sion? Is it more absurd than that two men shall receive precisely the same education at the same schools, and that one shall be called a physician, and charge a guinea for a visit, while the other is entitled to no fee at all, but lives by vending the drugs in his shop, and is called apothecary, &c. The first has a direct interest in protracting the patient's complaint, and the other in overwhelming him with noxious medicaments. Surely these things might be better managed? It will, however, not be much improved by the licentiates being admitted to all the privileges of the College, which, however, is a step to reform, and in the right direction. The only thing to be regretted is, that it is not general enough. In this, however, as in other matters, a general reform is hardly to be expected from within. When the public mind is more fully enlightened on the great subject of education, embracing the medical as well as other departments, the true and philosophical reform will come from without. EDITORIAL AUTOCRACY.-The business of an Editor is necessarily a despotism: it admits no participation, no hesitation, no deliberation. I will it so is the rule in all well-conducted publications. The reason is plain discussion once allowed between Editor and penman on the subjects that come under the surveillance of the press, it would be an endless and continual source of embarrassment. Thus an Editor becomes undisputed sovereign of a certain territory of opinion, and is in a great measure irresponsible: altogether so to his subjects, that is to say, his readers, who have no means of calling him to account: their only remedy is that of quitting his kingdom and changing their allegiance, a process he does not feel, for it generally happens that where he loses one subject he gains another. Sometimes his brother sovereigns of the neighbouring kingdoms of opinion presume to find fault with the manner in which he rules his subjects; but then the discussion is always carried on as between sovereign and sovereign, power and power. Now, we all know the effect of irresponsible power on the human heart it is not, therefore surprising, that Editors should be much influenced in their characters and dispositions by the circumstances in which they are placed; and it is incumbent on all writers, who deal with the signs of the times, to warn them of the dangers incident to the high places in which they maintain their supreme control. The Press pretty nearly governs the world, so we are much concerned as to who governs the Press. And when the stamp is annihilated, it is probable that the Press will become still more gigantically powerful, and Editors still more numerous. The faults Editors are likely to fall into, curiously resemble those of other despots who rule not opinions, but deeds; and that by the application of police and armies. The Editor feels he must not be argued with, consequently he becomes conceited; by finding his opinion always prevail, he begins to fancy it is by its excellence, and not by the nature of his office. Having a good deal in his hands, he is, of course, liable to the approach of flatterers and parasites, who, for the sake of small advantages, puff up this conceit to the most extravagant pitch. To differ with an Editor, is simply to excite astonishment as to where you have lived-evidently out of the atmosphere of his domain. An Editor must necessarily avoid society, for the same reason as Kings and Emperors; the rules of society would impose the necessity of listening to remarks conceived in a tone of freedom-this is disagreeable to the despotic ear: besides, an Emperor might find himself vis-à-vis some gentleman whose brother he had sent to Siberia or Gehenna, the day before. This grieves the Imperial heart; so an Editor may get seated side by side with some criminal whom he had that morning punished with the critical knout, or the paragraphical cat-o'-nine tails: this is disturbing to that tranquillity that ought always to reign in the bosom of an Editor. In the amusements even of despots, the vicious effects of irresponsible power may be detected: the appetite comes to revel in wanton cruelty: so it is with Editors under a fit of bile or ennui-they take to stinging individuals with pointed pens, they will crush a poor fellow under the weight of a tremendous column of matter, simply for pastime, and because he happened at the moment to pass across the mental retina. The intolerance of Editors is remarkable: Paul could not bear that any of his subjects should wear a round hat, and he had their coat flaps cut according to his fancy; the alternative was the knout or Siberia. So it is with every man in the editorial territory; he must be exactly of their mind, and the slighter the difference the greater the heresy. It will be found that an Editor-despot sometimes will publish an ukase, ordaining the establishment of the most liberal opinions; but the opinions must be neither more nor less liberal than the editorial standard, or the