[In _The Times_ of December 2nd Lord NORTHCLIFFE traces the history of the English Press from the appearance of the first newspaper uttered in English--"A Corrant out of Germany," imprinted at Amsterdam, December 2nd, 1620--and finds some difficulty in understanding how civilisation got on as well as it did through all those preceding centuries.] To-day (December 2) we keep, with cheers, The Tercentenary of the Press! Probing the darkness of the previous years I try, but try in vain, to guess How anybody lived before the birth Of this the Very Greatest Thing on Earth. You'd say it must have been a savage life. Men were content to eat and drink And spend the intervals in carnal strife With none to teach them how to think; They had no Vision and their minds were dense, Largely for lack of True "Intelligence." When a volcano burst or floods occurred No correspondent flashed the news; It came by rumour or a little bird, Devoid of editorial views; No leader let them know to what extent The blame should lie upon the Government. And yet, when no one knew in those dumb days Exactly what was going on, Without reporters they contrived to raise The Pyramids and Parthenon; CONFUCIUS preached the Truth, and so did PAUL, Though neither of them got in print at all. It sounds incredible that, when in Greece The poets sang to lyre or pipe, When HOMER (say) threw off his little piece, Nobody put the thing in type; Even in days less barbarously rude VIRGIL, it seems, was never interviewed. And how did DANTE manage to indite His admirable tale of Hell, Or BUONARROTI sculp his sombre "Night" Without the kodak's magic spell-- No Press-photographer, a dream of tact, To snap the artist in the very act? Poor primitives, who groped amid the gloom And perished ere the dawn of day, Ere yet Publicity, with piercing boom, Had shown the world a better way; Before the age--so good for him that climbs-- Now culminating in the NORTHCLIFFE times. O. S. * * * * * How to Brighten the Weather Forecasts. "Mild and hazy conditions with increasing haze and cloudiness for an unfavourable change in the weather of heliotrope georgette over pale blue."--_New Zealand Paper._ We commend this to our own Meteorological Office. * * * * * Of the Bishop-designate of Manchester:-- "Head master of an important public school while yet in his teens ... a permanent figure in social and religious movements ... the author of 'Men's Creatrix.'"--_Provincial Paper._ We knew Canon TEMPLE had had a remarkable career, but confess that these details had hitherto escaped us. * * * * * OUR LUCKY DIPPERS.