Worldly men thro’ worldly views
Betray the public trust,
Odious innocence abuse,
And sacrifice the just:
Sordid slaves of earthly hope,
A fortune great intent to raise,
Readily, like Festus, stoop
To all unrighteousness.
Worldly men thro’ worldly views
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Festus willing to do the Jews a pleasure &c.’—[Acts 25,] v. 9." This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), page 420.
Publishing: Public Domain