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Article "AUDI, VIDE, TACE." Page 1 of 2 Article "AUDI, VIDE, TACE." Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
"Audi, Vide, Tace."
" AUDI , VIDE , TACE . "
" TTEAR , see , and be silent , " —a , motto expressing , with 1 I a terseness and perspicuity characteristic of the Latin tongue , one of the leading principles of Freemasonry . It enjoins on us to see with our eyes and hear with our ears what is passing around us . At the same time we are to he discreetly silent . We are not to constitute ourselves
the retau purveyors of the news that reaches us , or the events which aro enacted in our presence . The role of the chatterbox , who precipitately dashes off to his nearest neighbour for the purpose of repeating to him some ordinary or extraordinary intelligence he has just received , is , to say
the least , an undignified one . The busy-body , who regards it as one of the chief duties of life to read , mark , learn , and publicly discuss the affairs of other people is decidedly an objectionable creature . He has not the sense to know , or , having the sense , he lacks the will to recognise , that the remarks which others make are to a certain extent their
own property , and consequently that they are entitled to the exercise of some voice in the appropriation or dissemination of that property . The parrot , who repeats what he hears or is taught , is , to use a phrase which might have been employed by the late Artemus Ward , an " amusing
cuss . The intelligence with which he is endowed is that of the parrot . He is incapable of reasoning in the sense in which man reasons , and hence it is that he exercises no caution in communicating what people may havo said in his hearing . With the animal man , and
especially with him who has been acccepted as a member of our fraternity , it should be otherwise . What are stated as facts or opinions are entitled to due respect and should be held sacred from the indignity of purposeless repetition . Wc have no sympathy with the
man who never has any news to communicate , and resolutely refuses on all occasions to offer an opinion , but we see there is ample room for amendment in the conversational relations which exist among men generally , and Masons in particular . Many a man has had the misfortune
to earn for himself a reputation for extreme reticence , amounting almost to taciturnity , simply because he has lived among these who habitually repeated what they had heard to every one with patience and indiscretion enough to listen to them . It is very excusable that one who has
earned such unpleasant experience should evince a want of confidence in those whom he meets more or less frequently . It may seem to be a matter of little moment to A when he repeats to B , on the authority of 0 , that D is in the habit of giving dinner parties , or keeps a good cellar of wine ; or
that B carries his prudence to an extreme , and seldom pays or receives visits in the sphere in which he moves and has his being . A piece of news is not unlike a piece of indiarubber . The latter is capable of being extended , the former of being amplified . There , however ,
we fear the similitude ends . The rubber , when the force which extends it is removed , has the faculty of resuming as nearly as possible its original dimensions , and its owner sustains no loss or . damage ; but news which has once been exaggerated , but seldom
resumes its original shape or substance . Let us take , for example , the news reported by C to A , of D who gives dinner parties , or has a cellar of choice wines ;
° r of E , who is of a frugal turn of mind , neither paying nor receiving visits among his acquaintance . 0 has told these things in the innocence of his heart . He has done so , perhaps , from a generous desire
"Audi, Vide, Tace."
