(Reade, "Christian Meditations")

Many wear the garb of sanctity.

Outward profession has grown
profusely, but true piety, is still,
as it ever was, a rare plant.

It grows not in nature's soil.

It is an exotic.

Our defiling, chilling world, is
little congenial to its growth.

But He, who plants it in the
prepared ground of the heart
is Almighty. He waters it by his
Spirit, casts upon it the warm
beams of His love, and renders
it fruitful to His glory.