USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XII > Part 3
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1731 September 27 (Monday)-The Weekly Rehearsal, printed at Boston, by J. Draper, for the Author.
Printed on a half sheet, small pica type. The author, editor and pub- lisher was Jeremy (or Jeremiah) Gridley, a young man of fine literary ac- quirements. For the first six weeks, mottoes in Latin, from the classics, were inserted after the title, and every succeeding paper had a new motto. For the first six months, with very few exceptions, a moral or entertaining essay was weekly published, which usually filled more than half the paper. These were mostly original, and were supposed to be the productions of Gridley alone. The following modest introductory article fills the entire first page of the first paper :
" There is nothing of greater disservice to any writer, than to appear in public under too forward and sanguine an expectation : For either he must elevate himself to the fondness of his reader's fancy, or both of them are respectively dissatisfied,-the reader bv a disappointment, and the writer by a cold reception. To prevent therefore any incon- venience of this nature, I shall here enter into the design of the present undertaking, and delineate the idea I would have every reader conceive of it.
As to the reasons that engaged me in it, several I find have been assigned, all of which I leave in the same uncertainty and suspense, since there is no necessity of declaring upon motives, where the production is to be useful or entertaining. And to be so as far as pos- sible is the professed intention of this paper ; an intention that takes in a wide extent and variety of subjects. For what is there either in Art, or Nature, or History, not to be ac- commodated in this view? The minutest things, when set in due light, and represented in apt words, will divert, and the greatest are entertaining of themselves. The nature of this design then is confined to no particular argument, and in fact will be circumscribed by nothing but discretion, duty, and good manners. These are the fences and boundaries I would think myself obliged never to transgress; for however uneasy a dissolute and licentious pen might be under these limitations, yet without them there is certainly no real pleasure in any action of life, and with them there is room for the widest range of thought, and the freest excursions of fancy. Room enough, every one will be ready to admit, but where shall we find the powers to traverse and cultivate it? Where the man equal to it? This is a hard, unnecessary question. I need not go very far to say where he is not, neither is there any need of proceeding farther to show where he is. For with- out any pretentions to genius, or universal capacity, an indifferent hand may be allowed,
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once in seven days, to publish a Rehearsal, and perhaps to entertain. A Rehearsal, what can we suppose it, but in the general course to be derivative? and what an infinity of sources have we to derive from? The ancient are yet living, and many of these later ages will forever live with them. They are too pure to displease, too numerous to fail us. And is it impossible for an industrious hand to give them a different course? May he not be useful to the public, by directing them where they will be valued, and where otherwise perhaps they would not have been enjoyed? This is all the vanity that can be imputed to the publisher of a Rehearsal ; for as the paper takes its name, the readers should form their opinion from the general design. I am well aware of the exceeding and almost insuperable difficulty of being an original in this knowing and polite age ; for besides the fertile compre- hensive genius that Nature must bestow, how many of her qualities are requisite to form a good and just writer ? Easiness of mind and a competent fortune are indispensably neces- sary ; for how can wit and humor be employed by a man in want? How can the arrange- ment of ideas be attended to by him whose affairs are in confusion? Travel and the most refined conversation are to be added to these accomplishments: And beyond these, it were easy to select many others, that enter the character of an original author, and dis- countenance those who want them from any pretences to it. I would therefore decline this path, and presume no farther than Mr. Locke has suggested every man may, without any the least imputation of vanity. "Since no one (says that great author) sees all, and we generally have different prospects of the same things, according to our different positions to it-it is not incongruous to think, nor beneath any man to try, whether another may not have notions of things, which have escaped him, and which his reason would make use of, if they came into his mind." These views and attributes we apprehend things in, are infinitely diversified by the particular circumstances of persons. And there is, I am persuaded, scarce any man of the least observation and remark, who has not been enter- tained with appropriate cast of thought, and turn of humor, even where he least expected it. Should I ever, therefore, even venture beyond the limits of a Rehearsal, this would be my plea and vindication : and should I fail in the attempt, what a great pleasure and obli- gation would it be, for some of my better readers to imitate the example of the Oxford scholar, who, although he had acquired an excellent hand at music, yet afterwards, falling into melancholy, grew averse to it, and would not be prevailed upon by his friends to touch it. They had but one way to excite him, and that, for some unskillful hand to take his violin and scrape upon it. He would then immediately snatch it from him, and in a kind of resentment, give it the utmost eloquence of sound and harmony.
