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334. AMBITION, Eradicated.—

Before I ventured to declare to my countrymen my determination
to retire from public employment,
I examined well my heart to know whether it
were thoroughly cured of every principle of
political ambition, whether no lurking particle
remained which might leave me uneasy,
when reduced within the limits of mere private
life. I became satisfied that every fibre
of that passion was thoroughly eradicated.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. i, 317. Ford ed., iii, 56.
(M. 1782)