Thus shall they mourn for him their fathers slew,
Who show'd no anger, and no sin e'er knew;
Whose blameless life was pass'd in true accord
With the pure tenor of his holy word;
Their great Messiah, who was oft foretold
By their unerring prophecies of old.
This was the wond'rous long-expected birth,
A heav'n-blest Virgin should produce on earth;
A sign benighted Isr'el could not tell,
A snare, a stumbling-block, at which they fell:
Yet to his name, the Gentile, Jew, shall bow,
And all mankind sincerest homage show,
For his great Father gives to his controul,
The subject world that spreads from pole to pole;
And, rais'd o'er all the blest celestial band,
He bears authority on God's right hand;
Next to the Majesty on high is plac'd,
With all his love, and all his splendour grac'd.
His Father made him well-inform'd, with care,
The sins, infirmities of others bear.
He was oppress'd with ridicule and want,
Grew from dry ground like a neglected plant,
Which slowly spreads its blossoms to the day,
And round whose leaves no balmy zephyrs play.
As a meek lamb to slaughter he was led,
That quiet bows its inoffensive head;
As passive sheep before the shearers stand,
He silent yielded to th' oppressor's hand.
He bore no beauty, or of form or face,
Spurn'd as a curse, and mock'd as a disgrace.
From judgment unto prison he was driv'n,
And to a cruel, shameful death was giv'n.
With felons he was rank'd and crucified,
Though the rich made his burial when he died.
Yet he shall see the travail of his heart,
Which never-ceasing comfort shall impart:
Line 199. It will give pleasure to the Christian reader to
know, that on the 9th of September, 1813, the Jews themselves
formed a society in London, to inculcate the doctrine that Jesus of
Nazareth is the true Messiah. Such societies should be generously
encouraged by pious Christians.
The weary soul through him shall find its rest,
Recover'd multitudes through him be blest;
Th' Almighty gift shall prosper in his hand,
His race, his honour, shall for ever stand.
With many, this was the stupendous crime,
Their daring sires perform'd in ancient time,
This murder of the meek and innocent,
Who as a shepherd to his flock was sent:
Through which the Roman cruelty prevail'd,
And Judah's heav'n-neglected sceptre fail'd;
Through which the temple was consign'd to flame, 235
And desolate Jerusalem became.
But true repentance makes the sin forgiv'n,
By ever just, but ever gracious Heav'n.
Jerusalem shall then be ever blest,
Her peace no hostile strangers shall molest;
Her ravag'd towns no more she shall deplore,
The voice of weeping shall be heard no more:
On its own heap the city shall be built,
For ever fix'd, unstain'd with blood or guilt.
No more from Ephr'im shall the trumpet clang, 245
No more the deathful battle-bow shall twang;
Nor in Jerusalem, in pomp of war,
The horse and chariot thunder to afar.
Peace, like a river, o'er the land shall spread,
A river by perennial fountains fed:
A sweet accordant spirit shall be giv❜n,
To make this little earth resemble heav'n.
War shall be banish'd from the happy earth,
The monster War, who takes from Sin his birth;
Line 243. If we attentively consider the 30th and 31st chapters of the prophet Jeremiah, we shall find that "the city shall be builded upon her own heap"" in the latter days," and after the new covenant" with the house of Israel;" when," saith the Lord, "I will put my laws in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, saith the Lord." See chap. xxx. ver. 18 and 24; and chap. xxxi. ver. 33 and 34.
Who in his cruel train portentous bears
The widow's loud lament, and orphan's tears;
At whose dread march, and at whose yelling cries,
Nature as well as art, deform'd, in ruin lies.
The waste the myrtle and the fir shall yield,
And the dead sea for ever shall be heal'd;
Unfading fruit the desert round shall boast,
And flourish, like the palm, its dreary coast;
Serpents no more their fatal stings shall bear,
And the meek lamb, th' associate wolf shall
In that propitious, in that halcyon day,!
The lion with the herds shall feed and play.
No more the spear with indignation fierce,
The beating tender heart of man shall pierce ;
But prune the useless branches from the root,
That richly gives the palatable fruit;
The sword a plough-share shall become to sow,
Where clouds drop fatness on the land below.
Each shall enjoy calm unmolested rest,
Beneath his vine and spreading fig-tree blest.
With violence, pernicious fraud shall fail,
The cheating balance and calumnious tale;
At once the lover shall his bride possess,
And love, estrang'd from jealousy, the husband bless.
The smooth adulterer with treach'rous art,
No more shall lacerate his faithful heart;
Poison the sweetest blessing from above,
And change into a hell his paradise of love.
Then they shall blush at their forefathers' crimes,
At guilt which brought down wrath in former times;
Shall blush that to a senseless stock or stone
Isr'el once bow'd, and left th' Eternal throne;
For which th' Assyrian as a scourge was sent,
Th' Almighty's staff of wrath, his fury's instrument.
Whence Isr'el's daughters tun'd their harps to grief,
To woe that would admit of no relief,
As they were wont when captiv'd to deplore,
That they should see their pleasant seats no inore,
But now th' Almighty Ruler will impart,
Another cov'nant with another heart;
The faithful heart that will obedience show,
Whence the rich blessing shall for ever flow;
Whence o'er the land their happy seed shall spread, And in captivity no more be led.
How good is the august, eternal Lord!
How worthy to be lov'd, and be ador'd!
What beauty shines around his throne of light!
How his works captivate the heart and sight!
By Wisdom all th' ethereal host were made,
And the foundations of the earth were laid.
Of permanent tranquillity possest,
He wishes man, his creature, to be blest;
And makes th' effect dependent on a cause,
That cause, a firm obedience to his laws;
He loves to shed the blessing, and dispense
The fruitful seeds of his benevolence.
In him when transitory life is past,
Shall suff'ring virtue find a friend at last;
Shall find for ev'ry short-liv'd pang and sigh,
Eternal pleasures undisturb'd on high;
Such as the fancy never could conceive,
For 'tis the bounteous Lord of all who then will give.
O praise the Lord ye blest angelic band,
And let his praise resound from ev'ry land.
It is becoming, just, and sweet to sing,
Our hallelujahs high to heav'n's great King.
Let the delightful harp declare his worth,
And the sonorous trumpet give it forth;
Loud as it blew when Sinai's mount in smoke,
Jehovah's self, the present God bespoke;
Let the great sun and stars their voices raise,
And publish to the world his boundless praise.
His awful name alone is excellent!
His glory is above the firmament!
Let all that breathes, let each created thing,
In chorus to the great Creator sing!
For they are his, at his omnific word
They liv'd, and owe their being to the Lord,
But most, let Zion's sons the theme prolong,
Be loudest heard in the triumphant song;
'Tis he who gives to fair Jerusalem
Her. splendid and her lofty diadem.
Let the glad notes from grateful earth be giv'n, Symphonious with th' immortal choirs of heav'n, Who round th' Eternal throne, with sweet accord, Sing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.
Printed by Macdonald and Son, Cloth Fair, London.
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