SERAPH.

A

COLLECTION

OF DIVINE

HYMNS AND POEMS.

From the best AUTHORS.

To thee, O God,

To thee all angels, all thy glorious court on high,
Seraph and cherub, the nobility,

And whatfoever Spirits be

Of leffer honour, lefs degree;
To thee, in heav'nly lays,

They fing loud anthems of immortal praise:
Still holy, holy, holy Lord of hofts, they cry;
This is their bus'nefs, this their fole employ,
And thus they spend their long and bleft eternity.

OLDHAM.

EDINBURGH:

Printed by R. FLEMING, and fold by YAIR and FLEMING in Company, and the other Booksellers.

M.DCC.LIV.

THE

PREFACE.

ANY one who confiders the nature of man, must

needs own that poetry is very proper to work upon it; that it may be of excellent ufe unto him, and that it has in fome respects the advantage of abstract reafoning and philofophy.

Tis true, were we nothing but pure intellect, were we stript of flesh and blood, and arriv'd at that perfect ftate the faints above enjoy, then a bare abftraction of. thought, and orderly ranging of ideas might ferve the turn. But while we continue fuch beings as we are, while blood, and fpirit, imagination and paffion, make up a part of our nature, thefe must have their proper objects and incentives, or we shall scarcely engage in the queft of glory: For what are thefe but a fort of wings to the foul? She may creep, but will hardly foar withQut them.

Now the great bufinefs of poetry (as every one knows) is to paint agreeable pictures on the imagination, to actuate the fpirits, and give the paffions a noble pitch. All its daring metaphors, furprising turns, melting accents, lofty flights, and lively defcriptions, ferve for this end. While we read, we feel a frange warmth boiling within, the blood dances through the veins, joy lightens in the countenance, and we are infenfibly led into a pleafing captivity.

Thefe are fome of the genuine effects of poetry; so that without all queftion, it may be of excellent ufe to mankind, may improve our fouls, and ferve as a powerful charm to deter us from vice, and engage us on the fide of wisdom and virtue..

But then, for the fame reafon, it cannot be deny'd, that it may be equally pernicious. Profane and leud

poetry

THE PREFACE.

poetry is one of the greatest incentives to wickedness in the world, like the Syren's melody, while it charms it kills us. Vice is a deform'd and odious thing, and if expos'd naked, would have but few admirers; it owes all its luftre to falfe colours, and thefe it chiefly borrows from the poets; 'tis they that smooth the monster's brow, and make her fmile, that conceal her defects, and fet her off to the greatest advantage. How many, who wou'd have Started at the open face of vice, have been entic'd into its fatal embraces by means of those bewitching difguifes that poetry has bestow'd on it?

Who, that has any concern for religion, or the happinefs of mankind, can confider, without melancholy, what Store of prophane and lewd poetry thefe late times have produc'd, how much 'tis valued, and what great mifchief is done by it? What numbers of plays, and other books of poetry and gallantry, are daily expos'd to fale; which, befides the wit, (pity fo excellent a thing should be employ'd to fuch forry purposes) contain nothing but fuel for mens corruptions? that burlefque religion defie its Author, and turn the most serious things into fulfome ridicule? Vice here rides triumphant, has forgot to blush, and puts on that air of confidence which truth and virtue should only appear in One would think thefe had refign'd up all their authority to it, and acknowledged vice to be the more noble and excellent thing. The antient heathens are at length conquer'd by us; and fhould the poets and comedians of thofe days return again, they'd freely own themselves outmatch'd by Chriftians, and wonder at our improvements in all the arts of wickedness. 'Tis ftrange, as well as deplorable, to fee what credit the leudeft authors obtain among us ; how fast their infection fpreads, and how fond men are of the inftruments of their ruin. These are the famous volumes that croud the prefs, and enrich the printer and bookfeller! Books of a contrary train, tho' their fubjects are never fo noble, and they are writ with a great deal of fenfe and wit, go off but dully, they want the moft charming accomplishment, and don't agree (God

for