USA > New York > New York City > Old New York : a journal relating to the history and antiquities of New York City, Vol. II > Part 26
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the judgment in his case, it is established for law, " that the judges, how great soever they be, have no right to fine, imprison or punish a jury for not finding a verdict according to the direction of the Court." And this I hope is sufficient to prove that jurymen are to see with their own eyes, to hear with their own ears, and to make use of their own consciences and understandings, in judging of the lives, liberties or estates of their fellow subjects. And so I have done with this point.
This is the second information for libeling a Governor in America ; and the first, though it may look like a romance, yet, as it is true, I will beg leave to mention it. Governor Nicholson, who happened to be offended with one of his clergy, met him one day upon the road, and, as was usual with him (under the protec- tion of his commission), used the parson with the worst of language, threatened to cut off his ears, slit his nose, and at last to shoot him through the head. The parson, being a reverend man, continued all this time uncovered in the heat of the sun until he found an opportunity to fly for it; and, coming to a neighbor's house, felt himself very ill of a fever and immediately writes for a doctor ; and that his physician might be the better judge of his distemper he acquainted him with the usage he had received, concluding that the Governor was certainly mad, for that no man in his senses would have behaved in that manner. The doctor unhappily shows the parson's letter, the Governor came to hear of it, and so an in- formation was preferred against the poor man for saying he believed the Governor was mad ; and it was laid in the information to be false, scandalous and wicked, and wrote with intent to move sedi- tion among the people and bring his excellency into contempt. But, by an order from the late Queen Anne, there was a stop put to that prosecution, with sundry others, set on foot by the same Governor against gentlemen of the greatest worth and honor in that government.
And may not I be allowed, after all this, to say that by a little countenance almost anything which a man writes may, with the help of that useful term of art called an innuendo, be construed to be a libel, according to Mr. Attorney's definition of it, that whether the words are spoke of a person of a public character or of a private man, whether dead or living, good or bad, true or false, all make a
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libel ; for, according to Mr. Attorney, after a man hears a writing read, or reads and repeats it, or laughs at it, they are all punish- able. It is true, Mr. Attorney is so good as to allow after the party knows it to be a libel, but he is not so kind as to take the man's word for it.
Here were several cases put to show that though what a man writes of a Governor was true, proper and necessary, yet, according to the foregoing doctrine, it might be construed to be a libel ; but Mr. Hamilton, after the trial was over, being informed that some of the cases he had put had really happened in this government, he declared he had never heard of any such, and as he meant no per- sonal reflections, he was sorry he had mentioned them, and there- fore they were omitted in the report of the trial.
Mr. Hamilton .- If a libel is understood in the large and un- limited sense urged by Mr. Attorney, there is scarce a writing I know that may not be called a libel, or scarce any person safe from being called to an account as a libeler ; for Moses, meek as he was, libeled Cain, and who is it that has not libeled the devil ? For, according to Mr. Attorney, it is no justification to say one has a bad name. Echard has libeled our good King William, Burnet has libeled, among many others, King Charles and King James, and Rapin has libeled them all. How must a man speak or write, or what must he hear, read or sing, or when must he laugh, so as to be secure from being taken up as a libeler ? I sincerely believe that were some persons to go through the streets of New York nowadays and read a part of the Bible, if it was not known to be such, Mr. Attorney, with the help of his innuendoes, would easily turn it into a libel. As, for instance, Isaiah ix, 16: "The lead- ers of the people cause them to err, and they that are led by him 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 Council of New York] cause them [innuendo, the people of this province] to err, and they [the people of this province meaning] are destroyed [innuendo, are deceived into the loss of their liberty], which is the worst kind of destruction. Or if some person should publicly repeat, in a manner not pleasing to his betters, the 10th and 11th verses of the 56th chapter of the same book, there Mr. Attorney would have a large field to display
