1

XII.

unto the Lord *. Form thy measures with SERM.
prudence; but diveft thyself of anxiety
about the iffue. Inftead of feeking to or-
der thine own lot, acquiefce in the appoint-
ment of Heaven, and follow without hefi-
tation the call of Providence, and of duty.
In whatever fituation of life God fhall
place thee, look up devoutly to Him for
grace and affiftance; and ftudy to act the
part affigned thee with a faithful and up-
right heart. Thus fhalt thou have peace
within thyself, while thy courfe is going

on;

and when it draws towards a close, with fatisfaction thou fhalt review thy conduct. For, after all the toils and labours of life, and all the vain ftruggles which we maintain for pre-eminence and distinction, we shall find, at the conclufion of the whole fcene, that to fear God and keep his commandments is the whole of man.

* Pfalm xxxvii. 5.

SERMON

SERMON XIII.

On the BENEFITS to be derived from the
HOUSE of MOURNING.

SERM.

XIII.

ECCLESIASTES, vii. 2, 3, 4.

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the Jadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The beart of the wife is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

MANY of the maxims contained in this book of Ecclefiaftes will appear ftrange fayings to the men of the world. But when they reflect on the character of

XIII.

him who delivers them, they cannot but SERM. admit that his tenets deferve a serious and attentive examination. For they are not the doctrines of a pedant, who, from an obfcure retirement, declaims against pleafures which he never knew. They are not the invectives of a difappointed man, who takes revenge upon the world, by fatirizing those enjoyments, which he fought in vain to obtain. They are the conclufions of a great and profperous prince, who had once given full fcope to his defires; who was thoroughly acquainted with life in its moft flattering scenes; and who now, reviewing all that he had enjoyed, delivers to us the refult of long experience, and tried wisdom. None of his principles, feem at firft view, more dubious and exceptionable than those which the text prefents. To affert that forrow is preferable to mirth, and the house of mourning to the house of feafting; to advise men to chufe mortification and sadness when it is in their power to indulge in joy, may appear harsh and unreasonable doctrines. They may, perhaps,

be

SERM. be accounted enemies to the innocent enXIII. joyment of life who give countenance to fo severe a system, and thereby increase the gloom which already fits fufficiently heavy

on the condition of man But let this cenfure be fufpended, until we examine with care into the spirit and meaning of the fentiments here delivered.

It is evident that the wife man does not prefer forrow, upon his own account, to mirth; or represent sadness as a state more eligible than joy. He confiders it in the light of difcipline only. He views it with reference to an end. He compares it with certain improvements which he supposes it to produce; when the heart is made better by the Jadness of the countenance, and the living to lay to heart what is the end of all men. Now, if great and lafting benefits are found to refult from occafional fadness, thefe, fure, may be capable of giving it the preference to fome fleeting fenfations of joy. The means which he recommends in order to our obtaining those benefits are to be explained according to the principles of found reafon;

XIII.

reafon; and to be understood with thofe SERM. limitations which the eastern ftyle, in delivering moral precepts, frequentlyrequires. He bids us go to the house of mourning; but he does not command us to dwell there. When he prefers forrow to laughter, he is not to be understood as prohibiting all mirth; as requiring us to wear a perpetual cloud on our brow, and to fequeftrate ourselves from every cheerful entertainment of focial life. Such an interpretation would be inconfiftent with many other exhortations in his own writings, which recommend temperate and innocent joy. It would not suit with the proper discharge of the duties which belong to us as members of fociety; and would be most oppofite to the goodness and benignity of our Creator. The true scope of his doctrine in this paffage is, that there is a certain temper and ftate of heart which is of far greater confequence to real happiness than the habitual indulgence of giddy and thoughtless mirth; that for the attainment and cultivation of this temper, frequent returns of grave reflection VOL. II.

B b

are