Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/116

90 Gaol" and addressed "To the Freeholders, Freemen and Inhabitants of the Colony of New York and to all the friends of Liberty in North America."

He was brought into the presence of the Chief Justice:

"His Honor said to me:

So, you have brought yourself into a pretty scrap."

To which I replied:

May it please your Honor, that must be judged by my peers.'

"He then told me that it was fully proven that I was the author or publisher of the above mentioned paper, which he called 'a false, vile, and scandalous libel.'

"I replied again:

This also must be decided by my peers.

When McDougall, almost a year later, was called before the Assembly to answer to the indictment for libel, he refused to answer questions on the ground that they would tend to incriminate him.

"The House has power to extort an answer, and will punish you for contumacy if you refuse to reply," stated De Noyellis, who was responsible for the charge.

"The House has power to throw the prisoner over the bar or out of the window, but the public will doubt the justice of the proceedings," exclaimed George Clinton—later to be the first Governor of New York State—who was the only lawyer who dared appear for McDougall.

While there were many distinguished contributors, the important editors of this period were Hugh Gaine and John Holt. The New York Mercury came out in 1752, under the auspices of Gaine; but it was the New York Journal or General Advertiser, issued by Holt in 1770,