n that 'all
malefactors should be kept for experiments instead of being hanged.' In
another number this periodical indulges in a criticism upon the new ode
of the poet laureate (Colley Cibber), in the course of which the writer
expresses an opinion that 'when a song is good sense, it must be made
nonsense before it is made music; so when a song is nonsense, there is
no other way but by singing it to make it seem tolerable sense'--a
criticism which, whether it were true of that period or no, may be
fairly said to apply with great force to the times in which we live. The
_Weekly Register_ makes war upon the _Grub-Street Journal_, and, in a
satirical article upon the title of that newspaper, likens the writers
to caterpillars and grubs, etc., 'deriving their origin from Egyptian
locusts;' and, in another article, accuses them of 'having undertaken
the drudgery of invective under pretence of being champions of
politeness.' The other papers summarized are the _Free Briton_, a
violent opponent of the _Craftsman_, the _British Journal_, and the
_Universal Spectator_, the forte of the last two lying in essays and
criticisms.

But the grand feature of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ was, that it was the
first to systematize parliamentary reporting. This was originally
managed by Cave and two or three others obtaining admission to the
strangers' gallery, and taking notes furtively of the speeches. These
notes were afterward compared, and from them and memory the speeches
were reproduced in print. Cave's reports continued for two years
unmolested, when the House of Commons endeavored to put an end to them.
A debate took place, in which all the speakers were agreed except Sir
William Wyndham, who expressed a timid dissent, as follows: 'I don't
know but what the people have a right to know what their representatives
are doing.' 'I don't know,' forsooth--the Government and the people must
have been a long way off then from a proper appreciation of the duties
of the one and the rights of the other! Sir Robert Walpole, the former
friend of the press--who, by the way, is said to have spent more than
L50,000 in bribes to venal scribblers in the course of ten years--had
completely changed his views, and had nothing then to say in its favor.
A resolution was passed which declared it breach of privilege to print
any of the debates, and announced the intention of the House to punish
with the utmost severity any offenders. Cave, however, was not e