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In 1737, a different Christian spirit was manifested towards the Quakers, and they were exempted from taxes for the support of the clergy, provided they attended their own meetings. A letter from a Quaker to the King gives the following statement of the punishments and penalties received by his brethren: “Twenty-two have been banished on pain of death, three have been martyred, three have had their right ears cut, one hath been burned in the hand with the letter H, thirty-one persons have received six hundred and fifty stripes, … one thousand and forty-four pounds worth of goods have been taken from them, and one lieth now in fetters, condemned to die.” The letter H was probably intended for “heretic,” which would certainly be giving a judgment against the religion the Quakers professed.

In 1694, the Quakers owned a lot on Brattle Street, and it is thought probable had some sort of a meeting-house upon it; but still the years passed on, we hardly know how, until 1708, when they desired to build a brick house, but could not get permission to do so. Afterwards they built a small brick meeting-house in the rear of Congress Street on one side, and in the rear of Water Street on the other. It ran back to what is now the line of Exchange Place; in fact, was nearly in the centre of the square formed by State, Congress, Water, and Devonshire Streets. This building was partly destroyed by fire in 1760, having been standing more than fifty years; was then repaired, and finally demolished in 1825, having been unoccupied for nearly twenty years, the society, in 1808, having voted to discontinue their meetings.

It is probably true that the treatment of the Quakers in the Massachusetts Colony, in the years mentioned, from 1600 to 1666-67, is unparalleled in the history of the human race; and although it may be true, as has been said, that the people here exiled themselves in order that “they might maintain and perpetuate what they conceived to be the principles of true Christianity,” they manifested but little of the spirit of the Saviour of mankind or the religion he came to teach. Hutchinson concludes what he has to say of the remarkable persecution of the Quakers and its severity, with the remark, “May the time never come again, when the government shall think that by killing men for their religion they do God good service.” However other denominations of Christians were persecuted by the Puritans, only Quakers and witches were hung. “These transient persecutions,” as Bancroft calls them, with all the leniency possible, “begun in self-defence, were yet no more than a train of mists hovering of an autumn morning over the channel of a fine river, that diffused freshness and fertility wherever it wound.” Much of this condition of things, it must be admitted, resulted from natural causes; namely, the character and circumstances of the settlers, their peculiar religious belief, and absolute fanaticism.

Finally, another writer says, “The Puritans disclaimed the right to sit in judgment on the opinions of others. They denied that they persecuted for conscience sake.” These and some other statements seem to show that they did not practise as they preached, or gave an interpretation to that practice not in accordance with the understanding and convictions of mankind. To be sure, they had a law to punish any one who spoke disrespectfully of the Scriptures, and at the same time fined, punished, banished, and hung those who entertained and presumed to teach principles, belief, or doctrines in relation to the Scriptures different from their own; not, as they allege, because they had the right to sit in judgment upon them, but because of the dangers of their teaching and practice: in other words, for their own protection, “self-defence,” as has been said. Nevertheless, maiming, marring, and taking the lives of God’s creatures, the equals in every respect of themselves, as Hutchinson puts it, is only to be apologized for or excused by the infirmities of humanity; indeed, we should rather say, is not to be excused on any such ground, and their own doctrine and belief teaches that it was a proceeding to be punished and repented of. This, at any rate, was always the belief of the Quakers. Drake says, “The persecuted Quakers were fully persuaded that a day of wrath would overtake New England, and they did not fail to declare their belief; and, indeed, it was not long before their predictions were fulfilled: for the terrible war with the Indians, which followed in a few years, was viewed by them as the vengeance of heaven for their cruelty to the Quakers.”

VIII.
FIRST NEWSPAPER IN AMERICA

It is said that the first newspaper ever issued was at Venice in 1583,⁷ called “The Gazette,”—and this was in manuscript,—unless (as has been reported) there was an older paper of some kind issued at Hong-Kong. The oldest printed newspaper, “The English Mercury,” was issued in England in 1588,⁸ but, it is believed, was not regularly published. In the next century, from 1624 onward, newspapers multiplied; and among them were “The Parliament Kite,” and “The Secret Owl,” and some other curious names. Towards the close of this century, the first American newspaper appeared; and possibly this had been preceded by what represented a newspaper, in manuscript, as was the case afterwards in Boston in 1704, when “The News-Letter” first appeared. The first American newspaper was issued in Boston in 1690,—only fifty or sixty years after newspapers became common in England,—if the statements which we have quoted are reliable. But at this time, as might be reasonably supposed, the people who came to this country in order to improve their liberties, were not prepared for a free press, or, one might almost say, for any thing that did not tally with their religious notions and vague superstitions; so that, after the first issue, Sept. 25, 1690, the paper was suppressed, as said, by the “legislative authorities.” Still it was a newspaper, intended to be such, and intended to be regularly issued once a month, or oftener, if occasion required.

