■■ WSfL H i v FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY c/t 6- 4 : Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/newjermnOOedin %\)t JEeto Jerusalem. " Suspirate in asternam Hierusalem ; quo praecedit spes vestra, sequatur vita vestra; ibi erimus cum Christo. Christus nobis modo caput, gubernat nos modo desuper, am- plectetur secum ilia civitate cum aequales crimus angelis Dei. Non auderemus hoc sus- picari de nobis, nisi promitteret Veritas. Hoc ergo concupiscite fratres, hoc die noctuque cogitate. Si vultis armati esse contra tentationes in seculo, crescat et roboretur deside- rium Hierusalem aeternae in cordibus vestris. Transiet captivitas, veniet faslicitas, damnabitur hostis extremus, et cum rege sine morte triumphabimus."— Augcstine on Psalm 137- V -A ^ OF PR/, '^ JAN Clje J&eto Jerusalem* A HYMN OF THE OLDEN TJ Alleluia, laeta mater concinis Hierusalem ; Alleluia, vox tuorum civium gaudentium ; Exules nos flere cogunt Babylonis flumina. Old Latin Hymn. EDINBURGH: Johnstone and Hunter i8 _ 52 " Et hinc jam pervenitur in Hierusalera, in regnum et civitatem David, in visionem pads, ubi beati pacifici, filii Dei, (interius et exterius omnibus pacificatis) ingressi in gau- dium Domini sui, celebrant Sabbatum Sabbatorum."— Bernard, Sermo III. de Pugna Spirituali. " Ab ilia (Hierusalem) peregrinamur in hac vita, ad ejus reditum suspiramus; suspira- mus tamdiu miseri et laborantes donee ad illam redeamus."— Augustine on the \26th Psalm. PREFACE The hymn which thefe pages contain has been reprinted from a " Broadfide," which, although without a date, is probably of the beginning of the lalt centurv. I have met with no printed copy older than this. The text of this old fheet has been taken as the bafis of this edition. From other copies, in various forms, the different readings have been gleaned which are fet down at the foot of the page. David Dickfon, minifter at Irvine a little before the middle of the feventeenth century, has hitherto been reputed the author, on the authority of Robert Wodrow, who refers to " fome fhort poems, on pious and ferious fubjects," publifhed by Dickfon, " fuch as the Chrillian VI PREFACE. facrifice, O Mother, Dear Jerufalem, and, on fomewhat larger o&avo, 1649, True Chriftian Love, to be fung with the common tunes of the Pfalms." Of thefe it is evident that Wodrow does not fpeak upon hearfay, but from perfonal knowledge ; for he adds, " This is all of his I have feen in print."* Such is all that has hitherto been known reflecting the hymn. It has been univerfally believed to be David Dickfon's; and this belief dates back not merely from the time of Wodrow, but apparently from Dickfon's own time, as the hymn would feem to have been printed then, along with the others which were undoubtedly his own. Such was, till lately, our own belief in the matter. It has now undergone confiderable change. The way in which we were led to this it may be as well to Hate, as it involves the hiftory of the hymn. More than a year and a-half ago, when preparing this edition, we were informed that there exifled a copy of the hymn, in a manufcript volume in the Britilli Mufeum, which eflablifhed a much older authorihip than that of David Dickfon. A few months after, we had an opportu- * See his Life of Dickson, published in 172G. PREFACE. Vll nity of infpecting the volume minutely. It is a thin quarto, fmall fize, purchafed fome years ago at Mr Bright's fale, and is No. 1 5,225. It has been bound fomewhat recently, and is marked on the back, " Queen Elizabeth." This date, however, is incorrect, as the following ftatement will fhow : — There are references to King James, which prove that it belongs to his reign. There are two fongs in reference to the death of a Mr Thewlis. The firfl is at page 45; the heading runs thus : " Here folio weth the fong Mr Thewlis writ himfelf, to the tune of ." The fecond is at page 49, and is thus headed : " Here follow- eth the fong of the death of Mr Thewlis, to the tune of Daintie, come thou to me," We cannot extract the whole ; but it begins thus : — God above, relent, And listen to our cry ; O Christ, our woes avert, Let not thy children die. It ends thus : — happie martyred saints, To you I call and cry, To heale us in our wants, O beg for us rnercie. It is evident that Thewlis was a Romaniit ; and in the Vlll PREFACE, lift of the twenty-four " fecular clergymen" who fuffered death for treafon during the reign of James, one " John Thulis" is given as having been executed at Lancafter, on the 18th of March 1616.* And though there is a flight difference in the fpelling of the name from what we find in the manufcript, yet we can hardly doubt that the Mr Thewlis of the manufcript is the John Thulis of the his- torian. If fo, then this interefting volume muft be afligned to the reign of James the Firft. At the same time, it mull be remembered that this does not fix the date of the hymns, or ballads, or fongs contained in it, to that reign, j Some of them are much older, going back even to an earlier period than Oueen Elizabeth's reign. Several of the pieces in it do indeed refer to events of her time. There is, for inftance, at page 61, "A song of four priefles that fuffered death at Lancafter, to the tune of Daintie, come thou to me." Now, as only three Roman- ifts in ail were executed at Lancafter during the reign of James, and as thefe were not executed at once, but one (Lawrence Bailey) in 1604, and the other two (John Thulis and Roger Wrenno) in 1616; and as neither * See Dodd's Church History of England, vol. iv. p. 179. PREFACE. IX Bailey nor Wrenno were priefts, but fimple laymen ; and as, moreover, we know that on two occafions four priefts were executed together in the reign of Elizabeth, we are inclined to date this fong fome time towards the clofe of the previous century, as it feems to be written not long after the event it refers to.* At page 85, there is a fong beginning, " My Mind to me a Kingdom is," which was a well-known piece in the latter end of the fixteenth century, and is to be found in a thin quarto mufic book, entitled, " Pfalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, made into mufic of five ! parts, by William Byrd," about the year 1588.f Again, at page 99, there is a piece called " The Par- liament of Devils." Now, in ] 509, there was publilhed a fmall quarto, called " The Parlymente of Devylles." * We give the two last stanzas as specimens, — All laudes and glorie great be to the Trinitie, In his eternal seate, one God and persons three ; And to the Virgin mild, the Queen of heaven high, With Jesus, her loving child, in all eternitie. Unto all prophets meeke, to Christ's apostles deare, Martyrs, confessors eake, and to all virgins cleare; And unto each of them, crowned in their degree, With joy in Jerusalem, God's blessed face to see. t See Reliques of Ancient Poetry, 6th Ed., vol. 2, p. 101. a 2 PREFACE, But how far the two correfpond I cannot fay, as I have not had an opportunity of comparing them. At page 58, there is a piece which feems to be of Elizabeth's reign. It comes in thus : " Here followeth a fonge of the Puritan, " and begins thus : — In dayes of yore, when words did pass for bands, Before deceit was bred or fraud was seen, Then unborne was the Puritan. And thus it goes on for feveral ftanzas, fneering at the Puritans as the introducers of all evil into the land.* * There is a somewhat similar poem given by Evans, (Old Ballads, vol. iii. p. 262.) It is a black-letter piece, entitled, " Time's Alteration; or, The Old Man's Rehearsal what Brave Days he knew a great while agone, when his Old Cap was New." The following is a specimen of it : — For charity waxeth cold, And love is found in few ; This was not in time of old, When this old cap was new. Where'er you travelled then, Vou might meet on the way, Brave knights and gentlemen, Clad in their country gray, That courteous would appear, And kindly welcome you; No Puritans then were, When this old cap was new. There is another attack upon the Puritans, also in the form of a song, by PREFACE. XI Again, at page 94, there is " A Carol for Chriitmas Day," which begins thus : — From virgin's womb this day did spring. In " The Paradife of Daintie Devifes," we find this hymn. There it is fimply entitled, " For Chriitmas Day," and has this preliminary couplet — Rejoyce, rejoyce, with hart and voyce, In Christe's birth this day rejoyce. As the above volume of poetry was printed in 1576, this hymn muft be at leaft of that date, and is by Francis Kinwelmerlh, a bar rift er of that period. # Again, at page 78, there is a piece beginning, " Hieru- falem, thy joyes divine/ which was printed in 1601, in a ; volume entitled, " The Song of Mary the Mother of Chrift ; containing the Story of his Life and Pallion, the Tears of Chriit in the Garden ; with the description of the Heavenly Jerufalem." Of this we Ihall have occafion Bishop Corbet, about the middle of the 17th Century, entitled, "The Dis- • tracted Puritan.'' It does little credit to the piety, or the poetry, or the wit of the bishop. There is another, also, called " The Oxford Riddle," pub- lished in 1643. * The hymn is No. 5 in " The Paradise of Daintie Devises," and is quoted in the Select Poetry of Queen Elizabeth's reign, published by the Parker Society. Vol. ii. p. 291. Xll PREFACE, again to fpeak, on account of its fmgular refemblance to the hymn before us. From these itatements, it will be feen that the volume in queition is a collection of already exifling poems from various fources. The collector or tranfcriber mult have lived in the reign of James, but moil of the pieces col- lected are of an earlier date. Several of thefe anonymous fcrap-books of the feventeenth century have come to light, and in them are contained pieces which are to be found no where elfe. Unfortunately, they feldom give the names of the writers ; and fuch is the cafe with the MS. we are referring to. There is one piece, at page 31, figned Thomas Hill ; but this is the only author's name given throughout. The fpecial fong or hymn for which we went to the volume, is entitled, " A Song made by F. B. P., to the tune of Diana," We print it entire, that the reader may judge of the remarks we have to offer, giving as foot-notes the parallel paffages in the other hymn which we have already referred to.