The Second sort are, Parents and Masters of Families, I am persuaded, with the Blessing of God, this Book may prove of great advantage to their Children, who generally are taken with Verse, and are much addicted ⟨image 5⟩to learn such Songs and Ballads which generally tend to corrupt Youth; and 'tis a shame to godly Christians they should suffer their Children to learn many of them; but since Singing is God's Ordinance, I mean, to sing Psalms, and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 'tis doubtless their duty to instruct them therein, as well as to teach them to read; and by learning Sacred Hymns, they may be taken, before their Parents are aware, with the Matter therein contained (as divers have, through the Blessing of God, as I have been oft informed, by reading that small Poem, called War with the Devil,) and some others. Youth are generally ⟨image 5⟩inclined to Poetry, and as one of the Ancients excellently observes, The Holy Ghost seeing the Souls of Mankind struggling in the way of Godliness, and being inclined to the Delights of this Life, hath mixed the power of his Doctrine with sweet Singing, that whilst the Soul was melted with the sweetness of the Verse, the Divine Word might the better be grafted with profit.
The Second sort are, Parents and Masters of Families, I am perswaded, with the Blessing of God, this Book may prove of great advantage to their Children, who generally are taken with Verse, and are much addicted ⟨image 5⟩to learn such Songs and Ballads which generally tend to corrupt Youth; and 'tis a shame to godly Christians they should suffer their Children to learn many of them; but since Singing is God's Ordinance, I mean, to sing Psalms, and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 'tis doubtless their duty to instruct them therein, as well as to teach them to read; and by learning Sacred Hymns, they may be taken, before their Parents are aware, with the Matter therein contained (as divers have, through the Blessing of God, as I have been oft inform'd, by reading that small Poem, called War with the Devil,) and some others. Youth are generally ⟨image 5⟩inclin'd to Poetry, and as one of the Ancients excellently observes, The Holy Ghost seeing the Souls of Mankind strugling in the way of Godliness, and being inclined to the Delights of this Life, hath mixed the power of his Doctrine with sweet Singing, that whilst the Soul was melted with the sweetness of the Verse, the Divine Word might the better be grafted with profit.
