explained the reasons for changing the name:--

"'Boy, bring me the "Register."' The waiter answers, 'Sir, we have no
library, but you may see it in the New Exchange Coffee House.' 'Then I
will see it there,' answers the disappointed politician, and he goes to
the New Exchange Coffee House, and calls for the 'Register'; upon which
the waiter tells him he cannot have it, as he is not a subscriber; or
presents him with the 'Court and City Register,' the 'Old Annual
Register,' or the 'New Annual Register.'"

John Walter was not what is commonly called an educated man. He was a
brave and honest Englishman, instinctively opposed to jobbery, and to
all the other modes by which a corrupt government plunders a laborious
people. The consequence was that during the first years of his editorial
life he was frequently in very hot water. When "The Times" had been in
existence little more than a year, he took the liberty of making a
remark upon the Duke of York, one of the king's dissolute sons, saying
that the conduct of his Royal Highness had been such as to incur His
Majesty's just disapprobation.

For this offense he was arrested and put on trial for libel. Being
convicted, he was sentenced to pay a fine of fifty pounds, to undergo a
year's imprisonment in Newgate, to stand in the pillory for one hour,
and give bonds for his good behavior for the next seven years. While he
was still in prison, he was convicted of two libels: first for saying
that both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York had incurred the just
disapprobation of the king; and secondly, for saying that the Duke of
Clarence, another son of George III., an officer in the navy, had left
his station without the permission of his commanding officer. For these
offenses he was condemned to pay fines amounting to two hundred pounds,
and to suffer a second year's imprisonment. His first year he served out
fully, and four months of the second, when by the intercession of the
Prince of Wales he was released.

From this period the newspaper appears to have gone forward, without any
interruption, to the present day. In due time John Walter withdrew from
the management, and gave it up to his eldest son, John Walter the
second, who seems to have possessed his father's resolution and energy,
with more knowledge of the world and a better education. It was he who
took the first decisive step toward placing "The Times" at the head of
journalism. For many years the Walters had