USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. II > Part 54
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P. S. Gentle Readers, we defign never to let a Paper parst without a Laiin Morto if we can poffibly pick one up, which carries a Charm in it to the Vulgar, and che learned ad- mire the plcafure of Conftruing. We Should have obliged the World with & Greck ferap or two, but the Printer has no Types, and therefore we increat the candid Reader not to impute the detect ro our Ignorance, for our Doctor can fay all the Greek Lesters by heart. .
Is Majty's speech to the Furtianem, October It. the' already publish'd, may perhaps be new to many of our Country Readers ; we fall therefore infert it to this Day's Paper.
His MAJESTY's molt Gracious SPEECH to both Houfes of Parliament, od Thurfday Odober 11. 17224
My Loras and Gentlemen,
T Am forry to find iny felf obliged, at the Open- ing. of this Parliament, to acquaint you, That a dangerous Confpiracy has been for fome sime fors med, and is ftill carrying on againft my Perfon and Government, in Favour of a Popith Pretender.
The Difcoveries I have made here, the Informati- ons I have received from my Mu.ifters abroad, and the Intelligences I have had from the Powers in Al- liance with me, and idced from moft parts of Eu4. rope, have given me moft ample and current Proofs of this wicked Delign.
The Confpirators have, by their Emilfaries, made the ftrongeft Inftances for Afliftance from Foreign Powers, but werediflappointed in their Expectations : However, confiding in their Numbers, and not dif. couraged by their former ilf Success, they resolver once more, upon their own strength, to attempt the fubverfion of my Government.
To this End they provided considerable Sums of Money, engaged great Nuinber's of Officers from a- · broad, fccuied laige Quantities of Arms and Amuni- nition, and thought themselves in fuch Readinessy that had not the Conpracy been uimely ditcovered, we should, without doubt, before now have been the whole Nation, and particularly the City of Londay Involved in Blood a id Confuf.on. .
The Care I have taken has, by the Bleding of God, hitherto prevented the Execution of their stayterbus Projects. The Troops have been incamped all this Summer ; fix Regungus ( though very necellaly for the Security of thai' Kingdo.n ) have been brought over from Ireland : The States General have given the difurances that they would need a count diente Body of boacerca sendments to cobalt.
396
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
The Courant came upon the community at this time with fresh elements of discord. It was a small, ill-looking sheet, paid little attention to news, and made no account of advertising; 1 but letters and essays satirizing or assailing those who were highest in public esteem were heartily welcomed. Franklin, and the " respectable characters " behind him were not especially interested in political questions, but they entered with satisfaction into social disputes of a much more aggravating character. There had long been much restlessness under the severe censorship on the part of the clergy over individual opinions and conduct; and the Courant gave the signal for rebellion. Not satisfied with entering a protest, it assailed the most honored names and the most deeply cherished opinions without modesty, and with gross exaggeration. It was assisted by a club of writers called by some the " free thinkers," by others the "hell-fire club."2 Some of their essays showed much ingenuity, humor, and good sense; but the greater num- ber were of a very common order, and only attracted attention by their coarseness and audacity. Such a journal at such a time could hardly expect a peaceful career. One extreme was followed by another. Dr. Increase Mather, then in his eighty-second year, denounced it, in "an advice to the Publick," as " a cursed libel " inviting some awful judgment upon the land.3
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Benjamin Franklin, then a boy of sixteen, began his renowned career under these cloudy auspices, - stealthily contributing to the Courant the first perishable effusions of his youthful pen, and giving to the publication the cover of his name when it became necessary for his brother to evade the orders of the court. Twice the elder brother was arraigned for contempt; the first time he was imprisoned four weeks in the common jail; 4 the second time he was forbidden to print anything whatever until it had been supervised by the Secretary of the Province.5 This caused so much incon-
1 No files of the Courant are preserved. "The only copies of it that I have been able to find -except a very few fugitive sheets -are in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. They are all bound in one volume, and the file is far from being perfect."- Bucking- ham, Specimen of Newspaper Literature, i. 49. [We can judge somewhat of Franklin's assaults on the News-Letter from Campbell's retorts, and these are printed in Hudson's Journalism .- ED.]
2 The names of the members of this club were faithfully kept secret. Matthew Adams is mentioned in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography as a frequenter of the printing-office, and an occasional contributor. Dr. William Douglas was undoubtedly another. He had a quarrel of his own at that time with Cotton Mather, in regard to inoculation, and was the most energetic exponent of the views which the Courant held on that subject.
