Robust examples of it were supplied in England at that very time.

There were also strong colonial precedents.

According to Secretary Wolcott, the sedition law was "merely a copy from a statute of Virginia in October, 1776." But a revolutionary Whig measure aimed at Tories was a very different thing in its practical aspect from the same measure used by a national party against a constitutional opposition.

Hamilton regarded such legislation as impolitic, and, on hearing of the sedition bill, he wrote a protesting letter, saying, "Let us not establish tyranny.

Energy is a very different thing from violence." But in general the Federalist leaders were so carried away by the excitement of the times that they could not practice moderation.