It was entitled as follows:—

“Numb. 1.  Publick

OCCURRENCES,

Both Foreign and Domestic

Boston, Thursday, Sept. 25, 1690.”

It was “printed by R. Pierce, for Benjamin Harris, at the London Coffee House, 1690.” And it would seem that most of the copies were destroyed, though probably not many were printed, as only one copy has ever been found, and that by some unknown chance got into the colonial state-paper office, in London. It is a small sheet of paper doubled, printed on three pages, two columns to each; and some years ago, after a good deal of trouble to find the copy in the London office, the contents of the whole sheet were copied by Dr. Samuel A. Green, of Boston, and have since been once or twice reprinted.

It is said that it was stopped by the “legislative authorities,” who described it as a “pamphlet,” and as containing “reflections of a very high nature;” and the order of the Court, passed in 1662 forbade “any thing in print without license first obtained from those appointed by the government to grant the same:” so that it would seem that there was a law against printing any thing without a license, and that this sheet, called a pamphlet, came within its provisions. “In 1644, It is ordered that the Printers shall have leave to print the Election Sermon with Mr. Mather’s consent, and the Artillery’s with Mr. Norton’s consent.” This, of course, meant without their undergoing any inspection.

With respect to the contents of this first newspaper, the introductory paragraph is as follows:—

“It is designed that the countrey shall be furnished once a month (or if any Glut of Occurrences happen oftener,) with an Account of such considerable things as have arrived unto our Notice.”

The editor, it is said, will take pains to get a faithful relation of things, and hopes observers will communicate of such matters as fall under their notice; and then states what is proposed in an editorial way: first, that memorable occurrences may not be neglected or forgotten: second, that people may better understand public affairs; and third, “that something may be done towards the Curing, or at least the Charming of that Spirit of Lying, which prevails among us,” &c. This, probably, is one of the passages referred to by the authorities as “reflections of a very high nature.” And, in addition to what has been said, “the Publisher of these Occurrences” proposes to correct false reports, and expose the “First Raiser” of them, and thinks “none will dislike this Proposal, but such as intend to be guilty of so villainous a Crime.”

Then follows the news, or “Occurrences.” Mention is made of a thanksgiving appointed by the Christian Indians of Plymouth; the husbandmen find no want of hands, “which is looked upon as a merciful Providence,” being a favorable season; the Indians have stolen two children, aged nine and eleven years, from Chelmsford; an old man of Watertown hung himself in his cow-house, having lately lost his wife, and thereupon “the devil took advantage of the melancholy which he thereupon fell into.” Epidemical fevers and agues and small-pox are next spoken of: of small-pox, three hundred and twenty had died in Boston, and “children were born full of the distemper.” A large fire is spoken of near the Mill Creek,—twenty houses burned; and on the 16th and 17th of this instant (September, 1690), a fire broke out near the South Meeting-house, which consumed five or six houses; a young man perished in the flames, and one of the best printing-presses was lost. Report of a vessel bound to Virginia, put into Penobscot, where the Indians and French butchered the master and most of the crew.

The next is a longer article in relation to the expedition to Canada under Gen. Winthrop, its failure, and a variety of Indian complications. The editor says, “’Tis possible we have not so exactly related the Circumstances of this business, but the Account is as near exactness as any that could be had, in the midst of many various reports about it.”

Then follows an account of the massacre of a body of French Indians in the “East Country.” Two English captives escaped at Passamaquoddy, and got into Portsmouth. There was terrible butchery among the French, Indians, and English at this time. Following this is some news from Portsmouth by an arrival from Barbadoes; a report that the city of Cork had proclaimed King William, and turned their French landlords out of doors, &c.; more Indian troubles at Plymouth, Saco, &c., &c. Then follows the imprint at the end, as already quoted.

