I hope to be pardon'd, Sir, for my Zeal upon this Occasion: It is an old and wise Caution, _That when our Neighbour's House is on Fire, We ought to take Care of our own_. For tho', blessed be God, I live in a Government where Liberty is well understood, and freely enjoy'd; yet Experience has shewn us all (I'm sure it has to me) that a bad Precedent in one Government, is soon set up for an Authority in another; and therefore I cannot but think it mine, and every Honest Man's Duty, that (while we pay all due Obedience to Men in Authority) we ought at the same Time to be upon our Guard against Power [i.e., arbitrary power], wherever we apprehend that it may effect Ourselves or our Fellow-Subjects. I am truly very unequal to such an Undertaking on many Accounts. And you see I labour under the Weight of many Years, and am born down with great Infirmities of Body; yet Old and Weak as I am, I should think it my Duty, if required, to go to the utmost Part of the land, where my Service cou'd be of any Use in assisting to quench the flame of Prosecutions upon Informations, set on Foot by the Government, to deprive a People of the Right of Remonstrating (and complaining too) of the arbitrary Attempts of Men in Power. Men who injure and oppress the People under their Administration provoke them to cry out and complain; and then make that very Complaint the foundation for new Oppressions and Prosecutions. ... But to conclude; the Question before the Court and you, Gentlemen of the Jury, is not of small nor private Concern, it is not the Cause of a poor Printer, nor of _New-York_ alone, which you are now trying; No! It may in its Consequence, affect every Freeman that lives under a British Government on the Main of _America_. It is the best Cause. It is the Cause of Liberty; and I make no Doubt but your upright Conduct, this Day, will not only entitle you to the Love and Esteem of your Fellow-Citizens; but every Man, who prefers Freedom to a Life of Slavery, will bless and honour You, as Men who have baffled the Attempt of Tyranny; and by an impartial and uncorrupt Verdict, have laid a noble Foundation for Securing to ourselves, our Posterity, and our Neighbours, That to which Nature and the Laws of our Country have given us a Right,--the Liberty--both of exposing and opposing arbitrary Power (in these Parts of the World, at least) by speaking and writing Truth....