University of Virginia Library

A. APPENDIX.

A. APPENDIX A.

[Page 4.]

The date of the newspaper mentioned in the note on page 4 (viz.
Nov. 3d to Dec. 3d, 1640), is the earliest date of the Thomason Collection
in the British Museum, of publications made during the period
of the English commonwealth. These range from Nov. 3, 1640, to
May, 1661. Besides the Perfect Occurrences of Every daies iournal
in Parliament, we have a memorandum of another paper with the
title of Diurnal Occurrences in Parliament, the dates of which are
given thus, "from 3d Nov. 1640 to 3d Nov. 1641."

"The same from 22d Nov. 1641 to 28th March, 1642."

"The same, to 17th Oct. 1642."

"The same, ending March 10th, 1648."

In 1642 there was A Diurnal of Dangers.

The first daily newspaper published was supposed to be the Daily
Courant, issued in London, England, on the 11th of March, 1702,
soon after the accession of Queen Anne. A. recent contributor
to the London Times asserts that there had been an English daily
journal forty-two years before that time. That in 1660, on the 8th,
9th and 10th of March, appeared three numbers of A Perfect Diurnal.

The title "Diurnal," or "Perfect Diurnal." did not necessarily
imply a daily publication. The Perfect Occurrences of Every Day's
Journal was printed at first once a month, and afterwards weekly.
The Diary or Exact Journal was a weekly paper, notwithstanding
its name.

The small newspapers of that day were numerous, and apparently
there was much rivalry among them. The titles were often quite

similar, and perhaps sometimes indicate the same paper at different
periods. Mercuries were most common, with the addition of a
distinctive appellation. Thus, in 1643, there were Mercurius Rusticus,
Mercurius Civicus, Mercurius Aulicus, Wednesday's Mercury,
Mercurius Britannicus, The Welsh Mercury, Mercurius Cambro-Britannus;
in 1644, Mercurius Civicus, The Court Mercury, &c.; in
1645, Mercurius Veridicus, Mercurius Americanus (perhaps but one
number) Mercurius Academicus; in 1646 Mercurius Candidus,
Mercurius Diutinus; in 1647, Mercurius Populus, Mercurius Anti-Pragmaticus,
Mercurius Elencticus, Mercurius Rusticus, Mercurius
Melancholicus, Mercurius Bellicus, Mercurius Dogmaticus, Mercurius
Pragmaticus, &c.

Other titles were: The Kingdom's Weekly Intelligencer, The Parliamentary
Scout, The True Informer, The Compleat Intelligencer,
Informator Rusticus, The Kingdom's Weekly Post, The Weekly
Account, The Scottish Dove, The Spie, all of 1643; The Perfect
Occurrences, The Spie from Oxford, A True and Perfect Journal,
News from beyond Seas, The Flying Post, The London Post, The
Country Foot Post, The Country Messenger, all of 1644. The Moderate
Intelligencer, A Diary or Exact Journal (weekly), The Parliament's
Post, The Exchange Intelligencer, The City Scout, The Kingdom's
Scout, The City's Weekly Post, The Phœnix of Europe,
Perfect Occurrences of Parliament, Perfect Passages of Each Dayes
Proceedings in Parliament, all of 1645. There were also, Perfect
Occurrences of Every Daie iournal in Parliament and other Moderate
Intelligence, A Tuesday's Journall of Perfect Passages in Parliament,
The Faithfull Post, &c. &c. Private memoranda.—H.