I am, therefore, inclined to believe that the gross vices
which I have always seem allied with simplicity of manners, are the
concomitants of ignorance.
What, for example, has piety, under the heathen or Christian system,
been, but a blind faith in things contrary to the principles of
reason? And could poor reason make considerable advances when it
was reckoned the highest degree of virtue to do violence to its
dictates? Lutherans, preaching reformation, have built a reputation
for sanctity on the same foundation as the Catholics; yet I do not
perceive that a regular attendance on public worship, and their
other observances, make them a whit more true in their affections,
or honest in their private transactions. It seems, indeed, quite as
easy to prevaricate with religious injunctions as human laws, when
the exercise of their reason does not lead people to acquire
principles for themselves to be the criterion of all those they
receive from others.
If travelling, as the completion of a liberal education, were to be
adopted on rational grounds, the northern states ought to be visited
before the more polished parts of Europe, to serve as the elements
even of the knowledge of manners, only to be acquired by tracing the
various shades in different countries. But, when visiting distant
climes, a momentary social sympathy should not be allowed to
influence the conclusions of the understanding, for hospitality too
frequently leads travellers, especially those who travel in search
of pleasure, to make a false estimate of the virtues of a nation,
which, I am now convinced, bear an exact proportion to their
scientific improvements.
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