9198. X. Y. Z. PLOT, Delusion through. [continued].
There is real reason to
believe that the X. Y. Z. delusion is wearing off,
and the public mind beginning to take the same
direction it was getting into before that measure.
Gerry's dispatches will tend strongly to
open the eyes of the people. Besides this several
other impressive circumstances will be
bearing on the public mind. The Alien and
Sedition laws as before, the direct tax, the additional
army and navy, an usurious loan to set
these follies on foot, a prospect of heavy additional
taxes as soon as they are completed,
still heavier taxes if the government forces on
the war recruiting officers lounging at every
court-house and decoying the laborer from his
plow.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. iv, 265.
Ford ed., vii, 320.
(Pa.,
Jan. 1799)
