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 " Our London Correspondents 63 In some mysterious manner the London correspondent becomes aware of the doings of Mayfair, and much that society is interested to hear about, first finds its way into print through the letter of the ubiquitous London corres- pondent. If any new commercial undertaking is contem- plated, he will give an early intimation before anything has been said about it in the columns devoted to monetary news. On ecclesiastical no less than on legal affairs he should be aufait in all that agitates the Churches, and able to chronicle the whisperings of the Law Courts. To make his letter complete he must have an ear for music and an eye for pictures, and be able to make the newest announcements on matters operatic and artistic. Capa- bility to collect information so varied can hardly be expected of one man, nor is it found even in the most versatile of London correspondents. He knows, however, when and where to get the information hfe desires, and contribt* ors here and there help him in his work. Such assistance entails, of course, expense, and the expenditure on a first-class London letter is not an inconsiderable item. Like much else in thd paper, London correspon- dence has a definite political color, and papers represent- ing opposite opinions in politics will, through their corres- pondents, give very different estimates of a political crisis or of the character of a particular Minister. Unlike some other departments of journalism, the voca- tion of a London correspondent does not confer on the journalist who fills it any particular personal distinction, and to the public generally, very few of them are known even by name. Perhaps the best known London corres- pondent is Mr Henry W. Lucy, late editor of the Daily News^ who is probably the most voluminous, able, and successful writer of London letters for the daily and weekly provincial Press in practice. There are two or three Associations which purvey London letters to morning