of the licart. They who appear sc dehghted to see each other, have frequently no mutual affection : even the nearest relatives, who seem to participate each other's joys, have so little real cordiality at home, that they can scarcely endure each other's conversation ; and would be heartily glad, if the knot which binds them together could be dissolved. Truly " in their laughter their heart is sorrowful:" their pride, their envy, their jealousy, their private piques, their domestic troubles, or their worldly cares, make them inwardly sigh, so that they can with difficulty prevent the discovery of the im- posture which they are practising. The very emptiness of their pleasure fills them often with disgust ; and they are con- strained to acknowledge, that " they are feeding on ashes, and that they have a lie in their right hand''."]
3. Transient —
[Su^^pose it to have been far more substantial than it has, yet how speedily has it vanished away ! What trace of it remains ? It is like a dream when one awaketh : in our dream we thought of satisfaction ; but when we awoke, we found ourselves as unsatisfied as ever''. If we thought by repeated participation to protract the pleasure, we weakened the zest with which we had partaken of it; and thus diminished, rather than increased, the sum of our enjoyment.]
4. Delusive —
[We hoped that the ultimate effect of all our mirth would be an easy comfortable frame : but has it always been so ? Has not the very reverse been often experienced b}' us ? Has not " the end of our mirth been heaviness?" An excessive eleva- tion of spirit is naturally calculated to produce depression. Besides, we cannot always shake off reflection: and the thought of having so foolishly wasted our time, instead of improving it in preparation for eternity, will sometimes produce very uneasy sensations. Such warnings as Solomon^, and our Lord^, have given us, will frequently obtrude themselves upon us, and make us almost weary of life, while at the same time we are afraid of death : so justly is this mirth compared to " the crackling of thorns under a pot'^;" the one, after an unprofitable blaze, terminating in smoke and darkness, the other, after a senseless noise, expiring in spleen and melancholy. In fact, there are no people more subject to lowness of spirits, than they who spend their time in vanity and dissipation.
What will be "the end of their mirth" when they come into the eternal world, is inexpressibly awful to consider. Fearful indeed will be the contrast between the festivities of their
^ Isai. xHv. 20. « jgai. xxix. 8. f Eccl. xi. 9.
g Luke vi. 25. '^ Eccl. vii. 6.