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"Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger" | |
| appointed, and by the Law he is bound to protect and encourage. But I pray it may be considered, of what Use is this mighty Privilege, if every Man that suffers must be silent? And if a Man must be taken up as a Libeller, for telling his sufferings to his Neighbour? I know it may be answered, Have you not a Legislature? Have you not a House of Representatives to whom you may complain? And to this I answer, we have. But what then? Is an Assembly to be troubled with every Injury done by a Governour? Or are they to hear of nothing but what those in the Administration will please to tell them? Or what Sort of a Tryal must a Man have? And how is he to be remedied; especially if the Case were, as I have known it to happen in America in my Time; That a Governour who has Places (I will not say Pensions, for I believe they seldom give that to another which they can take to themselves) to bestow, and can or will keep the same Assembly (after he has model'd them so as to get a Majority of the House in his Interest) for near twice Seven Years together? I pray, what Redress is to be expected for a honest Man, who makes his Complaint against a Governour, to an Assembly who may properly enough be said, to be made by the same Governour against whom the Complaint is made? The Thing answers it self. No, it is natural, it is a Privilege, I will go farther, it is a Right which all Freemen claim, and are entitled to complain when they are hurt; they have a Right publickly to remonstrate the Abuses of Power, in the strongest Terms, to put their Neighbours upon their Guard, against the Craft or open Violence of Men in Authority, and to assert with Courage the Sense they have of the Blessings of Liberty, the Value they put upon it, and their Resolution at all Hazards to preserve it, as one of the greatest blessings Heaven can bestow. And when a House of Assembly composed of honest Freemen sees the general Bent of the Peoples Inclinations, That is it which must and will (I'm sure it ought to) weigh with a Legislature, in Spite of all the Craft, Carressing and Cajoling, made use of by a to divert them from hearkning to the Voice of their Country. And we all very well understand the true Reason, why Gentlemen take so much Pains and make such great Interest to be appointed Governours, so is the Design of their Appointment not less manifest. We know His Majesty's gracious Intentions to his Subjects; he desires no more than that his people in the Plantations should be kept up to their Duty and Allegiance to the Crown of | Great Britain, that Peace may be preserved amongst them, and Justice impartially adminstred; that we may be governed so as to render us useful to our Mother country, by encouraging us to make and raise such Commodities as may be useful to Great Britain. But will any one say, that all or any of these good Ends are to be effected, by a Governour's setting his people together by the Ears, and by the Assistance of one Part of the People to plague and plunder the other? The Commission which Governours bear, while they execute the Powers given them, according to the Intent of the Royal Grantor, expressed in their Commissions, requires and deserves very great Reverence and Submission; but when a Governour departs from the Duty enjoyned him by his Sovereign, and acts as if he was less accountable than the Royal Hand that gave him all that Power and Honour that he is possessed of; this sets People upon examining and enquiring into the Power, Authority, and Duty of such a Magistrate, and to compare those with his Conduct, and just as far as they find he exceeds the Bounds of his Authority, or falls short in doing impartial Justice to the People under his Administration, so far they very often, in return, come short in their Duty to such a Governour. For Power alone will not make a Man beloved, and I have heard it observed, That the Man who was neither good nor wise before his being made a Governour, never mended upon his Preferment, but has been generally observed to be worse: For Men who are not endued with Wisdom and Virtue, can only be kept in Bounds by the Law; and by how much the further they think themselves out of the Reach of the Law, by so much the more wicked and cruel Men are. I wish there were no Instances of the Kind at this Day. And wherever this happens to be the Case of a Governour, unhappy are the People under his Administration, and in the End he will find himself so too; for the People will neither love him nor support him. I make no Doubt but there are those here, who are zealously concerned for the Success of this Prosecution, and yet I hope they are not many, and even some of those, I am persuaded (when they consider what Lengths such Prosecutions may be carried, and how deeply the Liberties of the People may be affected by such Means) will not all abide by their present Sentiments; I say, Not All: For the Man who from an Intimacy and Acquaintance with a Governour has conceived a personal Regard for him, the Man who has felt none of the Strokes of his Power, the |
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 The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York | |