A1r

Divine Poems
and
Essays
on
Various Subjects


Viz.

  • Immanuel; or, the Godhead of
    Christ displayed.
  • A Meditation written in a Bower
    at Lady Grove, Sutton.
  • Elegies.
  • Epithalamiums.
  • Epistles to Miranda, &c.
  • Hymns.
  • A Poem on Redemption.

  • A Walk at Enfield
  • Meditations on the Canticles.
    ——for the Lord’s Supper.
  • Christ All in All.
  • Meditations on Rev. xii. 6.
  • A Summer Day’s Excursion.
  • Odes.
  • Letters.
  • A Soliloquy.

By Maria de Fléury
With Recommendatory Prefaces, by the Rev. Mr Wills,
Rev. Mr Towers, and Rev. Mr Ryland.


London.

Printed for the Author, and sold by T. Wilkins, Aldermanbury;
By Bellamy and Roberts, No. 202, Strand; M. Trapp, No. I,
Pater-noster Row; Mr Nott, Lombard street; M.
Gurney
, No. 128, Holborn, and by the Author,
No. 31, Jewin-street.
17911791.
Price three shillings sewed.

A1v A2r [Table of contents omitted] A3r

Preface.

To the Reader,

Amongst all the grand doctrines which the bible
reveals to fallen man, that of the Trinity in
unity; a triune God, is perhaps the most sublime,
and therefore it may appear somewhat like
presumption in a woman to exercise her pen upon
such a subject; but in times like the present, when
this glorious truth is so awfully denied by many,
when arianism, fabelianism and socinianism is pouring
in upon us like a flood, and some even dare to
stand forth in public and blaspheme that worthy
name
by which we are called, it ought not to be
wondered at if even the stones in the street rose up
with indignation, and found a voice to bear testimony
to the dignity, and to assert the Deity of
their divine Creator.—Let this consideration plead
my excuse.

Impressed with a deep sense of the importance of
the subject, and conscious of my own utter inability
to defend so illustrious a truth, fearing to darken
council by words without knowledge, I wished, but
durst not for several years, attempt any thing of this
kind, though requested by several friends to do it;
however, an unexpected solicitation from a gentleman
at that time a perfect stranger, to me, prevailed
upon me to take up my pen—I viewed it as the
voice of providence, and therefore durst not refuse.
So far as I am capable of knowing my own heart,
I know this, that I do not write from interested
motives, I feel the highest satisfaction in the testimony
of my conscience, that I write not for the
gain or applause of the world: if the Lord Jesus
Christ
, the great God my Savior, is glorified in
the smallest degree, if his cause is any way promoted;A3 ed; A3v (vi)
and any, if it be only one, of his children edified
by any thing he has enabled me to write, my
labour will be richly repaid, and he shall have the
glory. Conscious as I am of the many improprieties
of language and deficiencies in point of grammar,
which are very discernable in these poems and
tracts, I feel myself constrained to put in a humble
claim to the candid attention of my readers, from
the consideration that I am a Woman, that I have
not enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education;
that some of the pieces were written many years
ago, and that I have not had the kind assistance of
any judicious friend in preparing them for the
press, or even in correcting and revising the proof
sheets, but have gone through the whole fatigue
of this work myself, and that in the midst of much
weakness and indisposition of body.—When these
facts are duly weighed, I flatter myself that the soft
and gentle hand of candour will draw a veil over the
inaccuracies of the following pieces, and skreen
them from the severity of the keen eye of criticism.
However, such as they are, I commit them to the care
and blessing of heaven; and I am encouraged to do this,
because I know the Lord of Hosts is a God of unlimited
power, he can not only bless the labours of
his great and eminent servants, but he can also bless
the feeblest attempts for his glory, and own the
weakest instrument; he is pleased sometimes to
make use of weak and contemptible things to confound
the mighty and the wise, that no man should glory in man, but that Christ should be all in all,
I Cor. i. 26,31. That he may be all your salvation
and all your desire, gentle reader, is the sincere
prayer of

Yours, for Christ’s sake,

Maria de Fleury.

A4r (vii)

The female author of the following Essays,
is so well known in the religious world by
her many productions, as to need neither introduction
nor any recommendation of mine to the
public: but as she has earnestly requested it at
my hands, I consider her so faithful a champion
in having contended earnestly and successfully,
(under the divine blessing) for the faith once delivered
to the saints, on more occasions than one,
that she is fairly entitled to every claim of this
kind, both on myself, and on every one of the
Lord’s watchmen in Zion, that love our Lord
Jesus Christ
in all his offices, and preach the everlasting
gospel in all its branches, in sincerity.

As one therefore that has come up to the help
of the Lord against the mighty, I honour her.
As one that is perfectly sound in the gospel, as
the following sheets clearly evince; and especially
as she is, like many of her divine Master’s
servants, poor in this world, though I trust, rich
in grace, I heartily commend her, and the present
publication, to the church of God; trusting
they will encourage the sale of it, not only for
her profit, but I humbly hope for the glory of
God, and the good of precious souls.

T. Wills.

A4v A5r (ix)

Dear Reader,

The following miscellaneous collection,
hath been written by a pious godly woman;
whom I really believe fears God above many.
In many of her writings, her style is rather masculine,
than otherwise; and therefore she has been
suspected of publishing works under her name,
which were not her own, but had some Minister
for their author:—whoever thus judged, I am
persuaded were altogether mistaken. Being frequently
in the company of ministers, it is not to
be wondered at, if she should imperceptibly
speak or write, in some respects, after their manner.
The pieces in prose and verse, that are here
presented to thee, are not controversial, like some
of the productions of the same pen, but they will
be found to be of such a nature, that I think all
unprejudiced friends of the Lord Jesus Christ will
cordially receive them. A warm attachment to
and no incosiderable zeal for the glorious doctrines
of the Trinity—Of the Divinity of the Lord
Jesus, and of the Divinity and divine personality of
the Holy Ghost
., are discernable throughout the
work: Nor are the other truths of the gospel
sparingly introduced.—If thou, beloved reader,
art one of the followers of the Lamb; if Christ
be very precious to thee; if his name be as ointment
poured forth to thy soul, then most probably,bably A5v (x)
the perusal of this publication will afford
thee both pleasure and profit; especially if thou
lookest up to the blessed Spirit of God for a divine
blessing upon it.

If it should be asked, what was my inducement
to write this recommendatory address? I
must inform the reader, that it was not from any
supposition that the name at the close hereof,
had any weight, which would render any capital
service to the performance or the the spread thereof;
or that either the one or the other needed
such help; but the particular desire of the writer
constrained me, she having been for some years,
a worthy member of the church of Christ amongst
whom I have long laboured, with whom I hope
to live and die. I was the more disposed to accede
to her request, as the matter that follows
appears to me to be agreeable to the word of God
and calculated to promote the manifestative glory
of God and the good of precious souls.

That some poor sinners minds may receive benefit
from her labours—that she may have the
pleasure of knowing this to be the case, if not in
this world, at least in the world to come—that
the Redeemer’s honour and his kingdom may
spread far and wide, and all his enemies be scattered,
is the sincere desire and prayer of


Thy sincere friend in our common Lord, Clerkenwell,

John Towers.

A6r (xi)

To all inquisitive and impartial Lovers
of the Truths of the Gospel.

My Friends,

It is a matter of unspeakable importance to have
right conceptions of the revealed character of
God; and in order to this, a man must have a
very low opinion of his own understanding, as to
its weakness to discern, to possess and retain the
truths of divine revelation; and he must abide
by this as a most sure principle, “that it is reasonable
to submit to the plain dictates of God in
all affairs, which reason, independent of revelation,
could never discover.”

Every wise man will never depart from this
principle; and consequently he will come to his
bible not to teach God what he ought to reveal,
or how he ought to express himself, but he will
submit his reason and conscience intirely to the
dominion of infinite and eternal truth.

This will be the case in a very peculiar manner
with respect to all our enquiries into the evidence
of the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall not rashly reject it, nor with boldness
and irreverence inquire into the modus of it; but
we shall with great sincerity and simplicity of
heart receive the whole testimony of God concerning
it.

With these preliminaries, I search my bible for
the evidences of Christ’s Divinity;—I find he is,
stiled Jehovah, Lord and God, in a thousand
places in the holy bible—I find that all the natural
and moral perfections which are ascribed to God A46 the A6v (xii)
the Father, are equally ascribed to God the Son—
I find that all the works of Creation, Providence
and Redemption, equally belong to God the Son
as they belong to God the Father—I find that all
acts of worship which were ever paid to God the
Father, are equally paid to God the Son. Unbounded
esteem rising into veneration; unbounded
veneration rising into adoration, and unutterable
admiration of the beauties of the divine
works, and uspeakable gratitude for divine blessings.
—The patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles,
all join in one voice crying out, “Glory, honor,
praise and power be to God the Redeemer for ever
and ever!”
What then shall we think of those miserable
men who declare that the corner-stone of
all error is the idolatrous worship of Jesus Christ?
these men may cry and blubber concerning the
loss of their apparatus, their books, and their precious
manuscripts; it would be well for them if
they would rather cry and roar with conviction
and sorrow, under a sense of their hatred, their
malice, their blasphemy of the eternal person of
the son of God. This bitter repentance would
become them well, they would then conciliate
the esteem and affection of all the sincere lovers
of Christ. But now whilst they continue in a
state of impenitence, and impudent rejection of
Christ, they must remain the objects of contempt
and abhorrence to God and man.

The following poem is designed to display the
true and eternal divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
My respect to the author is sincere, my regard for
the subject is great and infinitely superior to all
the personal friendship that can exist in this
world.

John Ryland.

A7r

Immanuel

or the
Godhead of Christ Displayed.
A Poem.

A7v B1r

Immanuel


A Poem.

Come, from thy heav’nly feat, O sacred Muse,

And warm my heart with thy own hallow’d fire;

Bid it awake to raptures all divine.

O bear me on thy bright celestial wing

Above the confines of this little world, 5

Above yon starry orbs, and that pale moon;

With swiftest flight, O mount and soar away

And waft me to the realms of purest light,

Where the full splendors of eternal day,

The unveil’d glories of the Lord the Lamb, 10

Blaze forth in beams of light ineffable,

And make the sun ashamed.—Fain would I fly

To that bright world, but chains forbid my flight,

Check my ambition, bind me down to earth;

The chains, the shackles of mortality. 15

Come then, O meditation, maid divine,

Help me to muse the rest, and let my mind

View things unseen by any mortal eye,

And tho’ confin’d in flesh, converse with heaven.

B There B1v 4

There, on a glorious throne, Immanuel reigns,

The God of nature, and the God of grace: 20

Lord of ten thousand worlds; array’d in flesh.

A man, but not of sorrows now, no more

A sacrifice for sin, he bleeds and dies.

’Tis done!—The great salvation is complete:

And high exalted, now he lives and reigns 25

A Priest upon his throne—there angels bow

And own their Master and adore their God.

There blood bought saints, the trophies of his grace

Prostrate before his feet, pierced for their sins,

Cast down their crowns of amaranth and gold, 30

And Abr’hams sons with gentile sinners join

To raise the triumphs of the sinner’s friend.

Do Angels bow before Immanuel’s throne,

And, in triumphant songs adore his name? 35

Yes! their bright myriads, tho’ ten thousand times

Ten thousand, fill’d with holy awe and zeal,

With burning love and pure immortal joy,

Veil their celestial faces with their wings

When they draw near his feat: Lift, O my soul! 40

I hear the voice of mighty seraphim,

Louder than ocean in his loudest roar;

I hear archangels shout—they clap their wings,

Their gorgeous wings, and with sweet unison

In one grand chorus shake the upper skies. 45

“Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord” (they cry)

“Lord God of sabbaoth! Worthy the Lamb, Isaiah vi. John xii. Rev. v.

The B2r 5

The self-existent and eternal God,—

Cloath’d with humanity, great King of heav’n,—

And Ransomer of men! Worthy art thou—

50

Of endless domination, pow’r and praise.”—

Hark! the redeemed millions join the song,

Take up the theme, and tune their golden harps

To higher strains, as stronger motives call

To nobler gratitude, and boundless praise. 55

“Worthy the Lamb, who stoop’d so low for us

To veil his Godhead in a robe of flesh,

Who bought us with his blood: Our sacrifice;

Our righteousness; who brought us by his grace

From every nation of the peopled earth 60

To reign in glory, kings and priests to him.

Worthy the Lamb of blessing, pow’r and might,

Riches and honour, everlasting thanks.

Let heaven and earth, and all creation join

To worship him, for whom, and by whose pow’r

All things subsist; glory and praise be his

Who sitteth on the throne, who once was dead

But lives for ever” Lo! again they shout

“Worthy the Lamb!” and at his gracious feet

In low prostration fall, sweetly o’erwhelm’d 70

With rapturous gratitude, with heav’nly love.

How grand the theme, how glorious the song!

What melody, when saints and angels sing

God the Redeemer’s praise. But hark, my soul!

Jehovah speaks, let heaven and earth attend 75

In solemn silence to the great decree.

B2 “Hear B2v 6

“Hear, all my angels, my celestial pow’rs;

Cherubic armies, flaming seraphim;

Bright sons of morn, who hymn around my throne,

Or thro’ my spacious universe dispense 80

The sov’reign mandates of my righteous will.

Behold my first begotten, and adore

Jesus the God, the Man for sinners slain.

At my right hand he sits exalted high,

Fall at his feet and worship him as me.”

85

And to the son he saith, “Thy throne, O God

Endures for ever, thy right hand shall grasp

A righteous sceptre thro’ eternity;

And rule with sov’reign sway; (thy native right)

Thy boundless empire which thine hands have formd’.”

Thus from his throne, th’ Almighty Father spake. 90

The sov’reign voice kindled new joy in heav’n—

Low at his feet they bow; the concave rung

With hallelujahs, voices jubilant

Proclaim the honours of the slaughter’d Lamb. 95

A God incarnate! let the heav’ns rejoice!

A God incarnate! let the earth be glad!

Reigns o’er the heavens and earth, the ransom’d throng,

And hosts angelic hymn his sacred name

With bursts of loud applause.—Thee too they sing

Almighty Father, and adore thy grace; 100

Father of Jesus Christ, thy first elect,

Father, in him, of all the chosen seed;

Father of everlasting love to men.

Nor from the song do they disjoin thy name,

Eternal Spirit! Holy Comforter! 105

Giver of life, of peace, and heav’nly joy;

Great B3r 7

Great Sanctifier of thine Israel,

But lowly reverent, at thy feet they fall,

And give due worship to a triune God. 110

The Almighty Jah! the infinite I am!

A God in cov’nant for the sons of men.

Celestial armies sing his boundless name;

And the redeemed swell his triumphs high,

While they ascribe salvation, pow’r and praise

And endless honours to their Saviour-God. 115

While thus the heav’ns adore; come, O my soul,

And let thy noblest pow’rs awake and sing:

O catch a spark of that celestial fire

That animates the concert of the skies. 120

Thou too art chosen from the sons of men;

Thou too art purchas’d by the blood of God. Acts xx. 28.

Call’d from the heirs of wrath, by grace divine,

And seal’d a daughter and an heir of heav’n.

Come then, my soul, and at thy Father’s feet. 125

Low in the dust adore his sov’reign grace,

And bless the wonders of electing love,

That made a Saviour thine, and wrote thy name,

Thy worthless name, in Jesu’s book of life.

Jesus, my God, I love thee, and adore! 130

O for a heart inflam’d, an heart on fire

With constant, pure, seraphic love of thee,

Great Lover of my soul; who lov’d so dear,

That from thy throne of glory, stooping low,

To plunge into a boundless sea of grief, 135

A boundless sea of wrath divine; to plunge

Into the dreadful jaws of death, and all

The gloomy horrors of the grave, for me.

B3 He B3v 8

He stoop’d to conquer.—See the rising God,

Bursting the iron barriers of the grave; 140

Abolish’d death expiring at his feet,

And satan bound in everlasting chains,

Led at the glorious Victor’s chariot wheels

Triumphant thro’ the air. My King, my God!

I laud thy triumphs, and adore thy name: 145

My great salvation Thou! my All in All!

Now high exalted on thy regal seat,

Where from eternity thou sat supreme,

The radiant, awful glories of the God

Shine thro’ the milder beauties of the man, 150

Blessing thy saints and angels with full draughts

Of boundless pleasures, and immortal joy.

Thy sov’reign grace, Spirit divine! I sing;

Fountain of holiness, of life and love!

Great glorifier of a Saviour’s name; 155

Revealer of the hidden things of God.

Thy new creating voice bade me awake

From nature’s sleep; the dreadful sleep of sin;

To all the joys of light and life divine;

To all the bliss of immortality! 160

Of pardon’d sin, and fellowship with God,

Thro’ the rich streams of a Redeemer’s blood,

Of sin subdu’d, and a triumphant hope

Of the bright glories of eternity.

Come, Holy Comforter! descend and dwell 165

In my cold heart, warm it with heav’nly fire;

Make it thy temple, tune my stamm’ring tongue

To lofty notes of praise, such as thy love

Deserves, O ever blessed Trinity,

On B4r 9

One undivided glorious Deity: 170

One self-existent and eternal God,

My Father, Saviour, everlasting Friend.

Let every power of my redeemed soul

Be dedicate to thee; let every pulse

Beat high for thee, and every breath aspire 175

In grateful hallelujahs to my God.

Hark! O my soul, what voice is that? what sounds

Discordant break upon mine ear? ’tis harsh

As distant thunder;—muttering and low,

Such as magicians use, when with dark spells 180

They raise ill spirits in the midnight hour.

List! it comes nearer, and embolden’d, speaks

In plainer accents, that my startled soul

Can catch its murmurs, and distinctly hear

The words of discontent that from it flow. 185

“Is Jesus Christ the self-existent God?

No, I deny it, what blasphemous tongue

Dares to pronounce him so? the wretch who dares

Is an idolater, and robs his God

Of his prime glory.—Jesus is a man;

A man, in whom perfection dwells, ’tis true,

And holy innocence, but yet a man.

The son of God, as he himself declares;

He liv’d our bright example, and he dy’d

Prime martyr to the glorious truths he taught,

Of patience, meekness, heav’nly charity.

Correct thy erring song then, worship God;

Nor let a creature share with him the praise.”

What B4v 10

What words are these! hears’t thou, O sun, a voice

Deny the Deity of thy Creator,

And dost not hide thy radiant head in clouds?

Dost thou not feel, O earth, the dreadful shock,

And tremble to thy centre?—Fearful awe

Has seiz’d my spirit, all my pow’rs recoil!

Horror thrillsthro’ my veins, and all aghast

I stand and look around—Am I awake? 205

And is there, in a universe of beings,

One who with front of brass, and vip’rous tongue

Dare thus affront his Maker? Whence this voice?

From heaven it comes not; there in concord sweet,

The blest inhabitants bow at his name; 210

And hail him God o’er all, for ever blest.

From the dark regions of eternal woe,

Where night and everlasting horrors reign,

It must proceed—yet no! the great arch-fiend,

Satan, the leader of the rebel host, 215

And all his millions, know the dignity

Of man’s Redeemer. They can never doubt

Messiah’s Godhead, till they cease to be.

Deep rooted memory of what is past;

And sense of present pain, constrains belief. 220

Yes! they believe and tremble, for they know

His might, tremble thro’ ev’ry pow’r,

And from the truth of his eternal being,

They know their own eternity of woe.

They felt the pow’r of his omnipotence 225

When from the realms of bliss he drove them down

To utter darkness; from his vengeful arm

They fled affrighted, but in vain they fled.

His vengeance follow’d; flames of wrath divine

Pursu’d B5r 11

Pursu’d their flight, ten thousand thunders roll’d 230

And sunk them low in horrors infinite.

And long since that, has satan and his crew

Of spirits accursed, felt the potent arm

Of man’s Redeemer, when in human flesh

Array’d, they from his presence fled with speed, 235

Obey’d his awful mandate, fear’d his frown,

And trembled thro’ their being at his name.

Not less Almighty, when a man of grief,

Than when enthron’d between the cherubim.

But chiefly then, when bursting from the grave 240

The rising God triumphant over death,

Trampled beneath his feet the powr’s of hell,

Then vanquish’d Satan felt a second fall;

His empire to its deep foundations shook,

New terrors, like a flood, o’erwhelm’d his heart; 245

New blasphemies employ’d his horrid tongue.

The fierce, the proud blasphemer shakes his chain

In all the rage and madness of despair,

Yet owns the mighty arm that binds him down

In everlasting horrors, feels and owns 250

Jesus the Conquerer; the God he hates.

