N. (continued 3)
Reading edition
Wales.—9.
SCOTLAND.
Edinburgh.—Twice a week, 6; three times a week, 2; weekly, 6. Total, 14.
Aberdeen, 4; Ayr, 3; Dumfries, 3; Dundee, 3; Elgin, 1; Fife, 2; Glasgow, 11; Greenock, 2; Inverness, 3; John O’Groat’s Journal, 1; Kelso, 2; Kilmarnock, 1; Montrose, 1; Paisley, 1; Perth, 4; Stirling, 2. Total, 44.
IRELAND.
Dublin.—Daily, 3; twice a week, 2; three times a week, 6; weekly, 8. Total, 19.
Athlone, 1; Ballyshannon, 1; Belfast, 6; Carlow, 1; Clare, 1; Clonmel, 1; Connaught, 1; Cork, 3; Downpatrick, 1; Drogheda, 2; Enniskillen, 2; Fermanagh, 1; Galway, 1; Kerry, 2; Kilkenny, 2; Leinster, 2; Limerick, 3; Londonderry, 3; Mayo, 2; Munster, 1; Nenagh, 1; Newry, 2; Roscommon, 2; Sligo, 2; Tipperary, 2; Tuam, 1; Ulster, 1; Waterford, 4; Westmeath, 1; Wexford, 2. Total, 55.
BRITISH ISLANDS.
Guernsey, 3; Jersey, 7; Isle of Man, 4. Total, 14.
ABSTRACT.
England:—
London 67
Country 228
Wales 9
--- 304
Scotland:—
Edinburgh 14
Other parts of Scotland 44
--- 58
Ireland:—
Dublin 19
Other parts of Ireland 55
--- 74
British Islands 14
---
Total 450
Newspaper Postage.—3 & 4 Vict. c. 96. “An Act for the Regulation of the Duties of Postage.”
s. 1. “Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That all Letters and Newspapers and other printed Papers, which shall be posted in any Town or Place within the United Kingdom, or shall be brought from Parts beyond the Seas to any Port or Place within the United Kingdom, or shall be sent by the Post between the United Kingdom and Places beyond the Seas, or between any of the other Places herein-after mentioned, or shall pass through the United Kingdom, shall be subject to the several Regulations and Rates herein-after contained.”
s. 12. “And be it enacted, That all Letters posted in any Town or Place within the United Kingdom shall, if written on stamped Paper or enclosed in stamped Covers, or having a Stamp or Stamps affixed thereto, and all printed Votes and Proceedings of the Imperial Parliament, and all Newspapers which shall be liable to Postage under this Act, shall, if posted in any Town or Place within the United Kingdom and enclosed in stamped Covers, or having a Stamp or Stamps affixed thereto, (the Stamp or Stamps in every such Case being affixed or appearing on the Outside, and of the Value or Amount herein-after expressed and specially provided under the Authority of this Act or of the said recited Act, [2 & 3 Vict. c. 52.] and if the Stamp shall not have been used before,) pass by the Post free of Postage, as herein-after mentioned.”
“And on all such printed Votes and Proceedings of Parliament and Newspapers the Stamp or Stamps shall be equal in Value or Amount to the Rates of Postage to which such Votes or Proceedings or Newspapers would have been liable under this Act:
“And that in all Cases in which the same shall be necessary, in order to place on any such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, and Newspapers, the full Amount of Stamps hereby required as aforesaid, there shall be affixed thereto such a Number of Adhesive Stamps as alone or in Combination with the Stamp on such Letters or Packets, or on the Envelope or Cover thereof, will be equal in Amount to the Rate of Postage to which such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, and Newspapers would be liable under this Act.
s. 13. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which Letters posted in and addressed to Places within the United Kingdom shall be posted without any Stamp thereon, and without the Postage being pre-paid, there shall be charged on such Letters a Postage of Double the Amount to which such Letters would otherwise be liable under this Act; and in all Cases in which printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers liable to Postage under this Act, shall be posted without any Stamp thereon, there shall be charged on such Votes and Proceedings or Newspapers the Postage to which the same would be liable under this Act.”
s. 16. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which any Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, Newspapers, addressed to Places within the United Kingdom, shall be posted, having thereon or affixed thereto any Stamp or Stamps the Value or Amount of which shall be less than the Rate of Postage to which such Votes or Proceedings or Newspapers would be liable under this Act, there shall be charged on such Votes or Proceedings or Newspapers a Postage equal to the Amount of the Difference between the Value of such Stamp or Stamps and the Postage to which such Votes or Proceedings or Newspapers would be liable as aforesaid.
