Crude ideas, resting on a very slender foundation, are too often presented to the public where the writer has to supply daily a certain quantity of comment on the political, social, or intellectual problems of the hour. In this respect the Press of the past had an advantage, and this is shown in the more finished and permanent character of the articles which found a place in the pages of the Press of the eighteenth century. Such contributions were, of course, not to be met with every day, and the papers were not, speaking generally, equipped with competent literary staffs, but depended for much of the high character of their contents on men who, either by means of their contributions to the Press were making the first steps which led to literary fame, or on others who were of the character of those eminent specialists who, now-a-days, on questions of importance, address letters to the Times. There was no reporting either of the doings of Imperial or local bodies worthy of the name; and the proceedings of the Law Courts were not recorded in the Press. A noticeable feature in the papers of the period was, however, gossipy paragraphs about the Court and society, and lengthy extracts from semi-private letters of foreign correspondents relative to Continental politics and campaigns. Some description of two or three typical country and London papers will give an idea of the Press of the eighteenth century.
Country newspapers which were established during this period were usually started by printers or booksellers of a literary turn of mind, men of some culture who were able to use their pen with good effect. They often- took a leading part in the local controversies of the day, but, curious to relate, they did not greatly concern themselves in the collection of local news. This arose in-a large measure, no doubt, from the limited area in which the local Press circulated. A local event would be considered
