[76] Pittsburgh Gazette, February 6, 1801.
[77] Political Miscellany, New York, 1793, pp. 27–31.
[78] Tree of Liberty, March 13, 1802.
[79] Tree of Liberty, September 19, 1801.
[80] Pittsburgh Gazette, October 26, 1799.
[81] William C. Armor. Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1873, p. 289.
[82] Neville B. Craig. The Olden Time, Pittsburgh, 1848, vol. ii., p. 355.
[83] H. M. Brackenridge. Recollections of Persons and Places in the West, Philadelphia, 1868, p. 68; Pittsburgh Gazette, December 29, 1798.
CHAPTER IV
LIFE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The Pittsburgh Gazette was devoted to the interests of the Federal party, and Brackenridge and the other leading Republicans felt the need of a newspaper of their own. The result was the establishment on August 16, 1800, of the Tree of Liberty, by John Israel, who was already publishing a newspaper, called the Herald of Liberty, in Washington, Pennsylvania. The title of the new paper was intended to typify its high mission. The significance of the name was further indicated in the conspicuously displayed motto, “And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” The Federalists, and more especially their organ, the Pittsburgh Gazette,[84] charged Brackenridge with being the owner of the new paper, and with being responsible for its utterances. Brackenridge, however, has left a letter in which he refuted this statement, and alleged that originally he intended to establish a newspaper, but on hearing of Israel’s intention gave up the idea.[85]