and for a while the articles were
Still, however, on, on, he went with a re lentless force, which no suggestions, no remonstrances, no proprietorial directions, could check, and the arti cles were put aside unpublished. A crisis ensued, and Walter, with the liberality which is described as one of the marked features of his character and another element of his success, proposed that Stoddart should cease to be connected with the Paper, receiving
printed.
THE TIMES MR. BARNES. 175
a handsome retiring compensation. The sum was left to be settled by two mutual friends, and they pro ceeded to deliberate on the matter.