THE PILGRIMAGE TO ROME. 295 recesses of shade, and buttresses of rock divide off one hill from another, and thick sprinkled from every knoll of vantage gleam out villages with their slender steeples, through the sunny haze. Beauty similar to this, but varying as we passed along the new Reviera Railway which had been opened only a month (and we formed the first party that had gone up it) met us on every hand until we reached Genoa. The lovely bay around which this city is built in the shape of an amphitheatre, is known by name to all, and the prominent part that Genoa has played in the field of revolution has given her a name that will not be soon forgotten. We paced her streets, many of them so narrow that none but foot passengers pass up and down them; and their houses so lofty that toward their roofs they seem almost to touch each other. We climbed the hill on which stands the celebrated arsenal, and inspected the fortifications that afforded such good protection against the fleet of the English that blockaded the city by sea, and the forces of the Austrians that besieged it by land. There are large numbers of soldiers stationed here; indeed in every city we visited in France and Italy one characteristic of the place was an army of men ready for the battle, and one can easily see how difficult it must be to keep so many men year after year playing at soldiers. They will desire something more real, even though it imply plunging the bayonet into another soldier's breast. Here and there about the city one meets with a public washhouse: it consists of a simple roof supported by pillars, and under it a large bath, around which twenty or thirty women gather from various parts of the city, bringing their linen with them. The more general place of washing in Italy is at the river, and it is most amusing to see the strong masculine looking women standing sometimes up to the knee in water, now rubbing the clothes with their hands, and now dashing them against the stones on the bank. After visiting some of the churches and other places of interest in Genoa we sped away amongst rugged hills, through lovely plains, but ever with the Alps before us, here white with snow, there black with ice, and at such a distance that after we had been approaching them for hours they appeared as far off at the end of that time as they did at the beginning; and the sight of these giant sentinels dipping their heads in the deep blue Italian sky was one that we never shall forget. After we spent well-nigh a month in this vine-clad country, lying amidst the silent waves of a tideless sea, whose life is only in the past and future, we could not help giving wing to the desire that we might visit Italy once again, though none can visit her without feeling the forcefulness of Roger's lines : "O Italy! how beautiful thou art! Yet I could weep, for thou art lying, alas, As we admire the beautiful in death. Thine was a dangerous gift when thou wast born- Or wert as once, awing the caitiffs vile Who now beset thee, making thee their slave! Would they had loved thee less or feared thee more!" ERRATA.-Page 247, Leonardo da Vinci's picture of the "Last Supper" is in the refectory attached to the church of Santa Marie delle Grazie.-Last line on page 248, for rheumatics, read rheumatism.-Line 24, page 249, frescoe should be fresco. No. III.-The Morning Herald and the Times. BY REV. G. W. M'CREE. I PURPOSE, in this paper, to glance at some of the morning journals of the present day. The Morning Post-the organ of the fashionable world—was commenced in 1772. One of its editors-its first editor, I believe was the Rev. Henry Bate, who was known as the "gay and gallant Bate." He was the Rector of Smallridge, Essex; but came to London, where he wrote a number of plays, attended theatres, edited the Morning Post, got drunk and fought several duels. Having defended the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., he was presented with a rich living, made a baronet in 1812, and died at Cheltenham in 1824. The history of one of "Parson Bate's" duels may, perhaps, interest our readers. It is found in the Gentleman's Magazine, January 13th, 1777:-"A recontre happened at the Adelphi Tavern, in the Strand, between Captain Stoney and Mr. Bate, editor of the Morning Post. The cause of quarrel arose from some offensive paragraphs that had appeared in the Morning Post, highly reflecting on the. character of a lady for whom Captain Stoney had a particular regard. Mr. Bate had taken every possible method, consistent with honour, to convince Mr. Stoney that the insertion of the paragraphs was wholly without his knowledge; to which Mr. Stoney gave no credit, and insisted on the satisfaction of a gentleman, or the discovery of the author. This happened some days before; but meeting, as it were by accident, on the day here mentioned, they adjourned to the Adelphi, called for a room, shut the door, and being furnished with pistols, discharged them at each other without effect. They then drew swords, and Mr. Stoney received a wound in the breast and arm, and Mr. Bate one on the thigh. Mr. Bate's sword bent, and slanted against the Captain's breast bone, which Mr. Bate apprising him of, Captain Stoney called to him to straighten it; and in the interim, while the sword was under his foot for that