s. 17. “Provided always, and be it enacted, That it shall in all Cases be optional with the Parties sending any Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers, by the Post, to forward the same free of Postage by means of a proper Stamp or Stamps thereon or affixed thereto in manner herein-before provided, or to forward the same in like Manner as the same might otherwise have been forwarded under this Act; but nevertheless, in case any Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers, addressed to Places out of the United Kingdom, shall have thereon or affixed thereto any Stamp or Stamps being less in Amount or Value than the Rates of Postage to which such Letters, or such Votes or Proceedings, or Newspapers, would be liable under this Act, such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers, if the Postage thereon be required by the Postmaster General under the Provisions of this Act to be paid when posted, shall not in any Case be forwarded by the Post, but shall, so far as may be practicable, be returned to the Senders thereof through the Dead Letter Office; and if the Postage on such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings, or Newspapers, be not so required to be paid when posted, the same may be forwarded charged with such Postage as if no Stamp had been thereon or affixed thereto.”
s. 32. “And be it enacted, That the Foreign Postage marked on any Letter or Newspaper, or other printed Paper brought into the United Kingdom, shall in all Courts of Justice and other Places be received as conclusive Evidence of the Amount of Foreign Postage payable in respect of such Letter, Newspaper, or other printed Paper, in addition to the British Postage; and such Foreign Postage shall be recoverable within the United Kingdom and other Her Majesty’s Dominions as Postage due to Her Majesty.”
s. 36. “And for encouraging Masters of Vessels, not being Post Office Packets, to undertake the Conveyance of Letters; be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may allow to Masters of Vessels, on Letters and Newspapers conveyed by them for or on behalf of the Post Office between Places within the United Kingdom, a Sum not exceeding Two Shillings and Sixpence for each and every Number of One hundred of such Letters and Newspapers, and for any less Number in the like Proportion, and may allow to the Masters of Vessels bound from the United Kingdom to the East Indies a Sum not exceeding One Penny for each Letter and One Halfpenny for each Newspaper conveyed by them for or on behalf of the Post Office, and may allow to the Masters of all other Vessels a Sum not exceeding Two-pence for each Letter conveyed by them for or on behalf of the Post Office from the United Kingdom to Places beyond Sea, and may allow to the Masters of all Vessels not exceeding Two-pence for each Letter brought into the United Kingdom, which they shall deliver at the Post Office at the first Port at which they touch or arrive, or with which they communicate, (all which Gratuities may be paid at such Times and Places, and under all such Regulations and Restrictions, as the Postmaster General shall in his Discretion think fit); and every Master of a Vessel outward-bound shall receive on board his Vessel every Post Letter Bag tendered to him for Conveyance, and having received the same shall deliver it, on his Arrival at the Port or Place of his Destination, without Delay; and every Master of a Vessel inward-bound shall cause all Letters on board his Vessel (except those belonging to the Owners of the Vessel, or of the Goods on board, which do not exceed the prescribed Weights,) to be collected and enclosed in some Bag or other Envelope, and to be sealed with his Seal, and to be addressed to any of Her Majesty’s Deputy Postmasters, that they may be in readiness to send on shore by his own Boat, or by the Pilot Boat, or by any other safe or convenient Means, in order that the same may be delivered at the first regular Post Office which can be communicated with, and at the regular Port or Place where the Vessel shall report, shall sign a Declaration in the Presence of the Person authorized by the Postmaster General at such Port or Place, who shall also sign the same.”
s. 42. “And be it enacted, That printed Newspapers may be sent free of Postage, or liable to Postage according to the Regulations and Rates herein-after set forth; (that is to say,)
Printed British Newspapers,
By the Post, from one Town or Place to another, within the United Kingdom (except by private Ships), free:
By the Post of a Post Town, within the United Kingdom, addressed to a Person within the Limits of that Place or its Suburbs, One Penny each:
Between Places within the United Kingdom by private Ships, One Penny each:
Between the United Kingdom and Her Majesty’s Colonies, as follows:
By Packet Boats to any of Her Majesty’s Colonies and Possessions beyond the Seas, (including the East Indies, by Packet Boats from the United Kingdom, viâ Syria or Egypt,) free:
By private Ships, One Penny each.
