INTRODUCTION. 27 



present date, 1842. Thirty-nine newspapers were printed at the commence- 

 ment of the revolution in all the American colonies. 



The earlier newspaper press was extremely circumscribed in its scope and 

 powers. A newspaper rarely exceeded in size half a sheet of foolscap. It was 

 a mere compilation, often crude enough, with " the freshest advices foreign and 

 domestic." How " fresh," the reader, in this day of railroads, steam packets, 

 and second and third daily editions, will learn not without amusement, from the 

 fact that sixteen years after a newspaper was established in Boston it proposed 

 to issue a half sheet every other week ; by which hazardous enterprise it was 

 hoped that the time between the paper and the latest European news, then 

 thirteen months, might be reduced to five. For many years the " Boston News 

 Letter " contained no more than two advertisements. Until the close of the re- 

 volution, no newspaper was issued oftener than once a week ; but with the pro- 

 gress of political events, the press assumed a higher position, and put forth greater 

 energies. It was yet restricted, its rights scarcely understood, its power not ap- 

 preciated, and its freedom curtailed by judicial decisions ; nevertheless, it was 

 advancing in character and importance. The trial of Zenger, the passage of the 

 stamp act, the claim of parliamentary right to tax the colonies without represen- 

 tation and without consent, and the resistance to those claims on great principles, 

 called forth the patriotism of the colonists ; and the press, having then become 

 the organ of an indomitable spirit of freedom, assumed a more elevated tone, and 

 exerted a powerful influence in carrying the cause of the revolution to its tri- 

 umphant consummation. 



So rapid was the increase of newspapers, that in 1810 the number of such 

 publications in the United States amounted to three hundred and fifty-nine, of 

 which sixty-six were printed in this state. These journals, like those published 

 during the revolution, with rare exceptions, were controversial, and of a political 

 and partizan character. The ability displayed in their columns exceeded that 

 which the press exhibited during the revolution, in a proportion equal to the 

 sphere to be supplied ; but the public taste had not yet become sufficiently refined 



