our great experiment

During a visit to Thomas Jefferson, the German scientist Baron Alexander von Humboldt saw a newspaper in the President's study filled with scurrilous abuse of him. "Why are these libels allowed?" exclaimed the Baron, picking up the paper. "Why s not this libelous journal suppressed, or its Editor, at least, fined and imprisoned?" "Put that paper in your pocket, Baron," said Jefferson, smiling, "and should you hear the reality of our liberty, the freedom of the press questioned, show them this paper, and tell them where you found it."

Smith THE FIRST FORTY YEARS, quoted in Presidential Anecdotes