No country values free expression more highly than does the United States， and no case in American history stands as a greater landmark on the road to protection for freedom of the press than the trial of a German immigrant printer named John Peter Zenger. On August 5， 1735， twelve New York jurors， inspired by the eloquence of the best lawyer of the period， Andrew Hamilton， ignored the instructions of the Governor's hand-picked judges and returned a verdict of "Not Guilty" on the charge of publishing "seditious libels." The Zenger trial is a remarkable story of a divided Colony， the beginnings of a free press， and the stubborn independence of American jurors.

　　Background

　　The man generally perceived to be the villain of the Zenger affair， William Cosby， arrived in New York on August 7， 1731 to assume his post as Governor for New York Province. Cosby quickly developed a reputation as "a rogue governor." It is almost impossible to find a positive adjective among the many used by historians to describe the new governor ： "spiteful，" "greedy，" "jealous，" "quick-tempered，" "dull，" "unlettered，" and "haughty" are a sample of those that have been applied.

　　Within a year after arriving on American shores， Cosby embroiled himself in a controversy that would lead to Zenger's trial and ultimate acquittal. The man with whom Cosby chose to pick his first fight， Rip Van Dam， was the seventy-one-year-old highly respected senior member of the New York provincial council. Cosby demanded that Van Dam turn over half of the salary he had earned while serving as acting governor of New York during the year between Cosby's appointment and his arrival in the colony. The hard-headed Van Dam agreed——providing that Cosby would split with him half of the perquisites he earned during the same time period. By Van Dam's calculations， Cosby would actually owe him money——over ？？4000.

　　Governor Cosby responded in August 1732 by filing suit for his share of Van Dam's salary. Knowing that he had no chance of prevailing in his case if the decision were left to a jury， Cosby designated the provincial Supreme Court to sit as a "Court of Exchequer" （without a jury） to hear his suit. Van Dam refused to roll over， and had his lawyers challenge the legality of Cosby's attempt to do an end-run of the colony's established jury system. The decision on the legality of Cosby's creation of the new court fell to the three members of the Supreme Court itself， and in April 1733 it voted 2 to 1 to uphold Cosby's action. Cosby wrote a letter to the dissenting judge， Chief Justice Lewis Morris， demanding that he explain his vote. Morris did so， but to Cosby's great displeasure， his explanation appeared not in a private letter to the Governor， but in a pamphlet printed by John Peter Zenger. Cosby "went ballistic，" removing Morris as Chief Justice and replacing him with a staunch royalist， James Delancey.

　　Cosby's action of firing Morris intensified the growing opposition to his administration among some of the most powerful people in the colony. Rip Van Dam， Lewis Morris， and an energetic attorney named James Alexander organized what came to be known as the Popular Party， a political organization that would constitute a serious challenge to Cosby's ability to govern.

　　Cosby attempted to maintain his grip on power by employing Francis Harison——a man called by historians Cosby's "flatterer-in-chief" and "hatchetman"——to become censor and effective editor of the only established New York newspaper， the New York Gazette. Harison defended Cosby both in prose and strained verse， such as this poem that appeared the Gazette's January 7， 1734 issue：

　　Cosby the mild， the happy， good and great，

　　The strongest guard of our little state；

　　Let malcontents in crabbed language write，

　　And the D……h H……s belch， tho' they cannot bite.

　　He unconcerned will let the wretches roar，

　　And govern just， as others did before.

　　James Alexander， often described as the "mastermind" of the opposition， decided to take the unprecedented step of founding an independent political newspaper. Alexander approached John Peter Zenger who， along with William Bradford， the Gazette's printer， was one of only two printers in the colony， with the idea of publishing a weekly newspaper to be called the New York Weekly Journal. Zenger， who had made a modest living the past six years printing mainly religious tracts， agreed. In a letter to an old friend， Alexander revealed the Journal's mission： "Inclosed is also the first of a newspaper designed to be continued weekly， chiefly to expose him [Cosby] and those ridiculous flatteries with which Mr. Harison loads our other newspaper which our Governor claims and has the privilege of suffering nothing to be in but what he and Mr. Harison approve of."

