Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts, the National Portrait Gallery, 1871. Engraving of a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, of the '...eminent divine of the Evangelical Dissenters, well known as the author of popular poems on religious and moral subjects...His various writings fill six quarto volumes, including a treatise on "Logic; or, The Right Use of Reason;" one on the "Improvement of the Mind;" an Essay on Education; a series of metaphysical discussions; a number of sermons and theological discourses, treatises of geography and astronomy...besides his metrical version of the Psalms, his "Hymns and Spiritual Songs," and "Divine and Moral Songs in Easy Language for Children;" with catechisms, manuals of Bible history, and prayers. The mere list of these works, and of their frequent editions, occupies twenty pages in the catalogue of the British Museum Library. There is some merit in his contributions to mental philosophy; and his genius as a lyrical poet, though marred by quaintness and faults of taste, will not be disputed by any good literary critic. In the quality of melodious versification, he is surpassed by few. His poems for children, and hymns for Christians of any age, will certainly not lose their hold on popular esteem'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871. Creator: Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images)