The existence of a heresy-hunt of these proportions, in time of war, does not prove the widespread existence of heresy. “Loyalism” at such times always supposes the existence of “treason”, if only as a foil to itself. And yet something more than “war fever”, or the guilt and uneasiness of the propertied classes, is indicated by the outpourings of tracts and sermons, and the attacks on specific Jacobins in outlying parts.
