Two years later Mr. Pitt died, and an Administration succeeded which contained a portion of the political chiefs whom the editor had formerly supported on his undertaking the management of the paper. He was invited by one of them to state the injustice which had been done to him by the loss of the Customs printing, and a memorial to the Treasury was submitted for his signature, with a view to its recovery. But believing that the reparation of the injury in this manner was likely to be considered as a favour, entitling those who granted it to a certain degree of influence over the politics of the journal, Walter refused to sign it, or to have any concern in presenting the memorial. He did more; he wrote to those from whom the restoration of the employment was expected to come, disavowing all connection with the proceeding. The matter then dropped, and the Customs printing was never restored to the office.
This course was so unprecedented, and, as his father thought, was so very wrong-headed, that young Walter had for some time considerable difficulty in holding his ground and maintaining the independent position he had assumed. But with great tenacity of purpose he held on his course undismayed. He was a man who looked far ahead,—not so much taking into account the results at the end of each day or of each year, but how the plan he had laid down for conducting the paper would work out in the long run. And events proved that the high-minded course he had pursued with so much firmness of purpose was the wisest course after all.
Another feature in the management which showed clear-sightedness and business acuteness, was the pains which the Editor took to ensure greater celerity of information and dispatch in printing. The expense which he incurred in carrying out these objects excited the serious displeasure of his father, who regarded them as acts of juvenile folly and extravagance. Another circumstance strongly roused the old man's wrath. It appears that in those days the insertion of theatrical puffs formed a considerable source of newspaper income; and yet young Walter determined at once to abolish them. It is not a little remarkable that these earliest acts of Mr. Walter—which so clearly marked his enterprise and high-mindedness—should have been made the subject of painful comments in his father's will.
Notwithstanding this serious opposition from within, the power and influence of the paper visibly and rapidly grew. The new Editor concentrated in the columns of his paper a range of information such as had never before been attempted, or indeed thought possible. His vigilant eye was directed to every detail of his business. He greatly improved the reporting of public meetings, the money market, and other intelligence,—aiming at greater fulness and accuracy. In the department of criticism his labours were unwearied. He sought to elevate the character of the paper, and rendered it more dignified by insisting that it should be impartial. He thus conferred the greatest public service upon literature, the drama, and the fine arts, by protecting them against the evil influences of venal panegyric on the one hand, and of prejudiced hostility on the other.
But the most remarkable feature of The Times that which emphatically commended it to public support and ensured its commercial success—was its department of foreign intelligence. At the time that Walter undertook the management of the journal, Europe was a vast theatre of war; and in the conduct of commercial affairs—not to speak of political movements—it was of the most vital importance that early information should be obtained of affairs on the Continent. The Editor resolved to become himself the purveyor of foreign intelligence, and at great expense he despatched his agents in all directions, even in the track of armies; while others were employed, under various disguises and by means of sundry pretexts, in many parts of the Continent. These agents collected information, and despatched it to London, often at considerable risks, for publication in The Times, where it usually appeared long in advance of the government despatches.
The late Mr. Pryme, in his 'Autobiographic Recollections,' mentions a visit which he paid to Mr. Walter at his seat at Bearwood. "He described to me," says Mr. Pryme, "the cause of the large extension in the circulation of The Times. He was the first to establish a foreign correspondent. This was Henry Crabb Robinson, at a salary of 300L. a year.... Mr. Walter also established local reporters, instead of copying from the country papers. His father doubted the wisdom of such a large expenditure, but the son prophesied a gradual and certain success, which has actually been realised."
Mr. Robinson has described in his Diary the manner in which he became connected with the foreign correspondence. "In January, 1807," he says, "I received, through my friend J.D. Collier, a proposal from Mr. Walter that I should take up my residence at Altona, and become The Times correspondent. I was to receive from the editor of the 'Hamburger Correspondenten' all the public documents at his disposal, and was to have the benefit also of a mass of information, of which the restraints of the German Press did not permit him to avail himself. The honorarium I was to receive was ample with my habits of life. I gladly accepted the offer, and never repented having done so. My acquaintance with Mr. Walter ripened into friendship, and lasted as long as he lived."[1]
Mr. Robinson was forced to leave Germany by the Battle of Friedland and the Treaty of Tilsit, which resulted in the naval coalition against England. Returning to London, he became foreign editor of The Times until the following year, when he proceeded to Spain as foreign correspondent. Mr. Walter had also an agent in the track of the army in the unfortunate Walcheren expedition; and The Times announced the capitulation of Flushing forty-eight hours before the news had arrived by any other channel. By this prompt method of communicating public intelligence, the practice, which had previously existed, of systematically retarding the publication of foreign news by officials at the General Post Office, who made gain by selling them to the Lombard Street brokers, was effectually extinguished.
This circumstance, as well as the independent course which Mr. Walter adopted in the discussion of foreign politics, explains in some measure the opposition which he had to encounter in the transmission of his despatches. As early as the year 1805, when he had come into collision with the Government and lost the Customs printing, The Times despatches were regularly stopped at the outports, whilst those for the Ministerial journals were allowed to proceed. This might have crushed a weaker man, but it did not crush Walter. Of course he expostulated. He was informed at the Home Secretary's office that he might be permitted to receive his foreign papers as a favour. But as this implied the expectation of a favour from him in return, the proposal was rejected; and, determined not to be baffled, he employed special couriers, at great cost, for the purpose of obtaining the earliest transmission of foreign intelligence.
These important qualities—enterprise, energy, business tact, and public spirit—sufficiently account for his remarkable success. To these, however, must be added another of no small importance—discernment and knowledge of character. Though himself the head and front of his enterprise, it was necessary that he should secure the services and co-operation of men of first-rate ability; and in the selection of such men his judgment was almost unerring. By his discernment and munificence, he collected round him some of the ablest writers of the age. These were frequently revealed to him in the communications of correspondents—the author of the letters signed "Vetus" being thus selected to write in the leading columns of the Paper. But Walter himself was the soul of The Times. It was he who gave the tone to its articles, directed its influence, and superintended its entire conduct with unremitting vigilance.