Nor is there in the dark abhorred pit

One hapless, ruin’d soul! who doubts this truth.

Eternity sweeps unbelief away.

There’s no deception there; the truth they know. 255

O fearful knowledge, by experience learn’d,

In the black realms of endless misery,

They see the truth, but by the dreadful light

Of B5v 12

Of Tophet’s flames; O horrible! to know

When knowledge sinks the deeper in despair. 260

If heav’nly hosts unite to raise on high

The lofty honours of the Saviour-God:

If in the world beneath, he reigns in wrath,

And all its millions feel his Deity;

’Tis here alone exists the man who dares 265

Boldly deny his sov’reign dignity.

And is it thou, Lothario? come thou man

Of reason and philosophy, come bring

Thy pow’rful reasons, potent arguments,

Summon thy depth of thought, for thou art wise. 270

More wise than Angels, yet more ignorant

(O shame to thee) than Devils. Come and bring

Thy strong objections; come, Goliath like

In tenfold armour clad.—I come to thee

In the great name and strength of him whom thou 275

Defiest; Jesus, my God,—say’st thou that I

Blaspheme, and with presumptuous boldness rob

Th’ eternal Father of his sacred right,

In paying to the Son honours divine?

The charge is false and groundless; I adore 280

A triune Deity with equal Praise.

When low before the Lamb who died, I bow,

And hail him as Jehovah, God of Hosts,

’Tis in obedience to the Father’s will;

’Tis in obedience to the Father’s voice. 285

Hear the great mandate, hear and tremble thou,

Who B6r 13

Who dares’t rebel against the grand decree?

“Let all the Angels of God worship him.”

What! does th’ eternal Father call his hosts,

Celestial spirits that surround his throne, 290

Before a creature’s footstool to fall down,

And pay their adorations to a man?

Has he not said, he’ll not divide his praise,

Nor give his glory to another?—Say

Thou learned in the scriptures, has he not 295

In thunders made his sov’reign pleasure known,

That no created thing in heav’n or earth

Shall stand his rival, or his honours share.

And has he chang’d his mind?—Can the great God

Say and unsay! forbid idolatry 300

In terms direct, command idolatry

In terms direct, and bid his winged saints,

The holy ministers that round him wait

Worship an idol and adore a man?

O no! he is of one eternal mind, 305

And changeth not; yet such the Deity

Lothario worships; One who bids to-day

What he unbids to-morrow; who could trust

A soul with such a fluctuating God?

If the Redeemer be no more than man, 310

Or if he lives and shines a demy-God,

The first of creatures, he’s a creature still,

If to another he his being owe

Derivative, he cannot be supreme,

If not supreme, no adoration due. 315

But B6v 14

“But if ador’d, an idol, yet saith God

Confounded be all they that idols serve, Psal. xcvii.

But bow my Angels at Immanuel’s feet, Heb. i.

And worship him as Me, with equal zeal.”

He whose devouring breath, like streams of fire 320

Idols and idol-makers shall consume;

Bids us adore the Son, and kiss his feet

In low prostration, why? because in him

Two natures join, a human and divine.

A Man, a Son, he is, and yet a God. 325

The self-existing and eternal Jah!

One essence with the Father; we may bow

And safely worship at Immanuel’s feet;

For he is God with us, we may draw near

And pay our humble adorations there, 330

Upon the high authority of heav’n;

A warrant sign’d by God the Father’s hand;

And seal’d with the great signet of the skies.

Unto the Son he saith,

“Thy throne, O God,

For ever must endure, thy sceptre still, 335

Shall rule o’er heav’n and earth with boundless sway,

They are the work of thine Almighty hand;

They shall expire; but thou shalt yet remain

Triumphant in thine own eternity.”

Hear’st thou, Lothario, what the voice divine 340

Testifies of the Savior’s dignity?

Behold the starry glories of the skies;

The splendid king of day, and that bright moon,

Whose B7r 15

Whose milder beams illuminate the night:

Behold the earth, clad in the gay attire 345

Of roseate Summer, when the grove-crown’d hills

Rejoice, and humbler vallies laugh and sing.

Exalt thy view above th’ etherial sky.

Behold the wing’d inhabitants who dwell

In happy fields beyond—the sons of morn; 350

Grand intellectual essences—from thence,

Look downward, thro’ the vast, the various tribes

Of beings numberless, that float in air,

That walk the earth, and wash their scaly coats

In limpid streams, and ocean’s briny wave. 355

All these, the creatures of Immanuel’s hand,

To being by his mighty fiat call’d,

Live on his bounty; own him Lord of all,

And with a solemn glorious voice proclaim

The mighty builder of a universe, 360

So grand, so good, so eminently fair,

Can be no less a being than a God;

The uncreated, self-existent God.

Do the whole race of creatures owe their birth

To the Redeemer’s pow’r, and on his will 365

Depends their being? then Lothario breaths

The breath he gave him, that immortal soul,

With all its reas’ning powr’s, thy boast, thy pride;

The wond’rous casket where that jewel dwells,

Form’d by his great creating hand, upheld 370

By constant emanations of his pow’r;

Witness th’ important truth, that he to whom

Creation owes her being, must himself

Be uncreate, eternal and supreme.

Who’s B7v 16

Who’s then the thief Lothario, thou or I? 375

Say, who’s the wretch who robs his God of praise?

I bow before my Maker’s awful throne;

Ascribe to him essential Deity,

And join angelic hosts to worship him,

In due obedience to the high command 380

Of the eternal Father, Thou more bold,

Dar’st to stand forth, and in the face of heav’n,

Undeify thy Maker, spurn the law

To angels given by th’ eternal King,

Charge the immutable and changeless God 385

With mutability; the God whose heart

Abhors idolatry, with setting up

Of idol worship.—I the charge return

Of blasphemy and treason on thyself;

I am a loyal subject to the king 390

Invisible, immortal, ever blest.

But thou’rt a traitor of the blackest kind,

A rebel of the deepest, darkest dye;

A vile ingrate, who breathes his Maker’s air,

Who lives upon the bounties of his hand; 395

And tells him he is not a Deity.

If to rebel against the great decree

Of heaven’s Almighty, be to honour him,

To contradict his sov’reign voice, and mar

His bright perfections, be to glorify 400

The God you worship, then Lothario gives

Abundant glory to his Deity.

When disobedience for obedience stands;

And contumacy proves our loyalty,

Then will th’ eternal Father’s smile approve 405

Lothario’s C1r 17

Lothario’s worship, and accept his zeal.

Till then, his frown the rebel must pursue,

And his strong arm avenge the bold affront. Compare Exodus xx. 3, 4. with Psal. xcvii. 7.
and Heb. i. 6. Here we find the infinite Jehovah claiming
to himself the honours of divine worship as his own
peculiar right, and forbidding the adoration of any creature
whatever, in heaven or earth, in the most direct terms,
and yet laying as direct and positive an injunction upon
the most exalted of his creatures to pay that very worship
to the Lord Jesus Christ. “Worship Him, all ye
gods,”
saith the eternal Father: the apostle Paul informs us
this glorious Him is no other person than the Lord Jesus
Christ
; consequently he is the self-existent God; for if
we suppose him a mere man, with the Socinian, or a demigod,
with the Arian, yet we must suppose him to be a
Creature, and then God the Father in commanding him
to be worshipped, commands that very act of idolatry
which he hath himself so expressly forbidden; but this
supposition is absurd to an extreme, and full of blasphemy;
it is highly derogatory to the divine perfections,
and very unworthy of the Deity. But if the
Lord Jesus Christ possesses two natures in one person,
not only the Human, in its highest degree of perfection,
but also a divine, co-equal, co-eternal,
co essential
with the Father and Holy Spirit,
possessing his being in, and of Himself alone, which is
the truth, then there is the highest propriety in this command
for the angels to worship him; and it does not
clash in the least with the first and second commandments,
because he is in unity of essence with the Father, and
the Holy Ghost; that very Jehovah who forbids idol
worship, and claims all the adoration of his creatures
as his own peculiar right.—In commmanding divine worship
to be paid to the Redeemer, and in ascribing the
great work of creation to him, which can be the production
of no less a being than an infinite God; and
therefore says the Apostle, “He that built all things is
God,”
Heb. iii. 4. God the Father gives the strongest testi-
testimony possible to the Divinity of the Lord Jesus
Christ
; and whoever dares to reject that testimony,
does it at the peril of their souls: and though they who
do, vainly suppose they are doing him honour; yet the
truth is, they cannot offer him a more insolent, daring
and aggravated affront: they give him the lie to his
face; they rob him of his brighest perfections, and add
to the sin of disobedience, that of high treason against
the glorious Redeemer, the King of Kings, and Lord
of Lords whom God the Father’s soul delighteth to
honour.

To fix the crown upon Messiah’s head;

To prove the Savior’s character divine, 410

C The C1v 18

The holy Ghost, Spirit of truth, appears

A witness incontestible, and gives

The clearest evidence, so bright, so full,

So big with demonstration, that to doubt,

Argues the proud, perverse, rebellious heart, 415

More than the sable shades of ignorance

Clouding the mind.—See a bright train arise

Of prophets and apostles; proof on proof,

Establishing this grand and glorious truth,

That Jesus is Jehovah! God supreme. 420

They sung his name Immanuel, God with us,

God in our nature, manifest in flesh. Isaiah vii. 14.

The Lord of Hosts himself, Isaiah viii. 13. I Peter ii. 8. the mighty God;

The Father of eternity, the prince

Of peace divine, who made it with his blood. 425

Whose going forth in wisdom, pow’r and love,

Hath been from everlasting; and shall be

While everlasting ages roll along. Micah v. 2.

Though a meek babe in humble Bethlehem

In time he condescended to be born, 430

And in one glorious person made to meet

Two distinct natures, human and divine.

In lofty strains, the raptur’d prophets sing

The native honours of the Savior God.

Hail C2r 19

Hail him Jehovah, and exalt his throne 435535

All thrones above; yet with sweet voice proclaim

His love and mercy to his ransom’d church,

Her Maker, Husband, everlasting Friend;

And O sweet name, The Lord her righteousness Jeremiah xxiii. 6,

The Lord her strength, he who alone can be 440

A just Jehovah, yet a Saviour-God. Isaiah xlv. 21.

God over all, Rom. ix. t. the only Potentate,

The only wise, who in himself alone

Hath immortality. 2 Tim. vi. 15, 16. Th’ essential word, John i. 6.

Who tabernacled in a house of clay 445

Man amongst men, yet in whose person shines

The brightness of the Father’s glory forth,

In beams so radiant, that no mortal eye

Can bear the splendors.—In our Jesus dwell

The full perfections of the Deity. 450

Girt with Omnipotence, he rules o’er all.

While his Omniscient eye beholds the night

Shine as the Day, and tenfold darkness blaze

In all the gilded beams of noon.—He fills

Unbounded space; and in supreme degree, 455

Possesses all the attributes divine.

The incommunicable names and things

Of heaven’s Jehovah. Has Lothario heard

These faithful witnesses in concord sweet,

Record the native dignity of him 460

Who died on calvary? has he not seen

Them bow the humble knee before his throne,

And as his heralds, sound from pole to pole

The glories of the great redeeming God?

C2 While C2v 20

While yet their message is not theirs, but his 465

Who sent them forth. Th’ eternal Spirit speaks

By prophets and apostles to mankind,

And sets his royal seal, the seal of heav’n

To this grand truth, that Jesus Son of God,

Is the eternal self-existent Jah. 470

The great first cause; to whom creation owes

Her birth and being; by his potent voice

Call’d from the womb of chaos and upheld

T’ exalt the glories of its maker God.

What says Lothario to this evidence? 475

Is it not valid, pointed, strong and clear,

Decisive, and sufficient to repel

The subtile arguments of unbelief;

Is not this witness, worthy to be heard?

Worthy of credit? Can’st thou aught object 480

T’ invalidate the evidence he gives?

Has he e’er err’d, or brought a false report?

No, he’s the God of Truth, that cannot lie;

Then why believe him not? with voice divine

He testifies of Jesus; and to him 485

Ascribes the names, the glorious characters

And grand perfections of the Deity.

This is the testimony of a God;

But lo! Lothario rises from the dust,

A creature of a day; a worm of earth, 490

And strong in all the might of reason’s pow’r,

Denies the grand assertion.—Say, O man

Profoundly wise, who must the liar be

In this great contest, is it earth or heav’n?

Lothario, or his God? shame flush the cheek, 495

And harrow up the rebel soul who dares

Impute C3r 21

Impute such infamy to his Creator.

No! just and true art thou, Almighty king;

A God of truth, without iniquity.

’Tis the proud reas’ning insect of the earth;

The mite drop’d down from the Creator’s hand 500

Deep in the bosom of his universe,

Less in his sight than is the grass-hopper. Isaiah xl. 15, 17, 22.

Who darkens council, and with erring tongue

And stubborn heart, rejects the voice of heav’n,

Because his finite nature cannot grasp 505

The nature of the infinite I am;

His purblind reason cannot comprehend

The great, the grand Incomprehensible.

Behold the Son of Man in robes of light, 510

Walking amidst the golden candlesticks.

Celestial splendors shine around his head.

Girt with omnipotence; his flaming eye

Darts lightnings round; piercing the heights of heav’n,

The depths of hell, the gloomy shades of death,

And deepest recess of the human heart. 515

Like polish’d brass his feet; so firm he stands

In all th’ immutability of God.

His hand supports the stars, and from his lips

A two-edg’d sword proceeds, pointed and keen 520

To slay his enemies; bright with the rays

Shot from vindictive justice burning eye,

While as the sun in his meredian strength

His count’nance shines in majesty divine.

Sublime his voice, more awful than the sound 525

Of many waters in tumultuous roar.

C3 Let C3v 22

Let heav’n and earth attend, Messiah speaks,

And with solemnity beyond compare,

Declares his grand essential dignity.

“I am the first, the last, the great I am. 530

The Alpha and Omega. Lord of All.

Supreme eternal ages past, I reign

Thro’ time, and shall extend my potent sway,

While everlasting ages roll along.

Th’ Almighty, who was dead, but live again, 535

And live for ever: Lo! my hands contain

The adamantine keys of hell and death.

One with the eternal FatherFather ever blest;

In all the grand essential dignities

And independance of the Deity. 540

My name is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

On my white horse I ride triumphant forth,

Conqu’ring, to conquer all my enemies,

By the vindictive terrors of my hand;

Or the sweet sceptre of victorious love. 545

Great Shepherd of my sheep, with my strong arm

I snatch them from the jaws of death and hell.

And from the east and west; from north and south

Gather my Lambs with condescending grace,

And in my gentle bosom foster them, 550

With all the kind compassions of a God;

Yet on my great white throne I shall appear,

My throne of judgment, from before my face

The heav’ns and earth shall flee, my voice shall shake

Hell from its deep foundations;—shall unloose 555

The bands of death, and call his pris’ners up

To hear their final sentence from my mouth,

To own my great determinations just,

And C4r 23

And feel and know that God is judge himself,

The mighty God, Jehovah: then to me 560

All knees shall bow, and ev’ry tongue confess

That I am Lord, to God the Father’s praise.

He loves the Son, and to his hand commits

All judgment, that his creatures may adore,

And equal homage, equal honours pay 565

As to the Father: He that honours me,

Honours the Father; he that disobeys,

Shall feel the vengeance of a triune God.

The sinner who believes not that I am,

Dies in his sins, sinks to the depths of hell, 570

To endless night and everlasting fire.

While in my kingdom, shall my saints rejoice,

And see in their Redeemer’s person shine

The fulness of unclouded Deity.”

Thus speaks the lips of truth, can doubt arise 575

Against a testimony so divine!

’Tis written in the mouth of two or three

Whose witness harmonize, shall ev’ry word

Established, in public credit, stand,

Nor scrup’lous unbelief dare wag her tongue. 580

Here then, Lothario, is th’ eternal three,

The undivided God, in essence one,

Bearing united evidence to prove

The native grandeur of the sinner’s friend;

The babe at Bethlehem; the man who groan’d 585

In sad Gethsemane, who bled and died

A sacrifice for sin on calvary.

The God whose arm supports a universe;

The king supreme who reigns o’er earth and heav’n,

C4 And C4v 24

And stretches forth his empire over hell. 590

Jehovah Jesus, bright with all the rays

Of the eternal Father’s majesty,

His own essential, independant right.

And is Lothario deaf to all the proof

A God can give of his divinity? 595

And is Lothario blind to all the beams

Of light divine that revelation pours

On the grand mystery of Godliness?

How would Lothario smile, should he behold

An idiot, shutting out the light of day, 600

Refusing the bright glories of the Sun

To chear him with a taper’s feeble beam.

Yet such thy folly, O thou man of parts!

Deep read in science, nurtur’d in the schools

Of lit’rature, thou with maturest thought, 605

Rejects the glorious beams of light divine,

Th’ unerring testimony of a God;

To walk by the false glimm’ring of thine own

Depraved, beclouded reason. Reason cries,

Right reason, reason sanctified by grace, 610

Cries with loud voice, Sinner obey thy God,

Receive his mandates, and believe his word.

’Tis reason’s triumph to fall lowly down,

And bow to revelation’s grand display

Of sacred truth; and where its pow’rs o’ercome 615

By splendors all divine, must sink and fail;

Believe and acquiesce with humble awe,

Silent, adore the heights it cannot climb,

Ascribing truth and wisdom to its God.

Does C5r 25

Does the Redeemer to himself assume 620

All the grand titles due to Deity,

And is he not the Deity supreme?

Is he a virtuous, high exalted man,

Humble and lowly while he dwelt below,

Now ruling all things by deputed pow’r? 625

Where is his virtue, if he utter lies?

Where is his goodness, if he can deceive?

Where’s his humility if he presume

To arrogate the stile of Deity?

The glorious characters, and awful names 630

Of heaven’s Jehovah, this were blasphemy;

Pride, horrid pride; no virtuous holy man

Dare so presume, t’would stamp his character

The worst of beings: Can Lothario’s faith

Commit his soul to such a Savior’s hands? 635

Nay, be consistent; if he be not God,

As he asserts, say not he is a man

Possest of every virtue, good and great.

Reject him as a cheat, imposter vile;

Commit thy erring bible to the flames, 640

And seek salvation by some other way

Than that reveals; that knows no other name

Than Jesus Christ, the ever-living God.

Say he is holy, then his word is true;

For truth and holiness can never part; 645

If true his word, the titles he assumes,

The glorious attributes he calls his own

Must be his native right.—Grant this—He shines

In the full splendors of the Deity,

The uncreate, the ever blest I am. 650

No cheat, no imposter, but the great God.

The C5v 26

The righteous Judge, who comes in flaming fire,

To pour his wrath upon his enemies.

O may Lothario, by his grace subdu’d

Fall at his feet in time, and kiss the Son, 655

That when that day arrive, he may appear

The God of his salvation; angels then

Shall tune their golden harps, and sweetly sing

The Prodigal restored to life and peace,

Their Master honoured and a sinner sav’d; 660

And while joy echoes thro’ the courts of heav’n,

The distant earth shall catch the pleasing sound,

Saints shall delight to hear the news, to see

Triumphant truth prevail, and error fall,

Jesus exalted, and Lothario blest. It was appointed by the Mosaic law that in the mouth of
two or three witnesses every word should be established—now
if the witness of men is to be received, as to the things of
men, the witness of God is greater, and certainly ought to be
received as to the things of God. There are Three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and
these Three not only are One in essence, but bear one united testimony
of the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The declarations
of God the Father upon this grand subject are
noticed in the former note. The witness of the Holy Spirit
runs throughout the scriptures of the old and new testament.
Both prophets and apostles proclaim this illustrious truth, and
the Redeemer who assumes to himself the character of essential
truth, John xiv. 6. assumes to himself also all the other characters,
perfections and titles which peculiarly belong to the
Deity.—One of the grand characteristics of Jehovah, is that
of being the searcher of the heart, and the trier of the reins
of the children of men, I Kings viii. 39. “Then hear thou
in heaven thy dwelling place: and forgive, and do, and give
to every man according to his work, whose heart thou knowest;
for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children
of men.”
Psalm vii.9. “For the righteous God trieth
the heart and reins,”
Jer. xi. 20 “O Lord of hosts that
judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart,”
ibid
xvii. 10
“I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins.” Now the
the Lord Jesus speaking of himself, directly assumes this character.
Rev. ii. 23. “And all the churches shall know that I
am he which searcheth the reins and heart, and I will give unto
every one of you according to your works.”
John ii. 24, 25.
“He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of
man, for he knew what was in man.—”
Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 12.
The infinite Jehovah condescends to take upon him the character
of the great and true Shepherd of Israel; for thus saith
the Lord God, “Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep
and seek them out, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock.”
Isaiah
xl. 10, 11.
“Behold the Lord God will come with strong
hand, and his arm shall rule for him; behold his reward is
with him, and his work before him, he shall feed his flock like
a shepherd.”
The Lord Jesus assumes this character, John
x. 17.
“I am the good shepherd.” I Peter ii. 25. “For ye
were as sheep going astray, but ye are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishop of your souls.”
Heb. xviii. 20.xiii. 20. “Now the
God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus
, that great shepherd of the sheep.”
—The supreme government
of heaven and earth is ascribed to the Deity. Psal.
xlvii. 2, 7.
“For the Lord most high is terrible, he is a great
king over all the earth, for God is the king of all the earth.”

