Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
Cicero observes , " Cupiditates sunt insatiabiles , qure non modo singulos homines , sed universas familias evertunt . " Illustrious then is that mind which can subdue the violence of passion , and restrain the impulse of desire . Such self-control it is which constitutes , in reality , one man ' s superiority over another .
No . L . —ANIMAL COURAGE THE STANDARD OF A HERO AMONG THE ANCIENTS . Hie stevus tendebat Achilles . —VIRGIL . BRAVERY of heart and superior vigor of muscle were uniformly , among the ancients , passports to high character and popular esteem . Achilles himself was possessed of those virtuesto use the word in its
, Latin signification , of valour in an eminent degree . The account which the poet Homer has transmitted down to posterity of that celebrated personage , abounds in heroic feats and deeds of arms . He has described him as adorned with all the splendor of poetic fiction , and endued ivith the strength and courage of one of celestial origin . His description is only in accordance with the ideas of those times , when their men were gods , and their gods men . The first were exalted to the rank of deitiesand
, the latter degraded to the frailness of mortals . Such was the mental ignorance of those ages of brute force , when men became celebrated for violence and rapine , and mythology consecrated crimes . AVhen men were estimated according to the holocausts of human beings they had sacrificed in war , or the fortitude they maintained in moments of extreme peril—virtues emulated by the American savage;—and altars were erected to the heroes of carnage and brutality .
That history contains a multitude of examples of true heroism , where patriotism , liberty , civilization , and the rights of citizens , drew the sword of justice in an appeal to arms , no one can pretend to deny ; nor that such exploits of valour are worthy of modern imitation , where the cause is just—tyranny to be checked , and perfidy punished . But the mere display of fighting for fighting sake , is no less brutal and debasing to the human character , though it be arrayed in all the
glowing imagery of the poet , than an exhibition of pugilism at the present day . In private wrongs , magnanimity is better displayed in forgiving than resenting them : and in public and national grievances , wise councils are oftener more successful in obtaining just decisions than muskets and cannon . The option , of course , frequently depends on the nature of the questio veseata , which the law of nations can alone determine , Achilles was , a mighty mau of valour , and an excellent theme for an
epic ; but he shrinks into nothing when compared with the giants and heroes of science and literature , who have since , and at present , by their works , brought the world out of barbarism and error into a marvellous light of humanity and civilization .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
Cicero observes , " Cupiditates sunt insatiabiles , qure non modo singulos homines , sed universas familias evertunt . " Illustrious then is that mind which can subdue the violence of passion , and restrain the impulse of desire . Such self-control it is which constitutes , in reality , one man ' s superiority over another .
No . L . —ANIMAL COURAGE THE STANDARD OF A HERO AMONG THE ANCIENTS . Hie stevus tendebat Achilles . —VIRGIL . BRAVERY of heart and superior vigor of muscle were uniformly , among the ancients , passports to high character and popular esteem . Achilles himself was possessed of those virtuesto use the word in its
, Latin signification , of valour in an eminent degree . The account which the poet Homer has transmitted down to posterity of that celebrated personage , abounds in heroic feats and deeds of arms . He has described him as adorned with all the splendor of poetic fiction , and endued ivith the strength and courage of one of celestial origin . His description is only in accordance with the ideas of those times , when their men were gods , and their gods men . The first were exalted to the rank of deitiesand
, the latter degraded to the frailness of mortals . Such was the mental ignorance of those ages of brute force , when men became celebrated for violence and rapine , and mythology consecrated crimes . AVhen men were estimated according to the holocausts of human beings they had sacrificed in war , or the fortitude they maintained in moments of extreme peril—virtues emulated by the American savage;—and altars were erected to the heroes of carnage and brutality .
That history contains a multitude of examples of true heroism , where patriotism , liberty , civilization , and the rights of citizens , drew the sword of justice in an appeal to arms , no one can pretend to deny ; nor that such exploits of valour are worthy of modern imitation , where the cause is just—tyranny to be checked , and perfidy punished . But the mere display of fighting for fighting sake , is no less brutal and debasing to the human character , though it be arrayed in all the
glowing imagery of the poet , than an exhibition of pugilism at the present day . In private wrongs , magnanimity is better displayed in forgiving than resenting them : and in public and national grievances , wise councils are oftener more successful in obtaining just decisions than muskets and cannon . The option , of course , frequently depends on the nature of the questio veseata , which the law of nations can alone determine , Achilles was , a mighty mau of valour , and an excellent theme for an
epic ; but he shrinks into nothing when compared with the giants and heroes of science and literature , who have since , and at present , by their works , brought the world out of barbarism and error into a marvellous light of humanity and civilization .