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Letter Ii. From A Gentleman At Philadelphia To His Friend In Glascow, On The Subject Of Free Masonry.
and venomed shafts , they have united against us , have never yet been powerful enough to erase , or so much as to shake the mighty fortress rendered impregnable , bj' the concord , order , regularity , and harmony of the several parts of members which tjompose the whole of the formidable building . I am obliged to conclude this letter sooner than I could wish . —I do not intend however to conclude the subject-, but shall proceed in my next to consider some other concording circumstances between Free and Operative Masonry . -
Of Courage, Fortitude, And Fear.
OF COURAGE , FORTITUDE , and FEAR .
FORTITUDE is a virtue or quality of the mind , generally considered the same with courage ; though in a more accurate sense they seem to be distinguishable . Courage may be a virtue , or a vice , according to circumstances ; Fortitude is alwaysa . virtue . A contempt or neglect of danger , without regard to consequences , maj ) - be called courage ; and this some brutes have as well as men :
in them it is the effect of natural instinct chiefly ; in man it depends partly on habit , partly on strength of nerves , and partly on want of consideration . But fortitude is the virtue of a rational and considerate mind , and is founded in a sense of honour , and a regard to duty . There may be courage in fighting a duel , though that folly is more frequently the effect of cowardice : there may be courage in
an act of piracy or robbery ; but there can be no fortitude in perpetrating a crime , fortitude implies a love of equity and of public good ; for , as Plato and Cicero observe , courage exerted for a selfish purpose , or without a regard to justice , ought to be called audacity
rather than fortitude . Fortitude takes different names , according as it acts in opposition to different sorts of evil ; but some of those names are applied with considerable latitude . With respect to danger in general , fortitude may be termed intrepidity ; with respect to the- dangers of war , valour ; with respect to pain of body or distress of mind , patience ; with respect to labour activity ; with respect to injury , forbearance ;
with respect to our condition in general , magnanimity . Fortitude is very becoming in both sexes ; but courage is not so suitable to the female character : for in women , on ordinaryoccasions of danger , a certain degree of timidity is not unseemly , because it betokens gentleness of disposition . Yet from those of very high rank , from a queen or an empress , courage in
emergencies of great public danger would be expected , and the want of it blamed ; we should overlook the sex , and consider the duties of the station . In general , however , masculine boldness in a woman is
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Letter Ii. From A Gentleman At Philadelphia To His Friend In Glascow, On The Subject Of Free Masonry.
and venomed shafts , they have united against us , have never yet been powerful enough to erase , or so much as to shake the mighty fortress rendered impregnable , bj' the concord , order , regularity , and harmony of the several parts of members which tjompose the whole of the formidable building . I am obliged to conclude this letter sooner than I could wish . —I do not intend however to conclude the subject-, but shall proceed in my next to consider some other concording circumstances between Free and Operative Masonry . -
Of Courage, Fortitude, And Fear.
OF COURAGE , FORTITUDE , and FEAR .
FORTITUDE is a virtue or quality of the mind , generally considered the same with courage ; though in a more accurate sense they seem to be distinguishable . Courage may be a virtue , or a vice , according to circumstances ; Fortitude is alwaysa . virtue . A contempt or neglect of danger , without regard to consequences , maj ) - be called courage ; and this some brutes have as well as men :
in them it is the effect of natural instinct chiefly ; in man it depends partly on habit , partly on strength of nerves , and partly on want of consideration . But fortitude is the virtue of a rational and considerate mind , and is founded in a sense of honour , and a regard to duty . There may be courage in fighting a duel , though that folly is more frequently the effect of cowardice : there may be courage in
an act of piracy or robbery ; but there can be no fortitude in perpetrating a crime , fortitude implies a love of equity and of public good ; for , as Plato and Cicero observe , courage exerted for a selfish purpose , or without a regard to justice , ought to be called audacity
rather than fortitude . Fortitude takes different names , according as it acts in opposition to different sorts of evil ; but some of those names are applied with considerable latitude . With respect to danger in general , fortitude may be termed intrepidity ; with respect to the- dangers of war , valour ; with respect to pain of body or distress of mind , patience ; with respect to labour activity ; with respect to injury , forbearance ;
with respect to our condition in general , magnanimity . Fortitude is very becoming in both sexes ; but courage is not so suitable to the female character : for in women , on ordinaryoccasions of danger , a certain degree of timidity is not unseemly , because it betokens gentleness of disposition . Yet from those of very high rank , from a queen or an empress , courage in
emergencies of great public danger would be expected , and the want of it blamed ; we should overlook the sex , and consider the duties of the station . In general , however , masculine boldness in a woman is