...calling the murder of upwards of 150 British subjects, A SKIRMISH! Good God! At what times are we arrived, when our fellow subjects, blood of our blood, and flesh of our flesh, are set to murder and destroy one another...
The Essex Journal Or, New Hampshire Packet. Vol. II, No. 87. Newbury-port, Massachusetts: John Mycall and Henry-Walter Tinges, 4 September 1775. 4 pages, folio, disbound, 10 x 15 1/4 in.
Includes a reprinting of The Crisis No. XI, a British periodical that wrote in defense of the American cause between January 1775 and October 1776. This issue is a direct response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of what would become the Revolutionary War. The author writes: "With what astonishment people are struck at reading an article in the Gazette, published by authority, and as it were under the eye of Majesty, calling the murder of upwards of 150 British subjects, A SKIRMISH! Good God! At what times are we arrived, when our fellow subjects, blood of our blood, and flesh of our flesh, are set to murder and destroy one another; and upon the loss of so great a number, we read (published by authority) that it is 'a skirmish between some of the people in the province of Massachusetts Bay, and a detachment of his Majesty's troops!' That this bloody business may fix some right honourable heads of Temple bar, seem to be the most zealous wish of the whole kingdom."
The Essex Journal was begun in 1773 by Isaiah Thomas and Henry-Walter Tinges. The masthead design featuring a Native American and a sailing ship is attributed to Paul Revere. Thomas was soon replaced by Extra Lunt, who in turn was replaced by John Mycall in 1775. Tinges left in 1776 and Mycall published the paper alone until February 1777.
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