RECIPROCAL CIRCULATION OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR. Paris, It Judy 1834.
Suit—It appears, after all, that we are to have no free circulation of English Newspapers ; and that the announced intentions of Ids Grace of IlicirmoND, for which he has been so highly lauded, have been paralyzed (as we suppose here) by the FnErLiNc incubus of your Post. office. The proposed twopenny postage is, in fact, equivalent to a continued prohibition of your Newspapers to the great body of English residents in France ; and it is eutirely so to French- men in general, who, desirous as they are to increase their acquaintance with you, cannot afford so heavy a tax added to the already high price of an English paper ; the proposed postage being of itself almost equal to the price of a French journal." The disappointment caused by the resolution of Mr. V. SMITH has thus been very great: nor has it been confined to the English. It extends to many Parisians, who were prepared to subscribe for London Newspapers, so soon as they were allowed to receive them free of postage. Such is the present feeling towards England in this country, and so strong is the desire, among all classes, to cherish and strengthen existing friendship, that news from England—debates in the English Parliament, English literary intelligence, and even English domestic occurrences—are anxiously sought after and read ; nor are there many respectable clifjs and cabinets de lecture where an English newspaper is not to he fmnd. This English paper, indeed, is in nsost cases, only Galignani's Messenger ; conducted exclusively on the scissors principle, and at best a very poor, shisffiing,, and timid affair ; yet, as it is the only English paper to be had, and though alr. I:MAGNA/oil has the conscience to charge his clippings double the price of the French journals, it is circulated to the amount ot two or three thousand daily, in Paris, and transmitted to the province's in almost equal num- bers. GALIGNANI publishes also, on Sundays, a paper at a shilling (25 sous), about a third of the size of the Spectator, which he calls the London and Paris Obsercer ; also conducted by a pair of scissors, employed in un- scrupulous and by no means discriminate pillage of London journals and news- papers. To this supply, however, English residents are for the most part 'ted, as but few can afford 500 francs (20/0 fur a daily London paper ; and such a suns from a Frenchman is out of the question. Your own Spectator costs me 163 francs—or 6/. 10s. a year ; no trifling proof of the extent of my admiration of its talent. But were it reduced to 2/. 12s., which an absence of' postage would effect, I should not be obliged to read it so often in a hurry, that my anxious French friends nray not be deprived of the pleasure and inst, action tiny derive from its columns. f hey would then become subscribers themselves; for the Spectator, wherever it is known, is a general favourite, as much from the real independence, the consistency and temper of its 'sulkies, as from the superior tune of its literary discussions, and its attractions as a vigilant recorder and lucid expositor of news. You, therefore, as well as all your brother journalists, are more or less in- terested in getting rid of this obnoxious burden ; for there cannot be a doubt, that the moment the free transmission of English Newspapers is authorized, an important increase in their circulation will take place. I should have thought, that the addition to the excise revenue on paper, such a well-judged step roust occasion, would have been sufficient of itself to show the absurdity of Mr. V. SMITH'S resolution. I am, Sir, yours, P. 11.
• A French Newspaper, published every day, costs SO francs (31. 34.) per annuca, or about 2t d. wr number.
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