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paper so early as the reign of Elizabeth is not worthy of
credence. It is true that copies of "The English Mer curie"
bearing a date a century earlier than the creation of the
parish of St. James are extant, but experts have pointed out that
the date given does not tally with the date of the manufacture
of the paper on which it is printed. The daily newspaper was,
in fact, unknown, for the Postboy, which was the earliest paper
of the kind, did not appear until the year 1695, and proved
unsuccessful, although seven years later, the first number of
the Courant was published and met with success. Reports of
the debates in Parliament were not permitted, it being then
practically, as it is still theoretically, an offence to print the
speeches without the permission of the House. It was not
until the time of Dr. Johnson that any serious attempt was
made to acquaint the public of the progress of business in
Parliament, and it may be remembered, that the worthy
Doctor did not think it in any way wrong to tinge the reports
he published with the colour of his own views, and as one of
his biographers has remarked, "always give the Tories the
best of the argument." Considering, however, the inordinate
length to which Parliamentary debates have been carried
since they have been so fully reported in the columns of the
daily press, it is questionable whether the price paid for publicity
is not in some respects excessive. Not only was the
press itself in fetters, but the publication of books and literature
of any kind was much restricted until the Revolution.
The absence of newspapers was, however, probably not very
severely felt by the masses, who had neither the means to
purchase the few broad sheets available, nor, with a few
exceptions, the ability to read. It may not be out of place
to remark here that the English language had but recently
assumed a settled form, much as we know it now, in consequence,
to a very large extent, of the works of Shakespeare,
Spenser, and Milton, and the translation of the Bible