To the Printer of the Salem Gazette. I hear that you have for sale Dr. Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David, corrected and enlarged, with a Collection of Hymns, in one volume; - that the Psalms, locally appropriated in the Doctor's version, have been altered by Mr. Joel Barlow, of Hartford, and the whole applied to the state of the Christian Church in general; — and that, by a Law, lately passed, which, like the Stamp Act, is of extraction truly British, you are restrained from advertising them, unless you pay a heavy tax for it. As several of my neighbors, as well as myself, are in want of this valuable book, I hope you will not fail of supplying us. J. R. Agreeably to his notice, on Monday, the 28th of November, Hall sent out, from his printing-office in Boston the first of his proposed paper, under the title of THE MASSACHUSETTS GAZETTE, which he conducted alone, till June, 1787, when he took, as a partner, J. Wincoll Allen, a young man who had been some time employed in the office. In September following, he sold out his right in the paper to Allen,* and confined himself to the printing and sale of small books, blanks, pamphlets, &c. at a store which he had rented in State-street, on the north side of the statehouse. At a later period, he opened a book and stationery store, at No. 53, Cornhill. In 1789, he printed a newspaper in the French language, for Joseph Nancrede, a French emigrant, who kept a bookstore in Marlboro'-street, nearly opposite the site of the Marlboro' hotel, and received pupils for instruction in French. This paper was given up at the end of six months. Mr. Hall carried on, extensively for those days, the printing and publishing of small books, embellished with cuts, and published some octavo and duodecimo volumes. * The paper was, probably, discontinued soon after it went into Allen's possession. Only a few numbers, with Allen's imprint, are to be found. At the He had almost the whole sale of blanks for legal instruments, for the county of Suffolk and Middlesex, and, for several years had the printing of all the blanks used in the custom house in Boston. In 1805, he sold his whole establishment, - printing materials, books, blanks, &c. - to Lincoln & Edmands, and retired from business. SAMUEL HALL was born in Medford, Massachusetts, and served an apprenticeship with an uncle, Daniel Fowle, of Portsmouth, N. H. At the age of twentyone, he went into partnership with Ann Franklin, the widow of James Franklin, at Newport, R. I. In 1768, he left Newport, and opened a printing-office in Salem, -as has been already stated. He died on the tenth of October, 1807, aged sixty-seven years. He was respected by every one who knew him, as a just, an upright, and a religious man. He was an excellent printer, as many of his publications, still extant, abundantly testify. The country had no firmer friend, in the gloomiest period of its history, as well as in the days of its young and increasing prosperity, than SAMUEL HALL. The sweet remembrance of the just THE MASSACHUSETTS SPY. ISAIAH THOMAS, the original projector, one of the original proprietors, and afterwards, for many years, the sole owner of the Massachusetts Spy, was born in Boston, on the nineteenth of January, 1749. His ancestors, who were of good repute, emigrated from England, and settled near Boston, soon after the foundation of the town. His father, Moses Thomas, was soldier, mariner, trader, and farmer, at different periods. After losing, by a series of unfortunate circumstances, a generous patrimony, he died in North Carolina, about the year 1752, leaving in Boston a widow in a destitute condition, with five children. Isaiah was the youngest of these, and when six years old, was apprenticed to Zechariah Fowle, — a printer of pamphlets, ballads, tracts, hand-bills, &c. He was employed in setting types, for which purpose he was placed on a bench eighteen inches high, and extending the whole length of a double frame, which contained cases of Roman and Italic letter. His first essay with the composing stick was on a ballad, entitled "The Lawyer's Pedigree;" the types were of the size called Double Pica. Thomas remained with Fowle eleven years, when they disagreed and separated. He went directly to Halifax, Nova Scotia, intending to go thence to England, for the purpose of improvement in his profession. This intention was defeated by want of means to defray expenses. He remained in Halifax seven months, in the office of the Halifax Gazette. The printer of this paper, whose name was Henry, was not a very skilful mechanic. He is represented as being indolent and inattentive to his business. From this man Thomas accepted an offer of board for his services, and the sole management of the Gazette devolved upon him. While he was thus employed, certain paragraphs appeared in the Gazette, which gave offence to the government of the province. Henry was admonished, and threatened with a prosecution, but was let off with an apology. An effigy of the stamp-master was exhibited, and some other proceedings took place, which were called seditious, in which, it was supposed Thomas had some agency. An attempt was made to intimidate him, but it proved unsuccessful. He, however, deemed it prudent to leave the place. From Halifax, Thomas went to Portsmouth, N. H. in March, 1767, and worked some time in the printingoffices of Daniel Fowle and Russell & Furber. In July he returned to Boston, and was employed several months in the office of his old master, Zechariah Fowle. Afterwards he went to North Carolina, with an intention of carrying on the printing business at Wilmington; but, after a series of embarrassing incidents, he relinquished his purpose; and, with a second resolution to visit England, he entered as a steward on board a ship bound to the West-Indies, intending to go thence to London. After performing duty on board for ten days, he changed his views, and went to Charleston, S. C. Here he was employed for a period of two years, in a printing-office. In 1770, he returned to Boston, and entered into partnership with his former master, Fowle. In July, they issued the first number of a small newspaper, called The Massachusetts Spy. It was generally printed on a quarter of a sheet, (but occasionally on a half sheet of four quarto pages,) and on a Long Primer type. Their address to the public was simply a few commonplace promises to take great care in collecting the freshest and most authentic intelligence, the material transactions of the town and province, &c. &c. The first number of the Spy was distributed, gratuitously, to the inhabitants of Boston and the vicinity. The publishers proposed to continue it, thrice a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The second number was published on the second day of August, and it was thenceforward issued three times a week, agreeably to their proposals, for three months. At the end of that time, their partnership was dissolved, and the publication was continued by Thomas, twice a week, for three months longer. Encouraged by his success, he entertained the project of publishing a larger paper than had then been undertaken in New-England; and, on the seventh of March, 1771, he published the Spy on a whole sheet, royal size, folio, four pages. To the title he added, "A weekly political and commercial paper; Open to all parties, but influenced by none." He considered this as a new publication, and called it No. 1. The title, Massachusetts Spy, was in large German text, |