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9174. WORTH, Esteem for moral.—

My
anxieties on this subject will never carry me
beyond the use of fair and honorable means,
of truth and reason; nor have they ever lessened
my esteem for moral worth, nor alienated
my affections from a single friend, who
did not first withdraw himself. Whenever
this happened, I confess I have not been insensible
to it; yet have ever kept myself open
to a return of their justice.—
To Mrs. John Adams. Washington ed. iv, 562. Ford ed., viii, 312.
(M. 1804)