The Origins of a Free Press in Prerevolutionary ... - Web Publishing

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attacks on Wilkes’ newspaper. Royle’s Virginia Gazette did not have that same
interest in the radical Wilkes, however. The index of extant copies of Royle’s
newspaper had only one mention of Wilkes, that he traveled to France “which his
enemies represented as a flight.” 65 The first issue of the revived Virginia Gazette,
after the Stamp Act threat was waning, mentioned that Wilkes was expected to
return to England from exile in Paris soon, and Rind’s first newspaper issue took
material directly from his newspaper, The North Briton. 66 Wilkes also supported the
American cause as the Revolution neared, and he was extremely popular in the
colonies, perhaps more than history remembers: “To Americans, Wilkes despite his
unsavory private life was a martyr to freedom of the press and to the subject’s right
to resist oppression.” 67 He was named so repeatedly that the Virginia and Maryland
newspapers appeared at times to be almost obsessed with Wilkes. For example, one
1770 newspaper wrote about Wilkes four separate times on one page, including a
mention about preparations for his birthday celebration. On the next page, there
was a report that 45 Virginia residents sent 45 hogsheads of tobacco to support
Wilkes in his financial difficulties. 68 Referencing the number of the newspaper issue
for which he was prosecuted, the number 45 was an important symbol of support
not only for Wilkes but also for what he stood for: opposition to the ministry in
power, structural political reform, and a free press. 69
There are many examples of direct ties between Wilkes and the concept of
freedom of press as it developed in colonial newspapers. Of special note was the
stated resistance to government control, especially opposition to seditious libel
65 Cappon and Duff, Virginia Gazette Index, 2. Virginia Gazette (Royle, Nov. 4, 1763), 2.
66 Virginia Gazette (Purdie, March 7, 1766), 3. Rind’s Virginia Gazette (May 16, 1766), 2.
67 Schlesinger, Prelude, 35.
68 Virginia Gazette (Rind, Jan. 11, 1770), 1 and 2.
69 Brewer, “The Number 45,” 349-376.