The Government and Improvement of Mirth, Title page – To the reader
THE Government & Improvement OF MIRTH According To the LAWS of Chriſtianity. In Three SERMONS.
I. Of Civil & Natural Mirth
II. Of Carnal & Vicious Mirth
III. Of Spiritual & Holy Joy.
Eſſay'd from James. V. 13.
Is any among you Afflicted? let him Pray. Is any Merry? let him Sing Pſalms.
More eſpecially deſigned for the Uſe, and Recommended to the Serious Peruſal of Young People, and in Particular the Young Gentlemen of Boſton.
By Benj. Colman.
Boſton in New-England: Printed by B Green, for Samuel Phillips at the Brick Shop. 1707.
TO THE READER.
THE Reaſon of my Publiſhing the following Diſcourſes, is becauſe I apprehend the Subject to be of great Importance, and a Treatiſe on it wanting among us. For among things of common and daily Abuſe, no one ſcarce has eſcap't with leſs expreſs Cenſure, and Labours for the Correcting it, than abuſed Mirth …as. It is always like to be in faſhion in the World, and every ſingle Perſon in every age of it is ſometime or other making Solomon's Experiment, Eccl. 2.1. I ſaid in my heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with Mirth, therefore enjoy Pleaſure, … it Endangers the World while it flatters and ſeems to adorn it: As in the days that were before the Flood, they did eat, they drank, they Marryed, — until the day that Noah entred into the Ark; and the Flood came and deſtroyed them all.
It may be there never was more Mirth, nor under leſs Regulation, than in this Age, and among too many in this Place. A great deal of Pleaſantry there is in the Town, and very graceful and charming it is ſo far as it is Innocent and Wiſe. Our Wit like our Air is clear and Keen, and in very Many 'tis exalted by a Polite Education meeting with good Natural Parts: 'tis pity that Sin ſhould mix with it, to render it Nauſeous and Deſtructive, and make it end in Shame and Sorrow.
Youth is more eſpecially the Age of Levity and Laughter, and needs Correction; Rejoyce, O Young man in thy Youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the dayes of thy Youth, and walk in the way of thine Heart, and in the fight of thine Eyes; but know thou that for all theſe things God will bring thee into Judgment. To Young People therefore it is that I principally Write; and poſſibly may do it with Advantage as well as Decency, my own Youth and natural Chearfulneſs not ſavouring to them of Moroſeneſs, that common Prejudice of ſenſual Youth againſt their wiſe Reprovers.
And indeed I am far from Inveighing againſt Sober Mirth: On the contrary, I juſtifie, applaud & recommend it; Only let your Converſation be as becometh the Goſpel; let it be pure and grave, ſerious and devout, all which it may be and yet free and chearful; there's no neceſſity of being Immodeſt or Profane, Idle and Impertinent, in order to be Merry. Yet for want of a Religious care and Watch over themſelves, people ſlip inſenſibly into theſe Exceſſes; and ſome ſet themſelves to abuſe and pervert their Wit, and the Bounty of God to them, to Filthineſs, and fooliſh Talking, and Jeſting, which are not convenient, nor ſhou'd be once named among us, as becometh Saints; But rather giving of Thanks.
A more mean and ſickly thing this is in Elder People, as well as more vile and horrid! their Example Abominable and Pernicious, and Portentous to themſelves that they are of that Number, St. James 5.5. Ye have lived in pleaſure on the Earth, and been wanton; ye have nouriſhed your hearts, as in a day of ſlaughter.
But becauſe there is another Extream, and too many Good People run into it, I wou'd turn my Addreſs to them, and Say: That by no means muſt they ſeem to place any thing of Religion in being Dull and heavy, ſad and diſconſolate, ſour and moroſe. Not only does Religion Allow but it Obliges unto chearfulneſs with Sobriety: It gives the moſt reaſon for it, and is ſerv'd by it: None have that Licenſe, and in none is it ſo Decent and Comely as in them that are Good. Mirth was not made for the Profane and Ungodly, Eſpecially Spiritual Joy is the peculiar Duty and Priviledge of Saints: They are under Bonds to exhibit the Pleaſures and Satisfactions of Religion, if it be poſſible to convince the Ungodly how Superior they are to all thoſe of Senſe which this World has to boaſt of. If men are for Mirth, This is worthy to be called ſo and aſpir'd after! A Joy that is Solid, Pure, Perfective, Purmanent! Stronger than all Afflictions, and abiding in Death! A light in thoſe ſhades, and a Triumph 'ore thoſe Terrors!
To do my Duty therefore to One and Other, I have in the following Pages endeavour'd to ſhow the Decency and Obligation of Natural and Civil Mirth, and then the foul Abuſes of it to Vice and Carnality; and finally I have conſider'd (as I was able within ſo ſhort a compaſs) the Pleaſures that are proper to Religion.
But the laſt being a Subject ſo Noble, I bluſh at my own Preſumption in Attempting it; nor ſhou'd I but for the Lameneſs which the Omitting this wou'd have left on the others: Alſo when I conſider how Rich & Copious a Theme it is, I bluſh again at the Poverty of my Eſſay on it. Moreover, I durſt not truſt my own Expreſſions on ſo Heavenly and Spiritual a Head, and therefore have laid it in Scripture Language. The Holy Ghoſt can beſt deſcribe his own Gifts and Work, and ſpeak of the Joys whereof He is the alone Author: and where ſhou'd we expect this but in His Inſpir'd Word? On ſuch a Head which is ſtrictly Divine, and purely Heavenly, that Diſcourſe is ſure to be moſt exact and pertinent, which is taken out of the Bible, and compoſed in Scripture-Phraſe.
It is more than two years ſince I Preached theſe Sermons in the Courſe of my Miniſtry, (but the Laſt now appears alter'd in Method, and abbreviated as to that particular, Duty and Ordinance named in the Text, ſcil. The Singing of Pſalms; that Argument having been deſignedly Written on very lately by my Reverend Brother Mr. Wadſworth.) And as I then tho't the Subject Uſeful and Seaſonable, ſo I have ſince grown in that Opinion; and therefore I now humbly offer 'em to the Publick, asking the Readers … and Prayers, and beſeeching Almighty GOD to bleſs what is Written to him, and to make it Serviceable alſo unto his Own Glory; and that not only in the Reforming the Leſſer Slips and Groſſer Exceſſes of Common Mirth among us, but alſo in giving us all a true underſtanding and Taſt of the Divine Joyes of Religion.
B. Colman. Boſton N. E. January 3d. 1706, 7.