Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/94

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HISTORY OF JOURNALISM


In Maryland, the Gazette, which had died under Parks in 1736, was revived in 1745 under the direction of Jonas Green, and this paper in 1765 announced its suspension because of the Stamp Act, but the suspension was brief. It was soon re-continued and was published weekly by Green and his descendants until 1839, when another Jonas Green, great-grandson of the original proprietor, discontinued it and a paper called the St. Mary's Gazette took its place.

In New York the New York Evening Post was issued for about a year by Henry De Forrest, appearing first in 1746. The spread of the journalistic spirit was shown by the fact that two attempts were made about this time to print papers in German, one being published by Sower in Germantown, in 1739, and other by Armbruster in Philadelphia in 1743.

About this time Boston, too, added to its list of newspapers. Ellis Huske, whose son is supposed to have recommended the obnoxious Stamp Act to the government in 1765, was made postmaster in 1734. Following the example of Campbell and the others, he got out a paper called the Boston Weekly Post Boy. This paper lived for nearly a quarter of a century without any particular distinction.

The New England Courant case, in which James Franklin was involved, was the last instance of an attempt to revive and enforce censorship in Massachusetts. The failure of the General Court to restrict the freedom of the press by insisting that a license be granted by the Secretary of the Province, marked the end of the old order of things; from that time on there was at least a partial freedom for the press.[1]

That the government itself recognized this condition is

  1. Duniway, Freedom of the Press in Massachusetts, 102.