NEWSPAPERS. 



209 



jaurnals which relate to public institutions, and the 

 administration, from one to ten ; the law papers, 

 from ten to eighteen, &c. No branch whatever had 

 fewer papers than in 1812: one branch only had 

 retained the same number, bibliography, which had 

 one. If we compare, however, the two years, in 

 respect to the frequency of publication, the increase 

 appears still greater. While, in 1812, twenty-eight 

 monthly papers, and, in 1827, 107 monthly (therefore 

 not quite four times as many), appeared in Paris, the 

 nunilwr of daily papers, in 1829k, was six times greater 

 than in 1812 (5 : 30); moreover, there appeared forty- 

 seven journals twice a week, while, in 1812, no paper 

 of that sort was issued : in 1829, there were forty- 

 five weekly publications, while, in 1812, there were 

 but two. It must also be mentioned, that almost all 

 the papers were printed, in 1829, on larger sheets, 

 and the periodicals in thicker volumes : in short, we 

 believe it would be correct to say that the above 

 proportion of forty -five to 309 expresses but half of 

 the actual increase. In the departments, the period- 

 icals of 1812, 146 in number, had increased, in 1829, 

 to 398. In 1812, there were sixty-four political pa- 

 pers; in 1829, eighty-one: of scientific papers, and 

 those for the fine arts, in 1822, only thirteen ; in 1829, 

 fifty-one: for literature, in 1812, one ; in 1829, sixty: 

 advertising papers, in 1812, sixty-eight ; in 1829, 

 206. Nine departments which, in 1812, had no 

 papers at all, had, in 1829, several. Almost all 

 have more than in 1812, and very few, as Haute- 

 Vienne, have a smaller number. Only in one pro- 

 vince four whole departments had taken no part in 

 this general advancement, and this province is the 

 very one which M. Dupin has marked so black on 

 his map of political economy, Bretagne. In Paris, 

 then, the increase had been six-fold, in the depart- 

 ments three-fold. One of the chief causes of this 

 difference was that, in Paris, where so many printers 

 reside, some independent ones were always found 

 who would undertake liberal publications, while, in 

 the departments, the influence of the prefect, bishop, 

 &c., was too great. Another cause was the immense 

 centralization in Paris, effected by the revolution and 

 Napoleon. If France ever receives the municipal 

 administration for which she has sighed so long, the 

 departments will immediately appear more indepen- 

 dent of Paris. We cannot give a statement of the 

 French papers since the revolution of 1830. New 

 papers liave been started, as the Revolution; old ones 

 have ceased ; several have changed their colour. 



As regards the French journals devoted to litera- 

 ture, amusement, and general discussion, we may 

 observe that the Mercure de France was, for more 

 than a century, the only weekly journal of this char- 

 acter. The whole series (16721813) consists of 

 1657 volumes in 12mo, and 1 10 volumes in 8vo. It 

 is still kept up, but has little popularity. In 1818 

 and 1819, the ultra-liberal Minerve Francaise made 

 a great noise by its political pieces. The chief con- 

 tributors were Etienne, Jay, Jouy, Tissot, and Benj. 

 Constant. The circulation was computed at 15,000 

 copies, and the net profit to each of the seven pro- 

 prietors was 30,00040,000 francs a year. After 

 the restrictions of the freedom of the press, it was 

 discontinued in March, 1820. The Tablettes Univer- 

 telles, edited weekly, since 1823, by Coste, has con- 

 tained some very able essays on general politics and 

 literature, and maintained with success the character 

 of a legitimate opposition. But, in 1824, these Ta- 

 btettes took the tone of the ministry, who had suc- 

 ceeded in purchasing of M. Coste the property of the 

 journal for a very high sum (180,000 francs). The 

 most valuable, and, in some measure, the leading 

 paper in philosophy and literature, is the Globe of 

 Paris, in which professor Cousin has taken a part. 

 v. 