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his skill in the artful application of his innuendoes. The words are, " His watchmen are all blind, they are ignorant, etc. Yea, they are greedy dogs that can never have enough." But to make them a libel there is, according to Mr. Attorney's doctrine, no more wanting but the aid of his skill in the right adapting his innuendoes. As, for instance, his watchmen [innuendo, the Governor's Council and Assembly] are blind, they are ignorant [innuendo, will not see the dangerous designs of his excellency], yea, they [the Governor and Council meaning] are greedy dogs, which can never have enough [innuendo, enough of riches and power]. Such an in- stance as this seems only fit to be laughed at, but I may appeal to Mr. Attorney himself whether these are not at least equally proper to be applied to his Excellency and his ministers, as some of the inferences and innuendoes in his information against my client. Then, if Mr. Attorney is at liberty to come into Court and file an information in the King's name without leave, who is secure whom he is pleased to prosecute as a libeler ? And as the crown law is contended for in bad times, there is no remedy for the greatest oppression of this sort, even though the party prosecuted is acquitted with honor. And give me leave to say, as great men as any in Britain have boldly asserted that the mode of prosecut- ing by information (when the grand jury will not find billa vera) is a national grievance and greatly inconsistent with that freedom which the subjects of England enjoy in most other cases. But if we are so unhappy as not to be able to ward off this stroke of power directly, yet let us take care not to be cheated out of our liberties by forms and appearances ; let us always be sure that the charge in the information is made out clearly, even beyond a doubt ; for though matters in the information may be called form upon trial, yet they may be, and often have been found to be, matters of substance upon giving judgment.
Gentlemen, the danger is great, in proportion to the mischief that may happen, through our too great credulity. A proper confidence in a court is commendable; but as the verdict (what- ever it is) will be yours, you ought to refer no part of your duty to the discretion of other persons. If you should be of opinion that there is no falsehood in Mr. Zenger's papers, you will, nay (pardon me for the expression), you ought to say so ; because you
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do not know whether others (I mean the Court) may be of that opinion. It is your right to do so, and there is much depending upon your resolution, as well as upon your integrity.
The loss of liberty to a generous mind is worse than death ; and yet we know there have been those, in all ages, who, for the sake of preferment, or some imaginary honor, have freely lent a help- ing hand to oppress, nay, to destroy, their country. This brings to my mind that saying of the immortal Brutus when he looked upon the creatures of Cæsar, who were very great men but by no means good men. "You Romans," said Brutus, " if yet I may call you so, consider what you are doing; remember you are assisting Cæsar to forge those very chains, which one day he will make yourselves wear." This is what every man (who values freedom) ought to consider ; he should act by judgment, and not by affec- tion or self-interest; for, where these prevail, no ties of either country or kindred are regarded ; as, on the other hand, the man who loves his country, prefers its liberty to all other considera- tions, well knowing that without liberty life is a misery.
A famous instance of this you will find in the history of another brave Roman of the same name. I mean Lucius Junius Brutus, whose story is well known, and therefore I shall mention no more of it than only to show the value he put upon the freedom of his country. This great man, assisted by a few fellow citizens whom he had engaged in the cause, had banished Tarquin the Proud, the last King of Rome, from a throne he had ascended by inhuman murders and possessed by the most dreadful tyranny and pre- scriptions ; but Tarquin, by these means had amassed incredible riches, even sufficient to bribe many of the young nobility of Rome to assist him in recovering the crown. The plot, however, being discovered, the principal conspirators were apprehended, among whom were two of the sons of Junius Brutus. It was absolutely necessary that some should be made examples of, to deter others from attempting the restoring of Tarquin and destroying the lib- erty of Rome. And to affect this it was that Lucius Junius Brutus, one of the consuls of Rome, in the presence of the Roman people, sat judge and condemned his own sons, as traitors to their country ; and to give the last proof of his exalted virtue and love of liberty he, with a firmness of mind only becoming so great a man, caused
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their heads to be struck off in his own presence; and when he observed that his rigid virtue occasioned a sort of horror among the people, it is observed he only said, " My fellow citizens, do not think that this proceeds from any want of natural affection ; no, the death of the sons of Brutus can affect Brutus only ; but the loss of liberty will affect my country." Thus highly was liberty esteemed in those days, that a father could sacrifice his sons to save his country. But why do I go to heathen Rome to bring in- stances of the love of liberty ? The best blood in Britain has been shed in the cause of liberty, and the freedom we enjoy at this . day may be said to be in a great measure owing to the glorious stand the famous Hampden and others of our countrymen made against the arbitrary demands and illegal impositions of the times in which they lived; who rather than give up the rights of Englishmen, and submit to pay an illegal tax of no more, I think, than three shillings, resolved to undergo, and for the liberty of their country did undergo, the greatest extremities in that arbi- trary and terrible Court of the Star Chamber, to whose . arbitrary proceedings (it being composed of the principal men of the realm and calculated to support arbitrary government) no bounds or limits could be set, nor could any other hand remove the evil but a Parliament.
