Wo to ye _Hypocrites_! ye insincere, Who shut the gates of heaven against mankind, And yet yourselves will never enter there-- Wo to ye _Hypocrites_! your hearts are blind; The houses of the widow ye devour, And make long prayers, devotion ill-designed. The matters of the Law of gravest power-- Omit ye;--Judgment--Mercy--Faith! and dole The petty tithe of your external dower: Not those omit,--nor these; but pay the whole! As righteous men ye do without appear, Within iniquity usurps the soul: Ye are e’en like a whited Sepulchre, Beautiful outward, hiding dead men’s bones; Uncleanness and corruption, everywhere. _J. A. Heraud._ Like the detested tribe Of ancient Pharisees, beneath the mask Of clamorous piety, what numbers veil Contaminated, vicious hearts! How many In the devoted temple of their God, With _hypocritic_ eye, from which the tear Of penitential anguish seems to flow, Pour forth their vows, and by affected zeal Pre-eminent devotion boast; while vice Within the guilty breast, rankles unseen. _Samuel Hayes._ These are they That prey upon the widow, and devour The orphan’s portion, mocking Heaven with prayers Ceaseless, and fasts, which will but more incense His anger, and bring down worse chastisement. _Charles Peers._ IDOLATRY. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and _idolatry_.--I. Samuel, xv. 23. What agreement hath the temple of God with _idols_?--II. Corinthians, vi. 16. Covetousness, which is _idolatry_.--Colossians, iii. 5. The sparkling flames, that burn in beaten gold, And, like the stars of heav’n in midst of night, Black Egypt, as her mirrors doth behold; Are but the dens where _idol_ snakes delight Again to cover Satan from their sight: Yet these are all their gods; with whom they vie, The crocodile, the cock, the rat, the fly: Fit gods indeed, for such men to be served by. _Giles Fletcher._ Hear, Father! hear and aid! If I have loved too well, if I have shed, In my vain fondness, o’er a mortal head Gifts, on Thy shrine, my God, more fitly laid; If I have sought to live But in one light, and made a mortal eye The lonely star of my _idolatry_, Thou that art Love, oh! pity and forgive! _Mrs. Hemans._