Printed Colonial Newspapers,
Brought from the Colonies to the United Kingdom by Packet Boats, (including Newspapers from the East Indies, by Her Majesty’s Mediterranean Packet Boats,) whether directed to a Place within the United Kingdom or to any of Her Majesty’s Colonies beyond the Seas, to be forwarded from the United Kingdom by Packet Boats, free:
Brought from the Colonies to the United Kingdom by private Ships, addressed to Places within the United Kingdom, and delivered by the Master at the Post Office, One Penny each:
Sent by Packet Boat through the United Kingdom to a Foreign State, (subject to the Consent of the Lords of the Treasury,) free:
Newspapers between Foreign Countries and the United Kingdom, as follows:
Printed British Newspapers,
Sent from the United Kingdom to any Foreign Port, either by Packet Boats or private Ships, Two-pence each:
When British Newspapers are allowed to pass by Post in a Foreign Country free, then British Newspapers addressed to such Foreign Country may be transmitted to any Foreign Port by Packet Boats, free:
If transmitted by private Ships, One Penny each.
Printed Foreign Newspapers,
Brought into the United Kingdom by Packet Boats or Private Ships, Two-pence each:
If British Newspapers are allowed to pass by Post free in a Foreign Country, Newspapers printed in that Country brought by Packet Boat to the United Kingdom, free:
If brought by private Vessels, One Penny each:
Foreign Newspapers sent by Packet Boat through the United Kingdom to the Colonies (subject to the Consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury), free.
s. 43. “And be it enacted, That although Newspapers may be sent by the Post, and thereupon subject to the Rate of Postage set forth in the above Table, it shall not be compulsory to send them by Post.
s. 44. “And be it enacted, That no printed Paper, whether Newspaper or Votes and Proceedings in Parliament, or of the Colonial Legislature, shall be sent by the Post, either free or at the aforesaid Rates of Postage, unless the following Conditions shall be observed:
First, It shall be sent without a Cover, or in a Cover open at the Sides.
Second, There shall be no Word or Communication printed on the Paper after its Publication, or upon the Cover thereof, nor any Writing or Marks upon it or upon the Cover of it, except the Name and Address of the Person to whom sent.
Third, There shall be no Paper or Thing enclosed in or with any such Paper.
Fourth, The said printed Papers shall be put into the Post Office at such Hours in the Day, and under all such Regulations, as the Postmaster General may appoint, including therein the Payment of Postage on such as are going out of the United Kingdom when put into the Post Office, if the Postmaster General shall so require.
Fifth, All Foreign Newspapers brought into the United Kingdom under this Act are to be printed in the Language of the Country from which they shall have been forwarded, unless the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury shall in any Case direct that any Foreign Newspapers shall be exempted from the Restriction hereby imposed.
s. 45. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may examine any printed Paper or any Packet which shall be sent by the Post, without a Cover or in a Cover open at the Sides, in order to discover whether it is contrary in any respect to the Conditions hereby required to be observed, or to any Regulations which the Postmaster General, with the Consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, may from Time to Time make in respect of any Paper or Packet of such a Description, and also, in the Case of Newspapers, to ascertain in what Language the Newspapers brought into the United Kingdom from any Foreign Country shall be printed and published; and also in order to discover whether the Newspapers printed and published in the United Kingdom (excepting those printed in Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, which, for the Purposes of this Act, are to be considered as Part of the United Kingdom) are duly stamped; and in case any one of the required Conditions has not been fulfilled, the whole of every such Paper or Packet shall be charged with Treble the Duty of Postage to which it would have been liable as a Letter, except as to Foreign Newspapers not printed in the Language of the Country from which they shall have been forwarded, which shall be charged with full Postage as Letters; and as to every such printed Paper going out of the United Kingdom, the Postmaster General may either detain the Paper or forward the same by the Post, charged with Treble the Duty of Postage to which it would have been liable as a Letter; and in case a Newspaper printed in the United Kingdom (except as aforesaid), and transmitted by the Post under this Act, shall appear not to have been duly stamped, the same shall be stopped and sent to the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes.
s. 46. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which a Question shall arise whether a printed Paper is entitled to the Privilege of a Newspaper or other printed Paper hereby privileged, so far as respects the Transmission thereof by the Post under the Post Office Acts, the Question shall be referred to the Determination of the Postmaster General, whose Decision, with the Concurrence of the Lords of the Treasury, shall be final.