purpose, the door was broken open, or the death of one of the parties would most certainly have been the issue." Actions for libel against newspapers were more common in former days than in our own. Scurrillous articles, "spicy bits," and censurable personal allusions, were often found in newspapers fifty years ago; and many a fierce and costly legal battle took place in consequence. Thus, a lady of rank brought an action against the Morning Herald for a scandalous charge made against her; and the jury gave a verdict for £4,000-a penalty which tended to purify the Press. Some of the contributors to the Morning Herald were men of high mark, as, for instance, Sir James Macintosh and Samuel Taylor Coleride. The last writer would have been a vastly more valuable contributor to the Morning Herald, and to English literature_generally, had he not become an opium eater and laudanum drinker. "I have prayed," he says, "with drops of blood on my brow. Overwhelmed as I am with a sense of my direful infirmity, I have never attempted to conceal the cause. On the contrary, not only to friends have I stated the whole case, with tears and the very bitterness of shame, but in two instances NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER MEN. 297 I have warned young men, mere acquaintances, who had spoken of having taken laudanum, of the direful consequences, by an awful exposition of its tremendous effects on myself." The amount of laudanum he could drink was incredible. "He has been," writes Cottle, of Bristol, "long, very long, in the habit of taking from two quarts of laudanum to a pint a day." Prostration, awful misery, followed, and no doubt shortened his life. The circulation of the Morning Post, in the days of Coleridge, is said to have been 5,000 copies daily; if it were so, it was a good property then, whatever it may be now. Another of the contributors to the Morning Post was Charles Lamb, author of the "Essays of Elia," one of the most charming books in the world. He was paid sixpence for each paragraph! He was. Such were the good old times. I ought to add, however, that Mr. Stuart, the editor, wrote:-"As for good Charles Lamb, I never could make anything of his writings. Of politics he knew nothing; and his drollery was vapid when given in short paragraphs fit for a newspaper." The Morning Post was a vehement advocate of Lord Palmerston and his policy; but it did not gain much by being so. Ladies read the Morning Post because of the minute details it contains of balls, routs, weddings, garden parties, and other fashionable intelligence. It may interest them to know that the glowing descriptions of weddings, etc., cost for insertion from one to seven guineas each -a large fee to pay for the celebrity which endures for a day. THE TIMES comes next in order. This journal, the greatest the world has ever seen, deserves a volume instead of a few columns; but I must condense what I may be able to say. This famous journal was commenced in 1785, under the title of the Daily Universal Register. The name the Times was given on the first of January, 1788. The original prospectus of the paper was very elaborate. A few of its paragraphs may be quoted. Granted-for the Times is "The Times! what a monstrous name. a many-headed monster, that speaks with an hundred tongues, and displays a thousand characters, and, in the course of its transitions in life, assumes innumerable shapes and humours. "The critical reader will observe we personify our new name; but as we give it no distinction of sex, and though it will be active in its vocation, yet we apply to it the neuter gender. "The Times, being formed of and possessing qualities of opposite and heterogeneous natures, cannot be classed either in the animal or vegetable genus, but, like the polypus, is doubtful; and in the discussion, description, and illustration, will employ the pens of the most celebrated among the literati. "The heads of the Times, as already has been said, are many; these will, however, not always appear at the same time, but casually, as public or private affairs may call them forth. "The principal or leading heads are, the literary, political, commercial, philosophical, critical, theatrical, fashionable, humorous, witty, etc., etc.; each of which are supplied with a competent share of intellect for the pursuit of their several functions-an endowment which is not in all cases to be found even in the heads of the State, the heads of the Church, the heads of the Law, the heads of the Navy, the heads of the Army, and, though last not least, the heads of the Universities. "The political head of the Times, like that of Janus, the Roman deity, is double-faced; with one countenance it will smile continually on the friends of Old England, and with the other will frown incessantly on her enemies. "The alteration we have made in our paper is not without precedents. The World has parted with half its caput mortuum, and a moiety of its brains. The Herald has cut off one half of its head, and has lost its original humour. The Post, it is true, retains its whole head and its old features; and as to the other public prints, they appear as having neither heads nor tails." Such an imperious and, in some respects, impertinent prospectus would not be issued in our day by the proprietors of the