Power may justly be compared to a great river, which, kept within due bounds, is both beautiful and useful; but when it over- flows its banks, it is then too impetuous to be stemmed; it bears down all before it and brings destruction and desolation wherever it comes. If then this is the nature of power, let us at least do our duty, and like wise men (who value freedom) use our utmost care to support liberty, the only bulwark against lawless power, which in all ages has sacrificed to its wild lust and boundless am- bition the blood of the best men that ever lived.
I hope to be pardoned, sir, for my zeal upon this occasion; it is an old and wise caution that when our neighbor's house is on fire we ought to take care of our own. For though, blessed be God, I live in a government where liberty is well understood and freely enjoyed ; yet experience has shown us all (I am sure it has to me) that a bad precedent in one government is soon set up for an author- ity in another, and therefore I cannot but think it mine, and every
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honest man's duty, that (while we pay all due obedience to men in authority) we ought at the same time to be upon our guard against power, whenever we apprehend it may injuriously affect ourselves or our fellow subjects.
I am truly very unequal to such an undertaking, on many ac- counts. And you see I labor under the weight of many years, and am borne down with great infirmities of body ; yet old and weak as I am, I should think it my duty, if required, to go to the utmost part of the land where my service could be of any use in assisting . to quench the flame of prosecutions upon informations, set on foot by the government, to deprive a people of the right of remonstrat- ing and complaining of the arbitrary attempts of men in power. Men who injure and oppress the people under their administration provoke them to cry out and complain, and then make that very complaint the foundation for new oppressions and prosecutions. I wish I could say there were no instances of this kind. But to con- clude ; the question before the Court and you, gentleman of the jury, is not of small or private concern ; it is not the cause of a poor printer, nor of New York alone, which you are now trying. No ; it may, in its consequence affect every freeman that lives under a British government on the main of America. It is the best cause, it is the cause of liberty! and I make no doubt but your upright conduct this day will not only entitle you to the love and esteem of your fellow citizens; but every man who prefers freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honor you as men who have baffled the attempt of tyranny, and who, by an impartial and uncorrupt verdict, have laid a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our poster- ity, and our neighbors, that to which nature and the laws of our country have given us a right-the liberty both of exposing and opposing arbitrary power (in these parts of the world at least) by speaking and writing truth.
Here Mr. Attorney observed that Mr. Hamilton had gone very much out of the way, and had made himself and the people very merry ; but that he had been citing cases not at all to the purpose. He said there was no such cause as Mr. Bushel's or Sir Edward Hale's before the Court ; and he could not find out what the Court or jury had to do with dispensations, riots, or unlawful assemblies. All that the jury had to consider of was Mr. Zenger's printing and
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publishing two scandalous libels, which very highly reflected on his Excellency and the principal men concerned in the administration of this government, which is confessed. That is, the printing and publishing of the journals set forth in the information is confessed. And he concluded that as Mr. Hamilton had confessed the print- ing, and there could be no doubt but they were scandalous papers, highly reflecting upon his excellency and the principal magistrates in the province, therefore he made no doubt but the jury would find the defendant guilty, and would refer to the Court for their direction.
