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1. Mr. Hall soon resolved to commence a paper here, and in 

 Jiilj of the same year issued proposals for publishing on#to be 

 entitled The Essex Gazette, to be issued weekly, on Tuesday, 

 at 63. 8d., per annum. The prospectus was full and explicit in 

 regard to the character of the proposed paper ; and as indicating 

 the spirit in which the enterprise vras started, we quote the 

 following passage : 



" I shall exert myself to obtain as general and fresh a Collection of 

 News as will lay in my Power, both Foreign and Domestic, and insert 

 it with accuracy and in due order ; and I shall at all times assiduously 

 endeavor to procure and carefully publish, as I may have room, any 

 Compositions that may have a tendency to promote Keligion, Virtue, 

 Industry, good Order, a due sense of the Eights and Liberties of our 

 Country, vrith the Importance of true and genuine principles of patriot- 

 ism, and whatever may serve to enliven and animate us in our known 

 Loyalty and Aifection to our gracious Sovereign. In short, any Pieces 

 that may be productive of Public Good, or contribute to the innocent 

 Amusement and Entertainment of my Readers, will be inserted with 

 Pleasure ; and any writings of a Contrary Nature, will, if offered for 

 Insertion, be instantly rejected." 



These comprehensive, patriotic, and emphatic statements of 

 his intentions, with more of a similar character, constituted 

 Mr. Hall's introduction to his readers. And all that he here 

 promised he thoroughly performed, for he was prompt and faith- 

 ful in the execution of all his contracts, devoting himself with 

 great energy and spirit to the discharge of his duties. 



The first number of the paper appeared Aug. 2, 1768, and 

 was a very creditable publication in its typographical execution, 

 and the general character of its contents. It was printed upon 

 a crown sheet, folio, 10 « 16 inches, three columns to the page. 

 This diminutive sheet, less than half the size of the Gazette 

 of to-day, was spoken of in the prospectus as "four large 

 pages, printed in folio.*' It was doubtless considered as large at 

 that time. The head was adorned by a rude wood cut, com- 

 prising the figures of two Indians, with a codfish overhead, and 

 a dove with a sprig in its bill in the centre. This device bears 

 some resemblance to the Essex County seal, and was probably 

 intended to be emblematical of peace, the fisheries, and suc- 

 cessful emigration.* The head-line assured the reader, in the 

 common phraseology of that day, that the sheet contained " the 



*A portion of this device is contained in the seal of the city of Salem. 



