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Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
MASONIC DIDACTICS ; OR , SHORT MORAL ESSAYS OF UNIVERSAL ADAPTATION .
BY BROTHER H . R . SLADEj LL . B . " Masonry is a peculiar system of morals . "
No . XXV . —HONOUR AN INCITEMENT TO EMINENCE . Iter ad superos gloria pandet . —SENECA . THE various and multiform motives that have urged men , in different ages of the world , to pursue the path to eminence , would form of themselves a subject well worthy the study of the attentive moralist . His reflective mind would quickly find matter enough to arrest its wandering flightsand his matured judgment would as speedillead him to detect
, y the fallacies of heathen ethics , when compared with that system of moral motive and action instituted at the era of the Christian religion . The principle inculcated in the latter is " Brotherly Love , the primum mobile of human purpose and human object : a principle second only to Divine Love , which alone can actuate right duty to God ; and while he permits himself , as a creature , to admire the heroic fortitude and misdirected zealwhich displays itself in the self-immolation of some
candi-, date or hierophant for the ambrosial joys of a mythological elysium , he rejoices that a brighter and more shining Light has dawned from on High upon the mind of man , by which the blindness and folly of superstition are made evident , and the beauty , order , and strength of the Divine Law , vindicated and elevated to a superior level .
It is only by laborious reading in history , and a diligent analysis of events and ' incidents , comparing them with the most prominent traits of character exhibited by the several authors and actors of them , that the moralist can decide what is a true definition of that glory or honour which should conduct mankind to eminence and distinction . Virtue was the assumed propelling principle among the ancients . Both the Stoics and Peripatetics , however differing in details , appear to have estimated this the sole essential and valuable
as acquisition ; valuable for itself , and essential to a character for wisdom and respectability . The postulate required was— " nihil , prreter id , quod honestum sit , propter se esse expetendum ; " and— " nihil esse utile , quod non idem honestum ; nihil honestum , quod nou idem utile sit . " Evangelical morality teaches the same principle , but with this peculiar difference , thatwhereas the former was built on the approbation and applause " of
, men , the latter is erected on that higher ground—the glory of God and the welfare of man . In some instances the result , as far as it operates npon human affairs , may have proved the same ; but the comparison between motives is as wide and intangible as the antipodes . That eminence which is sought from a vain and selfish ambition , most
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 H . R . SLADEj LL . B . " Masonry is a peculiar system of morals . "
No . XXV . —HONOUR AN INCITEMENT TO EMINENCE . Iter ad superos gloria pandet . —SENECA . THE various and multiform motives that have urged men , in different ages of the world , to pursue the path to eminence , would form of themselves a subject well worthy the study of the attentive moralist . His reflective mind would quickly find matter enough to arrest its wandering flightsand his matured judgment would as speedillead him to detect
, y the fallacies of heathen ethics , when compared with that system of moral motive and action instituted at the era of the Christian religion . The principle inculcated in the latter is " Brotherly Love , the primum mobile of human purpose and human object : a principle second only to Divine Love , which alone can actuate right duty to God ; and while he permits himself , as a creature , to admire the heroic fortitude and misdirected zealwhich displays itself in the self-immolation of some
candi-, date or hierophant for the ambrosial joys of a mythological elysium , he rejoices that a brighter and more shining Light has dawned from on High upon the mind of man , by which the blindness and folly of superstition are made evident , and the beauty , order , and strength of the Divine Law , vindicated and elevated to a superior level .
It is only by laborious reading in history , and a diligent analysis of events and ' incidents , comparing them with the most prominent traits of character exhibited by the several authors and actors of them , that the moralist can decide what is a true definition of that glory or honour which should conduct mankind to eminence and distinction . Virtue was the assumed propelling principle among the ancients . Both the Stoics and Peripatetics , however differing in details , appear to have estimated this the sole essential and valuable
as acquisition ; valuable for itself , and essential to a character for wisdom and respectability . The postulate required was— " nihil , prreter id , quod honestum sit , propter se esse expetendum ; " and— " nihil esse utile , quod non idem honestum ; nihil honestum , quod nou idem utile sit . " Evangelical morality teaches the same principle , but with this peculiar difference , thatwhereas the former was built on the approbation and applause " of
, men , the latter is erected on that higher ground—the glory of God and the welfare of man . In some instances the result , as far as it operates npon human affairs , may have proved the same ; but the comparison between motives is as wide and intangible as the antipodes . That eminence which is sought from a vain and selfish ambition , most