But this is ascribed to the Lord Jesus, Rev. xix. 16. as his
proper name and title, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
The final judgment of all men, is a work for which none but
the Deity can be competent; it is therefore ascribed unto him,
Psal. 1. I, 3, 4, 5, 6. “The mighty God even the Lord, hath
spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun, unto
the going down thereof: our God shall come, and shall not
keep silence, a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very
tempestuous round about him; he shall call to the heavens
from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people,
and the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is
judge himself.”
But the new testament declares that grand
work will be performed by the Lord Jesus Christ, See
Matt. xxv. John v. 22, 23. “For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men
should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; he
that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath
hath sent him.”
Now none can be competent to be the judge
of men and angels, but he who is the infinitely righteous, omniscient,
omnipresent, omnipotent God. But the Lord Jesus
Christ
will be the judge of men and angels, consequently he
is the infinitely righteous, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent
God.— Isaiah viii. 13, 14. sanctify the Lord of hosts himself,
and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread, and
he shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for
a rock of offence to both houses of Israel.”
Compare this with
Rom. ix. 32, 33. “For they stumbled at that stumbling- stone,
as it is written, Behold I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and...
rock of offence, and whosoever believeth in him, shall not be
ashamed.”
Here it is very evident that the Lord Jesus
Christ
is intended, but Isaiah stiles this very person the
Lord of Hosts Himself. Consequently the Lord Jesus is
the Lord of hosts himself, which is the grand and most sublime
characteristic of the Deity, and which none but the selfexistent
Deity can possibly sustain. If we attend to the testimony
the Lord Jesus bears of himself, we shall find that he
assumes the most essential attributes of the Godhead in the
plainest and most unequivocal manner possible. Rev. i. 8 “I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the
Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.”
ver. 17 “I am the first and the last.” John viii.
24
“If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.”
ver. 58. “Before Abraham was, I am.” Compare this with
Isaiah xli. 4.
“I the Lord the first, and with the
last, I am
he.”
ibid xliii. II. “I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me
there is no Saviour.”
ibid xliv. 6.— “Thus saith the Lord, the
king of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts, I am the
first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.”
“I
and my Father are one,”
John x. It is impossible for the word
of God to be more clear and explicit upon this subject than it
is; how dark and benighted must that understanding be, that
cannot see this grand truth? how rebellious must that heart
be that does see, but will not receive it, and which proudly
and obstinately dares to reject and disbelieve the testimony of a
triune God? Vain man would be wise, though he is born like a
a wild ass’s colt, Job. But that wisdom is foolishness to an extreme
that would exalt itself above the wisdom of God: it is the
highest point of wisdom, and the noblest triumph of reason, to bow
with acquiescence, humble faith, and holy delight to divine
revelation, and thereby to honour the infinite wisdom and veracity
of Jehovah.
665

Let C6r 27

Let us by truth and contemplation led,

From modern scenes, and European climes

Retire; and thro’ the fields of Palestine;

Imperial Salem, and the flow’ry vale

Of C6v 28

Of Olivet, attend the Savior God. 670

See him a man, in humble plain attire,

Despis’d, rejected by the sons of men,

Though from his lips all gracious accents flow,

And heav’nly wisdom sits upon his tongue.

Though C7r 29

Though his kind heart and lib’ral hand diffuse 675

Ten thousand all-important blessings round.

Astonish’d multitudes about him press.

And from his rich magnificence recive

Supplies as various as their wants require;

For thro’ the veil of flesh, that deep disguise, 680

The glories of a God illustrious shine.

In acts of matchless pow’r, confound his foes,

And prove him the Jehovah infinite.

See universal nature own her Lord,

Wait with obsequious duty his command, 685

And swift obedience to his mandate pay.

The blushing water owns the present God,

And reddens into wine! th’ obedient bread,

A scanty pittance, scarce enough to feed

A little band of hungry appetites, 690

See it enlarge, encrease and multiply,

And dine its thousands with sufficient food,

While more remains than first the table spread.

Th’ astonish’d thousands, wond’ring stand and shout

Jesus the prophet and the Christ of God! 695

What crouds are these that compass him around,

And press to touch his seamless garment’s hem!

Children of misery, a ghastly train,

Num’rous as fallen leaves that strew the ground

Before C7v 30

Before the autumnal breeze; emaciate, pale 70700

With pining sickness some, and sore disease;

Some on the rack of agonizing pain

From stone, and sharp acute disorder bred;

Some scorch’d with burning fevers, in whose veins

Death flows triumphant in the purple flood, 705

And wild delirium revels in the brain.

Demoniac some, whose wretched carcases

Are made the dwelling of infernal fiends,

Tost at their pleasure in the briny wave,

Or raging fire, lost to humanity 710

By strange distraction hurried to and fro;

No bands can hold them, nor no chains confine.

The mourners who with cover’d lips exclaim

Unclean, unclean, (symbolical of those

Who groan beneath the leprosy of sin.) 715

Forbid the joys of sweet society,

Doom’d to perpetual solitude and woe.—

The blind whose eye-balls ne’er beheld the day,

Ne’er saw the light, whose balmy blessings cheer

The heart unchear’d by any joy beside. 720

The lame, whose feet have never trod the earth,

Chain’d by contracted limbs to one abode,

The deaf, the dumb, sad strangers to the sweets

Of sounds and speech, condemn’d to pine away

In silence while the circling years roll on. 725

These, and a thousand more sad objects come

And throng around where’er the Savior goes,

How eagerly they press to come in view;

How their hearts throb with anxious strong desire

T’ attract his notice, and obtain a cure! 730

While their united voice and earnest cries

Humble C8r 31

Humble petitions to his ear address.

He speaks! ’tis done—the mourners cease to groan,

At his Almighty Fiat, pale disease,

Acute disorder, all the ghastly train, 735

Death’s messengers, retire, they quit their prey;

Death disappointed, shakes his darts in vain,

And Jesus triumphs, sov’reign Lord of life.

See ruddy health her chearful blessings shed,

Glow in each cheek, and sparkle in each eye: 740

Late pale and languid, lepers bless the voice

That spake them clean, for when the Saviour spake

Omnipotence put forth its mighty arm

And heal’d them all.—See! like the bounding roe

The lame man leaps, and runs with nimble feet, 745

While his heart dances with extatic joy.

The stamm’ring tongue unloos’d, its silence breaks,

And its first accents learn Immaneul’s praise.

The blind no more in shades of darkness sit,

A kind Redeemer speaks the gloom away, 750

Celestial light bursts on th’ astonish’d eye,

And all is rapture, extacy and praise.

Satanic host obey his great command,

And at his bidding quit their wretched prey,

To seek for new abodes, their legions fly 755

Before his awful frown, lest his strong arm

Should chain them down ten thousand fathom deep

In the black gulph, abhorred Tartarous,

While the poor mortals from their pow’r set free,

Wake to new life, and sing deliv’ring grace, 760

Fall down and worship at Immaneul’s feet,

And bless the great incarnate Deity.

Hark! how a thousand tongues repeat his name.

Hark! C8v 32

Hark! how hosannahs echo through the air.

From heart to heart transporting pleasure flies, 765

And all is wonder, love and praise around.

Angels unseen admire; and tune their songs

To swell the triumphs of the great God-man.

See a fond father weeping o’er his child;

While mournful relatives stand round her bed 770

To bid a last adieu. The beauteous girl

Expiring lays, pale as the hand of death,

Disease has done his fatal work, and lo!

The gloomy king, high brandishing his dart,

Seizes his lovely prey; life ebbs apace, 775

And death victorious folds her in his arms,

And lays the breathless victim in the dust.

But Jesus comes; can his strong arm arrest

The monster death, and force him to disgorge

The swallow’d morsel?—Can his pow’rful voice 780

Call back the soul on angels wings convey’d

Half way to heav’n, again to re-possess

Its late forsaken clay? Yes, lo! he speaks;

“Damsel arise.” The breathless victim breaths,

She wakes, she lives, to life and strength restor’d; 785

Health volatile flows chearful thro’ her veins,

Glows in her cheek, and sparkles in her eye;

While joy and wonder, gratitude and love,

Bursts like a flood upon her aged fire,

And heights and depths of bliss unutt’rable 790

Convulse and agitate the mother’s frame,

Such as a mother’s breast alone can feel,

Such as a mother’s tongue cannot describe.

Low D1r 33

Low at the great physician’s feet they fall,

Adore his pow’r, and magnify his name. 795

Ah! what sad sight is this that strikes mine eye,

A mournful train with slow and solemn pace,

Conducting to his cold mausoleum

A sleeping youth. He sleeps the sleep of death,

Late, like the bounding hart, his nimble feet 800

Tript lightly o’er the hills, and thro’ the plain

His gladd’ning heart beat high with chearful hope,

From the bright prospect of long years to come,

While vig’rous health and gay vivacity

Inspir’d his mind, and in his count’nance shone; 805

But now! a breathless corpse, stretch’d on the bier

His active nimble feet forget to move;

No more his heart beats high with chearful hope,

Nor gay vivacity, nor vig’rous health

Play round his vitals and adorn his cheek. 810

Cold, pale and stiff, he lies; triumphant death

With unrelenting hand, pass’d by grey hairs,

To pluck the new blown flow’r.—What voice is that

Which strikes mine ear? the voice of deep lament,

And o’ercharg’d sorrow, utt’ring words of woe, 815

And heavy import, “O! my son, my son,

Would God that I had dy’d for thee, my son.”

Ah! ’tis his mother; let the tender heart

Prepare to sigh, let sympathy awake,

And shed a gen’rous tear to sooth her woe, 820

His widow’d mother, he her only son,

The stay and staff of her declining years,

Snatch’d from her arms, to mingle with the dust:

D No D1v 34

No more his pleasing voice shall sooth her care,

His kind affection watch to minister 825

In acts of duteous love to all her need.

Fondly she entertain’d delusive hope

His gentle hand would close her dying lids,

And to the silent tomb commit her dust;

But heav’n subscrib’d not to the vain desire. 830

See from her eyes sad floods of sorrow fall

She droops, she faints! O let some pitying friend

Support her sinking frame: All-gracious heav’n,

Smile on the mourner, bid thy comforts flow;

O calm the stormy passions of her soul, 835

Breathe sweet submission to thy sov’reign will,

Thro’ all her pow’rs.—Lo! the Redeemer comes:

Thou good physician, can thy sov’reign skill

Bring health and cure to this distracted mind?

Can’st thou salubrious balms apply, and find 840

A medicine for such a wound as this?—

Lo! he draws near; he views the mournful train,

He know the sighing mother’s bleeding heart;

All the soft feelings of humanity

Glow in his gentle breast, and melt him down 845

To kind concern, and tend’rest sympathy:

Sweet pity sparkles in his gracious eye,

And all the rich compassions of a God

Divinely move to bid her sorrows cease.

Nor do her griefs rise higher for her son, 850

Than Jesu’s strong compassions rise for her.

“Woman, weep not,” the dear Redemer saith:

Then with a gentle, yet Almighty voice,

He bids the dead arise; the dead obeys,

Starts into life at the divine command; 855

Rises D2r 35

Rises in all the active strength of youth,

Springs from the useless bier, and at the feet

Of his Restorer, hails his sacred name.

See the kind Savior hastes to give him back

To his astonish’d parent’s fond embrace. 860

Her tears no longer flow, her throbbing breast

No longer swells with agonizing woe,

Amazement and delight entrance her soul,

And wrapt in mute astonishment she stands!

Beholds her son, beholds her heav’nly friend, 865

And joy and gratitude divide her pow’rs.

Surrounding multitudes admire the deed;

Surprise and wonder fill their minds with awe.

They bless the glorious Prophet, and adore

And glorify the God of Israel. 870

From tribe to tribe the splendor of his name

Spreads far and wide, the distant provinces

Hear and admire the wonders of his hand,

And throng to share the blessings he bestows.

Where’er we turn, what wonders strike our view! 875

Stupendous miracles, height above height,

Grandly sublime arising! With one voice,

As hearalds of the heav’nly King, they sound

The trumpet of his praise, and cry aloud

“Behold the God of glory in the Man 880

Whose nod controuls creation; at whose word,

Disease, and death, and devils flee asham’d,

As night retires when radiant Sol appears.”

See the belov’d, the friend of Jesus dies!

Again the haughty tyrant of the grave 885

D2 Shakes D2v 36

Shakes his victorious dart, and hides it deep

In the kind heart of gentle Lazarus:

But lo! the friend of Jesus soars aloft,

He dies—He bursts to better life, and sings

A song of triumph o’er his conqu’ror. 890

Smiles at death’s feeble shaft, defies his pow’r,

Wrapt in the bliss of immortality.

See two fair mourners weeping o’er his grave;

In all the sad solemnity of woe,

They mourn a brother; kind endearing name! 895

They mourn a friend; O name more sacred still,

Long interwoven with fraternal love,

Friendship had knit their kindred souls in one;

But death, relentless death, has torn away

Their better part: in vain the gentle voice 900

Of consolation pours her cordials forth,

And tender sympathy attempts in vain

To sooth their sorrows: four times hath the sun

With rising splendors crown’d this earthly orb;

Four times the moon with milder beams disperst 905

The gloom of darkness, since the yawning grave

Receiv’d their much-lov’d brother’s sleeping clay,

And Jesus lingers:—Oft their wishful eyes

Look out in vain to see their Lord appear;

Oft their impatient sighs break forth, and chide 910

The dear Redeemer for his long delay:

But lo! he comes—let us attend his steps;

He goes with the sad train to view the grave,

The cold mausoleum of his Lazarus.

Here soft affection kindles to a flame, 915

Fresh sorrows spring, and overwhelming woe

Bursts forth in floods of grief: tears, tender tears,

Drown D3r 37

Drown ev’ry face; and with pathetic voice,

Declare how much they lov’d, how much they feel.

Lo! Jesus weeps; astonish’d angels stand 920

In silent admiration and delight.

Behold! the resurrection and the life,

The mighty Savior lifts his eyes to heav’n;

Then with the voice that call’d creation forth

From the dark womb of chaos and old night; 925

That bade celestial light with orient beams

Shine on his universe: He speaks again,

And, “Lazarus come forth,” is his command.

Hark! gentle echo on her downy wing

Catches the sound, and back returns, “Come forth”. 930

Death to the centre of his dark domain

Hears the sublime command; the sov’reign voice,

Death, to the centre of his dark domain

Trembles with mighty awe, loth to give up

His vanquish’d prey; unable to detain. 935

Jesus the Son of man; Jesus the God,

Holds in his hand the adamantine key

That shuts and opens his ten thousand gates,

The locks fly back, he bursts the massy bars,

The captive leaves his dreary cave, forsakes 940

Worms and corruption, to enjoy the day:

He rises and comes forth, while angels sing

The boundless glories of the Son of man.

Hark, how the winds, with hollow murmurs rise;

The heav’ns grown black with clouds, a dismal gloom 945

Spreads o’er the hemisphere, and strikes dismay

Upon the stoutest heart, a sudden flood

Pours from on high, to meet the flood beneath;

D3 And D3v 38

And lo! the swelling billows rise and rage

In battle dangerous, the foaming waves 950

Lift their mountainous heads, like the watry alps,

And threat the skies, then break with noise more dire

Than all the dreadful howls that pierce the woods,

In midnight hours, when wolves voracious proul,

And the fierce lion fattens o’er his prey. 955

Amidst the waves, behold a little bark

Tost to and fro the sport of raging winds;

In vain the mariners their skill oppose,

The mad’ning tempest, deaf to all their cries,

Derides their efforts, and with thund’ring roar, 960

Threats to entomb it in a watry grave,

And make the deep their vast mausoleum.

And yet how safe the little vessel rides!

Encompass’d by the guardian care of heav’n,

She bears the grandest freight that ever fail’d 965

Upon the hoary bosom of the deep.

A treasure richer than ten thousand worlds;

No haughty Cæsar, but the great God-Man.

He sleeps, amidst the roar of elements;

The thunders of the storm disturb him not, 970

So sweet he slumbers; but the trembling crew,

His little company, all pale with fear,

Strange consternation wrote on ev’ry face,

Break his repose, with the terrific cry

Of “Master, Master, lo! we perish all.” 975

So quick, so ready, is his ear to hear

The breathings of his people in distress,

He wakens in a moment to their aid:

He rises in serenest majesty;

Calm and compos’d, he looks upon his friends 980

With sweet complacence, mildly chides their fears;

With D4r 39

With solemn steps advances to the prow,

And views the storm unmov’d: then with the voice

Divine, the voice that one day shall awake

The dead, and call to judgment all the sons

Of men, he gives the great, the grand command,

“Peace,thou proud restless deep: Ye winds, be still.”

’Tis done!—the deep puts on his smoothest face,

With softest gales, see gentle zephyrs play

On the smooth surface of the azure main,

And all is hush’d in silence and repose.

Say now, Lothario, for thy mental eye

Hath seen the sick made whole, the dead arise,

The wind and seas obey the Savior’s voice,

Is he a creature, man, or demi-god? 995

Or is he the supreme, eternal Jah?

See, universal nature, the whole race

Of beings animate, inanimate await

(His grand attendants) to assume what form

His sov’reign pleasure bids—to be and do 1000

Whate’er his will appoints Disease and death

Of ev’ry kind, in ev’ry stage, obeys

His mighty fiat, while his potent voice

Controuls the pow’rs of hell; their legions fly,

And roaring own the holy One of God. 1005

The Son of Man came not with borrow’d powr’s;

Nor usher’d in his mighty miracles

With the grand sanction of “Thus saith the Lord—”

As did his servants, but with voice divine,

His own imperial name, and potent arm, 1010

In all the fulness of Almighty pow’r,

D4 He D4v 40

He rules a boundless empire, and controuls

Heav’n, earth and hell, the winds, the seas, the dark

Domains of death, and all death’s messengers,

And universal nature with a nod: 1015

A look, a word, swifter than swiftest thought,

They hasten to obey his sov’reign will;

And by their ready, prompt obedience, prove

Their Master is Jehovah infinite.

