2174. DELUSION, Recovery from.—[continued].
The late chapter of our
history * * * furnishes a new proof of
the falsehood of Montesquieu's doctrine that
a republic can be preserved only in a small
territory. The reverse is the truth. Had our
territory been a third only of what it is, we
were gone. But while frenzy and delusion
like an epidemic, gained certain parts, the
residue remained sound and untouched, and
held on till their brethren could recover from
the temporary delusion.—
To Nathaniel Niles. Washington ed. iv, 376.
Ford ed., viii, 24.
(W.
March. 1801)
