to Fenno's paper, had been considered by Jefferson, Madison and Lee. These men had come more and more to the conclusion that, in the words of Gouverneur Morris, "Hamilton hated Republican government,"[1] and that they must have an active combatant in the newspaper field.
Jefferson accordingly wrote Freneau on February 28, 1791, offering him the place,[2] but Freneau had ideas of his own and was not inclined to go to Philadelphia. In the meantime Madison had urged the matter on him, while Lee[3] had offered to finance the paper; apparently their arguments were conclusive, for on August 16, 1791, he was appointed clerk for foreign languages in the office of the Secretary of State.
When he went to Philadelphia, Freneau took his printers with him. The plans and prospectus of the new paper were announced, and it appeared ahead of time, on October 31, 1791, under the name of the National Gazette. In its first issue there was nothing of the violent partisanship that was later to distinguish it, but its columns were filled with praise for Thomas Paine and Rousseau, and with essays on equality and fraternity. This at once gave offense to the Federalists, who saw that its purpose was unquestionably "to energize the spirit of democracy." To assist in its success Freneau had collaborators—Hugh Brackenridge, a classmate at college ^nd afterward a distinguished jurist, was a frequent contributor, as was also James Madison. Jefferson himself had it continually in mind. He wrote' to a friend about it, solicited subscriptions, saw that Freneau had the foreign newspapers, and did everything in his power to make it a success, with the result that, in May, 1792, Freneau
