Hugh Chisholm

“ Whilst all who approached the queen bore witness to her candour and reasonableness in relation to her ministers, all likewise proclaimed how anxiously she considered advice that was submitted to her before letting herself be persuaded that she must accept it for the good of her people.
Though richly endowed with saving common sense, the queen was not specially remarkable for high development of any specialized intellectual force. Her whole life, public and private, was an abiding lesson in the paramount importance of character. ”

“ The power of the newspaper in France differs from that of the English newspaper, in that it seems to act more on the government and the parliament than on public opinion. The French newspapers have taken upon themselves, in many cases, functions which belong more properly to the legislative or to the judicial power than to the press, and the result has not always been successful. The cause of this is that too many men of talent with political ambition look upon journalism as “leading to everything, provided one gets out of it.” ”

“ I cannot see one shadow or tittle of evidence that the great unknown underlying the phenomenon of the universe stands to us in the relation of a Father—loves us and cares for us as Christianity asserts. So with regard to the other great Christian dogmas, immortality of soul and future state of rewards and punishments, what possible objection can I—who am compelled perforce to believe in the immortality of what we call Matter and Force, and in a very unmistakable present state of rewards and punishments for our deeds—have to these doctrines? ”

“ But for a high ideal of public responsibility and duty, conjoined with high culture and with great “staying-power,” in the editorial rooms, all these marvels of ingenuity—which now combine to develop public opinion on great public interests, and to guide it—would be nothing better than a vast mechanism for making money out of, man's natural aptitude to spend his time either in telling or in hearing some new thing. ”

“ The popular journal of the present day does not, however, owe its existence and success merely to questions of diminished cost and improved methods of production. A change has come over the public mind. The modern reader likes his news in a brief, handy form, so that he can see at a glance the main facts without the task of reading through wordy articles. This is especially the case with the man of business, who desires to master the news of the past twenty-four hours as he travels to his office in the morning. ”

“ We pass over, as already sufficiently indicated, the newspaper licence of the first-named years (1793–1794) , carried to a pitch which became a disgrace to civilization, and the stern Napoleonic censorship which followed it—also carried to an excess, disgraceful, not, indeed, to civilization, but to the splendid intellect which had once given utterance to the words, “Physical discovery is a grand faculty of the human mind, but literature is the mind itself.” ”

“ Le Monde had the curious fate, at one time, of being conducted jointly by the first editor of L’Avenir, Lamennais, and by George Sand, who had previously figured in the newspaper annals of France as co-foundress of L’Éclaireur de l’Indre, a journal published at Orleans. The account given by that brilliant writer of her adventures in what was then to her a new department of activity is an instructive one. With that breadth of sympathy which was so characteristic of her, she strove to interest all her friends (however varied in character, as in rank) in the enterprise. ”

“ Most people probably read more papers than is compatible with a healthy mental digestion, but the Press, as such, has to-day an enormous—and none the less real because subtle—influence; and this is largely due to the reputation maintained by its higher representatives. While, individually, the great papers wield considerable influence, due partly to real sagacity and authority, partly to the psychological effect produced by mere print or by reiterated statement, collectively the Press now represents the Public, and expresses popular opinion more directly than any representative assembly. ”

“ The Times has long stood in a class by itself among newspapers, owing to its abundance of trustworthy news, its high literary standard and its command of the ablest writers, who, however, are generally anonymous in its columns. It has always claimed to be a national rather than a party organ. It was Liberal in its politics in the Reform days, but became more and more Conservative and Imperialist when the Unionist and anti-Home Rule era set in. On the conversion of Mr Gladstone to Home Rule, The Times was, indeed, largely instrumental in forming the Liberal-Unionist party. ”

“ These discoveries raised the surmise that Oxford was the tool of a widespread Chartist conspiracy—or, as the Irish pretended, of a conspiracy of Orangemen to set the duke of Cumberland on the throne; and while these delusions were fresh, they threw well-disposed persons into a paroxysm of loyalty. Even the London street dogs, as Sydney Smith said, joined with O'Connell in barking “God save the Queen.” Oxford seems to have been craving for notoriety ”

“ Publication in this shape has many advantages for an author besides that of additional remuneration; it offers an opportunity for a new writer to try his wings, and it helps to introduce him at once to a large public. Moreover, the newspapers read by the educated classes profit by the superior class of journalist represented by writers of a literary turn. But the increased popularity of the newspaper, and the close tie between it and the literary world, have on the whole impressed a journalistic stamp upon much of the literature of the day. ”

“ The publicist proper is he who delivers his views on public affairs in the Press; but the excellence of his articles may nevertheless, be consistent with the journal being a disastrous failure, and his reputation as a journalist is then but poor. The great journalist is he who makes the paper with which he is connected a success ”

“ The history of the “leading article” as a great factor in the shaping of public opinion begins with Swift, Defoe, Bolingbroke and Pulteney, in the many English newspapers, from the Review and the Examiner to the Craftsman, by which was waged the keen political strife of the years 1704-1740. There is no counterpart to it in France until the Revolution of 1789, nor in Germany until 1796 or 1798. It was a Frenchman who wrote—“Suffer yourself to be blamed, imprisoned, condemned; suffer yourself even to be hanged; but publish your opinions. It is not a right; it is a duty.” ”