* * The reader will find it reprinted in the Gentleman's Magazine for Dec. 1850, p. 582, with some remarks. PREEACE. Xlll A SONG BY F. B. P. TO THE TUNE OF DIANA. 1 Hierusaiem, my happy home ! When shall I come to thee ? When shall my sorrows have an end, Thy joyes when shall I see ? 2 O happie harbour of the saints ! O sweete and pleasant soyle ! In thee no sorrow may be found, Noe greefe, noe care, noe toyle. 3 In thee noe sicknesse may be seene, Noe hurt, noe ache, noe sore ; There is noe death, nor uglie Devill, There is life for evermore. The first verse of the other hymn runs thus — Hierusaiem ! thy joyes divine, Noe joys may be compared to them; Noe people blessed soe as thine, Noe cittie like Hierusaiem. This verse is not given in the Parker Society edition, which we have reprinted in the Appendix. There are many minor variations between that edition and the MS. version of the hymn. I was not aware of this till too late, else I should have marked the different readings. The original printed edition I have not seen. Verse 2. To this the 4th verse of the other corresponds— She longs from rough and dangerous seas, To harbour in the haven of blisse; Where safely anchored at her ease, Ane store of sweete contentmente is. XIV PREFACE, 4 Noe dampish mist is seene in thee, Noe colde nor darksome night ; There everie soule shines as the sunne, There God him self e gives light. 5 There lust and lukar cannot dwell, There envy bears no sway ; There is no hunger, heate, nor colde, But pleasure everie way. 6 Ilierusalem ! Hierusalem ! God grant I soon may see Thy endless joyes ; and of the same Partaker aye to bee. 7 Thy walls are made of pretious stones, Thy bulwarkes diamondes square ; Thy gates are of right orient pearle, Exceedinge riche and rare. 8 Thy turrettes and thy pinnacles With carbuncles doe shine ; Verses 4 and 5. There blustering winter never blowes, Nor sommer's parching heate doth harme ; It never freezeth there, nor snowes, The weather's ever temperate warm. Verses 7 and 8. The walls of jasper stone be built, Most rich and fayre that ever was ; Her streets and houses paved with gold, "With gold more cleare than christall glasse. Her gates in equall distance be, And each a glistering raargarite; PREFACE. XV Thy verrie streets are paved with gould, Surpassinge cleare and fine. 9 Thy houses are of yvorie, Thy windows crystal cleare, Thy tyles are made of beaten gould, O God ! that I were there. 10 Within thy gates nothinge doth come That is not passinge cleane, Noe spider's web, no durt, no dust, Noe filthe may there be seene. 11 Ah ! my sweete home, Hierusalem, "Would God I were in thee ! Would God my woes were at an end, Thy joyes that I might see. 12 Thy saints are crowned with glorie great, They see God face to face ; They triumph still, they still reioyce, Most happie is their case. Which commers in farre off may see, A gladsome and a glorious sight. Verse 9. Her inward chambers of delighte, Bedecked with pearls and precious stones; The doors and posterns all be white, And made of wrought and burnished bones. XVI PREFACE* 13 Wee that are heere in banishment, Continuallie doe moane ; We sigh, and sobbe, we weepe, and weale, Perpetuallie we groane. 14 Our sweete is mixt with bitter gaule, Our pleasure is but paiue ; Our ioyes scarce last the lookeing on, Our sorrowes still remaine. 15 But there they live in such delight, Such pleasure and such play, As that to them a thousand yeares Doth seeme as yesterday. 16 Thy vineyardes and thy orchardes are Most beautifull and f aire ; Verse 13. From banishment she, more and more Desires to see her conntrey deare ; She sits and sends her sighs before ; Her ioyes and treasures all be there. How like is the above to Augustine's words : " Gemens inenarrabiles gemitus in peregrinatione mea; et recordans Hierusalem, extento in earn sursum corde, Hierusalem patriam meam, Hie- rusalem matrem meam; teque super earn regnatorem, illustratorem, patrem, tutorem, maritum, castas et fortes delicias, et solidum gaudium et omnia bona ineffabilia, simul et omnia; quia unum summum et verum bonum; et non avertar donee in ejus pacem matris charissimae, ubi sunt primitias spiritus mei, unde mihi ista certa sunt, colligas totum quod sum, a dispersione et deformitate hac et conformes atque confirmes in aeternum, Deus meus, misericordia mea." Confess. B. xii. C. 16. Verses 16 and 17. The trees doe blossom, bud, and bear, The birdes do ever chirping sing ; PREFACE. XV11 Fall furnished with trees and fruits, Most wonderfull and rare. 17 Thy gardens and thy gallant walkes Continually are greene ; There grow such sweete and pleasant flowers As no where else are seene. 18 There is nectar and ambrosia made, There is muske and civette sweete ; There manie a faire and daintie drugge Are troden under feete. 19 There cinomon, there sugar grow, There narde and balme abound ; What toungue can tell, or harte containe, The ioyes that there are found. The fruit is mellow all the year, They have an everlasting spring. The pleasant gardens ever keep Their hearbes and flowers fresh and green; All sort of pleasant daintie fruits, At all times there are to be seen. Verses 18 and 19. The lily white, the ruddy rose, The crimson and carnation flowers, Bewatered there with honey dews, And heavenly drops of golden showers. Pomegranate, prince of fruits, the peach, The daintie date and pleasant figge; The almond, muscadel, and grape, Exceeding good, and wondrous bigge : b XV111 PREFACE, 20 Quyt through the streetes with silver sound, The flood of life doe flowe ; Upon whose bankes on everie syde, The wood of life doth growe. 21 There trees for evermore beare fruite, And evermore doe springe ; There evermore the angels sit, And evermore doe singe. 22 There David stands with harpe in hand, As Master of the Queere ; Tenne thousand times that man were blest, That might this musicke heare. The lemon, orange, meillar, quince, The apricot, and India spice, The cherry, maiden-plum, and pear, More sorts than were in Paradise. The fruit more eyesome, toothsome, farre, Than that which grew on Adam's tree, With whose delight assailed were, And both suppressed, Eve and He. The swelling odoriferous balm, Most sweetly there doth sweate and drop ; The fruitful and victorious palm Lays out her mounted lofty top. The word "suppressed" which occurs above is similarly used in "the Complaint of a Synner," in the " Paradise of Daintie Devises," My fainting soul suppressed sore with careful clogge of sin. Verse 20. The river, wine most pleasant flows More pleasant than the honeycomb, Upon whose banks the sugar grows, Inclosed in reeds of cinamon. PREFACE. XIX 23 Our Ladie singes Magnificat, With tunes surpassinge sweete ; And all the virginns beare their parte, Siting above her feete. 24 Te Deum doth Sant Ambrose singe, Saint Augustine doth the like ; Ould Simeon and Zacharie Have not their songes to seeke. 25 There Magdalene hath left her mone, And cheerfullie doth singe With blessed saints, whose harmonie In everie street doth rinse. Verses 22—24. Triumphant martyrs you may hear Recount their dangers, which do cease; And noble citizens ever weare Their happie gowns of joy and peace. The glorious courtiers, ever there, Attend on person of the King; With angels joined in a queere, Melodious hymns of praises sing. The virgins, dressed in lily white, The martyrs clad in scarlet red ; The holy fathers, which did write, Wear laurel garlands on their head. Each confessor a golden crown Adorns, with pearl and precious stone ; The apostles, peerless in renown, Like princes sit on royal throne. Queen mother, Virgin eminent, Than saints and angels more divine; Like sun amid the firmament, Above the planets all doth shine. XX PREFACE. 26 Hierusalem ! my happie home ! Would God I were in thee ! Would God my woes were at an end, Thy joyes that I might see! FIXIS. No one can doubt, I think, that the above hymn is the bafis of that which has commonly been afcribed to David Dickfon. The firft line (which is a fort of key-note to the whole) is different ; there are many variations through- out ; and the hymn itfelf has been more than doubled in fize (the original containing- 104 lines, and the later verfion 248); yet it is plain that the old veriion given above is the original. How it came into David Dickfon's hands, we cannot fay. We have Wodrow's itatement that the hymn was in his day afcribed to Dickfon, but we have no farther information about it. It is, fo far as I am aware, only to be found in the u Broadfide" form, and it is not printed along with his other pieces.