One of them was This. An Heart Serious, was one of the Main Strokes occurring there. When that Great Man, [who might on many Accounts be justly called] Grotius, had his Death Approaching, one asked him, what was the best Advice which one of his great Erudition and great Experience, could leave with a Survivor? His Answer was, Be Serious. Dr. Mather was an Uncommon Follower of that good Advice; and though he knew how to be Pleasant in such Company as he might safely use a Facetious and an ⟨p. 40⟩Innocent Freedom withal, yet he maintained a Serious Temper of mind, and such a Gravity as made all sorts of Persons, wherever he came, to be struck with a Sensible Awe of his Presence, as much as any ever were of a Roman Cat•'s; Yea, If he Laughed on them, they believed it not. It was Commonly thought of him, He was a Man of GOD, and his Countenance was like the Countenance of an Angel of GOD, very Venerable! And it was Commonly said, It was a very Edifying Thing, only to see him in our Public Assemblies; His very Countenance carried the Force of a Sermon with it. And this was not a Forced and a Starched Appearance, and a Tartuff cover to a mind at the same time abandoned unto Levity: But the Guard which he kept upon his Heart, and which was an Infallible Effect and Symptom of his having the true Fear of GOD planted there, was that which produced the Serious Aspect which had that Wisdom so shining in it. I cannot say, how many Thousands of Times, I find in his Diary, that Clause concluding the Hints of what he did, and where he was, in the Day; Heart Serious▪ By Heart Serious, he meant, an Heart which kept alive a Sense of his having the Eye of GOD upon him, with a Dread of Sinning against the Holy One; and an Heart Proposing an Obedience to GOD; Studious to Know and to Do, the Will of His Heavenly Father; and an Heart in a proper Frame to Entertain, all that the Glorious GOD should order to befall him. When he found his Heart remit in the Vigour of these Dispositions, he Wrote, Heart Various. ⟨p. 41⟩When he found his Heart considerably otherwise than he would have it, with a Sorrowful Heart he Wrote so. Yea, I find this among his other Entries. Heart in a Serious Frame, till towards Evening, when a Gentleman that made himself too much an Object of Ridicule called me to Visit Sr. Thomas Temple;
One of them was This. An Heart Serious, was one of the Main Strokes occurring there. When that Great Man, [who might on many Accounts be justly called] Grotius, had his Death Approaching, one asked him, what was the best Advice which one of his great Erudition and great Experience, could leave with a Surviver? His Answer was, Be Serious. Dr. Mather was an Uncommon Follower of that good Advice; and though he knew how to be Pleasant in such Company as he might safely use a Facetious and an ⟨p. 40⟩Innocent Freedom withal, yet he maintained a Serious Temper of mind, and such a Gravity as made all sorts of Persons, wherever he came, to be struck with a Sensible Awe of his Presence, as much as any ever were of a Roman Cat•'s; Yea, If he Laughed on them, they believed it not. It was Commonly thought of him, He was a Man of GOD, and his Countenance was like the Countenance of an Angel of GOD, very Venerable! And it was Commonly said, It was a very Edifying Thing, only to see him in our Public Assemblies; His very Countenance carried the Force of a Sermon with it. And this was not a Forc'd and a Starch'd Appearance, and a Tartuff cover to a mind at the same time abandoned unto Levity: But the Guard which he kept upon his Heart, and which was an Infallible Effect and Symptom of his having the true Fear of GOD planted there, was that which produced the Serious Aspect which had that Wisdom so shining in it. I cannot say, how many Thousands of Times, I find in his Diary, that Clause concluding the Hints of what he did, and where he was, in the Day; Heart Serious▪ By Heart Serious, he meant, an Heart which kept alive a Sense of his having the Eye of GOD upon him, with a Dread of Sinning against the Holy One; and an Heart Proposing an Obedience to GOD; Studious to Know and to Do, the Will of His Heavenly Father; and an Heart in a proper Frame to Entertain, all that the Glorious GOD should order to befal him. When he found his Heart remit in the Vigour of these Dispositions, he Wrote, Heart Various. ⟨p. 41⟩When he found his Heart considerably otherwise than he would have it, with a Sorrowful Heart he Wrote so. Yea, I find this among his other Entries. Heart in a Serious Frame, till towards Evening, when a Gentleman that made himself too much an Object of Ridicule called me to Visit Sr. Thomas Temple;
