CHURCH MUSIC. 27 
meafure, make fools or madmen of themfelves : but when we 
enter, with fuch affiffcance, into the true fpirit of devotion, 
thefe give us a means of pleafure beyond what common mortals 
can enjoy. It is not that we are afraid of the power of mufic 
in religious worfhip : alas! we are too much inclined to employ 
our passions about every thing except religion. Yet as the 
paflions are effential parts of the human compofition, why 
fhould they not be exercifed in devotion ? In mufical worfhip 
our very senses are employed : when there is concord in 
founds, correfpondent with our ideas, we may the more eaiily 
raife and fall, or tune and harmonize the foul. 
But when fublime poetry is joined to fublime mufic, and 
both thefe to devotion, they improve each others charms ; they 
give auxiliary powers to the foul ; and, if you will allow the 
fimilitude, convert the man into an angel. 
Thofe who have a lively fenfe of religion, may have obferved 
how languid the a&ion of reason alone often proves. Shall 
we therefore turn enthusiasts ? no : by no means. But there 
is a disposition, for which we want a name, that partakes of 
enthusiasm, and without which devotion is generally very 
languid. It is the errors of the head, rather than the warmth 
of the heart, which turns the brains of fome of us in this 
ifland : as the blaze of piety dazzles and confounds, whilft 
the pure flame cherifhes and enlightens. 
“ Rnthufiafm has i?iade villains martyrs 
But zeal has made virtuous and wife men die for their faith : 
we fee how far that zeal and piety, which has fome mixture 
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