CHAP. XXVII. The Parson in mirth.
Solemnity Anchored in the Cross
The parson is habitually solemn because he is fixed on Christ's cross and daily confronted with sin and misery.
The country parson is generally solemn, because he knows nothing but the Cross of Christ, his mind fastened to it by the same nails that held his Master; or if he has any leisure to look away from it, he continually meets with two most sorrowful sights.✦12 Sin and misery: God dishonored every day, and man afflicted.
Seasonable Refreshment
Yet the parson wisely permits himself occasional mirth, knowing that pleasantness aids instruction and that both he and others need relief from constant severity.
Nevertheless, he sometimes refreshes himself, knowing that nature will not bear endless drooping, and that a pleasant disposition is a great key to doing good—not only because everyone shuns the company of perpetual severity, but also because when people are together, instruction seasoned with pleasantness both enters sooner and takes deeper root.3 So he makes allowance for human frailties both in himself and in others, and occasionally mixes some mirth into his conversation, according to the pulse of the hearer.45
Read the original English
THe Countrey Parson is generally sad, because hee knows nothing but the Crosse of Christ, his minde being defixed on it with those nailes wherewith his Master was: or if he have any leisure to look off from thence, he meets continually with two most sad spectacles. Sin, and Misery; God dishonoured every day, and man afflicted. Neverthelesse, he somtimes refresheth himselfe, as knowing that nature will not bear everlasting droopings, and that pleasantnesse of disposition is a great key to do good; not onely because all men shun the company of perpetuall severity, but also for that when they are in company, instructions seasoned with pleasantnesse, both enter sooner, and roote deeper. Wherefore he condescends to humane frailties both in himseife and others; and intermingles some mirth in his discourses occasionally, according to the pulse of the hearer.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.2.2;Gal.6.14 — For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Gal.6.14 — But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Notes
- 1 ↩Early modern 'sad' here means grave/solemn rather than merely unhappy; rendered 'solemn' for the parson's habitual disposition and 'sorrowful' for the spectacles, to keep the gravity without sounding casually depressed.
- 2 ↩'defixed' means firmly fastened or nailed down; the image is that the parson's mind is fixed to the Cross by the same nails that held Christ.
- 3 ↩'droopings' means spells of low, heavy spirits; rendered as 'endless drooping' to keep Herbert's image of nature sagging under unbroken gloom.
- 4 ↩'condescends to' here is non-pejorative Early Modern usage: stoops to meet or accommodates human weakness, not patronizing disdain. Rendered 'makes allowance for'.
- 5 ↩Source 'himseife' treated as 'himself'.
A Priest to the Temple, or, The Country Parson companion
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