Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/185

Rh one of the changes necessary was to guard the freedom of the press.

In another letter to Madison, November 18, 1788, he declared that the "Federalist" was the best commentary ever written on the principles of government. His generosity to Hamilton is again shown in his letter to Thomas Mann Randolph, from New York, May 30, 1790, in which he said, "there is no better book than the Federalist." Coming from a man who differed from Hamilton so radically, this was a strong statement, doing Jefferson as much credit as it did Hamilton.

To come back to his own country and find such conditions prevailing was to him a great shock. When, in addition to this, Fenno's paper began throwing reserve to the winds, it was only natural that Jefferson's acute mind should see the necessity for concentrated effort.

Despite the denials that were maintained in after years as to the plans of the Hamilton party at this particular time, there is no doubt that Hamilton distrusted the masses, and, in his great admiration for the British government, he allowed his advocates and admirers to go to an extreme that proved his undoing.

We may imagine the indignation of Jefferson when he read in Fenno's paper, a paper that was admittedly under the control of Hamilton, such expressions as the following:

"Take away thrones and crowns from among men and there will soon be an end of all dominion and justice. There must be some adventitious properties infused into the government to give it energy and spirit, or the selfish, turbulent passions of men can never be controlled. This has occasioned that artificial splendor and dignity that are