[185] Heroes and Hero-worship, by Thomas Carlyle, lecture i.
[186] If the influence of Masonry upon youth is here emphasized, it is not to forget that the most dangerous period of life is not youth, with its turmoil of storm and stress, but between forty and sixty. When the enthusiasms of youth have cooled, and its rosy glamour has faded into the light of common day, there is apt to be a letting down of ideals, a hardening of heart, when cynicism takes the place of idealism. If the judgments of the young are austere and need to be softened by charity, the middle years of life need still more the reënforcement of spiritual influence and the inspiration of a holy atmosphere. Also, Albert Pike used to urge upon old men the study of Masonry, the better to help them gather up the scattered thoughts about life and build them into a firm faith; and because Masonry offers to every man a great hope and consolation. Indeed, its ministry to every period of life is benign. Studying Masonry is like looking at a sunset; each man who looks is filled with the beauty and wonder of it, but the glory is not diminished.
BIBLIOGRAPHY[ToC]
(The literature of Masonry is very large, and the following is only a small selection of such books as the writer has found particularly helpful in the course of this study. The notes and text of the foregoing pages mention many books, sometimes with brief characterizations, and that fact renders a longer list unnecessary here.)
Anderson, Book of Constitutions.