DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 33) read in Truth and the World; half a column is devoted to a poem by the Poet Laureate, which is very much on a par with the latest effusion of the present bearer of that title. Only one marriage 1s announced and only one death. Among the adver- tisers a certain C. Sharp vaunts the superiority of his razors; John Young his Caledonian snuff; Mrs. H. M. announces her new opera fans, with a plan of the boxes and the names of the subscribers on the leaves. There is also an opiate of life for weak stomachs, and a golden pill which prevents head- aches and beautifies the complexion. The progress of the Times was slow, as John Walter, like Wilkes, suffered from the law of libel. He had to pay a heavy fine, stand in the pillory for an hour, be imprisoned for twelve months, and find security for his good behaviour for seven years—all for having libelled a noble lord. Disheartened by his treatment, and being advanced in years, he handed over the management of the paper to his son, another John Walter, in the year 1803. Its new owner was a young man of twenty-seven, but was possessed of uncommon sagacity and per- severance. He entirely reorganized the paper, and improved its foreign news supply, for which, owing to the French war, they had hitherto been indebted to the assistance of smugglers. Young Walter invented the special correspondent, the first of the (8)