In 1845, its vigor, enterprise, and disregard of expense were exemplified in a remarkable manner. _The Times_ had been in the habit of sending a special courier to Marseilles, to bring its Indian despatches, and thus anticipate the regular course of the mail. The French Government threw every possible obstacle in the courier's way, and _The Times_ took Lieutenant Waghorn, the originator of the Overland Route, into its pay. In October, 1845, a special messenger met the mail on its arrival at Suez on the 19th. Mounted on a dromedary, he made his way, without stopping, to Alexandria, where Waghorn awaited him with a steamer. Waghorn came _via_ Trieste--special post horses and steamers and trains being ready for him at the various points of the route--and he reached London on the morning of the 31st, in time for his despatches to appear in the morning's issue of the paper. The result of this was that _The Times_ reached Paris with the Indian news from London before the regular mail had reached that city from Marseilles. The next noticeable enterprise of _The Times_ was the sending out commissioners to investigate the condition of the poor and laboring population of London in 1847, an enterprise which was crowned with the moat satisfactory results. _The Times_ has always been the firm friend of the poor, and its columns are always open to the tale of distress. No case is advocated until it has been thoroughly investigated; but when once it has been mentioned in _The Times_, subscriptions pour in on all sides. At the commencement of each year especially, _The Times_ publishes gratuitously appeals from public charities, and during last January the sums received through those appeals reached the large amount of L12,000. The last great exploit of _The Times_ was the sending forth a special correspondent with the English army to the Crimea, a precedent which it has followed up since in China, India, Italy, America, and Schleswig-Holstein. But this was not the first occasion that reporters had accompanied our armies, for Canning despatched reporters with the troops sent to Portugal in 1826. The tactics of _The Times_ are very generally misunderstood and misrepresented. Whatever objections cavillers and opponents may urge, and with truth too--for the course taken by _The Times_ is not to be praised on all occasions--it cannot be denied that _The Times_ is the first journal in the world, a position which it has reached by its enterprise, vigor, and ability. It has frequently proved its disinterestedness, and during the great railway mania of 1845, while it was receiving no less a sum than L6,000 weekly for advertisements, constantly cautioned its readers against the prevailing madness, and persistently predicted the crash that was certain to follow. _The Times_, while it appears to lead, in reality waits upon public opinion, and hence the accusations of inconsistency and tergiversation so freely lavished upon it. _The Times_ is the