Refugio Timely Remarks (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 6, 1964 Page: 2 of 8
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. Page 2—Refugio Timely Remarks, Thurs., Feb. 6, 1964
FIRST OF A SERIES
Historical Origins of Public Notice
By Dr. Charles L. Allen
Director, School of Journalism,
Oklahoma State University
“And it came to pass in those
days, that there went out a de-
cree from Caesar Augustus, that
all the world should be taxed.
“And all went to be taxed, ev-
eryone into his own city.
'“And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Naza-
reth, into Judaea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem;
(because he was of the house and
lineage of David:)
“To be taxed with Mary his es-
poused wife, being great with
child."
The Bible tells of many times
when the people were notified to
conform to some government de-
cree front which there was no ?■]>
peal. But public notice was bom
long before Joseph and Mary went
up to Bethlehemy
Where did it begin? Its origins
are shrouded in the mists of antiq^
uity. So lcnig as there has been &
society of human beings with the
barest forms of systematic govern-
ment, there has been public notice.
1
In the society of ancient Greece,
the nation of city - states that
gave modern civilization rbuch of
its present culture, the gathering
place in the center of the city
called the Agora, served as the fo-
cal place for public notices. They
were brought to the people’s atten-
tion in several ways.
First, the Agora served as a pub-
lic forum in which discussions took
place between the leaders of Greek
society. Public issues were. the
common substance of these dis-
cussions. The populace might have
been well informed if it had not
been for many restrictions. To be-
gin with, no wives were allowed
to take part in these public discus-
sions nor to hear them. Many
slaves were denied all rights, in-
cluding any part in the govern-
ment, Women who came to be
known as “courtesans" were plen-
tiful around the Agora, but they
had no part in public affairs.
Those who could be informed by
the Agora discussions, therefore,
were the relatively small number
of men who had first - class citi-
zenship.
The Roman Forum served the
same purpose, and in that era,
too, most of the people of the city
were denied full citizenship.
Posting of public notices was com-
mon in both the Greek and Roman
eras, because there was no meth-
od of printing or otherwise dis-
seminating copies of public no-
tices.
Time To Separate
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At best, these public discussions
posted public notices, and the
“town crier" type of vocal notice,
were poor methods of keeping the
people informed. In an age when
the governing oligarchy cared lit-
tle whether or not the people were
informed, it made no difference
how public notice was done.
II
When printing was invented, it
was at first used only for church
printing, Bibles, psalms and the
like. Then it was used in trade in
small printed pieces not unlike our
modern handbills. But all of these
miscellaneous pieces were without
system,, regularity or dependable
distribution. We m/ay assume, I
believe, that boys distributing
handbills in the late 15th, 16th
and 17th centuries (and there were
relatively few such printed pieces)
quickly learned to throw some in
the rubbish heaps, just like boys
do today. No one, given his prefer-
ence, would trust any serious and
important notice to a handbill.
Early in the 16th century and
perhaps before, a method of get-
ting information to the people was
invented that superseded both
word of mouth and posting of no-
tices. This was the “Office of In-
telligence” which somte say was a
French invention and others trace
to the Low Countries or to Ger-
many. Whatever its origin, the Of-
fice of Intelligence (also called the
“Office of Advice”) became an es-
tablished institution in several
European countries and in Eng-
land before the advent of news-
papers. Here is how it Worked: A
man who had some pigs to sell
would comje to the Office of In-
telligence, usually just part of a
trade shop and sometimes part of
an ordinary residence. There he
would have the keeper of the)
“Book" write an entry in it say-
ing soin/ething like: “Thos. Smith,
nearby the Mill, has 7-weeks-old
pigs to sell.” Another fan coming
later to the book in which this en-
try was written might get the in-
formation about the pigs and pur-
chase them from Thomas Smith.
Thus the Offices of Intelligence be-
came actual exchanges of infor-
, mation about goods and services
wanted and for sale in that com-
munity.
Some time later the books at
the offices of Intelligence came to
hold what we would call today
“news items.” Perhaps it started
on a day when Wm, Jones, shop-
Ilowever it happened, these books
served as clearing houses for news
as well as advertising.
Ill
Only two publications were offi-
cially allowed during the period
of England’s history known as the
Commonwealth. Mercurius Publi-
cus was one of these, and the oth-
er, called The Publick Intelligenc-
er, was started in 1655. Both of
these were small format “news-
books” with pages about 5x7
inches.
The public notice function of
these official newsbooks was evi-
dent from the very beginning. In
the first issue of The Publick In-
telligencer, dated “from Monday,
October 1, to Monday, October 8,
1655,” the first article was headed:
“A Declaration of his Highness
Council in Scotland, for Election
of Magistrates." It was an offi-
cial announcement of elections
which Oliver Cromwell, Lord Pro-
tector of England, had authorized.
This public notice began:
“Whereas by an Ordinance of
his Highness the Lord Protector of
the Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland, and the Do-
minions thereunto belonging, bear-
ing date the twelfth of April, one
thousand six hundred fifty - four,
j Scotland is United into one Com-
j monwealth with England, and
therein it appears, that the Shires
and Burghs of Scotland, by theiU
Deputies convened at Dal-
keith, . . .’ ’
The entire publication is given
over to official notices to the pub-
lic of England and Scotland. All
other succeeding numbers of The
Publick Intelligencer and its sis*
ter publication were devoted pri-
marily to official public notices.