Such was the nature, character, and contents of the first paper ever published in America; and we doubt if the first paper printed in England, more than a hundred years before, exceeded this in manner and matter. The judgment of the present day would be that it was a very good paper for the time, both in its news and editorial matter, and we fail to see any ground of offence either against law or religion. Many of the early papers published in this country, after the failure of this attempt, are not half as good as this first copy of “Publick Occurrences.” It is creditable to Benjamin Harris, and its discontinuance not so creditable to the “legislative authorities,” who either made or perverted a law for its suppression. But the idea of establishing a newspaper “that something may be done towards the Curing, or at least the Charming of that Spirit of Lying, which prevails among us,” is very peculiar.

In all newspaper nomenclature it is hardly possible to find a more appropriate name than that selected for this first newspaper of America. We now have Heralds, Couriers, and Messengers; Records, Chronicles, and Registers; then all sorts of party names; Banner, and Standard; Crayon, Scalpel, and Broadaxe; Age, Epoch, Era, Crisis, Times; and finally Sun, Star, Comet, Planet, Aurora, Galaxy, &c., but among these and thousands of other names, not one more truthful and expressive than that of “Publick Occurrences.”

THE BOSTON NEWS-LETTER

The first Boston newspaper which gained a permanency, was published in 1704, and was continued for more than seventy years. It was equally fortunate in the selection of an appropriate and significant name, the “Boston News-Letter,” and this was possibly suggested by the fact that it was preceded by the issue of a news-letter in manuscript which was as strictly, as the newspaper which followed it, a “News-Letter.” Naturally enough too, considering the times, it was originated by the postmaster, who came in contact in his business, not only with the people of Boston, but generally with those of the whole colony, as we think, there were then but few post-offices in the colony: the need of a News-Letter for everybody would, as we have intimated, naturally suggest itself to him, and be also, as in fact it was, an important aid to his business, though it is said he did not make much out of it, and soon after lost his position as postmaster.

New England

The BOSTON News-Letter

From Monday April 17, to Monday April 24, 1704

“Boston: Printed by B. Green, and sold by Nicholas Boone, at his shop near the old meeting-house.”

John Campbell, a Scotchman, bookseller and postmaster, was the proprietor of the paper. It was printed on a half-sheet, pot paper, and was to be continued weekly, “Published by authority.” Among the contents was an article from the “London Flying Post,” containing news from Scotland, “concerning the present danger of the kingdom and the Protestant Religion,” “Papists swarm the nation,” &c.; also extracts from the London papers, and four paragraphs of marine news. Advertisements inserted “at a reasonable rate from twopence to five shillings.” On the same day that the paper was issued Judge Sewall notes in his diary that he went over to Cambridge, and gave Mr. Willard, president of the College, “the first News-Letter that was ever carried over the river.”

The second issue of the paper, No. 2, was on a whole sheet of pot paper, the last page blank.

In the fifth number Boone’s name was left out, and the paper was sold at the post-office. To No. 192, the paper was printed on a half-sheet, excepting the second issue.

Green printed the paper for Campbell, until Nov. 3, 1707, after which it was printed by John Allen, in Pudding Lane, near the post-office, and there to be sold; and Allen printed it four years to No. 390. On the day that number was published, Oct. 2, 1711, the post-office and printing-office were burnt; and the following week it was again printed by Green, in Newbury Street, and he continued to print it until October, 1715. In 1719, Mr. Campbell tried the experiment of printing a whole sheet, instead of a half sheet, every other week, but this did not pay very well; and in addition to this difficulty, he lost the office of postmaster in December of that year. The new postmaster also printed a paper (Gazette) and this led to the first newspaper war in the country, but which did not last long, and terminated without much damage.

