Sunday July 31.
Hotter than hot—but went to Church in despite of the sun. Went to church? Yes! & to Chapel—& heard a preacher, who reversed an ancient precept, into—Si vis me ridere, dolendum est tibi.[1] So much melancholy never before created so much mirth!— I am very sorry I went to hear him; for the frame of mind into which he threw me more than once, was unchristian & to be repented of. Oh that the frame of a Christian’s mind should be dependant on the countenance or the manner or the language of him who preaches & prays! This is not as it should be!— I thought he meant literally to obey the Apostolic precept—Pray without ceasing.[2] My knees never were so tired before!—
We had prayers in the Evening, as usual.
Mrs. Cliffe & Eliza came here today; but no letter did. It is my impression that something unpleasant & nearly if not quite decisive, was contained in Papa’s last letter to Bummy.
1. The entry of 7 August suggests that the preacher was Mr. Davis, substituting for Mr. Curzon. The “ancient precept”—“si vis me flere, dolendum est / primum ipsi tibi”—is from Horace’s De Arte Poetica, lines 102–103 (LCL–HO/S, pp. 458–459: “If you would have me weep, you must first feel grief yourself”). The “reversed” version substitutes “laugh” for “weep.”
2. I Thess. v.17.