It has contributed to make the French more liberal in 

 their views of foreign literature. In Italy there are 

 similar periodicals ; thus the Giornale Arcadico di 

 Roma embraces literature, fine arts, and miscellaneous 

 subjects. In Milan, since 1828, has appeared the 

 Echo (Eco) which endeavours to keep up a literary in- 

 tercourse between Italy and other countries. In the 

 Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, &c., there are similar 

 journals, which we have not space to enumerate. 



Italy, Spain (till the revolution of March 7, 1820), 

 and Portugal, present little worthy of notice, as re- 

 spects the periodical press. During the occupation 

 of these countries by the French, it was, indeed, more 

 developed than before ; but Napoleon left it no free- 

 dom. At present, from causes easily understood, it 

 has fallen still lower in these countries. The Restau- 

 raaor, in Madrid, has been devoted, since the resto- 

 ration, in 1823, to the political system of the clergy, 

 and the Gaceta, of Madrid, has a semi-official char- 

 acter. Of the Italian gazettes, the Gazette di Fi- 

 renze, the Gazetta di Milano, and the Diario di Roma, 

 are the only ones that are read in foreign countries. 



In the Netherlands, there were, in 1829, newspa- 

 pers in the Dutch and French languages. Several of 

 the latter, and, above all, the Vrai Liberal, in Brus- 

 sels, have been among the most fearless journals of 

 Europe, on which account the editors have been con- 

 stantly at variance with the tribunals. The press in 

 the Netherlands has been, indeed, free, but the law 

 of libel so much the more rigorous, and not unfre- 

 quently enforced with great severity, especially since 

 the law of 1815 ; but, in 1829, the project of a 

 milder law respecting the press was submitted to the 

 chambers. For a long series of years, the (French) 

 Gazette de Leyde enjoyed a great reputation, and was 

 regarded as ttie gazette diplomatique of Europe. It 

 was the property of the Luzac family in Leyden, by 

 whom it was edited for several generations, with the 

 greatest care, and in the purest French style. Of 

 the gazettes published in Dutch (called courants), the 

 Haarlem gazette is the most popular, and has the 

 most extensive sale. In almost every Dutch town, 

 there is published such a courant, filled, for the most 

 part, with articles of intelligence ; and in all of them 

 the singular custom has been introduced of printing 

 them with lines running lengthwise on the margin. 

 In the year 1828, the Niewsen-advertentie-blad, the 

 Gazette des Pays Bas, the Industrie!, with some 

 others, were the most important political papers. In 

 1826, there appeared, in the Dutch language, eighty 

 daily and weekly papers, and thirty-five monthlies. 



In Switzerland, there appeared, in 1824, eleven 

 political papers, seven of which were German, two 

 French, and two Italian. A later account of Switzer- 

 land states, that twenty-four newspapers appear each 

 week, edited nine by Catholics, fifteen by Protestants, 

 not including five papers appearing once a week or 

 fortnight, nor merely scientific periodicals. (See La 

 Chronique Suisse of 1830.) In Sweden, there is not 

 much opposition or independence among the papers. 

 See Swedish Language and Literature. 



The Statistique et Itiniraire de la Russie, by J. H. 

 Schnitzeler (Paris and St Petersburg, 1 829), informs us 

 that, in 1829, seventy-three papers and periodicals were 

 published in the empire. The first paper was published 

 in 1703, under Peter I. The Severnaia Ptchela (Bee 

 of the North) seems to have most subscribers. It 

 appears at Petersburg three times a week. Several 

 papers are published in foreign languages ; for in- 

 stance, the Gazette de St Petersbourg, and the Jour- 

 nal de St Petersbourg. We refer, for more informa- 

 tion, to the above mentioned work, page 106 et seq. 



The Greeks have had, since 1821, political jour- 

 nals in their language : Maxime Kaybaud also pub- 

 lished in Patras,a weekly paper, the Courrier d' Orient. 



