University of Virginia Library

6629. PEOPLE, The western.—[continued]

They are freer from
prejudices than we are, and bolder in grasping
at truth. The time is not distant, though
neither you nor I shall see it, when we shall
be but a secondary people to them. Our
greediness for wealth, and fantastical expense,
have degraded, and will degrade, the
minds of our maritime citizens. These are
the peculiar vices of commerce.—
To John Adams. Washington ed. vii, 103. Ford ed., x, 107.
(M. 1818)