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The first newspaper published in America, though it can hardly be called a newspaper, as no second number appeared. It was issued at Boston in 1690 by Benjamin Harris and printed by Richard Pierce. A year earlier there had been published at Boston, by Samuel Green, extracts from a letter of Dr. Increase Mather, who was then endeavoring to secure a new charter for Massachusetts. Publick Occurrences, four days after its appearance, was spoken of in the General Court of Massachusetts as a pamphlet published "contrary to law and containing reflections of a very high nature." It was accordingly suppressed, though the contents were innocent enough, and the court forbade "anything in print without license obtained from those appointed by the Government to grant the same." Publick Occurrences was printed on three pages of a folded sheet, one page being blank, two columns to a page, 7 x 11. It was designed for a monthly issue.