Inageswhichanswertothisdescription，mendeserttheirreligiousopinionsfromlukewarmnessratherthanfromdislike;
theydonotrejectthem，butthesentimentsbywhichtheywereoncefostereddisappear。Butiftheunbelieverdoesnotadmitreligiontobetrue，hestillconsidersituseful。Regardingreligiousinstitutionsinahumanpointofview，heacknowledgestheirinfluenceuponmannersandlegislation。Headmitsthattheymayservetomakemenliveinpeacewithoneanother，andtopreparethemgentlyforthehourofdeath。Heregretsthefaithwhichhehaslost;andasheisdeprivedofatreasurewhichhehaslearnedtoestimateatitsfullvalue，hescruplestotakeitfromthosewhostillpossessit。
Ontheotherhand，thosewhocontinuetobelievearenotafraidopenlytoavowtheirfaith。Theylookuponthosewhodonotsharetheirpersuasionasmoreworthyofpitythanofopposition;andtheyareawarethattoacquiretheesteemoftheunbelieving，theyarenotobligedtofollowtheirexample。Theyarehostiletonooneintheworld;andastheydonotconsiderthesocietyinwhichtheyliveasanarenainwhichreligionisboundtofaceitsthousanddeadlyfoes，theylovetheircontemporaries，whilsttheycondemntheirweaknessesandlamenttheirerrors。
Asthosewhodonotbelieve，concealtheirincredulity;andasthosewhobelieve，displaytheirfaith，publicopinionpronouncesitselfinfavorofreligion:love，support，andhonorarebestoweduponit，anditisonlybysearchingthehumansoulthatwecandetectthewoundswhichithasreceived。Themassofmankind，whoareneverwithoutthefeelingofreligion，donotperceiveanythingatvariancewiththeestablishedfaith。Theinstinctivedesireofafuturelifebringsthecrowdaboutthealtar，andopenstheheartsofmentothepreceptsandconsolationsofreligion。
Butthispictureisnotapplicabletous:fortherearemenamongstuswhohaveceasedtobelieveinChristianity，withoutadoptinganyotherreligion;otherswhoareintheperplexitiesofdoubt，andwhoalreadyaffectnottobelieve;andothers，again，whoareafraidtoavowthatChristianfaithwhichtheystillcherishinsecret。
Amidsttheselukewarmpartisansandardentantagonistsasmallnumberofbelieversexist，whoarereadytobraveallobstaclesandtoscornalldangersindefenceoftheirfaith。
Theyhavedoneviolencetohumanweakness，inordertorisesuperiortopublicopinion。Excitedbytheefforttheyhavemade，theyscarcelyknewwheretostop;andastheyknowthatthefirstusewhichtheFrenchmadeofindependencewastoattackreligion，theylookupontheircontemporarieswithdread，andtheyrecoilinalarmfromthelibertywhichtheirfellow—citizensareseekingtoobtain。Asunbeliefappearstothemtobeanovelty，theycompriseallthatisnewinoneindiscriminateanimosity。Theyareatwarwiththeirageandcountry，andtheylookuponeveryopinionwhichisputforththereasthenecessaryenemyofthefaith。
Suchisnotthenaturalstateofmenwithregardtoreligionatthepresentday;andsomeextraordinaryorincidentalcausemustbeatworkinFrancetopreventthehumanmindfromfollowingitsoriginalpropensitiesandtodriveitbeyondthelimitsatwhichitoughtnaturallytostop。Iamintimatelyconvincedthatthisextraordinaryandincidentalcauseisthecloseconnectionofpoliticsandreligion。TheunbelieversofEuropeattacktheChristiansastheirpoliticalopponents，ratherthanastheirreligiousadversaries;theyhatetheChristianreligionastheopinionofaparty，muchmorethanasanerrorofbelief;andtheyrejecttheclergylessbecausetheyaretherepresentativesoftheDivinitythanbecausetheyarethealliesofauthority。
InEurope，Christianityhasbeenintimatelyunitedtothepowersoftheearth。Thosepowersarenowindecay，anditis，asitwere，buriedundertheirruins。Thelivingbodyofreligionhasbeenbounddowntothedeadcorpseofsuperannuatedpolity:cutbutthebondswhichrestrainit，andthatwhichisalivewillriseoncemore。IknownotwhatcouldrestoretheChristianChurchofEuropetotheenergyofitsearlierdays;
thatpowerbelongstoGodalone;butitmaybetheeffectofhumanpolicytoleavethefaithinthefullexerciseofthestrengthwhichitstillretains。
HowTheInstruction，TheHabits，AndThePracticalExperienceOfTheAmericansPromoteTheSuccessOfTheirDemocraticInstitutionsWhatistobeunderstoodbytheinstructionoftheAmericanpeople—ThehumanmindmoresuperficiallyinstructedintheUnitedStatesthaninEurope—Noonecompletelyuninstructed—
Reasonofthis—RapiditywithwhichopinionsarediffusedevenintheuncultivatedStatesoftheWest—PracticalexperiencemoreserviceabletotheAmericansthanbook—learning。
IhavebutlittletoaddtowhatIhavealreadysaidconcerningtheinfluencewhichtheinstructionandthehabitsoftheAmericansexerciseuponthemaintenanceoftheirpoliticalinstitutions。
Americahashithertoproducedveryfewwritersofdistinction;itpossessesnogreathistorians，andnotasingleeminentpoet。Theinhabitantsofthatcountrylookuponwhatareproperlystyledliterarypursuitswithakindofdisapprobation;