*" He * See, for instance, the edition priuted at Glasgow, in 17C4, " True Chris- tian Love ; to be sung with any of the common tunes of the Psalms, written by the late reverend and learned Mr David Dickson," &c. &c. PREFACE. XXI feems to have been the enlarger and the publillier of it, fo that in this way it has come to bear his name as the fole author. But, it may be afked, is it not ftill poffible that Dick- fon may have been the author of the original hymn ? Now, it may be admitted that the facl of its being found in this MS. volume is not of itfelf conclufive. For as the volume cannot be of an earlier date than 161C, and may be a year or two later, it is pojjible that Dickfon might have written it, feeing he would then be a young man of about twenty-eight years of age. But befides that it is very much more likely that fuch pieces would find their way from the fouth to the north, than from the north to the fouth, there to be tranfcribed into a fcrap-book of the day, there is ftrong prefumptive evidence that the hymn was in exiilence at the end of the previous cen- tury, when Dickfon could only be about ten years old. The cognate hymn to which I have already referred was printed in 1601, and the two are fo entirely fimilar, in fpirit, and in idea, and in di&ion, that they muft either have been written by the fame author, or elfe one of them mull: have come from the hand of a mere copyift, b2 XX11 PREFACE, or rather plagiarift. If Dickfon was its author, he mull either be alfo the author of its fellow, or elfe have been a mere imitator. Befides, the old MS. affigns the hymn to one F. B. P., who wrote it to the tune of Diana. To whom thefe initials point, we cannot difcover. They are not the initials of any of the poets of the period, great or fmall ; and certainly they are not thofe of Dickfon. The authorlhip of the hymn is wholly unknown. It does fomewhat refemble the fpirit and ftyle either of Southwell or Breton, more than of any other poets of that period ; but this is all that we can fay. In the " Brief Notices" prefixed to the Select Poetry of the Parker Society, it is faid that the principal poem in the volume which contains " the defcription of the hea- venly Jerufalem," bears a ftrong refemblance to that en- titled, " Mary Magdalen's Lamentation for the Lofle of her Maifler Jefus" (p. xl.); and farther, that the latter is " fuppofed by fome to be the production of Sir Nicholas Breton." If this be the cafe, then Breton muft be the author of the two New Jerufalem hymns, as we may call them. But it is mere conjecture, There is a lliort piece, called " The Willies of the PREFACE. XX111 Wife," that has fome faint likenefs to the two poems, though its tone is not quite fo tender. It is by Thomas Bryce (1559), and contains fuch ftanzas as thefe : — When shall this time of travail cease, Which we with woe sustayne ? When shall the dales of rest and peace, Return to us agayne ? When shall Hierusalem rejoyce, In Him that is their Kyng, And Sion hill with chereful voyce, Syng psalmes with triumphing ? When shall thy Christ, our King, appear, With power and renoune ? When shall thy sainctes that suffer here, Receyve their promest croune ? There is, however, a nearer refemblance to the flyle of the two hymns in a piece by Thomas Peyton, called "The GlalTe of Time," which appeared in 1620. The following is a fpecimen. Defcribing Paradife, he writes : — How is thy ground exceeding rich and faire, A region seasoned with a temperate air. Dear Paradise ! how famous was thy name, When God himself erected first thy frame, Endued thy land with such things it is set, As time for ever never can forget. XXIV PREFACE, The lofty walls were all of jasper built, Lined thick with gold, and covered rich with gilt, Like a quadrangle, seated on a hill, With twelve brave gates, the curious eye to fill ; The sacred lustre as the glistering zone, And every gate framed of a several stone. The chalcedony and the jacinth pure, The emerald greene, which ever will endure, The sardonix, and purple amethyst, The azured burnisht sapphire is not missed; The chrysolite, most glorious to behold, And tophaz stone, which shines as beaten gold ; The chrysoprasus of admired worth, The sardins, beryll, seldom found on earth. The dores thereof of silvered pearle most white. That sweete disciple which the gospel wrate, And lent at supper (when Christ Jesus sate) Upon the bosom of his Lord and King. He from the heavens this Paradise did bring, Perused the wall?, and viewed the same within, Described it largely, all our loves to win ; The christal river, with the tree of life, God's dearest Lamb, and sacred spouse, his w T ife ; The various fruits that in the garden grows, And all things else, which in abundance flows, Hath rapt my sense to think how God at first, Framed all for Adam and his offspring curst. PREFACE. XXV More of its authorfliip cannot be faid. If any of thofe who have accefs to the Britilli Mufeum thought it worth while to bellow a little trouble on this matter, the hymn would probably be found in fome rare volume of the Elizabethan or fubfequent period. But though we cannot aflign the whole hymn to Dick- fon, yet we mud not entirely fet alide his claim. Nearly two-thirds of the hymn, as it Hands in our Scottifh Broad/ides, are his, fo that it is to him that Scotland owes it in the form in which it has been known and fung for two centuries. How it came into his hands, we know not. I fufpect that it was printed, and think it not unlikely that in its original printed form it may yet come to light. One might conjecture that Dickfon had both the poems before him, as there are one or two paffages in his ver- fion which feem to have been fuggelted by fome references in the longer one which do not occur in the fhorter.* With a fpirit much in fympathy with the feeling which breathes throughout this beautiful old piece, and often * As the hymn, in its enlarged state, seems to have floated about Scotland for generations, so the original seems to have done the same in England. In the last century, we have it, in the form given in the Appendix (at XXVI PREFACE. placed in circumftances fitted to loofen him from earthly fcenes, and to draw his eye upwards, it is not wonderful that Dickfon Ihould have dwelt upon it and cherifhed it, till it came forth in a new fhape, cafl more in a Scottifli mould. He was one that could thoroughly appreciate its tender fadnefs and its lofty breathings. It will not be thought out of place to glance at his life and character, confidering him as in part the author, and at lead the editor, of the hymn which has fo long borne his name. page 74); and, in a small work published by the Rev. W. Burkitt (the Expositor), dated 1G93, it is given as follows: — Jerusalem ! my happy home ! When shall I come to thee ! When shall my labours have an end, Thy joys when shall I see ? Thy gates are richly set with pearls, Most glorious to behold ; Thy walls are all of precious stone, Thy streets are paved with gold. Thy gardens and thy pleasant fruit Continually are green; So sweet a sight, by human eye, Has never yet been seen. If heaven be thus glorious, Lord, Why must I keep from thence ? What folly is't that makes me loathe To die and go from hence. PREFACE. XXV11 He was born about the year 1583, in Glafgow, and died in 1662, in Edinburgh, in which city, for the lait ten years of his life, he had been Profeifor of Theology. Throughout a much-toffed, bufy life, he fhone out nobly as the man of God and the fervant of Chriff, blelt beyond moil of his day in his miniftry and teaching. Excellently gifted by nature, and trained by early difci- pline to ftudious induftry and patient thoughtfulnefs, he came forth as the fcholar, the theologian, the ecclefiaftic. Brave in fpirit, and refolute in action, like his contem- poraries whom God raifed up in that age, and filled with Reach down, reach down, thine arm of grace, And cause me to ascend, "* Where congregations ne'er break up, And Sabbaths have no end. When wilt thou come to me, O Lord ! O come, my Lord, most dear; Come nearer, nearer, nearer still, I'm well when thou art near. My dear Redeemer is above, Him will I go to see; And all my friends in Christ below Shall soon come after me. Jerusalem! my happy home! O how I long for thee, Then shall my labours have an end, When once thy joys I see. XXV111 PREFACE. the bold hardinefs of their warring fathers, he feared the face of no man, nor weighed the amount of earthly dis- advantage or danger that might be incurred in taking the fide of truth. Steadfaft as well as fervent in his zeal, he laboured unweariedly for Chriit and for his church, in times when the ftream of authority and fafhion of opinion bore hard againlt godlinefs ; when labour brought with it no recompenfe, fave that which is laid up for us in heaven, and which mail be ours when our Lord returns. Saga- cious and meditative, he had fully taken the foundings of his own heart, and fhowed peculiar fkill in fearching the hearts of others. His life was fpread out over varied fields of experience, by which he was fitted for the varied fervice he was called upon to undertake for God. Not morofe or fullen, as the jefting world has learned to call fuch