According to the London correspondent of the Inverness Advertiser in 1855,

Religion and social standing as much as politics and competitiveness divided them and there was no shortage of papers to suit every shade of political and religious ideology for Edinburgh's citizens in the mid-century.

The Scotsman, founded in 1817 to challenge ‘sordid, servile and self-seeking Toryism’, had various challengers in 1850 in the aftermath of the great denominational schism of the Disruption of 1843. The Witness was the main organ of the non-intrusionists within the Church of Scotland, who resisted the appointment of ministers by patrons without the approval of the congregation. The sub-heading in its masthead was from John Knox: ‘I am in the place where I am demanded of conscience to speak the truth, and the truth I speak, impugn it who so listeth.’ It first appeared on 15 January 1840 and was published bi-weekly on Wednesday and Saturday, with daily editions during the sittings of the annual General Assemblies of the rival churches in May. From 1861 until 1864 it moved to tri-weekly, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but then reverted to twice a week.

The editor of the Witness from 1840 until 1856 was Hugh Miller, and its subscribing readership grew rapidly from 600 in 1840 to 3,300 by 1842. Miller, as a correspondent for the Inverness Courier while working as a bank clerk in Cromarty, had first attracted wider attention when he challenged Lord Brougham's judgment on the Auchterarder Case concerning church patronage. The paper encouraged the secession of 1843 and the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. Miller, however, resisted persistent attempts to have opinion controlled by the leaders of the Free Church.