The self-existent, tho’ incarnate-God; 1020

An independant Being, who exists

And hath his being from himself alone. That the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, begotten of the Father from all eternity, or
as the Nicene creed expresses it, “Before all worlds,” is a very
gross, absurd and erroneous, though an almost universally received
opinion; it appears to be one of the grand sources of
Arianism and Socinianism, and though it is sanctioned by being
adopted by many great men who hate Arianism and Socinianism
with perfect hatred, yet nevertheless it is contrary to
the scriptures, and very derogatory to the glory of God the Redeemer,
who either is the self-existent God, or no God at
all: if he is self-existent, he cannot be begotten, he cannot derive
his existence from God the Father, but from the very
necessity of his own nature, and is as independant as to his
divine nature, of the Father, as the Father, who exists by
the necessity of his nature, is independant of the divine nature
of the Son.—The scriptures reveal one infinite Jehovah.
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord.” Deut. vi. 4.
And that in the one glorious Jehovah, there exists a trinity
of divine persons, co-equal, co-essential, co-eternal. The characters
of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not revealed in the
scriptures to inform us of the nature of the divine Being, but
to make known to us the characters and offices which the everblessed
trinity of persons in the undivided unity of the God-head are
pleased to assume and sustain in the covenant of grace,
and the grand work of redemption which that covenant provided
“for us men, and for our salvation”—In almost every
place in the New Testament where the Lord Jesus is spoken
of as a Son, it evidently relates to his human nature: to instance
in only a few, “That holy thing that shall be born of thee
thee, shall be called the Son of God.”
Luke i. 35. 10. Also
Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, but
he that said unto him, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee.”
As he saith also in another place, “Thou art
priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec.”
Heb. v. 5, 6.
It is plain that the Sonship here spoken of, is connected with
the priestly office which the Lord Jesus sustained, and it consequently
relates not to his divine nature, but to his human.
As God, he is “without father, without mother, without descent,
having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but
made like unto the Son of God (when manifested in the flesh)
abideth a priest continually.”
Heb. vii. 3. The expression, like
unto
, does not mean that he was not really and truly made the
Son of God, but that he really was; see the same expression
Phil. ii. 7. “Took upon him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men;”
Which implies, that Christ
really took upon him the office of a servant, agreeable to Isaiah
xlii. I.
“Behold my servant whom I uphold.” And that he
really was made a man, the apostle Paul applies, the 7th ver.
of the 2nd. Psalm, entirely to the human nature of the Redeemer,
Acts xiii. 32, 33. “And we declare unto you glad tidings,
how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God
hath fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he hath
raised up Jesus again.”
As it is also written in the 2nd. Psalm,
“Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” And if we
advert to the text as it stands in the second Psalm in connection
with the 8th verse, we shall find it has nothing to do with the
manner of the existence of the divine nature of the Redeemer,
but it has to do with him as man and Mediator, as the great
King whom God the Father had determined to set upon his
holy hill of Zion: “I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said
unto me, Thou art my Son day have I begotten thee: ask
of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”
This
evidently respects the grand work of redemption, and was eminently nently
fulfilled when presently after the resurrection and ascension
of the Lord Jesus, the gospel was preached to the gentiles,
the Spirit from on high, was poured out upon the heathen
world, and thousands and millions of sinners in the uttermost
parts of the earth were turned from dumb idols to serve the
living God.—There are some scriptures in which what properly
belongs to the divine nature is ascribed to Christ as
the Son, that is as man; and there are other scriptures in
which what properly belongs to his human nature is ascribed
to his divine, but this is because of the infinitely close union
of his two natures in one person; but wherever we read of the
Son’s possessing any thing as derivative from the Father, it
certainly respects his human nature, and not his divine. As
man, he possesses all power, all government, and authority to
judge the world at the last day, as the gift of the Father; but
as Jehovah, they are his own essential right.
How amazingly absurd and erroneous also, is the idea that
the Holy Spirit is the breath of God, breathed by the Father
and the Son. It is true that the Lord Jesus breathed upon
the Apostles, and they received the Holy Ghost: it was the way
by which the Lord was pleased to communicate his Spirit to
the Apostles at that time; but it by no means indicates the
manner of the existence of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures reveal
a Triune Jehovah, but the manner of his existence is not
revealed, but is a mystery which neither men nor angels can
fathom: an infinite understanding alone can comprehend an infinite
Deity.

“A God alone can comprehend a God.”
Young. As to the covenant of grace, and the grand work of redemption,
it has pleased the ever blessed and glorious Trinity to
take upon them the names and characters of Father Son, and
Holy Ghost; to whom, as to the true God and eternal life,
be everlasting honour and praise.
Amen.

Behold D5r 41

Behold the Son of Man with stately step,

Walks in the sanctuary, the house of pray’r

Appointed for all nations: here the voice 1025

Of sacred joy was wont to fill the air

With glad hosannahs: here the kneeling saint,

Was wont to supplicate the aid of heav’n.

Devotion kindled here her purest fires,

While D5v 42

While Faith look’d wond’ring round, pleas’d to
behold 1030

Where’er she turn’d her bright and piercing eye,

The mystic glories of Immanuel shine;

While from his throne between the cherubim

Jehovah smil’d, and sweet communion held

With upright worshippers. Ah! where are now 1035

Those happy days? those upright worshippers?

Where D6r 43

Where are the songs of Zion, and the flames

Of pure devotion now?—the strife of tongues

Assaults mine ear? a noisy din alarms,

Loud as tumultuous waves; confus’d uproar 1040

Re-echoes thro’ the hallow’d walks, and fills

With busy hubbub, and commotion strange,

God’s holy house, the sacred seat of peace.

Glory of Salem, how art thou prophan’d!

A den of thieves! an house of merchandize! 1045

Here money-changers sit with heaps of Gold,

Here doves abound, sheep bleat and oxen low;

And men, more brutal still, with clamour rude,

Fearless of God and man, practis’d in guile,

Break ev’ry sacred, ev’ry moral tie: 1050

But Jesus comes, and with an awful frown

Of holy indignation looks around;

“Take these things hence:” he cries, behold! they flee.

Guilt turns them pale, terrific horror strikes

Their frighted souls, confusion and dismay 1055

Runs thro’ the crowd; resistless they retire,

And like a flock of tim’rous sheep disperse,

And seek for safety in the speediest flight.

But why?—He grasps no flaming thunderbolt,

But a small whip of platted cord,—no crown

Imperial sits upon his brow, nor robes 1060

Of majesty adorn the mighty King:

No Roman legions follow in his train;

He comes alone, or with a feeble few

Of unarm’d fishermen; yet lo! they fly, 1065

As from the shoutings of victorious hosts,

Women and children hasten to retire.

Or D7v 45

Or he were God, or they were less than men.

What! leave their flocks, their merchandize, their gold,

Aw’d by the presence of an unarm’d man? 1070

No! they were hardy, fearless, stout and bold,

And bound by strong attachment to their gains;

Th’ incarnate God put forth a gentle ray

Of his omnipotence, and all their might

Sunk into weakness, courage into fear, 1075

With speed precipitate they quit the place

At the great mandate of Immanuel.

So when the kingly Lion roars, and walks

The forest meaner beasts retire with awe,

And leave him the sole monarch of the wood. 1080

Who but the Deity with gracious voice

Can softly whisper in the inmost soul

“Thy sins are all forgiven.” Who but a God

Supreme and infinite, can e’er absolve

The guilty criminal, can pardon sins 1085

Against the awful Majesty of heav’n?

But Jesus, the Redeemer oft pronounc’d

Th’ amazing word, “Thy sins are all forgiv’n;”

The great High Priest, who for his people stood

And offer’d for their sin, and in their name 1090

To justice infinite a sacrifice

As infinite as justice could demand,

Atonement all divine, and all complete;

To bring transgressors near a pard’ning God;

To reconcile them to his glorious self, 1095

At once th’ offended Deity, the Priest,

And grand atonement for his ransom’d church.

No creature sacrifice could put away

The D7r 45

The dark, the deep malignity of sin.

No creature, can acquit a guilty soul, 1100

That is the high prerogative of heav’n;

But Jesus speaks the consolating word;

He pardons sins, the same Almighty voice

That bade the sick be whole, the dead arise,

Says to the mourning sinner, “Cease thy fears, 1105

Thy sins are blotted out.” To creature pow’r,

This is impossible, but to the God

Of nature, grace and providence, alike

Are all things easy. When Apostles spake

And Prophets wrought the mighty works of God, 1110

’Twas in his glorious name, and by his pow’r;

“Thus saith the Lord,” preceded all they did;

But when Immanuel speaks, ’tis like a God

Eternal, independant and supreme,

The sov’reign Master of the universe, 1115

Lord of the sabbath, Savior of the soul,

Cleansing the body and immortal mind,

With this grand, all-important word, I will.

And is this vast display of sov’reign pow’r,

The glorious witness of a triune God, 1120

The pattern of redeemed saints on earth,

And the bright armies in the world above,

Too impotent to gain Lothario’s ear,

And make a convert of his unbelief?

Cannot celestial truth with sun-like beams 1125

Disperse the shades of error from his mind?

Still sits proud reason umpire in his soul?

Vain, ignorant and blind, dare she presume

To D7v 46

To scan infinity, and still reply

’Gainst the united voice of heav’n and earth? 1130

Presumptuous, dare she yet reject the voice

Of revelation sacred and divine,

Whereb y Jehovah condescends to make

Himself and grand designs to mortals known?

O folly in extreme! O proof of proofs 1135

That man, proud, reas’ning man, is sunk below

The brute, in blindness, ignorance and sin.

The ox, his feeder knows, the stupid ass

His master’s crib, but man, apostate man

Denies his God!—Blush human nature, blush; 1140

Astonish’d angels marvel at the sight,

Astonish’d devils scorn the wretched fool.

Amidst the ills of life, the thousand ills

Entail’d by sin upon the sons of men,

Griefs that o’erwhelm the soul, flood after flood, 1145

And pour confusion on their brightest joys.

Severe affliction, disappointment strange,

At whose dire frown, hope sickens and expires:

See how Lothario, arm’d with all the pow’rs

That reason and philosophy can give 1150

Endures the storm: awhile he stands compos’d,

Unmov’d he hears the distant thunders roll,

And self-sufficient, meets th’ uplifted stroke

With manly courage; but anon, the waves

Indignant roar, the black’ning tempest darts 1155

A thousand thunderbolts around his head;

His heart, his soul, transfix’d in soar amaze,

He stands confounded, all his strength of mind,

Absorb’d D8r 47

Absorb’d in sorrows, (like the melting snow)

Sinks into weakness, or to stoic brass, 1160

Hard’ned by oft repeated blows—in vain

He calls his boasted reason to his aid;

Her sober voice is drown’d amidst the roar

Of noisy passion; passion holds the reins,

And all is tumult in his anxious mind: 1165

Reason, too weak to sound the depths divine,

Too dim to trace the mazy paths, and scan

The secret, great designs of providence,

Affords a poor support; she faints beneath

The mighty weight, and yields the sceptre up 1170

T o discontent, proud murm’ring, sad despair;

Black glooms of melancholy overspreads

His soul, nor can philosophy compose

His troubled spirit:—dismal as the night,

Moonless and chearless, see Lothario lean 1175

O’er yonder brook, absorb’d in pensive thought,

He muses terror, while destruction hangs

Like a huge pile of mountains o’er his head,

And threatens by an instantaneous fall

To crush him into atoms: Lo! the shock 1180

Too rude for nature’s pow’rs sweeps him away

Hopeless, without a friend, without a God.

Hark! how soft echo on her gentle wing

Wafts a sweet song to my enraptur’d ear:

Lift, O my soul, ’tis solemn and divine. 1185

Amidst a thousand storms I stand,

Guarded by an Almighty hand;

Tho’ D8v 48

Tho’ sorrows rise, and thunders roar,

I’m still preserv’d, I’m still secure;

And shall, tho’ death and devils frown, 1190

Possess a bright celestial crown.

Jesus, my God, I trust thy power

To make me more than conqu’ror;

On thine omnipotence depend,

My glorious, all-sufficient friend; 1195

Thy smiles shall chase my griefs away,

And turn my darkness into day.

Hail! voice well known—’tis Theodosius sings,

Long has he struggled with surrounding woes:

The fiercest shafts of satan, rudest frowns 1200

Of earth, shock after shock, wave after wave,

His substance plunder’d by rapacious hands;

Spoil’d of domestic joys by greedy death:

Where’er he turns, affliction meets his view,

And all his steps are measur’d by the cross: 1205

Yet lo! he stands compos’d and placid still,

Unmov’d, unshaken: tho’ the tempest roar,

He rises still superior to the storm;

Triumphs by faith,; while gentle patience breaths 1210

Sweet peace and calm serenity within.

His faith built firm on the eternal rock,

Jehovah Jesus, pierces through the cloud

Of present things; and sees all safe beyond:

His righteousness, his sacrifice, his strength

His bliss, his treasure, everlasting all, 1215

Concenters in the ever-blest God-man:

His joy in sorrow, life in death; his peace

Amidst E1r 49

Amidst the loudest thunders of the storm.

No Stoic he—he feels the keen attacks

Of pale-ey’d grief, but when his courage droops, 1220

His fainting heart recovers at the smile

Of his kind Savior; his supporting hand

Upholds, his wisdom guides, his presence chears;

And happy Theodosius travels on,

Leaning by faith on his redeeming God; 1225

Faint, yet pursuing, sorrowing, yet with joy:

Oftimes his heart exults in glorious hope

Of that bright crown, eternity presents,

With all its heav’nly splendors to his view.

Behold Orestes on the bed of pain: 1230

No storms burst o’er his head, no rude alarms

Disturb’d his quiet; while the king of day,

Bright Sol, with forty summers crown’d the earth;

Nurs’d in the lap of ease, he journey’d on

Secure thro’ life, the calm philosopher, 1235

The man of Reason: well Orestes knew

The paths of science; how to weigh the air,

Measure the stars, and circumscribe the sun.

Of virtue much he talk’d—Of God and things

Great and abstruse; himself so great, so good, 1240

So bright his virtues, and so rare his parts,

That All -sufficient in himself he stood,

Doubtless of heav’n—imputed righteousness,

The grand atonement of a Savior’s blood,

The great incarnate Savior, God o’er all: 1245

These are the objects of Orestes’s scorn,

And folly in his sight, so wise is he.

E But E1v 50

But death, terrific king, gloomy as night,

Bends o’er his bed, and with his keenest dart,

Aims at his breast an unexpected blow: 1250

The veil’s withdrawn!—a sudden burst of light

Illumes his mind, a sudden voice more dire

Than the loud crash of falling mountains, rouse

His slumb’ring soul—He wakes to sleep no more:

Conscience, deep stung by the ne’er dying worm, 1255

Loud as ten thousand thunders, on his ear

Pours her complaints, and to his eye presents

A long, tremendous scroll: within, without,

In plainest characters inscrib’d with sin,

Sin unaton’d, a just and jealous God, 1260

A dread eternity, a certain hell.

O awful sight!—In vain with gentle words

The messengers of peace attempt to sooth

The anguish of his mind, and set in view

The riches of redeeming grace; the heights 1265

And depths, the lengths and breadths of love divine,

The blood of Jesus, all-sufficient blood,

To wash his crimson soul as white as snow;

His righteousness, sufficient to acquit

The chief of sinners, who by precious faith 1270

Can trust a ruin’d soul on that alone.

His stormy passions kindle at the name

Of Jesus: “No!(with dismal voice he cries)

I cannot look that way; is there no name

But Jesus, that can save a soul from hell? 1275

I have renounc’d his righteousness, despis’d,

And long rejected his atoning blood.

I feel he is a God, the God supreme,

But I’ve deny’d his Deity, deny’d

My E2r 51

My Maker: now his wrath awak’d, like streams

Of fire, burns in my soul: behold he stands

Like a fierce lion ready to devour

And crush my bones to atoms.—Must I go,

And stand before him?—that’s the hell of hells!

Asham’d, abash’d, how shall I bear his frown? 1285

Hide me, O earth, and thou profoundest deep,

If in creation can be found a spot

Which his bright flaming eye cannot pervade,

There let me shelter from the dreadful frown

Of that just Judge.” —He pauses, horror sits 1290

In strong convulsions on his countenance,

While black despair and anguish ring his heart:

A sudden groan alarms attending friends,

He dies—With trembling steps they quit his bed,

Silent and sad, with fearful awe o’erwhelm’d. 1295

Not so the happy Theodosius dies;

Death comes not like a dreadful enemy

To sweep him in a whirlwind from the earth;

his sting’s extracted by the Lord of life,

Who bids him with an angel’s face appear, 1300

And smiling, gently summons him away

From all the ills of time, to the bright realms

Of perfect peace, and sweet celestial day.

In his calm soul no awful terrors rise,

No dismal gloom distorts his countenance, 1305

Serene and placid as a summer’s eve,

He smiles on death, and welcomes his approach:

By faith divine triumph’s in glorious hope,

As his best blessing, triumph’s o’er the grave,

Secure of heav’n and immortality. 1310

E2 Weep E2v 52

“Weep not (he cries to his surrounding friends)

Weep not, my hope is firm, my heav’n secure;

Jehovah Jesus, my redeeming God

Is gone, my great Forerunner, to prepare

My seat on high; my mansion in the skies: 1315

Now he invites, and calls my soul away

To prove its glories, and at his right hand

Enjoy the fruits of all his victories

O’er satan, sin and death: my conqu’ring Lord

Bruis’d satan’s head for me; he vanquish’d sin 1320

When on the Cross he hung, my sacrifice.

No condemnation, now against my soul

Is register’d in heav’n, who shall condemn?

My Christ acquits, God Jesus justifies,

And I am safe! a pardon’d sinner, sav’d 1325

By sov’reign grace; electing love that wrote

My worthless name in Jesus’ book of life,

Before I had a being, wrote my name

Deep in Immanuel’s heart, that precious heart,

That groan’d, was pierc’d, and burst in twain for me. 13501330

Rejoice! rejoice, ye Israel of God;

For me, for you, he dy’d, and with his robe

Of spotless righteousness adorn’d our souls:

Our advocate on high, he pleads our cause,

Till in his Father’s presence we appear 13551335

To prove the fulness of eternal joy.

I long to go!—Come, O my Savior God,

Bring thy bright chariot, let my soul acsend,

And n1 wordflawed-reproduction the wings of holy seraphs mount

To that bright world where my Redeemer reigns, 1340

Where I shall see his face with joy extreme,

And in his presence dwell to hymn his name,

While E3r 53

While everlasting ages roll along.”

He pauses—faints beneath the mighty joy;

Revives again, again exulting tells 1345

Of Jesus’ kindness; triumphs in his name,

And smiles at death, defies his pow’r to kill,

And rises all victorious o’er the grave.

“Precious salvation! says the dying saint,

Precious salvation!”—with a gentle sigh 1350

He breathes his soul into his Saviour’s hands,

Upborn on angel wings to heav’n he soars,

To sing salvation to the bleeding Lamb,

Thro’ the long ages of eternity.

How great the contrast of these dying beds! 1355

The man of faith, the friend of Jesus soars

To the bright world where boundless pleasures flow,

In one vast ocean of immortal bliss,

Extatic joy and infinite delight.

The scholar of Socinus, foes profest 1360

To God the Saviour, sinks in black despair,

To the dark regions of eternal woe;

There, he for ever feels the force of truth,

And reason bows to revelation’s voice;

But soon with awful glory, solemn pomp, 1365

A contrast still more striking shall appear,

And heav’n and earth, angels and men behold

The scene sublime, the grand concluding scene,

When the dissolving sun shall pour his fires

Like a vast deluge on the flaming earth; 1370

When time expires, and bursting form the skies,

The God of glory on a throne of light,

E3 Unnumber’d E3v 54

Unnumber’d millions of the sons of morn

Swelling his splendid train, in solemn state

The Judge supreme appears—His mighty voice

Shakes heav’n and earth, the echoing spheres resound,

“Arise ye dead, and come to judgment; stand—

Before the Son of Man, and hear his voice— 1375

Pronounce eternal bliss, or endless shame—

Your everlasting portion.”— See the throng 1380,

The glorious armies of redeemed saints,

How bright they shine in splendors all divine:

Hark! with triumphant songs they meet their God,

Wash’d from their sins in his atoning blood,

Clad in his robe of spotless righteousness, 1385

Complete in him, perfect in holiness.

On clouds of dazzling light upborne, they soar

Amidst angelic guards, to take their place

At his right hand, to see his smiling face,

And in his presence quaff immortal joy 1390

Thro’ everlasting years—they tune their harps

To sweetest, loftiest strains, the concave rings

With hallelujahs—saints and angels join

To sing salvation and the Savior God,

In one grand chorus of unbounded praise. 1395

Say, in this great, tremendous, awful day,

This sudden burst of glory, this grand scene,

How shall Messiah’s enemies appear?

Say with what eyes shall they behold the Judge,

The God, the Savior? Where’s the Reas’ners
now? 1400

The proud Lotharios; scientific men,

The bold Orestes’, will they now stand forth,

Now E4r 55

Now, in the midst of flaming worlds, and prove

That Jesus is no God; that creatures need

No righteousness divine, no sacrifice? 1405

Will they deride him now, and summon all

Their potent arguments upon this field?

With s*.rong persuasive eloquence debate

In long orations? No, their eyes behold

Jehovah Jesus on his judgment seat: 1410

This is no place for infidelity,

Her mouth is stop’d—the great contest is o’er!

And demonstration of the highest kind

Decides th’ important ques*.ion: now explain’d,

The mystery of godliness shines forth; 1415

God manifest in flesh appears to view,

And doubt, and contradiction swept away

Shrink from his presence, at his frown expire.

Lo! from their dungeons drag’d, the pris’ners come,

Forc’d by a dire necessity to quit 1420

The silent grave.—O could they there abide,

There hide for ever, ’twould appear a boon

Beyond conception great, but ’tis deny’d;

No, they must stand before the Son of man.

High on his great white throne he sits supreme, 1425

And all the bright effulgence of a God

Shine in his person, and in splendid beams

Dart glories inexpressible around.

Pale with amazing horrors, lo! they come,

Abash’d, asham’d, silent as death, nor dare 1430

Behold Immanuel’s face; his flaming eye

Darts thro’ their souls: the guilty fugitives

Stand self-convicted, self-condemn’d: despair,

E4 Arm’d E4v 56

Arm’d with ten thousand terrors, gathers round,

Bursts in a mighty flood, o’erwhelms and sweeps 1435

Celestial hope eternally away.

