the situation dictated prudence, but kept up its issuance with reasonable regularity.[1]
Livingston had had considerable training in newspaper work; in 1752 he^had edited the Independent Reflector, and it was he who, in February, 1765, commenced a series of papers entitled the Sentinal which were published in Holt's New Jersey Weekly Post Boy. He was a steady contributor to the New Jersey Gazette, under the noms de plume of "Hortentius" and "Scipio," and on those occasions when he was presiding over the Council of Safety, somewhere in the mountains or woods of New Jersey, his gifted daughters are said to have written the caustic articles for him.[2]
The Tory editors found solace in recounting the misfortunes of their foes. The fall of Continental money, or the impoverishment of the rebel provinces, provided a subject for much jesting. "At Boston," said Gaine, "the people are starving and rebellious; food was brought them from the South by a land carriage of 1,700 miles; damaged Bohea tea, transported in this way from Charleston, was selling at $15 a pound; West India Rum was $12 a gallon; a plain surtout brought $60 and not a single hat could be bought in all Boston. The Yankee privateers had been chased from the seas by the King's ships; and the chief supplies of the Eastern states were wholly cut off. Trade was sunk; gold and silver had disappeared. Of the vile Continental currency a cart-load was not worth a dollar; and a piece of coin was not to be seen in all the New England states."
In the South the provinces were described as being even more unhappy, half the soldiers being depicted as laid low by fever while the other half were longing to enjoy