men, but kind and loveable, nay, breathing ofttimes the genialities of mild humour and well-tempered mirth. Not four in vifage, nor furnifhed with a " nafal twang," fuch as Mr Macaulay's fancy has (with equal childifhnefs and untruth) made the neceflary appendage of a Puritan ; but pleafant though homely in fpeech ; nay, goodly in countenance, as an Engliih traveller of that day, PREFACE. XXIX who went to hear him at Irvine, defcribes him, — " a well- favoured, proper, old man, with a long beard, who mowed me all my heart." Not cold or felfifli, as the godlefs love to paint the godly, but warm-hearted, tender, and gentle; now weeping over the defolations of a torn and fmitten church, now yearning over his rural flock, now watching with paternal care the fteps of fome ftudent {tripling whom he is training for the miniftry. Not a lover of contro- verfy, though often forced to do battle for the wronged and wounded Truth. Earneft for peace, yet fearlefs as his native rocks when conflict came. Not ambitious, yet willing to lead when a leader was called for. Content to ferve his Mauer anywhere, in the village or the city, in the pulpit or the profeflbr's chair, yet greedy of quiet and fecluiion, — iighing and longing, as has been faid of him, in the midfl of college rivallhips and city-flirs, for the " fandy hillocks of Irvine." He was one that loved to comfort himfelf with the harp. More than once he took it down, and fent forth from it notes which not only folaced his own vexed fpirit in evil days, but went wide and far over the land, palling down to our own age, and likely to pafs beyond it. They XXX PREFACE. have been on the lips of Scotchmen for two centuries; and better have they been to Scotland, more fruitful on high deeds and holy living, than all her ballads of love or war, of grief or joy. An Ayrihire bard in very deed, he never "profaned the God-given ftrength," nor defiled the homelinefs of his native tongue, by linking it with the slang of folly and pollution, as if it were the mother-tongue of profanity and lull. Very much did thefe fongs of his do for the elevation of his countrymen, in whofe lips they became houfehold words; yet pofterity flights him and his memory, while it extols the genius of him who, by his impure fongs, has fapped the morality of his nation, and impregnated its youth with groffnefs and impurity. The peafantry of Scotland have much for which to thank the memory of David Dickfon, — little indeed for which to re- joice in that of Robert Burns. Thefe fentiments may not perhaps meet with much fympathy, even from many who take the name of Chrillian ; but with the Bible in his hand, and an eternal world in view, how can a man write other- wife ? Let genius be honoured and let poetry be loved, but let not the prcjtitut ion of genius and poetry be praifed, nor the deep moral wrong inflicted on the nation by this PREFACE. XXXI fad proftitution, be overlooked by any man who loves his country, loathes obfcenity, and prizes the purities of the domellic hearth. We claim for David Dickfon no ambitious place in the ranks of Scottiih poets. Let it be granted that he muff be content with a humble place ; yet his poetry, fuch as it was, was pure. He did not need, at the clofe of his life, like the licentious Robert Herrick, thus to bemoan his walled gifts : — For these, my unbaptized rhymes, "Writ in my wild unhallowed times, For every sentence, clause, and word, That's not inlaid with Thee, my Lord, Forgive me, Lord, and blot each line Out of my book that is not Thine. For if ever poetry was dedicated to God, it was that of David Dickfon. Each "fentence, claufe, and word" was "inlaid" with the name of his beloved Lord. His " rhymes" were all " baptized" into Chrilt, and dedi- cated to heavenly love. Their key-note is the firfl verse of his poem called True Chrijiian Love. I have a heart for love, so then I cannot choose but have ; A love that can give full content, The least is I can crave. XXX11 PREFACE. And for their fub fiance the following verfes may be taken as fpecimens : — My love's his Father's eldest son, His Father, King of kings : His heritage is heaven and earth, And in them both all things. In Flim my Sabbath is begun; He teacheth me to cease From mine own works, and leads me to His rest by steps of peace. By Him the withered rod bears fruit, With Him is mauna hid ; The law in Him lies closed from speech, Except through mercy's lid. By Him my prayers are perfum'd, And smell as incense sweet ; By Him my cup is furnished, And table filled with meat. The priest, the altar, and the lamb, The laver washing all ; And what else any right did sign, He fills up great and small. The Judgethat rids his people from All adversaries' hand. Our kingly King, by whom we may, Possess that promised land. PREFACE. XXXU1 To all his subjects affable, Above all earthly kiDgs ; His basest servants have his ear At all times in all things. He is the church's dearest love, And therefore must be mine ; Tho' I be base, yet will His grace To be my love incline. Campbell, in his fpecimens of the Britifh poets, has given us a few remarks on the Scottifh poetry of the feventeenth century. In one place, when commenting on the writings of Dunbar (fifteenth century), he tells us that in his works, and thole of his contemporaries, " there is a gay fpirit, and an indication of jovial manners which forms a contrail: to the covenanting national char after offubfequent times"* And again, fpeaking of Alexander Hume of Logie, who, in the beginning of the feventeenth century, wrote feveral pieces of very fweet and fimple, yet natural and vigorous poetry, he tells us that " Hutrne lived at a period when the fpirit of Calvinifm in Scotland was at its gloomiefl pitch." f Is it pollible, we afk, that there could be true refine- ment of mind, or dignity of foul, in one who could fo * Vol. ii. p. 69. t Vol. ii. p. 239. c 2 XXXIV PREFACE. thoroughly miftake groflnefs for gaiety, and obfcenity for wit ; who could exprefs his admiration for works, many of whofe beauties are fet in filth fuch as no pure mind can tolerate, and who could, at the fame time, utter his fcornful loathing for works where all is purity in every page and line ? Let Dunbar's excellencies as a poet be conceded ; but his impurities are ferious drawbacks — far more ferious to a high-toned mind than even the gloom of Calvinifm. Of courfe, a man who had no relifh either for Calvin- ifm or religion, could not be expected to fay any thing elfe. He writes as he feels. But one who knows aught of the writings of that period, is ftruck with the utter untruthfulnefs of the ftatement. He who made it, could never have read the religious authorihip of that century, or he mult have read it with fo much of the fpirit of the fcoffer, as not to be able to gather from it aught fave the one idea — that it was thoroughly and intenfely pervaded with the one thing which his foul abhorred — religion. For neither the lives nor the writings of thefe men were gloomy. They were cheerful, gladfome men ; but it was the cheerfulnefs and gladfomenefs of men who were PREFACE. XXXV walking with God, and which, therefore, a man of the world could neither appreciate nor underftand. There is much that is folemn about them and their works ; but nothing morofe, nothing gloomy, nothing unkindly. Men in earneft they were, brave and refolute — ready to face a world in doing battle for the truth ; but not harm or unloving Within them lodged the warmeii hearts that ever throbbed in human breads. A man who never knew what it is to flied a tear for fin, might call a hymn like the following gloomy : — The weight of sin is wondrous 1 great, Wha may that grievous burden bear ; My God, maist humblie I submit Myself before thy Highness here. O ruthfullie incline thine ear, Unto my pitiful complaint ; Thy punishment and plagues retire, From me poor pining penitent.* But the man who has felt that fin, and judgment, and eternity, and the wrath of God, are all real, will find in fuch language the true reflection of his own heart, and Hume (of Blairlogie), 1606. XXXVI PREFACE. will rejoice in fuch utterances more than in the poliihed fentimentalifms of the higher! poetry. In Dickibn's poem we have the utterance of a foul broken off from earth, and not at home amid its fcenes of fin, and toil, and pain, — a foul making hard for its well- known haven, all the more eagerly becaufe the voyage has been no fmooth one, but one unbroken courfe of buffeting with wind and tide. It is " the better country, even the heavenly," that he deiires, and towards this the longings of his foul are poured out, In spirit and tone it reminds us of the fifty-fifth and eighty-fourth, or hundred-and-twen- tieth Pfalms. Its key-note is, " Oh that I had wings like a dove ;" or, " My foul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord •/' or, " Woe is me that I fojourn in Mefech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar." Vexed and weary with the toffings of a world in which there was nothing congenial, nothing loveable, laid hold of by many griefs at once, that went far to sicken him of man and of earth, he fixed his eye upon the " many manfions," and lung this fong of exile in the land of llrangers.