CHAPTER I
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEWSPAPER
"Now sing, my Muse, what various parts compose
These rival sheets of politics and prose.
"First, from each brother's hoard a part they draw,
A mutual theft that never fear'd a law;
Whate'er they gain, to each man's portion fall,
And read it once, you read it through them all:
For this their runners ramble day and night,
To drag each lurking deed to open light;
For daily bread the dirty trade they ply,
Coin their fresh tales, and live upon the lie:
Like bees for honey, forth for news they spring—
Industrious creatures! ever on the wing;
Home to their several cells they bear the store,
Cull'd of all kinds, then roam abroad for more."
"These are the ills the teeming press supplies,
The pois'nous springs from learning's fountain rise;
Not there the wise alone their entrance find,
Imparting useful light to mortals blind;
But, blind themselves, these erring guides hold out
Alluring lights to lead us far about;
Screen 'd by such means here Scandal whets her quill,
Here Slander shoots unseen, whene'er she will;
Here Fraud and Falsehood labour to deceive,
And Folly aids them both, impatient to believe."—Crabbe.
"This folio of four pages, happy work
Which not even critics criticise; that holds
Inquisitive attention, while I read,
Fast bound in chains of silence, which the fair,
Though eloquent themselves, yet fear to break;
What is it but a map of busy life,
Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns? "—Cowper.
"A newspaper is an adviser who does not require to be sought, but who comes of his own accord, and talks to you briefly every day of the common weal, without distracting you from your private affairs."—De Tocqueville.
"Ivrybody is inthrested in what ivrybody else is doin' that's wrong. That's what makes th' newspapers."
"D'ye think people likes th' newspapers iv th' prisint time?" asked Mr. Hennessy.
"D'ye think they're printed f'r fun?" said Mr. Dooley.—F. P. Dunne.
