Note 29 — Chapter III
Reading edition
The impression, he said, made by this moderation on the discontented, did not correspond with what it deserved. The acts of delusion were no longer confined to the efforts of designing individuals. The very forbearance to press prosecutions was misinterpreted into a fear of urging the execution of the laws, and associations of men began to denounce threats against the officers employed. From a belief that by a more formal concert their operations might be defeated, certain self-created societies assumed the tone of condemnation.