there were a few others. We subscribed ,Too each ; Spencer persuaded a City friend to do a little more in order to start the concern, so a Limited Liability Company was formed, and the newspaper was called The Reader. I t was an amusing experience, owing to Mr. B.'s insistence, from a commercial point of view, about the necessity of obtaining advertisements by all sorts of ingenious means, but some of which, in our opinions, were not quite above-board. Then it was brought home to us that, as our venture was one of limited liability, whatever we bought must be paid for at once, while what we were to receive would not be paid for many months. We were like children in the hands of Mr. B., who knew all the ins and outs of the commercial conditions of success, concerning which we were almost childishly ignorant. The newspaper proved dull, notwithstanding some really good articles. The management was naturally too amateurish ; promised articles were delayed, and the time of the committee was too much wasted in frequent discussions about first principles, upon which Spencer loved to dilate. So The Reader did not thrive. Its expenditure exceeded its incornings, our reserve fund melted away, and the newspaper came to all end after about a year's existence. We each lost our hundred pounds, but no more, and had gained an unexpected view of the seamy side of journalistic enterprise.
