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The Herald of Freedom (1788–1791) or Herald of Freedom and the Federal Advertiser was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 18th century by Edmund Freeman, Loring Andrews, and John Howel.

In 1790–1791 the paper "was engaged in the first libel-suit tried in Massachusetts after the Revolution, ... for a savage attack on a member of the Legislature," John Gardiner. The Herald's printer, Edmund Freeman, was "charged ... with publishing in his paper ... a most ... scandalous and malicious libel." "The libel complained of, charged Mr. Gardiner, with the atrocious murder of his late excellent lady , by cruelty." On February 3, 1790, "at 12, o'clock, at noon" Freeman "was taken into custody, by virtue of a warrant from Mr. Justice Crafts." "The case was decided in favor of the newspaper. Harrison Gray Otis, one of the most brilliant men of his day, was counsel for the editor."

References

1. "Massachusetts - Eighteenth-Century American Newspapers in the Library of Congress (Serial and Government Publications Division)". Library of Congress.
2. William Nelson. Notes toward a history of the American newspaper. NY: C.F. Heartman, 1918. Google books.
3. Frederic Hudson. Journalism in the United States, from 1690-1872. Harper & Brothers, 1873; p.181
4. Herald of Freedom; Date: 03-29-1791
5. John Gardiner (1737-1793) was the son of Silvester Gardiner and the father of John Sylvester John Gardiner; cf. T. A. Milford. The Gardiners of Massachusetts: provincial ambition and the British-American career. UPNE, 2005
6. Herald of Freedom, Date: 02-12-1790
7. Vermont Journal, 02-17-1790
8. Vermont Journal, 02-17-1790
9. Frederic Hudson. 1873; p.181

Further reading

• From the Centinel. Proceedings on the Examination of the Printer of the Herald. Herald of Freedom, Date: 02-12-1790
• Massachusetts. Boston, February 1. Vermont Journal, and the Universal Advertiser; Date: 02-17-1790.
• . Herald of Freedom; Date: 03-04-1791.
• Supreme Judicial Court; trial for a libel: Commonwealth vs. Freeman. Herald of Freedom; Date: 03-11-1791
• Trial for a Libel. Middlesex Gazette (Connecticut); Date: 03-26-1791
• Joseph Tinker Buckingham. Specimens of newspaper literature: with personal memoirs, anecdotes, and reminiscences, Volume 1. Redding and Co., 1852. Google books

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