The First Reporters

in sjivester ■ujtiauorans iiistory and Antiiiuities of Ireland,"' puhlishrd in Dublin in 1722, is the following curiousentry: Bille, a Milesiun king of a portiori of Spain, liad a non namcd Gollamh, who "solicitad liis fatlicr's pérmissiön fco a.ssist theirPhcéni an .mcestörs, tkcn groatly distressed ly continual wars," mul, having guincd liis consent, the passage describing the re snit procceds tlms : Witli a well-appointod flWet of tliirty sliips and a seleol nuinbcr of intrepidwarriors, ho weiglicd anchor front Úw Jtarbor of Coruimu tor Syria. It appears tluit war was not tlio solo business of tliis oquipment, tor in tlie fleot were cniliarked twclvc youths of iinconnnon ltaniing ind abilities, who were dircctinl to niake cemarks on wjiafccvcr thcy found ncw, oither in astronomy, navigation, arts, sciences or manufactures. They weie f communicate their remarka and discov.orios to each other, and keep an exact account of whatcver was worfhy of notico. Tliis (ook place in the yciir of tho world '650. Thosc twolvc youths were reporters, and, if tliis story be truc, tho profession constituting " tho fourth estato " may boast of an ancient linoage.