3 Thomas, History of Printing, ii., 32, 33. [Mather's "advice " was printed in the Gazette. It is reprinted in Hudson's Journalism, 67, and in Buckingham, i., 53. - ED.]
. 4 [The offence which finally brought down
the weight of the authorities was a mere intima- tion in his paper of June 11, in a communication, that the Massachusetts government was dilatory in sending an armed vessel, which had been placed under the command of Captain Peter Papillon, in search of pirates who were then
Leter Papillon
infesting the coast. Jeremiah Bumstead's diary records Papillon's sailing the next day, June 12. N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Reg., July, 1861, p. 195. It was also on the 12th that the Council took the matter up, and on the 20th, on a peti- tion from the prisoner, they gave him the liberty of the prison yard. - ED.]
5 This was July 5. The General Court, which had effectually destroyed the pretensions of the royal governor to the "power of the press," was not yet ready to surrender its own. The history of these repeated prosecutions is given in Thomas's History of Printing, ii. 32-38.
NUMB.
The NEW-ENGLAND Weekly FOURNAL.
Containing the moft Remarkable Occurrences Foreign & Domeftick.
Monday March 20th. 1127.
I would be needless to mention here the particular Reafons for Publifbing this Paper ; and will be fufficient to fay, That the Defign of it is, with Fidelity and Method to En- tertain the Publick every Monday with a Collection of the moft Remarkable Occurrences of Europe, with a particular Regard from time to time to the prefent Circumstances of the Publick Affairs, whether of Church or State. And to render this Paper more Acceptable to its Readers, immediate care will be taken (and a considerable progress is berein already made) to fettle a Correspondence with the most knowing and ingenious Gentlemen in the Several noted Towns in this and the Neighbour- Provinces, who may take particular Care Seafomably to Collect and fend what may be Remarkable in their Town or Towns adjacent worthy of the Publick View ; whether of Remarkable Judgments, or Singular Mercies, more private or public ; Prefervations & Deliverances by Sea or Land : together with fome other. Pieces of Hiftory of our own, &c. that may be profitable & entertaining both to the Christian and Hiftorian. It is likewife intended to infert in this Paper a Weekly Account of the Number of Perfons Buried, & Baptiz'd, in the Town of Bofton ; With Several other Things that at pre- Sent can only be thought of, that may be of Service to the Publick ". And Special care will bo taken that nothing contrary thereto fall be informed.
I bofe Gentlemen therefore whether in Town or Country, who are inclined to Encourage and take this Paper, may have it left at their Houfes in the Town of Bofton or Charlftown, Seal'd up, Directed & Convey'd as they Shall Order, giving Notice at the Printing-House in Queen-Street Bolton.
The Price of the Paper to those that live in the Town will be Sixteen Shillings per Year; and Twenty Shillings if Seal'd, &c. and to be paid Quarterly.
& This may ferve as a Notification, that a Select number of Gentlemen, who have had the happiness of a liberal Education, and fome of them confiderably improv'd by their Tra- vels into diftant Countries ; are now concerting fome regular Schemes for the Entertaiment of the ingenious Reader, and the Encouragement of Wit & Politenefs ; and may in a very fhort time, open upon the Publick in a variety of pleafing and profitable Speculations.
(From ibe LONDONJOURNAL, Odob. 15.) FOREIGN AFFAIRS
T HE laft Letters from the North left our Fleet in its old Situation before Revel: But as it had taken in great Quantity of Provifions ;. as the British Ad- miral had, returned Thanks to Pripce Menzikoff for all Civilities ( and as the Seafon is far advanced ; it was Suppofed the Admiral would in a few Days put himfelf in a failing Pofture. They had a great Storm lately in the Sound, by which fome Ships were caft away, and others damaged; but we don't hear of any Mifchief done by It in the Baltic
There is nothing new from our Fleets In the Mediterra- nean and the Weft Indies; only that Admiral Hofier fuffers no Ships to go in or come out of Portobello without a ftrict Examination, the Spaniards having landed their Treafure, corfifing of about 30 Millions of Pieces of Eight, and cu- Tted it 10 Leagues up into the Country. Mean time they feem to be in extream Want of this Treafure at the Spanish Court, becaufe they have fent to the Chamber of Commerce at Seville 19 borrow 200000 Pieces of Eight till the Autral of the Plate Fleet ; and they Say they must have the Money, the' they Pawn the King's Revenues for it At the Aime time his Graes the .. Wax-chandler is as profule at Ildephonfo, as if Wie was Matter of the wealth of l'otof: He has already melted down a great
Part of his Lady's . Portion in Balls and Entertainments ac Caramanchel; and tho' the late Duke of Ormond, die late Earl Marthal, and others of the Pretenders Adherents, who. ftill flatter themfelves that the Court of Spain will, un- dertake fomething in theit Favour, are dally urging him to ha . gone to Rome ; he fays he can't go till he has received the reft of his Lady's Portion. Tre King of Spain has difmifs'd the Mar- quis of Grimaldo, leaving hiin the Salary of Secretary, which is (2000 Piftoles a Year and ordered him to retire to Madrid. The King has allo fent Bermudas, his Father Confefici, to the Je. fruits College, as having no further Occafium for his Service, tho' it was but five Hours before that he confefs'd him. The Marquis de la Paz is now fole Secretary for Foreign Affairs; aud' Don Joseph Patinno is not only Secretary of the Marine and the Indies, but Prefident, Superimendant and Secretary of the Finances Another of the Duke de Ripperda's Clerks hat, been taken into Cuftody with his Papers, but, the Duke himfekk continues very quiet.
