Charles the Second was an unsparing and unscrupulous foe to the press, and put in practice every possible form of oppression in order to crush it. One's blood boils at the perusal of the persecutions to which the struggling apostles of freedom of speech were subjected, so that the contempt which this miserable 'king of shreds and patches' inspires in other respects wellnigh changes into positive hatred. But despite of fine and imprisonment, scourge and pillory, the press toiled on steadily toward its glorious goal. The Newspaper began to assume--as far as its contents were concerned--the appearance which it wears at the present day. Straggling advertisements had long ago appeared, the first on record being one offering a reward for the recovery of two horses that had been stolen. This appeared in the first number of the _Impartial Intelligencer_, in 1648. Booksellers and the proprietors of quack medicines were among the earliest persons to discover the advantages of advertising, and in 1657 came out the _Public Advertiser_, which consisted almost entirely of advertisements. The following curious notification appeared in the _Mercurius Politicus_, of September 30, 1658: 'That excellent and by all Physicians approved _China_ Drink, called by the _Chineans, Tcha_, by other Nations _Tay_, alias _Tee_, is sold at the _Sultaness' Head Cophee House_, in _Sweeting's_ Rents, by the Royal Exchange, _London_.' The earliest illustrated paper is _Mercurius Civicus, London's Intelligencer_, in 1643. The first commercial newspaper was a venture of L'Estrange's in 1675, and was styled _The City Mercury, or Advertisements concerning Trade_. The first literary paper issued from the press in 1680, under the denomination of _Mercurius Librarius, or a Faithful Account of all Books and Pamphlets_. The first sporting paper was _The Jockey's Intelligencer, or Weekly Advertisements of Horses and Second-hand Coaches to be Bought or Sold_, in 1683. The first medical paper, _Observations on the Weekly Bill, from July 27 to August 3, with Directions how to avoid the Dis eases now prevalent_, came out in 1686; and the first comic newspaper, _The Merrie Mercury_, in 1700. Notwithstanding these 'first appearances on any stage,' there never was a darker or more dismal period in the history of journalism. A great number of newspapers had sprung up in consequence of the Popish Plot, and the exclusion of the Duke of York--the respectable admiralty clerk of Macaulay--from the throne; and with the intention of sweeping these away, a royal 'proclamation for suppressing the printing and publishing unlicensed news books and pamphlets of news' was put forth in 1680. Vigorous action against recalcitrants followed, and with such pliant tools as those perjured wretches, Scroggs and Jeffreys, for judge and prosecutor, convictions and the 'extremest punishment of the law' became a foregone conclusion. Doubtless there were many vile scribblers who