FORTITUDE
Is that noble and steady purpose of the mind, whereby we are enabled to undergo any pain, peril, or danger, when prudentially deemed expedient. This virtue is equally distant from rashness or cowardice; and should be deeply impressed upon the mind of every Mason, as a safeguard or security against any illegal attack that may be made, by force or otherwise, to extort from him any of those valuable secrets with which he has been so solemnly intrusted, and which were emblematically represented upon his first admission into the Lodge, and * ** In the absence of this virtue, no person can perform his duty, either to GOD, his neighbor, or himself, in an acceptable manner. He will be too much overwhelmed with the cares and troubles of the world to find leisure or resolution to protect himself from the enticing machinations with which he will be continually beset during his progress through life; and may be led unintentionally to rend asunder the sacred ties of brotherhood which unite men of all parties, religions, or politics, by forfeiting the confidence trustingly reposed in him, and thereby becoming the victim of his own weakness.
PRUDENCE
Teaches us to regulate our lives and actions agreeably to the dictates of reason, and is that habit by which we wisely judge and prudentially determine on all things relative to cur present as well as to our future happiness. This virtue should be the peculiar characteristic of every Mason, not only for the government of his conduct while in the Lodge, but also when abroad in the world. It should be particularly attended to, in all strange and mixed companies, never to let fall the least sign, token, or word, whereby the secrets of Masonry might be unlawfully obtained, and * * * * * Prudence is among the most exalted objects that demand every Mason's special attention, for it is the rule which governs all other virtues. She directs us to the path which leads to every degree of propriety, inciting us to the performance of worthy actions, and, as a guiding-star, lighting our steps through the dreary and dark-some ways of this life.
TEMPERANCE
Is that due restraint upon our affections and passions, which renders the body tame and governable, and frees the mind from the allurements of vice. This virtue should be the constant practice of every Mason; as he is thereby taught to avoid excess, or contracting any licentious or vicious habits, the indulgence of which might lead him to disclose some of those valuable secrets which he has promised to conceal, and never reveal, and which would consequently subject him to the contempt and detestation of all good Masons.
This virtue should be the constant practice of every Freemason, while its opposite should be carefully guarded against. At the shrine of Intemperance, how many victims are daily offered!—Blooming youth and hoary age have alike bowed before it. They continue offering libations on the unhallowed altar, until their fortunes are wasted, their credit lost, their constitutions impaired, their children beggared, and that life which might have been usefully and honorably employed, becomes a burden to the possessor.
JUSTICE
Is that standard, or boundary of right, which enables us to render to every man his just due, without distinction. This virtue is not only consistent with divine and human laws, but is the very cement and support of civil society; and as justice, in a great measure, constitutes the really good man, so should it be the invariable practice of every Mason never to deviate from the minutest principle thereof. * * *
The exercise of this principle incites us to act toward others, in all the transactions of life, as we wish they would act toward us; and as, in a great measure, it constitutes real goodness, it is therefore represented as the perpetual study of an accomplished Freemason. Without the influence of justice, universal confusion would ensue; lawless force would overcome the principles of equity, and social intercourse would no longer exist.
Here may be given some general instructions peculiar to Freemasons, relative to the manner in which Entered Apprentices serve their * * *, and how represented * * *; together with a few observations regarding the comparison between it and clay, etc., and concluding thus:
Our Mother EARTH alone, of all the elements, has never proved unfriendly to man; the bodies of water deluge him with rain, oppress him with hail, and drown him with inundations. The air rushes in storms, prepares the tempest, and lights up the volcano; but the earth, ever kind and indulgent, is found subservient to his wishes. Though constantly harassed, more to furnish the luxuries than the necessaries of life, she never refuses her accustomed yield; spreading his path with flowers and his table with plenty; though she produces poison, still she supplies the antidote, and returns with interest every good committed to her care; and when at last he is called upon to pass through the "dark valley of the shadow of Death," she once more receives him, and piously covers his remains within her bosom: this admonishes us that from it we came, and to it we must shortly return.
Such is the arrangement of the different sections in the first lecture, which, with the forms adopted at the Opening and Closing of a Lodge, comprehends the whole of the first degree of Masonry. This plan has the advantage of regularity to recommend it, the support of precedent and authority, and the sanction and respect which flow from antiquity.
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