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The Gentleman's Magazine, or Trader's Monthly Intelligencer was established by Edward Cave in 1731. The magazine collected articles from a variety of publications and abridged them, thus providing convenient access to current news and views. It also included lists of births, marriages, and deaths, the annual budget, court and military appointments, new books, theatrical performances, commodities prices, and poetry. The influence of the magazine was especially great among business and professional men (including clergy) in the smaller cities and rural areas of England, who wanted to keep in touch with the political, intellectual, and cultural life of the metropolis.1 The success of the magazine soon brought a competitor into the field, The London Magazine; or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer, and the two magazines waged a fierce battle for subscribers.
The House of Commons prohibited publication of the parliamentary debates, but in 1732 both the Gentleman's Magazine and the London Magazine began publishing brief accounts of business in Parliament. When parliamentary material proved popular with readers, the accounts of the debates were expanded. They were published during the summer months, when Parliament was not in session and could not strike back.
As public excitement mounted, so did interest in publication of the debates, which the House of Commons took firm action to prevent. In the issue for May 1738 the London Magazine sought to evade the prohibition by introducing "Debates in the Political Club," an imaginary club of young gentlemen with Roman names who prepared themselves for political careers by debating the issues of the day in words representing in general the debates in Parliament.
The Gentleman's Magazine kept pace with its competitor. In the June 1738 issue, the magazine published "Debates in the Senate of Magna Lilliputia," a delightful piece of fiction written by Samuel Johnson and featuring the grandson of Lemuel Gulliver, who had returned to Lilliput. Young Mr. Gulliver found a country whose institutions and politicians bore a striking resemblance to those of England. He brought back with him records of debates in the Senate of Lilliputia, which proved to be thinly disguised versions of the proceedings in Westminster. A sample debate in the Lilliputian Senate dealing with "Iberian depredations" - Spanish attacks on British shipping in the West Indies -was included to whet...