postle will tell us, He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy, James 2. 13:00

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SECT. VII.

Of Scoffing and Derifion.

HERE is also another fault

of the Tongue injurious to our neighbor, and that is Derifion and Mockery; and striving to render others as ridiculous and contemtible as we can. This in refpect of the fubject matter differs from the other of Detraction, as much as folly or deformity do's from vice: yet fince injuries as well as benefits, are to be mefured by common eftimation, this may come in balance with the other. There is fuch a general averfation in human nature to contemt, that there is scarce any thing more exafperating. I will not deny but the excefs of the averfation may be level'd against Pride yet fure fcorn and difdain never fprung from humility, and therefore are

very incompetent Correctors of the other; fo that it may be faid of that, as once it was of Diogenes, that he trampled on Plato's Pride with greater of his own.

2. NOR is this injury enhanced only by the refentment of the sufferer, but also by the way of inflicting it. We generally think thofe are the feverest marks of infamy, which are the most indelible. To be burnt in the hand or pilloried, is a more lafting reproch then to be fcourged or confined; and it is the fame in this cafe, for here commonly Wit is the Lictor, which is arm'd with an edg'd tool, and leaves fears behind it. The reproch of rage and fury feem to be writ in Chalk of Lead, which a difpaffionate hearer eafily wipes out, but thofe of Wit are like the gravers burine upon copper,or the corrodings of Aqua-fortis,dengrave and indent the Characters that they can never be defaced. The truth of this daily experience attefts. A dull contumely quickly vanishes, no body thinking it worth remembring, but when 'tis fteel'd with Wit, it pierces deep, leaves fuch impreffions in the fancy of the hearers that thereby it gets rooting in the memory, and

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will scarce be eradicated: nay fomtimes it happens to furvive both speaker and hearer, and conveys it felf to pofterity; it being not unusual for the farcafms of Wit to be tranfmitted in ftory. And as it thus gives an edg, fo alfo do's it add wings to a reproch, makes it fly abroad in an inftant. Many a poor mans infirmities had bin confined to the notice of a few relations or neighbors, had not some remarkable ftrein of drollery fcatter'd and difperfed them. The jeft recommends the Defamation, and is commonly fo incorporate with it, that they cannot be related apart. And even those who like it not in one refpect, yet are many times fo tranfported with it in the other, that they chufe rather to propagate the contumely, then ftifle the conceit. Indeed Wit is fo much the Diana of this age, that he who goes about to fet any bounds to it, muft expect an uproar, Acts 19. 28. or at least to be judged to have impofed an envious inhibition on it, because himself has not stock enough to maintain the trade. But how ever fharp or unexpected the cenfure may seem to be, yet 'tis neceffary that plain downright truth fhould fomtimes

be spoken, and I think that will bear me out, if I fay 'tis poffible men may be as oppreffive by their parts, as their power; and that God did no more defign the meaner intellectualls of fome for triumphs to the Pride and vanity of the more acute, then he did the poffeffions of the less powerful, as a prey to the rapine and avarice of the mighty.

3. AND this fuggefts a yet farther aggravation of this fin, as it is a perverting of Gods defign, and abuse of the talent he has committed to men in trust. Ingenuity and quickness of parts, is fure to be reckoned in the highest ranks of Bleffing, and an inftrument proper for the most excellent purposes: and therefore we cannot fuppofe the Divine wisdom fo much fhort of Human, as not in his intention to affign it to uses worthy of it. Those must relate either to God, our felves, or our neighbors. In refpect of God, it renders us more capable of contemplating his Perfections, difcerning the Equity and excellence of his Laws, and our obligations to obedience. In regard of our felves it makes us apprehend our own intereft in that obedience; makes us tractable and bd

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perfwafible, contrary to that Brutish stubbornefs of the Horfe and Mule, which the Pfalmift reproches, Pfal. 32.9. Befides it accommodates us in all the concerns of Human life, forms it felf into all thofe ufeful contrivances, which may make our being here more comfortable; efpecially it renders a man company to himself, and in the greatest dearth of Society, entertains him with his own thoughts. Laftly, as to our neighbors, it renders us ufeful and affiftant. All thofe difcoveries and experiments, those Arts and Sciences, which are now the common trefure of the world, took their first rise from the ingenuity of particular perfons: and in all Perfonal exigencies wherein any of us are at any time involved, we need not be told the ufefulness of a wife adviser. Now all thefe are emploiments commenfurable to the faculty from whence they flow, and that answer its excellence and value; and he that fo bestows his talent, gives a good account of his truft. But I would fain know under which of thefe Heads Derifion of our Neighbor comes in: certainly not under that of being affiftant to him. It would be a forry relief to a

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