Mr. Chief Justice .- Gentlemen of the Jury: The great pains Mr. Hamilton has taken to show how little regard juries are to pay to the opinion of the judges, and his insisting so much upon the con- duct of some judges in trials of this kind, is done no doubt with a de- sign that you should take very little notice of what I may say upon this occasion. I shall therefore only observe to you that, as the facts or words in the information are confessed, the only thing that can come in question before you is whether the words, as set forth in the information, make a libel. And that is a matter of law, no doubt, and which you may leave to the Court. But I shall trouble you no further with anything of my own, but read to you the words of a learned and upright judge in a case of the like nature :
"To say that corrupt officers are appointed to administer affairs is certainly a reflection on the government. If people should not be called to account for possessing the people with an ill opinion of the government, no government can subsist, for it is very necessary for all governments that the people should have a good opinion of it. And nothing can be worse to any government than to endeavor to procure animosities, as to the management of them; this has been always looked upon as a crime, and no government can be safe without it be punished."
Now you are to consider whether these words I have read to you do not tend to beget an ill opinion of the administration of the government. To tell us those who are employed know nothing of the matter and those who do know are not employed ; men are not adapted to offices, but offices to men, out of a particular regard to their interest, and not to their fitness for the places; this is the purport of these papers.
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Mr. Hamilton .- I humbly beg your honor's pardon ; I am very much misapprehended, if you suppose what I said was so designed. Sir, you know, I made an apology for the freedom I found my- self under a necessity of using upon this occasion. I said there was nothing personal designed ; it arose from the nature of our defence.
The jury withdrew, and in a small time returned, and being asked by the clerk " whether they were agreed of their verdict, and whether John Peter Zenger was guilty of printing and publishing the libels in the information mentioned?" They answered by Thomas Hunt, their foreman, "Not Guilty." Upon which there were three huzzas in the hall, which was crowded with people ; and the next day Zenger was discharged from his imprisonment. S
CITY CHURCHES IN 1827.
BAPTIST CHURCHES.
The First Baptist Church is a stone building 65 by 80 == 5,200 feet square, and was erected in 1769 Pastor, the Rev. William Parkinson.
The Bethel Baptist Church in Delancey, corner of Chrystie street, is a brick building 65 by 85 =- 5,525 feet square, and was erected in the year 1819. This is the second Baptist Church in the city, and was organized in the year 1770. The Rev. Mr. Johnson Chase is pastor.
Oliver Street Church, near Chatham street, a stone building 64 by 94 = 6,016 feet square, was erected in 1795, enlarged in 1800 and rebuilt in 1819. The Rev. Mr. Spencer II. Cone is pastor.
The Abyssinian Church, 42 by 60 = 2,520 feet square, a frame building, was erected in Anthony, between Church and Chapel streets, in the year 1805. Pastor, the Rev. Mr. Benjamin Paul.
Broome Street Church, near the Bowery Road, a frame build- ing 34 by 71 = 2,414 feet square, was erected in 1806 and enlarged in 1817. Pastor, the Rev. Mr. Marsh.
Mulberry Street Church, near Chatham street, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Archibald McClay, was erected in 1809 and
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rebuilt and enlarged in 1817. Dimensions, 63 feet in front by 90 in depth = 5,670 feet square.
The Beriah Baptist Church in Vandam street, 40 by 55 = 2,200 feet square, is a frame building, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Aaron Perkins, erected in 1810.
York Street Church, directly in the rear of St. John's Church, is a frame building 27 feet by 40 = 1,080 feet square and was erected in 1818. They have no regular ministers, any one of the member being at liberty to speak.
The South Baptist Church, a stone building in Nassau street, between John and Fulton streets, 46 by 65 == 2,990 feet square and was built in 1803 by the Associate Presbyterian Church. In the year 1824 it was purchased by the aforesaid South Baptist Church, since which time they have occupied it as a house of public worship. The Rev. Mr. Charles G. Somers is pastor.
Provost Street Church, a frame building with a brick front, 40 by 60 = 2,400 feet square, was erected by a Presbyterian Church under the ministry of the Rev. James G. Ogilvie ; but in 1825 it was purchased by a Baptist congregation, now under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Hand.
A church composed of a part of the members who belonged to the York Street Church and of others who had joined them, formed themselves into a congregation in 1825. They are under the pas- toral care of the Rev. Mr. William Ovington, and worship in a large school room in Broadway, corner of Reade street.
