7317. REPUBLIC (French), Bonaparte and.—
I fear our friends on the other side of
the water, laboring in the same cause, have
a great deal of crime and misery to wade
through. My confidence has been placed in
the head, not in the heart of Bonaparte.
I hoped he would calculate truly the difference
between the fame of a Washington
and a Cromwell. Whatever his views may be,
he has transferred the destinies of the republic
from the civil to the military arm. Some
will use this as a lesson against the practicability
of republican government. I read it as
a lesson against the danger of standing
armies.—
To Samuel Adams. Washington ed. iv, 321.
Ford ed., vii, 425.
(Pa.,
Feb. 1800)
