In the United States, on the seventh day of every week, the trading and working life of the nation seems suspended; all noises cease; a deep tranquillity1, say rather the solemn calm of meditation2, succeeds the turmoil3 of the week, and the soul resumes possession and contemplation of itself. Upon this day the marts of traffic are deserted4; every member of the community, accompanied by his children, goes to church, where he listens to strange language which would seem unsuited to his ear. He is told of the countless5 evils caused by pride and covetousness6: he is reminded of the necessity of checking his desires, of the finer pleasures which belong to virtue7 alone, and of the true happiness which attends it. On his return home, he does not turn to the ledgers8 of his calling, but he opens the book of Holy Scripture9; there he meets with sublime10 or affecting descriptions of the greatness and goodness of the Creator, of the infinite magnificence of the handiwork of God, of the lofty destinies of man, of his duties, and of his immortal11 privileges. Thus it is that the American at times steals an hour from himself; and laying aside for a while the petty passions which agitate12 his life, and the ephemeral interests which engross13 it, he strays at once into an ideal world, where all is great, eternal, and pure.
I have endeavored to point out in another part of this work the causes to which the maintenance of the political institutions of the Americans is attributable; and religion appeared to be one of the most prominent amongst them. I am now treating of the Americans in an individual capacity, and I again observe that religion is not less useful to each citizen than to the whole State. The Americans show, by their practice, that they feel the high necessity of imparting morality to democratic communities by means of religion. What they think of themselves in this respect is a truth of which every democratic nation ought to be thoroughly14 persuaded.
I do not doubt that the social and political constitution of a people predisposes them to adopt a certain belief and certain tastes, which afterwards flourish without difficulty amongst them; whilst the same causes may divert a people from certain opinions and propensities15, without any voluntary effort, and, as it were, without any distinct consciousness, on their part. The whole art of the legislator is correctly to discern beforehand these natural inclinations16 of communities of men, in order to know whether they should be assisted, or whether it may not be necessary to check them. For the duties incumbent17 on the legislator differ at different times; the goal towards which the human race ought ever to be tending is alone stationary18; the means of reaching it are perpetually to be varied19.
If I had been born in an aristocratic age, in the midst of a nation where the hereditary20 wealth of some, and the irremediable penury21 of others, should equally divert men from the idea of bettering their condition, and hold the soul as it were in a state of torpor22 fixed23 on the contemplation of another world, I should then wish that it were possible for me to rouse that people to a sense of their wants; I should seek to discover more rapid and more easy means for satisfying the fresh desires which I might have awakened24; and, directing the most strenuous25 efforts of the human mind to physical pursuits, I should endeavor to stimulate26 it to promote the well-being27 of man. If it happened that some men were immoderately incited28 to the pursuit of riches, and displayed an excessive liking29 for physical gratifications, I should not be alarmed; these peculiar30 symptoms would soon be absorbed in the general aspect of the people.
The attention of the legislators of democracies is called to other cares. Give democratic nations education and freedom, and leave them alone. They will soon learn to draw from this world all the benefits which it can afford; they will improve each of the useful arts, and will day by day render life more comfortable, more convenient, and more easy. Their social condition naturally urges them in this direction; I do not fear that they will slacken their course.
But whilst man takes delight in this honest and lawful31 pursuit of his wellbeing, it is to be apprehended32 that he may in the end lose the use of his sublimest33 faculties34; and that whilst he is busied in improving all around him, he may at length degrade himself. Here, and here only, does the peril35 lie. It should therefore be the unceasing object of the legislators of democracies, and of all the virtuous36 and enlightened men who live there, to raise the souls of their fellow-citizens, and keep them lifted up towards heaven. It is necessary that all who feel an interest in the future destinies of democratic society should unite, and that all should make joint37 and continual efforts to diffuse38 the love of the infinite, a sense of greatness, and a love of pleasures not of earth. If amongst the opinions of a democratic people any of those pernicious theories exist which tend to inculcate that all perishes with the body, let men by whom such theories are professed39 be marked as the natural foes40 of such a people.
The materialists are offensive to me in many respects; their doctrines41 I hold to be pernicious, and I am disgusted at their arrogance43. If their system could be of any utility to man, it would seem to be by giving him a modest opinion of himself. But these reasoners show that it is not so; and when they think they have said enough to establish that they are brutes44, they show themselves as proud as if they had demonstrated that they are gods. Materialism45 is, amongst all nations, a dangerous disease of the human mind; but it is more especially to be dreaded46 amongst a democratic people, because it readily amalgamates47 with that vice48 which is most familiar to the heart under such circumstances. Democracy encourages a taste for physical gratification: this taste, if it become excessive, soon disposes men to believe that all is matter only; and materialism, in turn, hurries them back with mad impatience49 to these same delights: such is the fatal circle within which democratic nations are driven round. It were well that they should see the danger and hold back.
