A word or two directed to this thought is
more appropriate to the occasion i The
power of the press." It is almost uulimit
cd. The power which the editorial profes
ion wields, it is not an easy matter to com
prehend and describe. A free press is an
absolute necessity in every country that is
inhabited by freemen. Show me any conn
trv where the press is niuaxled, where th
people are not allowed freely to speak aud
write and print their thonghts, and 1 will
show you a country that has au aristocrat
and .'tyrant for its ruler, and he has for bis
subjects a down-trodden people, who are so
ei'her because they have not the power to
protect themselves, or otherwise they are a
set of idiots, of beggnrs, of miserable cow
ards aDd of slaves! Thane God, the press
in America it free, and its privilege to write
and print and speak out is authorised aud
solemnly protected and shlelde-d by the
broad a'gis of our highest and most respect
ed laws. Our forefathers, the heroes of the
first revolution, whilst the wrongs they had
sulered and the grievances they had borne
and which they bad fought to redress, were
yet fresh npon their minds d remember
ing that during their long, bard straggle for
liberty the press bad incessantly toiled in
he holy cause of freedom, when they came
to frame their first constitution, 179 they
put in it, so that it could be seen of all men,
and become part of the suprenie law of lhe
tori, these few words, found in article 9
"Congress shall make no law " abridg
ing ti,- r.H,.... of sneech or of the press.
