Divine And Moral Songs for Children 1800’s. This book is titled “Divine And Moral Songs for Children”and was written by the Reverend Isaac Watts, D.D. and illustrated and printed in London by George Routledge in the 1800’s. The book has diced boards with blindstamped covers, a gilt title and gilt design on the front cover, blank endpapers with a small oval bookseller’s label at the bottom of the front paste-down, the front paste-down says the book has linen leaves, an illustrated frontis of children gathered round to listen to someone read bible stories - the person is holding a large old bible, the kind that families used to have that held family records - birth dates, marriages, deaths, and so on - then the title page, two pages of Contents, including a list of Moral Songs on the second page, and 96 pages of text filled with family and religious vignettes. Isaac Watts (1674 - 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, and theologian who is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", "Joy to the World", and "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past", he is called the "Godfather of English Hymnody”, and many of his hymns remain in use today. “Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children” - also known as “Divine and Moral Songs for Children” - is a collection of didactic (teaching) moral poetry for children by Watts, first published in 1715. Though his hymns are now better known than his poems, “Divine Songs” was a children's book that appeared everywhere for nearly two hundred years, serving as a standard textbook in schools. By the mid-19th century there were more than one thousand editions in numerous languages. Three of the best-known poems in the collection are "Praise for Creation and Providence", "Against Idleness and Mischief", and "The Sluggard”. "Praise for Creation and Providence”, better known as "I sing the mighty power of God”, is now a hymn sung by all ages. "Against Idleness and Mischief" and "The Sluggard” - better known as "How doth the little busy bee" and "Tis the voice of the sluggard” - were both meant to teach children the importance of hard work and were extremely well known in the nineteenth century, and they are all here in this edition. Charles Dickens's novels occasionally quote "Against Idleness and Mischief”. For instance, in his 1850 novel David Copperfield, the school master Dr. Strong quotes lines 11-12: "Satan finds some mischief still, for idle hands to do.” In his 1865 fantasy Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll parodies both "Against Idleness and Mischief" as "How Doth the Little Crocodile" and "The Sluggard" becomes "'Tis the voice of the Lobster.” The book measures 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. wide and is in good condition. The binding is tight and the pages and vignettes are pretty clean, with faint soiling on the spine and along the edges of the boards, light brown spots and occasional toning on the pages, the first few pages have an ink spot along the outer edges at the top, and the book has a slight roll to the spine, and still an attractive children’s book with a religious theme by an important hymn writer from the eighteenth century. #223 #4993