No more they scorn the great redeeming God,

No more they doubt of his Divinity;

Their eyes behold, their hearts confess the truth;

They feel the pow’r of his omnipotence: 11401440

Thro’ all their being, feel no creature’s wrath

Consume them, but the veng’ance of a God,

The wrath awak’d of injur’d Deity.

In vain to rocks and hills they call to hide

And screen them from the Lamb’s indignant frown:

The falling mountains can afford no shade 1445

From his broad burning eye, and when his voice

Shakes heav’n and earth, and echoes thro’ the spheres,

“Depart ye cursed into endless fire;”

His frown, worse than a thousand hells, pursues

And sinks them down to the abhorred pit 1450

Where infinite despair and horrors reign:

There, thro’ a long eternal night they groan,

The scorn and sport of devils; deeper plung’d

Than millions in the dreadful burning lake:

Tophet for them stirs up his fiercest fires, 1455

And in perdition seven fold, they prove

The wrath of Jesus is the wrath of God.

Behold the New Jerusalem appears!

Bright with celestial splendors, there enthron’d,

Jesus Jehovah reigns: Low at his feet 1460

His ransom’d millions bow; in rapt’rous songs

They hymn his glorious name: triumphant joy

Inspires E5r 57

Inspires their swelling notes: salvation sounds

Thro’ all th’ eternal arches: love and praise

Glow in each heart, and dwell on ev’ry tongue: 1465

Angels and glad archangels join the theme,

And all is wonder, harmony, and bliss.

Peace, everlasting peace, serenely flows

In the pure bosoms of the sons of light;

And while eternal ages roll along 1470

They prove the heights and depths of sov’reign grace,

Of dying love; and in sweet unison

Ascribe salvation, honour, pow’r, and praise,

To their incarnate God, who lives and reigns

The Lord of glory, tho’ the Son of Man. 1475

O blest eternity! when will the shades

Of time withdraw, and thy bright morn appear,

When happy saints shall thus behold their God,

And celebrate his name to harps of gold?

Till then, tho’ with a feebler voice, in strains 1480

Imperfect, with a meaner song than theirs,

Let universal nature own her Lord;

And at his footstool, offer up an hymn

Of holy gratitude, and humble praise.

Praise him, O sun, celestial king of day! 1485

When with bright rising beams thou crown’st the earth,

And when with full meridian splendors deck’d,

Thy flaming car hath climb’d the heights of noon,

Bow at the footstool of Immanuel’s throne,

Who call’d thee into being, bade thee blaze 1490

In all the rich magnificence of day!

Fountain of light and heat—in dewy eve,

When E5v 58

When thou illum’st the western clouds with gold,

And sup’st with Thetis, let thy song arise

Till Hesper ushers in the starry host, 1495

And Cynthia darts her silver rays around.

Praise Him, thou Moon; and all ye worlds of light:

Ye Planets, as ye roll in boundless space,

O let your mighty orbs in mystic song

Record the wonders of the Son of Man; 1500

Sing the Creator, the Redeemer-God.

Ye Comets, bow your grand terrific heads,

And while th’ affrighted earth admiring views

Your trains majestic, sweep thro’ half the skies,

Join the sweet concert, and submissive own 1505

Your being hangs upon his sov’reign will.

Ye clouds, that sail along the vast expanse,

And in your fleecy bosoms bear the dews,

The rain, the snows, to fructify the earth,

Swell the grand chorus, and report his name, 1510

Till highest heav’n, and distant earth resound

With the loud honours of the Savior-God!

Praise Him, ye storms; ye thunders,

Ye lightnings, with your forked tongues proclaim

The dignity of him who sends you forth 1515

Accomplishing his will. Praise Him, ye winds,

As ye burst forth tumultuous—in his hand

He holds you, when with clangour wide and rude

You sweep o’er waving forests, rend the air

With noisy uproar:—On your wings, O bear, 1520

And let your voices sound Immanuel’s praise.

Soft breathing zephyrs, whisper it abroad;

Charm the still ev’ning with the pleasing tale,

When thy cool breezes fan her gentle breast.

Ye E6r 59

Ye placid show’rs, and sweet distilling dews, 1525

Join with the rushing torrent, that descends,

And with impetuous roar lashes the hills,

And foams along the plain, to laud his name!

Praise him, ye lofty Alps and Apenines; Alps and Appenines, are mountains in Italy.

Ye loftier Andes, The Andes, are lofty mountains in South America. who involve your heads, 1530

Your snow-crown’d heads in clouds—ye rocks and hills,

Ye plains, and verdant vallies; flow’ry meads

And gardens of delight, where Flora’s train

Puts on their gayest foliage, richest hues;

While you emit ten thousand sweets around, 1535

O breathe his praises.—Let the forests sing;

The stately Cedar, the tall Pine rejoice;

and humbler shrubs unite to spread the theme

From east to west, from florid southern climes,

To the cold regions of the frozen north. 1540

Praise him, gay Summer, crown’d with fruits and
flow’rs;

O! let thy beauteous train unite to pay

Due homage to the great immortal King;

And hail Jehovah-Jesus Lord of all.

Winter, with all his sons, Frost, Hail and Snow, 1545

Black nights and gloomy days, adore the God

Who turns the rivers into stone.—Again

He speaks; and lo, the waters flow.—Sing thou,

Soft breathing Spring, weave a fresh coronet

Of Primrose, Crocus, humble Violet— 1550

Inscribe it with Immanuel’s sacred name;

And let it, as thine off’ring, speak his praise:

While Autumn, with her yellow sheaves, attends

To E6v 60

To swell the gen’ral anthem, and adore.

Praise him, ye Eagles, as with lofty flight 1555

Ye soar to meet the sun, and with bold eye

Dare gaze, undazzled on the king of day.

Praise him, ye warbling larks, in softest airs;

And all ye tuneful songsters of the groves,

Waft on your wings, and in your songs his praise. 1560

Ye Lions, as to him ye roar for prey,

Roar out his praises— Judah’s Lion reigns,

Let ev’ry creature worship at his throne:

Ye who in midnight hours range o’er the woods,

Majestically fierce, and ye who play 15701565

In gamesome frolics o’er the flow’ry lawn;

Ye gentle hinds, ye tender playful lambs,

And all who walk the earth, and all who creep

Insects who wanton in a sunny ray,

And spread their silken wings, be-dropt with gold. 1570

And you who in the briny wave display

Your scaly coats of various form and hue,

But chiefly thou the tyrant of the deep,

Leviathan, who like a mountain rolls

In the unfathom’d ocean, when thou play’st, 1575

And from thy stormy nostrils spout’st a flood,

Bid it arise to praise the Son of man,

The King of Glory, the incarnate God.

Let heav’n, and earth, and air, and seas, unite

To sound Immanuel’s name: let echo bear 1580

On her soft wings to nature’s utmost verge

The glorious sound, and back return his praise.

Come ye who stand for ever near his seat,

Bright sons of morn, cherubic legions, come:

And E7r 61

And ye, who nearer to his throne than they, 1585

View the immortal glories of your God,

Strike, strike your golden harps—begin a song

More noble than you ever sung before.

The saints on earth, the ransom’d of the Lord,

Take up the theme; they join the joyful lay, 5901590

And in a solemn chorus laud the Lamb,

The Lamb who dy’d, the Lamb who lives for them

“Worthy the Lamb” (they cry) “of pow’r and might

Eternal Honours, and unbounded Praise,

Glory and blessing, majesty divine, 1595

And everlasting worship are his due.”

Hail, then Jehovah Jesus, take the praise:

Thine is the kingdom, Thou art Lord of all;

Thy saints shall crown thee, and their song shall be

Thro’ endless years, “Salvation to the Lamb.” 1600


Finis.

E7v E8r


Miscellaneous
Poems

E8v F1r (65)


Thoughts,
Written in a Bower
at
Lady-Grove

Hail! happy sot, sequester’d lone retreat,

Sacred to meditation and the muse:

Beneath thy cool embow’ring shade I fit,

And for awhile forget the busy world

To view the op’ning fose, and mark how springs

The violet, and how the lilies bloom:

Hark! how the robin whistles as he flies

From bough to bough; the blackbird’s mellow note,

And warbling thrush on yonder hawthorn perch’d,

Inscease the tuneful music of the grove:

And wanton zephyrs breathing gentle gales

O’er rustling leavces with an hermonious bass

Complertes the consert: these are thy sweet gifts,

O summer, gayest daughter of the year;

Nature throughout her wide somain, shall own

F Thy F1v 66

Thy genial influence: see the forest shake

In grateful homage, while the grove-crown’d hills rejoice,

Andfruitful valleys laught and sing for thee.

’Tis now high noon, the blazing king of day

Throm’d in mid heav’n, surveys the universe,

And darts meridian splendors round the world.

But safely sheltrer’d in this vernal bow’r,

Embrown’d with thickest shade of lofty trees,

Whose spreading branches taught by art to meet

In kind embraces, form a rural arch,

And bid defiance to the sultry ray;

I taste the cool refreshing breeze, and feel

The pleassures which a scene like this inspires.

How shall my soul improve a scene like this;

I look around, and every flow’r and shrub,

Each beauteous object that attracts my view,

Turns preacher to my mind, and drops tho’ mute

A silent admonition in my ear,

And lead my thoughts, O garden of delight,

Thou sweet, thou sacred Paradise, to thee,

Where Man, the noble image of his God,

With all his native dignity adorn’d

Bright with unsullied purity and truth,

Crown’d with unrivall’d grandeur, stood declar’d

Lord of the wide creation, and enjoy’d

The smiles and boundless bounties of a God,

Oh! could he i the midst of all this good,

Still sigh for more; thus eminently great,

Indulge ambition? thus supremely blest,

Could he rebel against his Maker’s will,

And F2r 67

And disobey his great, his sole command;

Wilful reject his blessing, court his curse?

Ingrate how vile, well might a God inquire

“Adam where art thou?” Oh! how lost, how fall’n,

How sund in sad disgrace, in bitter woe,

In guilt and misery, in sin and same.

Then did thy roses fade, thy lilies die;

And all thy blooming train, O paradise,

Wither and hang their heads; thy crown was fall’n;

For man, thy lord and glory, had prophan’d

Thy sacred shades, and his polluted feet

No more must tread thy more than hallow’d ground:

Driv’n out to common earth, he now must till

Asoil less fruitful, with laborious parin;

Subject to sore disease, a prey to death

In all its threefold horrors: this the doom

Of the first sinner, this the legacy

He only could bequeath to all his race.

But see, my muse, another garden rise

In the lov’d fertile vale of Olivet;

Come sing, Gethsemane; hail! sacred spot,

Hail! hallow’d grove; ye venerable shades,

Dearer than Eden; there a world was lost,

There one transgression plung’d a world in woe;

But here the God who bade the sun exist,

Who call’d creation from the womb of night,

Who planted paradise, and by his pow’r

Upholds this vast stupendous edifice;

Here, rob’d in flesh, clad with humanity,

He stood the surety of the chosen race,

The sinner’s Savior, their redeeming friend;

F2 Their F2v 68

Their bondsman, bound to pay their dreadful debt;

And here with groans, with anguish infinite,

With sorrow inexpressible, and woe

too big for mortal language to express,

Too vast for angel bosoms to conceive,

He struggles with the load of human guilt,

And (midst the chill damp vapours of the night)

Sweats blood: O garden of Gensemane,

Thou wert a silent witness of this scene;

Astonish’d angels gazing, hover’s round

And saw the mighty conflict, and with shouts

Proclaim’d the mighty victor: for with blood,

Anguish and death, he conquer’d death and hell;

He paid the sinner’s debt, cancell’d the bond

And gave them free redemption in his blood.

Worthy art thou, O Lamb, for sinners slain,

Of angels songs, thy saints shall join the theme,

And sing thy wonders, and adore thy love.

Let heav’n and earth adore, let nature bow,

And one loud song of praise to thee arise

While time endures, and then in nobler strains

Thro’ the vast ages of eternity.

F3r (69)


An
Hymn of Praise.

I Will Sing of Mercy.

I

Come, oh! my soul, awake; awake and sing;

come tune thy harp to sweetest, softest lays:

Record the wonders of thy God and King.

And offer uyp a song of grateful praise.

II

Praise waits for Thee, at humble distance waits,

Consious how for she falls beneath thy throne:

Fain would she soar beyond the heav’nly gates,

And make thy triumphs to archangels known.

III.

O for wings of holy joy and love,

To bear her adorations up to Thee!

O for the whispers of the sacred Dove,

To bring thy approbation down to me.

IV.

I sing of Mercy—’tis a theme divine!

It flows to me thro’ streams of precious blood:

Rich are thy blessings; but they brightest shine,

As purchas’d by they death, my Savior God.

ate, F3v 70

V.

Late, thro’ a painful path my journey lay,

High blew the whirlwind, while the storm arose;

Black clouds, tempestuous, overhung the day,

And all was anguish, all was gloom and foes.

VI.

With trembling steps I travell’d thro’ the shade,

And oft, affrighted by the Lion’s roar,

To thee, my God, my King, I flew for aid,

And found my mighty refuge in thy power.

VII.

Thine arm supported, while the empest blew!

Thy gracious eye pervaded all my grief!

Thou wisely guided, kindly brought me through,

And flew of eagle’s wings to my relief!

VIII.

The thunder’s o’er, and all’s serenely calm!

Hush’d to sweet peace, the flooks no longer beat.

This is the triumph of Immanuel’S arm!

I fall a stonish’d at his gracious feet.

IX.

My Father and my God, to thee I’ll sing

Eternal anthems of unbounded praise;

Myself, my all, an humble off’ring bring

to thee, the God of Providence and Grace.

X.

O for a thousand hearts to love thy name!

A thousand tongues to sound thy glories high!

To spread abroad thine everlasting fame,

And join the hallelujahs of the sky.

Faith- F4r 71

XI.

Faithful and true is thy tremendous name,

My glorious Master, my Almighty Lord!

Eternal ages prove thee still the same;

Eternal ages shall thy truth record.

XII.

On thee, the ocean of unbounded love,

My soul embarks her all, commits to thee

Her cares, her tears, her wants, and longs to prove

An everlasting refuge, Lord, in thee.

XIII.

On thy kind bosom I would fain recline,

My Savior God. O let thy presence sheer!

Thy Spirit guide, and guard and seal me thine

Lead and direct me while I sojourn here.

XIV.

Then in the realms of bright celesial day,

My soul shall bless thee in sublimer lays;

Shall see thy glories in their full display,

And sing a sweeter, nobler song of praise.

F4v (72)


An
Irregular Ode

Great King of saints!

Thou mighty Monarch of the hearvens and earth,

Whose awful fiat gave creation birth;

Whose arm supports, whose eye surveys

A universe, through all the maze

Of ages past, of ages still to be

The future and the past, are now to thee

Conception faints

When viewing an omniscient Deity.

Ye sons of light,

Angels who bow before the throne,

Tune your soft harps and make him known,

In lofty strains adore your God.

And saints, the purchase of his blood,

Ransom’d sinners join the theme;

You delight to sing of him;

We on earth, and you in heav’n:

We to whom his grace is giv’n.

Earnest of the glorious prize,

You enjoy above the skies;

Children of one Father, join

Him to laud, in songs divine:

God of nature, God of grace,

We would give thee humble praise:

F5r 73

Jesus, hail! incarnate God,

Thou hast wash’d us in thy blood.

Prince of peace, we bow to thee,

Father of eternity.

Hail! the love that made us thine,

Love eternal, all divine:

Hail thy Father-God and ours;

Aid us, O ye heav’nly pow’rs;

Strike your softest, sweetest string,

While redeeming love we sing;

While we bless the Holy Dove,

Three in One, and One in Three,

Hail! mysterious Deity.

Thou great Unsearchable.

Whom heav’n and earth, whom seas and skies adore,

But finite understandings can’s explore,

Who dwell’st in brightness inaccessable!

Thy glories shine in beams so bright,

Dazzling archangels sight;

My Father and my God!

How empires vanish at a sight of thee:

What’s all their pomp, but trifling trash to me?

My wealth is boundless, my stupendous store

Beggars Peru, thought cannot grasp at more.

With thee my portion, I despise the things

Men riches call, and look with scorn on kings.

My Father and my God!

Safe on thine arm I lean when storms arise,

And rolling tempests threat the frowning skies,

And F5v 74

And satan’s fiery darts are hurl’d aroung

With mischievous intent, to kill or wound,

Thou art my mighty Shield, I find in Thee

A safe retreat, a certain victory.

If slander lifts her forked tongue,

Or envy joins to do me wrong;

Thine eye shall see, thine ear shall hear,

Thy hand shall grasp the glitt’ring spear,

Thy breath shall chace them, as when whirlwinds rise

The moths disperse, the scatter’d stubble flies.

But I shall sing

Salvation to my God and King,

While life endures, and then above

I’ll tune a nobler song to praise the God of love.

F6r (75)


An
Elegy
On the Death of
The Reverend Doctor
Gifford.


Who fell asleep in Christ the 1784-06-1919th of June, 1784;
in the 84th Year of his Age.

When the loud din of war, and clash of arms

Subsides, and all Bellona’s fierce alarms

Complete the labours of the long campaign,

And smiling Peace resumes her gentle reign;

The hero, crown’d with conqwest, pleas’d, throws by

The glitt’ring spear, and the bright panoply

Of warlike arms, he quits the hostile shore,

His toils and dangers past, his battles o’er;

He flies to greet once more his native land,

And from his royal master’s gracious hand

receive the laurels, which he won with pain,

In the long siege, and on the well-sought plain,

In sylvan scenes to lose each anxious care,

Forget his toils and breath the purest air

Of F6v 76

Of sweet serenity. No more the sound

Of thund’ring cannon shakes the trembling ground;

He listens to the lark and linnet’s lay,

Enjoys the calm, as much at ease as they;

Bids ev’ry rude tumultuous passion cease,

And triumphs in the gentle arms of peace.

So rev’rend Gifford lays his armour by,

Quits the low earth, and soars above the sky.

Long in the field the Christian soldier stood,

And wrestled, not with foes of flesh and blood,

But pow’rs of darknessm rulers of the air,

Whose fiery darts ten thousand horrors bear.

Oft in black storms the barbed mischief flies,

Obscures the sun, and darkens all the skies.

But Gifford, great in arms, maintain’d the fight,

And, unappal’d, march’d on, through shades of night,

Till brighter day arose, secure he stood,

In all the glorious panoply of God;

And the last foe subdu’d, he quits the place,

And more than conq’ror, thro’almighty grace,

To brighter, fairer worlds he wings his way,

Where perfectpeace, and everlasting day

Sweetly unite; there from Immanuel’s hand,

The mighty Monarch of that happy land,

Receives the hlorious palm of victory,

Receives a gracious welcome to the sky.

He tunes his golden harp, and joins the throng

Of whete-rob’d saints, who with melodious song

Incessant hymnthe throne of God, and raise

Eternal anthems to Immanuel’s praise.

Thy name they sing, O Lamb of God! for thou

Hast wash’d them in they blood; to thee they bow,

And F7r 77

And tell to wond’ring seraphs what thy grace

Hath done for sinners of the human race.

Seraphs shall, pleas’d, attend, then join the lay.

And saints and angels shall thy love display:

The glorious theme shall run from choir to choir,

Tune ev’ry tongue, and ev’ry harp inspire.

Thy name shall echo thro’ the courts above,

Come gentle Muse, in softest lays record

How liv’d, how dy’d the servant of the Lord;

Tell how, baptiz’d with heav’nly fire, he ran

To preach a God of love to fallen man:

To publish the good new of gospel grace

And free salvation, to a singul race.

Sav’d by this grace himself, he long’d to tell

The boundlss glories of Immanuel.

Truth from his lips like softest music flow’d,

And all his theme the righteousness of God.

Sweet Consolation sat upon his tongue

For mourning souls, by sin’s sad serpent stung.

A son of Thunder wo awake the dead,

While Sinai’s ligh’nings flashes over head.

Amidst a world of error, faithful He,

Zealous for Gospel, holy liberty.

Firm as a brazen pillar Gifford stood, And liv’d and wrote, and preac’d the truth of God.

At Jesu’s feet he sat, and on his breast,

Like favor’d John, was oft indug’d to rest.

He found his bliss and source of wisdom here,

And caught his spirit while he sat so near.

Love! F7v 78

Love! heav’nly love, like a bright flame arose,

Immortal love, that no extinction knows,

Enlarg’d his gen’rous heart, and bid it flow

With softest sympathy for others woe.

