Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1900 — A COLONIAL NEWSPAPER. [ARTICLE]

A COLONIAL NEWSPAPER.

Copy of a Sheet Published In 1770 1b Boston. A copy of one of the oldest newspapers in America has been lent to the Portland Press club. It is the Boston Gazette of May 12,1770, “containing the freshest advices, foreign and domestic.” A full account of the Boston massacre is printed in the four three-column pages. Its tone is iff harmony with the rebellious spirit of the times, against the unjust taxations of a despotic monarch. Bitter as the people seemed, however, they were not yet ready to throw off the yoke. They only wanted the right of selfI government. By a perusal of its editorial page it is seen that the men fought with the i pen even at that early date. One article is directed against a man who signed himself “Bostonian” in the Chronicle, another paper. In the same paper is published a resolution boycotting English goods, which had been passed by the townspeople. The names of persons who refused to abide by the agreement are published, and people warned against trading with them. A very graphic account of the Boston massacre is given, surrounded by broad black borders.—Portland Telegram.