andtherearetownsofverysecond—rateimportanceinEuropeinwhichmoreliteraryworksareannuallypublishedthaninthetwenty—fourStatesoftheUnionputtogether。ThespiritoftheAmericansisaversetogeneralideas;anditdoesnotseektheoreticaldiscoveries。Neitherpoliticsnormanufacturesdirectthemtotheseoccupations;andalthoughnewlawsareperpetuallyenactedintheUnitedStates，nogreatwritershavehithertoinquiredintothegeneralprinciplesoftheirlegislation。TheAmericanshavelawyersandcommentators，butnojurists;*handtheyfurnishexamplesratherthanlessonstotheworld。Thesameobservationappliestothemechanicalarts。InAmerica，theinventionsofEuropeareadoptedwithsagacity;theyareperfected，andadaptedwithadmirableskilltothewantsofthecountry。Manufacturesexist，butthescienceofmanufactureisnotcultivated;andtheyhavegoodworkmen，butveryfewinventors。Fultonwasobligedtoprofferhisservicestoforeignnationsforalongtimebeforehewasabletodevotethemtohisowncountry。
[Footnoteh:[ThiscannotbesaidwithtruthofthecountryofKent，Story，andWheaton。]]
TheobserverwhoisdesirousofforminganopiniononthestateofinstructionamongsttheAnglo—Americansmustconsiderthesameobjectfromtwodifferentpointsofview。Ifheonlysinglesoutthelearned，hewillbeastonishedtofindhowraretheyare;butifhecountstheignorant，theAmericanpeoplewillappeartobethemostenlightenedcommunityintheworld。Thewholepopulation，asIobservedinanotherplace，issituatedbetweenthesetwoextremes。InNewEngland，everycitizenreceivestheelementarynotionsofhumanknowledge;heismoreovertaughtthedoctrinesandtheevidencesofhisreligion，thehistoryofhiscountry，andtheleadingfeaturesofitsConstitution。IntheStatesofConnecticutandMassachusetts，itisextremelyraretofindamanimperfectlyacquaintedwithallthesethings，andapersonwhollyignorantofthemisasortofphenomenon。
WhenIcomparetheGreekandRomanrepublicswiththeseAmericanStates;themanuscriptlibrariesoftheformer，andtheirrudepopulation，withtheinnumerablejournalsandtheenlightenedpeopleofthelatter;whenIrememberalltheattemptswhicharemadetojudgethemodernrepublicsbytheassistanceofthoseofantiquity，andtoinferwhatwillhappeninourtimefromwhattookplacetwothousandyearsago，Iamtemptedtoburnmybooks，inordertoapplynonebutnovelideastosonovelaconditionofsociety。
WhatIhavesaidofNewEnglandmustnot，however，beappliedindistinctlytothewholeUnion;asweadvancetowardstheWestortheSouth，theinstructionofthepeoplediminishes。
IntheStateswhichareadjacenttotheGulfofMexico，acertainnumberofindividualsmaybefound，asinourowncountries，whoaredevoidoftherudimentsofinstruction。ButthereisnotasingledistrictintheUnitedStatessunkincompleteignorance;
andforaverysimplereason:thepeoplesofEuropestartedfromthedarknessofabarbarouscondition，toadvancetowardthelightofcivilization;theirprogresshasbeenunequal;someofthemhaveimprovedapace，whilstothershaveloiteredintheircourse，andsomehavestopped，andarestillsleepingupontheway。*i[Footnotei:[IntheNorthernStatesthenumberofpersonsdestituteofinstructionisinconsiderable，thelargestnumberbeing241，152intheStateofNewYork（accordingtoSpaulding’s"HandbookofAmericanStatistics"for1874）;butintheSouthnolessthan1，516，339whitesand2，671，396coloredpersonsarereturnedas"illiterate。"]]
SuchhasnotbeenthecaseintheUnitedStates。TheAnglo—
Americanssettledinastateofcivilization，uponthatterritorywhichtheirdescendantsoccupy;theyhadnottobegintolearn，anditwassufficientforthemnottoforget。NowthechildrenofthesesameAmericansarethepersonswho，yearbyyear，transporttheirdwellingsintothewilds;andwiththeirdwellingstheiracquiredinformationandtheiresteemforknowledge。Educationhastaughtthemtheutilityofinstruction，andhasenabledthemtotransmitthatinstructiontotheirposterity。IntheUnitedStatessocietyhasnoinfancy，butitisborninman’sestate。
TheAmericansneverusetheword"peasant，"becausetheyhavenoideaofthepeculiarclasswhichthattermdenotes;theignoranceofmoreremoteages，thesimplicityofrurallife，andtherusticityofthevillagerhavenotbeenpreservedamongstthem;andtheyarealikeunacquaintedwiththevirtues，thevices，thecoarsehabits，andthesimplegracesofanearlystageofcivilization。AttheextremebordersoftheConfederateStates，upontheconfinesofsocietyandofthewilderness，apopulationofboldadventurershavetakenuptheirabode，whopiercethesolitudesoftheAmericanwoods，andseekacountrythere，inordertoescapethatpovertywhichawaitedthemintheirnativeprovinces。Assoonasthepioneerarrivesuponthespotwhichistoservehimforaretreat，hefellsafewtreesandbuildsaloghouse。Nothingcanofferamoremiserableaspectthantheseisolateddwellings。Thetravellerwhoapproachesoneofthemtowardsnightfall，seestheflickerofthehearth—flamethroughthechinksinthewalls;andatnight，ifthewindrises，hehearstheroofofboughsshaketoandfrointhemidstofthegreatforesttrees。Whowouldnotsupposethatthispoorhutistheasylumofrudenessandignorance？Yetnosortofcompar...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：
第26章