The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume XIV. The Victorian Age, Part Two.
§ 7. The Times; The Walters
In this sketch of nineteenth-century English journalism, priority may be given to The Times because, undoubtedly, during the greater part of the century, it was foremost among British newspapers; its fame in other countries far exceeded that of any of its contemporaries; it was the first newspaper to be printed by steam-power (29 November, 1814); it was the first to send special correspondents—as Wotton said of ambassadors—“to lie abroad”; it was the first to commission one of its staff, W. H. Russell, as a war correspondent; it was the first to print what is known as a parliamentary sketch or leading article; it was the latest to oppose the abolition of the stamp and paper duties, or to lower its price in the various stages through which other ventures showed the way, until, recently (1915), it has been compelled, by pressure of competition, to take its place among the penny morning papers; finally, until a few years into the twentieth century, it was mainly the property, and always under the active control, of the Walter family. Early in its career, it adopted the policy of enlisting among its contributors men of eminence in politics, in science, in literature, in the arts and in religion. During the greater part of its existence, the pecuniary profits of The Times were very large, and it could procure information by means too expensive for its contemporaries. Such was its position, that most people believed it to be beyond challenge by any rival. The first John Walter was its first editor; he resigned his sceptre into the hands of the second John Walter in 1803. The Times had already achieved notoriety by certain libels, for some of which John Walter spent sixteen months in Newgate. His efforts to obtain news from the continent, and especially from France, brought the paper reputation among politicians and financiers; he was competing with the well-established Morning Chronicle under the editorship of James Perry, who had surrounded himself with a brilliant literary staff, and had effectively organised the reporting of parliament by relays of reporters who could produce their copy in time for publication in the next morning’s Chronicle. Perry’s method of organisation is still in force. John Walter the second learned by experience that the business of a proprietor interfered with editing, and he left much authority in the hands of members of his staff. Henry Crabb Robinson, sent out as foreign correspondent in 1807, was, in the next year, installed as foreign editor, and, some two years or so later, Dr. (afterwards Sir) John Stoddart was appointed general editor. The British press, as a whole, was violent in attacking Napoleon, who, in 1802, pressed the British government to