Benjie also gave Montreal it's first Newspaper, la Gazette commerciale et littéraire de Montréal that grew up to become a bilingual newspaper then a unilingual paper: the Montreal Gazette. It has been around since 1778. Now Canwest and the Aspers run it from Winnipeg and would like, if they politically could, to close the money losing newspaper.
In 1775 Frankilin led an invasion miltia all the way to Montreal figuring the French Canadians would recieve him as a liberator from British tyranny. He did not know that the Grits had recognized their rights the year before...so they were vrey cool to him. He figured he could win them over if he could communicate with them in French. He had met, in Philadelphia a young French expatriate printer, Fleury Mesplet. He called him to Montreal. By the time mesplet got here, Franklin and his militia had lost and gone...but Mesplet, happy to be with with French speakers settled in Montreal and managed to put out the paper Franklin had wished for. The Gazette was born in 1778. My uncle, Henri Guilbeault, worked for the Gazette, as a book binder, he got in at 18 and retired at 70 when the book division closed.
Ah, even though I knew of Franklin's role here, I was unaware of his place in helping to lay the ground work for The Gazette. Thanks for sharing that story.
Benjie also gave Montreal it's first Newspaper, la Gazette commerciale et littéraire de Montréal that grew up to become a bilingual newspaper then a unilingual paper: the Montreal Gazette. It has been around since 1778. Now Canwest and the Aspers run it from Winnipeg and would like, if they politically could, to close the money losing newspaper.
ReplyDeleteTHAT, I didn't know.
ReplyDeleteIn 1775 Frankilin led an invasion miltia all the way to Montreal figuring the French Canadians would recieve him as a liberator from British tyranny. He did not know that the Grits had recognized their rights the year before...so they were vrey cool to him. He figured he could win them over if he could communicate with them in French.
ReplyDeleteHe had met, in Philadelphia a young French expatriate printer, Fleury Mesplet. He called him to Montreal. By the time mesplet got here, Franklin and his militia had lost and gone...but Mesplet, happy to be with with French speakers settled in Montreal and managed to put out the paper Franklin had wished for. The Gazette was born in 1778.
My uncle, Henri Guilbeault, worked for the Gazette, as a book binder, he got in at 18 and retired at 70 when the book division closed.
Ah, even though I knew of Franklin's role here, I was unaware of his place in helping to lay the ground work for The Gazette. Thanks for sharing that story.
ReplyDelete