“ Queen Victoria was a ruler of a new type. When she ascended the throne the popular faith in kings and queens was on the decline. She revived that faith, she consolidated her throne; she not only captivated the affections of the multitude, but won the respect of thoughtful men ”

“ The Press, be it added, is frequently able to acquaint the public with what is going on while a government itself is still uninformed. The work of officials and statesmen is admittedly increased and sometimes embarrassed by the new strain imposed upon them in consequence, but the public are on the whole well served by their emancipation from the obscurity of purely official intelligence and by the obligation of straightforward dealing imposed upon governments, which in their nature are apt to be secretive. ”

“ When the imposition of a special censorship was threatened in 1805, at the instance of Fouché, a remarkable correspondence took place between Fievée and Napoleon himself, in the course of which the emperor wrote that the only means of preserving a newspaper from suspension was “to avoid the publication of any news unfavourable to the government, until the truth of it is so well established that the publication becomes needless.” ”

“ The “leader” is to some extent a form of newspaper routine, but on the whole it is a routine which has proved its value by experience. The continuous high standard of tone, maintained by so many great journals, depends more largely than is sometimes realized on the regular industry and skill of those whose business it is to discuss the latest developments of affairs every day or every week in a manner which gives reasonable men something fresh to think about, or interprets for them the thoughts which are only vaguely floating in their minds. ”

“ In 1790 the sale of the Mercure rose very rapidly. It attained for a time a circulation of 13,000 copies. Mirabeau styled it in debate “the most able of the newspapers.” Great pains were taken in the collection of statistics and state papers, the absence of which from the French newspaper press had helped to depress its credit as compared with the political journalism of England and to some extent of Germany. But, as the Revolution marched on towards a destructive democracy, Mallet du Pan evinced more and more unmistakably his rooted attachment to a constitutional monarchy. ”

“ The estates of the duchy of Cornwall, the hereditary appanage of the prince of Wales, were so greatly improved under his father’s management that the rent-roll rose from £11,000 to £50,000 a year. Prince Albert, indeed, had a peculiar talent for the management of landed estates. His model farm at Windsor was in every way worthy of the name; and the grounds at Balmoral and Osborne were laid out entirely in conformity with his designs.
A character so pure, and a life so useful and well-directed in all its aims, could scarcely fail to win respect among those who were acquainted with the facts. ”

“ The modern newspaper, moreover, depends for its financial success no longer primarily on its receipts from circulation, but on its receipts from advertisements; and though these can only ultimately be secured on the basis of circulation (the number of people who buy and read the paper) , the establishment of the paper as the organ of a large body of readers for whose custom it is desirable to advertise often involves other capacities than those of the great publicist ”

“ At the beginning of each article he will quote the foreign paper from which it is taken, that the public, seeing from what country a piece of news comes, with the allowance of that government, may be better able to judge of the credibility and fairness of the relation. Nor will he take upon himself to give any comments, . . . supposing other people to have sense enough to make reflexions for themselves.” Then came, in rapid succession, a crowd of new competitors for public favour, of less frequent publication. ”

“ Competitors outdid each other in the effort to treat all news with unprecedented sensationalism. The lowest possible price was regarded as essential to the largest possible circulation, and so a favourite price even for large newspapers became one cent to the public, and consequently only half a cent to the publishers, whose business was practically all at wholesale with dealers and news companies. The feeling that the most must be given for the money prompted also the great increase in size, only made possible by the reductions in paper, composition, press work, &c., already noted. ”

“ When Johnson wrote his sarcastic strictures on the newspapers that were the contemporaries and, in a sense, the rivals of the Idler, the news writers had fallen below the standard of an earlier day. A generation before the newspaper was often much more of a political organ than of an industrial venture. All of the many enterprises of Defoe in this field of journalism united indeed both characteristics. ”

“ It is to economize time rather than money that the modern reader would often prefer a halfpenny paper; while the man of leisure, who likes to peruse leading articles and full descriptive accounts, finds what he needs in the more highly priced journals. The halfpenny paper in England has not had to contend with the opposition that the penny newspaper met from its threepenny contemporaries in the 'fifties and 'sixties. This is largely due to the fact that in most cases the contributors, paper, printing and general arrangement of the cheaper journal do not leave much room for criticism. ”

“ The growth of the cheap newspaper has since been practically a simultaneous one throughout the civilized World. This has been notably the case in the United States, France and Great Britain. The general tendency in newspaper production, as in all other branches of industry, has in recent times been towards the lowering of prices while maintaining excellence of quality, experience having proved the advantage of large sales with a small margin of profit over a limited circulation with a higher rate of profit. ”

“ The actual owner of the paper, the proprietor, may or may not take part in either side, but in law his authority is delegated to those who produce it. The older ideas of journalistic management survive in making the editor, publisher and printer, but curiously not the “manager,” liable in a writ for libel, contempt of court, &c., together with the proprietor in English law. But no satisfactory legal definition of “editor,” still less of “manager,” is possible, since their positions and powers vary according to circumstances. ”

“ But though he played the game of public life with keen zest, he never really touched either the country or his own party with the faith which creates a personal following, and in later years he found himself somewhat isolated and disappointed, though he was free to express his deeper objections to the new developments in church and state. A tall, fine man, with the grand manner, he was, throughout a long career, a great personality in the life of his time. ”