The Union Baptist Church, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Eastman, was opened in the year 1825 in a frame build- ing 25 by 75 = 1,875 feet square, in the Bowery, opposite Spring street.
The church under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. John C. Murphy has been organized since the year 1824, and now worships in a frame building 40 by 50 = 2,000 feet square, erected in 1818 in Broome street, between Cannon and Lewis streets. This place is known by the name of the Mission House, and was occupied by a Methodist congregation till May, 1826, when they took possession of their new church in Willett, near Broome street.
A church was formed in 1824, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Amasa Smith, which now worship in the school room in
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Elizabeth, near Bleecker street, belonging to the Bethel Baptist Church ; but this congregation expect in a short time to build a house of worship for themselves on a part of the Baptist burying ground in Amity street.
FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSES.
It appears from some old records that their first place of pub- lic worship in this city was built in Greene, near Liberty street, about the year 1706. They, in 1775, erected a brick meeting house in Pearl street, 48 by 68 = 3,264 feet square; and in 1802 rebuilt and enlarged another in Liberty street. This is likewise a brick building, 44 by 56 = 2,464 feet square. The former of these was taken down in 1824 and stores and dwelling houses substituted in its place. The latter still remains, but is now occupied by - Messieurs Grant Thorburn & Son, seedsmen and florists.
The Society of Friends have now three places of public worship in the city :
'1st. A. brick church in Hester street 60 by 68 = 4,080 feet square, which was built in 1819 ; 2d, a frame building 25 by 35 = 875 feet square, at Manhattanville ; 3d, a large brick building 58 by SO = 4,640 feet square, rebuilt in Rose street in 1824.
In this society the preaching of the gospel is not confined to men, as women likewise officiate. Their present ministers are Thomas Hawxhurst, Willett Hicks, John Wood and John Barrow ; Ann Shipley, Mary Bostwick, Mary King, Elizabeth Coggshall, Phoebe Palmer, Phoebe I. Merrit, Elizabeth Bird, Mary Hinsdale and Clarissa Griffen.
HEBREWS.
The Hebrews, or Jews, as they are commonly called, worshiped for some years in a frame building in Mill street, opposite to the place where their present synagogue now stands. It is a neat stone building 36 by 58 = 2,030 feet square, erected in 1730 and rebuilt in 1818. This congregation, which is known by the name of Shearith Israel, i. e., the remnant of Israel, is incorporated accord- ing to law. The Rev. Mr. Gershom Seixas, predecessor of the present minister, the Rev. M. L. M. Peixotto, officiated at the head of the synagogue for upwards of fifty years.
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City Churches in 1827.
INDEPENDENT OR CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES.
Between these and the Presbyterians the difference is not great. They profess their belief in the sacred Scriptures and their adher- ence to the doctrine therein contained, as set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith and in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. They only differ in the article of church government, each congrega- tion having exclusive jurisdiction over its own members and being amenable to no other earthly tribunal; and, in fine, they declare themselves to be actuated by the same principles as the people called Independents in Great Britain and Congregationalists in the East- ern States.
In this city there are four congregations belonging to this con- nection which are represented in an association held monthly for the management of their general concerns.
The first of these, a frame building with a brick front, was erected in Thompson, near Broome street, in 1823. It is 40 by 60 and contains 2,400 square feet. The Rev. Mr. Joseph Harrison is pastor.
The second at present worship in the African Free School in Mulberry street, where divine service is in general performed in the Welsh language, but sometimes in English. Their pastor is the Rev. Mr. James Davies.
The third, which is under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. John Dick, have completed in the present year a frame building with a brick front in Fourth street, near Avenue D. It is 40 by 64 == 2,560 feet square.
The fourth was organized in August, 1825, and worships at present in a school house in Broadway near the House of Refuge. Having no fixed pastor, divine service is performed by the ministers of the three churches in connection with them; but as the con- gregation is rapidly increasing, it is expected that they will soon have a settled pastor and a place of their own for public worship.
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