Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1889-04-18
Prophetic Verdict.

Gouverneur Morris dated American
liberty, not from the Stamp Act of 1865
but from the prosecution of Peter Zen
ger in 1874, on the charge of libelins
the Governor of New York and his Off
cial friends. William Cosby was the
Governor. He was an irritable man
who, having been sent to the Colony tc
mend his broken fortune, did much tc
hasten colonial emancipation. Unscru
pu1ous and avaricious, he insisted or
new surveys of land and new grants, In
order that he might clutch at great per.
quisites.
do You think mind that? ?" he an.
swered those who objected that the
Governor was acting against law. q
have great interest in England"
The New York Heekly Journal was
established to defend the cause of the
people against the arbitrary Governor,
who was trying to play the part of a
petty tyrant. Its squibs and satires
upon Crosby and his Council provoked
the authorities to certain copies of the
Journal to he publicly burned by the
hangman, and its publisher, John Peter
Zenger, to be thrown into prison.
Zenger was charged with publishing
false and seditious ibels against the
Government. As the grand jury re-
fused to find bill against him, the At
torney General filed an information.
The case excited intense interest, for it
involved liberty of speech and of the
press, and all the central colonies re-
garded the controversy as their own.
James Alexander, Zenger's counsel
and the leading lawyer of the Colony,
took exceptions to the validity of the
commission of the Chief Justice, De
Lancey, and to the legality of proceed
ing by information instead of by indict-
ment. De Lancey refused to receive
the exceptions.
You thought" said he to Alexander,
ito have gained great deal of applause
by opposing this court; but you have
brought it to this point, that either We
must go from the bench, or you must
go from the bar"
He then issued an order excluding
Alexander from any further practice in
that court.
The Sons of Liberty" then brought
the foremost lawyer of the country, An
drew Hamilton, from Philadelphia to
plead Zengers cause. When the dis
tinguished advocate entered the court
room those who were present rose to
their feet, waved their hats, and shouted
loud huzzas. Chief Justice De Lancey
frowned angrily, and demanded silence.
The prisoner pleaded mot guilty."
admitted the publication of the al
legged libel, and justified it by asserting
its truth.
Those were the days when the legal
doctrine was tina: ~the greater the truth,
the greater the libel" When Hamilton
offered to prove that the alleged libel
was justified, the Chief Justice inter-
rupted him, saying: You cannot be
admitted to give the truth of libel in
evidence"
"Then," said Hamilton, turning to the
jury, we appeal to you for witnesses of
the facts. The jury have the right to
determine both the law and the fact, and
and they ought to do so. The question
before you is not the cause of poor
printer of New York alone, it is the
cause OF hberty-the liberty OF oppos-
ing arbitrary power by speaking and
writing truth"
The Chief Justice charged against the |
prisoner and the doctrines of his coun-
vel. The jury retired, and in few
minutes returned a verdict of "Not |
Guilty"
The audience, shouting approval, bore
Hamilton out of the courtroom upon |
heir shoulders. The Common Council |
If New York gave him the freedom of
he city in q gold box for his gratuitous |
services in defense of the rights of |
and the liberty of the press"
That verdict was a prophecy to those
xho csuld read it of Colonial independ-
,nce. 1t was the handwriting on the
vail, but there was no Daniel. in whom
England had confidence, to interpret it. |