fures of things, 'tis fufficient reafon to post a Man up for a Coward if he refufe a Duel; and to merit a Badge of Honour from the Herald's Office, if he accept it. Thefe Men would be ready to laugh at me, I know, as a lover of Paradoxes, fhould I tell them that theit Characters must be quite tranfpofed to make them true. And yet I cannot help it; fo it falls out, that he who declines the Duel, is indeed the Man of Honour and Courage; and he who accepts it is the Coward. For he who declines it defpifes the obloquy and fcorn of the World,that he may approve himself to God and his own Confcience, would rather be pointed and hifs'd at, then be Damn'd; and fo chufes a leffer evil to avoid a greater. But he that accepts the Duel, fo dreads the lofs of his Credit among those whofe good Opinion is of no Value, that to avoid it, he chufes to incur Sin and Damnation; and fo chufes a greater evil to avoid a lefs. And if this be Courage, we muft ftrike it out of the Catalogue of the Virtues; for nothing is fo, that is not un der the direction of Prudence; much lefs what is downright Folly, and the very exaltation of Madness.

Of SERIOUSNESS.

Ince I began to confider fo far as to make Reflections upon my felf, the most early and prevailing Difpofition which I obferv'd, was an Inclination to Seriousness: And fince I confider'd the Nature of Things, and the Circumftances of human Life, I found I had reafon to thank the kind influence of my Birth for making that my Temper, which otherwife I muft have been at more Coft to acquire.

For tho it be generally reckon'd only as a Semi-Virtue, and by fome as no Virtue at all; yet certainly nothing is of greater advantage both as to Intellectual and Moral Attainments, than to be of a ferious, compos'd and recollected Spirit.If it be not it felf a Virtue,'tis at leall the Soil

K

wherein

wherein it naturally grows, and the moft vifible Mark whereby to know thofe that have it. This is that whereby a Man is chiefly diftinguish'd from a Child, and a Wife Man from a Fool. For (as the Son of Syrac obferves) a Man may be known by his look, and one that has underfanding by his Countenance when thou meet'ft him, Ecclef. 19. And again fpeaking of Levity and diffolutenefs of Behaviour. A Mans attire, excess of laughter and gait fhew what he is; that is, it fhews he is none of the Wifeft. And that this was his true meaning, we may be affured from another, Character of his, where he exprefly makes the figns of Wisdom and Folly to confift in thefe two Properties (viz.) That a Fool lifts up his Voice with laughter, but a Wife man does fcarce fmile a little, Ecclef. 21.

There is indeed a near Relation between Seriousness and Wisdom, and one is the most excellent Friend to the other. A Man of a ferious, fedate, and confiderate Temper, as he is always in a ready difpofition for Meditation (the beft improvement both of Knowledg and Manners) fo he Thinks without disturbance, enters not upon another Notion till he is Mafler of the First; and fo makes clean work of it. Whereas a Man of a loofe, volatile and shatter'd Humour, thinks only by Fits and Starts, now and then in a Morning Interval, when the ferious Mood comes upon him; and even then too, let but the least trifle crois his way, and his defultorious Fancy prefently takes the Scent, leaves the unfinish'd and half-mangled Notion, and skips away in purfuit of the new Game. So that altho' he Conceives often, yet by fome Chance or other he always mifcarries; and the Iffues prove Abortive.

Indeed nothing excellent can be done without Serioufnefs, and he that courts Wifdom must be in earnest. St. James, Chap. 1. 7. affures us, that 'tis to no purpole for a wavering and unstable Man to Pray, becaufe he thall be fure not to speed. And as 'tis in vain for fuch a one to Pray, fo is it in vain for him to Study. For a Man to pretend

pretend to work out a neat Scherne of Thoughts with a maggotty unfettled Head, is as ridiculous and nonfenfical, as to think to write freight in a jumbling Coach, or to draw an exact Picture with a Palfie Hand. No, he that will hit what he aims at, must have a teddy Hand,as well as a quick Eye; and he that will Think to any purpose, muft have fix'dnefs and compofednefs of Humour, as well as smartness of Parts.

