22 INTRODUCTION. 



from one of the epistles of Peter, to show that it was a very great offence to 

 speak evil of dignities ; " and insisted upon the criminality by the " laws of God 

 and man, of reviling those in authority, and consequently that Mr. Zenger had 

 offended in a most notorious and gross manner, in scandalizing his excellency our 

 governor, who, said the counsel, is the king's immediate representative and su- 

 preme magistrate of this province." Mr. Hamilton remarked in his reply, that 

 we are charged with printing and publishing a certain false, malicious, seditious 

 and scandalous libel. The word false must have some meaning, or else. how 

 came it there ; and he put the case, whether if the information had been for 

 printing a certain tnie libel, would that be the same thing ? " And to show the 

 court that I am in good earnest," said he, " I will agree, that if he can prove the 

 facts charged upon us to he false, I will own them to be scandalous, seditious and a 

 libel." He then further offered, that to save the prosecution the trouble of prov- 

 ing the papers to be false, the defendant would prove them to be true. To this, 

 chief justice De Lancey objected, " You cannot be admitted to give the truth of 

 a hbel in evidence ; the law is clear that you cannot justify a libel." Mr. Hamilton 

 maintained, that leaving the court to determine whether the words were libellous 

 or not, rendered juries useless or worse. " It was true," he said, " in times past, 

 it was a crime to speak truth, and in that terrible court of star-chamber many 

 worthy and brave men suffered for so doing ; and yet even in that court, and in 

 those bad times, a great and good man durst say, what I hope will not be taken 

 amiss in me to say in this place, to wit, ' The practice of information for libels 

 is a sword in the hands of a wicked king and an arrant coward, to cut do\vn and 

 destroy the innocent. The one cannot, because of his high station, and the other 

 dare not, because of his want of courage, defend himself in another manner.' " * 

 The jury, after a short consultation, returned a verdict of not guilty, to the great 

 mortification of the court and of Zenger's persecutors, but with great satisfaction 



* Nearly 70 years afterwards, another Hamilton maintained this great and now undeniable principle with eloquence 

 and power, which may be said to have conquered at last this great concession to the liberty of the press. 



