7362. REPUBLICANS, Divisions among.—[further continued] .
The divisions among
the republicans * * * are distressing, but they
are not unexpected to me. From the moment
I foresaw the entire prostration of federalism,
I knew that at that epoch more distressing
divisions would take its place. The opinions of
men are as various as their faces, and they will
always find some rallying principle or point at
which those nearest to it will unite, reducing
themselves to two stations, under a common
name for each. These stations, or camps, will
be formed of very heterogeneous materials,
combining from very different motives, and
with very different views.—
To Wilson C. Nicholas.
Ford ed., viii, 348.
(M.
March. 1805)
