Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-04-17

were voluminous writer's. They preach
long sermons, and when they wrote
theological treatise for publication
was both an exhaustive and exhaust
affair. Literature, as we understand
did not exist, and 1t was only in
later period when Benjamin Frank,
and Col. william Byrd had taken
field that human interest matters beg
TO be printed.
These points are very interestint
discussed by Elizabeth Christine COD
who under the title Literary Infiuenc
in Colonial Newspapers" treats of
period from 1901 to 1850, in a volume pu
lished by the Columbia University Pre-
The leaders of thought in the colon
were not anxious to promote the readi
Of secular literature In this part of t
country they regarded II as neglgit
matter compared with theological and
Hgious instruction and in the South whe
they were often friendly to the cause
pure letters, their lives were too bust
spent In the development Of estates,
let literature engage their attention.
1t was BENJAMIN Franklin, who first S
rlously and pcrsstently attempted
his countrvmcn and incidentally include
niue news comment as we nowunderstar
tlaI TERM There were plenty OF copi
OF the Bible to be had, but if anybody q
hoId OF a copy Of the Spectator or of To
Jolles' he must depend upon some peddle
Inc ordinary news sheet Of the ear
part of the 18Th century was small.
printed, often half illegible and usual
It's existence was precarious II was
sued no oftener than once a week and M
cause the sources Of information were fe
It's news item were only occasional Euro
pean news arrived at most Irregular I,
tervals. No London ships arrived durinI
the winter months and when news" di
come via ship It was stale. Hence ia
editors turned to literary channels to
their columns
Political editorials were not in order bd
cause criticism of the government wal
fraught with peril and even casual re-
marks might lead to an official inquir,I
Open opposition to the governor usual
led to a trial for libel. Literature corI
sequently was safer. If anything was sal
about the government or the eovernol
1t must be of a complimentary nature.
nav ms nv News SOuTcFS OF lInDOFtdnG
and cut off from political matters. ed |
tors inevitably turned their publication
into literary weeklies. The AddlsoniaI
essay was either printed from the tile|
Of stray copies of the Spectator or ID
style was copied by our own writers
Entire numbers of the Spectator AMI
plays from England were reprinted ii
serials. Pope, Dryden, Butler and othe|
satirsts were copied freely and the sud
scrbers approved.
Before $40, it may we'll be said thai
the newspapers were the centers Of al
the literary influence in the America1
colonies. To most of US the copies o.
such early newspapers have only
curious interest because they are I'M
toierably dull, judged by our own stand
ards. But one fact is made clear III
colonial weeklies prove that contem
porary English literature was known an,
initiated on this side of the Atlantic. anc
period than has been supposed.
Sermons often got plenty of space. "Th
Day of a Cody Mans Death Better Thar
the Day Of His Birth" might be found il
fun. and Cotton Mather's "Tremenda
The Dreadful Sound with Which tn
Wicked Are to Be Thunderstruck: Ser
mon at the Execution of a Murderer,
was impressvely set forth. English book
are never noted for sale until after 1890
when notices sometimes appeared.
James Franklin walked matters UP som
when he began to publish the New Eng
land Courant. While he and his associ
ates We're eminently respectable men the,
were known in their day as members o.
the Hell Fire club" because they intro
duced wit and ridcule into their columns
although in general they also copied tbs
Spectator and used its phrases.
The Courant is entertaining but the edi
tors We're not always urbane, and repre-
sent a violent and somewhat coarse reac.
ton against clerical domination in New
England. It was more personal in its ref
erences, and less literary than the Boston
News Letter which began publication II
l7ot and was long the only newspaper ).
this part OF the country.
The New ENGLAND Weekly Journa
came into attention in the early par
of the 18th Century and proved TO bt
more literary than either of its preda
| cessors, and in l74l it combined Wit
the Boston Gazette, which had been il
! existence for some time.
All these newspapers are so full Of
excerpts from Addison and his contem
Iporaries, there cannot be the leas'
doubt that colonial editors depended
largely upon English writer's for the bui
of their copy. This was mos natural
yet until comparatively recent times th'
tendency was hardly noticed. Now f
| is a well-establshed fact that all tn
colonial newspapers Of the period men
toned were full of extracts from Eng
| lish writer's of high standing in theil
| day. Boston Globe.