publishing an account about The Courant, had the snake cartoon, already mentioned, reproduced in its columns on October 7, 1765.
The snake cartoon was reproduced a second time during this period. In 1774 John Holt, fighting editor, dragged it out of its newspaper hole and put it into the title of his paper, The New-York Journal or General Advertiser. The snake now had nine parts – Georgia had entered the combination. A slight change was made in the caption so that it read, "Unite or Die." Toward the close of the year, Holt's snake shed its skin and appeared coiled and united. On it were printed the following words:–
UNITED NOW FREE AND ALIVE FIRM ON THIS BASIS LIBERTY SHALL STAND AND THUS SUPPORTED EVER BLESS OUR LAND TILL TIME BECOMES ETERNITY.
Holt kept the united snake in the title of his paper until he was compelled to flee from New York on August 29, 1776, on account of the occupation of the city by the British.
The cartoon snake in its largest form stretched itself out on July 7, 1774, in The Massachusetts Spy, a paper published in Boston by Isaiah Thomas. It appeared directly under the title and occupied practically the entire width of the newspaper. However, a little space at the extreme right was saved in which appeared a dragon, representing Great Britain. Thomas asserted in his "History of Printing" that the snake cartoon appeared in each succeeding issue so long as The Spy was printed in Boston. The snake finally reached Philadelphia again, but for some unaccountable reason, instead of creeping back into its old hole, The Pennsylvania Gazette, it sunned itself in the title of The Pennsylvania Journal, a rival paper published by William Bradford. Its first appearance in The Journal was on July 27, 1774; its last was on October 18, 1775.
PET OF PATRIOTS
The Boston Gazette, the third paper of that name in Boston, and established April 7, 1755, by Edes and Gill, was the especial "pet of the patriots." In its pages were fought the New England editorial battles for American freedom: its contributors
