selected from leading London papers " present in a new light a series of occurrences that have in their day been subjects of public recognition and journalistic record ,” ? and they thus give an almost complete collection of material for the study of certain phases of nineteenth century English history. The editorials in American newspapers while perhaps less significant must still be reckoned with by the historian . James Ford Rhodes has written , “ I can emphatically say that if you want to penetrate into the thoughts , feelings, and grounds of decision of the 1,866 ,000 men who voted for Lincoln in 1860, you should study the New York weekly Tribune . . . it was the greatest single journalistic in
fluence in 1854 with a circulation of 112 ,000.” And again he writes, “ The story of the secession movement of November and
December , 1860, can not be told with correctness and life without frequent references to the Charleston Mercury and the Charleston Courier . The Mercury especially was an index of
opinion and so vivid is its daily chronicle of events that the historian is able to put himself in the place of those ardent South Carolinians and understand their point of view .” 3
The illustration is the most conspicuous feature of the press that suggests present or past conditions and it is of special value as an interpretative record . The cartoon in particular through its insight into the past interprets the present for the future; the cartoonist and the historian are thus kindred spirits . Since the newspaper in its illustrations tends to the form of the caricature,
the cartoon, and the photograph, it has as a rule greater value for the historian than have the illustrations of the magazines that, outside of the advertising pages, tend to the purely ornamental. One of the greatest values of the illustration to the historian is
its comparative freedom from authority . In political cartoons especially , much is tolerated and even welcomed that would probably not be permitted in the text. Punch hasmore than once shown weak spots in the methods of canvassing at a general
election and it has thus been an ally on the side of purity of elections. The cartoon in Germany has seemed to be under less 2 H . F . Bussey, Sixty Years of Journalism , Preface.
3 “ Newspapers as Historical Sources,” Atlantic Monthly, May, 1909, 103 : 650 -657.
