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The Courant Letters

The Courant Letters · Boston, 1722

The Courant shelf. Fourteen letters signed Silence Dogood, printed in The New-England Courant, Boston, April 2 to October 8, 1722. Full text, in the spelling of the day. The block takes its name from them.

  1. No.IHer Birth and Bringing-UpApril 2, 1722The widow introduces herself: born at sea, orphaned of a father in a wave, and bound apprentice to a country minister.
  2. No.IIHer Courtship, Widowhood, and CharacterApril 16, 1722She marries her reverend master, is left a widow, and gives the Courant her own Character.
  3. No.IIIA Resolution to Serve the CountryApril 30, 1722Resolving to serve her Country, she promises gentle Reproofs and invites the ingenious, her own Sex especially, to correspond.
  4. No.IVOn College LearningMay 14, 1722A dream of the Temple of Learning, where Riches carry dunces past the gate and they come out as great Blockheads as ever.
  5. No.VIn Defence of Her SexMay 28, 1722Answering Ephraim Censorious: the Men share in the Pride and Idleness laid on Women, and are often the Cause of it.
  6. No.VIOn Pride and Hoop-PetticoatsJune 11, 1722Of Pride, the most hateful of Vices, and the monstrous Hoop-Petticoats that crowd the town.
  7. No.VIIA Receipt for a New-England Funeral ElegyJune 25, 1722On the want of good Poetry in New-England, the Kitel elegy, and a Receipt to make a Funeral Elegy of your own.
  8. No.VIIIOn Freedom of SpeechJuly 9, 1722From the London Journal: without Freedom of Thought there is no Wisdom, and no publick Liberty without Freedom of Speech.
  9. No.IXOn Hypocrites in GovernmentJuly 23, 1722Corruptio optimi est pessima: whether a Common-wealth suffers more by pious Pretenders or by the openly Profane.
  10. No.XA Friendly Society for WidowsAugust 13, 1722A friend's book proposes an Office of Ensurance for Widows, and Mrs. Dogood commends such Friendly Societies.
  11. No.XIThe Petition of Margaret AftercastAugust 20, 1722The forlorn Petition of a Virgin well stricken in Years, and a Friendly Society proposed for single Women.
  12. No.XIIOn DrunkennessSeptember 10, 1722Quod est in cordi sobrii, est in ore ebrii: the Characters and the many Phrases of the Devourers of Liquor.
  13. No.XIIINight-Walkers of BostonSeptember 24, 1722A moonlight ramble through the town and the diverting Night-Walkers she meets there.
  14. No.XIVOn Zeal and the Word ChurchOctober 8, 1722Of the Connecticut clergymen turned to the Established Church, and how indiscreet Zeal hurts the Zealot's Cause.

Texts after Wikisource, public domain. Also filed under Letters.