heretic must expect to be immediately sacrificed to the moral Moloch. Sometimes an Editor does not know himself what opinion to be of-the duty of others is not therefore the less clear; they must vacillate as he vacillates; if he shakes his head they must do the same; if he stumbles they must also make a false step, and what is of the highest importance, they must maintain, as he does himself, that his course has always been straightforward, that he has never hesitated, that he was prompt, decisive, and clear from the first. It is one of the first rules of the editorial court, that an Editor cannot be inconsistent. It often happens that very arbitrary monarchs think themselves the most humane and benevolent beings in the world: it is one of the evils of their situation: the truths we have here told the Autocrats of the Press they are probably ignorant of, and some, we dare say, of the most intolerant of them all are little aware of the tyrants they are become. But being now warned, they will set a watch upon themselves. The Lion's Mouth. "ALIENA NEGOTIA CENTUM."-Horat. PARLIAMENTARY REPORTERS. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR,-The quarrel between Mr. O'Connell and the Parliamentary reporters produced, among many other paragraphs on the subject in the newspapers, the following in the leading article of "The Times," of Monday, the 29th of July: There is one other consideration connected with this matter which must not be concealed, and which, if not kept carefully in view, will inevitably lead to the most prejudicial results, both as regards Parliament and as regards the public; it is this:-that part of the press of this country which consists of the reporters was at one time filled by persons of 92 lamentable ignorance and incompetence, and of characters very far from respectable. They were for the most part those low Irish, who may yet live in the recollection of some hon. members, and of whom it has been said, not with more smartness than truth, that they came to England to be porters or re-porters, as luck might have it. It is no longer worth while for this class now to emigrate. With great pains, at no small expense, and with no less advantage to Parliament than to the country, this old leaven was rooted out, and sufficient inducements were offered to literary men and to students-at-law, in their progress to the bar, to persuade them to embark in this pursuit. Very many gentlemen now at the English bar, and at the bar of Ireland, are indebted to this means of acquiring an easy indepen dence by honourable exertions till better prospects opened to them in the profession for which they were intended; but in most cases those prospects never could have been realized had it not been for the certain, and not remarkably small, income they derived from reporting." Though I never was a reporter myself, yet I have had a considerable knowledge of newspapers for forty years past. I have known many of those reporters, whose characters and talents are so flippantly spoken of in the above paragraph, and I am desirous, by a very short statement, to show how unfounded the imputations against them are. "low" and "ignorant" reporters still survive, and may boldly challenge a Some of these comparison with their boasted successors, either for talent or for respectability. More than one are at present members of the House of Commons although I regretted to observe that none of them got up, during the recent discussions on the subject, to defend their ancient colleagues and themselves. Very different indeed was the conduct, thirty years ago, of Mr. Stephen, the late Master in Chancery. When such complaints as those of Mr. O'Connell were made by Mr. Windham, and debates ensued, Mr. Stephen, then a member of the House, and a gentleman of high consideration, who had long occupied important legal offices in the West Indies, manfully stood forth and avowed that he had been a parliamentary reporter; an employment which he always recollected with pleasure, as in it he had acquired much information and imbibed sound political principles. The reporters in his time, he said, were men of talent, education, and respectability; and so they undoubtedly were. Why it was that the publication of the Parliamentary debates was prohibited thirty or forty years before the American war, I will not stop to inquire. Their publication was renewed in 1774, the date of the first volume of Debrett's Collection. At that time, William Woodfall began to report in the" Morning Chronicle;"-he was the brother of Harry Woodfall, who published "Junius's Letters" in the " Public Advertiser;" and both were men of high respectability. Notes it was not allowed to take; but William, from memory, would, as necessity occurred, fill his whole newspaper, containing, by the by, not more than a third of the papers of the present day. Perry, afterwards possessed of an income of 10,000l. a-year from the " Morning Chronicle," began as a reporter on the "General Advertiser," in 1777. Joseph