Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
The ancients were accustomed to affix memorial tablets in conspicuous parts of their temples , that posterity might not only read of their virtues , but also imitate them . Whoever could reflect upon the diligence of Themistocles , the gravity of Frontones , the chastity of Socrates , the fidelity of Fabricius , the modesty of Scipio , the constancy of Ulysses , the piety of Cato , without being excited by the strongest desire to imitate the examples of such illustrious men ? In the
subsequently remote ages of Vandal , Gothic , or Monkish darkness , and afterwards , when philosophy and the fine arts began to emerge from the density of almost universal ignorance , and although for a while confined to two or three eminent nations , to assume tbeir divine power over the human mind , virtue became an object of their chivalric reverence and practice . Indeed , both ancients and moderns have united in the dogma , that the practice of virtue is a means of securing the protection
of the Deity , and the respect of mankind . Many reasons may often operate upon the mind to induce us to regard virtue as the most desirable rule of conduct . For we perceive that even among the vicious her followers are honoured and feared . So that self-interest alone will sometimes lead us , if not sincerely to embrace , artfully to adopt , her principles for temporal ends . But we also know , that in the existing era of the worldthe precepts of virtue are so closely associated in
, a purer form , and under a code of revealed authority from Heaven , with the doctrines of the Christian religion , that to separate one from the other would be to deprive both of their commensurate comfort and influence . Christian virtue simply changes and establishes the motive . From the love of God flows love to man ; and BY the love of man is SEEN his love of God . The wise Plato somewhere tersely affirms that " was virtue to appear
in a corporeal form , all men would be in love with her ; " implying that the chaste models on which all her laws are constructed are too beautiful not to captivate the understanding of the good , the wise , and the prudent . Her palace has uniformly been represented as standing on the summit of a hill , in the ascent to which labour is requisite , obstacles are to be surmounted , and difficulties resolutely overcome ; where a conductor is needful to direct our steps , and aid our efforts ; holding out no
greater inducement to those who seek for fame and distinction by a strenuous perseverance in her paths , than the saying of Isocrates , — " Virtute nullam possessionem nee honestioretn nee durabiltorem esse . "
THE RUINS OF JERICHO . —The glory of this famous city is departed , and a solitary square tower , called by the monks the house of Zaccheus , is all that remains on the site of the once grand fortifications . A few hedges of wild cactus have supplanted the walls that fell under the blast of Joshua ' s trumpet ; and , since the days of Hiel the Betbelite , none has been found bold enough to fly in the face of the solemn denunciation against the rebuilder of Jericho . A fewvery fewmud huts
, , , tenanted by jiaked Arabs , and scarcely visible till closely approached , constitute the modern village of Ribbah , the Turkish name for Jericho . Here wc pitched our tents , and the pilgrims strewed the plain around . — Elliott ' s Travels . VOJ ,. V . 3 N
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or, Short Moral Essays Of Universal Adaptation.
The ancients were accustomed to affix memorial tablets in conspicuous parts of their temples , that posterity might not only read of their virtues , but also imitate them . Whoever could reflect upon the diligence of Themistocles , the gravity of Frontones , the chastity of Socrates , the fidelity of Fabricius , the modesty of Scipio , the constancy of Ulysses , the piety of Cato , without being excited by the strongest desire to imitate the examples of such illustrious men ? In the
subsequently remote ages of Vandal , Gothic , or Monkish darkness , and afterwards , when philosophy and the fine arts began to emerge from the density of almost universal ignorance , and although for a while confined to two or three eminent nations , to assume tbeir divine power over the human mind , virtue became an object of their chivalric reverence and practice . Indeed , both ancients and moderns have united in the dogma , that the practice of virtue is a means of securing the protection
of the Deity , and the respect of mankind . Many reasons may often operate upon the mind to induce us to regard virtue as the most desirable rule of conduct . For we perceive that even among the vicious her followers are honoured and feared . So that self-interest alone will sometimes lead us , if not sincerely to embrace , artfully to adopt , her principles for temporal ends . But we also know , that in the existing era of the worldthe precepts of virtue are so closely associated in
, a purer form , and under a code of revealed authority from Heaven , with the doctrines of the Christian religion , that to separate one from the other would be to deprive both of their commensurate comfort and influence . Christian virtue simply changes and establishes the motive . From the love of God flows love to man ; and BY the love of man is SEEN his love of God . The wise Plato somewhere tersely affirms that " was virtue to appear
in a corporeal form , all men would be in love with her ; " implying that the chaste models on which all her laws are constructed are too beautiful not to captivate the understanding of the good , the wise , and the prudent . Her palace has uniformly been represented as standing on the summit of a hill , in the ascent to which labour is requisite , obstacles are to be surmounted , and difficulties resolutely overcome ; where a conductor is needful to direct our steps , and aid our efforts ; holding out no
greater inducement to those who seek for fame and distinction by a strenuous perseverance in her paths , than the saying of Isocrates , — " Virtute nullam possessionem nee honestioretn nee durabiltorem esse . "
THE RUINS OF JERICHO . —The glory of this famous city is departed , and a solitary square tower , called by the monks the house of Zaccheus , is all that remains on the site of the once grand fortifications . A few hedges of wild cactus have supplanted the walls that fell under the blast of Joshua ' s trumpet ; and , since the days of Hiel the Betbelite , none has been found bold enough to fly in the face of the solemn denunciation against the rebuilder of Jericho . A fewvery fewmud huts
, , , tenanted by jiaked Arabs , and scarcely visible till closely approached , constitute the modern village of Ribbah , the Turkish name for Jericho . Here wc pitched our tents , and the pilgrims strewed the plain around . — Elliott ' s Travels . VOJ ,. V . 3 N