In 1721, Campbell got a new idea and printed some copies of the “News-Letter” on a sheet of writing paper, leaving one page blank, so that his subscribers could write their letters on that, and send the paper abroad without extra postage. In the next year, after he had published the paper eighteen years, he sold to his printer, Bartholomew Green. “Published by authority” had been omitted by Campbell for two years, and in 1725 Green restored it. In December, 1726, the title was changed to “The Weekly News-Letter,” and subsequently, in 1730, to “The Boston Weekly News-Letter,” and the numberings of the previous issues were added together, and the total reached 1,396, in October, 1730. No other alteration took place until the death of Green, when in Jan. 4, 1733, John Draper, his son-in-law, succeeded him. Draper printed the “News-Letter” for thirty years, and died November, 1762. His son, Richard Draper, continued the paper and enlarged the title to “The Boston Weekly News-Letter and New England Chronicle.” In about a year the title was again altered to “The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter,” and was decorated with the King’s Arms. Richard took a kinsman as partner, and the paper now bore this imprint: “Published by Richard Draper, Printer to the Governor and Council, and by Samuel Draper, at the printing-office, in Newbury Street.” Richard Draper continued the paper, and in May, 1768, a singular arrangement took place between the “Massachusetts Gazette” (or News-Letter) and the “Boston Post Boy and Advertiser,” and both papers were “Published by authority,” in other words as government papers. Each paper was one-half “The Massachusetts Gazette, published by authority,” and the other half bore its own proper name; and Draper called it the “Adam and Eve paper.” This plan continued until September, 1769, and then its title “The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter,” was resumed. In May, 1774, Draper took a partner, and the next month he died, and his widow, Margaret Draper, continued the paper in the interest of the loyalists or tories, until the evacuation of Boston, and then it ceased. She went to Halifax and then to England, and there obtained a pension. The “News-Letter” was published seventy-two years. It is a curious fact that the first newspaper established in Boston should have got into the hands of the tories, and in the last year of its existence, in the trying times of the revolutionary war, should have been conducted by a woman.

“The New England Chronicle, or The Evening Gazette,” published at Cambridge, Sept. 28, 1775, speaks of “Mrs. Draper’s Paper,” in the following paragraph:—

“The miserable Tools of Tyranny in Boston appear now to be somewhat conscious of their infamy in Burning Charlestown, and are, with the assistance of the Father of Liars, devising Methods for clearing up their characters. One of them, in Mrs. Draper’s paper, asserts that the Provincials, on the 17th of June, after firing out of Houses upon the King’s troops, set the Buildings on Fire. This doubtless, is as true as that the Provincials fired first upon the King’s Troops at Lexington. Both of them are equally false, and well known to be as palpable Lies as ever were uttered. The propagation of them are, however, perfectly consistent with the Perfidy, Cowardice, and Barbarity of Gage and his detestable understrappers.”

Some other paragraphs are copied from “Mrs. Draper’s last Boston Paper,” of which the following is one:—

“We hear a certain Person of Weight among the Rebels hath offered to return to his Allegiance on Condition of being pardoned and provided for: What encouragement he has received remains a secret.”

John L. DeWolf, Esq., of Boston, has complete files of “The Boston Weekly News-Letter,” for the years 1744 and 1745; and we are indebted to him for the use of them. The following are specimens of some of the advertisements of the time:—

“To be sold, a likely Negro boy about 12 years old: enquire of the printer.”

“To be sold by the Province Treasurer: Good Winter Rye, which may be seen at the Granary, on the Common” [Park street].

“A fine negro male child to be given away.” [There are numerous advertisements of slaves and negroes.]

“To be sold, a Good Dwelling-House, situate near the Green Dragon, in the Main street, with a large tract of Land for a Garden, a good Well in the Cellar and other conveniences. Enquire of Daniel Johonnot, Distiller.”

Elizabeth Macneal advertises “a likely young negro girl;” “also some Household goods to be sold.”

Josiah Jones advertises his man servant, 19 years of age as a runaway, “having on an old ragged Coat, a good Check’d Shirt and Trowsers, a Pair of Black Callamanco Breeches, a pair of Gray Yarn Stockings, and a new Pair of Shoes.”

“The Gentleman who borrowed a Blue Great Coat at the White Swan, about three weeks past, is desir’d to return the same forthwith: the Person whom he borrow’d it of, thinking he has had it long enough.”

“This is to inform the Publick, That the Cold-Bath in the Bath-Garden, at the West End of Boston is in Beautiful Order for use. It is a living Spring of Water, which the coldest Season in Winter never affects or freezes,” &c.

“This is to inform the Publick that Edmond Lewis of Boston, watch-maker, never bought a Watch of, nor ever sold one to any Slave whatever; and the malicious Report of his having dealt with some negroes is scandalously false.”

“Choice Carolina Pork and Beef, to be sold at the Warehouse on the South side of the Town Dock, adjoining the Impost office.”

“A negro woman to be sold by the Printer of this paper; the very best negro woman in town; who has had the small-pox and measles; is as hearty as a horse, as brisk as a bird, and will work like a Beaver.”