A statesman retiring from public life occupied himself in his latter days
with serious thoughts.
The friends who came to visit him, reproached him with being melancholy.
"No," he replied; "I am only _serious_. All around me is serious, and I
feel the need that heart and mind should be in unison with my
surroundings."
"For," he added, with such solemnity as to impress all present, "GOD is
_serious_ as He watches us. JESUS is _serious_ when He intercedes for us.
The HOLY SPIRIT is _serious_ when He guides us. Satan is _serious_ when he
tempts us. The wicked in hell are _serious_ now, because they neglected to
be so when on earth; all is _serious_ in that world whither we are
wending."
Oh, my friends! believe me, it is all true; let us at least at times be
_serious_ in our thoughts and in our actions.