Govornor, and of all others concern'd in the Administration of the To this Information the Defendant has pleaded Not Guilty, and we are ready to prove it. . . . Then Mr. Hamilton, who at the Request of some of my Friends, was so kind as to come from Philadelphia to assist me on the Tryal, spoke. Mr. Hamilton, May it please your Honour; I am concerned in this Cause on the Part of Mr. Zenger the Defendant. The Information against my Client was sent me, a few Days before I left Home, with some Instructions to let me know how far I might rely upon the Truth of those Parts of the Papers set forth in the Information, and which are said to be libellous. And tho' I am perfectly of the Opinion with the Gentleman who has just now spoke, on the same Side with me, as to the common Course of Proceedings, I mean in putting Mr. Attorney upon proving, that my Client printed and published those Papers mentioned in the Information; yet I cannot think it proper for me (without doing Violence to my own Principles) to deny the Publication of a Complaint, which I think is the Right of every free-born Subject to make, when the Matters so published can be supported with Truth; and therefore I'll save Mr. Attorney the Trouble of Examining his Witnesses to that Point; and I do (for my Client) confess, that he both printed and published the two News Papers set forth in the Information, and I hope in so doing he has committed no Crime. . . . Mr. Attorney, ... The Case before the Court is, whether Mr. Zenger is guilty of Libelling his Excellency the Governor of New-York, and indeed the whole Administration of the Government? Mr. Hamilton has confessed the Printing and Publishing, and I think nothing is plainer, than that the Words in the Information are scandalous, and tend to Sedition, and to disquiet the Minds of the People of this Province. And if such Papers are not Libels, I think it may be said, there can be no such Thing as a Libel. Mr. Hamilton, May it please your Honour; I cannot agree with Mr. I should think it my Duty, if required, to go to the utmost Part of the Land, where my Service cou'd be of any Use in assisting to quench the Flame of Prosecutions upon Informations, set on Foot by the Government, to deprive a People of the Right of Remonstrating, (and complaining too) of the arbitrary Attempts of Men in Power. Men who injure and oppress the People under their Administration provoke them. to cry out and complain; and then make that very Complaint the Foundation for new Oppressions and Prosecutions. I wish I could say there were no Instances of this Kind. But to conclude; the Question before the Court and you, Gentlemen of the Jury, is not of small nor private Concern, it is not the Cause of a poor Printer, nor of New-York alone, which you are now trying; No! It may in its Consequence, affect every Freeman that lives under a British Government on the Main of America. It is the best Cause. It is the Cause of Liberty; and I make no Doubt but your upright Conduct, this Day, will not only entitle you to the Love and Esteem of your Fellow-Citizens; but every Man, who prefers Freedom to a Life of Slavery, will bless and honour You, as Men who have baffled the Attempt of Tyranny; and by an impartial and uncorrupt Verdict, have laid a noble Foundation for securing to ourselves, our Posterity, and our Neighbours, That to which Nature and the Laws of our Country have given us a Right,- The Liberty- both of exposing and opposing arbitrary Power (in these Parts of the World, at least) by speaking and writing Truth. . .. Mr. Ch. Just. Gentlemen of the Jury. The great Pains Mr. Hamilton has taken, to shew how little Regard Juries are to Pay to the Opinion of the Judges; and his insisting so much upon the Conduct of some Judges in Tryals of this kind; is done, no doubt, with a Design that you should take but very little Notice of what I may say upon this Occasion. I shall therefore only observe to you that, as the Facts or Words in the Information are confessed: The only Thing that can come in Question before you is, Whether the Words, as set forth in the Information, make a Libel. And that is a Matter of Law, no doubt, and which you may leave to the Court. But I shall trouble you no further with any Thing more of my own, but read to you the Words of a learned and upright Judge in a Case of the like Nature. ... 'To say that corrupt Officers are appointed to administer Affairs, is certainly a Reflection on the Government. If People should not be called to account for possessing the People with an ill Opinion of the Govern ment, no Government can subsist. For it is necessary for all Gov ernments that the People should have a good Opinion of it. And nothing can be worse to any Government, than to endeavour to procure Animosities; as to the Management of it, this has been always look'd upon as a Crime, and no Government can be safe without it be punished. 