And accordingly we find, that thofe among the Philofophic Sects, that profefs'd more than ordinary Eminency in Wisdom or Virtue, affumed alfo a peculiar gravity of Habit, and folemnity of Behaviour; and the most facred and myfterious Rites of Religion were ufually perform'd with filence; and that not only for Decency, but for Advantage. Thus the Italians, with the Gravity of their Behaviour, are also remarkable for their more than ordinary Politenefs and Ingenuity, efpecially for Poetry, Mufiek, and Painting, things which depend not only upon ftrength of Imagination, but require alfo great juftnefs of Thought, and exactnefs of Judgment. And 'tis a known obfervation of Ariftotle's, concerning Melancholy, that it furthers Contemplation, and makes great Wits. Thus again, the Difcipline of Silence was a confiderable part of the Pythagoric Inftitution: And we have it ftoried of our Bleffed Lord himself, who was the Wisdom of his Father, that he never Laugh'd.

But becaufe a folemn Deportment may fometimes disguise an unthinking Mind, and Grave in fome Men's Dictionaries, fignifies the fame as Dull, I fhall put the Character a little more home, and define more clofely wherein the true Idea of Serioufnefs confifts; or what it is to be in good earnest, a ferious Man.

And First, I shall remove it from the neighbourhood of thofe Things, which by their fymbolizing with it in outward appearance, prove oftentimes the occaffon of Miflake and Confufion. It does not therefore confift in the Morofity of a Cynic, nor in the Severity of

an Afcetic, nor in the Demureness of a Frecifian, nor in the Deadness and Sullennefs of a Quaker, nor in the folemn Mien of an Italian, nor in the flow Pace of a Spaniard: 'Tis neither in a drooping Head, nor a mortify'd Face, nor a Primitive Beard.

'Tis fomething very different, and much more Excellent than all this, that muft make up a ferious Man. And I believe I fhall not mifreprefent him, if I fay, he is one that duly and impartially weighs the moments of Things, fo as neither to value Trifles, nor defpife Things really Excellent: That dwells much at home, and ftudies to know himself as well as Books or Men : That confiders why he came into the World, how great his business, and how fhort his flay in it, how uncertain 'tis when he fhall leave it; and whether a Sinner fhall then betake himself, when both Heaven and Earth fhall fly from the Prefence of the Judg. Rev. 20. That confiders God as always prefent, and the Folly of doing what must be repented of, and of going to Hell when a man may go to Heaven. In one word, That knows how to diftinguish between a Moment and Eternity.

This is to be truly ferious; and however the Pretender to gaiety and lighttomenefs of Humour may mifcall and ridicule it by the Names of Melancholy, Dullness and Stupidity, c. He that is thus affected cannot mifs of being Wife and Good here, and Happy hereafter. And then 'twill be his turn to Laugh, when the others fhall Mourn and Weep.

Of the flightness of all Secular, and the Importance of minding our Eternal Intereft.

Dlenefs and Impertinence, a doing of nothing, or of ar a nothing to the purpofe, are always figns of a vain, loofe, and inconfiderate Spirit; but they are never more fo, than where there is fome very momentous and

weighty

weighty Bufinefs to be done. The Man that Sleeps away his happy Retirements, or with the Roman Emperor, fpends them in killing Flies, betrays a great deal of Weakness and Incogitancy; but fhould he do the fame at the Bar, when he's to plead for his Life, he would certainly be thought a mere Changeling or Mad

man.

And yet this I fear will prove the Cafe of the most of thofe who ftile themfelves Rational. For befides that, the generality of men live at random, without any aim or defign at all; and thofe that propofe fome Ends, feldom take up with any that are Important and Material; or if they do, they feldom proportion their Care to the Weight of Things, but are ferious in Trifles, and trifling in things Serious: I fay, befides all this, there is nothing relating purely to this World that can deserve the Name of Bufinefs, or be worth the ferious Thoughts of him who has an immortal Soul; and a Salvation to work out with fear and trembling. The greateft fecular Affairs and Intereft, are but Specious Trifles; and all our Defigns and Employments about 'em Excentrical Motions, and Solemn Impertinencies.

And yet this is made the Center of all our Studies and Endeavours; the great Bent of the World points this way: Hence are taken the Measures of Wisdom and Prudence; and Religion it felf is forced to truckle to worldly Policy. Whereas in the mean time, there is an Affair of grand Importance, and wherein all Mankind are deeply concern'd; and fuch as really deferves all that Care and Solicitude which we lavish away upon other Things, and infinitely more (tho' perhaps it might be fecured with lefs) and yet this is the Thing which by Many is utterly neglected, by the Moft is leaft cared for; and by None fufficiently regarded. So that confidering the general Practice of the World, I think there are very few in it to whom that will not be a very proper and feafonable Admonition, which our Bleffed Lord gave to his folicitous and overbufie Difciple, Martha, Martha,

K 3