came out twice a week, on Mondays under the name of _The Public
Intelligencer_, and on Thursdays under that of _Mercurius Politicus_.
When Nedham fell into disgrace at the Restoration, his paper was placed
by Parliament in other hands, and the Monday title changed to that of
_The Parliamentary Intelligencer_, though that of the Thursday's issue
remained unaltered. The powers of the licenser were now much more
strictly exercised, and the _Mercuries_ gave up the ghost in shoals. In
1662 an act was passed 'for preventing the frequent abuses in printing
seditious, treasonable, and unlicensed books and pamphlets, and for
regulating of printing and printing presses.' It also divided the duties
of the licenser, and the supervision of newspapers passed into the hands
of the Secretary of State. Ireland was not slow to follow England's
example, for, in Lord Mountmorris's 'History of the Irish Parliament,'
mention is made in 1662 'of a very extraordinary question' which 'arose
about preventing the publication of the debates of the Irish Parliament
in an English newspaper called _The Intelligencer_, and a letter was
written from the Speaker to Sir Edward Nicholas, the English Secretary
of State, to prevent these publications in those diurnalls, as they call
them.' In 1661, _The Parliamentary Intelligencer_ was turned into _The
Kingdom's Intelligencer_, and this last appellation was again changed
for that of _The Public Intelligencer_ in 1663. The celebrated Roger
L'Estrange, who was then the public licenser, was the editor of this
paper, as also of an extra Thursday issue called _The News_. In the
first number of this old friend with a new face, he says, among other
pros and cons as to the desirability of a newspaper:

'Supposing the press in order, the people in their right wits, and
news or no news to be the question, a public _Mercury_ should never
have my vote, because I think it makes the multitude too familiar
with the actions and counsels of their superiors, too pragmatical