I mentioned just now the “Stamford Mercury.” I have before me a copy of the “Stamford Mercury” a friend has kindly lent me, that I might extract a little valuable comparison. What should we think if our intellectual food came from sources such as that we got, for instance, in the year 1730, as seen in the “Stamford Mercury.” It then had a most aspiring title, as you will see:—“The STAMFORD MERCURY, being Historical and Political Observations on the Transactions of Europe, Together with Remarks on Trade.” Here is this little sheet—a good-sized sheet of letter paper, one-eighth taken up by the title and an illustrated figure of “Mercury.” Another eighth is literally taken up by “Bills of Mortality of London for the week or month,” and from it I wonder what some of the diseases of that day were. One person died of “Headmouldshot,” one of “Horse Shoehead,” and amongst other things there is very large mortality attributed to “teeth.” Another eighth of that paper is taken up with price lists, giving the rate of exchange between London and Madrid, also between London and Cadiz, etc. Then prices of goods at “Bear Key.” Another eighth is given up to observations upon the affairs of Europe: “Our Government has received advice from Florence that Princess Dowager Palatine has renounced all her pretentions to the succession in favour of Don Carlos,” and such pieces as that, and then the other half is taken up with advertisements. It is a curious thing that in one advertisement we are told “To Let, the Three Tuns, an old accustomed inn on the Market Place at Peterborough, Northamptonshire,” that being the site where the present Stamford and Spalding Bank now stands. That was in 1730. Twenty years later, in 1755, there is an Ipswich paper, and to show how history repeats itself, for the consolation of our farming friends, we are told that amongst other Acts just passed was one to continue several laws relating to the distemper then raging among the horned cattle in the Kingdom. There is nothing new under the sun. We have had it before, and no doubt they said in that time legislation very much interfered with the markets. Another curious thing in the paper is this: “The ship the Royal George was put out of the Dock to go to Spithead.” Was this the Royal George that “went down with twice 400 men”? Public news was important just then. There are details as to watching the French Fleet. Those were very anxious times, but the peculiarity of those papers is that they gave you so little of what may be called local news. Our own local papers give you ample City News and a Complete Chronicle of the affairs of villages; but you may look through those papers and find nothing approaching local news excepting this:—