* * John Bunyan's description of the pilgrim's feelings at one stage of his journey is very appropriate here : — '* As they walked in this land, they had PREFACE. XXXV11 Perhaps, when his name was call out as evil, and the fcoffer of Edinburgh was finging under his window, in mockery, The work goes bonnilie on, Good morrowe to you, grey-beard, he was chaunting, with an intenfity of eagernefs only iharpened by " the fong of the drunkard," Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! Would God I were in thee ! that, my sorrows had an end, Thy joys that I might see ! It is a hymn of mingled fadnefs and triumph ; more, however, of the latter than the former. It contains, no doubt, much of " the fait of broken tears," but it con- tains more of " the joy unfpeakable and full of glory." It is the fong of a prifoner. yet of one who, through his prifon-bars, fees afar off the bright Hopes of his native hills. It is a folemn chaunt, nay, at times almolt melan- choly, were it not for the burits of joy pervading it, like more rejoicing than in parts more remote from the kingdom to which they were bound ; and drawing near to the city, they had yet a more perfect view thereof. It was builded of pearls and precious stones ; also the Btreets thereof were paved with gold, so that by reason of the natural glory of the city, and the reflection of the sunbeams upon it, Christian fell sick." XXXV111 PREFACE. fragrance fcattered o'er the lone moorland, or like fun- mine dreaming in through the fhaken foliage on fome martyr's foreft-grave. It offers us neither polim nor ornament. cc It is old and plain ;" and of it we may fay, not only that The spinsters and the knitters in the sun Did use to chant it ; but the ploughman at his plough, the weaver at his loom, the traveller on his journey, the fchoolboy loitering along, the children round the hearth, the hunted martyr in his hiding-place, have all chanted the rude old melody, and found utterance through it to the home-fick longings of their fouls. If men praife him who fang fo plaintively of " the Land o' the Leal," can they deny fome praife to him who fang with as plaintive fweetnefs, and far nobler longings, I long to see Jerusalem, The comfort of us all! The world, however, has no relilli for fuch afpirings. Sentimental pictures of what it calls " the better land" it can admire ; but the " heavenly country," where all is PREFACE. XXXIX holy and fpiritual, it cannot away with. Sometimes, in- deed, it can chime in with its own fingers, when they fing " there's nothing bright but heaven." Nay, it can count beautiful fuch a picture as that drawn by one of its old poets, when, pointing to the heaven of the Chriftian, and reafoning with a heathen, one of his per- fonages thus fpeaks: — There's a perpetual spring, perpetual youth, Xo joint-beuumbing cold, or scorching heat ; Famine nor age have any being there. Forget, for shame, your Tempe, bury in Oblivion your feigned Hesperian orchards. The Power I serve, Laughs at your happy Araby, or the Elysian shades, for He hath made His bowers Better indeed than you can fancy yours* But when a man who has rifen above the world, and whose foul has no tafte either for the gaieties or the groffnefs of earth, ftrikes his harp, and draws out from its chords the deep realities of a heaven where Chrifl is all, he is treated as a weakling or a fanatic. Maffinger may defcribe his vague fliadowy heaven, and be admired ; but if David Dickfon fing thus — * Massinjrer. xl PREFACE. O my sweet home, Jerusalem ! Thy joys when shall I see ; Thy King sitting upon his throne, And thy felicity. Thy vineyards and thy orchards, So wonderful and fair ; And furnished with trees and fruit, Most beautiful and rare. Thy gardens and thy goodly walks Continually are green ; There grow such sweet and pleasant flowers As nowhere else are seen, — he is only wondered at as an enthufiall.* Objections have been taken to fome parts of the hymn, as favouring of fuperllition. The editor of the Edinburgh Chriflian Jnflructor^ condemned the introduction of Mag- nificat and Te Deum, and fpeaks of them as "proving * Yet perhaps they may hear an old father of the church : — " Finita via, habitabimus in ilia civitate quae nunquam ruitura est, quia et dominus ha- bitat in ea et custodit earn, quae est visio pacis, peterna Hierusalem ; pacis illius, fratres mei, cui laudandae lingua non sufficit, ubi nullum hostem jam sentiemus, nee in ecclesia nee extra ecclesiam, nee in carne nostra, nee in cogitatione nostra. Absorbebitur mors in victoria, et vacabimus ad viden- dnm Deum in pace, cives Hierusalem facti, civitatis Dei." — Augustine on Psalm 135. f Nov. 1840, p. 417. PREFACE. xli that the hymn was written during the days of Epifcopacy ;" adding, that they " do not found well in Prefbyterian ears/' He copies the hymn from Stephen s Episcopal Magazine ,* and feems to have no idea of its authorfhip. The editor of this latter magazine tells us that it would be c: a wafte of time to endeavour to difcover its author ; " and hints that it mult have been written in the days of Epifcopacy. In a fubfequent number of the Chrijiian Infiructor, another verfion of the hymn is given, viz., that of an old manufcript found in St Giles' fteeple, Edinburgh, and printed under the fuperintendence of the Rev. J. Y. Walker, now one of the minifters of Perth. This verfion the editor confiders the genuine one, to the difparagement of the other, which he confiders " Prelatic," and interpo- lated. His words are thefe : sc The chief difference be- twixt the two verfions confifts in the Te Deum and Mav- vificats, which the Prelatic party feem to have thrufl in."f This ftatement is a very unfortunate one, as will appear from two confiderations : (1.) The introduction of Mag- nificats , &c. , is by no means a " Prelatic" or Popifn de- * Jan. 1535. + Vol. ix. (1840), p. 469. d xlii PREFACE. vice. (2.) The moil Popifh looking lines of the whole hymn are retained in the " genuine" edition. On both of thefe points a few remarks may be needful. 1. The introduction of Magnificats, &c, is not a de- vice peculiar either to Popery or Prelacy. The proof of this is eafy. In John Knox's prayer-book, all the old hymns are given with what fome would call their Popifh titles. Thus we have the Veni Creator, then the Nunc Dimittis, then " The Song of the Blefled Virgin Marie, called Magnificat'" Surely John Knox was not prela- tically or popifhly inclined ; nor were there any prelates at hand to foift in fuch titles. Or let us take "The Compendious Booke of Godly and Spiritual Sangs, with Sundrie Gude and Godlie Ballates." In one page, we have the Nunc Dimittis ; in another, " Ane Ballat of the Epiille on ChriflinmasEven ;" in another, the Quare fre- muerunt gentes ; in another, the De profundi s ; in another, the Miserere; in another, the Magnificat. Surely the Wed- derburns and their contemporaries were not Prelatifts or Papifts? Other examples of a fimilar kind might be adduced ; but thefe are enough to ihow the abfurdity of charging Prelacy or Popery upon every one who ventures PREFACE. xliii to make ufe of the Latin titles to the Pfalms of David or the hymns of the New Teftament. What Prelacy or Popery is there in conceiving of Mary, and Zacharias, and Simeon as finging the fongs they fung on earth, and of Ambrofe or Auguflin as doing the fame ?* 2. The lines which look more Popifh than any of the reft, are two which are retained in the "genuine" edi- tion : — And all the virgins bear their part, Singing (or sitting) about her feet. Refpecting thefe I know not what to fay. I could eafily produce allufions of a fimilar kind in the old Latin hymns, but I do not know of any fuch in any Proteilant hymns, fave a rather lingular one in the " Gude and Godly Ballates." It is to the following effect. I give the two preceding ftanzas. For us that blessit bairne was borne, For us he was baith rent and torn, * As to the conjunction of the names of Ambrose and Angustin, I sup- pose it is done in reference to the ancient title of the Te Deum, which was Canticum Ambrosii et Augustini. As to the authorship of that hymn, Daniel has a large dissertation, which the reader who is curious in these matters may consult. He thinks that the hymn is of Greek origin, translated and introduced into the Church by Ambrose. — Thes. Hymnol. vol. ii., p. 290. xliv PREFACE, With Eve that day shall he present The ladies of the Old Testament. For us he crowned was with thorn : Christ has my liert ay. For us he shed his precious blude, For us he was nailit on the rude, For us he in many battell stude : Christ has my hert ay. Next him to lure his M other fair, With stedfast hert for evermair, Sche bore the birth, freed us from cair : Christ has my hert ay. The firlt line of the lail flanza feems to contain rather a queftionable ftatement ; yet it is one given forth by our reformed fathers. I might perhaps refer to the following lines of Sir David Lindfay, in the fourth book of The Monarchie. He is enumerating thofe who {hall be found j on the right hand of the Judge. Full gloriously there shall appear, More bright than Phoebus in his sphere, The Virgin Mary, Queen of queens, With many a thousand of Viryins. But the authority of this writer may perhaps not be reck- oned great in matters of this kind. PREFACE. xlv With thefe parallel citations I leave the pafiage as it ftands. It does i'eem to come oddly from the pen of David Dickfon, whether he was the author or the mere editor of the hymn. If any one mould be difpofed to blame the labour thus fpent in editing one fmgle hymn, I am not very careful to anfwer them, nor to defend myfelf from the charge of wafted time. The world prides itfelf in refcuing every literary fragment of antiquity, often vile enough, and why mould not we take fome pains to fet forth correctly thofe pure utterances of faith and hope ; even were it for no other reafon than the favour which they found with the grave and holy men of Scotland's better days, going i'wiftly and widely abroad over the land, and becoming familiar as houfehold words on the lips of her fons and daughters ? Befides thus finding an opportunity for turning to fome account the readings of other days, I confefs that the employment (not a very laborious one, and engaged in at intervals of leifure,) has been a very congenial one, as well as fraught with profit. Even though I could e xlvi PREFACE. regard it in no higher light than wiping off the dull from the picture of lbme venerated kinfman, or clearing away the mofs from the infcription on fome martyr's moorland grave, I Hill feel not a little fatisfied in having been able to give completer fhape to the breathings of a faint now gone up to that Jerufalem which he longed to fee. Kelso, Feb. 1852. £l)e fitxo lernfakm. i. 1 O Mother dear, Jerufalem, When fhall I come to thee ? When fhall my forrows have an end, Thy joys when fhall I fee ? 