What has been hitherto said, considers this paper only in the essay kind and a specula- tive view ; which is but one half the design. For it is intended to be a narrative of what- ever shall occur in Commerce in the Civil or Learned World, as far as it deserves our attention, and comes within notice. It will be the endeavor of the publishers to procure the best intelligence, and to digest it in the most suitable method. He would aim to give this sheet all the variety and aspects it is capable of receiving ; for, upon looking over a list of the subscribers, he finds names of every quality, and presumes there are tastes of every degree to be pleased. He owns himself under indelible obligations to the gentle- men that have advanced and favored the design, and would not question their continu- ance, till it deserves their disesteem, and becomes an opiate, by having too great an in- fusion of the poppy.
The original essays of the editor of the Rehearsal were discontinued before the close of the first year. It became then a mere record of the passing events of the day. On April 2, 1733, Thomas Fleet, who had for some time been the printer, and interested in the publication, became the sole proprietor. In announcing the new arrangement to the public, he declared himself to be of no party, and invited "all gentlemen of leisure and capacity, inclined on either side, to write any thing of a political nature, that tends to enlighten and serve the public, to communicate their
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productions, provided they are not over long, and confined within modesty and good manners ; for all possible care will be taken that nothing con- trary to these shall ever be here published."
Of Jeremiah Gridley, the projector, author and proprietor of the Re- hearsal, the Rev. Dr. Eliot says, in his Biographical Dictionary :- " He was Attorney-General of the province, member of the General Court, Col- onel of the First Regiment of Militia, President of the Marine Society, and Grand Master of Freemasons. In 1725, he took his degree at Cam- bridge ; was assistant in the Grammar School in Boston, and a preacher of the Gospel ; but soon turned his attention to the law, and became one of the most eminent of the profession. In 1732, he was editor of a news- paper called the Rehearsal, and filled the first page with an essay, either moral or critical, besides writing political paragraphs. His manner of writing is handsome, and his speculations ingenious. At the bar his speech was rough, his manner hesitating, but energetic, and his words forcible by a peculiar emphasis. . His opinion was always given, even to the judges, with a magisterial air ; his legal knowledge was unquestion- able. He was on the side of the Whigs; and, in the House of Repre- sentatives, where he was a member some years from Brookline, he op- posed the measures of Great-Britain ; but in a question on search war- rants, his speech as Attorney-General, contains sentiments incompatible with freedom, which were confuted by Otis. He died poor, because he despised wealth." He died in Boston, September 7, 1767. The Gazette and News-Letter of the 17th of that month has the following "Extempore Lines" on his death :-
Of parts and learning, wit and worth possessed, Gridley shone forth, conspicuous o'er the rest ; In native powers robust, and smit with fame, The genius brightened and the spark took flame ; Nature and Science wove the laurel crown, Ambitious, each alike conferred renown.
High in the dignity and strength of thought, The maze of knowledge sedulous he sought, With mind superior studied and retained, And Life and Property by Law sustained.
Generous and free, his liberal hand he spread, The oppressed relieved, and for the needy plead ; Awake to friendship, with the ties of blood ; His heart expanded and his soul o'erflowed.
Social in converse, in the Senate brave, Gay e'en with dignity, with wisdom grave ; Long to his country and to courts endeared, The Judges honored and the Bar revered.
Rest, peaceful Shade ! innoxious, as thy walk, May Slander babble, and may Censure talk. Ne'er on thy memory Envy cast a blot, But human frailties in thy worth forgot.
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In the Rehearsal of August 14, 1735, Thomas Fleet, then its sole pro- prietor, gave notice that for the future he would print the paper on Mon- day evening, instead of Monday morning, as it had been previously published. The next Monday, instead of the Rehearsal, he issued a paper with the title of The Boston Evening Post, which see.
1734, October (Monday)-The Boston Weekly Post-Boy, at Boston, by Ellis Huske, who had just been ap- pointed Postmaster at Boston.
