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Chapter Summary: Difficulty of restraining the liberty of the press-Particular reasons which some nations have to cherish this liberty-The liberty of the press a necessary consequence of the sovereignty of the people as it is understood in America-Violent language of the periodical press in the United States-Propensities of the periodical press-Illustrated by the United States-Opinion of the Americans upon the repression of the abuse of the liberty of the press by judicial prosecutions-Reasons for which the press is less powerful in America than in France.
The influence of the liberty of the press does not affect political opinions alone, but it extends to all the opinions of men, and it modifies customs as well as laws. In another part of this work I shall attempt to determinate the degree of influence which the liberty of the press has exercised upon civil society in the United States, and to point out the direction which it has given to the ideas, as well as the tone which it has imparted to the character and the feelings, of the Anglo-Americans, but at present I purpose simply to examine the effects produced by the liberty of the press in the political world.