Before entering into a description of the English Press as it exists to-day, mention must be made of some of the hardy — even tough pioneers of English journalism. Their path was not so rosy and remunerative as is that of their successors of the 20th century. They suf fered persecutions almost as malicious and cruel as did the religious leaders of the Middle Ages. Those early editors, writers and publishers spent much of their time in prison; yet even vermin infested cells and low diet, punishments, heavy fines and personal mutilation failed to repress the ardent disciples of the new art of journal ism. They served their sentences, fines and stood in the public pillory to be pelted with stale eggs and vegetables. Nevertheless, they continued to abuse profligate kings and princes; they denounced ministers and political jobbery; ventilated the scandals of the aristoc racy, misappropriation of public funds, blunders of generals or admirals, and the maladministra tion of justice. Not infrequently writers on opposition papers turned their weapons of satire and invective against each other. Thus one journal would refer to °our blubber-headed contemporary the . . ."; another to that squirt of filthy water the Daily . . . ; or °that slop-pail of malice and ignorance the Weekly . . ?) These are verbatim examples quoted in The Times of the later 18th and early 19th centuries. But however much they dif fered on the polemics of the day, they were at all times unanimous in defending the freedom of the press and the right to express their opin ions, no matter how distasteful those opinions might be to those in high places. It was consid ered an essential of good government in those days to suppress all criticism against the rulers of the state. In his ideal community, 'Utopia,' Sir Thomas More (d. 1535) considered such criticism worthy of the death penalty.
Among the early °stars° of English jour nalism were John Thomas, who was the first to print independent parliamentary news (1641); Samuel Peck, the so-called °Father of the Eng lish Press,* who first wrote a °diurnal!) of purely English news about 1650; John Dilling ham invented the leading article or °editorial,* one of which landed him in prison in 1645; Henry Walker was Cromwell's °special re porter*; he began in business as a hardware dealer, became an ordained minister, was ex pelled from the church and finished up his career as the most popular and most unscrup ulous journalist of his day. Quite a number of black sheep made their way into journalism during the 17th and 18th centuries, men whose chief stock in trade consisted of filth, slander, abuse, blasphemy, unctuous adulation and even incitement to murder. Not a few of them, either from utter lack of principle or force of circumstance, frequently changed their opinions and wrote now for, and then against, any prom inent person or public policy. Of such a class was Marchmont Nedham, the last of Crom well's editors, who was hired at $500 per annum to defend the executioners of Charles I. His Mercurius Politicus was founded in 1650 for that purpose; the poet Milton is generally sup posed to have contributed to its columns. John Goodwin, the Nonconformist preacher, de scribed Nedham as *an infamous unclean per son, next the hangman.* General Monck ap pointed his. brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Clarges, a druggist by trade, to start a party paper. The editor or *author' chosen for this publica tion was Henry Muddiman, who is described in Pepys' 'Diary' as °a good scholar and an arch rogue.* Nevertheless, Muddiman was perhaps the leading journalist of the century in regard to achievement and influence in those stirring times. An excellent account of his life is given in the London Times of 10 Sept. 1912. The notorious Titus Oates also employed a band of hireling *scriveners.* Other prominent newspaper contributors were Daniel Defoe, the author of (Robinson Crusoe' ; Dean Swift, Bolingbroke, Henry Fielding, Nathaniel But ter, Steele, Addison, Dr. Johnson, etc. To a later period belong Edmund Burke, Cobbett and Wilkes, who combined politics with journalism. It was Burke who made the first attempt to present the history of the world in an annual periodical in the Register,' which he founded in 1759, writing the first two or three volumes almost entirely himself. That inval uable work has appeared regularly now for 158 years; it is the property of Messrs. Longmans, Green and Company. A shining example of anonymous English journalism is the collection of articles known as the *Junius Letters* (q.v.), the authorship of which has never been satisfactorily established.
