Sunday, July 25, 2010

Ezra Stiles American Jacobin

Another repost at The One Best Way here.

1 comment:

Tom Van Dyke said...

Jon, your source text points at another motivation for the enthusiasm of American clergy for the French Revolution: anti-Catholicism [anti-papism]. At first, until its excesses were known, the idea of diminishing Romishness anywhere in the world would be very appealing to any good Protestant.

Stiles dies in 1795, just as things [and heads] really start rolling; however, it doesn't seem to diminish his enthusiasm. Indeed, his call for "more Use of the Guillotine yet" sounds quite psychotic. ;-)