s. 47. “And for providing for the Transmission of Newspapers between the United Kingdom and Foreign Countries free of Postage, when satisfactory Proof shall be laid before the Postmaster General that British Newspapers addressed either to a Person or to a Place within a Foreign Country, and also that Newspapers addressed to a Person or a Place in the United Kingdom from such Foreign Country, are respectively allowed to pass by the Post within that Country free of Postage; be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may, with the Consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, transmit by the Post British Newspapers addressed to a Person or to a Place in such Foreign Country from the United Kingdom, to any Port out of the United Kingdom, other than Her Majesty’s Colonies and Possessions, free from Postage; and he may, with the like Consent, receive from such Foreign Country Foreign Newspapers free from Postage, or he may, with the like Consent, charge for every Newspaper transmitted to or received from a Foreign Country a Rate of Postage which he may consider equivalent to the Rates of Postage payable in that Country on Newspapers either transmitted from or received in that Country, but in all Cases, whether the Newspaper be transmitted free or otherwise, subject to a Sea Postage of One Penny, payable on the Newspaper being put into the Post Office, for every Newspaper delivered at the Post Office to be conveyed by Vessels not being Post Office Packets, and also to a like Postage for every Newspaper received by Vessels not Post Office Packets addressed to a Person or to a Place within the United Kingdom.
s. 48. “And whereas by reason of the Postage which may be charged on Newspapers in Foreign Countries, or from other Circumstances, it may be expedient again to impose the Rates of Two-pence on Newspapers; be it enacted, That the Postmaster General, with the Consent of the Lords of the Treasury, may again charge and demand the said respective Rates of Two-pence on Newspapers received from and sent to any Foreign Country.
s. 49. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General, with the Consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, may allow Colonial Newspapers to pass by the Post between Places within any of Her Majesty’s Colonies, or by Packet Boat or private Ship, from one Colony to another Colony, whether through the United Kingdom or not; and also allow Foreign Newspapers to pass through the United Kingdom either to Her Majesty’s Colonies or from one Foreign Country to another Foreign Country, by Packet Boat or private Ship; and also allow British Newspapers to be sent to the Colonies through a Foreign Country, and Colonial Newspapers to be sent through a Foreign Country to the United Kingdom, or through the United Kingdom to a Foreign Country, free of Postage, or subject to such Rates of Postage and under all such Regulations and Restrictions as the Postmaster General, with such Consent as aforesaid, may think fit.
s. 50. “And be it enacted, That every British Newspaper sent by the Post to Places out of the United Kingdom shall in all Cases be put into a Post Office or Receiving Office in the United Kingdom within Seven Days next after the Day on which the same shall be published, the Day of Publication to be ascertained by the Date of such Paper; and in case a Paper shall be put into a Post Office after the Expiration of such Seven Days, the Postmaster General may either detain the Paper, or forward it by Post charged with full Postage as a Letter.
s. 51. “And be it enacted, That in case any Person to whom a printed Newspaper brought into the United Kingdom shall be directed shall have removed from the Place to which it shall be directed, before the Delivery thereof at that Place, it may (provided it shall not have been opened) be re-directed and forwarded by Post to such Person at any other Place within the United Kingdom free of Charge for such extra Conveyance; but if the Newspaper shall have been opened, it shall be charged with the same Rate as if it were a Letter from the Place of Re-direction to the Place at which it shall be ultimately delivered.
s. 52. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may allow the Masters of Vessels, other than Packet Boats, a Sum not exceeding One Penny on every printed Newspaper, Foreign or Colonial, brought into the United Kingdom from a Port or Place out of the United Kingdom, and delivered by them at the Post Office of the Post Town at which they shall touch or arrive, and a Sum not exceeding One Penny on every printed Newspaper conveyed by them for or on behalf of the Post Office from the United Kingdom to any Port or Place out of the same, in respect of which no Gratuity is herein-before authorized to be allowed.”
s. 57. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may at any Time hereafter charge, for the Use of Her Majesty, on all Letters, Newspapers, and other printed Papers sent by the Post, on which the Postage shall not be pre-paid, and which shall not be duly and properly stamped, and also on all Letters sent by the Post without being duly and properly stamped, although the Postage thereon shall be wholly or in part pre-paid, such higher Rates of Postage than would otherwise by Law be payable on such Letters, Newspapers, or other printed Papers as the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury by Warrant under their Hands shall from Time to Time deem expedient, and may also remit any of the Rates of British Postage or Inland Postage for the Time being payable by Law on the Transmission of Post Letters, Newspapers, or other printed Papers, to such Extent as the Lords of the Treasury shall from Time to Time direct.
s. 58. “And whereas Communications may from Time to Time be opened with Foreign Post Offices, which may render an Alteration in the Rates of Postage expedient; be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury from Time to Time, and at any Time after the passing of this Act, by Warrant under their Hands, to alter and fix any of the Rates of British Postage or Inland Postage payable by Law on the Transmission by the Post of Foreign or Colonial Letters or Newspapers, or of any other printed Papers, and to subject the same to Rates of Postage according to the Weight thereof, and a Scale of Weight to be contained in such Warrant, and from Time to Time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to alter or repeal any such altered Rates, and make and establish any new or other Rates in lieu thereof, and from Time to Time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to appoint at what Time the Rates which may be payable are to be paid, and the Power hereby given to alter and fix Rates of Postage shall extend to any Increase or Reduction, or Remission of Postage.
