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  • Aug. 1, 1795
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Aug. 1, 1795: Page 54

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    Article ON MODESTY, AS A MASCULINE VIRTUE. ← Page 2 of 2
Page 54

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

On Modesty, As A Masculine Virtue.

kind ought to be respected ) is certainly somewhat hard , and , for the honour of the sex , one could not but wish it were otherwise . Is it not absurd when a virtuous young man ( of which number I believe there are not too many in this metropolis ) is praised for one of his good qualities—is it not absurd I say for any man , infinitely more so for any woman , to add , " that he is too modest , and that spoils all ? " And is not this an encouragement to vice and debauchery

from that very quarter whence they ought to receive their greatest check , the tribunal of the fair ? . I can account for this absurdity by one suggestion , which , if not in the mouth , is , I fear , in the heart of almost every young woman , viz . " That a modest man has not a sufficient regard for the sex : " than which there never was a more false . maxim advancedfor the most

, modest men are generally the greatest adorers of the fair sex , their regard for whom is indeed the very occasion of that' timidity which so often exposes them to ridicule . Should any woman be apprehensive of any farther inconveniencies from such a disposition , what an opinion might we not justly entertain of her ! Yet such is the force of customfor I should be sorry to attribute it to any thing elsethat the

, , most abandoned men of the town are often preferred , even by the most modest women ; ancl in excuse we are told , " that reformed rake . ? make the best husbands . " If this maxim were true , it might perhaps be hard to judge when a rake was reformed ; but I fear the contrary is generally the case : for , in the first place , it is hard , very

hard , to wean such persons from their evil courses ; and , in the second place , when they have at last been brought to abandon ill women , it is a great chance indeed if they do not also quit all thoughts of the whole sex . Accustomed as they are to the worst of females , they generally get an ill opinion of all ; and surfeited as they are with fictitious charms , they seldom retain any relish for real ones . In short , the consequence of a woman joining herself in wedlock with such a

man , is generally that he brings her a fortune and constitution equally broken and impaired , and often despises his wife for no other reason than because he himself is really an object of supreme contempt . I mean not by this , that every young fellow who has been imprudent enough to run into some juvenile follies , however reprehensible , ought to be marked out for reprobation by the women ; all I would

be understood to inculcate is , that the abandoned rake is by no means a fit companion for the modest fair , either in wedlock or in company ; and certain I am , that if the ladies gave Jess encouragement to such persons , we should see fewer of them both in our public and private companies . I know that much of this has been noticed to little purpose ; and the same absurd maxims still prevailing , I must own

have roused my attention . —Homo sum ; nihil hiimanum a me alienum puto ; and as it is certain that the men here , as inmost countries , chiefly form themselves by the women , I thought the conduct of the latter in this respect of too much consequence to be passed over in silence , - MODESTUS .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1795-08-01, Page 54” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 1 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01081795/page/54/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
LONDON: Article 1
TO OUR READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 2
PRICES OF BINDING PER VOLUME. Article 2
Untitled Article 3
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, OR GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY . Article 4
ON THE PRESENT STATE OF FREEMASONRY. Article 7
HISTORY OF MASONRY. Article 10
CHARACTER OF BERNARD GILPIN, Article 14
THE KHALIF AND HIS VISIER, AN ORIENTAL APOLOGUE. Article 18
ANECDOTES OF HENRI DUC DE MONTMORENCI. Article 20
EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCES OF GRATITUDE. Article 24
EXTRACTS FROM A CURIOUS MANUSCRIPT, CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD OF HENRY VIII. Article 25
BON MOT. Article 27
THE STAGE. Article 28
CHARACTER OF LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH. Article 29
A THIEF RESCUED BY AN ELEPHANT. AN AUTHENTIC ANECDOTE. Article 31
ANECDOTES OF THE LIFE OF THEODORE, KING OF CORSICA*. Article 32
ORIGIN OF ST. JAMES'S PALACE. Article 33
THE UNION OF LOVE TO GOD AND LOVE TO MAN, A SERMON, Preached in St. Andrew's Church, New Town, Edinburgh, Article 34
ACCOUNT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY NATURAL GENIUS, Article 42
PHYSIOGNOMICAL SKETCHES. Article 47
CURIOUS METHOD OF PROTECTING CORN. Article 50
ON COMPASSION. Article 50
ON MODESTY, AS A MASCULINE VIRTUE. Article 53
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOTANY BAY, Article 55
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE . Article 56
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 58
ON POVERTY. Article 60
DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. Article 61
POETRY. Article 64
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, A SKETCH. Article 67
TO INDUSTRY. Article 67
WRITTEN IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER, Article 68
PORTRAIT OF AN HYPOCRITE. Article 68
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 69
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 69
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Page 54

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

On Modesty, As A Masculine Virtue.

kind ought to be respected ) is certainly somewhat hard , and , for the honour of the sex , one could not but wish it were otherwise . Is it not absurd when a virtuous young man ( of which number I believe there are not too many in this metropolis ) is praised for one of his good qualities—is it not absurd I say for any man , infinitely more so for any woman , to add , " that he is too modest , and that spoils all ? " And is not this an encouragement to vice and debauchery

from that very quarter whence they ought to receive their greatest check , the tribunal of the fair ? . I can account for this absurdity by one suggestion , which , if not in the mouth , is , I fear , in the heart of almost every young woman , viz . " That a modest man has not a sufficient regard for the sex : " than which there never was a more false . maxim advancedfor the most

, modest men are generally the greatest adorers of the fair sex , their regard for whom is indeed the very occasion of that' timidity which so often exposes them to ridicule . Should any woman be apprehensive of any farther inconveniencies from such a disposition , what an opinion might we not justly entertain of her ! Yet such is the force of customfor I should be sorry to attribute it to any thing elsethat the

, , most abandoned men of the town are often preferred , even by the most modest women ; ancl in excuse we are told , " that reformed rake . ? make the best husbands . " If this maxim were true , it might perhaps be hard to judge when a rake was reformed ; but I fear the contrary is generally the case : for , in the first place , it is hard , very

hard , to wean such persons from their evil courses ; and , in the second place , when they have at last been brought to abandon ill women , it is a great chance indeed if they do not also quit all thoughts of the whole sex . Accustomed as they are to the worst of females , they generally get an ill opinion of all ; and surfeited as they are with fictitious charms , they seldom retain any relish for real ones . In short , the consequence of a woman joining herself in wedlock with such a

man , is generally that he brings her a fortune and constitution equally broken and impaired , and often despises his wife for no other reason than because he himself is really an object of supreme contempt . I mean not by this , that every young fellow who has been imprudent enough to run into some juvenile follies , however reprehensible , ought to be marked out for reprobation by the women ; all I would

be understood to inculcate is , that the abandoned rake is by no means a fit companion for the modest fair , either in wedlock or in company ; and certain I am , that if the ladies gave Jess encouragement to such persons , we should see fewer of them both in our public and private companies . I know that much of this has been noticed to little purpose ; and the same absurd maxims still prevailing , I must own

have roused my attention . —Homo sum ; nihil hiimanum a me alienum puto ; and as it is certain that the men here , as inmost countries , chiefly form themselves by the women , I thought the conduct of the latter in this respect of too much consequence to be passed over in silence , - MODESTUS .

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