this complexion
have observed, that the sacred person who was the great pattern of
perfection, was never seen to laugh.

3. Cheerfulness of mind is not liable to any of these exceptions; it is
of a serious and composed nature; it does not throw the mind into a
condition improper for the present state of humanity, and is very
conspicuous in the characters of those who are looked upon as the
greatest philosophers among the heathens, as well as among those who
have been deservedly esteemed as saints and holy men among christians.

4. If we consider cheerfulness in three lights, with regard to
ourselves, to those we converse with, and to the great Author of our
being, it will not a little recommend itself on each of these accounts.
The man who is in possession of this excellent frame of mind, is not
only easy in his thoughts, but a perfect master of all the powers and
faculties of the soul: his imagination is always clear, and his judgment
undisturbed: his temper is even and unruffled, whether in action or
solitude. He comes with a relish to all those goods which nature has
provided for him, tastes all the pleasures of the creation which are
poured about him, and does not feel the full weight of those accidental
evils which may befal him.

5. If we consider him in relation to the persons whom he converses with,
it naturally produces love and good will towards him. A cheerful mind is
not only disposed to be affable and obliging, but raises the same good
humour in those who come within its influence. A man finds himself
pleased, he does not know why, with the cheerfulness of his companion:
it is like a sudden sun-shine that awakens a secret delight in the mind,
without her attending to it. The heart rejoices of its own accord, and
naturally flows out into friendship and benevolence towards the person
who has so kindly an effect upon it.

6. When I consider this cheerful stale of mind in its third relation, I
cannot but look upon it as a constant habitual gratitude to the great
Author of Nature. An inward cheerfulness is an implicit praise and
thanksgiving to Providence under all its dispensations. It is a kind of
acquiescence in the state wherein we are placed, and a secret
approbation of the Divine will in his conduct towards man.

7. There are but two things which, in my opinion, can reasonably deprive
us of this cheerfulness of heart. The first of these is the sense of
guilt. A man who lives in a state of vice and imp