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Article MASONIC DIDACTICS; ← Page 2 of 2
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Masonic Didactics;
was taken from the plough-tail while tilling the soil of his own territory . But , the stated period for the exercise of his official duties having expired , he again resumed his previous humble occupations in the retirement of a private station , confessing himself happier in it than when surrounded with all the circumstances and pom ]) of regal power . Man , after buffeting with the frowns of fortune and the storms of life , like shitossed at sea badverse gales and waves running mountains
a p y high , reaches at last the long desired haven , finding rest only in the grave . That is the bourne of peace for the miserable . The unhappy , the unfortunate , the afflicted , all enjoy , when consigned to that narrow chamber , the tranquillity and rest which was denied them on earth through the contumely , malevolence , or knavery of their fellow-men .
No . XIV . —ON THE INFLUENCE OF FEAR .
" Quicquitl ttmebam faccre fecisse arguor . "— SESBCA . " Conscience doth make cowards of us all . "—SHAKSPEARE . WHENEVER honour will not deter mankind from acting wrongfully , fear , nine times out of ten , will . Men , in all ranks are open to temptation , and , the power which resists it in the mind of one individual is often wholly different from what actuates anotherThis theory is practicallillustrated bthe morals of the
. y y mass of a people , who , when generally nnedncated , or in a barbarous state , would frequently overstep the bounds of rectitude if not intuitively checked by the ultimate fear of the gibbet . Superstition likewise has a certain effect upon minds not expanded by knowledge of the genuine principles which constitute the order and happiness of society . Butnext to true pietywhich is the essential operative motive of
, , sound religion , honour possesses the greatest influence over enlightened , and therefore , civilised understandings . Minds so cultivated shrink with horror from the contamination of vice , or the commission of guilt , recoiling , like the sensitive plant , from the indelicate touch of the profane vulgar . The influence of fear upon the conscience is curiously and vividly pourtrayed in the following anecdote among our naval annals : — discovered
" A mutiny on board H . M . S . was providentially by the officer on watch overhearing a sailor in his hammock mutter some incoherent sentences of a sanguinary conspiracy while dreaming in his sleep . On the succeeding morning the officer privately asked the man the meaning of the words he had heard . Startled at the question , and his . / ear making him imagine that he had revealed more than the officer related , and the noose with the yard-arm floating in his terrorstruck senses , the sailor instantly confided the whole plot to his superior , only a portion of which his alarmed conscience had discovered in the fitful twitches of a dream . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics;
was taken from the plough-tail while tilling the soil of his own territory . But , the stated period for the exercise of his official duties having expired , he again resumed his previous humble occupations in the retirement of a private station , confessing himself happier in it than when surrounded with all the circumstances and pom ]) of regal power . Man , after buffeting with the frowns of fortune and the storms of life , like shitossed at sea badverse gales and waves running mountains
a p y high , reaches at last the long desired haven , finding rest only in the grave . That is the bourne of peace for the miserable . The unhappy , the unfortunate , the afflicted , all enjoy , when consigned to that narrow chamber , the tranquillity and rest which was denied them on earth through the contumely , malevolence , or knavery of their fellow-men .
No . XIV . —ON THE INFLUENCE OF FEAR .
" Quicquitl ttmebam faccre fecisse arguor . "— SESBCA . " Conscience doth make cowards of us all . "—SHAKSPEARE . WHENEVER honour will not deter mankind from acting wrongfully , fear , nine times out of ten , will . Men , in all ranks are open to temptation , and , the power which resists it in the mind of one individual is often wholly different from what actuates anotherThis theory is practicallillustrated bthe morals of the
. y y mass of a people , who , when generally nnedncated , or in a barbarous state , would frequently overstep the bounds of rectitude if not intuitively checked by the ultimate fear of the gibbet . Superstition likewise has a certain effect upon minds not expanded by knowledge of the genuine principles which constitute the order and happiness of society . Butnext to true pietywhich is the essential operative motive of
, , sound religion , honour possesses the greatest influence over enlightened , and therefore , civilised understandings . Minds so cultivated shrink with horror from the contamination of vice , or the commission of guilt , recoiling , like the sensitive plant , from the indelicate touch of the profane vulgar . The influence of fear upon the conscience is curiously and vividly pourtrayed in the following anecdote among our naval annals : — discovered
" A mutiny on board H . M . S . was providentially by the officer on watch overhearing a sailor in his hammock mutter some incoherent sentences of a sanguinary conspiracy while dreaming in his sleep . On the succeeding morning the officer privately asked the man the meaning of the words he had heard . Startled at the question , and his . / ear making him imagine that he had revealed more than the officer related , and the noose with the yard-arm floating in his terrorstruck senses , the sailor instantly confided the whole plot to his superior , only a portion of which his alarmed conscience had discovered in the fitful twitches of a dream . "