American Political Writing During the Founding Era: 1760–1805: Two Volume Paperback Set

69. An Impartial Citizen, A Dissertation Upon the Constitutional Freedom of the Press

PolWritV2_1101-1150.indd 1126 2/23/12 2:08 PM [69} AN IMPARTIAL CITIZEN A Dissertation Upon the Constitutional Freedom of the Press BOSTON, I So r The first years of the nineteenth century witnessed a vituperative dispute between the supporters ofJetferson and the recently ousted Federalists. In certain respects it was a broader continuation of the bitter debate over the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson's opponents attacked him mercilessly in the press as the agent of "leveling" in the society, an agent for the excesses of the French Revolution, and far worse. The viciousness of the charges hurled by both sides in the press reached unprecedented levels, and the subject of what was acceptable free speech and what constituted abuse of such in writing became a major topic of discussion. This anonymous pamphlet is unusual m its comprehensiveness, thoroughness, and level of analysis as well as for its temperateness in an era, and on a topic, not noted for it . ADVERTISEMENT BY THE AUTHOR. The freedom ofthe press is of z,ast importance to the United States: it depends. for its constitutional definition. upon natural. simple principles: then is no abstruse learning on the subject. It Oll[iht to be settled. and !!llderstood by the body offreemen, tl'hose votes in elections, and zehose verdicts as jli1J11len. em to maintain it. according to its constitutional principles. This essay is the first attempt o f the kind in A merica. \Vhoet• er reads the production, will find. that it is not written unde1 ' the influence o f any party. Some of each party will be displeased with it. Blit as it is composed u·ith a ( I I 26 ) PolWritV2_1101-1150.indd 1127 2/23/12 2:08 PM { r r 27 ] AN IMPARTIAL CITIZEN sincere desire to enlighten, and inform the whole body ofthe people, in a matter o f great comequence to their liberty and safety, the author is by no means anxiom in regard to the opinions of men. who have forsaken principle. and devoted themselves to party. He will, indeed, consider himself as unfortunate in this production , unless it shall be abused. mutilated, misunderstood, and misapplied, as is usual in such cases. Should he be charged with being ambitious to be President, Governor. Judr,e, Senator, or any thing else, he allows the charge;- only read the book, and attend to the truths it contains, and his wishes are accomplished. A PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR. Where shall the true art of exercising power without tyranny, or authority without pusillanimity be found? The idea of power is noble, and sublime; we tremble at it, when we conceive it to be uncontrollable and irresistible. We stand in awful diffidence before it; because our first conceptions of its form admit of no modifications or restraint. But the moment it has become familiar to our senses, and we have conceived the idea of rendering it subservient to our will, the apprehension of terror vanishes, and we soon treat it with indifference and contempt. Strength is the first indication of power, but when the horse is broken to the bit, or the ox subdued to the yoke, the sublime and terrible, which had before associated themselves with the dread of strength, are done away. The tyger and the wolf excite emotions of terror, but the mastiff and the spaniel recline on our bosoms. The ancient nations were well acquainted with all the feelings of the human heart. Homer carried his hero, under the contested protection of a multitude of gods, through dangers and distresses, through voyages and shipwrecks, through victories and defeats, to lay the foundation of the Grecian empire. The Greeks brought their civil institutions from Egypt, where, as it was then believed, the gods had promulgated laws for mankind. This was done, that the laws [4] should be respected by the people. The Romans founded an empire, by the man who had been nursed by a wolf; and their poet, in imitation of Homer, to render their origin respectable, and their religious and civil institutions sacred, detailed the perils, and wars, and the interposition of the gods, which carried the first of their race to the spot, which was admired by earth, and protected by heaven. PolWritV2_1101-1150.indd 1128 2/23/12 2:08 PM ( I 128} BosTON, r8 o r Before the christian religion was respected in Europe, fabulous deities were called in, to...