4065. JACOBINS, Degeneration.—
The
society of Jacobins was instituted on principles
and views as virtuous as ever kindled the hearts
of patriots. It was the pure patriotism of their
purposes which extended their association to
the limits of the nation, and rendered their
power within it boundless; and it was this
power which degenerated their principles and
practices to such enormities as never before
could have been imagined.—
To Jedediah Morse. Washington ed. vii, 235.
Ford ed., x, 205.
(M.
1822)