No printer's name appeared in the imprint, during its whole existence, which was about twenty years. The latest number known was published in December, 1754, in which there is no notice of any intended discon- tinuance. The character of this paper did not differ essentially from that of its predecessors, -the News-Letter and the Gazette. It was simply a weekly issue of extracts from English papers, and a few articles of intelli- gence, concerning trade and navigation, and a brief notice of the common occurrences of the week. It does not appear that Huske became involved in any controversy with his contemporaries of the press, or in any exciting disputes that might have existed in regard to matters of public interest. The paper has no pretension to a literary character, and had rarely a con- tribution from a correspondent. Huske was afterward appointed deputy- postmaster-general for the colonies. He was superseded in the depart- ment of the post-office by Franklin and Hunter. The devices at the head of this paper were the same as those used in the first Boston Gazette, viz. the Ship on the left of the title, and the Post-Boy on the right. The Post-Boy was also used by Green & Russell, when they began the Weekly Advertiser.
1735, August 21 (Monday)-The Boston Evening Post. Imprint-" Boston : Printed by T. Fleet, at the Heart and Crown, in Cornhill, where advertisements are taken in at a moderate Price."
Printed on a half sheet, foolscap, 8} x 14 inches. This was a continua- tion of the Weekly Rehearsal, and in everything except the title was a fac- simile of that paper. The first number was No. 202, the last number of the Rehearsal having been 201, but in order to break off the apparent con- tinuity between the papers, and to destroy their identity, the second num- ber of the Evening Post was marked No. 2, and all succeeding issues fol- lowed in their proper numerical order. The Evening Post soon became the most popular of Boston newspapers, and, Thomas says, was the best newspaper then published in Boston. Fleet was a man of considerable talent, and often afforded specimens of his wit and humor in editorial paragraphs and advertisements. It does not appear, from the files of his
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paper, that he took a very decided part in the political or religious contro- versies of the day. Writers of entirely different views made use of his columns without stint, and sometimes with little regard to decency.
Thomas Fleet, the proprietor and editor of the Evening Post, died July 20, 1758, in his 73d year. He was the son of Thomas Fleet of Tillstock, in the County of Shropshire, England, where he was born September 8, 1685. He served an apprenticeship to the printing business at Bristol, and worked as a journeyman in that place. He came to Boston in 1712, and soon after opened a printing office in Pudding Lane, now Devonshire street, and carried on the printing of ballads, pamphlets, and books for children, including the famous "Mother Goose's Melodies," believed to have been compiled by him. He was industrious and frugal, and ac- quired property. To his occupation as printer and book-seller, he added that of an auctioneer. On his death, he was succeeded by his sons, Thomas and John, who had learned the printing business of him. They formed a partnership, which continued till the death of Thomas, in March, 1797. They were born in Boston and received a common school education. They were skillful and correct printers, and were much respected as good citizens, and men of integrity and punctuality in all their dealings. They introduced a cut of their sign, the Heart and Crown, into the centre of the title of the paper, and published it every Monday morning instead of Monday evening. The paper was conducted on the principles established by the father, and maintained its character as an independent journal, both Whigs and Tories being privileged to lash each other in its columns. Their neutral course was not satisfactory to the patriots, and on April 24, 1775, the Post contained the following notice :
"The Printers of the Boston Evening Post hereby inform the Town that they shall desist publishing the papers after this day, till matters are in a more settled state." Just preceding this notice is the following para- graph :-
"The unlucky transactions of the last week are so variously related, that we shall not at present undertake to give any particular account thereof."
The "unlucky transactions" here alluded to, it will be perceived, were the battles at Lexington and Concord. With that declaration the publica- tion of the Post was suspended and never revived.
Thomas Fleet, the second of the name, and the senior partner in the house of T. & J. Fleet, was born April 10, 1732, and died, single, March 16, 1797. John, the other partner, was born September 25, 1734, and died March 6, 1806, aged 713 years. He had a son, Thomas, who was a printer, and connected in the business with his father, but who gave it up soon after his father died. He died a bachelor, in 1827, about 59 years of age. These Fleets,-father, sons, and grandson, conducted the printing business, through a period of seventy-five years, in the building before mentioned, at the corner of Washington and Water streets, Boston.
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When they discontinued the publication of the Evening Post, the Fleets pursued their business of printing in all other respects, and executed a large share of the job work of the town. At one time they did all the printing required for the General Court, and County and Town officers, and acquired what was considered a handsome property. They were also employed to print most of the valuable works which were published during the war and a few years thereafter.
