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。