-
Articles/Ads
Article GLEANINGS FROM MASONRY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gleanings From Masonry.
most terrible results , both morally and physically . Evils not confined to ourselves—for man cannot exist in himself as his oivn sphere , he must influence others , either for good or evil , anil is therefore amenable to Divine justice for every action . Imperative , therefore , is that duty , which calls upon us to practice the cardinal virtues , as a breastplate and buckler against evil . How sweet are the enjoyments of social life ! how delightful the
communion of loving hearts at the festive board ! when the fire of fellowship flashes from eye to eye , and kindly greetings flow from lip to lip ; yet from this " feast of reason and flow of soul" to the filth of ebriety , thin is the partition , and almost insensible tlie transit ; when you may be turned into the filthy , brutal , coarse wretch , whose follies and vices usurp the vanquished citadel of reason ; and passion—the slave that was—goads its late master to deeds of hell . What a spectacle for a
wife , a child , or a parent ! what a stab at the vital interests of Alasonry ! at that Order which has bidden us to be temperate in all things ! True , it is the drunkard ' s own health which suffers ; but the evil does not rest there . Can a wife behold her husband transformed into a beast , and not suffer too ? She may suffer in a pecuniary point of view—aye , ancl dreadfully—but she must suffer mentally : she cannot see tlie hue of health converted into the bloated , blotched face of the sot ; ancl the once
" muscular well proportioned limb" attenuated and shrunk ; and not weep over hopes , withered by the fires of passion . Can children be improved by such scenes ? AVe know that the Spartans exposed their helots in a state of drunkenness before tlieir children , to deter them from the vice ; but things are altered by the relationship of the principal feature in the exhibition . AVe are not accustomed to look upon our parents or friends with the feelings entertained bthe Spartan
y youth toward their slaves . Besides , the different stages of ebriety are marked by various effects . The child may not see its parent in the worst phase of the ill . He may witness it , when the effects are apparent only by a strange hilarity and flow of spirits ; ere the mind is completely subdued by the fumes of " the invisible spirit of wine , " and thus not be shocked at the impropriety of the act ; or even if he do see the worst , I agree with
Pope" Vice is a monster of such frightful mien , As , to be hated , needs but to be seen ; Yet seen too oft , familiar with her face , We first endure , then pity , then embrace . " And Masonry , from evidently the same opinion , bids us "be temperate in all things ; for , " she adds , " your passions and affections will thus be under controuland your mind less open to the allurements of vice . "
, It is impossible to survey the face of nature with a discerning eye , without perceiving , on every side , an earnest invitation , addressed to our senses , to enjoy the pleasures which the Great Architect of the Universe , in his unbounded wisdom and goodness , has placed within our reach . Endowed with a taste , ivhich is capable of being gratified by an almost endless variety of flavours , which the constituent particles of vegetable and animal matter afford ; with feeling , smelling , hearing , ancl above all
sight ; man must feel assured that those various products which he sees around him must have been created for his use ancl comfort . Independent of the provision made in nature for his sustenance , the whole world is filled with objects capable of creating the most pleasurable emotions .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Gleanings From Masonry.
most terrible results , both morally and physically . Evils not confined to ourselves—for man cannot exist in himself as his oivn sphere , he must influence others , either for good or evil , anil is therefore amenable to Divine justice for every action . Imperative , therefore , is that duty , which calls upon us to practice the cardinal virtues , as a breastplate and buckler against evil . How sweet are the enjoyments of social life ! how delightful the
communion of loving hearts at the festive board ! when the fire of fellowship flashes from eye to eye , and kindly greetings flow from lip to lip ; yet from this " feast of reason and flow of soul" to the filth of ebriety , thin is the partition , and almost insensible tlie transit ; when you may be turned into the filthy , brutal , coarse wretch , whose follies and vices usurp the vanquished citadel of reason ; and passion—the slave that was—goads its late master to deeds of hell . What a spectacle for a
wife , a child , or a parent ! what a stab at the vital interests of Alasonry ! at that Order which has bidden us to be temperate in all things ! True , it is the drunkard ' s own health which suffers ; but the evil does not rest there . Can a wife behold her husband transformed into a beast , and not suffer too ? She may suffer in a pecuniary point of view—aye , ancl dreadfully—but she must suffer mentally : she cannot see tlie hue of health converted into the bloated , blotched face of the sot ; ancl the once
" muscular well proportioned limb" attenuated and shrunk ; and not weep over hopes , withered by the fires of passion . Can children be improved by such scenes ? AVe know that the Spartans exposed their helots in a state of drunkenness before tlieir children , to deter them from the vice ; but things are altered by the relationship of the principal feature in the exhibition . AVe are not accustomed to look upon our parents or friends with the feelings entertained bthe Spartan
y youth toward their slaves . Besides , the different stages of ebriety are marked by various effects . The child may not see its parent in the worst phase of the ill . He may witness it , when the effects are apparent only by a strange hilarity and flow of spirits ; ere the mind is completely subdued by the fumes of " the invisible spirit of wine , " and thus not be shocked at the impropriety of the act ; or even if he do see the worst , I agree with
Pope" Vice is a monster of such frightful mien , As , to be hated , needs but to be seen ; Yet seen too oft , familiar with her face , We first endure , then pity , then embrace . " And Masonry , from evidently the same opinion , bids us "be temperate in all things ; for , " she adds , " your passions and affections will thus be under controuland your mind less open to the allurements of vice . "
, It is impossible to survey the face of nature with a discerning eye , without perceiving , on every side , an earnest invitation , addressed to our senses , to enjoy the pleasures which the Great Architect of the Universe , in his unbounded wisdom and goodness , has placed within our reach . Endowed with a taste , ivhich is capable of being gratified by an almost endless variety of flavours , which the constituent particles of vegetable and animal matter afford ; with feeling , smelling , hearing , ancl above all
sight ; man must feel assured that those various products which he sees around him must have been created for his use ancl comfort . Independent of the provision made in nature for his sustenance , the whole world is filled with objects capable of creating the most pleasurable emotions .