Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
MASONIC DIDACTICS ; OR , SHORT MORAL ESSAYS OF UNIVERSAL ADAPTATION .
BY BROTHER II . R . SLADE , LL . B . " Masonry is a peculiar system of morals . " No . XVII .-PROSPERITY COMPARED WITH ADVERSITY : A DISTINCTION NOT PECULIAR TO THE MODERNS . Donee eris felix , mullos numerabis amicus : Tumpora si fucrirtt nubila , solus eris Ovid . When Fortune smiles , your friends abound ; Hut let her frown , tliey shift their ground . —Author .
TIIE burthen of the poet ' s song may , hy " Fortune ' s favorites , " be stigmatised as satirical and misanthropic ; hut , take a peep into society as its circles revolve in giddy whirl , and the just moral mentor shall be impelled to say , that its state of conventional feeling on such cases as the theme alludes to is rather more depraved at present than it was in Ovid ' s time . There is a mass of demonstration in the experience and observation of individuals which , combined with the commentaries and
essays of the most profoundl y learned , and equally practical men , in all ages of the world , leaves the subject barren of contradiction . It is a vernacular proverb , that * ' Prosperity gains friends , " but that " Adversity tries them . " Now the chief object of the moralist is to prove , or essay to explain , the rational origin of such aphorisms , a task which ive will test our ability to perform . Perhaps the following simile may do it succinctlyif not perfectly .
, As creeping insects , venomous reptiles , with myriads of aninialculce are attracted , and engendered into life , hy the effulgent and vivifying rays of a genial summer ' s sun , whilst riding in the meridian of his splendours , and are equally repelled to fly for warmth ancl shelter to their mouldy holes and moss retreats , when the damp-chilling vapours of twilight descend , ancl the lengthening evening shade obscures his departing glory ; so that animal , man , generally speaking , ( for there are the noblest exceptions
to every dry ancl rigid rule , ) joins himself , apparently with the most cordial sincerity , proffering an eternal friendship , to the circle of the social evolution of some wealthy compeer — the rising sun of molten gold , carved and engraven with man ' s device ; revelling in thc convivial enjoyments of his banquet board , sharing perhaps in the dearest and most sacred penetralia of his household gods , commending his prodigality , and probably inciting him to grandeur , deeds of luxury , and profusion , going with him where he goes , dwelling with him where he dwells , and , in one word , making himself the double of his friend . But ,
Oh ! what a falling off is there;—when his fortune is wrecked upon the rocks of unforeseen mischance , his influence declines—his income gradually grows less—first one , ancl then another prop of human vanity is thrown clown ; where are his fulsome loving friends to mend his shattered means , to rescue him from a jail , perhaps the tomb of his mortal existence , or the sepulchre of his hopes , his prospects , and his honour , — where are those vermin that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
MASONIC DIDACTICS ; OR , SHORT MORAL ESSAYS OF UNIVERSAL ADAPTATION .
BY BROTHER II . R . SLADE , LL . B . " Masonry is a peculiar system of morals . " No . XVII .-PROSPERITY COMPARED WITH ADVERSITY : A DISTINCTION NOT PECULIAR TO THE MODERNS . Donee eris felix , mullos numerabis amicus : Tumpora si fucrirtt nubila , solus eris Ovid . When Fortune smiles , your friends abound ; Hut let her frown , tliey shift their ground . —Author .
TIIE burthen of the poet ' s song may , hy " Fortune ' s favorites , " be stigmatised as satirical and misanthropic ; hut , take a peep into society as its circles revolve in giddy whirl , and the just moral mentor shall be impelled to say , that its state of conventional feeling on such cases as the theme alludes to is rather more depraved at present than it was in Ovid ' s time . There is a mass of demonstration in the experience and observation of individuals which , combined with the commentaries and
essays of the most profoundl y learned , and equally practical men , in all ages of the world , leaves the subject barren of contradiction . It is a vernacular proverb , that * ' Prosperity gains friends , " but that " Adversity tries them . " Now the chief object of the moralist is to prove , or essay to explain , the rational origin of such aphorisms , a task which ive will test our ability to perform . Perhaps the following simile may do it succinctlyif not perfectly .
, As creeping insects , venomous reptiles , with myriads of aninialculce are attracted , and engendered into life , hy the effulgent and vivifying rays of a genial summer ' s sun , whilst riding in the meridian of his splendours , and are equally repelled to fly for warmth ancl shelter to their mouldy holes and moss retreats , when the damp-chilling vapours of twilight descend , ancl the lengthening evening shade obscures his departing glory ; so that animal , man , generally speaking , ( for there are the noblest exceptions
to every dry ancl rigid rule , ) joins himself , apparently with the most cordial sincerity , proffering an eternal friendship , to the circle of the social evolution of some wealthy compeer — the rising sun of molten gold , carved and engraven with man ' s device ; revelling in thc convivial enjoyments of his banquet board , sharing perhaps in the dearest and most sacred penetralia of his household gods , commending his prodigality , and probably inciting him to grandeur , deeds of luxury , and profusion , going with him where he goes , dwelling with him where he dwells , and , in one word , making himself the double of his friend . But ,
Oh ! what a falling off is there;—when his fortune is wrecked upon the rocks of unforeseen mischance , his influence declines—his income gradually grows less—first one , ancl then another prop of human vanity is thrown clown ; where are his fulsome loving friends to mend his shattered means , to rescue him from a jail , perhaps the tomb of his mortal existence , or the sepulchre of his hopes , his prospects , and his honour , — where are those vermin that