Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Charge Delivered To The Faithful Lodge, No. 499,
_ Perhaps there are some who regard the whole of Wisdom , as consisting in the improvement of the intellectual powers , by the application of them to works that immortalize their performers in the esteem of men . They are mistaken . Solomon , though highly eminent foHhiskind of wisdom , does not recommendit , in this warm manner , to general cultivation ' . That such a consideration may not be taken in as subservient to
the Grand Principle , Solomon never asserted , and we cannot believe ^ But then only as it is subservient to true wisdom is it to be regarded ; and this ascertains at once the just place and value of the Arts and Sciences so much boasted of . The Grand Principle then of Wisdom , to which all others are subordinatewhich ought to be the primary point of all our considera
-, tion—which should be the principal scope of our researches , and for the reception of which our minds should constantly be expanded , is Self-Knowledge . In this is summed up the whole of true Wisdom We all know , —natural reason and daily experience convince us , that man is not what he was . The human mind is conscious of it ' s own imperfections ; is sensible of the want of it ' s being enlihtened
g by the rays of moral truth . The passions by their constant jarring , and frequent Wild confusion , sufficiently show us , that the human soul hath lost something that was ori ginally placed therein by it ' s Great Architect for the purpose of regulating it ' s affections and directing it ' s faculties ; and that it is now become , instead of the
beautiful Temple it once was , achaosof grandand splendid ruins , — grand and splendid they undoubtedly are yet , still they are but the ruins of what was once infinitely more so . The light also that once made this edifice glorious , is so departed as to leave only a faint glimmering , just serving to render the ruins visible . To regain that principle which hath for it ' s aim and within it ' s power the reduction of those disordered parts once more into
regu larity , —to recover , in some degree at least , the mental beauty that is hid under this heap of desolation , and to diffuse that li ght which can alone render man the glory of the Creation , must be an enquiry of the utmost consequence . Compared with this , all other wisdom is but trifling folly , and the cultivation of all other arts but childish pursuits . The effects of that species of wisdomwhich is so hihl
, gy esteemed among men , are of no intrinsic value ; and can challenge only a momentary regard . The most elegant and spacious fabric , planned by the profoundest skill , erected with the greatest labour arid expence , and ornamented with the most exquisite productions of the imitative arts , can last but for a period . The number of it ' s admirers will even decrease in proportion as it becomes familiar ; and
the silent but certain movements of time , will corrode it ' s most delicate parts , and insensibly bring the whole into a ruinous heap . Where are now the mi ghty structures of antient time ? The name of the Ephesian Diana , the Roman Amphitheatre , the Temple of Solomon , and innumerable other buildings , history tells us , once were glorious ? Some of the chiefest are swept away from the face
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Charge Delivered To The Faithful Lodge, No. 499,
_ Perhaps there are some who regard the whole of Wisdom , as consisting in the improvement of the intellectual powers , by the application of them to works that immortalize their performers in the esteem of men . They are mistaken . Solomon , though highly eminent foHhiskind of wisdom , does not recommendit , in this warm manner , to general cultivation ' . That such a consideration may not be taken in as subservient to
the Grand Principle , Solomon never asserted , and we cannot believe ^ But then only as it is subservient to true wisdom is it to be regarded ; and this ascertains at once the just place and value of the Arts and Sciences so much boasted of . The Grand Principle then of Wisdom , to which all others are subordinatewhich ought to be the primary point of all our considera
-, tion—which should be the principal scope of our researches , and for the reception of which our minds should constantly be expanded , is Self-Knowledge . In this is summed up the whole of true Wisdom We all know , —natural reason and daily experience convince us , that man is not what he was . The human mind is conscious of it ' s own imperfections ; is sensible of the want of it ' s being enlihtened
g by the rays of moral truth . The passions by their constant jarring , and frequent Wild confusion , sufficiently show us , that the human soul hath lost something that was ori ginally placed therein by it ' s Great Architect for the purpose of regulating it ' s affections and directing it ' s faculties ; and that it is now become , instead of the
beautiful Temple it once was , achaosof grandand splendid ruins , — grand and splendid they undoubtedly are yet , still they are but the ruins of what was once infinitely more so . The light also that once made this edifice glorious , is so departed as to leave only a faint glimmering , just serving to render the ruins visible . To regain that principle which hath for it ' s aim and within it ' s power the reduction of those disordered parts once more into
regu larity , —to recover , in some degree at least , the mental beauty that is hid under this heap of desolation , and to diffuse that li ght which can alone render man the glory of the Creation , must be an enquiry of the utmost consequence . Compared with this , all other wisdom is but trifling folly , and the cultivation of all other arts but childish pursuits . The effects of that species of wisdomwhich is so hihl
, gy esteemed among men , are of no intrinsic value ; and can challenge only a momentary regard . The most elegant and spacious fabric , planned by the profoundest skill , erected with the greatest labour arid expence , and ornamented with the most exquisite productions of the imitative arts , can last but for a period . The number of it ' s admirers will even decrease in proportion as it becomes familiar ; and
the silent but certain movements of time , will corrode it ' s most delicate parts , and insensibly bring the whole into a ruinous heap . Where are now the mi ghty structures of antient time ? The name of the Ephesian Diana , the Roman Amphitheatre , the Temple of Solomon , and innumerable other buildings , history tells us , once were glorious ? Some of the chiefest are swept away from the face