Zenger's Maryland Venture The Earliest Assembly Proceedings

established himself across the Chesapeake many miles distant from Annap-
olis, in which town of course was the source of the greater part of the print-
ing business of Maryland. Chestertown was a village at this time, and a
small village at that. Surrounding it was an agricultural neighborhood. If
Zenger set up his press in this community, he must deliberately have chosen
a position of isolation, but the description of him as of Kent County in his
act of naturalization is at least a positive piece of evidence that he made
such a choice; there is no evidence of any nature whatsoever that he settled
in Annapolis, where one would have expected to find him.

It is to be presumed that in the months which had intervened between
Zenger's order to print the session laws in April 1720, and the day of his
naturalization in October of that year, he had carried out his contract with
the Assembly as to the printing and binding of the April acts, for on Octo-
ber 27th, it was resolved by the delegates,

"..... that the Printer be Allowed five hundred pounds of tobacco for the Printing the
Laws for the Counties &ca ..... as last Sessions,¹ and that Mr. Tasker make Coppys of all
the Publick Laws and the heads of all the Private Laws ..... And the said Copys to be
Delivered to the Printer the latter End of the next week."²

If Zenger had failed to print the laws of April 1720, it is not likely that
in employing him to print those of October 1720, the delegates would have
used the phrase "as last Sessions;" nor in the session of August 1721 would
they have resolved,

"..... that John Peter Zenger print the Body of Laws this Sessions as usual³ and be Al-
lowed five hundred pounds of Tobo per Body. And that John Gould Transcribe a Body of
the said Laws from the Originals to be by him Sent to the said Printer; ....."⁴

The phrases "as last Sessions" and "as usual" employed in these quota-
tions must refer to a series of performances rather than to a series of fail-
ures to perform.

In the absence of later references in the Maryland records to Zenger and
his work for the Province, it is impossible to assert that he carried out the
task imposed upon him by the delegates in August 1721. It is probable,
however, that he accepted the contract and completed it as his last im-
portant work in Maryland before his return to New York late in 1721 or
early in the year 1722, after a Maryland residence of some months less than
two years. In the preceding chapter it was pointed out that in the session of
February 1721/22, Evan Jones had been given permission to print the only

¹ The omission before these words, italicized by the author, occurs in the original.

²L. H. J., October 27, 1720, Archives of Maryland, 34:111.

³ Italics by author.

⁴L. H. J., August 5, 1721, Archives of Maryland, 34: 255.

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