CHAPTER XII. "our LONDON CORRESPONDENT." Everything goes into the newspapers. In other countries matters of a public nature may be seen m them ; here, in addition, you see perpetually even the concerns of individuals. — Rush fU. S. Minis- ter to London J t 1818, ICKENS once observed of the London corres- pondent that he was a gentleman who knew nothing, but who professed to know every- thing. The satire may have been deserved at the time, but it certainly is not applicable now, when it would be difficult to discover anything about which the London correspondent does not obtain some authentic information, whether it be the designs of Ministers of State, the latest frivolity of fashionable society, or the goings or doings of anyone of importance. The London correspondent came prominently before the world when provincial daily newspapers began to be a power in the land ; and his original function then, as now, was to supply the people in the country with such information as should keep them as well-informed about the daily life of the metropolis as residents in the capital itself. Not only has the London correspondent fully answered expectations in this respect, but he now spreads his net very wide, and gives his readers every day the latest gossip about high life, the talk of the lobby when Parliament is sitting, the conversation of the clubs all the year round, tittle-tattle from the studio and green room, and, alas that it should be so, much that is quite personal and sometimes possibly a little scandalous about the lives of well-known person- ages. There is nothing which escapes that versatile flaneur^ the London correspondent. Dealing with matters of such varied interest, it is not a
