The Christian Poet, Or Selections in Verse, on Sacred Subjects (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Christian Poet, or Selections in Verse, on Sacred Subjects These abilities are the inspired gift of God, rarely bestowed; and are of power to inbreed and cherish in a great people the seeds of virtue and public civil ity; to allay the perturbations of the mind, and set the afl'ections in right tune; to celebrate in glorious and lofty hymns the throne and equipage of God's al mightiness, and what he works, and what he suffers to be wrought with high providence in his church; to sing victorious agonies of martyrs and saints, the deeds and triumphs of just and pious nations, doing valiantly through faith against the enemies of Christ; to deplore the general relapses of kingdomsand states from justice and God's true worship. Lastly, whatsoever in reli gion is holy and sublime, in virtue amiable 01: grave, whatsoever hath passion or admiration in all the changes of that which is called fortune from without, or the wily subtleties and refluxes of man's thoughts from within; all these things, with a solid and treat able smoothness, to paint out and describez - Teach ing over the whole book of sanctity and virtue, through all the instances of example, with such delight to those especially of soft and delicious temper, who willnot so much as look upon truth herself, unless they see her elegantly dressed, - that, whereas the paths of honesty and good life appear now rugged and difficult, though they be indeed easy and pleasant, they will then appear to all men easy and pleasant, though they were rugged and difficult indeed. On Church Government, Book II. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.