There mild Beneficence sat up her thron,

And sweet Complacence seal’d him for her own:

The law of kindness from his lips distill’d,

Smil’d in his cheeks, and all his bosom fill’d;

And now he proves, in the bright world above,

His heav’n of heavens in a Savior’s love.

Vast was his mind, for Contemplation made;

Vast were the pow’rs his active mind display’d.

Thro’ Nature’s most stupendous workd it run,

Measur’d the stars and circumscrib’d the sun;

From link to link of the great chain descends,

And only with Creation’s ending, ends.

Thro’ fields of science sought the Deity,

Led by thy hacd, O fair Philisophy!

But chiefly thou. O Science all divine!

To whom all others must the palm resign;

Creatrion proves a God, but how to know,

To fear, and love, and to enjoy him too,

Creation here is mute, and all the rest,

Can but by Revelation be exprest.

Hail! then, O Spirit, who only can display

To sinners hearts, the new and living way.

Gifford, led on by thee, explor’d the road,

And learn’d to know the hidden things of God.

Hail! sacred knowledge, science all divine,

Distinct from thee, Philosophy can shine

But F8r 79

But with a glow-worm lustre; the vast mind

By arts and erudition most resin’d,

Co comprehensive, is ignorant of all.

For God is all— and not that God to know;

Is blindness, death, and everlasing woe;

But Gifford lnew, and preach’d to sinners round,

The Savior and Salvation he had found;

And now from earth remov’d to yonder skies,

How high his wondr swells, his joys arise;

His large capacious soul amaz’d, can trace

The God a Nature, Providence, and Grace,

In all his wond’rous works, by death set free

From the dark veil of dull mortality.

Soft was the hand, and gentle was the blow,

That summon’s Gifford from this vale below;

Death like an angel came, and beck’ning stood,

His willing soul tood wing, and soar’d to God

In realms of bliss adores his Savior’s name,

And bows and sings salvation to the Lamb.

F8v (80)


An
Elegy
Occasioned By the
Death
of
Mrs. Elizabeth Dowland.

Come heav’nly Muse, and with thy own soft fire

Warm my cold heart, a sacred song inspire,

Solemn as death, sweet as the breath of morn

When Sol’s bright beams, the eastern clouds adorn.

Come, sing Eliza, see the saint arise,

Burst fleshly bars, and soar above the skies,

To that bright world where joys immortal grow,

And life’s unfathom’d waters ever flow:

There, rob’d in white, she joins the happy train,

The ransom’d throng for whom the Lamb was slain

She shares the glories of the chosen race,

And basks and triumphs in the God of grace

How chang’d the scene! when late in mortal clay

(Ere her Redeemer call’d her soul away)

’Midst G1r 81

’Midst ills and enemies she sojourn’d here,

Encompas’d with infirmity and fear,

As all her kindred of the dust, who stand

And wait a summons to the promis’d land

Then (highly favour’d) did Eliza prove

The kind protection of th God of love.

The silken bands of grace he gently threw

Around her yourhful heart, and softly drew

Her young affestions to the Savior’s feet,

Ev’n ere the days of childhood were compleat.

Oft has her list’ning mind attentive hung

On the sweet Music of a Langford’s Alluding to her being brought to a sense and knowledge of
divine things, under the ministry of the Rev. J. Langford, when
only eight years of age, who is now a living witness of the progress
she made therein, under the blessing of God; also of her
trials and triumphs in general, from that time till her death.
tongue,

When he the Gospel’s silver trumpet blew,

She heard, and in increasing lnowledge grew.

As when the rising sun his beams display,

Checks the dull shades, and bids the night give way,

Gradual he ushers in the roseate day.

Before his flaming car the vapours fly,

Till gold and purple tinge the glowing sky;

Nor stays his course, till, with bright glories crown’d,

He darts his full meridian splendors round.

So the young saint arose from nature’s night,

And shone with every christian virtue bright;

In con stant pragress ran the heav’nly race,

By wisdom guided, and upheld by grace.

G Vast G1v 82

Vast was her mind, and large her mental powr’s,

Improve’d by study, in her leisure hours;

Devoted to her God, her mem’ry stor’d

With the rich treasures of the sacred word;

Deep read in things fivine, she shone in youth

A living Concordance of heav’nly truth

Truth was her song, and all her conduct shew

The more she lov’d, as more of truth she knew;

For she adorn’d each charcster in life,

The tender mother and the virtuous wife.

But ah! these solemn ties no more can bind,

Nor shall Eliza longer be confin’d

In walls of clay; commission’d from on high,

Death, like a friendly visitant, drew nigh;

His usual harbingers, sickness and pain,

Had long oppress’d her, but oppress’d in vain

To raise a murm’ring sigh; resign’d to all,

At Jesu’s feet, see her submissive fall.

Satan in vain threw fiery farts around,

For Jesus still her strength and shield she found;

In vain her fears arose, for Jesus stands

And shews his pierced side, his bleeding hands,

By faith divine she views her Savior-God,

And triumphs in a pardon bought with blood:

Lo! death steps in—the solemn strode is giv’n

She sighs—she falls asleep—she mounts to heav’n. Before her death she chose the text for her funeral sermon,
and the hymns to be sung at her funeral, with pleasure and
composure. Mr Langford, according to her Request, preached
a discourse on the occasion, from Revelations, ch. vii. ver. 14.
Sunday evening, 1783-04-20April 20, 1783, at the Chapel, in Rose-lane,
Ratcliff.

Hail G2r 83

Hail! happy saint! immortal bliss is thine,

To see thy God, and the grand chorus join

Of endless hallelujahs, endess praise

To Jesus, Son of Man and God of grace.

Short was thy stay on earth, transient they pain;

Eternal life, and everlasting gain

Thy glorious pertion now, exchange how good,

From earth to heav’n, the paradise of God;

There thou may’st view and sing the Lamb who dy’d,

And by thy dear, thy much lov’d parent’s side

(For thou hasfound her) thou mayst sit and tell

The wonders of the great Immanuel.

Enraptur’d shall thy list’ning brother stand,

And hail thee welcome to the promis’d land;

Wile two bright cherubs swell thy joyful strain,

Tine heart must know thy smiling babes again,

The dear, the darling infant, latest giv’n,

Who wing’d his way thy harbinger to heav’n;

These shall with thee eternal mercy prove,

And sing the God whose glorious name is love.

How shall the muse address a weeping pair?

The Muse shall weep and in their sorrows share,

Let stoic hearts disdain to feel, but here

Friendship shall drop a synpathetic tear.

A Husband and Father, tender names,

Such sacred ties a sober sorrow claims;

Think not the rising sigh, tho’ sad, amiss,

Tears are well shed on such a grave as this:

But while we mourn, O let your thought arise

Above the eagle’s flight, to you bright skies,

G2 There G2v 84

There your Eliza lives, there Jesus reigns,

And saints are free from sin, from cares and pains;

Death cannot enter there, his pow’rful dart

Can stab no more, no more can wound the heart;

For life, eternal life compleats the joy,

And not on e anxious thought slhall e’er annoy:

Lift up your eyes then to that happy place,

O look again and view the God of grace;

Look till your hearts, ascending with your eyes,

Learn all sublunar objects to despise;

Reject the toys of time, and seek alone

The pleasures which surround you Father’s throne,

Which, like a boundless ocean, shall endure

When death shall cease, and time shall be no more.

G3r (85)


An
Elegy
on the
Death
of the
Much-Lamented
Mr. Christopher Seldon Slow.

Hail! happy saint, immortal splendors shine

Around thy head, the gift of love divine;

High thro’d in bliss, above yon azure skies,

In sweet enjoyment of the heav’nly prize;

Thy ransom’d spirit stands divinely bright,

Crown’d with Salvation in the realms of light.

See Seldon in the morning of his days,

Led by parental care in wisdom’s ways,

By precept and example taught the road

Which leads from earth to heav’n, form sin to God.

A pious Father’s fervent pray’rs arise,

Ascends the clouds and penetrates the skies;

G3 Well G3v 86

Well pleas’d Jehovah hears, and grants the boon,

His heart’s best wishes for his darling Son,

And bids all-potent grace erect her throne

In Seldon’s breast, and seal him all her own:

Lo! winds and waves the favor’d youth convey

To Britain’s Isle in an auspicious day;

When Piltius blew the gospel trump, his voice

Bid sinners tremble, weeping saints rejoice;

To those a son of thunder, but to these

The gentle messenger of heav’nly peace:

He heard the faithful herald loud proclaim

The great salvation to young Seldon’s heart;

Now like the bounding roe, with eager pace,

He runs, he flies to that delightful place,

Down Savoy’s hill, where saints assembled join

In worship pure, devition all divine;

And walds with God, while thrice the radiant sun

Measures ten summers, ere his work is done;

With ever chearful heart and smiling face,

Patient he marches on his heav’nly race;

The widow’s friend, the orphan’s kind support,

Constant in all that bears a good report;

Benevolently good, with all replete

That forms the Christian character complete.

When death, with stingless mourners rise,

Your friend is safely lodg’d withing the skies:

Clasped in Immanuel’s arms, he proves the bliss

Of a blood-bought eternal Paradise

Then G4r

Then cease your grief, ye saints, and onward press

Tow’rds the bright prize, a crown of righteousness:

But hark! from yonder cloud a whisper breakd,

Be Hushed, my soul, for ’tis Christopher speaks:

Weep not for me, my dangers all are past,

I’ve run the race, and reach’d the goal at last;

The swelling tides of Jordan threat no more,

I’m safely landed on the wish’d for shore;

With conquer’d crown’d, triumphant now I stand,

In full possession of the promis’d land:

Satan and sin, no more my peace molest,

No more shall sighs of sorrow heave my breast,

I’ve lift the cumb’rous load of flesh behind,

And found my J faithful as he’s kind;

Without a cloud my Father’s face I see,

And bless the great God-Man who dy’d for me.

Before his throne I fall in raptures down,

And at his feet I lay my glorious crown;

Gladly I tune my garp and voice to sing

The matchless triumphs of my matchless King;

Adore that sov’reign love, and bless the grace

That gave me robes of perfect righteousness,

That saw me late in nature’s darkness lay.

And gave me eyes to view his gospel day;

He knew my sorrows, pity’d all my woe,

And said to satan, “Loose and let him go.”

He spake, ’twas done, my fetter’d soul set free,

To follow Jesus in true liberty;

Guided by sisdom oand upheld by grace,

He led me safely thro’ the wildernese:

When soil’d by foes, he ran to give me aid,

And on his bosom would repose my head;

Beneath G4v 88

Beneath me spread his everlasting arm,

When fainting under Sol’s meridian beams,

Allay’d my thirst with ever living streams;

And when I hunger’d, to my soul was giv’n

The real manna, living bread from heav’n,

Till Jordan’s verge appear’d, replete with harms;

But Jesus bore me over in his arms,

And in his temple, on this happy shore,

I live a pillar, to go out no more;

But join cherubicsongs to bless his name,

And sing salvation to the slaughter’d Lamb.

Then weep no more for me, my friend, but rise

And follow Jesus to those radiant skies,

There we shall meet, from sin and sorrow free

And death be swallow’d up in vistory.

AN G5r (89)


An
Elegy
on the
Death
of My
Sister
Mrs. Elizabeth Burrows.

Come sad Melpomene, and aid my verse,

While I Eliza’s gentle name rehearse,

Tell how the saint in prime of life expir’d

And from a world of sin and woe retir’d

To dwell with Jesus in the realms of bliss,

Bought with his blood, and seal’d for ever his.

Shall I repeat the sorrows of her soul?

No, Jesus’precious blood has made them whole:

Shall I the troubles of her life relate?

They were so varied, num’rous and so great

That none but their Appointer can declare,

And those who in the like affliction share.

Shall I my subject make that heavy rod

Which brought her spirit home to dwell with God?

Shall I unfold the melancholy scene?

I would—but her command steps in between:

She sleeps; she’s safely lodg’d in Jesus’ breast,

Eternal silence dwell upon the rest;

Eternal G5v 90

Or if it must be nam’d, than let it be

When Sols bright beams are fled beyond the sea,

When silver Cynthia glimmer’s o’er the plain,

And awful silence, midnight horrowrs reign;

Or, nature hush’d, attentive audience pays

To wakeful Philomel’s impassion’s lays:

The Bird would cease, the moon would turn more
pale

To hear me tell the sad, the mournful tale—

O did the world her tragic story know,

The world would melt in sympathetic woe,

No stubborn heart so hard, that could forbear

The tender tribute of a pitying tear.

’Tis past—the race is run, the storm is o’er

Eliza’s landed on the peaceful shore.

Never shall I forget the solemn day,

When her Redeemer kiss’d her soul away,

To the pure realms of everlasting day.

Victorious death his swift approaches made,

She met him unappelled, undismay’d;

Cry’d, “Come my Lord, my precious Jesus hear,

And in thy presence let me soon appear.”

’Twas, done! a glorious Angel stood confest, A few moments before she expired, she pronounced the word Angel, with such an emphasis as left no room for her friends to doubt but what she really saw some glorious appearance.

And bore Eliza to eternal rest.

Hail! happy spirit, dear celestial shade.

Wreaths of unfading splendors crown thy head:

My Friend! my Sister! if those sacred ties

Can bind immortal spirits in the skies,

How G6r 91

How blest art thow, from sin and sorrow free,

No more encompass’d with infirmity;

Thy tribulation-days are now no more,

And thou art landed on the peaceful shore

Where no loud storms, no threat’ning thunders roar.

Thou dwell’st secure in you bright world above,

Where all is harmony, and joy, and love;

While I on earth remain a pilgrim still

Confin’d in clay, but ’tis my Father’s will;

Whetn he commands, my willing soul shall fly

To meet Eliza in th’etherial sky:

There with one voice, onited praise we’ll sing

To our almighty Savior, and our King,

And bless his boundless grace supremely free,

Thor’ the long ages of eternity,

Who when we both deserv’d eternal ire,

Snatch’d us as brands from sin’s devouring fire,

Shew’d our poor hearts his consolating face,

And made us willing subjects of his grace;

And to thy hand the glorious prize has giv’n,

Tho’ latest call’d on earth, the first in heav’n.

Till that bless’d hour, that wish’d-for time arrive,

Thy mem’ry in my heart shall long survive.

Swift let the moment come which shall unite

Thy own Maria to her Friend in light,

Where in extatic bliss our souls shall prove

The heights and depths of everlasting love.

An G6v (92)


An
Elegy
Occasioned by the Death of
The Reverend Doctor Woude

Pastor of the Calvinist Church, in the Savoy.

Go happy Woude, clap thy bright wings, and soar

To the bright realms of everlasting day,

The happy seat of rest, the peaceful shore,

Where saints and angels tune the choral lay,

Go take thy harp, and join the parturous song

That echo’s thro’ the blest entherial plains,

Sweel the glad anthems of the rassom’d throng,

In the fair world where Love immortal reigns.

The Gospel’s silver trump long hast thou blown,

And pointed sinners to the living way;

With warning voice their guilt and danger shewn,

And preach’d the blood that takes their guilt away.

Long G7r 93

Long hast thou sought the battles of the Lord

Now all-cictorious, lo, thou bear’st the Palm,

Supported by the Spirit and the Word:

And leaning on the mighty Savior’s arm.

Stedfast thou stood’st, tho’ storms tumultuous rose,

But storms tumultuous can no more molest,

More than triumphant over hosts of foes,

Now all is calm composure in they breast.

Hail, happy Woude! thro’ many rolling years,

The saint by love inspir’d walk’d with his God,

Now joyful in his presence he appears

Welcome to all the glories of his Lord.

He he beholds the Lamb for sinners slain,

And crown’d with blessedness extreme shall live,

Long as the great Incarnate God shall reign,

And prove the choicest blessings God can give.

Then cease to weep, ye follow’rs of the Lamb,

Who mourn your pastor, lately call’d to heav’n,

If ye revere, and love his lonour’d name,

Rejoice that to his hand the prize is giv’n.

In vain the boasting Tyrant of the Grave

Erects a trophy o’er his sleeping clay,

Jesus the God omnipotent to save,

Shall call it gorth at the great fifling day.

Then G7v 94

Then shall the monster Death a vistor own,

And life, immortal reign:

Triumphant saints shall their Redeemer crown,

And joy and wonder fil th’ heav’nly train.

Then check your sorrows, and with steady eye,

Behold the track your faithful pastor trod,

Pursue the heav’nly road that leads on high,

And strong in faith and patience, walk with God

Then when the king of terrors comes in view,

He shall put on a smooth and smiling face;

He bears no terrors when he comes to you,

But comes the messenger of sov’reign grace.

To call you from a world of sin and woe,

To the bright realms of everlasting day,

Where trees of life and endless pleasures grow,

Without deception, and withoutsss decay.

G8r (95)


An
Hymn

Ye Angels, who stand round the throne,

And see my Immanuel’s face,

In rapturous songs make him known,

Tune, tune your soft harps to his praise:

He form’d you the Spirits you are,

So noble, so happy, so good,

While others sunk down in despair,

Confirm’s by his power, you stood.

Ye saints, who stand nearer than they,

And cast your bright crowns at his feet,

His Grace and his Glory display,

O tell of his love as is meet;

He ransom’d you from Hell and the grave,

He sav’d you from death and despair,

For you he was mighty to save,

Almighty to bring you safe there.

O when will the period appear

When U shall unite in your song!

I’m weary of lingering here,

And I to your Savior belong!

I’m G8v 96

I’m fetter’d, and chain’d up in clay,

I struggle and pant to be free,

I long to be soaring away,

My God and my Savior to see.

I want to put on my attire,

Wash’d white in the blood of the Lamb,

I want to be one of your choir,

And tune my sweet harp to his name:

I want—O I want to be there,

(Where sorrow and sin bid adieu,)

Your joy and your friendship to share,

To wonder and worship with you.

H1r 97


An
Hymn

Thou soft flowing Kedron, by thy silver stream,

Our Savior at midnight, when Cynthia’s pale beam

Shone bright on thy waters, would frequently stray,

And lose in thy murmers, the toils of the day.

How damp were the vapours that fell on his head,

How hard was his pillow, how humble his bed;

The angels astonish’d, grew sad at the sight,

And follow’d their Master with solemn delight;

O garden of Olivet dear honour’d spot!

Thy name and thy wonder shall ne’er be forgot;

The theme most transporting to seraphs above,

The triumph of Sorrow! the triumph of Love.

’Twas here he engag’d with the Lion of hell,

Beneath his strong arm all our enemies full:

’Twas here he encounter’d with infinite wrath,

And conquer’d by love that was stronger than death.

Come saints, and adore him, come bow at his feet;

O give him the glory and praise that is meet:

Let joyful hosannahs unceasing arise,

And join the grand chorus that gladdens the skies.

H AN H1v (98)


An
Epistle
to an Absent Friend.
The
Enquiry,


Addressed to Miranda’s Guardian Angel.

Gentle spirit, tell me where

My Miranda loves to stray?

In she not thy watchful care

Thro’ the night, and all the day?

Does she wander through the grove,

List’ning to the Linnet’s lay,

Musing on diviner love

Than creation can display.

Is she roving o’er the field,

Blest with friendship

Friendship that can pleasure yield,

Crowning all her other joys.

Is the raging main in view,

While he throws his billows high?

This, all this is known to you,

Wing’d descendant fromt he sky.

Gentle H2r 99

Gentle spirit, fly, O fly,

And to my Miranda bear

On they downy wings, a sigh;

Softly whisper in her ear,

Say, Maria longs to meet,

Longs to see her Friend again:

Joys of meeting must be sweet,

If to part be such a pain.

Fly, ye moments, haste the time,

When to yon bright world above,

We with joyful feet shallclimb,

Clad with glory, fill’d with love:

Then united, side by side,

Never, never more to part,

Endliss years shall not divide

My Miranda from my heart.

Thro’ the golden streets we’ll stray,

View our Father’s smiling face,

In the realms of heav’nly day,

Sing the wonders of his grace;

Sin and sorrow left behind,

Peace and joy shall sweetly flow

In our happy, happy minds,

Come, Miranda, let’us go.

H2 An H2v (100)


To Miranda
An
Invitation
to
London
in September.

Come, my Miranda, come away,

the summer’s o’er, no longer stay;

The mists arise, the rains descend,

Come to the wishes of thy friend.

The radiant sun in feeble rays,

A short-liv’d splendor now displays:

Fromt he bleak north, the winds arise,

And bluster through the gloomy skies;

The fallen leaves bestrew the ground;

No more the sweet, the chearful sound

Of woodlark’s soothing song I hear,

No more the flow’ry train appear,

But winter spreads his dreary sway;

Come, my Miranda, come away.

