INTRODUCTION. 23 
to the people. The common council of the city conferred upon Mr. Hamilton the 
public thanks and the freedom of the corporation, for that signal service which 
he cheerfully undertook under great indisposition of body, and generously per- 
formed, refusing either fee or reward.* 
Such was the struggle which the press had to maintain only one hundred years 
ago, and only forty years before the revolution gave to its freedom the sanction 
of government and the impress of authority. Gouverneur Morris, in speaking of 
these occurrences to Dr. Francis, remarked, “that the trial of Zenger was the 
germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently 
revolutionized America.” Zenger died in 1746. His newspaper was conducted 
by his widow, and afterwards by his son, until 1752, when it was discontinued. 
The “ New-York Gazette and Weekly Post Boy” was revived by James Parker 
in 1742, and was continued by successive proprietors until 1773. It was ably 
conducted, and had an extensive circulation; and though free, never transcended 
the bounds of decorum as they were defined at that day. The paper combated 
the stamp act, and with several contemporaries throughout the colonies, appeared 
in mourning on the 21st of October, 1765, on account of the passage of that law. 
The “New-York Evening Post” appeared in 1746, but was soon discontinued. 
The New-York Mercury was commenced by Hugh Gaine, and was discontinued 
at the close of the revolutionary war, after an existence of thirty-one years under 
the patronage of its founder. William Wyman, in 1759, established the “ New- 
York Gazette,” which, after a fitful existence, expired in 1767. The American 
Chronicle was commenced by 8. Farley in 1761, and discontinued the next year; 
and the “New-York Packet,” begun in 1763, had only a brief existence. In 
1766, John Holt issued “The New-York Journal and General Advertiser ;” and 
in 1768, “'The New-York Chronicle” was commenced by Alexander and James 
Robinson, and continued until 1772, when the printers removed to Albany, and 
established there “The Albany Post Boy,” which continued until 1776. James 
* Dunuar’s History of New-York. 
