y period was
regarded in a more serious light than to-day. It was not a means to
while away an idle hour--something to be glanced at hastily and then
thrown aside. The editors attempted, on the contrary, to give the best
literature at their disposal, whether original or reprint, and
endeavored to improve the public taste by selecting matter that would
be acceptable to a scholarly audience. "A striking difference between
the older magazine and the recent ones is the conspicuous absence from
the journal of a century ago of what is commonly called 'light
literature.'"[17]

[Footnote 17: Smyth, _op. cit._, p. 20.]

Tyler mentions the same conditions. "Our colonial journalism soon
became, in itself, a really important literary force. It could not
remain forever a mere disseminator of public gossip, or a placard for
the display of advertisements. The instinct of critical and brave
debate was strong even among those puny editors, and it kept
struggling for expression. Moreover, each editor was surrounded by a
coterie of friends, with active brains and a propensity to utterance;
and these constituted a sort of unpaid staff of editorial
contributors, who, in various forms,--in letters, essays, anecdotes,
epigrams, poems, lampoons,--helped to give vivacity and even literary
value to the paper."[18]

[Footnote 18: M. C. Tyler, _A History of American
Literature_, II, 1676-1765, New York, 1878, pp. 304, 305.]

Considering these facts, it is seen that the magazines of the period
under discussion played a more important role in the cultural
development of the people than they do now. They were not as numerous,
nor were so many copies of each number issued then as now, but the
population was also much smaller, and consequently a smaller number of
periodicals sufficed, although relatively they may have been as
numerous. One thing seems certain,--in the absence of so much other
reading matter, the magazine went into the home and was perused with
care by the different members of the household. We have only to refer
to the attention given to the almanacs during a period slightly
earlier, and these did not attempt to present as much entertaining
literature as the magazines. The prominence of these literary
periodicals in the development of American thought and culture is
usually overlooked, but should certainly be recognized in the history
of literature in America.

All this is very pertinent to the subject. The importanc