Nor can stable and extended government be organized without it， for such government requires a constitution of some sort， a definite and permanent body of law and custom， embracing the wisdom of the past regarding the maintenance of social order.
It is quite the same with religious systems.The historical religions are based upon Scriptures， the essential part of which is the recorded teaching of the founder and his immediate disciples， and without such a record Christianity， Buddhism or Mohammedanism could never have been more than a small and transient sect.There may well have been men of religious genius among our illiterate forefathers， but it was impossible that they should found enduring systems.
The whole structure and progress of modern life evidently rests upon the preservation， in writing， of the achievements of the antique mind， upon the records， especially， of Judea， Greece and Rome.To inquire what we should have been without these would be like asking what we should have been if our parents had not existed.Writing made history possible， and the man of history with his complex institutions.It enabled a rapid and secure enlargement of that human nature which had previously been confined within small and unstable groups.
If writing， by giving thought permanence， brought in the earlier civilization， printing， by giving it diffusion opened the doors of the modern world.
Before its advent access to the records of the race was limited to a learned class， who thus held a kind of monopoly of the traditions upon which the social system rested.Throughout the earlier Middle Ages， for example， the clergy， or that small portion of the clergy who were educated， occupied this position in Europe， and their system was the one animate and wide-reaching mental organization of the period.For many centuries it was rare for a layman， of whatever rank， to know how to sign his name.
Through the Latin language， written and spoken， which would apparently have perished had it not been for the Church， the larger continuity and cooperation of the human mind was maintained.Those who could read it had a common literature and a vague sense of unity and brotherhood.Roman ideas were preserved， however imperfectly， and an ideal Rome lived in the Papacy and the Empire.Education， naturally， was controlled by the clergy， who were also intrusted with political correspondence and the framing of laws.
As is well known they somewhat recast the traditions in their own interest， and were aided by their control of the commu -nicating medium in becoming the dominant power in Europe.
Printing means democracy， because it brings knowledge within the reach of the common people； and knowledge， in the long run， is sure to make good its claim to power.It brings to the individual whatever part in the heritage of ideas he is fit to receive.The world of thought， and eventually the world of action， comes gradually under the rule of a true aristocracy of intelligence and character， in place of an artificial one created by exclusive opportunity.
Everywhere the spread of printing was followed by a general awakening due to the unsettling suggestions which it scattered abroad.Political and religious agitation， by no means unknown before， was immensely stimulated， and has continued unabated to the present time."The whole of this movement，"says Mr.H.C.Lea， speaking of the liberal agitations of the early sixteenth century， "had been rendered possible by the invention of printing， which facilitated so enormously the diffusion of intelligence， which enabled public opinion to form and express itself， and which， by bringing into communication minds of similar ways of thinking， afforded opportunity for combined action." "When， therefore， on October 31， 1517， Luther's fateful theses were hung on the church door at Wittenberg， they were， as he tells us， known in a fortnight throughout Germany； and in a month they had reached Rome and were being read in every school and convent in Europe梐 result manifestly impossible without the aid of the printing press."
The printed page is also the door by which the in dividual， in our own time， enters the larger rooms of life A good book， "the precious life blood of a master spirit stored upon purpose to a life beyond life，" is almost always the channel through which uncommon minds get incite ment and aid to lift themselves into the higher thought that other uncommon minds have created." In study we hold converse with the wise， in action usually with the foolish " While the mass of mankind about us is ever common place， there is always， in our day， a more select society not far away for one who craves it， and a man like Abraham Lincoln， whose birth would have meant hopeless serfdom a few centuries ago， may get from half a dozen books aspirations which lead him out to authority and beneficence.