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  • July 1, 1876
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The Masonic Magazine, July 1, 1876: Page 34

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    Article FAIRY TALES UTILISED FOR, THE NEW GENERATION. ← Page 3 of 4 →
Page 34

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Fairy Tales Utilised For, The New Generation.

matters it to us that poor Puss ' s antecedents are very questionable , ( ask Inspector Grummer ) , and that her moral propriety of conduct is very much open to doubt . It is a mistake for us to ask for too much , or to look too deeply below the surface of things . Let us regard things as they

arelet us be reasonable and practical , and philosophical to boot ; and , above all , do not let us forget that good old refrain : " Take the goods the Gods provide you , Lovely Thais sits beside you . " Alas ! this is the old , old fallacy amid the " fallentis semita vita , " which has benumbed the consciences of thousands of our

kind , and with the art of Mephistophiles has condemned many a Faust , to say nothing of injured Marguerite , to endless sorrow and shame . Yes , disguise it as we may , cover it up as we will with the rank luxuriance of sceptical thought , this world of ours has been given in all its agesand

, still is , to shams and to impostors—to the cunning charlatan and the brazen knave . For the world , curiously enough , despite its high moral tone and " pompous preludes , " seems rather to like being taken in , and hugs its chains complacently and calmly

enough . After all , probably there is , and must be , some pleasure in being deceived , since we all often prefer hypocrisy to sincerity , and treachery to truth ! So wags the world away , and in its revolving-cars , like as you may see in some busy fairthe

, rogue and the honest , the faithful and the betrayer , the kind and the malignant , the good aud the bad—all seem to move on pretty much alike around the customary circle ! Nemesis no doubt will be here one

day an unbidden guest at this Sybarites feast , but we shall most of us be cold in our graves and long forgotten , before this world ' s blind judgments are overruled , and its unsound decrees reversed . I do not

wish however , to be too hard on " Puss in Boots , " not only because I do not see why , like Diogenes , 1 am to keep railing from my tub against all which my fellow bipeds admire , but simply because I fully admit also that " tour les gouts " are " permis , " if not " respectables . "

Yet , I venture to-daytosay , that I , for my part , much prefer in all the concerns and company of life , that modesty which needs no allurements , that truth which never wavers , that purity of purpose , that

unselfishness of disposition which make No 1 give way to No . 2 , and do not consider it fair , even among " chief friends , " to inquire irretrievably your neighbour , simply to gratify your own personal dislikes , or to accommodate your own pressing interests .

I fear that , after all is said and done , " Puss in Boots" only represents the earthiness of earth , the worldliness of the world , the lesser and lower if outwardly agreeable characteristics of human nature , and thereforedespite the courage and

, cleverness , the attractiveness and the address of poor Puss , we should always be on our guard lest we ever forget that all this is only outside show , a skilful varnishing , and that beneath it all , alas , we miss entirely these truer emotions which should

control , and those higher aspirations which should elevate this fleeting life of oars . I know many a " Puss in Boots " in society , so do you , whom I think a pleasant companion and an agreeable member of our little circlenot a bad vis it visnot at all a

dis-, , agreeable associate 5 , tete a tete ; but yet when the music is hushed , the lights have flared out , when the flowers have withered , I feel more than ever how unsafe a

companion , how unfit a helpmate for all the cares , and crosses , and troubles , and sorrows , of life . No , depend upon it , though " Puss in Boots " may be admired by this world for that outward brilliancy and success which often attend on the audacious and

unscrupulous , here we shouldbe very much mistaken indeed , if we ever allowed ourselves to think for one moment , that such a state of things could give any of usreal happiness , or illuminate for us with any true or abiding light the often dreary pathway of

earthly existence . As I do not desire to seem to write too severely or too harshly , so I will only add that , as I have always been taught to look on life as a " real thing , " I feel bound to point out to my readers today that , though the world has lost none of

its fascinations , it has lost neither anything of its short-lived emptiness ; aud , like a good many other fragile and painted toys , " Puss in Boots" will also in turn pass away like allthings here , to point the moral and adorn the tale for all who can think , for all who can discern the the real from the unreal , the true from the false , the good from the evil , amid that