'Now you are to Consider, whether these Words I have read to you, do not tend to beget an Ill Opinion of the Administration of the Government? To tell us, that those that are employed know nothing of the Matter, and those that do know are not employed. Men are not adapted to Offices, but Offices to Men, out of a particular Regard to their Interest, and not to their Fitness of the Places; this is the Purport of these Papers.' Mr. Hamilton, I humbly beg Your Honour's Pardon; I am very much mis-apprehended, if you suppose what I said was so designed. Sir, you know, I made an Apology for the Freedom I found my self under a Necessity of using upon this Occasion. I said, there was Nothing personal designed; it arose from the Nature of our Defence. The Jury withdrew, and in a small Time returned, and being asked by the Clerk, Whether they were agreed of their Verdict, and whether John Peter Zenger was guilty of Printing and Publishing the Libels in the Information mentioned? They answered by Thomas Hunt, their Foreman, Not Guilty. Upon which there were three Huzzas in the Hall which was crowded with People, and the next Day I was discharged from my Imprisonment. [A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger, Printer of the New-York Weekly Journal], (no title-page, New York, 1738), 10-30 passim. 73. An Appeal Case in the Privy Council (1727/8) BY EDWARD SOUTHWELL This is the final judgment in one of the few cases actually brought to a decision on appeal to the English government. The practice prepared the way for appeals to our present Supreme Court. - Bibliography: P. L. Ford, List of some Briefs in Appeal Cases. T THE COURT AT ST. JAMES'S, THE 15TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, AT [L. S.] Upon reading this day at the Board a Report from the Rt. Honble the Lords of the Committee for hearing Appeals from the Plantations, dated the 20th day of December last . . . His Majesty, taking the same into his royal consideration, is pleased, with the advice of his Privy Council, to approve of the said report, and confirm the same in every particular part thereof; and pursuant thereunto, to declare, that the aforementioned act, entituled An Act for the settlement of intestate estates, is Null and Void; and the same is hereby accordingly declared to be null and void, and of no force or effect whatever. And his Majesty is hereby further pleased to order, that all the aforementioned sentences of the 29th June, 1725, of the 28th of Sept', 1725, and of the 22d March, 1725, and every of them, be and they are hereby reversed and set aside; and that the petitioner, John Winthrop, be, and he is hereby, admitted to exhibit an inventory of the personal estate only of the said intestate, and that the court of probates do not presume to reject such inventory because it does not contain the real estate of the said intestate. And his Majesty doth hereby further order, that the aforementioned sentence of the 22d of March, 172§, vacating the said letters of administration granted to the petitioner, and granting administration to the said Thomas and Ann Lechmere, be also reversed and set aside; and that the said letters of administration, so granted to Thomas Lechmere and Anne his wife, be called in and vacated; and that the said inventory of the said real estate, exhibited by the said Thomas Lechmere and Ann his wife, be vacated; and that the said order of the 29th of April, 1726, approving of the said inventory and ordering the same to be recorded, be discharged and set aside; and that the original letters of administration granted to the petitioner be, and they are hereby, established and ordered to stand; and that all such. costs as the petitioner hath paid unto the said Thomas Lechmere by directions of the said sentences, all, every, or any of them, be forthwith repaid to him by the said Thomas Lechmere; and that the suit brought by the said Thomas Lechmere and Anne his wife, on which the said sentences were made, be and they are hereby dismissed; and that all acts and proceedings done and had under the said sentences, all, every, or any of them, or by virtue or pretence thereof, be and they are hereby discharged and set aside, and declared null and void. And his Majesty is further pleased to declare, that the aforementioned act of Assembly, passed in May, 1726, empowering the said Thomas Lechmere to sell the said lands, is null and void; and also that the said order made by the said superior court, bearing date the 27th of Sept', 1726, pursuant to the said act of Assembly, allowing the said Lechmere to sell of the said real estate to the value of ninety pounds current money there for his charges, and three hundred and eighteen pounds silver money, is likewise null and void; and the said act of Assembly and order of the said superior court are accordingly hereby declared null and void, and of no force or effect whatever. And his Majesty doth hereby likewise further order, that the petitioner be immediately restored and put into the full, peaceable and quiet possession of all such parts of the said real estate as may have been taken from him, under pretence of, or by virtue or colour of the said sentence, orders, acts and proceedings, or any of them; and that the said Thomas Lechmere do account for and pay to the said petitioner the rents and profits thereof, and of every part thereof, received by him or any one under him, for and during the time of such his unjust detention. thereof. And the Governour and Company of his Majesty's Colony of Connecticut for the time being, and all other officers and persons what |