to be in somo way of service to D or E by lauding the hospitality of the former or tho prudence of the latter . As for himself , it is not his custom to repeat what he is told , and consequently it never occurs to him that his casual , and of itself perfectly harmless remark will go the round
of society , and with such alterations in colour and character that when in due course it reaches him again he cannot see the slightest connection between the amplified and original statements . He believes he has spoken in confidence to A , but A takes a different view of his duties as a member of
society . He is essentially a newsmonger , and forthwith repeats to B what C has told him , with such additional colouring as in his wisdom he thinks will make it more attractive or—we are sorry to say it may be—more irritant , more objectionable . Thus what in the one case is simple
hospitality or necessary frugality becomes extravagance or meanness . B like A is a newsmonger , with similar characteristics , including a proneness to make everything appear in as unfavourable a light as possible . Thus when he imparts to F that ~ D is extravagant or E mean , the
extravagance which was merely thoughtless becomes wanton , while the meanness which was only occasional or caused by limited circumstances becomes habitual or miserly . F still farther embellishes the statement when he repeats it to G-, and G and all the remaining letters of the alphabet
follow suit , till at length C , to his utter amazement , is told in confidence that D is a disgraceful profligate in his expenditure or a very monster of a wine-bibber ; or that E , whose honourable thrift has always been his admiration , denies himself and household the commonest
necessaries and is a misanthrope of the lowest and most discreditable type . Is it not a matter of daily occurrence aud within the knowlege of every ono among our readers that a man ' s reputation is made or marred by this "
damnable iteration , " Avith additions , of statements usually simple and harmless and made in good faith and without the remotest idea they would be retailed from mouth to mouth in the manner we have described ? It will be urged by some—and not without some show of reason we admit—¦
that C , who first made the statement , is the most to blame . He ought to have known the world well enough to be aware that what he said was sure to be repeated . This , we confess , is not the view we take . If we are never to speak of a third person because some of those present may
repeat it to others with the customary and invariably uncomplimentary embellishments , there is an end of all social intercourse among men . A feeling of universal distrust would follow , and the sense of sympathy with our fellow-beings , which Nature has implanted in our minds ,
would be superseded by a sense of antipathy . We should give up trying to do a friend a good turn , for we should know beforehand that if we spoke in praise of his good qualities they would be so magnified , that when their true nature and extent were practically tested , the result , falling
short of general expectation , would be detrimental . There would ever be before our eyes the fear that , if we spoke in terms of admiration of his conduct on certain occasions , or in certain particulars , our motive in doing so might be misappreciated , or our statement misinterpreted or
misrepresented . In short , as we have said already , there would be an end of all that sympathetic intercourse which prevails largely , if not generally , in society . From the very outset of his career it is enjoined on every Mason to be cautious ; at
every step he takes that injunction is impressed upon him more and more earnestly , and it goes without saying that in nothing is it so necessary that due caution should be exercised as in the repetition of statements made in our
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
"Audi, Vide, Tace."
" AUDI , VIDE , TACE . "
" TTEAR , see , and be silent , " —a , motto expressing , with 1 I a terseness and perspicuity characteristic of the Latin tongue , one of the leading principles of Freemasonry . It enjoins on us to see with our eyes and hear with our ears what is passing around us . At the same time we are to he discreetly silent . We are not to constitute ourselves
the retau purveyors of the news that reaches us , or the events which aro enacted in our presence . The role of the chatterbox , who precipitately dashes off to his nearest neighbour for the purpose of repeating to him some ordinary or extraordinary intelligence he has just received , is , to say
the least , an undignified one . The busy-body , who regards it as one of the chief duties of life to read , mark , learn , and publicly discuss the affairs of other people is decidedly an objectionable creature . He has not the sense to know , or , having the sense , he lacks the will to recognise , that the remarks which others make are to a certain extent their
own property , and consequently that they are entitled to the exercise of some voice in the appropriation or dissemination of that property . The parrot , who repeats what he hears or is taught , is , to use a phrase which might have been employed by the late Artemus Ward , an " amusing
cuss . The intelligence with which he is endowed is that of the parrot . He is incapable of reasoning in the sense in which man reasons , and hence it is that he exercises no caution in communicating what people may havo said in his hearing . With the animal man , and
especially with him who has been acccepted as a member of our fraternity , it should be otherwise . What are stated as facts or opinions are entitled to due respect and should be held sacred from the indignity of purposeless repetition . Wc have no sympathy with the
man who never has any news to communicate , and resolutely refuses on all occasions to offer an opinion , but we see there is ample room for amendment in the conversational relations which exist among men generally , and Masons in particular . Many a man has had the misfortune
to earn for himself a reputation for extreme reticence , amounting almost to taciturnity , simply because he has lived among these who habitually repeated what they had heard to every one with patience and indiscretion enough to listen to them . It is very excusable that one who has
earned such unpleasant experience should evince a want of confidence in those whom he meets more or less frequently . It may seem to be a matter of little moment to A when he repeats to B , on the authority of 0 , that D is in the habit of giving dinner parties , or keeps a good cellar of wine ; or
that B carries his prudence to an extreme , and seldom pays or receives visits in the sphere in which he moves and has his being . A piece of news is not unlike a piece of indiarubber . The latter is capable of being extended , the former of being amplified . There , however ,
we fear the similitude ends . The rubber , when the force which extends it is removed , has the faculty of resuming as nearly as possible its original dimensions , and its owner sustains no loss or . damage ; but news which has once been exaggerated , but seldom
resumes its original shape or substance . Let us take , for example , the news reported by C to A , of D who gives dinner parties , or has a cellar of choice wines ;
° r of E , who is of a frugal turn of mind , neither paying nor receiving visits among his acquaintance . 0 has told these things in the innocence of his heart . He has done so , perhaps , from a generous desire
"Audi, Vide, Tace."