London, Oliob. 15.ª
They write from Amfterdam of the geh Loftane, N. S. That ! the Directors of the East India Company there have destared they will Sell in the Months of November and Decumber next, the Goods laft arrived from the Exit-indies and fords Part of what iformerly remained in their Hands. Us 407,464 L. of Sugar, 371, 100%. of Salt Petre, and 35.454 1. 0. Cowries, whfeb,is all that they have in Europe of chole thres Commodities.
Philes
398
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
venience that from February 1723 his name disappeared; and the Courant purported to be "printed and sold by Benjamin Franklin, in Queen Street," from that time till it ceased to exist, four years later.1 The younger brother, however, whose later renown has reflected a wholly unmerited lustre upon this enterprise, shook the dust of the town from his garments a few weeks after the change was made, and sought a more promising field for his talents in Philadelphia. He had not been at any time on friendly terms with his brother, and the new arrangement, which was in no respect to Benjamin's advantage, was followed by fresh quarrels and a most fortunate separation. The atmosphere of the Queen Street printing-office was demoralizing, if not debasing. Franklin himself, in his autobiography, places a moderate and very just estimate on his own literary efforts at this time. The estimation in which his sensible father held them may be inferred from the advice he gave to the hopeful son on his second departure for Philadelphia, -" to avoid lampooning and libelling, to which he thought I had too much inclin- ation."2 The Courant was not wanting in ability, and as a protest against prevailing narrowness and bigotry it might have been of some service. But it was aggravating in temper, unjust to the authorities, misrepresented the clergy, and was on the wrong side of many public questions.3
The New England Courant had scarcely passed out of view when the fourth 4 newspaper appeared on the 20th March, 1727, "printed by S. Kneeland, at the printing-house in Queen Street," and bearing the title, The New England Weekly fournal, Containing the most remarkable occur- rences, Foreign and Domestick. It was first printed on a half-sheet of fools- cap, but was enlarged to a full folio sheet after the fourth number. The essays of the Spectator, the Tattler, and the Guardian were already well known among reading people, and young and ambitious writers were imitating their form, and something of their spirit, with much ingenuity and success. During its first year the Weekly Fournal contained a large number of such essays addressed to the unknown editor, who took the name of Proteus Echo, Esq.5 They were on moral and social rather than political
1 [The annexed fac-simile (reduced) is of the first number issued with Benjamin's imprint, which appeared on the reverse of the single sheet, of which the front side is here given. It shows, however, the announcement of the change of publisher. This number was reprinted in old- style type, at the time of the dedication of the Franklin Statue in 1856, and distributed from a printing car in the procession. - ED.]
2 Franklin, Autobiography (Bigelow's edi- tion), p. 121.
8 When the Courant was suspended in 1727, James Franklin went to Newport and established the Rhode Island Gazette, the first newspaper in that colony.
4 [New York had less than two years before established its first newspaper, the New York Gazette, published October 1725, by William Brad- ford; and in the year after (1728), Benjamin
Franklin started the second newspaper in Phila- delphia, the Universal Instructor, soon after- wards called the Pennsylvania Gazette. Maryland had just started her first paper at Annapolis, the Maryland Gazette. - ED.]
5 The first of these Essays, in which the writer gives an account of himself, is reprinted in Buck- ingham's Reminiscences, i. 91-93, where it is spoken of as not inferior in easy and quiet humor to those in which Steele, Addison, and Mackenzie introduced themselves to the readers of the Tattler, Spectator, and Mirror. These Essays had no title; but they were introduced after the fashion of the time by a motto, usually taken from a Latin poet. "Sunt quibus in plures jus est transire figuras" (Ovid, Metamorphoses) served as the introduction to a style of news- paper-writing quite superior to anything that had yet appeared in the Province.
