# “The pulpit” by William Cowper

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2008/11/14/the-pulpit-by-william-cowper/
- Published: 2008-11-14T14:27:29-06:00
- Author: tollelege

“The pulpit, therefore, (and I name it filled
 with solemn awe, that bids me well
beware with what intent I touch that holy thing;) the pulpit (when the satirist 
has at last, strutting and vaporing in an empty school, spent all his force, and
made no proselyte;) I say the pulpit (in the sober use of its legitimate, peculiar
powers) must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, the most important
and effectual guard, support, and ornament of virtue’s cause. There stands the messenger
of truth. There stands the legate of the skies; his theme divine, his office sacred,
his credentials clear. By him, the violated law speaks out its thunders, and by 
him, in strains as sweet as angels use, the gospel whispers peace. He ‘stablishes
the strong, restores the weak, reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart, and,
armed himself in panoply complete of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms bright
as his own, and trains, by every rule of holy discipline, to glorious war, the sacramental
host of God’s elect. Are all such teachers?–would to heaven all were!”

–William Cowper, _The Task, Book II_, “The Time-Piece,” in _The Poetical Works of
William Cowper_, Vol. 2 (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1859), 44-5.

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