Does this quote belong in the book?

You're reading an early draft of The George Washington Book of Quotes. Your responses help shape the final book.

as a Philanthropist by character, and (if I may be allowed the expression) as a Citizen of the great republic of humanity at large... I endulge a fond, perhaps an enthusiastic idea, that as the world is evidently much less barbarous than it has been, its melioration must still be progressive.

— George Washington ·