Richardson, a barrister, author of the play of" The Fugitive," the friend of Sheridan, and eventually a member of Parliament, began his London life as a reporter on the "Morning Post." Mr. Radcliffe, husband of the celebrated Mrs. Radcliffe the authoress, a man of high education, who had taken a degree at Oxford, was a reporter at the " Gazetteer," and afterwards proprietor and editor of the "English Chronicle." Mr. Heriot, late Comptroller of Chelsea Hospital, and formerly Deputy Paymaster of the Forces in the West Indies, was a reporter on the "World," and subsequently established the "Sun" and "True Briton" newspapers, The Rev. Mr. Armstrong, a man of distinguished literary attainments, was a reporter on the " and" Morning Post." Gray, one of the Masters of the Charter-house, and Morning Chronicle an accomplished scholar, and George Gordon, a Scotch solicitor of high family and connexions, were Parliamentary reporters of that day. But the Irish the low Irish reporters! Leonard Macnally, an Irishman, after. wards in great practice at the Irish bar, fifty years ago reported debates for the "Public Ledger." James Sheridan, an Irishman, reported the debates for the "Morning Herald," from memory, nearly as well as Woodfall. He did not give the scope of the argument so faithfully, but his style was better, and the quantity and the rapidity of his writing were astonishing; he was a barrister, a highly-educated man, with a fine person and elegant manners. Two gentlemen of the name of Batho, who afterwards went to high appointments in India, also highly-educated Irishmen, reported for the " Morning Post." Dr. Fleming, the college associate and most intimate friend of Sir James Mackintosh, an Irishman, and an accomplished scholar, was a reporter on the " Morning Post." At the same time, Messrs. Fitzgerald, Hogan, and Donovan, three Irishmen, excellent scholars and perfect gentlemen, were Parliamentary reporters; the first two on the "Morning Post," the last on the "Times." Messrs. Fitzgerald and Hogan died chief justices; Mr. Donovan, attorney-general, at Sierra Leone. Townsend and Quin (the late Common Councilman) were at that time Parliamentary reporters on the "Times;" they were Irishmen, and men of talent and education. I could mention the names of othersWallace, Goold, &c., to show that the Parliamentary reporters of the last age were not the despicable persons the "Times" of the present day would make them, especially the Irish reporters, who were generally very superior men, both as regarded natural talents and acquired accomplishments. Let them be compared with the gentlemen at present engaged in the same laborious and useful occupation, and I am sure they will not be found less worthy of esteem. It is true that the reports are now given more fully, and, generally speaking, better than they were at the time I have been alluding to; but it must be recollected that, as I have already observed, the papers are three times the size they then were; that the number of reporters has increased in proportion to the size of the papers; and that every possible accommodation is given to them. They are allowed to take notes; they have access to the gallery at all times; and they have a room to themselves into which they withdraw in case of divisions. Formerly it was necessary for reporters, upon great debates, to be at the House at nine or ten o'clock in the morning; they were turned out, with the ordinary strangers, on every division, and forced to struggle with them for re-admission, and, in short, every possible impediment was thrown in the way of the performance of their arduous duty. I am, Sir, yours, &c., " SENEX. [A fair correspondent has transmitted to us the following poem from the other side of the Atlantic. It is pleasant to see one lady-poet praising another; and on this account, as well as for its own merits, we give it insertion.] TO MRS. HEMANS. BY THE HON. MRS. ERSKINE NORTON. WHENCE dost thou fill thy golden urn? Tranquil and deep that fountain flows, Beneath the lofty shades around, Such is thy spirit's dwelling-place; I ask not whether this world's pomp No gem that glows, no bird that sings, But hath a voice for you. Poetess! we thank thee-in thy strains To us thou dost pour forth; with thee Rio de Janeiro, December, 1832. THE ARABIAN. A SKETCH FROM NATURE. ALL breathing things delight in this green world!- The mould and model of his kind-as proud And glorious a thing as eyes can see. Fixed, statue-like, he stands, like Parian stone And attitude of life! But greater hands Than human hands have made him what he is- See where the groom, with sieve thin spread with corn (For the shy creature knows that the decoy Covers the thralling rein, and more prefers Freedom uncurbed, and his own wanton play,) Comes now to snatch him from his heaven of ease. He stands a moment only, as if caught; The coaxing groom believes his task is done, Almost his hand has clutched the dangling mane- When, ere an eye can turn, with rampant prance, |