So, you're one of those "in-the-know" folks, eh? Everyone these days seems to be obsessed with whatever is "new," whether it's news, science, ideas, morals, or gossip.61 Well, I have whatever you're looking for. I had better have a large selection if I want to compete, considering how high the public demand is. If my bits of news aren't perfectly up-to-date, people won't buy it. If I hear of a big event, I often have to print it up as quickly as possible in special editions, just to get it on the street before it's considered old news.62
My guess is that you're just one of those London folks who wants to keep up appearances, am I right? After all, you can't get walk into a local coffeehouse without knowing what the very latest news and gossip is.63 You folks don't seem to care whether the stuff is true or based on shaky evidence. And if I can speak candidly for a second, I'll tell you that a good deal of stuff that's written in these here papers is based on rumors or is wholly made up.64
What do I mean by "thoughts" of the day? Well, as a Londoner you should know that news doesn't just cover daily events. Sure, that's part of it, but I've got to make sure I'm completely caught up with the moral and intellectual discussions of the day, along with daily gossip and the newest literary critiques. I've got all forms of news at my shop: your standard daily newspapers, weeklies, and thrice weeklies, news sheets, periodicals, pamphlets, magazines, and various other bits of information that will provide everything and anything you want to know about what's new. I'll try to divide these publications into categories for you, but you should realize that all of them run into each other to a large extent. Some hold current news with commentaries, some commentaries with a bit of news. I've put them all on one shelf because they all convey an urgent sense of the present moment:
