 | MARYLAND. The history of printing in America, with a biography of printers, and an account of newspapers ... |  |
MARYLAND.
A newspaper was published at Annapolis, in this colony,
as early as 1728. Three papers only had been printed before
the revolutionary war, and two of them were published
when it commenced.
I cannot determine the exact time when this paper was
first introduced to the public; but the best information I
can obtain dates its origin from 1727. I have ascertained
that it was published in June, 1728, by the following record
of the vestry of the parish church in Annapolis, dated in
June, 1728, directing "the register of the vestry to apply
to the printer to have an advertisement inserted in the
Maryland Gazette;" and, by a subsequent record of an account
"rendered by the Printer for publishing an advertisement
in the Gazette, and printing hand-bills." These and
other facts indicate that it was established the previous
year; and I have reason to believe that it was published
irregularly until 1736. I have seen extracts from it dated
in August, 1729.
It was printed by William Parks.
This was the second newspaper published in the colony.
The first had been discontinued about nine years, when the
1745, printed by Jonas Green. It was published weekly,
on Thursday, on paper of foolscap size, folio, but it was enlarged,
some years after, to a crown sheet. The typographical
features of this Gazette were equal to those of any
paper then printed on the continent. It has been regularly
and uniformly published from 1745, to the present time
(1810), with the exception of a short suspension in 1765, on
account of the stamp act; and there is only one paper
printed in the United States which is of prior date.
After it had been published several years, the imprint
was as follows: "Annapolis: Printed by Jonas Green, at
his Printing-Office in Charles-Street; where all persons may
be supplied with this Gazette, at 12∫6. a year; and Advertisements
of a moderate Length are inserted for 5s. the
First Week, and 1s. each Time after: And long ones in
Proportion."
When the publication of this Gazette was suspended on
account of the stamp act in 1765, its printer occasionally
issued a paper called The Apparition of the Maryland
Gazette, which is not Dead but Sleepeth. At one corner of
the sheet of The Apparition was, as a substitute for a
stamp, the figure of a death's head, about which the words
following were thus arranged:
Dismal, [Death's Head.] Doleful,
Dolorous, Dollar-less.
The publication of The Maryland Gazette was resumed
January 30th, 1766, and it was printed until 1767; completing
a period of twenty-two years by Green, the first
publisher. From April 1767 to December of that year, it
was issued from the press by his widow, Anne Catharine
Catharine Green and William her son. William died in
1770; and Anne Catharine published it until her death,
in March, 1775. It was then continued by her sons,
Frederic and Samuel Green.[1]
BALTIMORE.
Lectorem delectando, pariterque moncndo." Hor.
This was the third newspaper published in Maryland,
and first appeared in August, 1773. It was handsomely
printed on a demy sheet, and had a cut of the arms of the
colony, or those of lord Baltimore, in the title. At first it
was published on Saturdays, afterward on Thursdays.
Imprint, "Baltimore: Printed by William Goddard, at
the Printing-Office in Market-street, opposite the Coffee-House,
where Subscriptions, at Ten Shillings per Annum,
Advertisements and Letters of Intelligence, are gratefully
received for this paper; and where all Manner of Printing
Work is performed with Care, Fidelity and Expedition.
Blanks and Hand-Bills in particular are done on the shortest
Notice in a neat and correct Manner."
From 1775, to 1784, Mary Katharine Goddard, in the
absence of her brother, published the Journal in her own
name. In the year 1784, William Goddard resumed the
publication.
During several years Goddard was in habits of intimacy
and friendship with the celebrated but eccentric general,
Charles Lee, who, in one stage of the American war, was
the second in command of the American army; and, it is
supposed, contemplated the removal of General Washington
from the chief command, with an expectation of occupying
his place. Lee having failed in the execution of his
orders at the battle of Monmouth, in 1778, was disgraced,
and spent the remainder of his days in retirement, chiefly
on his large estate in Berkeley county, Va., said to have
contained 2752 acres of valuable land. He died at Philadelphia,
October 2, 1782; and in his last will and testament,
as a token of his esteem, left Goddard, as has been mentioned,
a valuable real estate in Virginia.
Lee's papers were deposited in the hands of Goddard
with a view to the publication of them; and, in June
1785, a proposal for printing them by subscription, in three
volumes octavo, at the price of one guinea, was issued in
the Maryland Journal. The papers consisted, first, of
letters to Lee from persons of distinction, both in Europe
and America; secondly, letters from the general to his
friends in Europe previous to the war, likewise to the principal
characters in America, civil and military, during his
command in the American army; and thirdly, essays on
various subjects, political and military; to which it was
proposed to prefix memoirs of his life.[2]
In the prospectus,
with in collecting and arranging these posthumous papers,
arose from their desire of not giving offence to such characters
resentment. Unhappily, his disappointments had soured
his temper; the affair of Monmouth, several pieces of scurrility
from the press, and numerous instances of private
slander and defamation, so far got the better of his philosophy
as to provoke him in the highest degree, and he became
as it were, angry with all mankind.
"To this exasperated disposition we may impute the
origin of his Political Queries, and a number of satirical hints,
thrown out both in his conversation and writing, against
the commander in chief. Humanity will draw a veil over
the involuntary errors of sensibility, and pardon the sallies
of a suffering mind, as its presages did not meet with an
accomplishment. General Washington, by his retirement,
demonstrated to the world that power was not his object;
that America had nothing to fear from his ambition; but
that she was honored with a specimen of such exalted patriotism
as could not fail to attract the attention and admiration
of the most distant nations.
"The reader then will not wonder that General Lee, disappointed
in his career of glory, should be continually inculcating
an idea of the extreme danger of trusting too
much to the wisdom of one, for the safety of the whole; that
he should consider it as repugnant to the principles of freedom
and republicanism to continue for years one man as
commander in chief; that there should be a rotation of
office, military as well as civil; and though the commander
of an army possessed all the virtues of Cato, and the talents
of Julius Cesar, it could not alter the nature of the thing,
since by habituating the people to look up to one man, all
true republican spirit became enervated, and a visible propensity
to monarchical government was created and fostered;
that there was a charm in the long possession of
high office, and in the pomp and influence that attended it,
which might corrupt the best dispositions.
"Indeed it was the opinion of Marcus Aurelius, whose
virtues not only honored the throne but human nature,
that to have the power of doing much, and to confine that
power to doing good, was a prodigy in nature. Such sentiments
of this divine prince, who was not only trained up
in the schools of austere philosophy, but whose elevated
situation rendered him the most able judge of the difficulty
there is in not abusing extensive power, when we have it
in our hands, furnish substantial arguments for not entrusting
it to any mortal whatsoever. But while we are convinced
of the justness of these sentiments, we are led the
more to respect and reverence our most disinterested commander
in chief, who stands conspicuous with unrivalled
glory, superior to the fascinations which have overthrown
many a great and noble mind."
Before any further steps were taken toward the publication
of this work, Goddard addressed General Washington,
in the most respectful manner, giving him the outline of
the plan, with assurances that every possible precaution
would be taken to avoid injuring either his reputation or
his feelings. To this letter the general returned the following
answer, which, I believe, has not before been published.
"On the 8th inst. I received the favour of your letter of
the 30th of May. In answer to it I can only say, that your
own good judgment must direct you in the publication of
the manuscript papers of General Lee. I can have no request
to make concerning the work. I never had a difference
with that gentleman, but on public ground; and my
conduct towards him upon this occasion, was only such as
I conceived myself indispensably bound to adopt in discharge
of the public trust reposed in me. If this produced
the conduct I pursued with respect to him, either
wrong or improper, however I may regret that it may have
been differently viewed by him, and that it excited his censure
and animadversions.
"Should there appear in General Lee's writings any
thing injurious or unfriendly to me, the impartial and
dispassionate world must decide how far I deserved it from
the general tenor of my conduct. I am gliding down the
stream of life, and wish, as is natural, that my remaining
days may be undisturbed and tranquil; and, conscious of
my integrity, I would willingly hope that nothing will
occur to give me anxiety; but should any thing present
itself in this or in any other publication, I shall never undertake
the painful task of recrimination, nor do I know that
I shall even enter upon my justification.
"I consider the communication you have made, as a mark
of great attention, and the whole of your letter as a proof
of your esteem.
Goddard continued the Journal, and published it twice
a week until August, 1792, and then sold his right to
James Angell, who for three years had been his partner.
Angell did not publish the Journal a long time, but sold
the establishment to Philip Edwards, and soon after died
of the yellow fever in Philadelphia.
Before 1786, Edward Langworthy was, for a few months,
a partner with Goddard in the Journal.
Major General Charles Lee was the son of Colonel John Lee, and a
native of Wales. He was allied to several of the most noble, ancient and
respectable families in England; and could trace his genealogy from the
Norman conquest. As he possessed a military spirit, he entered the army
early in life; but the profession of arms did not damp his ardor in the pursuits
of literature. He possessed a competent knowledge of Greek and
Latin; and, in his travels, formed an acquaintance with the Italian, Spanish,
German and French languages. He served against the French in
America, anno 1756; and, when General Abercrombie was defeated at the
French lines of Ticonderoga in July, 1758, Lee was severely wounded at
the head of his grenadiers. He served with great reputation under General
Burgoyne in Portugal; and was a volunteer against the Turks in the
Russian army, commanded by General Romanzow, where he had some
"hair breath 'scapes." He was made a major general in the army of the
king of Poland; after which he returned to England, but meeting with disappointments,
he retired with some disgust to America, where he became
an enthusiast in the cause of liberty. In the contest which ensued between
England and her colonies, he took up arms in favor of the latter;
by which proceeding he risked his very considerable estate in England,
which however escaped confiscation; yet he was deprived of its profits,
and was thereby subjected to many difficulties and mortifying privations.
He lost also his rank of a major general in the British army, with a very
fair chance of becoming a lieutenant general, and, perhaps, of being made
a peer of the realm. He was eminently useful in forming and disciplining
the American armies, and rendered essential service on many other
important occasions. He "adventured his life far," in "many a well
fought field;" and did much toward infusing a martial spirit into the
American troops. If General Washington was considered as the Fabius,
he was called the Marcellus, of the American army; and as he exchanged
a life of opulence, wealth and ease, for the toils, dangers and privations of
war, we cannot doubt that the affections of his soul were honestly and
nobly engaged in the cause of freedom, distinctly and independently of
all the principles and motives of ambition.
The principal part of the estate which he possessed at the time of his
death, he bequeathed to his sister Miss Sidney Lee, who was a lady of exquisite
accomplishments, and treated the Americans who were captured,
and imprisoned by the British in England, with great humanity. She
remitted four thousand five hundred pounds sterling to America, in order
to discharge her brother's debts, lest his legatees in this country should be
deprived of what his friendship and gratitude induced him to bequeath to
them. (For other particulars see Memoirs of General Lee; Allen's American
Biography; Historical Collections, &c.)
Goddard did not publish the work he had projected; as a person whom
he had engaged as an associate in the publication, and who was entrusted
with the manuscripts, betrayed his trust; for instead of preparing them
for the press, he sent them to England, where they were printed and sold
for his sole benefit, and formed the imperfect work, which is entitled Memoirs
of the Life of the late Charles
Lee.
Both Frederic and Samuel Green paid the debt of nature not long
after the first edition of this work was published.
The St. Mary's Gazette announced in 1848, that it was printed on the
press used in printing this Maryland Gazette, which had been in constant
use for more than a hundred years, and upon which the first edition of
the Laws of Maryland was printed.—M.
| MARYLAND. The history of printing in America, with a biography of printers, and an account of newspapers ... | |