of a possibility of tarnish--such things are
sufficient to poison the tranquillity, and, unless met by prompt
vindication, to ruin the character of a public man; but in America, it
is thought necessary to have recourse to other weapons. The strongest
epithets of a ruffian vocabulary are put in requisition."

It may be asked, how is it possible that an "enlightened nation" can
permit such atrocity. It must be remembered, that newspapers are vended
at a very low price throughout the States, and that the support of the
major portion of them is derived from the ignorant and lower classes.
Every man in America reads his newspaper, and hardly any thing else; and
while he considers that he is assisting to govern the nation, he is in
fact, the dupe of those who pull the strings in secret, and by
flattering his vanity, and exciting his worst feelings, make him a poor
tool in their hands. People are too apt to imagine that the newspapers
echo their own feelings; when the fact is, that by taking in a paper,
which upholds certain opinions, the readers are, by daily repetition,
become so impressed with these opinions, that they have become slaves to
them. I have before observed, that learning to read and write is not
education, and but too often is the occasion of the demoralisation of
those, who might have been more virtuous and more happy in their
ignorance. The other day when I was in a steam-vessel, going down to
Gravesend, I observed a foot-boy sitting on one of the benches--he was
probably ten or eleven years old, and was deeply engaged in reading a
cheap periodical, mostly confined to the lower orders of this country
called the Penny Paul Pry. Surely it had been a blessing to the lad, if
he had never learnt to read or write, if he confined his studies, as
probably too many do, from want of farther leisure, to such an immoral
and disgusting publication.

In a country where every man is a politician, and flatters himself that
he is assisting to govern the country, political animosities must of
course be carried to the greatest lengths, and the press is the vehicle
for party violence; but Captain Hamilton's remarks are so forcible, and
so correct, that I prefer them to any I could make myself.

"The opponents of a candidate for office, are generally not content with
denouncing his principles, or deducing from the tenor of his political
life, grounds for questioning the purity of his motives. They accuse
him boldly of _