204 



REPORTING AND REPORTERS. 



succeeding numbers. The reports j 

 were of the most timid and cau- 

 tious description, the names of the 

 speakers being given only by the 

 first and last letters, and, in many 

 cases, no speaker's name is men- 

 tioned; all that appears is a sum- 

 mary of the argument and discus- 

 sion. They got bolder by degrees, 

 and at last published the names at 

 full length. This audacity, coupled 

 with the fact that some of the 

 members appeared in a light not 

 very satisfactory to themselves, 

 either from their own defects, or the 

 incorrect version of their oratory, 

 caused the attention of the Com- 

 mons to be drawn to the subject. 

 It was bi-ought under notice, April 

 13, 1738, by the speaker, who was 

 followed by Yonge, Windham, and 

 Sir Thomas Winnington. The last 

 concluded a very angry speech with 

 these words : " Why, sir, you will 

 have the speeches of this house 

 every day printed, even during your 

 session; and we shall be looked 

 upon as the most contemptible 

 assembly on the face of the earth." 

 The result was a thundering reso- 

 lution, unanimously agreed to, de- 

 claring it " a high indignity to, and 

 a notorious breach of, the privileges 

 of the house to publish the debates, 

 either while Parliament is sitting 

 or during the recess," and threaten- 

 ing to proceed against offenders 

 "with the utmost severity." Ac- 

 counts of parliamentary business 

 were now obtained with greater 

 risk, and various contrivances were 

 employed to disguise a version of 

 them. The Gentleman's Magazine 

 published them under the title of the 

 "Debates of the Senate of Lilliput," 

 and the Lond-on Magazine under 

 that of a " Journal of the Proceed- 

 ings and Debates in the Political 

 Club ;" giving Roman names to the 

 speakers, while each publication 

 printed an explanatory key at the 

 end of the year. The two gentlemen 

 principally occupied in this mys- 



tification were William Gurthrie 

 and Thomas Gordon, both Scotch- 

 men. About this time, Dr. Johnson 

 arrived in London, and was imme- 

 diately engaged by the editor of the 

 Gentleman! s Magazine (Cave), in the 

 composition of the parliamentary 

 debates. Gurthrie, who had a good 

 memory, brought home as much as 

 he could recollect from the house, 

 mending his draught by whatever 

 other assistance he could command ; 

 after which, the matter thus collec- 

 ted underwent the finishing touches 

 of Johnson. At times, according 

 to Boswell, Johnson had no other 

 aid than the names of the speakers, 

 and the side they took, being left 

 to his own resources for the argu- 

 ment and language. A speech 

 the celebrated speech, commencing, 

 " The atrocious crime of being a 

 young man," which he put into the 

 mouth of Pitt, when that distin- 

 guished orator replied to the taunts 

 of Walpole Johnson afterwards 

 declared, in the company of Francis, 

 Wedderburn, Foote, and Murphy, 

 that he " wrote in a garret in Exeter 

 Street." His reports, however, are 

 considered by the editor of Han- 

 sard's Parliamentary History, the 

 most authentic extant, faithfully 

 embodying the argument, if not the 

 style, of the speakers. It was once 

 observed to him, that he dealt out 

 reason and eloquence with an equal 

 hand to both parties. " That is not 

 quite true," said Johnson ; " I saved 

 appearances pretty well; but I took 

 care that the Whig dogs should not 

 have the be^t of it." The reports 

 increased immensely the sale of the 

 magazines; they enabled Cave to 

 set up an equipage, on the door- 

 panel of which, instead of a crest, 

 he had painted a representation of 

 his ollice at St. John's Gate, Cler- 

 kenwell, where Johnson sometimes 

 ate his dinner, concealed behind a. 

 screen, not having suitable clothes 

 to appear before the more modish 

 visitors of his employer; some of 