5 O happy harbour of God's faints ! O fweet and pleafant foil ! In thee no forrow may be found, No grief, no care, no toil ! VARIOUS READINGS. Line 7. In thee no sorrows can be found. Gal. iv. 2fi. Ps. xxvii. 4. Isa. xxx. 19. 2 THE NEW JERUSALEM. Isa. xxxiii. 24. 9 II. In thee no ficknefs is at all, No hurt, nor any fore ; There is no death, nor ugly fight, Luke xviii. 30. But life for evermore. 13 No dimmifh clouds o'erfhadow thee, No dull nor darkfome night ; But every foul mines as the fun, Isa. he. 19, 20. For God himfelf gives light, in. 17 There lufl nor lucre cannot dwell, There envy bears no fvvay ; VARIOUS READINGS. Line 10. But life for ever mair. „ 12. No grief, no toil, no care. „ 13. No dimming cloud o'ershadows thee. „ „ No dimming cloud o'ershadows them. „ 14. No cloud nor darksome night. „ 16. And God himself gives light. „ 17. There lust and lucre cannot dwell. THE NEW JERUSALEM. 3 There is no hunger, third, nor heat, Rev. vii. 16. But pleafure every way. 21 Jerufalem ! Jerufalem! Would God I were in thee ! O that my forrows had an end, Ps. xxv. 17. Thy joys that I might fee ! IV. 25 No pains, no pangs, no grieving grief, Isa. Ixv. 19. No woful wight is there ; No figh, no fob, no cry is heard, Isa, xxxv. 10. No well-away, no fear. 29 Jerufalem the city is Ps. xlviii. 2. Of God our King alone ; The Lamb of God, the light thereof, Rev. xxi. 23. Sits there upon his throne ; VARIOUS READINGS. Line 19. No hunger, thirst, nor heat are there. „ 20. But pleasures exery way. „ 25. No pains, no pangs, no hopeless grief. „ „ No pain, no pang, no bitter grief. 4 THE NEW JERUSALEM. V. S3 Ah, God, that I Jerufalem Phil. i. 23. With fpeed may go behold — For why ? The pleafures there abound, With tongue cannot be told. 37 Thy turrets and thy pinnacles With carbuncles do mine ; Rev. xxi. 19, 20. With jafper, pearl, and chryfolite, Surpailing pure and fine \ VI. 41 Thy houfes are of ivory, Thy windows cryflal clear, Thy flreets are laid with beaten gold, \ Rev. xxi. 18. Where angels do appear ; VARIOUS READINGS. Line 33. God, that I Jerusalem. „ 34. With speed might now behold. „ 36. Which here cannot be told. „ 39. With jasper, pearls, and chrysalites. „ 43. Thy streets are made of beaten gold. „ 44. There angels do appear. THE NEW JERUSALEM. 5 45 Thy walls are made of precious Hones, Rev. xxi. 16. Thy bulwarks diamonds fquare, Thy gates are made of orient pearl, Rev. xxi. 21. O God ! if I were there. VII. 1 49 Within thy gates no thing can come Rev. xxi. 27. That is not palling clean ; No fpider's web, no dirt, no dull, No filth may there be feen. 53 Jehovah, Lord, now come away, Rev. xxii. 20. And end my grief and plaints ; Take me to thy Jerufalem^ And place me with thy faints ; Mat. xxv. 33, 34. VARIOUS READINGS, Line 45. Thy walls are made of precious stone. „ 46. Thy bulwarke diamonds square. „ 50. That is not passing clear. „ 51. No spider's web, no dirt, nor dust. „ 52. No filth may there appear. „ 53. Jehovah, Lord, now come I pray. „ 56. Place me among thy saints. b2 6 THE NEW JERUSALEM. VIII. ICor.xiii. 12. 57 Who there are crown'd with glory great, And fee God face to face ; Mat. v. 8. They triumph ftill, and aye rejoice, Moll happy is their cafe. 61 But we that are in banifhment, Continually do moan ; 2 Cor. v. A. We figh, we mourn, we fob, we weep, Perpetually we groan. Rom. vii. 2'A. IX. 65 Our fweetnefs mixed is with gall, Our pleafure is but pain, Our joys not worth the looking on, Our forrows aye remain. i VARIOUS READINGS. Line 59. They triumph all, and do rejoice. „ 62. Continually do roam. „ 66. Our pleasures are but pain. „ 07. Our joys are not worth looking on. „ 68. Our sorrows still remain. THE NEW JERUSALEM. 7 69 But there they live in fuch delight, Such pleafure and fuch play ; That unto them a thoufand years ! John xvi. 24. Seem but as yefterday. X. 73 my fweet home, Jerufalem ! Thy joys when iliall I fee; Thy King fitting upon his throne, And thy felicity. 77 Thy vineyards and thy orchards, So wonderful and fair ; Isa. xxxiii. 17. Song of Sol. v. 1. And furniihed with trees and fruit, Mod beautiful and rare. Rev. xxii. 14. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 74. God grant I soon may see. „ 78. ^o wonderfully rare. „ 79. Are furnished with all kinds of fruit. „ 80. Most beautifully fair. 8 THE NEW JERUSALEM. Song of Sol. iv. 15. XI. 81 Thy gardens and thy goodly walks Continually are green ; There grow fuch fweet and pleafant flowers As nowhere elfe are feen ; Song of Sol. 85 There cinnamon and fugar grows, iv. 6. There nard and balm abound ; No tongue can tell, no heart can think, The pleafures there abound. XII. Rev. ii. 17. 89 There ne&ar and ambrofie fpring, There mufk and civet fweet ; There many a fine and dainty drug Are trod down under feet. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 84. As nowhere else do grow. „ 88. The pleasures there are found. „ „ What pleasures there are found. „ 89. There nectar and ambrosia spriog. „ 90. The musick's ever sweet. „ 91. There many a fair and dainty drug for drog). „ „ There many a fair and dainty thing. THE NEW JERUSALEM. 9 93 Quite thro' the ftreets with pleafant found, Ps. xlvi. 4. The flood of life doth flow ; Upon whofe banks on every fide, Rev. xxii. 1,2. The trees of life do grow. XIU. 97 Thefe trees each month do yield their fruit, Rev. xxii. 2. For evermore they fpring ; And all the nations of the world To thee their honours bring. Rev. xxi. 24. 101 Jerufalem^ God's dwelling-place, Full fore long I to fee ; O that my ibrrows had an end, Ps. lv. 6. That I might dwell in thee ! VARIOUS READINGS. Line 93. Along the street with pleasant sound. „ 95. Upon the banks on every side. „ 96. The Tree of life doth grow. „ 97. These trees each moneth yield ripe fruit. „ „ These trees each month yield ripened fruit. „ 100. To thee their homage bring. \ IO THE NEW JERUSALEM. XIV. Ps. lvii. 8. 105 There David (lands with harp in hand, As Matter of the Queir ; A thoufand times that man were bleft That might his mufick hear. Luke i. 46. 109 There Mary fings Magnificat, With tunes furpaffing ivveet ; And all the Virgins bear their part, Singing about her feet. XV. 113 " Te Deum " doth Saint Ambrofe fing, Saint Auftin doth the like ; Luke i. 68. Old Simeon and Zacharie, Luke ii. 29. Have not their fongs to feek. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 106. The master of the choir. „ „ Among the heavenly quhair (or queir). „ 110. In tunes surpassing sweet. „ 112. Sitting around her feet. „ 114. And holy Austin eke. „ 115. Just Simeon and old Zachary. THE NEW JERUSALEM. I 1 117 There Magdalene hath left her moan, And cheerfully doth fing With all bleft faints ; whofe harmony Thro' every llreet doth ring. Rev. xiv. 2. XVI. 121 Jerufaleml Jerufalem! Thy joys fain would I fee ; Come quickly Lord, and end my grief, And take me home to thee. 125 print thy name in my forehead, Rev. xxii. 4. And take me hence away, That I may dwell with thee in blifs, And nng thy praifes aye. Ps. cxlv. 2. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 118. And cheerily doth sing. „ 119. With all blest saints, while harmony. „ 122. Thy joy faiii would I see. „ 125. plant (or paint) thy name in my forehead. „ „ write thy name in my forehead. 12 Jer. iii. 17. Rev. xxi. 9. Is. lxii. 3. Is. Iii. 1. Isa. xxxiii. 20 Is. liv. 14. THE NEW JERUSALEM. XVII. 129 Jerufalem^ thrice happy feat! Jehovah's throne on high, — O facred city, queen and wife . Of Chrift eternallie ! 133 O comely Queen! with glory clad, With honour and degree ; All fair thou art, exceeding bright, No fpot there is in thee ! XVIII, 137 I long to fee Jerufalem^ The comfort of us all \ For thou art fair and beautiful, None ill can thee befall. Line 129. » » » 137, „ 139. VARIOUS READINGS. Jerusalem, thy happy throne. Jerusalem, the happy home. Jerusalem, the happy seat. 144. Some versions omit these two stanzas. For it is sweet and beautiful. THE NEW JERUSALEM. l 3 141 In thee, Jerufalem, I fay, No darknefs dare appear ; No night, no made, no winter foul, No time doth alter there ; XIX. 145 No candle needs, no moon to mine, No glittering ftars to light, For Chrift the King of righteoufnefs, There ever fhineth bright. 