Commonwealth of Massachusetts Suffolk & Nantucket, At the Supreme Judicial Court begun & holden at Boston within the said County of Suffolk & for the said Counties of Suffolk & Nantucket on the forth Tuesday of November in the Year of our Lord One thousand Eight hundred & fourteen, & continued in Session from that Day untill the 24th Day of January in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred & fifteen. The Jurors for said Commonwealth of Massachusetts upon their oath present, that Thomas Rome of Boston, in the said county of Suffolk, Printer & Joshua Hooper, of Boston, in said county of Suffolk, Printer, being malicious turbulent, ill disposed & seditious persons & being greatly disaffected & inimical to the Legislature of the said Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the government & administration thereof & wickedly, maliciously & seditious by contriving devising & intending to stir up & excite discontents divisions & sedition's among the citizens of said Commonwealth & from the Legislature and government thereof and to insinuate & cause it to be believed that the Legislature of said Commonwealth was a factious body & that the members thereof had wickedly & unlawfully & in violation of their oaths to support the Constitution of the United States endeavored to destroy the Government & Constitution of the United States endeavor to destroy the government and to divide and separate themselves & the people of this Commonwealth [2] from the constitutional government of the said United States on the twentieth day of January now current with force & arms at Boston aforesaid in the county of Suffolk aforesaid, wickedly, maliciously and seditiously did print and publish and cause & procure to be printed & published in a certain newspaper called the "Yankee" (of which said newspaper they the said Rowe & Hooper were then & there the publishers) a certain false scandalous malicious & seditious Libel of & concerning the said Legislature of said Commonwealth of Massachusetts which said false scandalous & malicious & seditious libel is of the following purport & effect that is of said the Massachusetts legislature (meaning the members of the Senate & of the House of Representatives of the said Commonwealth of Massachusetts who then & belonged to & did compose the Legislature of said Commonwealth) "met on Wednesday" (meaning Wednesday the eighteenth day of January now current) "We" (meaning then the said Rowe & Hooper) "never have witnessed within our " (meaning their the said Rowe & Hooper's) "recollection so little notice taken of this body" (Meaning the said Legislature of said Commonwealth) as appears at be of the present" (Meaning the body of which the said legislature then was & now is composed) "It is now ascertained to be a fact that they" (Meaning the members of said Legislature of said Massachusetts) are a factious but lifeless body, that is , they "(meaning again the members of said Legislature of Massachusetts) "have shewn all possible Disposition to prostrate the National Government (Meaning the [struck] [inserted: Constitutional] Government of the United States) "and serve themselves" (meaning again the [3] members of said Legislature of Massachusetts) "from the union" (meaning of the Constitution government & people of the said United States) "but they" (meaning against the aid members of the Legislature of Massachusetts) "have neither the nerve nor the courage to do it. And they (meaning said members of said Legislature) "{struck: have neither the nerve nor the courage to do it] [inserted: "frankly acknowledge it."] "No body of men now look towards them" (meaning again the said members of the said Legislature of Massachusetts) "for any great effort either against the national government" (meaning the said government of the United States) "or even against the enemy" (meaning the fleets & armies of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with whom the said United States then were & now are at open war) "who" (meaning the aforesaid fleets & armies) "are now in quiet possession of one third of the Territory of Massachusetts," (meaning that the members of said Legislature of Massachusetts possessed the will but not the power to destroy the constitution & government of the said United States & to separate & ___ themselves & the people of this Commonwealth from the said government of said United States & meaning also that the people of this Commonwealth & the constituents of them the said members of said Legislature of said Commonwealth had no confidence in the said members & in the said Legislature, & that they did not expect & did not look to them, the said members & to the said Legislature for any great effort to provide for them the means of protection and [4] defense against the invasions & depredations of the fleets & armies & of the enemy aforesaid) to the evil & pernicious example of others in like care to offend & against the peace & dignity of the Commonwealth aforesaid. Dan' Davis, Sol. Fen' A true bill, Andrew Cunningham, Foreman A true Copy Attest, Wm. ___ _______