to be in somo way of service to D or E by lauding the hospitality of the former or tho prudence of the latter . As for himself , it is not his custom to repeat what he is told , and consequently it never occurs to him that his casual , and of itself perfectly harmless remark will go the round
of society , and with such alterations in colour and character that when in due course it reaches him again he cannot see the slightest connection between the amplified and original statements . He believes he has spoken in confidence to A , but A takes a different view of his duties as a member of
society . He is essentially a newsmonger , and forthwith repeats to B what C has told him , with such additional colouring as in his wisdom he thinks will make it more attractive or—we are sorry to say it may be—more irritant , more objectionable . Thus what in the one case is simple
hospitality or necessary frugality becomes extravagance or meanness . B like A is a newsmonger , with similar characteristics , including a proneness to make everything appear in as unfavourable a light as possible . Thus when he imparts to F that ~ D is extravagant or E mean , the
extravagance which was merely thoughtless becomes wanton , while the meanness which was only occasional or caused by limited circumstances becomes habitual or miserly . F still farther embellishes the statement when he repeats it to G-, and G and all the remaining letters of the alphabet
follow suit , till at length C , to his utter amazement , is told in confidence that D is a disgraceful profligate in his expenditure or a very monster of a wine-bibber ; or that E , whose honourable thrift has always been his admiration , denies himself and household the commonest
necessaries and is a misanthrope of the lowest and most discreditable type . Is it not a matter of daily occurrence aud within the knowlege of every ono among our readers that a man ' s reputation is made or marred by this "
damnable iteration , " Avith additions , of statements usually simple and harmless and made in good faith and without the remotest idea they would be retailed from mouth to mouth in the manner we have described ? It will be urged by some—and not without some show of reason we admit—¦
that C , who first made the statement , is the most to blame . He ought to have known the world well enough to be aware that what he said was sure to be repeated . This , we confess , is not the view we take . If we are never to speak of a third person because some of those present may
repeat it to others with the customary and invariably uncomplimentary embellishments , there is an end of all social intercourse among men . A feeling of universal distrust would follow , and the sense of sympathy with our fellow-beings , which Nature has implanted in our minds ,
would be superseded by a sense of antipathy . We should give up trying to do a friend a good turn , for we should know beforehand that if we spoke in praise of his good qualities they would be so magnified , that when their true nature and extent were practically tested , the result , falling
short of general expectation , would be detrimental . There would ever be before our eyes the fear that , if we spoke in terms of admiration of his conduct on certain occasions , or in certain particulars , our motive in doing so might be misappreciated , or our statement misinterpreted or
misrepresented . In short , as we have said already , there would be an end of all that sympathetic intercourse which prevails largely , if not generally , in society . From the very outset of his career it is enjoined on every Mason to be cautious ; at
every step he takes that injunction is impressed upon him more and more earnestly , and it goes without saying that in nothing is it so necessary that due caution should be exercised as in the repetition of statements made in our