Soon after the evacuation of Boston by the British troops, the Fleets removed the sign of the "Crown and Heart," which had been erected by their father, and put in its place the "Bible and Heart ;" and this re- mained on the building, till the final relinquishment of their business, and the removal of the family, in 1808.
1743, March 2 (Wednesday)-The Boston Weekly Maga- zine, at Boston, by Rogers & Fowle.
This was the first magazine published in America. It was printed Wednesdays, on a half sheet, octavo. No. I contained some extracts from London magazines, a Poem to a political lady, an Ode by Mr. Addison, two short domestic news items from Boston newspapers, and the custom house entries for the week. The magazine was continued only four weeks.
1743, March 5 (Saturday )-The Christian History. Im- print-"Boston, N. E. Printed by Kneeland & Green, 1743, for Thomas Prince, Jun. A. B."
It was printed on a large half sheet of fine medium, in octavo, on a new small pica type. The price was "two shillings new tenor per quarter, and six pence more new tenor per quarter covered, sealed and directed." The editor and publisher was a son of the Rev. Thomas Prince, of Boston. The Christian History was regularly published, in numbers of eight pages each, every Saturday, for two years, each year making a volume, to which was prefixed a title page and an index. The title page to the first volume is : "The Cliristian History, containing Accounts of the Revival and Propagation of Religion in Great Britain and America. For the year I743."
1743, October 20-The American Magazine and Histori- cal Chronicle, for September, 1743. Imprint- "Boston : Printed by Rogers & Fowle, and Sold by S. Eliot & J. Blanchard, in Boston; B. Franklin, in Philadelphia; J. Parker, in New-York; J. Pomroy, in New Haven; C. Campbell, Post-Master, New Port. Price Three Shillings, New Tenor, a Quarter,"
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It was well printed, on a long primer type, on a fine medium paper, in octavo, each number containing fifty pages, and was issued monthly, by "Samuel Eliot, in Cornhill, and Joshua Blanchard in Dock-Square," booksellers, and printed by Rogers & Fowle, in "Prison Lane," who were also concerned in the publication, and after the first year were sole pro- prietors of it. Jeremy Gridley is said to have been the editor. On the title was a copper plate view of Boston. It was not inferior in typography to the London magazines. It was continued for three years and four months.
1748, January 4 (Tuesday)-The Independent Advertiser. Imprint-"Boston : Printed & Sold by Rogers & Fowle in Queen-street, next to the Prison, where Advertisements are taken in at a reasonable Price. And all Gentlemen and others may be supplied with this paper."
It was printed on a half sheet of crown size, 9} x 15 inches, two pages folio, with a new long primer type; two columns to the page; the head embellished with a cut, the device of which Mr. Thomas thus explains : "Britannia liberating a bird, confined by a cord to the arms of France. Britannia is represented sitting; the arms of France lying on the ground before her ; the bird is on the wing, but being impeded by the cord, one end of which is fastened to the arms of France and the other to the bird, Britannia is in the act of cutting the cord with a pair of shears, that the bird may escape."
The opening address, it will be seen, is written in a better style than had been usual in that department of the newspaper press :-
The Publishers to the Readers.
Gentlemen.
