History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

480 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [IISG.
and less influence, as it was discontinued within a year.
Wliatever may have been its power and influence, it was considered
too far distant to accomplish what was desired, and
it was decided to establish another paper in the very heart of
the affected district, the northern half of Hampshire County
being at that time the hotbed of sedition and rebellion.
Consequently a number of gentlemen in this part of the
county determined to establish a newspaper in Northampton.
It was hardly a newspaper in the present acceptance
of that term that was designed. It was not a mouthpiece
of the newsmonger, the politician, or the essayist that was
proposed. It had a higher aim than the mere tittle-tattle
of neighborhood gossip. Local happenings were patent
to everyone, they were repeated from mouth to mouth,
and had no need in the estimation of that day, to be embalmed
in print.
The Advent o f t h e The first uewspaper in Northampton was
Hampshire Gazette, established in 1786, by William Butler, a
young man twenty-two years of age. It
was an undertaking requiring no small amount of courage,
even when backed by the leading patriots of the town, to
launch a newspaper in such troublous times when the discontent
with the then present order of things was at fever
heat. The more so as its mission was to oppose the mal-
contents, and by argument and persuasion, stem the tide
of lawlessness and mob rule. The leading men, the well-
to-do citizens, the educated class, were strongly opposed to
the course that had been pursued by the clamorous reform-
ers, who, having little to lose and much to gain, were endeavoring
to force their theories into operation, at the sac-
rifice of honor, justice and common honesty. At the sug-
gestion and with the encouragement of the best men in the
community, Mr. Butler, on the G*'' of Septenlber, 1786,
issued the first number of the Hampshire Gazette. Unfortunately
no copy of the initial number of the paper can
now be found. In his prospectus the editor states that he
commences the enterprise "by the advice and encouragement
of a number of Gentlemen in this county." His
object is to enlighten the public and he asserts with truth
that "It is well known that the establishment of schools