...confused, to learn from the patient, that he was the identical comedian himself. Well might he have " said of laughter, it is mad; and of mirth, what doeth it!" Whenever there is a great flow of animal spirits, there must be a corresponding ebb. The late Lord...

...afflict us. Solomon's experience must have been of a painful kind, when it wrung from him the words, " I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?" Seeing, then, that we are all liable to sudden afflictions; that, in the wildest transport of joy,...

...16—18. I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure : and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter. It is mad : and" of mirth, What doeth it ! I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, &c. I made me great works : I builded me houses,...

...to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad : and of mirth, what doeth it ? 3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom ; and to...

...momentary mirth, it causes often depression. Solomon tried this kind of mirth, but he found it vanity. " I said of laughter, It is mad : and of mirth, What doeth it?" Eccles. ii. 2. And again he says, " Sorrow is better than laughter : for by the sadness of the countenance...

...Almighty against him : how can he be happy 1 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. " I said of laughter, it is mad ; and of mirth, what doeth it 1" It is but a sickly moment, and dream of joy. The lot of the child of God becomes reversed in the...

...to now, I will prove thee with mirth ; therefore enjoy pleasure : and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad : and of mirth, What doeth it ?*" The very best discipline, then, which the resources of the unassisted reason of Mankind could at...

...and grins through a horse-collar, or eats hasty-pudding, where everybody can see what he is about. " I said of laughter, it is mad ; and of mirth, what doeth it ?" was the sentiment of the wisest of men. How deeply and painfully was it present with me in glancing...

...the time for it. The same wise man doth not justify carnal mirth, but condemns it : Eccles. ii. 2, " 1" Object. 2. If we avoid all such things, it will be the way for our young people to be ignorant how...

...after another in this unhappy and fruitless comhat. Darker and more awful became my inward state ; ' I said of laughter, it is mad ; and of mirth, what doeth it ?'• I wished myself blind. Happy the blind ! their misfortune finds pity in the hearts of men; their...