All the political journals of the United States are indeed arrayed on the side of the administration or against it; but they attack and defend in a thousand different ways.

They cannot succeed in forming those great currents of opinion which overwhelm the most solid obstacles.

This division of the influence of the press produces a variety of other consequences which are scarcely less remarkable.

The facility with which journals can be established induces a multitude of individuals to take a part in them; but as the extent of competition precludes the possibility of considerable profit, the most distinguished classes of society are rarely led to engage in these undertakings.

But such is the number of the public prints that, even if they were a source of wealth, writers of ability could not be found to direct them all.