“The Masonic Magazine: 1876-07-01, Page 34” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 15 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01071876/page/34/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
TO OUR READERS. Article 2
INDEX. Article 4
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 7
SONNET. Article 7
A PCEAN. Article 8
SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR PEACEFUL SOLUTION. Article 10
THE BROKEN TESSERA. Article 13
THE WOMEN OF OUR TIME. Article 14
A WORD FOR OUR BOYS. Article 17
SONNET. Article 19
TRIADS IN MASONRY. Article 19
NOTES ON THE OLD MINUTE BOOKS OF THE BRITISH UNION LODGE, No. 114, IPSWICH. A.D. 1762. Article 20
AN ITALIAN COUNT. Article 24
WHISTLE DOWN THE BRAKES. Article 28
ZOROASTRIANISM AND FREEMASONRY. Article 28
THE OLD FISHER'S TALE. Article 32
FAIRY TALES UTILISED FOR, THE NEW GENERATION. Article 32
SPRING. Article 35
THE EDUCATION OF SOCIETY. Article 35
THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Article 37
Untitled Article 41
Our Archaeological Corner. Article 42
THE TROAD. Article 43
A STRICKEN HEART. Article 47
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ART. Article 47
THE NEW SCHOOL DIRECTOR. Article 49
REVIEW. Article 50
MASONIC CYCLOPAEDIA. Article 54
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Page 34

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Fairy Tales Utilised For, The New Generation.

matters it to us that poor Puss ' s antecedents are very questionable , ( ask Inspector Grummer ) , and that her moral propriety of conduct is very much open to doubt . It is a mistake for us to ask for too much , or to look too deeply below the surface of things . Let us regard things as they

arelet us be reasonable and practical , and philosophical to boot ; and , above all , do not let us forget that good old refrain : " Take the goods the Gods provide you , Lovely Thais sits beside you . " Alas ! this is the old , old fallacy amid the " fallentis semita vita , " which has benumbed the consciences of thousands of our

kind , and with the art of Mephistophiles has condemned many a Faust , to say nothing of injured Marguerite , to endless sorrow and shame . Yes , disguise it as we may , cover it up as we will with the rank luxuriance of sceptical thought , this world of ours has been given in all its agesand

, still is , to shams and to impostors—to the cunning charlatan and the brazen knave . For the world , curiously enough , despite its high moral tone and " pompous preludes , " seems rather to like being taken in , and hugs its chains complacently and calmly

enough . After all , probably there is , and must be , some pleasure in being deceived , since we all often prefer hypocrisy to sincerity , and treachery to truth ! So wags the world away , and in its revolving-cars , like as you may see in some busy fairthe

, rogue and the honest , the faithful and the betrayer , the kind and the malignant , the good aud the bad—all seem to move on pretty much alike around the customary circle ! Nemesis no doubt will be here one

day an unbidden guest at this Sybarites feast , but we shall most of us be cold in our graves and long forgotten , before this world ' s blind judgments are overruled , and its unsound decrees reversed . I do not

wish however , to be too hard on " Puss in Boots , " not only because I do not see why , like Diogenes , 1 am to keep railing from my tub against all which my fellow bipeds admire , but simply because I fully admit also that " tour les gouts " are " permis , " if not " respectables . "

Yet , I venture to-daytosay , that I , for my part , much prefer in all the concerns and company of life , that modesty which needs no allurements , that truth which never wavers , that purity of purpose , that

unselfishness of disposition which make No 1 give way to No . 2 , and do not consider it fair , even among " chief friends , " to inquire irretrievably your neighbour , simply to gratify your own personal dislikes , or to accommodate your own pressing interests .

I fear that , after all is said and done , " Puss in Boots" only represents the earthiness of earth , the worldliness of the world , the lesser and lower if outwardly agreeable characteristics of human nature , and thereforedespite the courage and

, cleverness , the attractiveness and the address of poor Puss , we should always be on our guard lest we ever forget that all this is only outside show , a skilful varnishing , and that beneath it all , alas , we miss entirely these truer emotions which should

control , and those higher aspirations which should elevate this fleeting life of oars . I know many a " Puss in Boots " in society , so do you , whom I think a pleasant companion and an agreeable member of our little circlenot a bad vis it visnot at all a

dis-, , agreeable associate 5 , tete a tete ; but yet when the music is hushed , the lights have flared out , when the flowers have withered , I feel more than ever how unsafe a

companion , how unfit a helpmate for all the cares , and crosses , and troubles , and sorrows , of life . No , depend upon it , though " Puss in Boots " may be admired by this world for that outward brilliancy and success which often attend on the audacious and

unscrupulous , here we shouldbe very much mistaken indeed , if we ever allowed ourselves to think for one moment , that such a state of things could give any of usreal happiness , or illuminate for us with any true or abiding light the often dreary pathway of

earthly existence . As I do not desire to seem to write too severely or too harshly , so I will only add that , as I have always been taught to look on life as a " real thing , " I feel bound to point out to my readers today that , though the world has lost none of

its fascinations , it has lost neither anything of its short-lived emptiness ; aud , like a good many other fragile and painted toys , " Puss in Boots" will also in turn pass away like allthings here , to point the moral and adorn the tale for all who can think , for all who can discern the the real from the unreal , the true from the false , the good from the evil , amid that

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