THE EARLIEST NEWSPAPER PRINTED IN GROTON. 1 75 



during a short time. It is evident from the entries that he 

 was a keen observer of things, and from the style a writer of 

 considerable merit. If he had lived a few years longer, he 

 would have won a reputation either as a journalist or a man 

 of letters. The first entry in the diary was made on March 28, 

 183 1, and the last one on November 14 of the following 

 autumn. It begins thus: 



March 28, 1831. The reasons why and wherefore I have con- 

 cluded to keep this journal, are simply these : — I consider myself 

 to be a wandering and unsettled being whose life will be made up 

 of events which happen by chance and accident and by keeping an 

 account of the every-day occurrences of my life, I shall be able to 

 judge at any time whether the balance of virtue or vice be on my 

 side. As the established merchant keeps an account of every little 

 transaction in business, so should the " citizen of the world " make 

 his entries of incident, upon the same principle. Knowledge is com- 

 modity — and this is what we are daily receiving. Another reason 

 why a journal will be of great utility, is that many things that would 

 otherwise be forgotten will herein be preserved ; — it will be a por- 

 trait of the inner man — the day-book of the heart, and a guide by 

 which we can shape our future course more correctly by observing 

 the defects in that road we have just travelled over. 



In sketching the period of his life passed at Groton, he 

 writes : 



The winter of 1829 found me the Editor of a paper in the town 

 of Groton in Massachusetts. Here, although a mere boy, I placed 

 myself in a responsible situation. But I was cheered on by the 

 success of my writings, and, so far as I have knowledge, gave gen- 

 eral satisfaction to my readers. Involved in all the difficulties which 

 attend the life of an editor, I pressed forward and got through won- 

 derfully. Here I was obliged alternately to be poet, politician, 

 novelist, and everything else that is required in a country paper. 

 Wrote verses for the ladies — praised the crops for the farmers — 

 looked grave with the parson and cunning with the lawyer ; and in 

 fact did everything which a country editor is always obliged to do, 

 even unto folding and carrying papers, sticking type and working 

 at press, and in short becoming a perfect Caleb Quotum in real 

 hfe. 