s. 59. “And be it enacted, That the Rates of Postage from Time to Time to become payable under or by virtue of any Warrant of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under this Act, shall be charged by and be paid to Her Majesty’s Postmaster General, for the Use of Her Majesty, on all Post Letters, Newspapers, or other printed Papers to which such Warrant shall extend; and that in all Cases in which any Rates of Postage shall be made payable under any such Warrant, every such Warrant shall be published in the London Gazette, and shall, within Fourteen Days after making the same, be laid before both Houses of Parliament (if then sitting), or otherwise within Fourteen Days after Parliament shall re-assemble; provided that any Rates made payable by any such Warrant may be demanded and taken immediately after they shall have been so published in the London Gazette, although the same shall not then have been laid before Parliament.
s. 60. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which the Postage of any unstamped Letter shall not have been paid by the Sender, it shall be paid by the Person to whom the Letter is addressed on the Delivery thereof to him; but if the Letter be refused, or the Party to whom it is addressed shall be dead, or cannot be found, the Writer or Sender shall pay the Postage; and this Enactment shall apply to every Packet, Newspaper and Thing whatsoever chargeable with Postage which shall be transmitted by the Post.
s. 61. “And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury to make any Reduction or Increase or Alteration they may consider expedient in the Gratuities allowed by this Act to Masters of Vessels for Letters and Newspapers conveyed by them for or on behalf of the Post Office, or delivered by them to the Post Office, and to allow and authorize such Gratuities for the Conveyance of Letters and Newspapers to Masters of Vessels passing to or from or between any of Her Majesty’s Colonies or Possessions beyond the Seas, as they shall think fit, and also to allow and authorize any Gratuities to be paid to Pilots, Seamen, or others on the Letters and Newspapers they may bring to any Post Office from any Vessels.”
s. 71. “And be it enacted, That the following Terms and Expressions, whenever used in this or any other Post Office Act, shall have the several Interpretations herein-after respectively set forth, unless such Interpretations are repugnant to the Subject or inconsistent with the Context of the Provisions in which they may be found; (that is to say,) the Term “British Newspapers” shall mean Newspapers printed and published in the United Kingdom liable to the Stamp Duties and duly stamped, and also Newspapers printed in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, although not liable to Stamp Duties; and the Term “inward-bound” shall be held to include Vessels bound as well to any Port in the United Kingdom as to any Port in any of her Majesty’s Colonies; and the Term “outward-bound” shall be held to include Vessels bound as well from any Port in the United Kingdom as from any Port in Her Majesty’s Colonies; and that the Term “United Kingdom” shall mean the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Islands of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, and Alderney; and that the Term “Her Majesty’s Colonies” shall include every Port and Place within the Territorial Acquisitions now vested in the East India Company in Trust for Her Majesty, the Cape of Good Hope, the Island of Saint Helena, the Ionian Islands, and Honduras, as well as Her Majesty’s other Colonies and Possessions beyond the Seas (the Islands of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark only excepted); and that the Term “by the Post” shall extend to and include the Transmission of Post Letters as well by any General or Twopenny or Penny or Convention Post as by Packet Boat; and the Term “Post Town” shall include every City, Town, and Place where a Post Office is or shall be established; and that the several other Terms and Expressions used in this Act shall be construed according to the respective Interpretations of the Terms and Expressions contained in the said Act passed in the First Year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled An Act for consolidating the Laws relative to Offences against the Post Office of the United Kingdom, and for regulating the Judicial Administration of the Post Office Laws, and for explaining certain Terms and Expressions employed in those Laws, so far as those Interpretations are not repugnant to the Subject or inconsistent with the Context of such Terms and Expressions.”
