engine, a sink of sedition, error and heresy." That he understood the value—and the dangers—of the fight in which he was engaged is shown, however, by his reprinting an account of the Zenger trial in the Evening Post of May 29, 1738, under the head of "The Liberty of the Press."
Although there was a great deal of liberty as compared with the previous century, political items might still render the publisher liable to prosecution. In March, 1742, Fleet, having picked up, in conversation with a naval officer, an item to the effect that Sir Robert Walpole was to be taken in custody, was haled before the Council, and the attorney general was ordered to prosecute him. The prosecution, however, was never pushed.
It was at the suggestion of the Lords of Trade, sent to several of the governors in a letter dated September 18, 1753, that an American Congress, based on the principle of representation, was convened for the purpose of making a treaty with the Six Nations, to prevent them from aiding the French or uniting with the Indians under French influence. The suggestion, which was to mean so much to the colonists, awoke enthusiasm only among the royal governors, the newspapers as a rule making no reference to it. This Congress was called to meet at Albany June 14, 1754, and Benjamin Franklin urged it in the Philadelphia Gazette, using the device, "Join or Die."[1]
On June 19, 1754, the Congress met at Albany, then a compact Dutch city of three hundred houses and 2600 inhabitants. The men present from the various colonies, while mainly fchampions of the royal prerogative, were also, in some instances, distinguished upholders of the
- ↑ Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9, 1754—Copied by the Boston Gazette, May 21, 1754.