It may be roughly asserted that up to the dawn of the 19th century journalism in England was generally regarded as a more or less dis reputable profession; with some few honorable exceptions the writers were either mercenaries or violent partisans, or else had axes of their own to grind. The first real stimulus in Eng land toward an honest, incorruptible press, fearless and outspoken regardless of conse quences, was given by The Times (London). Near the middle of the 19th century it grad ually became more and more a custom for °the better class' of public men and eminent writers to contribute to newspapers, expressing their opinions or publishing reviews. Thack eray reviewed Carlyle's (French Revolution' in The Times (3 Aug. 1837) ; Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) wrote the 'Runymede Letters' anonymously in 1836; Charles Dickens wrote a powerful letter condemning public executions (14 Nov. 1849) ; Carlyle wrote on Mazzini and some of Tennyson's poems first appeared in the same journal, while Cabinet ministers were not averse from appearing in its columns. In later years, journalism rose to a high dignity in Great Britain. Its disciples have been desig nated (by Burke) *The Fourth Estate of the Realm,* and many have deservedly gained high honors and distinctions. The late Lord Salis bury, Premier and Foreign Secretary, at one time wrote editorials on foreign affairs for The Standard; the father of Lord Halsbury, late Lord High Chancellor, was the first editor of that paper; the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Clarke, K. C., contributed many of the literary reviews for it in the early 60's, while Alfred Austin, the late Poet Laureate, and G. A. Henty, the well-known writer of boys' stories, served on the staff for many years. Sir Fred erick Wedmore was the art critic for nearly 40 years and Sir John Foster Fraser its Parlia mentary representative. Earl Curzon, former viceroy of India, was once a correspondent of The Times; Sir William Russell was its re porter in the Crimean War; Lord Sydenham Its military expert; Sir Donald M. Wallace, K.C.I.E., and Sir Valentine Chirol were suc cessively directors of its foreign department. Lord Milner, formerly High Commissioner for South Africa, was assistant editor of The Pall Mall Gazette under the late W. T. Stead. The late Lord Glenesk was proprietor of The Morn ing Post; the late Lord Burnham raised The Daily Telegraph from a moribund concern to the first rank among London dailies. With other London and provincial editors, journalists and proprietors who have been decorated in recognition of their journalistic achieve ments, the list could be considerably extended.
Particularly interesting is the story of the Harmsworth brothers, one of whom is now Lord Northcliffe and the other Lord Rother mere. In 1881 Mr. (afterward Sir) George Newnes founded a penny weekly paper of light reading named Tit-Bits, which became an in stantaneous success; Mr. Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe) followed seven years later with a similar publication, Answers, and in 1890 Mr. C. A. (now Sir Arthur) Pearson founded another journal of the same type, Pearson's Weekly. All three papers climbed to enormous circulations, stimulated by competi tions such as *missing word,* *limeric.' (after ward pronounced illegal) and guessing the birth rate for London three months in advance. Prizes as high as $5,000 each were offered, in one competition there were so many correct answers that Messrs. Harmsworh added several thousand dollars to enable each winner to col lect 10 shillings and six-pence ($2.50). Sir George Newnes built up a great publishing business confining itself to books and maga zines. In 1896 Mr. Harmsworth founded The Daily Mail, a one-cent paper which now claims a circulation of over a million copies per day; Mr. Pearson followed in 1900 with the one-cent Daily Express, which also quickly found an enormous circle of readers. In 1904 Mr. Pear son acquired The Standard and its adjunct The Evening Standard for $1,500,000; the former pa per ceased publication in 1916, a victim of the war; and the latter has passed into other hands. In 1908, as the result of a lawsuit brought by one of the shareholders, The Times was formed into a limited company and Lord Northcliffe secured a controlling interest. Among the proprietors of that famous paper are numerous descendants and relatives of the original founder, John Walter; the fifth in line of suc cession, John Walter the fourth, son of the last chief proprietor, Arthur Fraser Walter (d. 1910), is chairman of The Times Publish ing Company. Sir Arthur Pearson, who had suffered for years with an affliction of the eyes, is now blind; he has retired from journal ism and dedicates his energies to ameliorating the condition of soldiers who lost their sight in the European War. The Times is the sec ond oldest London newspaper. It is regarded — in England at least — as *the greatest paper in the world.