the paper even the chance of success. Had the Constitutional been making way, either in circulation or in advertisements, more capital might have been got, but so far from making progress in either sense, it was falling off in both respects. The circulation, small from the beginning, continued, after the paper had been in existence two or three months, steadily to decrease; while the advertisements, never numerous nor of what is called the "paying class," almost disappeared altogether. No one therefore will be surprised to learn, that the Constitutional had only a brief, and never a happy life. It quitted a world which it had found to be one only of trouble, after a sojourn in it of seven or eight months. On its decease Mr. Lee Stevens, the proprietor of the Public Ledger, resumed the title of that journal, numbering it so as to make it appear that there never had been a day's interruption to its publication as the Public Ledger. The present condition of the latter journal will be found described under the head of " Morning Papers," one of which it still claims to be.

The MORNING STAR, though not attaining to a fifth part of the length of life which the Chronicle and the Herald respectively reached, occupied a sufficiently prominent place in the political eye of the country to entitle it to some notice. It was started in 1856, on the abolition of the newspaper stamp duty. It was set on foot by the Manchester School class of politicians, under the direction of the late Mr. Richard Cobden and Mr. John Bright; but the former was by

far the most active in the matter. A great many of the Manchester School of politicians took shares in it, and Mr. Bright, without himself incurring any responsibility as a shareholder, is said to have raised 45007. among his friends to set the paper afloat. The amount, it is added, was invested in the concern in the name of a relation. Mr. Cobden, for reasons which I have never heard assigned, declined to have any interest in the Star, as a shareholder; but he contributed 2507. as a gift to the fund which was raised for commencing and carrying on the publication. Mr. Cobden's notion was, that the great bulk of the people did not care for long leading articles, which he regarded as nothing better than dull disquisitions, or elaborate and heavy essays. This opinion he expressed on several occasions in the House of Commons; and, in accordance with it, he sought to impress on the Committee of Management of the Star that, instead of having three or four of those leading articles every day, or most days, they should only have one, and that this one should partake more of the character of a simple reference to the more important events of the day, than of general discussion on public questions. This was, with some modifications, made a feature of the Star at its commencement; but it was soon found that it would not answer. Not many months, not, indeed, many weeks, had elapsed before it was felt that the Star must resemble its contemporaries, in at least a great degree, with regard to its leading matter. The Star showed from the first con

siderable ability, but it harped too much on the one string of free trade, as expounded by the leaders of the Manchester School. In fact, it was but the echo, day after day, of the sentiments of Messrs. Cobden and Bright, so long as the former lived. And with its unceasing advocacy of free trade principles, there was blended a scarcely less strenuous advocacy of the peace-at-any-price policy. The result was, that it became a thoroughly anti-British paper. Nothing, indeed, could be conceived more entirely anti-national than the course which the Star pursued. The consequence of an undeviating perseverance in this policy may easily be guessed. The paper was exceedingly unpopular. It received no support from the community generally, but was almost wholly dependent on the extreme upholders of free trade principles, in conjunction with those who were prepared at any time, and all times, to sacrifice the honour of the country to the practical assertion of their un-English views. No one, therefore, will be surprised when I mention, that while its penny contemporaries, the Telegraph and the Standard enjoyed a circulation,— the first of from 140,000 to 150,000 copies, and the other of from 120,000 to 130,000 copies daily,-the Star, including its evening edition, never reached 15,000 copies. Latterly, I am assured, it did not exceed from 10,000 to 12,000 copies. During its existence the Star, as was to be expected in a property so unprosperous as it was, repeatedly changed its proprietors and also its editors. Its last editor was

Mr. John Morley, now editor of the Fortnightly Review; and one of its last leading proprietors was Mr. Rawson, one of the principal proprietors, if not the principal proprietor of the Manchester Times. The losses by the publication of the Star were very great. I have heard them estimated at not less than 80,000. I cannot vouch for the correctness of that amount, but I have the best authority for stating the information having been given to me by a gentleman who had it direct from a leading proprietor,-that the year before the repeal of the duties on paper, the losses of the Star were not much, if at all, under 80007. The abolition of the paper duties, in 1861, considerably, as a matter of course, reduced the losses of the Star, as it increased the profits of its contemporary penny journals which were paying; but still, till the last, the Star continued to be a seriously losing concern. It expired in 1870, after a troubled existence of fourteen years.

CHAPTER XV.

PRESENT METROPOLITAN DAILY PAPERS.

THE MORNING POST.

Its Commencement-Its Early History" Parson Bate," one of its first Editors, Fights a savage Duel-Connexion with it of Samuel Taylor Coleridge-Sir James Mackintosh-Dr. Southey -Charles Lamb-Relations between Mr. Daniel Stuart, when Proprietor, and Mr. S. T. Coleridge-Changes in the Editorship and the Politics of the Paper-Its present Position.

I NOW come to those Morning Papers which, though established in the last century, still exist; and taking them in the order of their commencement, the first that demands my attention is the MORNING POST.

The Morning Post-which bore originally the additional title of "and Daily Advertiser," was started in the year 1772. In stating that the Morning Post was set on foot in 1772, it is necessary, to prevent mistakes, that I should show that the date of 1781, given in "Mitchell's Newspaper Directory"-usually very correct cannot be the right one. First of all, the folio on the front page, which at the time I write is exactly "30,500," gives an anterior date to that given by Mr. Mitchell; and though that numbering of the Post does not carry us so far back as 1772, we have undoubted historic authority for the fact that