’Tis H3r 101

’Tis friendship calls, she waits for thee,

And longs her absent friend to see:

For thee the muse has strung her lyre,

And glows with softpoetic fire,

(A sacred flame, that still shall rise,

For lo, ’twas kindled in the skies.)

To meet Miranda with a song,

For joy to friendship must belong.

Tho’ sad, the dull declining year,

Does in her wintry dress appear,

May you enjoy a mental Spring,

And hear the heav’nly turtle sing;

Bright may the Sun of Righteousness,

Sine in his glorious beams of grace,

Dispelling every cloud away,

And fill your soul with Gospel-day;

While from on high, celestial dews;

And gentle show’rs their aid diffuse

To make the fir, and myrtle bloom,

And all the vintage breath perfume;

That my Miranda may appear

In robes of summer all the year.

May rosy Health with chearful eye,

Sent from the Monarch of the sky,

Attend to crown your future days,

And all your happy life be praise;

Praise to the God of boundliss love,

Who keeps for you a seat above,

Whose gracious providential eye

Shall still your ev’ry want supply.

H3 His H3v 102

Till Jordan’s swelling streams are past,

And safely you arrive at last

In the bright world of hean’nly day,

Where sin and sorrow fled away,

I shall my dear Miranda meet;

Then, at our kind Redeemer’s feet,

We’ll castour crowns, and love, and sing

salvation to ou God and King;

And in his temple, on that shore,

Be pillars, to go out no more.

An H4r (103)


An
Evening Thought
Addressed to a
Friend

Still is the hour, the lamp of day

In other skies his beams display;

The silver moon with sober light

And gentle influence crowns the night:

Hush’d be the passions of my soul,

There let no jarring tempest roll,

No gloomy clouds portentous lour,

But all be placid, as this hour,

Calm as the wave where Halycons play,

When Sol unfolds his brightest ray.

Well may sweet peace delight to dwell

With souls redeem’d from death and hell;

Tho’ winds may rise and tempests blow,

And hell engage to work them woe;

Jesus Jehovah reigns on high,

He views them with a father’s eye,

H4 His H4v 104

His hand supports and guides them thro’,

In spite of all that hell can do.

He smiles, and all their sorrows cease;

He speaks the tempest into peace;

Peace, like a river, flows within,

From a sweet sense of perdoned sin.

Releas’d from guilt, releas’d from fear,

They find their great Deliverer near;

They bless his name, they sing his love,

And long to see his face above:

To you, my friend, I need not say,

This is the Savior’s gracious way,

By sweet wxperience taught, you know

His dealings with his saints below;

Thrice happy thou indulg’d to sit

With Mary at the Master’s feet;

Nor thing my muse presumes to bring

To thee instrucction on her wing,

She would but gratulate thy bliss,

And lisp his prises whose she is;

But ah! she faints, unequaal quite

To such a talk, the sons of light,

Who bow before Jehova’s face,

Can best proclaim his matchless grace;

Yet I would fain attempt to sing

In humble lays my tongue, and strike my lyre,

In echo to th’angelic choir.

Ye lin’ring hours, O speed away;

Time, mend thy pace, and bring the day

When freed from flesh, and freed from sin,

I shall the heav’nly song begin;

And H5r 105

And tell the shining hosts above

The wonders of redeeming love;

With them adore Immanuel’s name,

And sing salvation to the Lamb,

Methinks, my friend, I hear you say,

“With patience wait the coming day;

’Tis near, ’tis hast’ning on apace,

As fasas time can run his race:

Soon shall the shadows flee away,

And yield to bright eternal day:

The sun and moon, and stars shall fall,

And one wide ruin swallow all

The works of nature, then the blest,

Shell enter into sacred rest:

Then shall we tune our harps and sing,

The triumphs of the heav’nly King;

Prove the rich depths of boundless grace,

Adore his lvoe, and see his face:

Till then, let faith and patience wait,

Constant attendants at his gate,

Submissive bow beneath his rod,

While flesh confines us from our God.”

An H5v 106


To
Mr. and Mrs. Defleury, Junrs.
Married, 1773-11-25November 25th, 1773.
This Poem
Is Inscribed by Their Affectionate Sister,
Maria De Fleury,


Wishing them Grace, Mercy and Peace, from God
the Father, and from Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy the pair, who’re fitly join’d,

In heart, in temper and in mind,

Made one in Hymen’s silken bands;

United hearts, united hands,

Both children of eternal grace,

Both journeying to the heav’nly place,

Both taught in the Redeemer’s school,

They make his will, his word their rule.

Helpmeets indeed, they kindly bear

And soften each the other’s care.

Celestial friendship smiles around,

And all their hours with peace are crown’d:

They H6r 107

They mount towards the realms of day,

And find a heav’n all the way;

So Jesus loves his ransom’d bride,

For whom he groan’d, and bled, and dy’d,

Who life receives from his pierc’d side.

So Zion hangs on Jesus’ name,

And calls him Lord,m with tend’rest claim:

Her brother, Savior, bridegroom, all;

And on his love depends for all.

No harsh commands the Savior lays,

No forc’d obedience Zion pays;

A loving sceptre Jesus wields,

A free obedience Zion yields:

To do his will is her employ,

Because his will’s her chiegest joy;

She has her will m when his is done,

Thye will the same, for they are one.

Ye marry’d, would ye happy prove,

Remember all the charm is love.

H6v 108


An
Epithalamium
Addressed to
Mr. and Mrs. M――—n,
On Their
Marriage

Gentle muse, awake and see

Sacred friendship waits for thee;

Tune the harp, and strike the lyre,

friendship shall the theme inspire;

Joyful sounds, and sacred song,

Do to wedded love belong.

Hail! wedded pair, in Hymen’s bands,

Since heav’n has kindly join’d your hands,

May that Pow’r, who reigns above,

God of grace and God of love,

From his radiant throne bestow

All can make you blest below;

Smiling on your union shed,

Choicest blessings on your head;

Constant H7r 109

Constant as the rising sun,

Hastes his daily course to run:

Num’rous as distilling dews,

O’er the meads their drops diffuse,

Blessings of the upper springs,

Grace to make you priests and kings;

’Mongst Jehovah’s royal train,

Saints who with the Lamb shall reign,

Mutual love to keep your life

Free from jarring, free from strife;

Mutual love your hearts to bless

With domestic happiness

While his providential eye

Ev’ry want shall well supply.

So ye favor’d pair shall prove

Happy here, and bless’d above.

To H7v (110)


To
Mr. and Mrs. T――— D――—
On Their
Marriage

Hail! happy pair, whose hearts and hands

United in the strongest bands

That Heav’n can form, of love compose,

To sooth the weight of human woes;

For you, shall rosy Hymen twine

A wreath of amaranth divine,

And smiling on your union shed,

His choicest influence on your head;

For you bright Sol, enthron’d on high,

Shall dart his glories thro’ the sky,

Disprese the glooms, to grace the day,

And chase the wint’ry clouds away;

For you, the gay, the new-born year

Shall in her vernal robes appear,

The blooming beasuties of the spring

And friendship teach the Muse to sing.

Say H8r (111)

Say, what can sooth the brow of care,

And life’s rude breaches best repair?

Say, what its brightest joys refine,

And happiness with Wedlock join?

’Tis not the pompous glare of gold,

No, bliss is oft for mammon sold;

The sordid mind in ev’ry state,

Is poor, (’tis so decreed by fate)

’Tis mutual friendship, mutual love,

A sacred spark dropp’d from above,

A pure, etherial, gen’rous flame,

A much dishonour’d, injur’d name,

Prophanj’d too oft—yet where ’tis found,

Peace and content are smiling round.

May this be yours, and as your days

Increase, and time runs on his race,

Still may it deeper stride its root,

And then ’twill bear you precious fruit;

’Twill sooth and soften ev’ry woe,

When in a painful path you go,

Refine your bliss, each joy exalt

And kindly cover every fault;

’Twill banish discord far away,

And make each morn your wedding day.

But Oh! reflect, sublunar bliss,

The highest earthly happiness,

The summit gain’d, must soon decay,

Must fade, and droop, and die away;

Death at one stroke, will lay it low,

And ibd those joys no longer flow;

Then H8v (112)

Then seek those pleasures which endure

For ever vast, for ever sure;

Immortal souls should pant for joys

At God’s right hand in paradise;

Where interruption cannot come,

But life and bliss for ever bloom:

There may you meet, in that great day,

When heav’n nad earth shallpass away,

Arra’d in white, the bridal dress

Of Jesus’perfect righteousness,

And at the marriage supper prove

The wonders of redeeming love.

I1r (113)


To
Mr. and Mrs. Collier,
A Congratulatory
Ode and Acrostic
On Their
Marriage.

W here, gentle muse, dost thou abide?

I f on Parnassus verdant side,

L eaf crown’d, or in the flow’ry dell,

L owly recluse, thou lov’st to dwell:

I nspir’d by friendship, come away

A nd cheerful gratulations pay,

M elodious as the warbling lark, of softer linnet’s

lay

A s dew-drops sarkling o’er the lawn,

N ew from the eye of rosy morn

D istills with each secceeding dawn;

I As I1v (114)

A s Pheobus keeps a confident pace,

N or tires amidst his glorious race,

N or stops till in his noontide hour,

E arth glows beneath the genial pow’r.

C ome thus, ye heav’nly show’rs, ye dews

O f grace and mercy, and diffuse

L ove, and joy, and peace around,

L et the pair by Hymen crown’d;

I n the best of gifts divine

E ver prosper, ever shine,

R ich i the gracious smiles of heav’n benign.

Hail! gentle pair,

Made one in Hymen’s sacred bands,

Untied hearts, united hands:

Long may you share

Domestic happiness, and prove

The sweetness of connubial love,

Founded on its strongest base,

Deeply comented by grace,

Thus will soften ev’ry woe,

If painful paths you go.

Calm each storm, for storms oft rise,

Pilgrims know, below the skies:

May your Father’s eye

Ever watchful, guard you round;

May his liberal hand

Plenteous blessings on you pour

Blessings of the uper sky;

Bles- I2r (115)

Blesings of the fruitful vale,

Till with truth and mercy crownj’d;

Ev’ry storm and tempest o’er,

Soft and gentle be the gale,

Wafts you to the happy land,

Where the ransom’d of the Lord,

Tune their harps, and sing his prsise.

Worthy he to be ador’d,

God of love, and God of grace.

I2 I2v (116)


To
Mr. and Mrs. Drew,
On Their
Marriage

As o’er yon western hills the setting sun

Gilds the gay horizon with orient gold,

And darts resplendent lustre thro’ the blue

Expnase of heav’n, drinking the new fall’n show’r

That lately glisen’d on the grassy mead,

Like the lind drops the eye of morn distills,

When first she rises from her soft repose.

The blaze of noon is o’er, nature refresh’d

Welcomes the gentle ev’ning, whose gay robe,

Shining with gold and prple, bids expect

Not so shall youht, more welcome than the last.

So may your eve of life, my friends, glide on

In gentle peace, crown’d with the shining beams

Of I3r (117)

Of that bright sun, that glorious fount of light,

From whom refulgent Sol his rays receives,

And worlds unnumber’d, drink their glories in:

Chear’d by his presence, may the painful thought

Of past afflictions, vanish from your mind,

And all your future happy hours be blest

With sweet enjoyment of the God of love,

And the pure pleasures which must ever flow

From friendship undisguis’d: friendship sincere,

Solid, like yours, on firmest basis built,

Matur’d by time, on and ripen’d by the breath

Of smiling Hymen, (Hymen here shall smile,

With rational delight) he oft runs mad

With giddy youth, whose wild romantic flame,

Too unsubstantial to endure—a flash

Expiring with the torch that bade it glow.

Not so shall yours, the lambent flame shall rise,

And still increasing as your days increase,

Shall warm your hearts with social happiness:

Sweet soft’ner of life’s rude anxieties,

Mutual support shall well sustain the load

Time’s heavy hand lays on declining years,

Alleviate pain; and tender sympathy

Shall make each other’s care best half its own.

So may your days pass on, serenely calm,

Unruffled by a storm, and present peace,

A kind preludium prove to future joys;

That when the sun’s bright beams are set i night,

And time shall throw his scythe away, and yield

The imperial sceptre to eternity,

Ye then may meet among the ransom’d throng,

I3 And I3v (118)

And at the marriage supper of the Lamb,

Set and partake the bouties of the feast,

And share the bridegroom’s joy, in that bright workd

Where sorrow enters not, but love and peace

Reign in full measure, and triumphant songs,

Proclaim the wonders of redeeming Love,

Thor’ space unlimited—the concave rings

With “Worthy is the Lamb, of praise and pow’r”

There may ye walk array’d in robes of light,

And talk of Jesu’s dying love to men,

May quaff immortal pleasures—from the tree

Of life eternal, pluck ambrsial fruit,

While everlasting ages roll along,

Crown’d with salvation as the sons of God.

I4r (119)


An
Epithalamium;

or,
Wedding Song,
Addressed to
Mr. and Mrs. A――――y.

Gentle Muse, awake and sing,

Hither bring thy softest lay,

Touch the viol’s sweetest string,

To record the happy day:

Rise, O sun, divinely bright,

All thy radiant beams display,

All thy fairest, purest light,

Crown the honours of the day.

Happy pair! in silken bands,

Smiling Hymen, wedded love,

Union blest of hearts and hands,

be your union seal’d above;

I4 From I4v (120)

From the bounteous hand of heav’n,

May abundant show’rs descend,

Love, and Joy, Peace be giv’n,

And your future hours attend.

As the circling years roll on,

May your happinsss increase,

May the bliss this day begun,

Never faulter, never cease;

Hand in hand in wisdom’s ways,

May your path thro’ life be trod,

Guided by the hand of grace,

Favour’d with the smiles of God.

Should a thorny path appear,

Gloomy clouds o’erhang the sky,

Fear not, there’s salvation near,

Lo, a Savior’s ever nigh;

On before you he will go,

angel of the cov’nant still,

Strong to conquer ev’ry foe,

Strong to guard from ev’ry ill.

Mutual Love, sweet sympathy,

Kindly soothing ev’ry care,

Keep your life from discord free,

Each the other’s burden bear;

While your Father’s gracious eye,

And his providential hand,

Ev’ry I5r (121)

Ev’ry want shall well supply,

Till you in his presence stand.

Then around his glorious throne,

Hand in hand to sing his praise,

On his head to set the crown,

Bless him thro’ eternal days:

O may this your portion be;

Happy pair, ye shall prove

Genuine, rich felicity

Here and in the realms above.

I5v (122)


A
Meditation
on
Redemptions.

Wisdom divine, O aid me while I sing

The boundless wonders of redeeming love!

A theme so grand, what mortal thought can trace,

Or unafflicted, soung the might deep,

Where length, and depth, and breadth, are swallow’d up

In ocean fathomless? thou might love,

Surpassing knowledge, angels know thee not

In full dimension, tho’ celestial beings:

How then shall I, a child of dust, a worm,

A creature of a day, explore thy wonders?

wisdom divine, O aid my veentrous song;

To thee, I call, nor other muse invoke;

Thou only art sufficient to instruct

To purge the darksome films that cloud the sight,

And chacechase my native ignorance away.

Come heav’nly Light, thou sun of righteousness,

With I6r 123

With thy delightful love-inspiring beams,

Arise and shine in beauties all thine own

Upon my ravish’d heart, that at thy feet,

In humble, awful wonder and delight,

My soul may lowly bow, and worship there,

The mystic self existent Deity.

Shine on my mind, good spirit from on high,

And let the meditations of my heart

Be influenc’d by thee; guide thou my pen,

While I record Immanuel’s precious name,

And sing of all his dying love to man.

Thou mighty Savior, where shall I begin

To trace thy wonders! can eternity

Spread a deep veil upon thy boundless love?

No! through eternity I look, and view

My name engrav’d upon Immanuel’s breast.

I see thee thron’d in majesty sublime,

The self-existent jah! and lo, thine heart

Glows with an ardent flame of love to me,

When they great fiat bade a world arise,

With wond’rous beauty crown’d, and from the dust

A noble creature form’d, and call’d him Man,

And on his soul stamp’d immortality:

How burst thy glories forth, and all the God

Shone in creation’s mighty work, when sin had marr’d

Thy fair creation, spoil’d thy creature man,

I see thee from thy lofty throne descend,

Where I6v 124

Where burning seraphs hymn thy glorious name,

And manifest in flesh on earth appear:

Angelic voices sung the Savior’s birth,

And hail’d Messiah, consecrated King!

Thou in my place, my room, and stead, appear’d

To bear my sin’s accumulated load

Of guilt and shame, of agony and death,

In thy own body, on the cursed tree.

See, O my soul, thy bleeding Savior see,

In sad Gethsemane, bending beneath

The weight of sin and sorrow not his own;

See from the garden to the judgment-hall

Of throned Herod, where his back endures

The stripes, the chastisement, the heavy scourge,

Due to thy great rebellion: see him stand

The meek and lowly Lamb; nor only so,

But heaven’s Almighty, everlasting King,

Bound to a pillar, smarting under stroles

By creatures hands inflicted; trace him thence,

In sad progression on to Golgotha;

There view him hanging on the uplifted cross,

Th’ imperial ensign of the christian world:

Behold his veins out pour a crimson flood:

Behold him sigh in anguish infinite:

Behold the floodgates of Almighty wrath

Set open wide, all all their tresur’d stores,

Pour’d like a deluge on the Savior’s head,

In such a sea, so long, so broad, so deep,

That finite knowledge ne’er can fathom it,

But O thou bleeding Lord, thou slaughter’d Lamb,

Thro’ thy rich grace, I know ’twas all for me:

The sun asham’d to see his Maker die,

Hung I7r 125

Hung his bright head in black, untimely night,

Appall’d the sons of men with strange dismay.

There hung my Savior, and my sacrifice,

A whole burnt-offering offered up to God,

A righteoud Savior, such an offering,

That in the nostrils, of the great I am,

Smells infinitely sweet. Behold in him,

Jehovah is well pleas’d: no anger now

Dwells in his bosom, to the happy souls

Redeem’d by blood. Thus fav’d by boundless grace,

Lift up your eyes, ye follow’rs of the Lamb:

And thou, my soul, behold thy risen Lord,

Your righteous advocate, your great salvation.

When sunk in fears, and boubts, and griefs, O think

He lives to plead you cause before the throne.

Remember God hath sworn, as on the earth

No more destroying waters shall prevail,

So hath he sworn, that on the sons of grace,

No storms of wrath shall fall, at his right hand:

The rainbow of the better covenant,

Jesus, the surety stands; he spreads his hands,

His pierced hands; he points to Calvary,

And says, “Remember, Father, how I died,

And shed my blood for sinners.” Pleas’d he hears

And listens to the Well-beloved’s voice,

For righteousness and peace are sweetly join’d,

And truth and mercy reconcil’d in him.

O may we so remember him, and view,

When rising storms affright us, that dear pledge,

That faithful witness; so by faith behold,

That through the storms of life, the vale of death,

We I7v 126

We may hold fast our confidence of hope,

And as we journey through this wildernese,

Find him our guide and pilot all the way.

Till Jordan past, to that good land we come,

Which flows with milk and honey, food divine.

The pilgrim’s rest is there, his final rest;

There blooms the tree of life, life without death,

Joy without sorrow, pleasure without pain,

Saints without sin and Christ without a cross.

There the redeem’d, the ransom’d of the Lord,

Shall freely bask in pleasures all divine:

There they shall prove the heights and depths of grace,

What Jesus puchas’d, and what God can give,

Through countless days, through years of young delight,

Unnumber’d ages, vast eternity.——

But stop, my soul, let thy attentive mind,

Return and dwell upon that wond’rous word,

All-gracious and divine, which from the lips

Of thine expiring Lord, broke sweetly forth:

There’s music in it, melody more soft,

Than dwells on angels tongues, when fir’d with love,

They tune their songs, to praise the great I am:

O ’tis a word can chear the drooping heart,

Dispel the gloom of black despair, and lay

The loudest storm, to calmest, sweetest peace,

And turn the dardest night, to brightest, farest day.

“’Tis finish’d,” faith thy dying Lord, O hark!

And let sweet echo catch the gentle sound,

And I8r 127

And waft, ’tis finish’d! back upon thine ear.

Here, then believer, on this tree of life

Grows all thine happiness, celestial fruit;

By Jesu’s death, the righteous law no more,

Denounces curses on thy ransom’d head;

He died a curse, to take thy curse away,

Cancel thy sins, blot out thy trespasses;

And by the merit of his sacred blood,

Atonement ample, satisfaction full,

Yea more than adequate for all thy crimes,

To justice nfinite bring in and pay.