* Certainly no journal has a more romantic history behind it, or exerted a more world-wide influence. Founded in 1785 as The Universal Daily Register by John Walter, a prosperous coal merchant, its title was changed in 1788 to The Times. For a libel on the Duke of York, Walter was fined, imprisoned and condemned to stand in the pillory (1789). Under John Walter 2d (1776-1847) the paper rose to the great eminence it has since enjoyed. Originally printed "logographically" from wooden The Times was the first news paper to be printed by steam, in 1814. During the Napoleonic wars John Walter established his own system of continental couriers and had his own sailing vessels to convey dispatches across the Channel. He had the first °special correspondent') at Tilsit in 1807, and sent the first war correspondent, Henry Crabb Robinson, to the Peninsular War in 1808. Proprietor, editor and business manager combined, Walter was fearless of authority, incorruptible and entirely indifferent toprofit or loss; he instilled a wholesome respect for his journal among the ruling classes, not only in England, but through out Europe. The oldest daily in London is the Morning Post (1772), which, with the Daily Telegraph (1855) rims the leading paper close in excellence of style and lavish expenditure on foreign news. The Daily News (1846) and the Daily Chronicle (1855) were reduced from a penny to a half-penny in 1904, and are widely read by the working classes. In 1906 Mr. Franklin Thomasson, M.P., started The Tri bune, a magnificent production (daily) which only existed two years, after $2,000,000 had been sunk in the venture. The evening press of London consists of the Conservative Pall Mall Gazette — formerly the property of Mr. W: W. (now Lord) Astor, of New York; the Evening Standard, the Globe (1803), Evening News, the Liberal Westminster Gazette and the Star. Nearly all of them are published in or close to Fleet street, perhaps the most interesting and romantic thoroughfare in the world. Though just over a quarter of a mile long, it contains offices of all the important papers of the empire, of the United States, China, India, Siam, Russia, Germany, France, etc. Fleet street is haunted by memories of many writers; its history is a history of the personalities of English literature. Not only Dr. Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Lamb, Izaac Walton and Alexander Pope frequented its old "coffee houses," but ''the ghosts of most of our literary men, famous and unknown, are to be found there.° The great Delane of the Times lived there; Charles Dickens edited the Daily News; Edmund Yates The World, Sir Edwin Arnold the Daily Telegraph, Henry Labouchere con ducted Truth, Sir F. C. Burnand and now Sir Owen Seaman Punch, W. T. Stead ran The Review of Reviews and The Pall Mall, Justin McCarthy the Morning Star, to say nothing of the host of anonymous writers, artists, critics and literary adventurers. The fascination of Fleet street is irresistible; it is strewn with the wreckage of unachieved ambitions and has provided fortunes and fame for the successful minority. It is a tradition that once Fleet street is entered by the predestined journalist, it quickly grips him body and soul, and nothing will shake his faith that success does not await him around the next corner. London is rich in Sunday and weekly papers. Of the former, the most prominent are the Observer, Sunday Times (no connection with the other paper of that name); News of the World. Lloyd's Weekly (enormous circulation throughout the British empire) ; Weekly Dispatch, The Referee and The People. The more sedate weeklies are the Spectator, the Saturday Review, the Atheneum, the Academy, and the British Weekly; the Illustrated London News and the Graphic have a world-wide reputation as old established and high-class journals; the Era is devoted to the theatrical and musical profes sions, the Lancet to medicine and surgery; Vanity Fair to social affairs, literature, sport, etc., and the great humorist, Punch, is too well known to need description. Notes and Queries (established 1849) is one of the most interest ing journals for scholars; the Sphere, the Queen, the Tatter and the Bystander are also excellent illustrated papers (weekly); John Bull is a penny weekly of a strong radical type. The sporting fraternity is catered for by the daily Sportsman and Sporting Life; the liquor inter ests are upheld by the Morning Advertiser, while Truth devotes its energies to exposing frauds; it has fought more libel actions than any other paper in existence, and has won most of them.