; examined and licensed by a better and more impartiall
hand than heretofore_. Another noticeable thing in this manifesto is the
first occurrence of the autocratic editorial 'we.'
Butler had also to contend with the opposition of the news writers or
news correspondents, who doubtless found his undertaking interfere with
their trade. These gentry covenanted for the sum of L3 or L4 a year to
write a news letter every post day to their subscribers in the country.
That this curious trade was thoroughly systematized is evident from the
following passage in Ben Jonson's 'Staple of News,' published in 1635:
'This is the outer room where my clerks sit
And keep their sides, the register i' the midst;
The examiner he sits private there within--
And here I have my several rolls and files
Of news by the alphabet, and all put up
Under their heads.'
The news writers flourished greatly at this period, but as newspapers
began to get a footing, their credit gradually declined--and with
reason, if we may put confidence in the following extract from the
_Evening Post_, of September 6th, 1709:
'There must be L3 or L4 paid per annum by those gentlemen who are
out of town for written news, which is so far generally from having
any probability of matter of fact, that it is frequently stuffed up
with a 'we hear,' or 'an eminent Jew merchant has received a
letter,' being nothing more than downright fiction.
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