Newspapers, Ireland.—4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 71. “Whereas by an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland in the Thirty-eighth Year of the Reign of King George the Third, intituled An Act to amend an Act passed in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Years of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled ‘An Act to secure the Liberty of the Press by preventing the Abuses arising from the Publication of traitorous, seditious, false, and slanderous Libels by Persons unknown,’ it is amongst other things enacted, that if any Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor, or Printers, Publishers, or Proprietors of any Newspaper, Intelligencer, or Occurrences, or any Paper serving the Purposes of a Newspaper, Intelligencer, or Occurrences, shall have become and be found a Lunatic or non compos mentis, or shall become and be found bankrupt, or shall be outlawed for any Crime, or shall be found guilty and receive Judgment for printing or publishing any traitorous, scandalous, false, or seditious Libel, or shall be charged by Indictment or Information with having published a traitorous, scandalous, false, or seditious Libel, and shall not within Six Days after a Copy of such Indictment or Information shall be served upon such Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor, or at the House or Place of printing or publishing the Paper in which the Newspaper containing such Libel shall be printed, surrender himself, herself, or themselves to take his, her, or their Trial at the then next Commission of Oyer and Terminer, Quarter Sessions of the Peace, or Assizes for the City or County where he, she, or they shall be indicted as aforesaid, or where such Information as aforesaid is to be tried, every Printer and Publisher so neglecting, shall from thenceforth be disabled to be the Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of any Newspaper, Intelligencer, or Occurrences, and the Commissioners of Stamp Duties are thereby required to refuse to deliver to such Person or Persons stamped Paper for the Purpose of printing a Newspaper; and by an Act passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the Fifty-fifth Year of the Reign of His said Majesty King George the Third [55 Geo. 3. c. 80.], intituled An Act to provide for the Collection and Management of Stamp Duties on Pamphlets, Almanacks, and Newspapers in Ireland, it is also amongst other things enacted, that if any Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of any Newspaper in Ireland, shall be by due Course of Law outlawed for any Criminal Offence, or receive Judgment for printing or publishing a traitorous or seditious Libel, the said Commissioners of Stamps in Ireland and their Officers respectively are thereby prohibited to sell or deliver to or for the Use of any such Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor so outlawed, or who shall have so received Judgment for such Libel, any stamped Paper for printing any Newspaper; and it is also further enacted, that if any Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of any Newspaper which shall be at any Time published in Ireland shall have become a Bankrupt or non compos mentis, or shall be outlawed for any Crime, or shall receive Judgment for printing or publishing any traitorous or seditious Libel, then and in every such Case such Printer or Printers, Publisher or Publishers, Proprietor or Proprietors respectively, shall no longer be entitled to print or publish such Newspaper, but shall as to any such Right be considered from thenceforth as if he, she, or they never had made such Affidavit as in the said last-recited Act is mentioned: And whereas it is expedient to repeal the said recited Enactments; be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this Act so much of the said respective Acts as is herein-before recited shall be and the same is hereby repealed.”
Nichols, John. See Donations.
NICK.
A nick is a hollow cast crossways in the shanks of types, to make a distinction readily between different sorts and sizes; and to enable the compositor to perceive quickly the bottom of the letter as it lies in the case, when composing; as nicks are always cast on that side of the shank on which the bottom of the face of the letter is placed.
A great deal of inconvenience frequently arises, owing to the founders casting different founts of types with a similar nick in each. Although this may, at the first sight, appear of little moment, yet it is attended with much trouble: and works are frequently disfigured by it, notwithstanding all the care of the compositor and the reader, as will appear from the following statement.
A printer has cast a fount, we will suppose of Pica, in addition to another he had in the house, and this new Pica is of a different face from his old one; but not having given any particular directions, the founder casts it with a nick precisely the same as the other. The consequence is, when a compositor is distributing head lines, lines of italic, small capitals, or small jobs—in the hurry of business—through inadvertency—or carelessness—he frequently distributes them into the wrong cases, when it is almost impossible for another compositor who has occasion to use these cases next, to detect the error till he sees the proof; unless he is in the habit of reading his lines in the stick, which many are not. He has then a great deal of trouble to change the letters; and, with all the attention that the reader can bestow, a letter of the wrong fount will frequently escape his eye, and disfigure the page.
Even in founts that are next in size to each other; for instance,—Bourgeois and Long Primer, Long Primer and Small Pica, Small Pica and Pica, and Pica and English, head lines, &c., are not unfrequently distributed into wrong cases, where the nick is the same; and always occasion loss of time in correcting the mistakes, and sometimes pass undiscovered.
I would recommend, in furnishing a new office with types, that every fount, commencing with the smallest, should have a different nick from that of the next size: thus Brevier, supposing it to be the smallest, might have three wide nicks, Bourgeois two closer ones, and Long Primer one; Small Pica the same as Brevier, Pica as Bourgeois, English as Long Primer; and here it might stop, for there is difference enough in the sizes above English for the eye to distinguish them readily, without varying the nick.
By going as far as three nicks, which is now generally done, a sufficient variety may be obtained to distinguish one fount from another without hesitation; but I would strongly advise that the nicks should be deep, as it allows the compositor to see quickly how the letters lie in the box, and enables him to pick them up with greater facility, particularly by candlelight.