Cromwell’s decision in all im-
portant matters were made the
subject of official notices under the
general head of “Advertisement”
in these two official newsbooks. Irt
1655, after a petition from the
leaders of a large group of Jewish
immigrants for permission to life
in England with protection, Crom-
well published such an “Adver-
tisement" of his decision. The of-
ficial public notice was separated,
as is done today, from the news
announcement of the arrival of the
Jews.
Entire publications were filled
with official public notices, from
1665 on, whenever the King, or
his ministers, or the officials of
London, had important regulations
to establish. On July 6, 1665, at the
height of the black plague epi-
demic in London, a special pub-
lication (probably without regu-
larity of frequency) — called “The
Newes. Published for the Satisfac-
tion and Information of the Peo-
ple. With Privilege." — was put
out for the express purpose of e-
stablishing regulations governing
the burning of infected clothes,
furniture and even dwellings.
The Newes was a four-page pa-
per in a formjat similar to the
Court’s official London Gazette.
Under the heading: “ORDERS
CONCEIVED and PUBLISHED by
the LORD MJAYOR and ALDER-
MEN of the CITY OF LONDON,
CONCERNING the INFECTION of
the PLAGUE, 1665.” regulations
were given in detail under such
subheadings as: “EXAMINERS to
be APPOINTED in EVERY PAR-
ISH, THE EXAMINER'S OFFICE,
WATCHMEN, SEARCHERS,
CIHURGEONS, NURSE KEEP-
ERS, NOTICE TO BE GIVEN OF
THE SICKNESS, SEQUESTR-
ATION OF THE SICK, AIRING
THE STUFF, SHUTTING UP OF
THE HOUSE, BURIAL OF THE
DEAD, NO INFECTED STUFF
TO BE UTTERED, NO PERSON
TO BE CONVEYED OUT OF ANY
TTsITTUrTED HOUSE. EVERY VIS-
ITED HOUSE TO BE MARKED,
EVERY VISITED HOUSE TO BE
WATCHED.”
The entire publication was de-
voted to these plague regulations
and they were signed by the Lord
Mayor and the Sheriffs of London.
The publication’s “advertisement”
was separated from, the official
public notices by a rule and a
special heading.
V
Here is an official public notice
printed in a London newspaper of
1679, in paid space, following the
usual advertisements:
“These are to give Notice, That
the Right Honourable the Lord
Maior, and the Commissioners of
Surveyors for the City of Lon-
don, and the Liberties thereof;
have constituted and appointed
Samuel Potts and Robert Davies,
Citizens, to be the General Rak-
ers of the said City and Liberties,
and do keep their office in Red
Lyon Court, in Watling - street,
Where any Person or Persons that
are desirous to be Imployed un-
der them, and Carters and Sweep-
ers of the Streets, may Repair
from, eight a Clock in the morn-
ing, till twelve a Clock at noon,
and from two till six at night,
where they may be entertained ac-
cordingly; And if any Gardners,
Farmers or others will be fur-
nished with any Dung, Soyl or
compost, may there agree for it
at reasonable rates; and all Gen-
tlemen having private stables,
and all Inholders ahd Masters of
Livery Stables, and all others, are
desired to repair thither, for the
keeper, found it impossible to be
at his store for a day or two.
carrying away of their Dung and
Soyl from their respective stables
and otherplaces, according to an
Act of Common Council for that
purpose.”
Ordinary advertisements be-
camje so numerous in English
newspapers after 1688 that some
papers refused to take any adver-
siting at all, and, in fact, estab-
lished separate papers to handle
ads only. Here is an “Advertise-
ment” from a paper of that era:
“An ADVERTISEMENT.
The Publication of Books, of
Medicines, and other such thirds
being remote from the business
of a Paper of Intelligence, This is
to notifie, that we Will not charge
the Intelligence with Advertise-
ments, unless they be matters of
State, but that a Paper of Ad-
vertisements will be forthwith
Printed apart, and recommended
to the Publick by another hand.”
VI
A Summary of the Facts
Relating To the Origins of
Public Notice
1. Public Notice is as old as
organized human society. Its ori-
gins are shrouded in the mysteries
of antiquity.
2. The Bible records many times
when the people were notified to
be taxed or to obey some other
governmental decree.
3. In ancient times, the Greeks
and Romans discussed public af-
fairs in their forums and market
places. Few common people, how-
ever, had the right to hear, and
none the right to participate in,
these discussions.
4. The posting of public notices
in the city square or market place
was necessary in ancient times
solely because printing had not
been invented. 'There was no
speedy, reliable, convenient, inex-
pensive way to give public notice
such as we have today in the
newspaper.
3. The earliest “news book,”
Mercurius Gallo - Befgicus, Was
useless as a vehicle of public no-
tice because it was published only,
every two years.
6. “Offices of Intelligence” and
“Offices of Information” sprang
up on the continent (date un-
known) to serve as a central ex-
change of information about things
for sale and things wanted.
7. These Offices of Intelligence
soon came to be central exchanges
of news and public affairs as well.
8. The first English news sheets,
called ‘Corontos,” had1 nothing in
them but news about foreign wars.
They were irregularly published.
9. “Newsbooks” issued regular-
ly, usually once a week, camie into
being about 1641, when the reign
of King Charles I . Was succeeded
(Continued on Page Y)
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Refugio Timely Remarks (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 6, 1964, newspaper, February 6, 1964; Refugio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth621216/m1/2/: accessed June 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dennis M. O’Connor Public Library.