Most religions are only general, simple, and practical means of teaching men the doctrine42 of the immortality50 of the soul. That is the greatest benefit which a democratic people derives51, from its belief, and hence belief is more necessary to such a people than to all others. When therefore any religion has struck its roots deep into a democracy, beware lest you disturb them; but rather watch it carefully, as the most precious bequest52 of aristocratic ages. Seek not to supersede53 the old religious opinions of men by new ones; lest in the passage from one faith to another, the soul being left for a while stripped of all belief, the love of physical gratifications should grow upon it and fill it wholly.
The doctrine of metempsychosis is assuredly not more rational than that of materialism; nevertheless if it were absolutely necessary that a democracy should choose one of the two, I should not hesitate to decide that the community would run less risk of being brutalized by believing that the soul of man will pass into the carcass of a hog54, than by believing that the soul of man is nothing at all. The belief in a supersensual and immortal principle, united for a time to matter, is so indispensable to man's greatness, that its effects are striking even when it is not united to the doctrine of future reward and punishment; and when it holds no more than that after death the divine principle contained in man is absorbed in the Deity55, or transferred to animate56 the frame of some other creature. Men holding so imperfect a belief will still consider the body as the secondary and inferior portion of their nature, and they will despise it even whilst they yield to its influence; whereas they have a natural esteem57 and secret admiration58 for the immaterial part of man, even though they sometimes refuse to submit to its dominion59. That is enough to give a lofty cast to their opinions and their tastes, and to bid them tend with no interested motive60, and as it were by impulse, to pure feelings and elevated thoughts.
It is not certain that Socrates and his followers61 had very fixed opinions as to what would befall man hereafter; but the sole point of belief on which they were determined—that the soul has nothing in common with the body, and survives it—was enough to give the Platonic62 philosophy that sublime aspiration63 by which it is distinguished64. It is clear from the works of Plato, that many philosophical65 writers, his predecessors66 or contemporaries, professed materialism. These writers have not reached us, or have reached us in mere67 fragments. The same thing has happened in almost all ages; the greater part of the most famous minds in literature adhere to the doctrines of a supersensual philosophy. The instinct and the taste of the human race maintain those doctrines; they save them oftentimes in spite of men themselves, and raise the names of their defenders68 above the tide of time. It must not then be supposed that at any period or under any political condition, the passion for physical gratifications, and the opinions which are superinduced by that passion, can ever content a whole people. The heart of man is of a larger mould: it can at once comprise a taste for the possessions of earth and the love of those of heaven: at times it may seem to cling devotedly69 to the one, but it will never be long without thinking of the other.
If it be easy to see that it is more particularly important in democratic ages that spiritual opinions should prevail, it is not easy to say by what means those who govern democratic nations may make them predominate. I am no believer in the prosperity, any more than in the durability70, of official philosophies; and as to state religions, I have always held, that if they be sometimes of momentary71 service to the interests of political power, they always, sooner or later, become fatal to the Church. Nor do I think with those who assert, that to raise religion in the eyes of the people, and to make them do honor to her spiritual doctrines, it is desirable indirectly72 to give her ministers a political influence which the laws deny them. I am so much alive to the almost inevitable73 dangers which beset74 religious belief whenever the clergy75 take part in public affairs, and I am so convinced that Christianity must be maintained at any cost in the bosom76 of modern democracies, that I had rather shut up the priesthood within the sanctuary77 than allow them to step beyond it.
What means then remain in the hands of constituted authorities to bring men back to spiritual opinions, or to hold them fast to the religion by which those opinions are suggested? My answer will do me harm in the eyes of politicians. I believe that the sole effectual means which governments can employ in order to have the doctrine of the immortality of the soul duly respected, is ever to act as if they believed in it themselves; and I think that it is only by scrupulous78 conformity79 to religious morality in great affairs that they can hope to teach the community at large to know, to love, and to observe it in the lesser80 concerns of life.
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1
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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covetousness
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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ledgers
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| n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 ) | |
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scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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engross
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| v.使全神贯注 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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penury
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| n.贫穷，拮据 | |
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torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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sublimest
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| 伟大的( sublime的最高级 )； 令人赞叹的； 极端的； 不顾后果的 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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diffuse
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| v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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45
materialism
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| n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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amalgamates
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| n.（使）（金属）汞齐化( amalgamate的名词复数 )；（使）合并；联合；结合v.（使）（金属）汞齐化( amalgamate的第三人称单数 )；（使）合并；联合；结合 | |
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48
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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50
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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51
derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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52
bequest
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| n.遗赠；遗产，遗物 | |
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supersede
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| v.替代；充任 | |
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hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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devotedly
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| 专心地； 恩爱地； 忠实地； 一心一意地 | |
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durability
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| n.经久性，耐用性 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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