176

tude for their generous support, hoping they
will continue their countenance till the next
anniversary of the Washington Spy.¹⁸

On August 31, the editor advertised for help
again, this time for "an active young lad, of genteel
connections and tolerable education" as an apprentice
to the printing business.

Herbert enlarged the scope of his business by
selling second hand books at very low prices;¹⁹ of-
fered for sale "lampblack, clear of sand or dirt"²⁰
and soon extended the book business to include a new
book, advertising "A few copies of the Unequal Conflict,
a poem, 1 which probably was an issue of his own press,
but this cannot be ascertained from the wording of the
advertisement.

On the second anniversary of publication, the
editor again appealed "To those in arrears to the Wash-
ington Spy," advancing the argument that

The general punctuality with which this paper
has been published claims a like punctuality in
payment,

and that "The expense of the business will not admit of
a precarious collection of its funds"; and he named

those men entitled to collect for the paper in Cumber-
land in Maryland, Westmoreland County, and Greensburg,

18 Washington spy. June 22, 1791,

19 Ibid. February 15, 1792.

20 Ibid. May 2, 1792.

21 Ibid. May 9, 1792.