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Article THE MASON'S DAUGHTER. * ← Page 2 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Mason's Daughter. *
should enter the Society , which so strongly inculcates the principles of social order and moral right , while it affords to the earnest and zealous searcher so many rewards for the labour bestowed . To laugh and joke at Masonry , in his father ' s absence , and to argue against its use in his presence , had been George Manvers' constant custom . Nevertheless , when his father proposed to convince him of the error by displaying to him the mystic rights and hidden ceremonies of the Orderhe thought obedience
, to so slight a wish was but right and proper ; he was therefore duly admitted as a Brother of the Craft , and served in some of the offices , though he never seemed to show much diligence in pursuing the more recondite branches of the Art . On receiving his commission he left his father ' s home to join his corps , and after that , the more active duties of the Lodge seemed to escape from his mind , and he appeared to have forgotten that the Craft claimed him as a member .
Time passed over George Manvers' head , even as over those of the reader and the writer of these pages . His regiment was quartered in the county town of , in the lovely west of England ; and the chances of the service , aided by purchasing , had procured him bis troop ; he was now designated in the orderly book as Captain Manvers . It is a question if . as far as occupation is concerned , Manvers had much more to do than when he was unprovided with a profession . Duty there was
none , to speak of ; drills and parade were soon despatched , and he had little else to do than to exhibit his handsome person to the admiring inhabitants of , or to pay flying visits to the county gentry , who were but too glad to have the monotony of a country life relieved by the appearance of one so gay , handsome , and of such undeniable family
as George St . John Manvers . But it was not only in the salons of the county magnates that Manvers signalised himself ; another , though a less assuming class , paid devoted homage to the adorable perfections of our hero . The sight of a red coat and epaulettes is , in every place , an attractive sight to the female sex , but in a county town there is an absolute military mania , which might not be inaptly termed the scarlet fever . It would seem that , in regard to the middle classes of society , these
modern heroes conducted their love escapades after Cresar ' s fashion , for they came , they saw , and they conquered . The number of distressed damsels in was beyond all relation ; flirting and coqueting were at a premium , broken hearts abounded , and , in truth be it said , many a reputation before unsullied , was damaged beyond redemption . It seems a fact , no less true . than singular , that mankind have established for themselves two great points of immunity , in respect to which
they hold themselves free from all those moral obligations by which , on other subjects , they are firmly bound , and the infraction of which would stamp them with indelible disgrace . The subjects , in regard to which this most exceptionable latitude is afforded , are horses and women . In matters of horse-flesh all dealings are considered fair ; and a falsehood spoken to a woman , in the way of gallantry , passes unheeded by . He who would scorn to speak an untruth on other subjects , and would resent
the imputation of such an accusation with his life , will deceive his neighbour in the value of a horse , and will wheedle a confiding and unsuspecting girl into the loss of her good name , and to the peril of her immortal soul , with a thousand false promises and oaths , and will nevertheless deem himself an honourable man . That such is not only theory , but fact , we have too many striking proofs . What fatality has brought about this obliquity of all moral right it is impossible to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Mason's Daughter. *
should enter the Society , which so strongly inculcates the principles of social order and moral right , while it affords to the earnest and zealous searcher so many rewards for the labour bestowed . To laugh and joke at Masonry , in his father ' s absence , and to argue against its use in his presence , had been George Manvers' constant custom . Nevertheless , when his father proposed to convince him of the error by displaying to him the mystic rights and hidden ceremonies of the Orderhe thought obedience
, to so slight a wish was but right and proper ; he was therefore duly admitted as a Brother of the Craft , and served in some of the offices , though he never seemed to show much diligence in pursuing the more recondite branches of the Art . On receiving his commission he left his father ' s home to join his corps , and after that , the more active duties of the Lodge seemed to escape from his mind , and he appeared to have forgotten that the Craft claimed him as a member .
Time passed over George Manvers' head , even as over those of the reader and the writer of these pages . His regiment was quartered in the county town of , in the lovely west of England ; and the chances of the service , aided by purchasing , had procured him bis troop ; he was now designated in the orderly book as Captain Manvers . It is a question if . as far as occupation is concerned , Manvers had much more to do than when he was unprovided with a profession . Duty there was
none , to speak of ; drills and parade were soon despatched , and he had little else to do than to exhibit his handsome person to the admiring inhabitants of , or to pay flying visits to the county gentry , who were but too glad to have the monotony of a country life relieved by the appearance of one so gay , handsome , and of such undeniable family
as George St . John Manvers . But it was not only in the salons of the county magnates that Manvers signalised himself ; another , though a less assuming class , paid devoted homage to the adorable perfections of our hero . The sight of a red coat and epaulettes is , in every place , an attractive sight to the female sex , but in a county town there is an absolute military mania , which might not be inaptly termed the scarlet fever . It would seem that , in regard to the middle classes of society , these
modern heroes conducted their love escapades after Cresar ' s fashion , for they came , they saw , and they conquered . The number of distressed damsels in was beyond all relation ; flirting and coqueting were at a premium , broken hearts abounded , and , in truth be it said , many a reputation before unsullied , was damaged beyond redemption . It seems a fact , no less true . than singular , that mankind have established for themselves two great points of immunity , in respect to which
they hold themselves free from all those moral obligations by which , on other subjects , they are firmly bound , and the infraction of which would stamp them with indelible disgrace . The subjects , in regard to which this most exceptionable latitude is afforded , are horses and women . In matters of horse-flesh all dealings are considered fair ; and a falsehood spoken to a woman , in the way of gallantry , passes unheeded by . He who would scorn to speak an untruth on other subjects , and would resent
the imputation of such an accusation with his life , will deceive his neighbour in the value of a horse , and will wheedle a confiding and unsuspecting girl into the loss of her good name , and to the peril of her immortal soul , with a thousand false promises and oaths , and will nevertheless deem himself an honourable man . That such is not only theory , but fact , we have too many striking proofs . What fatality has brought about this obliquity of all moral right it is impossible to