Part 4 (2/2)

But perhaps he was nearer the truth than we realize, for in his day all news came through such sources, and a letter was regarded as a good thing, which it would be gross selfishness not to share with one's neighbors. As for a letter from Europe it was an affair of the greatest magnitude, exciting the interest of the whole community.

Those giant folios which entertain us every morning with their gossip from all quarters of the globe had no existence then. Early in the last century, the Colonial Cavalier gleaned all his knowledge of the world and its affairs, from some three-month-old copy of the London papers and magazines, brought over by a British packet. Even this communication, it seems, was uncertain, for complaint is made that the masters of vessels keep the packages till an accidental conveyance offers, and for want of better opportunities frequently commit them to boatmen, who care very little for their goods, so they get their freight.

The colonists had struggled to establish a local journal, and a printing press had been started in Virginia in the seventeenth century, but it had been strangled in its infancy by Berkeley, who declared it the parent of treason and infidelity; and so it came about that the Southern Provinces had no public utterance for their news or their views, till the silence was broken by the voice of Maryland, speaking through her _Gazette_, in 1727, when in all America there were only six rival sheets. Franklin says that his brother's friends tried to dissuade him from publis.h.i.+ng _The New England Courant_, on the ground that there was already one newspaper in America. His memory lapsed a little, as _The Courant_ had in fact three predecessors, but the incident shows how little notion there was at that time, of the public demand for news.

In 1736, was first issued _The Virginia Gazette_, a dingy little sheet about twelve by six inches in size, and costing to subscribers, fifteen s.h.i.+llings a year. The newspaper of the day had no editorial page. Its comments on public affairs were in the form of letters, after the fas.h.i.+on of _The Tatler_ and _The Spectator_. It had a poet's corner, where many a young versemaker tried the wings of his Pegasus, and it printed also poetical tributes under the notices of deaths and marriages. In this section, after the record of the wedding of Mr. William Derricoat and Miss Suckie Tomkies, appear these lines:

”Hers the mild l.u.s.tre of the blooming morn And his the radiance of the rising day-- Long may they live and mutually possess A steady love and genuine happiness!”

When Edmund Randolph married Betsey Nicholas, the poet found himself unable to express his emotions in less than two stanzas:

”Exalted theme, too high for common lays!

Could my weak muse with beauty be inspired, In numbers smooth I'd chant my Betsy's praise, And tell how much her Randolph is admired.

”To light the hymeneal torch, since they're resolved, Kind Heaven, I trust, will make them truly blest; And when the Gordian knot shall be dissolved, Translate them to eternal peace and rest.”

It is safe to say that this figure, comparing matrimony with a Gordian knot, was original with the poet. Had the bridegroom been as fiery and ”sparkish” as Colonel Park, he might have called out the writer, but he seems to have taken it in good part.

The prospectus of the Maryland _Gazette_ for 1745 announces that its price will be twelve s.h.i.+llings a year, or fourteen s.h.i.+llings sealed and delivered. It promises the freshest advices, foreign and domestic, but adds, with much simplicity and candor: ”In a dearth of news, which in this remote part of the world may sometimes reasonably be expected, we shall study to supply the deficit by presenting our readers with the best material we can possibly collect, having always due regard to the promotion of virtue and learning, the suppression of vice and immorality, and the instruction as well as entertainment of our readers.” What more could the most exacting subscriber demand?

Advertis.e.m.e.nts, then, as now, served the double purpose of filling s.p.a.ce, and supporting the paper. They were charged for, at the rate of five s.h.i.+llings for the first week, and one s.h.i.+lling for each week following, provided they were of moderate length--a vague provision, one would say.

These old advertis.e.m.e.nts are of great value to the student of the life of the past. They give a better picture of the condition of society, than a ream of ”notes.” Here we read of the s.h.i.+pping of a crew on a packet bound for England. Half-way down the column a lost hog is advertised, and here, Edward Morris, breeches-maker, announces a sale of buckskin breeches, and gloves with high tops, and a.s.sures his customers that ”they may depend on kind usage at reasonable rates.” Surely the resources of modern advertising have never devised anything more alluring than this promise of ”kind usage at reasonable rates.”

Since the art of reading was unknown to a considerable proportion of the community, it was natural that pictorial devices should be largely used.

Not only were the shops along the highways distinguished by such signs as ”the Blue Glove,” and ”the Golden Keys,” with appropriate ill.u.s.trations; but in the advertising columns of the papers, the print was re-enforced by pictures of s.h.i.+ps and horses, and runaway slaves.

The purchase and sale of negroes formed a standing advertis.e.m.e.nt, beneath the caption of an auction-block.

In the Virginia _Gazette_ of August, 1767, we find the following under the curious headline:

”SALE OF A MUSICAL SLAVE.”

”A valuable young handsome Negro fellow, about 18 or 20 years of age; has every qualification of a genteel and sensible servant, and has been in many different parts of the world. He shaves, dresses hair, and plays on the French horn. He lately came from London, and has with him two suits of new clothes, which the purchaser may have with him. Inquire at the printing office.”

It is hard to understand why the owner should wish to part with a prodigy possessed of so many accomplishments. Perhaps his playing on the French horn is the explanation.

Runaway servants, both black and white, form the subject of many advertis.e.m.e.nts in those old newspapers. In the Maryland _Gazette_ (1769) appears a description in rhyme of the disappearance of an indented servant:

”Last Wednesday morn at break of day, From Philadelphia ran away An Irishman, named John McKeogn.

To fraud and imposition p.r.o.ne, About five feet five inches high; Can curse and swear, as well as lie.

How old he is I can't engage, But forty-five is near his age.

”He oft in conversation chatters Of Scripture and religious matters, And fain would to the world impart That virtue lodges in his heart.

But, take the rogue from stem to stern, The hypocrite you'll soon discern

”And find, though his deportment's civil, A saint without, within a devil.

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