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Article MASONIC DIDACTICS; ← Page 2 of 2
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Masonic Didactics;
pound of good and bad , joy and sorrow , reason and folly . To-day some chimera engages his attention ; to-morrow , another succeeds its place . Thus , scheming , theorising , castle-building in the air , he progresses toivards the ultimate period of his natural life , continually grasping at his visionary happiness , till the last sand-grain in the hour-glass of human life runs out , showing him the mockery of his pursuit . It is fair to conclude , that the capricious fickleness inherent in most minds will seldom permit us to relish any happiness long , however pleasant . Ovid
asserts" Nulla polentia ( animi ) long . i est . " No . XXX . —THE IMPULSE OF PRINCIPLE SUPERIOR TO LEGAL COMPULSION . Id facere laus est quod deceit non quod licet . —SENECA . Let it be granted , as a moral postulate , that it is more commendable
to do rightly from principle than from the terror of legislative coercion Reason argues that he who merely acts in a case of moral requirement , from a desire to conform with the strict letter of the law , without a higher consideration , cannot lay claim to those disinterested motives which give the crown to all human actions , nor entitle himself to that praise which is deservedly the meed of him who takes a virtuous honour for his guide in transaction . The man who is persuaded bthe
every y dictates of his own mind to live decorously and do justly , calls forth infinitely greater praise than he who measures the rule of right solely by the rigid exaction of the law . Surely that man who acts uprightly , and does his duty in his station of life from conscientious motives , reflects more honour upon himself , and the community he dwells amongst , than he who only allows the restrictions of the legislature to keep him ivithin the pule of justice and
moral virtue . A man of character never requires the stern statute of the law to intimate how he should act to preserve his integrity . It is the viciously inclined and the unprincipled only who require the restraints of municipal regulations to prevent them outraging the commonweal , and infringing the moral order of society . So would tbe boundless deep encroach upon the common territory , if the strong bulwarks prescribed
by wise Nature ' s laws did not break the fury of the waves , and send them impotent back upon themselves . The man of sense , says a learned writer , is one who makes it his constant duty to follow no other rule than the word of the Divine law , and what the voice of conscience points out to him to be right . He is not guided by those springs which sometimes give a colour of virtue to a loose and unstable character . He is equally circumspect in word as in deed , conscious that—¦
Quod factu feodum est , idem est et dictn turpe . It must appear evident , then , to be far more creditable and praiseworthy , voluntarily to perform our moral and social duties , than wait till the strong arm of the law , or other strenuous measures , have been called in to compel us . Magnam vim habet conscientia in utramque partem ; ut semper poenam ante oculos versari putent , qui peccaverint ; et nihil timeant qui nihil admi serin t .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics;
pound of good and bad , joy and sorrow , reason and folly . To-day some chimera engages his attention ; to-morrow , another succeeds its place . Thus , scheming , theorising , castle-building in the air , he progresses toivards the ultimate period of his natural life , continually grasping at his visionary happiness , till the last sand-grain in the hour-glass of human life runs out , showing him the mockery of his pursuit . It is fair to conclude , that the capricious fickleness inherent in most minds will seldom permit us to relish any happiness long , however pleasant . Ovid
asserts" Nulla polentia ( animi ) long . i est . " No . XXX . —THE IMPULSE OF PRINCIPLE SUPERIOR TO LEGAL COMPULSION . Id facere laus est quod deceit non quod licet . —SENECA . Let it be granted , as a moral postulate , that it is more commendable
to do rightly from principle than from the terror of legislative coercion Reason argues that he who merely acts in a case of moral requirement , from a desire to conform with the strict letter of the law , without a higher consideration , cannot lay claim to those disinterested motives which give the crown to all human actions , nor entitle himself to that praise which is deservedly the meed of him who takes a virtuous honour for his guide in transaction . The man who is persuaded bthe
every y dictates of his own mind to live decorously and do justly , calls forth infinitely greater praise than he who measures the rule of right solely by the rigid exaction of the law . Surely that man who acts uprightly , and does his duty in his station of life from conscientious motives , reflects more honour upon himself , and the community he dwells amongst , than he who only allows the restrictions of the legislature to keep him ivithin the pule of justice and
moral virtue . A man of character never requires the stern statute of the law to intimate how he should act to preserve his integrity . It is the viciously inclined and the unprincipled only who require the restraints of municipal regulations to prevent them outraging the commonweal , and infringing the moral order of society . So would tbe boundless deep encroach upon the common territory , if the strong bulwarks prescribed
by wise Nature ' s laws did not break the fury of the waves , and send them impotent back upon themselves . The man of sense , says a learned writer , is one who makes it his constant duty to follow no other rule than the word of the Divine law , and what the voice of conscience points out to him to be right . He is not guided by those springs which sometimes give a colour of virtue to a loose and unstable character . He is equally circumspect in word as in deed , conscious that—¦
Quod factu feodum est , idem est et dictn turpe . It must appear evident , then , to be far more creditable and praiseworthy , voluntarily to perform our moral and social duties , than wait till the strong arm of the law , or other strenuous measures , have been called in to compel us . Magnam vim habet conscientia in utramque partem ; ut semper poenam ante oculos versari putent , qui peccaverint ; et nihil timeant qui nihil admi serin t .