One  of  the  many  anecdotes  on  record  about  William
Woodfall  illustrates  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan's  cha-
racter more  than  his.  A  scurrilous  attack  on  Sheridan
having  appeared  in  '  The  Bath  Chronicle,'  the  play-
wright and  politician  asked  his  friend  to  reprint  it
in  'The Morning  Chronicle.'  Woodfall  objected  to  help
in  circulating  a  slander  which  in  its  original  form  had
not  obtained  wide  hearing.  '  That  is  the  very  reason,'
rej)lied  Sheridan,  '  for  as  I  can  refute  every  part  of  that
letter,  I  wish  the  attack  and  the  answer  spread  over
the  kingdom  instead  of  being  confined  to  a  provincial
paper.'  The  article  was  therefore  reprinted,  but,  it  is
added,  '  Mr.  Sheridan,  though  applied  to  for  the  refuta-
tion, never  wrote  a  syllable  on  the  subject,  and,  from
mere  negligence  or  contempt,  thus  disseminated  a
calumny  against  himself.'  ^

A  prominent,  and  for  some  time  an  impudent,  rival
of  '  The  Morning  Chronicle '  and  '  The  Public  Ad-
vertiser '  was  '  The  Morning  Post  and  Daily  Advertiser,'
commenced  in  November  1772,  in  a  form  designed  to
€vade  the  stamp  duty,  but  soon  reshaped  as  a  regular
newspaper  and  a  shameless  organ  of  the  king's  party
and  the  ministry  now  presided  over  by  Lord  North.
