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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
58
The
wandering
beggar
who
came
to
the
farmer's
house
craving
a
supper
and
bed
was
the
principal
intelligencer
of
the
rural
population
of
Scotland
so
late
as
1780.[31]
The
introduction
of
newspapers
formed
quite
an
era
in
this
respect
to
the
gentlefolk
of
the
country,
and
to
some
extent
the
poorer
classes
shared
in
the
benefit.
The
first
English
newspaper
published
bears
the
date
of
1622.
Still
earlier
than
this,
the
News
Letter,
copied
by
the
hand,
often
found
its
way
into
the
country,
and,
when
well
read
at
the
great
house
of
the
district,
would
be
sent
amongst
the
principal
villagers
till
its
contents
became
diffused
throughout
the
entire
community.
When
any
intelligence
unusually
interesting
was
received
either
in
the
news
letter
or
the
more
modern
newspaper,
the
principal
proprietor
would
sometimes
cause
the
villagers
and
his
immediate
dependants
to
be
summoned
at
once,
and
would
read
to
them
the
principal
paragraphs
from
his
porch.
The
reader
of
English
history
will
have
an
imperfect
comprehension
of
the
facts
of
our
past
national
life
if
he
does
not
know,
or
remember,
how
very
slowly
and
imperfectly
intelligence
of
public
matters
was
conveyed
during
the
sixteenth
and
seventeenth
centuries,
and
what
a
bearing--very
difficult
to
understand
in
these
days--such
circumstances
had
upon
the
facts
themselves.
Thus,
a
rebellion
in
one
part
of
the
country,
which
was
popular
throughout
the
kingdom,
might
be
quelled
before
the
news
of
the
rising
reached
another
part
of
the
country.
Remote
districts
waited
for
weeks
and
months
to
learn
the
most
important
intelligence.
Lord
Macaulay
relates
that
the
news
of
Queen
Elizabeth's
death,
which
was
known
to
King
James
in
three
days,
was
not
heard
of
in
some
parts
of
Devonshire
and
Cornwall
till
the
court
of
her
successor
had
ceased
to
wear
mourning
for
her.
The
news
of
Cromwell
having
been
made
Protector
only
reached
Bridgewater
nineteen
days
after
the
event,
when
the
church
bells
were
set
a-ringing.
In
some
parts
of
Wales
the
news
of
the
death
of
King
Charles
I.
was
not
known
for
two
months
after
its
occurrence.
The
churches
in
the
Orkneys
continued
to
put
up
the
usual
prayers
for
him
for
months
after
he
was
beheaded;
whilst
their
descendants
did
the
same
for
King
James
long
after
he
had
taken
up
his
abode
at
St.
Germains.
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