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Show John Peter Zenger was tried in 1733 on a charge of libel for writing "Scurrilous and Scandalous, and Virulent Reflections" upon Governor Cosby of New York. The stories he wrote in the Weekly New York Journal reported how the Governor used his power to take liberty liber-ty and property away from people to make himself more powerful and wealthy. His defense attorney, Alexander Hamilton, presented a vigorous vig-orous and appealing argument argu-ment to the jury that resulted result-ed in acquittal for Zenger, and the . establishment of truth as a defense against libel. Hamilton appealed to the jury to acknowledge the truth of the articles and set his client free with an argument argu-ment ending with these words: "... you will have laid a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbors, that to which nature and the . laws of our country have given giv-en us a right the liberty both of exposing and opposing oppos-ing arbitrary power in those parts of the world at least, by speaking and writing the truth." |