The Gospel of the Pentateuch by Charles Kingsley
page 79 of 186 (42%)
page 79 of 186 (42%)
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wisdom; that wisdom which comes only to the pure in heart; that
wisdom by which truly good men are enabled to see farther, and to be of more use to their fellow-creatures than many a cunning and crooked politician, whose eyes are blinded, because his heart is defiled with sin. And now, my friends, if we pray--as we are bound to pray--for that great Prince who is just entering on the cares and the duties, as well as the joys and blessings of family life--what better prayer can we offer up for him, than that God would put into his heart that spirit which he put into the heart of Joseph of old--the spirit to see how divine and God-appointed is family life? God grant that that spirit may dwell in him, and possess him more and more day by day. That it may keep him true to his wife, true to his mother, true to his family, true, like Joseph, to all with whom he has to deal. That it may deliver him, as it delivered Joseph, from the snares of wicked women, from selfish politicians, if they ever try to sow distrust and opposition between him and his kindred, and from all those temptations which can only be kept down by the Spirit of God working in men's hearts, as he worked in the heart of Joseph. For if that spirit be in the Prince--and I doubt not that that spirit is in him already--then will his fate be that of Joseph; then will he indeed be a blessing to us, and to our children after us; then will he have riches more real, and power more vast, than any which our English laws can give; then will he gain, like Joseph, that moral wisdom, better than all worldly craft, which cometh from above--first pure, then gentle, easy to be entreated, without partiality, and without hypocrisy; then will he be able, like Joseph, to deliver his people in times of perplexity and distress; |
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