Times. The allusions to the World, the Herald, and the Post were in very bad taste indeed, but eminently characteristic of the period. The Times, in its early days, was printed according to the logographic system. Words in common use were cast in solid pieces, etc., as, for example, man, woman, rain, ship, fire, murder, etc. Hence, Mr. Walter, it is said, was accustomed to order a hundredweight of type, in pounds, of "wet," "heat," "robbery," "baby," "atrocious outrage," "suicide," and "interesting female." This plan did not succeed, and the ordinary type resumed its place. For many years the Times did not contain a single literary review. Books came and books went in silence, so far as that journal was concerned. Its intelligence was meagre; its dramatic criticism beneath contempt. Here, for example, is its first notice of Drury Lane Theatre:-"Theatre. - Drury Lane.- Hamlet-whose doom, at least this season, has unfortunately been 'to walk the night, and strut to empty benches'-performed yesterday evening its accustomed penar.ce, in lieu of Tamerlane. Were not this excellent tragedy so often used 'on the spur of the occasion,' we think such admirable acting as Kemble's Prince of Denmark would meet with more attendance-more applause it could not have. Mrs. Ward's performance of the Queen is the best proof of Mrs. Siddons' assertion that 'Gertrude had more good points about her than the critics were aware of.' Mrs. Ward's distracted look in the closet scene-aided most powerfully by Kemble's piteous exclamation, 'On him! On him!'-indeed, the whole delineation of that difficult character-did much credit to this rising actress." Such a criticism would now be thought too poor for the famous journal published in Slow-in-the-Mud, wherever that may be. Next month we shall return to the Times. "BE SURE OF EVERYTHING YOU KNOW.-A half-baked scholar is merely an underdone goose. He is simply a quack in every sense. Don't go about this world of ours that sorely needs completeness in character; like so many locks without keys, or keys with missing locks." J. T. FIELDS. THE ASSOCIATION AND NATIONAL INTEMPERANCE. FOR years past a growing conviction has shown itself in our Association in favour of more direct and aggressive action for the repression of National Intemperance than those afforded by the ordinary activities of Christian churches. The training of the young in the principles of total abstinence has been again and again commended; the Baptist Total Abstinence Society has received considerable accessions to its strength from our ministry and diaconate; and on every hand there are indications that we are awakening to the gravity of the responsibility cast upon the churches by the evil products of the drinking customs of the day. We hope the day will come when a secretary will be appointed to correspond with the churches, and to stimulate and direct their energies in this important department of Christian work. At the recent Association the following memorial was cordially received: The President and Members of the General Baptist Association, assembled at Wisbech, June, 1875. Respected Sirs,-The widespread injury caused to society by its drinking usages, and the vast evils attaching to the sale of intoxicating liquors, with the various attempts made by the legislature, benevolent societies, and private individuals, to remedy them, are facts well known to you all. That these remedial efforts, extending over a long course of years, should, up to the present time, have proved a failure, or at best, have received but a small measure of success; and that the mischief itself is now, in some important respects, more formidable than ever, may not be so well recognized. Statistics which, however, it is not our intention to quote, abundantly prove that such is the case. The consumption of strong drink-per head of the entire British populationhas steadily increased for a considerable period; and its amount to-day is two-fold that at which it stood some years back. Until recently the only determined and organized attempts to check the progress of this destructive agency have emanated from secular bodies, such as The National Temperance League, The United Kingdom Alliance, The Good Templar Lodges, and others. The Christian church, as an ecclesiastical community, long held aloof from the work. Within the last few years a marked and cheering change has occurred on all sides; the different denominations of Christendom are awakening and hastening to the front; Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Congregationalists, and Baptists, have each formed independent organizations for the promotion of the temperance reform. Gratifying accessions to their ranks have been received from other quarters, but to none do the total abstinence advocates attach such value and importance as the adhesion of Christian communities. This alliance is especially cheering; and in view of it they can thank God, and take courage in their work. As members of The Total Abstinence Society and Good Templar Lodges of Wisbech we heartily welcome the advent of your Association to our ancient borough; and our welcome is the more cordial because we are assured that the work in which we engaged is one in which not only individual members of your body are largely interested, but that your |