72
The Green Bag
And he proceeded to carry out his designs with an unscrupulous craftiness that fully equalled his cupidity. He ordered certain copies of the Weekly Journal to be burned by the hangman on Wall street, in the open square before
the City Hall. His command was obeyed finally, but the burning was anything but an unqualified success.
The city authorities refused to sanction the act;
the court forbade it;
the
hangman refused to ofiiciate at the miniature conflagration; and not a person would witness it. So the burning took place in a lonely and ominous
solitude, while Governor Cosby swore revenge. Shortly after this, Zenger was arrested and charged with having published libelous articles in his paper. Alexander and Smith had promptly taken up the defense and were as promptly debarred by the Govemor’s justices. With these two men out of the way and with no other distinguished lawyers to defend Zenger, Cosby felt secure. His time of
would not lose in this contest with his people, and he had taken every means
to insure his success. There was a breathless silence when Andrew Hamilton entered the court room and took his place. The attorneys
for the Governor looked askance at their opponent; Cosby scowled savagely at the justices; and'they held a whispered consultation. Brilliant, thrilling was the defense that Hamilton made. He knew that, accord ing to recognized principles, the law was against him. But his plea for the freedom of speech and press was no less convincing and his assurance was no less inspiring. He admitted that the alleged libel had been published; but he claimed that every word of it was true. Then the court took a hand in the proceedings
and denied him the privilege of proving the facts true, in spite of his very just protestations that the truth of the facts lay with the jury to determine. Then he launched into a discussion
triumph was approaching. Then it was that Mrs. Alexander,
of libel as sarcastic as it was clever :—
escaping the vigilant guard kept by Cosby on all his enemies, journeyed to Philadelphia-—an ordeal of sufficient
persons to go through the streets of New
York now-a-days, and read out of the
terror to deter the stoutest heart, since
Mr. Attorney, with the help of his
the coach was without springs and the road without grade-—to ask Andrew
innuendos, would easily turn it into a libel. As for instance: Is. ix: 16: ‘The
Hamilton, famous throughout the colo
leaders of the people cause them to err,
nies, to appear for Zenger. As she had said, it was more than the
mere saving of the German publisher; it was the establishing of the freedom of speech and press throughout the New World. The historical trial of colonial New York took place August 4, 1735, in the City Hall on Wall Street, before which had occurred the farcical burning of certain copies of the Weekly Journal. Cosby had resolved, however, that he
“I sincerely believe, that were some
Bible, if it was not known to be such,
and they that are led by them are
destroyed.’ But should Mr. Attorney go about to make this a libel, he would read it thus: ‘The leaders of the people’ (innuendo, the Governor and counsel of New York) ‘cause them’ (innuendo, the prople of this province) ‘to err and they’
(the Governor and counsel meaning) ‘are destroyed’ (innuendo, are deceived into the loss of their liberty, which is the
worst kind of destruction).” Finally, he swept into the flowing