A single nick may be—low on the shank, in the middle, or nearer the top; two nicks may be close together—at the bottom, in the middle, or at the top, or they may be wide apart; three nicks may be—two at bottom and one at top, two at top and one at bottom, or the three close together, at the bottom, the middle, or the top, or wide apart. Where there are a great number of founts, it would add to the distinguishing mark, if consisting of more than one nick, that one of them should be cast shallow: but where there is only one nick it ought always to be cast deep.
Niskhi. See Persian.
NONPAREIL.
The name of a type, one size larger than Pearl and one smaller than Minion. Moxon spelt the name Nomparel, and the French to this day spell it Nompareille.
NORTHERN LANGUAGES.
For the allowance of the duty on paper used in the printing of books in the Northern languages within the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the universities of Scotland, and the university of Trinity College, Dublin, see Paper.
A great deal of information respecting the Northern languages will be found in Recherches sur les Langues Tartares, par M. Abel Remusat.
Norton, William. See Donations.
Notation, Chemical. See Formulæ.
NOTES.
Quotations down the side of a page are called Notes.—M. At the present day we term these Marginal Notes; and usually mean, when we speak of notes, those at the bottom of a page, although they are sometimes termed Bottom Notes, or Foot Notes, which see.
Notice for entering printing press, types, &c., with Clerk of the Peace, see Certificate.
Number Laid On. See Lay On.—M.
NUMERALS.
The names of numerals are very different, not only in several parts of Asia, but in both North and South America.
“Small stones were used amongst uncivilized nations: hence the words calculate and calculation appear to have been derived from calculus, the Latin for a pebble-stone. Alphabetic letters had also a certain numerical value assigned them, and several Greek characters were employed to express particular numbers.
“The combination of Greek numerical characters was not well known to the Latins before the thirteenth century, although Greek numerical characters were frequently used in France and Germany, in episcopal letters, and continued to the eleventh century. But of all the Greek ciphers the Episema ϐαῦ was most in use with the Latins: it gradually assumed the form of G with a tail, for so it appears in a Latin inscription of the year 296. It is found to have been used in the fifth century in Latin MSS. It was reckoned for 6, and this value has been evinced by such a number of monumental proofs, that there is no room to give it any other. Some of the learned, with even Mabillon, have been mistaken in estimating it as 5, but in a posthumous work he acknowledges his error.
“Those authors were led into this error by the medals of the Emperor Justinian having the episema for 5; but it is a certain fact that the coiners had been mistaken and confounded it with the tailed U, for the episema was still in use in the fourth century, and among the Latins was estimated as six, but under a form somewhat different. Whenever it appears in other monuments of the western nations of Europe of that very century, and the following, it is rarely used to express any number except 5.
“The Etruscans also used their letters for indicating numbers by writing them from right to left, and the ancient Danes copied the example in the application of their letters.
“The Romans, when they borrowed arts and sciences from the Greeks, learned also their method of using alphabetical numeration. This custom however was not very ancient among them. Before writing was yet current with them they made use of nails for reckoning years, and the method of driving those nails became in process of time a ceremony of their religion. The first eight Roman numerals were composed of the I and the V. The Roman ten was composed of the V proper, and the V inverted (Ʌ), which characters served to reckon as far as forty, but when writing became more general, I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, were the only characters appropriated to the indication of numbers. The above seven letters, in their most extensive combination, produce six hundred and sixty-six thousand ranged thus, DCLXVIM. Some however pretend that the Romans were strangers to any higher number than 100,000. The want of ciphers obliged them to double, treble, and multiply their numerical characters four-fold; according as they had occasion to make them express units, tens, hundreds, &c. &c. For the sake of brevity they had recourse to another expedient; by drawing a small line over any of their numeral characters they made them stand for as many thousands as they contained units. Thus a small line over Ī made it 1000, and over X̄ expressed 10,000, &c.
“When the Romans wrote several units following, the first and last were longer than the rest IiiiiI: thus vir after those six units, signified sex-vir. D stood for 500, and the perpendicular line of this letter was sometimes separated from the body thus (IƆ,) without lessening its value. M, whether capital or uncial, expressed 1000. In the uncial form it sometimes assumed that of one of those figures, CIƆ, CD, ∞, ო. The cumbent X was also used to signify a similar number.
“As often as a figure of less value appears before a higher number, it denotes that so much must be deducted from the greater number: thus, I before V makes but four, I before X gives only nine, X preceding C produces only 90, and even two XX before C reckons for no more than 80. Such was the general practice with the ancient Romans with respect to their numerical letters, which is still continued in recording accounts in our Exchequer.
