He has the same pessimist theory of human declension which was held by Seneca and by Tacitus.
"Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius"
Samuel Dill
At Frankfort they formed acquaintance with J.H. von Meyer, ex-burgomaster of the city, a learned and pious man, who had made a new translation of the Bible into German, and had stood firm for the cause of real Christianity in the midst of much declension.
"Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel"
John Yeardley
But, further, had the final decision of conscience been that just cause for war existed, no evil that war brings could equal the moral declension which a nation inflicts upon itself, and upon mankind, by deliberate acquiescence in wrong, which it recognizes and which it might right.
"Lessons of the war with Spain and other articles"
Alfred T. Mahan