149 The Lamb unfpotted, white, and pure, To thee doth fland in lieu Of light, fo great the glory is Thine heavenly King to view. Songii. 11. Rev. xxii. 5. Rev. xxi. 23. L > 5 > J VARIOUS READINGS. ne 144. Time doth not alter there. , 145. No meteors need, no moon to shine. „ No candles burn, no moon doth shine. 146. No glittering stars do light. 147. The Sun of righteousness. , 148. There ever shineth bright. , 149. A Lamb unspotted, white, and pure. 151. Of every light ; thy glory is Thy heavenly King to view. c *4 Rev. vii. 11. Rev. vii. 15. Rev. xv. ii. Rev. vi. 11. THE NEW JERUSALEM XX. 153 He is the King of kings be-fet In midft his fervants' fight ; And they, his happy houfehold all, Do ferve Him day and night. 157 There, there the Queir of angels fing, There the fupernal fort Of citizens (which hence are rid From dangers deep) do fport. XXI. 161 There be the prudent Prophets all, The Apoftles fix and fix, The glorious martyrs in a row, And confeffors betwixt. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 153. " Be-set," as given above, is the true reading, instead of " beset ; " and means set or seat- ed, with the common prefix u be," as be- cloud, be-dim. „ 154. In midst his servants' right. „ 157. There dwell the queir of angels bright. „ 159. Of citizens who now are freed From danger's deep resort. „ 163. The glorious martyrs on a row. THE NEW JERUSALEM. J 5 1 65 There doth the crew of righteous men, And matrons all confift, Young men and madis that here on earth Rev. xiv. 4. Their pleafures did refift. XXII. 1 69 The fheep and lambs, that hardly 'leaped The fnares of death and hell, 1 Pet. iv. 18. Zech. iii. 2. Triumph in joy eternally, Whereof no tongue can tell. 173 And tho' the glory of each one Lu.xix.17-19. Doth differ in degree ; Yet is the joy of all, alike And common, as we fee. Ps. cxlix. 9. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 166. " Nations," evidently a misprint. " Exist" for " consist " in some copies. „ 169. The sheep and lambs that hardly scape. „ 170. The snare of death and hell. i6 THE NEW JERUSALEM. XXIII. 1 Cor. xii. 8- 12. 177 There love and charity doth reign, And Chrift is all in all ; Ps. xvii. 15. Whom they molt perfectly behold In glory fpiritual. Rev. vii. 12. 1 8 1 They love, they praife — they praife, they love, Isa. vi. 3. They " Holy, Holy," cry ; They neither toil, nor faint, nor end, Rev. iv. 8. But laud continually. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 177. There love and charity do reign. „ 180. In joy celestial. Both this and the above are old readings; and our readers may perhaps remember that one of the oldest translators of the Veni Creator has this expression : — " The fountain and tbe lively spring Of joy celestial j The tire so bright, the love so clear, And unction spiritual." THE NEW JERUSALEM. J 7 XXIV. 185 happy thoufand times were I, If, after wretched days, I might, with liftening ears conceive Thofe heavenly fongs of praise, 1 89 Which to the eternal King are fung Ps. cxlvii. 2. By happy wights above — By faved fouls, and angels fweet, Who love the God of love ! Rev. xiv. 3. XXV. 1 93 O palling happy were my ftate, Might I be worthy found Luke xxi. 36. To wait upon my God and King, His praifes there to found ! VARIOUS READINGS. Line 187. I might, with listening ears enjoy. „ 190. By heavenly wights above. „ 191. By sacred souls and angels sweet. „ 192. To love the God of love. „ 192. To praise the God of love. „ 196. And there his praises sound. c2 i8 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 1 Peter iv. 13. 197 And to enjoy my Chrilt above, His favour and his grace ; According to his promife made, — Which here I interlace. XXVI. John xvii. 24. 201 " O Father dear," quoth he, " let them Which thou haft put of old To me, be there where, lo, I am, My glory to behold. Prov. viii. 23. 205 Which I with thee, before this world Was laid in perfect wife, John xvii. 5. Have had; from whence the fountain great Of glory doth arife." VARIOUS READINGS. Line 199. According to his promise, when Earth was his dwelling-place. „ 202. Which thou hast given of old. „ 203. To me, be there whereso I am. „ 204. Thy glory to behold. „ 206. Was made, in perfect wise. THE NEW JERUSALEM. 19 XXVII. 209 Again, " if any man will ferve, John xii. 26. Then let him follow me ; For where I am, be thou right fure There mall my fervant be." 213 And ftill, " if any man love me, Jo. xiv. 21-23. Him loves my Father dear ; • Him I do love ; to him myfelf In glory will appear." XXVIII. 217 Lord, take away my mifery, Ps. xiv. 7. That there I may behold, With thee, in thy Jerufalem^ What here cannot be told. < VARIOUS READINGS. Line 210. There let him follow me. „ 211. That where I am, be thou right sure. „ 212. There shall my servants be. „ 215. Whom I do love ; to him myself. „ 218. That then I may be bold. „ 220. Thy glory to behold. 20 THE NEW JERUSALEM. Is. xxxiii. 7. 221 And fo in Zion fee my King, My Love, my Lord, my All ; Whom now as in a glafs I fee, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. There face to face I mall. XXIX. Matt. v. 8. 225 O bleffed are the pure in heart, Their Sovereign they fliall fee ! And the mod holy heavenly holt, Who of his houfehold be. Ps. cxlii. 17. Ps. cxx. 5. 229 O Lord, with fpeed dilfolve my bands, Thefe gins and fetters ftrong, For I have dwelt within the tents Of Kedar over-long. VARIOUS READINGS, Line 224. Then face toface I shall. „ 225. blessed is the pure in heart, His Saviour he shall see ; „ 226. ye most happy heavenly wights, Which of God's household be. „ 229. Lord, with haste come end my grief. „ 231. For I too long have dwelt in tents, To Kedar that belong. THE NEW JERUSALEM. XXX. 233 Yet fearch me Lord, and find me out, Fetch me thy fold unto ; That all thy angels may rejoice While all thy will I do. 237 O mother dear, Jerufalem^ When lhall I come to thee ? When mall my forrows have an end, Thy joys when fhall I fee ? XXXI. 241 Yet once again I pray thee, Lord, To quit me from all flrife, That to thine hill I may attain, And dwell there all my life ; 21 Ps. cxix. 17G. Cor. v. 8. Ps. xxxi. 20. Song iv. 6. Ps. xxiii. 6. VARIOUS READINGS. Line 233. The two following verses are awanting in some copies. 22 THE NEW JERUSALEM Ps. cxlix. Rev. xxii. 20. 245 With Cherubims and Seraphims, And holy fouls of men, To fmg thy praife, O God of Hods, For ever, and Amen I NOTES NOTES Line I. — "O Mother dear, Jerufa km ." The expression, mother dear, is suggested by Gal. iv. 26. — " Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." No one of the kindred hymns, either Latin or English, preserves the figure. — Urbs Jerusalem beata, are the commencing words of one ; Ccelestis Jerusalem, those of another ; Ccelestis urbs Jerusalem, those of a third. It is in allusion to the figure that Augustine calls a saint supemus Hlerosolymitanus — a citizen of the Jerusalem that is above. See his " City of God," b. 20, ch. 17. Richard Baxter thus sings : — Jerusalem above, Glorious in light and love, Is mother of us all. 26 THE NEW JERUSALEM. Line 2. — " When fhall I come to thee." Thus prayed Barnaby Barnes in the sixteenth century : — Unto my spirit lend an angel's wing, By which it might mount to that place of rest, Where Paradise may mee releeve, opprest. Line 3. — " When fhall my forrows have an end." Thus Jeremy Taylor : — My soul doth pant towards thee, My God, source of eternal life, Flesh fights with me,' — O end the strife ! And part us, that in peace I may Unclay My wearied spirit, and take My flight to thy eternal spring. Where for His sake Who is my King. I may wash all my tears away That day ! Line 5. — " O happy harbour of God's faints." I suppose that the word harbour is not used in the present sense of a port or haven for ships (which is only a secondary NOTES. meaning of the word); but in that sense in which it is so often met with in old works, both English and Scotch, especially the latter. Thus the verse in Rom. xii. 13, which we translate " given to hospitality," is by Coverdale translated " glad to har- larowC and I Tim. iii. 2, is rendered, "a Biszhoppe must be sober, discrete, manerly, harberous^ In Archbishop Hamilton's Catechism we read, " He (God) gives thee meit, drink, claith, and harbory? Sir D. Lindesay has it in that part of his Monar- chic in which he paraphrases the conclusion of the 25th of Mat- thew : — When saw we thee come to our door Hungry and thirsty, naked and poor ; When saw we thee in prison ly, Or thee refused Harbery ? At the same time, it may be noticed that in the Old English Hymn, given in the Appendix, the idea of a haven is that which is presented to us. She longs from rough and dangerous seas To harbour in the haven of bliss; Where safely anchor at her ease, And store of sweet contentment is. Line 6. — " O fweet and pleafant foil." In that magnificent Ode of the last centurv, " The God of 28 THE NEW JERUSALEM Abraham Praise," the following stanzas occur, which the reader can compare with this verse of the hymn ; — The goodly land I see, With peace and plenty bless'd ; A land of sacred liberty, And endless rest : There milk and honey flow, And oil and wine abound; And trees of life for ever grow, With mercy crown'd. Line 8. — "No grief, no toil, no care." Thus an old Latin hymn on the day of judgment : — Ibi jam non erit metus Neque luctus neque fletus, Non egestas non senectus Nullus denique defectus. Line 1 1 " There is no death, nor ugly fight." Sir D. Lindesay uses the same epithet when, speaking of the Dead Sea, he calls it an " ugly flood." Dunbar has " ane ugsome, ugly, foul tramort," (i. e. corpse). And Dickson him- self, in his " Exposition of the Tenth of Job," speaks of " the ugly devouring grave." NOTES. 