“In ancient MSS. 4 is written IIII and not IV, 9 thus VIIII, and not IX, &c. Instead of V five units IIIII were sometimes used in the eighth century. Half was expressed by an S at the end of the figures, CIIS was put 102 and a half. This S sometimes appeared in the form of our 5.
“In some old MSS. those numerical figures LXL are used to express 90. The Roman numeral letters were generally used both in England, France, Italy, and Germany, from the earliest times to the middle of the fifteenth century.
“The ancient people of Spain made use of the same Roman ciphers as we do. The X with the top of the right hand stroke in form of a semi-circle reckoned for 40; it merits the more particular notice as it has misled many of the learned. The Roman ciphers however were continued in use with the Spaniards until the fifteenth century. The Germans used the Roman ciphers for a long time, nearly in the same manner as the French.”
“The points after the Roman ciphers were exceedingly various, and never rightly fixed. It is not known when the ancient custom was first introduced of placing an O at top immediately after the Roman characters, as Ao Mo Lo VIo &c.”—Astle.
Numeral Letters.
Roman. Arabic.
Unus, a, um, I. 1.
Duo, æ, o, II. 2.
Tres, ia, III. 3.
Quatuor, IV. 4.
Quinque, V. 5.
Sex, VI. 6.
Septem, VII. 7.
Octo, VIII. 8.
Novem, IX. 9.
Decem, X. 10.
Undecim, XI. 11.
Duodecim, XII. 12.
Tredecim, XIII. 13.
Quatuordecim, XIV. 14.
Quindecim, XV. 15.
Se- sex- decim, XVI. 16.
Septemdecim, XVII. 17.
Octodecim, XVIII. or XIIX. 18.
Novemdecim, } XIX. 19.
Undeviginti, }
Viginti, XX. 20.
Triginta, XXX. 30.
Quadraginta, XL. 40.
Quinquaginta, L. 50.
Sexaginta, LX. 60.
Septuaginta, LXX. 70.
Octoginta, LXXX. 80.
Nonaginta, XC. 90.
Centum, C. 100.
Ducenti, æ, a, CC. 200.
Trecenti, æ, a, CCC. 300.
Quadringenti, æ, a, CCCC. 400.
Quingenti, æ, a, IƆ. or D. 500.
Sexcenti, æ, a, DC. 600.
Septingenti, æ, a, DCC. 700.
Octingenti, æ, a, DCCC. 800.
Nongenti, æ, a, DCCCC. or CM. 900.
Mille, M. or CIƆ. 1,000.
Duo millia, } MM. 2,000.
Bis mille, }
Tria millia, } MMM. 3,000.
Ter mille, }
Quatuor millia, } MMMM. 4,000.
Quater mille, }
Quinque millia, } IƆƆ. or V̄. 5,000.
Quinquies mille, }
Decem millia, } CCIƆƆ. or X̄. 10,000.
Decies mille, }
Quinquaginta millia, } IƆƆƆ. or L̄. 50,000.
Quinquagies mille, }
Centum millia, } CCCIƆƆƆ. or C̄. 100,000.
Centies mille, }
Quingenta millia, } IƆƆƆƆ. or D̄. 500,000.
Quingenties mille, }
Decies centena millia, CCCCIƆƆƆƆ, or M̄. 1,000,000.
If the lesser number is placed before the greater, the lesser is to be deducted from the greater; thus IV signifies one less than five, i. e. four; IX, nine; XC, ninety.
If the lesser number be placed after the greater, the lesser is to be added to the greater; thus VI signifies one more than five, i. e. six; XI, eleven; CX, one hundred and ten.
An horizontal stroke over a numeral denotes a thousand: thus V̄ signifies five thousand; L̄, fifty thousand: M̄, a thousand times a thousand, or a million.
I, signifies one, because it is the smallest letter.
V, five, because it is sometimes used for U, the fifth vowel.
X, ten, because it represents two Vs.
L, fifty, from its resemblance to the lower half of C.
C, a hundred, centum.
IƆ or D, five hundred, the half of CIƆ.
M or CIƆ, a thousand, from mille. The latter figures joined at the top ო formed the ancient M.—Latin Vocabulary, 18mo. Lond. Valpy, 1823.
Nustaleek. See Persian.
NUT BOLTS.
Two bolts that pass through the head: they have square return heads, which clasp the under side of the nut of the spindle to keep it firm in its place.
Nut of the Spindle. It is also called the Box, which see.