my clerks sit
And keep their sides, the register i' the midst;
The examiner he sits private there within--
And here I have my several rolls and files
Of news by the alphabet, and all put up
Under their heads.'

The news writers flourished greatly at this period, but as newspapers
began to get a footing, their credit gradually declined--and with
reason, if we may put confidence in the following extract from the
_Evening Post_, of September 6th, 1709:

'There must be L3 or L4 paid per annum by those gentlemen who are
out of town for written news, which is so far generally from having
any probability of matter of fact, that it is frequently stuffed up
with a 'we hear,' or 'an eminent Jew merchant has received a
letter,' being nothing more than downright fiction.'

To Butler belongs the credit of having been the first to introduce
street newsboys, with this difference, that his employes were of the
other sex, and were styled 'Mercurie women.'

Butler was a stanch royalist, and consequently suffered the vengeance of
the Parliamentary party. He fell into great poverty, and, according to
Anthony a Wood, died on board Prince Rupert's fleet in Kinsale harbor,
in 1649, just as a brighter day was beginning to dawn upon journalism.

The struggle between the Parliament and the king set the press free from
the multiplied restrictions by which it had been 'cabined, cribbed,
confined' and almost stifled in its cradle. The country became flooded
with publications of all kinds, of which, while many were trashy,
ridiculous, and extravagant, there still remained a considerable portion
which materially helped forward that mighty uprising of the people to
which England owes her freedom, her glory, and her might.

And here, having introduced to the reader the first real newspaper, and
the great ancestor of all after editors, and having attended the press
through its obscure infancy and perilous childhood, we must pause,
reserving for consideration in a future article the fair promise of its
youth and the development of its still more glorious manhood.

THE CONSCRIPTION ACT OF MARCH 3D.

Few subjects are more difficult of legislation than that of the military
service of a nation. The most profound wisdom, the most enlightened
statesmanship, the most intimate knowledge of society, are requisite in
the legislator. It is easy, indeed, to regulate the military service in
times of peace, wh