29 Line 12. — " But life for evermore." Thus Du Bartas : — Where life still lives ; where God his 'sizes holds. And another author older than he : — There is no strife, X'is (there is not) there no death, but ever life. Old Poem. Ellis' Early English Poetry, vol. i. p. Line 13. — "No dimmirn clouds o'erfhadow thee. There is many a swete sight, All is day, n'is there no night. Ellis' English Poetry, vol. i. p. 86. Look up, my soul, pant tow'rds th' eternal hills; Those heavens are fairer than they seem; There pleasures all sincere glide on in crystal rills ; There not a dreg of guilt defiles, Nor grief disturbs the stream. That Canaan knows no noxious thing, Xo cursed soil, no tainted spring, Nor roses grow on thorns, nor honey wears a sting. Isaac Watts. D 2 30 THE NEW JERUSALEM, Line 1 6. — " For God himfelf gives light." Dum licet et spatium vita) datur, ista relinque Pro patria coeli qua sine fine dies. Non est ilia dies cursus ut ista dies Est Deus ilia dies, ultima nostra quies. These are the four closing lines of an old hymn appended to a thin black-letter volume, entitled E cohort ationes Noviciorum, of date 1490. The title of the hymn is De judicio mortis et mriis casibus ejus. Lines 21-24. — " Jerufalem ! Jerufalem ! Would God I were in thee ! O that my forrows had an end, Thy joys that I might fee/' George Gascoigne has a stanza somewhat similar to this. After telling us that we are to .... Deeme our days on earth, But hell to heavenly joye, He adds, — Unto which joyes for to attayne, God graunt us all hys grace, And send us, after worldlie payne, In heaven to have a place ; NOTES. 31 Where wee maye still enjoye that light, Which never shall decaye ; Lord, for thy mercy lend us might, To see that joyfull daye. And thus a Scottish hymn-writer of the last century expresses himself: — Jerusalem above, My heart's most set upon ; Where dwells peace, joy, and love, And pleasures every one. Let worldly men now lay Up treasures in their day, My treasure's there, — I pray, There, Lord, let me begone. A pleasant mansion this, Will be to every one, On whom eternal bliss, Flows from Jehovah's throne. No night, but constant day, Corruption's banished aye ; There holiness doth stay, There, there, Lord, make me gone ! I extract this from a curious volume of sacred poetry (or at least rhymes), published at Edin- burgh in 1718, by William Cheyn. There is more of the devout than the poetical in the different pieces. 2,2 THE NEW JERUSALEM. Line 25. — No pains, no pangs, no grieving grief. I have noticed that others read " hopeless grief, " instead of "grieving grief;'" but this seems an attempt to improve the original at the expense of its simplicity. " Grieving grief " is not an unnatural nor uncouth expression. The Latins have mwrens luctus and tristis dolor. Sir D. Lindesay has " dolent lamentation; 1 ' and in one of Thomas MelvilPs poems on the death of James Melvill, we have " murning mein," i. 3 I, waltering like a woful wight, Still waking in my bed I lie, My sins present them in my sight, O hearken Lord, for help I cry ! There is a curious specimen of alliteration in the old poem of Sir Nicolas Breton, called A Solemne and Repentant Prayer for Former Life Mispent. It runs thus : — And banish, Lord, from me delights Of worldly vanitie, And lend me helpe to pace the paths Of perfect pietie ; And truly so to tread the paths, And in such godly wise, That they may bring me to the place Of perfect Paradice; And not to wander up and down In wayes of weary wo, Where wicked, wily, wanton toyes, Do leade me too and fro. And in a hymn of about the same date by George Gascoigne, called " Good Morrowe," we have the following alliteration : — Now cleare your voyce, now cheere your hart, Come help me now to sing; Each irilling wight come bear a part To prayse the heavenly King. 34 THE NEW JERUSALEM. Line 27. — No figh, no fob, no cry is heard. " Thou sbalt weep no more," says the prophet; and again, " sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Thus Bonaventura — Tunc cessabunt gemitus planctuum dolorum Cum adjuncta fueris choris angelorum Nam cantando transies ad cselestem chorum Nupta felicissime regi seculorum. A lew stanzas of this hymn are given by Mr Trench, p. 130. It is a long poem, and in the edition which I have (1504) it is set to music, Bernard (of Clugny) has the following : — Sunt sine fletibus in Syon sedibus, oedibus almis. Non ibi lacryma, sed placidissima gaudia, risus, O sine luxibus, O sine luctibus, O sine lite Splendida curia, florida patria, patria vita?. Trench —Pp. 288, 289. In Pindar's second Olympic Ode, the reader will perhaps re- member a similar expression : — ctoaxpuv vs/aovrai uiuva. Line 28. — " No well-away, no fear." Well-away, wail-away, or wel-aivay, is not an uncommon NOTES. 35 word in old Scotch writers. Thus Sir David Lindesay speaking of the day of judgment : — With loud alas and wall-away, That ever we lived to see that day. And again, in another place he says : — With a woful uxill-away. I find the word occurring also in one of the poems of Lydgate, who flourished shortly after Chaucer : — But, welaway ! most angelik of face Our childe, young in his pure innocence. Spenser also uses it : — Crying with piteous voice and countenance wan, Ah, well-away! most noble Lords, how can Your cruel eyes endure so piteous sight. Fairy Queen, b. 2, can. f, stan. 32. Lines 31, 32. — The Lamb of God, the light thereof, Sits there upon his throne. Thus Dunbar : — The lamp of joy that chasis all dirkness Ascended is to be the warld's light. ****** Above the radious heaven etheriall The court of sterris, the course of sun and moon, The potent prince of joy imperiall. On the " Nativity of Christ." 36 THE NEW JERUSALEM. So also the " Ballate " of the Reformation : — O Christ whilk art the light of day, The elude of night thou drives away ; The beam of glore beleevit right. Showing to us thy perfect light. There is in the same collection a hymn beginning : — Go, heart, unto the lamp of light ! Line $$. — " Ah, God, that I Jerufalem" George Herbert thus sings in his poem Home : — Come, Lord ! my head doth burn, my heart is sick, Whilst thou dost ever, ever stay; Thy long deferrings wound me to the quick ; My spirit gaspeth night and day. O shew thyself to me, Or take me up to thee ! Line 34. — "With fpeed may go behold." Urbs Syon inclyta turns et edita littore tuto Te peto, te colo, te flagro, te volo, canto, saluto O pia gratia, celsa palatia cernere prsesta Ut videam bona, festaque consona, cselica festa. O mea, spes mea, tu Syon aurea, clarior auro, Agmine splendida stans duce florida perpete lauro O bona patria, num tua gaudia teque videbo ? Berxard of Clugny. NOTES. 37 Line 37. — " Thy turrets, and thy pinnacles." Ubi vivis margaritis surgunt edificia Auro celsa micant tecta radiant triclinia. Damianus.— See Daniel Tkes. Hymnol, vol. i., p. 116. Line 39, — " With jafper, pearl, and chryfolite." Jeremy Taylor has something of this sort in his hymn called " Heaven' 1 : — "Where the great King^s transparent throne Is of an entire jasper-stone. There the eye Of the chrysolite, And a sky Of diamonds, rubies, chrysoprase, And above all thy holy face, Makes an eternal clarity. Crystal clear occurs several times in Sir D. Lindesay. Speak- ing of a window in Noah's Ark, he tells us that it was Well closed with crystal clear, Where-through the daylight might appear. 38 THE NEW JERUSALEM, And again, writing of the new earth, he says The great sea shall no more appear But like a crystal pure and clear, Passing imagination Of man to make narration. Line 43. — " Thy ftreets are laid with beaten gold. Solis gemmis preciosis Hsec structura nectitur Auro mundo tanquam vitro Urbis via sternitur. Damianus. Plateae et muri ejus Ex auro purissimo. Old Hymn.— Dm. i., p. 239. Line 44. — " Where angels do appear.' Thus sung Richard Baxter regarding angels : — Ye holy angels bright, Who stand before God's throne, And dwell in glorious light, Praise ye the Lord each one. You there so nigh, Fitter than we Dark sinners be For things so high ! NOTES. 39 Line 45. — "Thy walls are made of precious ftones." Portce nitent margaritis, Adytis patentibus. Old Latin Hymn. Dan. i., p. 239. Hie margaritis emicant Patentque cunctis ostia. Line 46. — " Thy bulwarks diamonds fquare." Mr Williams, in his translations, or rather paraphrases (for they are not translations), of hymns from the " Breviary," has an ex- pression similar : — She comes ! The Bride, from heaven-gate In nuptial new adorning, To meet the Immaculate, Like coming of the morning. Her streets of purest gold are made, Her walls a diamond palisade. P. 333. Line 47. — " Thy gates are made of orient pearl" Sir D. Lindesav, in his Prologue to " The Monarchy," uses the same epithet : — Whereon the dulce and balmy dew down dang Like orient pearls upon the twists hang. 4