the instance of the Prince of Wales.
The last trial for libel, previous to the passing of Fox's libel bill,
was that of one Stockdale, for publishing a defence of Warren Hastings,
a pamphlet that was considered as libellously reflecting upon the House
of Commons. However, through the great exertions of Erskine, his
counsel, he was acquitted.

In 1788 appeared the first daily evening paper, _The Star_, which
continued until 1831, when it was amalgamated with _The Albion_. The
year 1789 is memorable for the assumption of the editorship of _The
Morning Chronicle_ by James Perry, under whose management it reached a
greater pitch of prosperity and success than it ever enjoyed either
before or since--greater, in fact, than any journal had hitherto
attained. One of the chief reasons of this success was that he printed
the night's debates in his next morning's issue, a thing which had never
before been accomplished or even attempted. Another secret of Perry's
success was the wonderful tact with which, while continuing to be
thoroughly outspoken and independent, he yet contrived--with one
exception, hereafter to be noticed--to steer clear of giving offence to
the Government. He is thus spoken of by a writer in _The Edinburgh
Review_: 'He held the office of editor for nearly forty years, and he
held firm to his party and his principles all that time--a long time for
political honesty and consistency to last! He was a man of strong
natural sense, some acquired knowledge, a quick tact, prudent,
plausible, and with great heartiness and warmth of feeling.' His want of
education, however, now and then betrayed him into errors, and a curious
instance of this is, that on one occasion, when he meant to say
'epithalamia,' he wrote and printed 'epicedia,' a mistake which he
corrected with the greatest coolness on the following day thus: 'For
'epicedia' read 'epithalamia.'

The next event of importance is the appearance of Bell's _Weekly
Messenger_, in 1796, a newspaper that met with immediate success, and is
the only one of the weeklies of that period which have survived to the
present time. The year '96 is also remarkable for an action brought by
_The Telegraph_ against _The Morning Post_, for damages suffered by
publishing an extract from a French paper, which purported to give the
intelligence of peace between the Emperor of Germany and France, but
which was forged and surreptitiously sent to _The Telegraph_ by the
proprietors of _Th