Upon the Encouragement we have already received, and agreeable to our printed Proposals, The Independent Advertiser now makes its entrance into the World, and as it will doubtless be expected upon its first Appearance that we should more fully explain our Design and show what the Public may expect from it, we would accordingly observe, That we shall by no means endeavor to recommend this our Paper by depreciating the merit of other Performances of the same kind, neither would we flatter the Expectations of the Public by any pompous Promises which we may not be likely to fulfil ; but this our Readers may depend upon ; that we shall take the utmost Care to procure the freshest and best Intelligence, and publish it in such order, as that every reader may have the clearest and most perfect Understanding of it ; and for the Benefit of those who are unac- quainted with Geography of foreign parts, we may insert such descriptions as may en- lighten them therein. But as we cannot expect to gratify our inquisitive Customers with a constant supply of News, (especially in this barren Season,) we propose occasionally to insert such valuable extracts from our most celebrated Writers, which may be most likely to improve or entertain our Readers. And as our present political state affords Matter for a variety of Thoughts, of peculiar importance to the good people of New-England, we propose to insert every thing of that Nature that may be pertinently and decently wrote. For ourselves, we declare we are of no Party, neither shall we promote the private and narrow Designs of any such. We are ourselves free, and our Paper shall be free-free as
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the Constitution we enjoy-free to Truth, good Manners and good Sense, and at the same time free from all licentious Reflections, Insolence and Abuse. Whatsoever may be adapted to State and Defend the Rights and Liberties of Mankind, to advance useful Knowledge and the Cause of Virtue, to improve the Trade, the Manufactures and the Husbandry of the Country, whatever may tend to inspire this People with a just and proper Sense of their own Condition, to point out to them their true Interest, and rouse them to pursue it ; as also any Piece of Wit and Humor, shall at all Times find (free of charge) a most welcome reception. And although we do not altogether depend upon the casual Benevolence of the Publick to supply this Paper, yet we will thankfully receive every Thing from every quarter conducing to the Good of the Publick and our general Design.
The Advertiser was devoted chiefly to politics, containing little news. Most of the essays, which were ably written, were contributed by a society of gentlemen, associated for that purpose, among whom the inflexible patriot, Samuel Adams, was prominent and influential. The paper was handsomely printed.
Rogers & Fowle, the publishers of this paper, formed a partnership in 1742, and carried on the printing business on a scale somewhat larger than any of their predecessors or contemporaries. They issued a number of volumes, which were neatly and accurately printed,-chiefly on their own account. They were both excellent workmen. They manufactured ink for their own works, and are supposed to have been the first printers in America who were successful in that branch of domestic manufacture. They printed an edition of 2,000 copies of the New Testament for Daniel Henchman-the first impression of that book in English, issued from an American press. In April, 1750, about two years from the commencement of the publication of the Independent Advertiser, Rogers & Fowle dis- solved their partnership, and the paper was discontinued.
Gamaliel Rogers served his apprenticeship with Bartholomew Green, senior. He began business as a printer, in 1723, and printed chiefly for the booksellers. After the dissolution of his partnership with Fowle, he opened a printing-house in the westerly part of Boston, which he carried on in a small way for two or three years, when his house was burned, and his press and most of his types destroyed. His property being chiefly lost, he gave up business as a printer. Dejected and broken in spirit, at an advanced period of life, he opened a shop near the Old South meeting- house, where he supported his family by retailing groceries in small quan- tities, and selling a few pamphlets, -the remnants of the stock accumu- lated in more prosperous days. " He was an industrious, sensible, amiable man, and a good Christian." Soon after the battle of Bunker-Hill, in 1775, when Boston was in possession of the British troops, and besieged by the provincial army, Rogers obtained permission of the British commander to leave the place. He removed to Ipswich, in the county of Essex, Mass., and died there, in the autumn of tliat year, aged seventy years.
Daniel Fowle, the junior partner in the firm of Rogers & Fowle, was born in Charlestown, and served his apprenticeship with Samuel Knee- land. He began business as a printer on his own account, in 1740. Soon
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after his separation from Rogers, in 1750, he opened a printing-office in Ann-street, where he kept a small collection of books for sale, and printed a number of pamphlets. In July, 1755, a pamphlet made its appearance in Boston, of which Fowle was suspected to be the printer, and on that suspicion was subjected to severe treatment. The pamphlet was entitled "The Monster of Monsters : a true and faithful Narrative of a most re- markable phenomenon lately seen in this Metropolis; to the great Sur- prize and Terror of his Majesty's good Subjects ; humbly dedicated to all the Virtuosi of New-England : By Thomas Thumb, Esq." This allegori- cal monster appears to have been an excise law, which was on its passage through the House of Representatives. It was said to have made its first appearance in an Assembly of Matrons, where it was received with great favor, and great pains taken to make others admire it. The House of Representatives ordered the pamphlet to be burnt by the Common Hang- man, and that Daniel Fowle be taken into custody. He was brought before the house and examined and then committed to jail. On October 28, he was taken to the House of Representatives and reprimanded by the Speaker, and ordered to be discharged on paying the costs. This treat- ment induced Fowle to leave Massachusetts, and establish a printing-office in Portsmouth, N. H.
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