Liverpool.
_Derivation of News._--It is just two years since the word _News_ was
stated to be derived from the initial letters of the cardinal points of
the compass, as prefixed to early newspapers. I well remember the
impression which the statement made on me: if written seriously, as a
mark of credulity; if sportively, as rather out of place. Moreover, it
was both stated as a _fact_, and as an _ingenious etymology_--a manifest
inconsistency.
In the fierce and tiresome discussion which arose out of that
announcement, the main points in support of the asserted derivation were
never once introduced. Do such early newspapers exist? Is the derivation
itself of early date? As to the first question, I must declare that no
such newspapers ever came under _my_ observation; but as to the second,
it must be admitted that the derivation has been in print, with all the
weight of evidence which belongs to it, above two centuries.
I shall assume, if not better informed, that it has no other authority
than the subjoined epigram in _Wits recreations_, first published in
1640, and said to contain the _finest fancies_ of the muses of those
times. In default of the original edition of that rare work, I
transcribe from the re-publication of it in 1817.
"_News._
"When news doth come, if any would discusse
The letter of the word, resolve it thus:
News is convey'd by letter, word, or mouth,
And comes to us from _North_, _East_, _West_, and _South_."