Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/108

20 became for a while, under new hands, a vigorous figure in the arena.

John Draper, an industrious and scrupulous journalist, had conducted the News-Letter for thirty years. When he died, in 1762, it passed to his son, Richard Draper, who earned the reputation of being the best reporter—"the best compiler of news in his day."

The News-Letter, under the Drapers, had achieved a certain distinction and much authority, although it did not have a large circulation. Richard Draper was a strong supporter of the royal cause and, as a sign of his devotion, he added the King's arms to the title of his paper. He died in 1774, and his widow attempted to carry it on with the assistance of a young printer and bookseller, named Boyle. Boyle was a patriot, however, and as the paper was developing more and more into an out-and-out Tory sheet, he retired. While the British occupied Boston the paper flourished, but when they left it ceased to exist. The widow Draper left Boston with the British troops and received a life pension from the British Government. She has been immortalized in Trumbull's poem, "M'Fingal." Thus ended ingloriously the first newspaper printed in America, its end as little inspiring as was its beginning. It was cordially hated by the patriots. It was the only paper printed in Boston during the siege, and was ardent in its defense of the British troops and their various acts.

The Boston Chronicle appeared on December 21, 1767, to back up the Tory cause, though at first it seemed inclined to be impartial, even going so far as to print the celebrated letters of the Pennsylvania Farmer, by John Dickinson. The Chronicle was one of the first evidences