Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or , Short Moral Essay's Of Universal Adaptation.
Divine precepts require not the subsidiary aid of human intelligence ; but the following aphorism , from a Latin author , deserves a place in our remarks : " Justitia ? partes sunt non violare homines ; verecundia ; non offendere . " No . XL II . — A MAN'S CREDIT , HOWEVER GOOD , NOT FREE FROM THE USUAL VICISSITUDES OF ALL OTHER EARTHLY THINGS .
Nusquam tuta fides . —SENECA . REPUTATION—be it the acquirement of opulence , or moral worth , literary , or even religious—is built at all times upon so insecure a foundation , being constantly exposed to the withering blasts of envy , or the undermining whispers of calumny , that , in its very nature , it is volatile and evanescent . Too visible in our daily converse with society is it , to be denied that those good qualitieswhich constitute the uprihtvirtuous
, g , character , necessarily of themselves excite the spleen and hostile machinations of the vicious and the envious , because they raise reflections and comparisons odious to the self-applause of the egotist and the narrowminded . And such is the galling poignancy of the wound self-inflicted by those reflections and comparisons , that no means are considered too base to bring down the man who possesses those virtues and endowments to the level of our own meagre standard , if not to something
altogether very much below it . Indeed , to accomplish it—alas ! for human nature!—no report is thought too scandalous to circulate , no misrepresentation too gross or wicked to invent . Thence originates the instability of a man ' s reputation , and the great variety of hazards which he has to encounter in preserving it free from impeachment . Yet , on the other hand , a man devoid of fair and " good report" is like the desperate gamester , who , having nought to lose himself , employs all his stratagem to decrease the substance of another . Still the one character is somewhat worse than the other . The gamester enriches his pecuniary resources by unfair play : —
" He who steals my purse , steals trash ; But he that filches from me my good name , Enriches not himself , but makes me poor indeed . " The commercial world presents lamentable evidence of the fluctuating nature of credit and good character . To-day , one individual " rolls in wealth ; " to-morrow , he becomes a beggar ! Yesterday , perhaps , his credit stood good for thousands of pounds ; to-day , he finds it difficult of fortune
to command bread for his family ! and these sudden changes not always produced by bad . markets or unsuccessful speculations , as sometimes , perhaps , by the malicious rumours of a bad or doubtful credit . Hence , therefore , reputation , of -whatever class or degree , is like a tender flower , whose bloom fades at the slightest touch , requiring the nicest care and circumspection to shield it from the polluting breath of slander , or the venomous contact of envy . Good fortune and a good name of themselves are not proof against the intrigues of the base and the malevolent . Too often , alas 1 assaulted by the powerful engines of a spiteful combination , " Fortuna et honos simillima vento est . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics; Or , Short Moral Essay's Of Universal Adaptation.
Divine precepts require not the subsidiary aid of human intelligence ; but the following aphorism , from a Latin author , deserves a place in our remarks : " Justitia ? partes sunt non violare homines ; verecundia ; non offendere . " No . XL II . — A MAN'S CREDIT , HOWEVER GOOD , NOT FREE FROM THE USUAL VICISSITUDES OF ALL OTHER EARTHLY THINGS .
Nusquam tuta fides . —SENECA . REPUTATION—be it the acquirement of opulence , or moral worth , literary , or even religious—is built at all times upon so insecure a foundation , being constantly exposed to the withering blasts of envy , or the undermining whispers of calumny , that , in its very nature , it is volatile and evanescent . Too visible in our daily converse with society is it , to be denied that those good qualitieswhich constitute the uprihtvirtuous
, g , character , necessarily of themselves excite the spleen and hostile machinations of the vicious and the envious , because they raise reflections and comparisons odious to the self-applause of the egotist and the narrowminded . And such is the galling poignancy of the wound self-inflicted by those reflections and comparisons , that no means are considered too base to bring down the man who possesses those virtues and endowments to the level of our own meagre standard , if not to something
altogether very much below it . Indeed , to accomplish it—alas ! for human nature!—no report is thought too scandalous to circulate , no misrepresentation too gross or wicked to invent . Thence originates the instability of a man ' s reputation , and the great variety of hazards which he has to encounter in preserving it free from impeachment . Yet , on the other hand , a man devoid of fair and " good report" is like the desperate gamester , who , having nought to lose himself , employs all his stratagem to decrease the substance of another . Still the one character is somewhat worse than the other . The gamester enriches his pecuniary resources by unfair play : —
" He who steals my purse , steals trash ; But he that filches from me my good name , Enriches not himself , but makes me poor indeed . " The commercial world presents lamentable evidence of the fluctuating nature of credit and good character . To-day , one individual " rolls in wealth ; " to-morrow , he becomes a beggar ! Yesterday , perhaps , his credit stood good for thousands of pounds ; to-day , he finds it difficult of fortune
to command bread for his family ! and these sudden changes not always produced by bad . markets or unsuccessful speculations , as sometimes , perhaps , by the malicious rumours of a bad or doubtful credit . Hence , therefore , reputation , of -whatever class or degree , is like a tender flower , whose bloom fades at the slightest touch , requiring the nicest care and circumspection to shield it from the polluting breath of slander , or the venomous contact of envy . Good fortune and a good name of themselves are not proof against the intrigues of the base and the malevolent . Too often , alas 1 assaulted by the powerful engines of a spiteful combination , " Fortuna et honos simillima vento est . "