The Trial of Peter Zenger

by Unknown

The justification for the version here presented of James Alexander’s A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger, Printer of the New York Weekly Journal is that his text of 1736, however fine an achievement for his own time, is not quite so satisfactory after the lapse of two hundred years. Literary conventions have changed too much for so characteristic a piece of eighteenth-century writing to be allowed to remain as it is when modern standards of readability are in question. Moreover, in places it shows signs of haste, or possibly even of another writer at work. An instance is the opening passage, which falls far below Alexander’s best style, and may be by someone else, perhaps Zenger himself. Lastly, there is too much technical law for the lay reader. On all these counts the Brief Narrative needs overhauling for our purposes.

This does not imply any distortion: the bulk of Alexander’s text is here just as it came from Zenger’s press. Most of the pamphlet is still perfectly clear, and it would be pointless to change anything simply for the sake of change. More than that, it is preferable to keep to the original wherever possible in order to catch something of the eighteenth-century atmosphere.

Clarity is the touchstone. Nothing has been allowed to stand that might trouble readers who are not familiar with obsolete usages. The simplest revision is in the spelling, where I use “trial” instead of “tryal,” “jail” instead of “gaol,” “public” instead of “publick,” etc. More important is the change in punctuation. Like most publications of its time, the Brief Narrative shows a plethora of commas, colons, and semicolons, a type of punctuation that tends to produce long, complicated, tedious sentences. There are too many capitals and italics, which today not only irritate the eye but also lose their force by doing too much duty. In certain places the grammar calls for the addition or omission of words.

A comparison of the following passages, the first two from the original, the second pair from my edition of the text, will show exactly what changes these considerations have led to:

As There was but one Printer in the Province of New-York, that printed a publick News Paper, I was in Hopes, if I undertook to publish another, I might make it worth my while; and I soon found my Hopes were not groundless: My first Paper was printed, Nov. 5th, 1733. and I continued printing and publishing of them, I thought to the Satisfaction of every Body, till the January following: when the Chief Justice was pleased to animadvert upon the Doctrine of Libels, in a long Charge given in that Term to the Grand Jury, and afterwards on the third Tuesday of October, 1734. was again pleased to charge the Grand Jury in the following Words. “Gentlemen; I shall conclude....”

Be it remembered, that Richard Bradly, Esq: Attorney General of Our Sovereign Lord the King, for the Province of New-York, who for Our said Lord the King in this Part prosecutes, in his own proper Person comes here into the Court of our said Lord the King, and for our said Lord the King gives the Court here to understand and be informed, That John Peter Zenger, late of the City of New-York, Printer, (being a seditious Person; and a frequent Printer and Publisher of false News and seditious Libels, and wickedly and maliciously devising the Government of Our said Lord the King of this His Majesty’s Province of New-York, under the Administration of His Excellency William Cosby, Esq; Captain General and Governour, in Chief of the said Province, to traduce, scandalize and vilify, and His Excellency the said Governour, and the Ministers and Officers of Our said Lord, the King of and for the said Province to bring into Suspicion and the ill Opinion of the Subjects of Our said Lord the King residing within the Province) the Twenty eighth Day of January, in the seventh Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the second, by the Grace of God of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith, &c. at the City of New-York, did falsly, seditiously and scandalously print and publish, and cause to be printed and published, a certain false, malicious, seditious scandalous Libel, entitled The New-York Weekly Journal, containing the freshest Advices, foreign and domestick;

In the present edition, these passages read as follows:

As there was but one printer in the Province of New York who printed a public newspaper, I was in hopes that if I undertook to publish another I might make it worth my while. I soon found my hopes were not groundless. My first paper was printed on November 5, 1733; and I continued printing and publishing them, I thought to the satisfaction of everybody, till the January following, when the Chief Justice was pleased to animadvert upon the doctrine of libels in a long “charge” given in that term to the grand jury. Afterwards, on the third Tuesday of October, 1734, he was again pleased to charge the grand jury in the following words: “Gentlemen, I shall conclude....”

Be it remembered that Richard Bradley, Attorney General of the king for the Province of New York, who prosecutes for the king in this part, in his own proper person comes here into the Court of the king, and for the king gives the Court here to understand and be informed:

That John Peter Zenger, of the City of New York, printer (being a seditious person; and a frequent printer and publisher of false news and seditious libels, both wickedly and maliciously devising the administration of His Excellency William Cosby, Captain General and Governor in Chief, to traduce, scandalize and vilify both His Excellency the Governor and the ministers and officers of the king, and to bring them into suspicion and the ill opinion of the subjects of the king residing within the Province), on the twenty-eighth day of January, in the seventh year of the reign of George the Second, at the City of New York did falsely, seditiously and scandalously print and publish, and cause to be printed and published, a certain false, malicious, seditious, scandalous libel entitled The New York Weekly Journal.

The major departure from Alexander’s text remains to be mentioned, since it is not involved in these passages—namely, the excision of some parts and the summarizing of others. Summaries are used when a faster pace seems advisable, for example at the start, when the preliminary maneuverings of the Governor are described. The excisions concern mainly the technicalities of the law. The long quotations from dusty legal tomes, the appeal to long-past precedents, can be of little interest to any except those trained in the law, and so only those passages have been retained that are necessary to the intelligibility of the arguments. But that in itself means a solid core, enough to show the dialectic of the lawyers moved, how the prosecution set up positions, and how the defense knocked them over.

Four fifths of the Brief Narrative are here—including all the passages-at-arms between Andrew Hamilton on the one side, and Bradley and Delancey on the other, and all of the defense attorney’s splendid peroration on liberty that clinched the acquittal for Peter Zenger.

NOTE: Editorial summaries are enclosed within brackets. Other changes are not indicated, and anyone interested in them should consult the original. In particular, blank lines do not necessarily stand for the deletion of material: they are there mainly for convenience in following the case step by step.