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Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 8 of 8 Article MASONIC DIDACTICS; Page 1 of 2 →
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To The Editor.
and Assembly and Wardens , as tlie saicl Company sliall think fit to choose at every yearly general Assembly . " 3 istly . That noe person shall be accepted a Freemason , or know the Secrets of the sayd Society , untill he hath first taken the oath of secrecy hereafter following : " 1 , A . B . j Doe , in the presence of Almighty God , and my fellows and Bretliren here present promise and declarethat I will not at any
, time hereafter , by any Art , or Circumstance whatsoever , directly or indirectly publish , discover , reveall , or make knowne any of the Secrets , priviledges , or Counsels of the Fraternity or fellowship of Freemasonry , which at this time , or any time hereafter shall be made known unto me ; soe helpe mee God ancl the holy contents of this book . "
Masonic Didactics;
MASONIC DIDACTICS ;
OK , SHORT MORAL LESSONS OF UNIVERSAL ADAPTATION . 11 Y BROTHER II . R . SLADE , LL . B . CLF . RK . M . 31 . AND AUTHOR OF TIIK " TRANSLATION OF TIIE DEFENCE OF SOCRATES , " AND OTHER . WORKS . " Mascnry is a peculiar system of morals . " No . III . —ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH .
Quant v . iria letlii geneva mor ' alcs trahttnt—Seneca . Ou ev ' ry side the tlarts of Death are turn'd . —Author . THAT Death pursues ancl overtakes us , while sojourning " here below , " in various disguises , and in none mistakes his victim , is a fact too universally admitted to be contested . His aim is deadly—his approach is silent—but sure . For , whilst some are rapidly hurried off the stage of life by famine , by pestilence , or by the sword ; others again are left to the more tardy , but equally inevitable stroke of disease , or declining old age .
This insatiate demon haunts all our paths—mingles in all our revelries—oft embitters the cup of our transient joys at the very moment it is about to be raised to our lips—and ever exacts his penalty with the severest sacrifice of human tenderness . The casualties of mortality have been prolific subjects of meditation to many learned writers , among whom is a grave ancl abstruse astronomer , who declares , " that if it were not for two things that are constant ( the one is , that tlie fixed stars ever stand at like distance from each other , and never come nearer together ,
or go farther asunder ; the other , that the diurnal motion perpetually keepeth tims ) , no individual would last one moment . " Such a reflection accounts for the vicissitudes of mankind on princip les of natural science , and almost goes into the ancient theory of planetary influences on the destiny of mortals . But there is yet a more urgent , and perhaps a more probable reason , for those changes which happen to our state here , and especially with regard to the brevity of human existence , and the frequent suddenness of its extinction ; viz . the will of the Deity .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
and Assembly and Wardens , as tlie saicl Company sliall think fit to choose at every yearly general Assembly . " 3 istly . That noe person shall be accepted a Freemason , or know the Secrets of the sayd Society , untill he hath first taken the oath of secrecy hereafter following : " 1 , A . B . j Doe , in the presence of Almighty God , and my fellows and Bretliren here present promise and declarethat I will not at any
, time hereafter , by any Art , or Circumstance whatsoever , directly or indirectly publish , discover , reveall , or make knowne any of the Secrets , priviledges , or Counsels of the Fraternity or fellowship of Freemasonry , which at this time , or any time hereafter shall be made known unto me ; soe helpe mee God ancl the holy contents of this book . "
Masonic Didactics;
MASONIC DIDACTICS ;
OK , SHORT MORAL LESSONS OF UNIVERSAL ADAPTATION . 11 Y BROTHER II . R . SLADE , LL . B . CLF . RK . M . 31 . AND AUTHOR OF TIIK " TRANSLATION OF TIIE DEFENCE OF SOCRATES , " AND OTHER . WORKS . " Mascnry is a peculiar system of morals . " No . III . —ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH .
Quant v . iria letlii geneva mor ' alcs trahttnt—Seneca . Ou ev ' ry side the tlarts of Death are turn'd . —Author . THAT Death pursues ancl overtakes us , while sojourning " here below , " in various disguises , and in none mistakes his victim , is a fact too universally admitted to be contested . His aim is deadly—his approach is silent—but sure . For , whilst some are rapidly hurried off the stage of life by famine , by pestilence , or by the sword ; others again are left to the more tardy , but equally inevitable stroke of disease , or declining old age .
This insatiate demon haunts all our paths—mingles in all our revelries—oft embitters the cup of our transient joys at the very moment it is about to be raised to our lips—and ever exacts his penalty with the severest sacrifice of human tenderness . The casualties of mortality have been prolific subjects of meditation to many learned writers , among whom is a grave ancl abstruse astronomer , who declares , " that if it were not for two things that are constant ( the one is , that tlie fixed stars ever stand at like distance from each other , and never come nearer together ,
or go farther asunder ; the other , that the diurnal motion perpetually keepeth tims ) , no individual would last one moment . " Such a reflection accounts for the vicissitudes of mankind on princip les of natural science , and almost goes into the ancient theory of planetary influences on the destiny of mortals . But there is yet a more urgent , and perhaps a more probable reason , for those changes which happen to our state here , and especially with regard to the brevity of human existence , and the frequent suddenness of its extinction ; viz . the will of the Deity .