399
THE PRESS OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
topics, of a light, graceful, and sometimes humorous character. The com- munity read them with a pleased interest, which afforded an agreeable re- lief from the vexatious wrangling in which the newspapers had been long engaged. In one of these early essays the author, in the vein of the Spectator, sketched the members of "the Society" who were to contribute them, naming them the Honorable Charles Gravely, Esq., " for many years a merchant of considerable eminence in the Province, who had traded for many thousands of pounds in wit and eloquence; " Mr. Timothy Blunt; Mr. Christopher Careless; Mr. Will. Bitterly; and " the wonderful Mr. Honeysuckle, the blossom of our society, and the beautiful ornament of literature." " I might add," he said, "the character of two divines who sometimes do us the honor to sit with us half-an-hour, and improve us with their excellent conversation. But these gentlemen are above the reach of my pen to do them justice. Their lives are regular and exemplary; their learning solid and profound; and in the pulpit they command the atten- tion of their audience with the gracefulness of their air, the musick of their voices, and the noble majesty of their eloquence. These gentlemen will have no inconsiderable hand in these weekly entertainments." Tra- dition has never conjectured to whom these characters belonged, if indeed they were not entirely imaginary. But the two divines might have stood for the Rev. Thomas Prince, then in the prime of life, and the Rev. Mather Byles, who though still young was an active spirit in the undertaking, with a very promising literary reputation. One of the essays, on the subject of Terror, written soon after the Great Earthquake, and credited to him, attracted much attention.1
Mr. Byles's poems on the death of King George I. and on the accession of King George II. first appeared in this series of essays. The style was ex-
1 Dr. Belknap quotes, in his Sacred Poetry, from the hymn to "The God of Tempest," with which the Essay closes, as follows : -
THE GOD OF TEMPEST AND EARTHQUAKE.
Thy dreadful power, Almighty God, Thy works to speak conspire ; This Earth declares thy fame abroad With water, air, and fire.
At thy command in glaring streaks The ruddy lightning flies, Loud thunder the creation shakes, And rapid tempests rise.
O Jesus ! haste the glorious day, When thou shalt come in flame, And burn the Earth and waste the Sea And break all Nature's frame !
Come quickly, blessed hope, appear! Bid thy swift chariot fly ; Let angels warn thy coming near, And snatch me to the sky !
Around thy wheels in the glad throng I'd bear a joyful part, All Hallelujah on my tongue, All rapture in my heart.
Mr. Byles published in the Weekly Journal a poem on Governor Burnet's arrival, which opens thus : -
"While rising shouts a gen'ral Joy proclaim, And ev'ry tongue, O BURNET, lisps thy name ; To view thy Face, while crowding Armies run, Whose waving Banners blaze against the Sun, And deep-mouth'd Cannon, with a thund'ring roar, Send thy Commission stretch'd from Shore to Shore."
This is tame compared with the follow- ing : -
"Welcome, Great Man, to our desiring eyes ! Thou Earth ! proclaim it ; and resound, ye Skies! Voice answering Voice, in joyful Concert meet, The Hills all echo, and the Rocks repeat ; And Thou, O BOSTON, Mistress of the Towns, Whom the pleased Bay with am'rous Arms surrounds, Let thy warm Transports blaze in num'rous Fires, And beaming Glories glitter on thy Spires ; Let Rockets, streaming, up the Ether glare, And flaming Serpents hiss along the Air," etc.
See Drake, History of Boston, 581-82; and Kettell, Specimens of American Poetry.
400
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
travagant, the flattery overwhelming, the rhetoric fanciful and gorgeous. These essays, mainly in prose, had, however, much literary merit. During the third year, 1729, a new series appeared, and were attributed in great part to Governor Burnet. They were less showy and entertaining than the first, and in a more sober mood. Little attention was paid at this time to the news of the day. Judge Danforth and Mather Byles are credited by Mr. Thomas as the principal editors of the Fournal, and correctors of the press. In 1741 the Gazette was united with the Weckly Fournal, and thenceforward the two papers were published as one by Kneeland and Green until 1752, a period of thirty-three years from the establishment of the Gazette, and twenty-five years from that of the Fournal. Thomas Prince was among the friends and counsellors of the fournal, and an occa- sional contributor. To his influence is traced the cordial support which the Fournal gave to Whitefield during his visits to New England. It was the most creditable journal that had yet been printed in North America, and its influence in the country was always pure and wholesome.1
Jeremiah Gridley, afterward Attorney-General of the Province of Massa- chusetts Bay, founded the Weekly Rehearsal in the early autumn of 1731. It was first printed on a half-sheet of printing foolscap, and so long as his connection with it lasted it was more purely literary in its character than any of the journals that preceded it. It was printed by "J. Draper for the author," Mr. Gridley furnishing for each number, during the first six months, a moral or entertaining essay filling one half the paper. These were occa- sionally varied by selected essays from the best available sources. The original essays were written in a more elaborate and ambitious style than
1 Samuel Kneeland, " the ancient and respec-
table printer," apprentice of Bartholomew Green, was long time printer to the Governor and
Banho" The Green.
