Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
do among so many honest men ? Begone , out of their company !' And thus was candour in a criminal humanely and justly rewarded . " We may , therefore , reasonably infer , that truth with modesty will maintain its supremacy , whilst the tortuous discrepancies of simulation will ultimately betray its own innate baseness , and seal its operations with disgrace and exposure . He that ' s deceitful , may truly be abhorr'd , Be he emperor , king , commoner , or lord . —AUTHOR .
No . XX . —THE INDICES OF A SMALL MIND . ' * Curse leves loquuntur , ingentes tacent . " — -SENECA . The shallow brook a noisy murmur makes ; But a deep stream the stillness never wakes . —AUTHOR . Trivial matters , from the little depth of comprehension they require , generally occupy trivial people . The organization of their faculties seldom admits of close reasoning , and superficial acquirementstherefore
, , form tbe very apex of their ambition . Their thoughts are bewildered if directed to consider weighty things , or complicated arguments on abstract and subtile points , ancl they , therefore , naturally neglect them for pursuits of a lighter and more volatile character . But an elevated genius exercising its powers in minor employments appears , to use the simile of Longinus , " like the Sun in his evening declination ; he emits his splendour , but retains his magnitude , and
pleases more though he dazzles less . " But this cannot be adduced in favour of minor individuals in the scale of talent . They ai * e born imbecile , and such must remain , till they return to their mother-earth , despite every effort to cultivate and improve their species . For a frivolous and effeminate mind , to adopt the remark of a very elegant writer , uniformly engages itself in entomological occupations;—knick-knacks , butterflies , shells , insects , are objects of their most serious
researches , and they are constitutionally unable to raise their intellects to more lofty contemplations . It is the duty , therefore , of the wise man to confine his attention and study to important concerns first , and permit trifling considerations and labours to follow as sources of relaxation . The grovelling and puerile mind can never relinquish its aims for higher behests ; but , vice versa , the exalted and cultivated may always descend to busy itself with the trifles of the passing hour . Mens cernit , mens audit , reliquasurda coecaq ; sunt , rationis indigna . Mens est oeulus animal
Imprudence Or Inadvertence Of David?
IMPRUDENCE OR INADVERTENCE OF DAVID ?
MR . EDITOR , SIR , —Having been referred to on a point in holy writ- " , and requested to give my opinion on the subject through the medium o ' your excellent periodical , I shall feel obliged by your inserting th following . The question put was , whether King David , in numbering the people , had acted imprudently or inadvertently : My reply is , That he acted imprudently , and which appears evident from the annexed explication of the subject , as extracted from the sacred volume .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
do among so many honest men ? Begone , out of their company !' And thus was candour in a criminal humanely and justly rewarded . " We may , therefore , reasonably infer , that truth with modesty will maintain its supremacy , whilst the tortuous discrepancies of simulation will ultimately betray its own innate baseness , and seal its operations with disgrace and exposure . He that ' s deceitful , may truly be abhorr'd , Be he emperor , king , commoner , or lord . —AUTHOR .
No . XX . —THE INDICES OF A SMALL MIND . ' * Curse leves loquuntur , ingentes tacent . " — -SENECA . The shallow brook a noisy murmur makes ; But a deep stream the stillness never wakes . —AUTHOR . Trivial matters , from the little depth of comprehension they require , generally occupy trivial people . The organization of their faculties seldom admits of close reasoning , and superficial acquirementstherefore
, , form tbe very apex of their ambition . Their thoughts are bewildered if directed to consider weighty things , or complicated arguments on abstract and subtile points , ancl they , therefore , naturally neglect them for pursuits of a lighter and more volatile character . But an elevated genius exercising its powers in minor employments appears , to use the simile of Longinus , " like the Sun in his evening declination ; he emits his splendour , but retains his magnitude , and
pleases more though he dazzles less . " But this cannot be adduced in favour of minor individuals in the scale of talent . They ai * e born imbecile , and such must remain , till they return to their mother-earth , despite every effort to cultivate and improve their species . For a frivolous and effeminate mind , to adopt the remark of a very elegant writer , uniformly engages itself in entomological occupations;—knick-knacks , butterflies , shells , insects , are objects of their most serious
researches , and they are constitutionally unable to raise their intellects to more lofty contemplations . It is the duty , therefore , of the wise man to confine his attention and study to important concerns first , and permit trifling considerations and labours to follow as sources of relaxation . The grovelling and puerile mind can never relinquish its aims for higher behests ; but , vice versa , the exalted and cultivated may always descend to busy itself with the trifles of the passing hour . Mens cernit , mens audit , reliquasurda coecaq ; sunt , rationis indigna . Mens est oeulus animal
Imprudence Or Inadvertence Of David?
IMPRUDENCE OR INADVERTENCE OF DAVID ?
MR . EDITOR , SIR , —Having been referred to on a point in holy writ- " , and requested to give my opinion on the subject through the medium o ' your excellent periodical , I shall feel obliged by your inserting th following . The question put was , whether King David , in numbering the people , had acted imprudently or inadvertently : My reply is , That he acted imprudently , and which appears evident from the annexed explication of the subject , as extracted from the sacred volume .