《道德情操论·卷六·论德性的品质·二之二·论天性推荐给我们行善的社会次序》第6节
The love of our country seems, in ordinary cases, to involve in it two different principles; first, a certain respect and reverence for that constitution or form of government which is actually established; and secondly, an earnest desire to render the condition of our fellow-citizens as safe, respectable, and happy as we can. He is not a citizen who is not disposed to respect the laws and to obey the civil magistrate; and he is certainly not a good citizen who does not wish to promote, by every means in his power, the welfare of the whole society of his fellow citizens. In peaceable and quiet times, those two principles generally coincide and lead to the same conduct. The support of the established government seems evidently the best expedient for maintaining the safe, respectable, and happy situation of our fellow-citizens; when we see that this government actually maintains them in that situation. But in times of public discontent, faction, and disorder, those two different principles may draw different ways, and even a wise man may be disposed to think some alteration necessary in that constitution or form of government, which, in its actual condition, appears plainly unable to maintain the public tranquillity. In such cases, however, it often requires, perhaps, the highest effort of political wisdom to determine when a real patriot ought to support and endeavour to re-establish the authority of the old system, and when we ought to give way to the more daring, but often dangerous, spirit of innovation. Foreign war and civil faction are the two situations which afford the most splendid opportunities for the display of public spirit. The hero {206} who serves his country successfully in foreign war gratifies the wishes of the whole nation, and is, upon that account, the object of universal gratitude and admiration. In times of civil discord, the leaders of the contending parties, though they may be admired by one half of their fellow-citizens, are commonly execrated by the other. Their characters and the merit of their respective services appear commonly more doubtful. The glory which is acquired by foreign war is, upon this account, almost always more pure and more splendid than that which can be acquired in civil faction.
注释摘要
斯密在这一段里对爱国心做了一次精细的解剖。他并不把爱国当作一种单质的、浑然一体的情感，而是从中析出两个在逻辑上可以分离的成分。第一个成分是对已然确立的宪制或政体的一种敬重。第二个成分则是一种热切的愿望，想要使同胞的处境尽可能安全、体面与幸福。这两个成分在日常生活中通常浑然难分，可一旦我们仔细辨认，就会发现在它们背后运作的是两种不同的道德心理机制。 对既有体…