　　On November 5， 1733， Zenger published the first issue of the Weekly Journal. The issue included a detailed account of the victory the previous week of Lewis Morris as Popular Party candidate for assemblyman from Westchester. Morris won the election despite the best efforts of Cosby to rig the election against him by having the sheriff disqualify Quaker voters （expected to be heavily pro-Morris） on the ground that the Quakers only "affirmed" rather than swore the oath required at the time of all voters. The election story， almost certainly written by Alexander， included this description of the sheriff's intervention：

　　[T]he sheriff was deaf to all that could be alleged on that [the Quaker] side； and notwithstanding that he was told by both the late Chief Justice and James Alexander， one of His Majesty's Council and counsellor-at-law， and by one William Smith， counsellor-at-law， that such a procedure [disqualifying the Quakers for affirming rather than swearing] was contrary to law and a violent attempt upon the liberties of the people， he still persisted in refusing the said Quakers to vote……

　　No doubt to the surprise and disappointment of Cosby， Morris won the election even without the Quakers' votes. The Journal story told of Morris's election being celebrated with "a general fire of guns" from a merchant vessel and "loud acclamations of the people as he walked the streets， conducted to the Black Horse Tavern， where a handsome entertainment was prepared for him."

　　Subsequent issues of the Journal， in addition to editorializing about other dubious actions of the Governor， contained ringing defenses of the right to publish， authored by Alexander， such as this offered in the second issue：

　　The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of the liberty of the press； for it is an essential branch of liberty， so perhaps it is the best preservative of the whole. Even a restraint of the press would have a fatal influence. No nation ancient or modern has ever lost the liberty of freely speaking， writing or publishing their sentiments， but forthwith lost their liberty in general and became slaves.

　　Cosby put up with the Journal's attacks for two months before deciding that it must be shut down. The first effort to silence the Journal occurred in January 1734 when Chief Justice Delancey asked a Grand Jury to return indictments based on the law of seditious libel. The Grand Jury， however， refused. Delancey tried again when the next Grand Jury met in October. He presented the grand jurors with broadsides and "scandalous" verse from Zenger's Journal， but the jurors， claiming that the authorship of the allegedly libelous material could not be determined， again refused to return indictment.

　　Cosby responded to these frustrations by proclaiming a reward of fifty pounds for the discovery of the authors of the libels and by issuing an order that Zenger's newspapers be publicly burned by "the common hangman."

　　Then， in an effort to get around the Grand Jury's refusal to indict， Cosby ordered his attorney general， Richard Bradley， to file "an information" before Justices Delancey and Philipse. Based on the information， the Justices issued a bench warrant for the arrest of John Peter Zenger. On November 17， 1734， the sheriff arrested Zenger and took him to New York's Old City Jail， where Zenger would stay for the next eight months.

　　The Weekly Journal was not published the next day， November 18. It would be the only issue missed in its publishing history. The next week， with the help of Zenger's wife， Anna， the Journal resumed publication with an issue that included this "apology"：

　　As you last week were disappointed of my Journal， I think it incumbent on me to publish my apology， which is this. On the Lord's Day， the seventeenth， I was arrested， taken and imprisoned in the common jail of this City by virtue of a warrant from the Governor， the honorable Francis Harison， and others in the Council （of which， God willing， you will have a copy）； whereupon I was put under such restraint that I had not the liberty of pen， ink or paper， or to see or speak with people， until my complaint to the honorable Chief Justice at my appearing before him upon my habeas corpus on the Wednesday following. He discountenanced that proceeding， and therefore I have had since that time the liberty of speaking thro' the hole of the door to my wife and servants. By which I doubt not you will think me sufficiently excused for not sending my last week's Journal， and hope for the future， by the liberty of speaking to my servants thro' the hole of the door of my prison， to entertain you w