MEANNESS, MEANS OF GRACE, MECHANICAL POWERS. 329 latter, elegant composition. Mrs. W. having got a new romance, in very enchanting dress, expressed her admiration of it, and urged her husband to read it, which he declined. At length she persuaded him to hear her read one page of it, after which she inquired, in a high state of emotion: "Don't you admire it?" The Pres. coolly replied: "What's the argument?” Ed. Devotion to mathematics, and devotion to religious duties, are said to have a practical interference. Some, however, make an idol of other studies. 569. MEANNESS, LITTLENESS. The more you court a mean man, the statelier he grows. Ed. Meanness to borrow, and not lend or return; to buy, and not pay; to receive, and not give; to steal from the poor and the generous; and to rob and oppress the weak and helpless. If any deserve to be called scoundrels, it must be such, and kindred spirits. Anger, Envy, Pride, and Vanity, are natives of little minds. Cowper. To dally much with subjects mean and low, Proves that the mind is weak, or makes it so. Ed. When persons are little by nature, little by education, little in principle, and little by practice, there is little hope in their case. 570. MEANS OF GRACE. Spring. The means of grace enlighten the understanding, impress the conscience, illustrate the obduracy of the heart, evince the sovereignty of Divine grace, and thus, by bringing God to the view of men, they prepare the way for his be illustriously triumphant. grace to Ed. The means of grace are the truths best adapted to enlighten, convince, and convert men to the disinterested spirit and Gospel of Christ, and lead them to hate selfishness, and turn from sin. They are a contrast to the means of destruction, which beget hope, without producing light, conviction, and the death which Paul died, just before regeneration. 571. MECHANISM, MECHANICAL POWERS. Steam. Strange there should slumber in yon tranquil pond, a power so tremendous, and yet so manageable as to be success 330 MEDDLERS, MEDICAL, MEDIOCRITY. fully applied to locomotion, commerce, manufacture, and other human services. Ed. Electricity. Still stranger there should slumber in the more quiet earth, a power so energetic, as to carry thoughts, with lightning speed, over kingdoms, when aided by human art, instead of merely darting fire through contiguous clouds, and trees, and houses. Ib. When we consider what God has done for his children, in mechanical discoveries, during half a century, since they began a few tiny enterprises to enlighten and reform the earth, what may we not hope, in reference to future mechanical discoveries and arts, when they shall make and hold conquest of the whole earth, under the Captain of their salvation, during the millennium? The thistly, thorny curse, may yet be entirely removed, by the progress of the arts, and the earth be brought under subjection to man, and requite a moderate and beneficial toil, with her original profusion. 572. MEDDLERS, MEDDLING. If you would destroy your own repose, disturb that of your neighbor. Ed. To meddle with another's privileges and prerogatives, is vexatious; to meddle with his interest, is injurious; to meddle with his good name, unites and aggravates both evils; but to meddle with his dangerous and injurious faults and vices, in a scriptural way, not suffering sin upon him, is a very rare and commendable meddling. [See 93.] 573. MEDICAL. The art of the physician consists, in a great measure, in exciting hope, and other friendly passions and feelings. Physic, the substitute for temperance and exercise. Em. Men have different criteria by which to judge of a physician. I have five: 1. good common sense; 2. a power and disposition to discriminate; 3. previous opportunities for professional study; 4. a habit of reflecting on his daily practice, and sytematizing his conclusions; 5. right moral feelings. 574. MEDIOCRITY, OR THE GOLDEN MEAN. Persevering mediocrity is much more reputable and useful than talented inconstancy. MEDITATION, MEEKNESS, MEMORY. Horace. He that holds fast the golden mean, Lemuel. The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, The tallest pines feel most the pow'r Comes heaviest to the ground: And spread the ruin round. Give me neither poverty nor riches. 575. MEDITATION. 331 [See 165.] Ed. Consecrate to God the first of your daily thoughts and affections, if you would obtain a habit of devout meditation. Ib. Meditation is the nurse of thought, and thought the material for meditation. Ib. If a reader does not devote considerable time to meditation and solid thinking, he will be rattle-brained. Meditation is the soul's perspective glass. [See 160, 791.] 576. MEEKNESS, MILDNESS. The spirit of truth dwelleth in meekness. When we can do nothing else, we can bear annoying and vexatious events meekly, patiently, and prayerfully, which is more than taking a city. Ed. The meek have a sure promise of more than princely possessions. Mat. 5: 5. Spring. Denounced as an impostor, stigmatized as an enemy of Cæsar and a conspirator against the government, ridiculed as a wine-bibber and friend of publicans and sinners, charged with being a madman and possessed of the devil, seized by the hands of violence, convicted by perjured witnesses, scoffed at, spit upon, buffeted, scourged, and nailed to the bloody tree, Christ betrayed not one complaining or angry thought. [See 356.] 577. MEMORY. Memory is the storehouse of the understanding. By memory we live over our past lives. By anticipation we outlive. By experience we simply live. It is better to exercise the judgment, than to overload the memory. Mankind often complain of memories; yet how seldom do they forget even the slightest circumstance of a real or supposed injury. Em. A particular memory, which retains the minute circumstances of things, and phraseology of ideas, is a bad thing. Pope. Thus in the soul, where memory prevails, The solid power of understanding fails. Some persons have memories instead of minds. Men will own a poor memory, but not a poor judgment, or a base heart. Remembrance of wrong leads to remorse, and remorse is a precursor of retribution. Ed. Hence the occasion for the Divine complaint against transgressors, "They consider not in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness." Ed. A good memory is the creature of proper attention, and of impartial and benevolent affection. For the want of the former, mankind forget their own things; without the latter, they will forget those of others. Ib. Memory becomes tenacious by proper exercise, as the body increases in strength. Ib. Memory is the mind's treasury, but it is often filled up with counterfeit coin, to its injury. 578. MENTAL EFFORTS. Ed. Beware of excessive and protracted mental jading. Let the body take its turn in labor, and, above all, be cheerful and joyful, always having something in mind, sufficiently elevated to make you so. Ib. Sorrow of heart, that is not godly sorrow, and vexation of spirit, especially when accompanied with despondency and melancholy, are destructive frictions in the machine of human life, vastly more so than cheerful thought, and devout meditation, though somewhat intense. MERRIMENT. 579. MERRIMENT, VAIN AMUSEMENT. 333 Gone? they ne'er go; when past, they haunt us still. Ed. Much time and thought have been expended upon the inquiry, how far is amusement justifiable? A previous question demands consideration. Is there nothing beside amusement, required by God and conscience, that will be more useful, and will yield more health and true happiness? Ib. There is a momentous question before the minds of all unregenerate persons, which should banish all levity and merriment from their minds. It is most unreasonable, absurd, and reckless, for any person to frolic a single moment, while the tremendous question is pending, whether he is to inherit all good, or all evil. Em. Diversions, properly so called, have no foundation, either in reason or religion. They are the offspring of a corrupt heart, and nourished by vicious example. God requires duties, and nothing but duties. And the duties which he requires are so various, and so well adapted to our present state, that in performing them, we may find all the relaxation of body and mind, which either can ever require. Ib. Many diversions wear an innocent appearance, though they really murder time, and unfit the heart for the duties of devotion. All diversions, whether more mean or more manly, are "the grapes of Sodom," and "the clusters of Gomorrah;" and though they are sweet to the taste, yet they are bitter to the conscience, and injurious to the soul. lb. If it be right to teach youth, that their hearts are totally depraved; that they live in an evil and dangerous world; that they are already under a sentence of condemnation, and the wrath of God abideth upon them; that they are exposed every day to sickness and death; that death will close their proba |