Council. He printed many books on political and literary subjects. His four sons were print- ers. He died Dec. 14, 1769, aged 73 years, sus- taining to the end the character of an upright man and a good Christian. Timothy Green, Jr., great grandson of the Cambridge printer, was associated with Kneeland from 1726 to 1752, when he removed to Connecticut. Bartholomew Green, Jr., another of this multitudinous family, during the same period printed several books on his own account, and was associated with most of the leading printers. [In the Mass. Archives,
" Military," vii. 294, is the following petition, which is likewise in the Journals of the House: "Wednesday, Jan. 4, 1748: A petition of Bar- tholomew Green, of Boston, showing that in the year 1744, and long before, he was in the printing business; but that from a dispo- sition to serve his Ma- jesty and native coun- . try, he entred with the Expedition against Louisbourg as a lieu- tenant in the train of artillery; that he thereby put himself out of good business, which he cannot recover again; he therefore prays this House would take his case under consideration, and bestow upon him the office of Doorkeeper to the General Court, which is now vacant by the death of Mr. Richard Hubbard." The petition was referred to the next General Court. The family connection of the Greens is noted in Sewall Papers, i. 324. He removed in 1751 to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died in a few weeks at the age of fifty-two years. - ED.]
401
THE PRESS OF THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD.
newspaper readers were then accustomed to, and showed careful study and appreciation of the group of English writers who, earlier in that genera- tion, added so much to the permanent wealth of our literature. They were
MASTER JOHN LOVELL.1
especially designed for "learned and polite" readers, and gave to the Rehearsal an exceptionally high character.
Thomas Fleet became proprietor of the Rehearsal in April, 1733, an- nouncing in his first number that he would continue to seek "the enter- tainment of the Polite and Inquisitive part of Mankind." Gentlemen of leisure and capacity were invited to contribute, the only condition being that they should not be " over-long," and should be " confined within mod-
1 This cut follows a portrait by Nathaniel Smibert, hanging in Memorial Hall, Cambridge. John Lovell, master of the Latin School for forty years, 1734-75, was a contributor to the Rehearsal. He was regarded as a pleasing and
elegant writer, and delivered the first address in Faneuil Hall, -a funeral oration on Peter Faneuil, afterward published. [See Mr. C. C. Smith's chapter on "The French Protestants in Boston," in the present volume."- ED.]
VOL. II. - 51.
402
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
esty and good manners," a rule which he pledged himself never to trans- gress. The Rehearsal was discontinued, or rather transformed, August, 1735, having been printed nearly four years, and having maintained good credit to the last.
Ellis Huske, who succeeded Boydell as postmaster in October, 1734, fail- ing to persuade him to give up the Gazette, started a new journal called the Boston Weekly. Post-Boy. It was printed - on a small quarto sheet at first - regularly for twenty years, but seems to have left little trace of its influence. It was mainly filled with news copied from the London journals, and took little or no part in the disputes and interests of the town and province. Huske was appointed deputy-postmaster for the colonies.1
The Rehearsal was followed without interruption by the Boston Weekly Post, the same in everything but the name, and printed in the evening rather than in the morning. Thomas Fleet was still the proprietor, and apparently the writer of most of its articles. He had much original wit, with which he con- stantly enlivened his advertising as well as his news columns. He was also a more enterprising collector of news than his contemporaries had been. Thomas remarks that his journal was " the best newspaper then published in Boston." He had his own views of passing events, but his columns were freely opened to writers of the most diverse opinions, who were allowed to fight one another with great, and at times indecent, freedom. Once or twice he incurred the displeasure of the authorities. But the Government was no longer so sensitive and exacting as in the times of Dudley and Shute, and nothing came of their warnings.2 He had no liking for the clergy, and re- garded Whitefield as a public nuisance. The friends as well as the enemies of Whitefield, nevertheless, had impartial access to his columns. The comet of 1744 was the occasion of much spirited writing for both press and pulpit,
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