Thy debt is finish’d then, God at his hands,

Hath payment full receiv’d, and asks no more,

But gives thee full ecquittance, free discharge.

Rejoice, ye heav’ns, and let the earth be glad!

While sacred truth declares the joyful sound

Of justice satisfy’d, of wrath appeas’d,

And sin forgiven through a Savior’s blood.

Nor only so, but righteousness divine,

Eternally complete is now brought in;

Thy Surety’s spotless nature, holy life,

Gave such obedience to the righteous low,

As magnify’d and rais’d its honours high,

from the horrors of his his glorious robe,

He to thy soul imputes, and lo well pleas’d,

The Father vies thee in his best lov’d son,

And sees thee all complete: he gracious smiles,

And in his hand holds out a starry crown,

To grace thy temples; that celestial bless,

The righteousness of God, demands for thee,

Who in this fine white linen art array’d.

What I8v 128

What bold accuser now dares bring a charge

Of condemnation? who shall dare condemn

Whom God acquits? ’tis God that justifies,

’Tis the annointed Savior, who redeem’d,

And bought his people with so dear a price,

’Tis he absolves their guilt, and smiles again,

In mild complaisance, reconcilement sweet.

Nomore can satan urge his cancell’d claim;

His claim from sin arose, that put away,

The awful debt discharg’d, the jailer’s pow’r

Ceases of course, the rescu’d prisoner,

The ransom’d debtor may of right demand

Delivernce from his pow’r, from chains and woe,

Sav’d from the horrors of his prson-house,

By grace unfathom’d, mercy all divine.

And here, believer, may thy soul rejoice,

Jesus hath bruis’d the serpent’s head, hath crush’d

And spoil’d him of his pow’r, hath snatch’d the prey,

The lawful captive from his dreadful jows

own with full salvation, boundless stores

Of grace on earth, and glory in the skies;

For by thy Surety’d death, the gates of heav’n

Are wide expanded to receive thy soul

No more cherubic fires wave awful round,

To guard the blissful paradiseof God,

And thine approach forbid; for lo, a new,

A living wond’rous way is open wide,

Through a Redeemer’s side, to all the bliss

Which crowns our better Eden, where the tree,

Of life immortal grows, whose sacred fruit

We may pluck off unchid, and eat, and live

A K1r 129

A life divine, among the sons of God,

Bless’d with our Father’s presence, joys sublime,

And sweet communion with the God of love;

Nor fear a second fall. Thou matchless friend,

Thou great immortal lover of my soul,

Say, with what songs shall I approach thy throne,

Or how adore thee in triumphant praise?

O thou who died in agony extreme,

O thou who rose victorious over hell;

My Savior and my God, teach me to sing

Thy boundless glories in immortal strains.

Let heav’n and earth a joyful anthem raise,

Let seraphs hymn thee, and thy saints adore:

In songs of grateful praise, let echo catch,

And waft the joyful found from pole to pole.

Bear it, ye winds, in your loud roar to heav’n

And gentle zephyrs on your silken wings.

Let universal nature shout aloud

In one grand chorus to exalt thy name,

And spread redemption’s mighty wonders far,

From east, to west, from north th south, till time

Expires, then everlasting years

Shall swell the triumphs of redeeming love.

K K1v K2r


Meditations
on Part of the
Song of Solomon.

K2v K3r


Meditations
on Part of the
Song of Solomon.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,” V.I.
Thou who art the eternal Jehovah, who art God
over all, blessed for ever, whosethrone is in the heaven
of heavens, and who yet condescendest to dwell with
the children of men, even in the hearts of thy ransomed
thou Son of Man, who art the shepherd of
Israel, and the keeper thereof, who having made peace
with the blood of thy cross, art exalted to be the prince
of peace: thy name is wonderful; thou art become
Immanuel, God with us, and in thee dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily: visit me with thy
Salvation, O thou, who art the the Savior of sinners;
thou who hast loved me, and given thyself for me; K3 thou K3v 134
thou art my heavenly bridegroom; thou hast purchased
me, at the infinite price of thy blood, and betrothed
me to thyself in everlasting loving-kindness, in righteousness,
faithfulness, and truth; but I dwell in a howling
wilderness, surrounded with dangers, and many
discomforts: O lift up the light of thy countenance on
me, and bless me with the consolations of they spirit,
for thy love is better han wine: because of the favour
of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured
forth, thou art the repairer of the breach, thou art the
savior of our souls; thy blood is the precious balm of
Gilead, that alone is able to cure all the festering sores
of sin: thy righteousness is the robe, in which, being
clad, we are found complete; thy spirit is the oil of
gladness, with which thou anointest us; from thee,
thou fountain of all blessedness, flows all the sweet
streams of pardon, and peace, reconciliation, justification,
sanctification, preservation, and glorification;
therefore is thy name as ointment poured forth, and because
of this, do the virgins love thee; those who see they
are complete in thee, rejoice in thee as their salvation,
they triumph in a Savior’s name: O how sweet is the
name of Jesus, when pronounced by his spirit to
the soul; then we cry our, “Whom have I in heaven
but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in
comparison of thee.”
But when that blessed spirit
withdraws his divine influence, when Jesus turns away
his face, we cannot see him, we no longer delight in
his name, nor rejoice in his love; our affections freeze,
winter spreads his cold dominion over our hearts, and
we find, without him, we can do nothing: draw me,
therefore, O thou almighty Savior, with the cords of thy K4r 135
thy love, and my soul shall run after thee: let thy
quickening spirit continually breathe the life of God
into my heart, and I shall live to thee.

“I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.”
What is man, that he should be clean, and he
that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
I am vile, born in sin, and conceived in iniquity; I have
been drinking up iniquity like water, and am altogether
black as hell; my father was an Amorite, and my mother
an Hittite, and therefore had no right to the hea—
venly Canaan: I was a poor babe cast out, not washed
from my built and filth, naked and stripped of all; and
not only so, but wounded, having fallen among thieves;
they had left me more than half dead, in this condition,
this lamentable condition: (and yet alas, no
eye pitied me) but when Jesus passed by, he saw me,
he took compassion on me, and when I was in my
guilt, in my sin, and pollution, he bid me live. be
astonished, O my soul, at this wonder of grace, the
eternal Three entered into a covenant-engagement to
deliver my soul, and in consequence of this, Jesus
thoroughly purged away my guilt with his own blood;
he covered my nakedness with his own robe; anoited
me with the oil of his spirit, and shod me with the preparation
of the gospel of peace; he hath fed me with
the bread which came down from heaven, and with
honey out of the living rock, and he hath pronounced
me perfect, through the comeliness which
he hath put upon me: he who knew no sin, was made K4 sin K4v 136
sin for me, that I who knew no righteousness, might
be make the righteousness of God in him.

“I am the rose of Sharon,” says Jesus, “and the
lily of the vallies; thou hast redemption through my
blood, the forgiveness of thy sins: I am the expres
image of the invisible, whether they be thrones of dominions,
principalities, or powers, all things were created
by me were all things created in heaven and in earth,
visible and invisible God, for I and my Father are one:
all things consist; and it pleaseth the Father, that in me
should all fulness dwell. I have make thy peace with
the blood of my cross; I have loved thee, and laid down
my life for thee; as the lily among thorns, so is my
beloved among the daughters: I have washed thee and
made thee white, I have made thee partaker of my na;
ture, thou art a lily among thorns: all who have not
received my grace, are thorns by nature: thou wert so
once, but I have changed thy state, and changed thy
nature; thou art compleat in me, and I have adorned
thee with the graces of my spirit; thou art all fair, I
will see no spot in thee.”
This is the Savior’s language
to his espoused. And what shall I say unto thee, O
my King and my God, as the apple-tree among
the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons:
thou art superlatively excellent, my beloved is white
and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand: thou art
King of kings, and Lord of lords, infinite in holiness,
glory, and majesty: yea, thou art altogether lovely,
every thing else is void of goodness, but thou art like a green K5r 137
green fir-tree, from thee my fruit is found. This is
my beloved, and this is my friend, O ye daughters of
Jerusalem; I sat down under his shadow with great
delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste: We speak
the things we do know, what out eyes have seen, and
our hands handled of the word of life.

“The voice of my beloved,” Jesus speaks, listen,
O my soul, to the kind words he pronounces. “I have
blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as
a cloud thy sins return unto me; for I have redeemed
thee, I will heal thy backslidings, I will love thee
freely, for mine anger is turned away from thee;
I will be as the dew unto Isreal, he shall grow
as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon; his
branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the
olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. I give unto my
sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither
shall any pluck them out of my hand.”
This is the voice
of my beloved, his sheep know it, they follow him: they
know not the voice of strangers, therefore they flee from
them. The voice of my belvoved, behold he cometh,
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills
over all the mountains of unbelief, over all the hills
of corruption, and difficulties: Jesus flies to thy relief,
he will not tarry for ever; behold he cometh, he cometh
to deliver thee from sin and sorrow: he cometh to recive
thee in the arms of his love, to wipe away all tears
from thy face; to conduct thee to the happy realms of K5v 138
of light and love, and to present thee to his Father,
and thy Father, to his God, and thy God, without
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing: then the day, the
perfect day will break: then the shadows shall be all
fled away; thou now seest through a glass darkly, but
then thou shalt behold him face to face: now thou art
called to walk by faith, then thou shalt live by sight
for ever: now thu knowest but in part, but then thou
shaaaaalt know, even as thou art known; the veil shall
be entirely taken from thine eyes, and thou shalt
behold the King in his beauty: thou shalt no more
know affliction, temptation, nor desertion, for there
shall be no night there, the Lamb shall be thy everlasting
light; thou shalt behold his face without a cloud,
and enjoy the brightness of eternal day. He which
testifieth these things, faith, “Surely, I come quickly,”
Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus.

Tell me, O thou King of saints, thou Lord of life
and glory, thou good Shepherd of Israel, who hast laid
down thy life for thy sheep, thou whom my soul loveth,
O tell me where thou feedest, where thou feastest thy
children with divine manna, even with the bread which
cometh down from heaven, which whosoever eateth
shall never die—where are the green pastures to which
thou leadest them by the still waters, the rivers of
life, which flow at thy right hand for evermore—
tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth lead me
into the way of peace, lead me into the same pastures;
feed my soul with that bread of life, lest the journey
be too great for me, and I faint by the way—therefore
tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest K6r 139
feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon,
when thesun of temptation, persecution, and fiery
trials, with unremitting fervor, beats on their weak defencelese
heads, oppressed and fainting beneath the
heat of his unfriendly shelter to screen and defend from
the heat of the day, and refresh them with its cooling
influence, when bowed down by the burthen of sin,
and the heavy load of severe affliction—where, O
where dost thou make them to rest,—tell me, O thou
compassionate friend of sinners, for why should I be
as one that turneth aside, why should I wander from
the good way?—

“If thou know not, O thou fairest among women,
go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed
thy kids beside the shepherd’s tent: Stand ye in the
way, and see, and ask for the old paths, whre is the
good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for
your souls.”
—:Thus speadeth the good Shepherd, the
great Prophet of Israel: he says, “I am the way, the
truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me: seek not from created things, that peace
and proptestion which they cannot afford; miserable
comforterters are they all! but look unto me, and be ye
saved. Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Art thou groaning
under the burden of sin? look unto me, I have made
peace with the blood of my cross: I have made an end
of sin, by giving myself a sacrifice for it; I have brought in K6v 140
in an everlasting righteousness, whereby God can be
just, and yet the justifier of such an ungodly sinner as
thou art. Look then unto me, behold a Savior lifted
up on the pole of the everlasting gospel: fall at the
feet of my cross, and thy burden shall fall from thy back,
and thou shalt find rest for thy soul; I give thee that
peace, which the world can neither give nor take away.”

“Art thou fainting beneath the weight of severe afflictions,
heavy oppressions, and fiery trials? O look unto
me, my beloved, thou fairest among women: thou
art following me, bearing my cross; thou art indeed
climbing up a steep mountain of difficulties, where thou
canst find no refreshment, nothing to suport or chear
thy drooping spirit; but underneath thee are my everlasting
arms: look unt me, who am the God of all
consolation; all thy springs are in me, and out of my
fulness, thou shalt receive grace for grace: as thou art
suffering with me, thou shalt also reign with me: they
that bear my cross, shall wear my crown: behold the
tender affection of my heart towards thee; behold the
sufficiency of my power to help thee; remember the
great and precious promises I have given thee.—I am
the faithful witness, I live to fulfil them to thee: as
the lasting hills surround Jrerusalem, s
;o all the attributes
of thy covenant God, are engaged to support and deliver
thy soul.—These are some of the green pastures
where I feed my sheep with heavenly manna; where
they renew their strength, and grow up as the calves of
the stall.—Eat and drink, O my friend, abundantly,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness: I am that
God, who is thine eternal refuge—I am that Man, who K7r 141
who is an hiding-place from the wind, and a covetr
from the tempest; as rivers of waters in a dry place,
and as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Come
then, unto me, O thou poor fainting disciple, and put
thy trust under the shadow of my wings; I will refresh
thee with the new wine of my kingdom: I have spread
a table, even in this desert placee, this barren wilderness,
where I will feed thee with immortal food; meet thee,
and bless thee witht he blessings of my love”
.

This is the voice of eternal truth, of him like unto
whom, never man spake. When he takes me into his
banqueting house, when he lifts up the light of his
countenance on me, and raises his banner of love over
my soul, then the graces of his Spirit, flow into my
heart; are strengthened, and encreased by the smiles of
his face: my foes disappear, my sins vanish away, and
nothing, nothing appears to my view, byt Jesus the
Savior, the friend and beloved of my soul, my
heart dissolves with unutterable delight, and I faint in
the embraces of my crucified God. Thou art fairer
than the children of men, O thou spouse of my soul;
grace is poured into thyt lips; all thy garments smell
of myrrh, aloes, and cassia.—I charge you, O ye
daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds
of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my Love,
till he please. Jesus hath taken up his abode in my
heart: he lives and loves, and delights to dwell there.
I charge you, O ye sinful inclinations, ye tempestuous
corrusptions of my nature, be ye still, be ye hush’d, if
possible, into eternal silence: disturb not, ye hateful intru- K7v 142
intruders, the repose of my Lord; grieve not his Spirit,
nor awake him, till he please, “My Beloved is like
a Roe, or a young Hart: behold he standeth behind our
wall:”
it is our iniquities, those cursed things, which
only can separate between us and our God. Jesus
hath wash’d them away from my soul, in that precious
blood which cleanseth from all sin; yet alas, poor silly
sheep that I am, my heart is apt to wander from the
good Shepherd, run away from his sacred fold, and
continually raising walls of separation, which hides
from me the comfort of his presence, the compassion of
his heart, and robs me of the joy of his salvation: but
kind and faithful as he is, he remembers his covenant,
he hates putting away: he will not give up his darling
to the power of the dog, but tenderly bears with
all my ingratitude, with all the various unkind affronts
I am continually putting upon him; and though he is
a God that hideth himself from the house of Israel,
yet he will not go far away: behold, he standeth behind
the wall: he lookth forth at the windows, shewing
himself through the lattice: wait then upon him
in his appointed ways, his gospel ordinances; they are
but narrow lights, it is true, but Jesus the sun of righ
teousness
, shews himself through them: he willmeet
thee, and bless thee in them; and if thou gettest but a
glimpse of his glorious person, if thou seest but the skirt
of him whom thy soul loveth, it will sweeten the hours
appointed for thy pilgrimage here; and when they are elaps’d, K8r 143
elaps’d, when the tedious glass of life is run, and the
last sand spent, thy heavenly bridegroom will receive
thee in the arms of his love, where sin and sorrow shall
disturb thee no more, for ever: but thou shalt more
fully compregend that infinite love which dweels in the
heart of him, whose nature and name is love.

“O my Dove”, says the Savior, “that art in the clefts
of the rock in the secret places of the stairs, I call
thee a dove, for I have washed thee whiter than snow,
though thou hast laid among the pots; I have given
thee wings of gold, and adorned thee with the meek
graces of my spirit—thou art hid in the clefts of the
rock, even in the wounds of thy compassionate Savior,
so that no tempestuous wrath, no threatening evil, shall
ever come nigh thee; thou art hid n the secret places of the
stairs; I am that glorious stupendous ladder, which reacheth
from earth to heaven, uniting God and man in my
own person: I have hid thee in the hollow of my hand,
and will keep thee as the apple of my eye; let me see
thy countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy
voice, and they countenance is comely; look unto me,
by the faith of the operation of my spirit: call upon me
in the time of thy trouble, I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt glorify me: I delight to hear thy voice,
though feebly lisping out the desires of thy soul, or endeavoring
to anticipate that which shall be thine eternal
employment, even praise and thandsgiving to him
who hath loved thee. ‘Take us the foxes, the little
foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender
grapes;’
watch over thine own heart, O my beloved, take K8v 144
take heed of those fores, those subtle enemies, who are
continually endeavouring to turn thee aside from the
narrow way, the way which leadeth unto life; to stop
thee in thy race Zionwards, to quench the tender
flame of my love which I have kindled in thy soul; to
nip the sweet graces of my spirit, which I have planted
in thy heart, which shall bud and blossom, and bring
forth fruit to my glory: beware of these foxes, these
treacherous dealers; take heed of their wiles, lest thou
fall into their snares: I will strengthen thee, I will
uphold thee, yea, I will keep thee by the right hand of
my righteousness: all those thine enemies, who will not
have me to reign over them, I will bring them out, and
slay them for mine own name’s sake.”

This is thy promise, O my King, and my God!
help me to believe, and rely upon it: keep me under
the shadow of thy wings, keep me as the apple of
thine eye; I am a worm, and in me there is no might,
but in the Lord Jehovah, I have righteousness and
strength; yea, thou art the strength of my heart, and
my portion for ever; my beloved is mine, and I
am his, he feedeth among the lilies; he is mine in
the bonds of an everlasting covenant; my Husband,
my Prophet, my Priest, and my King: his name is
called upon me, all that he has is mine, his righteousness,
his wisdom, his power and grace, his kingdom
and glory, the blessings of the upper and the nether
springs; he is all my own, and I am his, his by creation,
his by his own eternal choice; he hath bought me
with a price, and I am not my own, but the property of L1r 145
of him, who hath redeemed me with so vast a sum, that
Gabriel himself, must fail in computing it, throughout
the countless ages of eternity, and with astonishment
own it is ideed infinite—I am his, by another tie, I
Havae surrendered myuself into his hand, I have committed
my all to my Beloved, knowing he will keep it against
that day,—Being bought with a price, Ilay myself at
his feet, desiring all that I am, and have, to be devoted
to that Savior and Friend of my soul, who hath loved
me with an everlasting love, who eitll love me to the
end, and be my God, and my guide and salvation, for
ever. The Lord’S portion is his people, Jacob is the lot
of his inheriteance. He says to his saints, “I am thine
inheritance, and portion for ever.”
He feedeth among
the lilies, his throne is in the heaven of heavens;
there he walketh among the white robed saints, who
are perfectly delivered from the foul stains of sin and
corruption; that leprosy shall no more break out in
them, the polluted house is broken down; they have
weathered the storm, and arrived safe at the haven of
eternal rest, and left every care, and every sorrow behind
for ever; they are ocntinuallyin the presence of
him, who is their all in all, enjoying the uninterrupted
light of his blessed countenance, without a cloud between;
they are eternally tuning their harps to his
praise; casting their crowns at his feet, filled with all
that extatic blessedness which beatified spirits are capable
of, in those happy realms of light and love, and
ascribing salvation to God and the Lamb, for ever.

But this condescending Jesus, this Beloved of my
soul, not only displays the bright abeams of his glory, L to L1v 146
to those who have already taken possession of their
heavenly inheritance, but he also walks in the midst of
the seven golden candlesticks, his church, which is yet
passing through the wilderness; he feedeth among the
lilies; he watches over and keeps her from the jaws
of her enemies; he refreshes her, and comforts her
drooping spirits when she is weary and faint; because
of the way; he sometimes visits her with a sweet foretaste
of those inexpressible, inconceivable blessings
he has prepared for her future, her everlasting consolation,
and every moment his eye is upon her for good.
“Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn
my beloved, and be thou like a young hart, upon the
mountains of Bether”
—until the day break, that eternal
glorious day, which shall never set in night; that day,
when King Jesus shall appear in his glory, not as he appeared
at Bethlehem a meek and lowly babe; not as
he appeared in Gethsemane, or on the mount of Crucifixion,
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief, but as the ternal Jehovah the everlasting
God, in all his essential Majessty and native splendour;
a jealous God, taking vengeance on all that obey not
his gospel, and love not his name. But rejoice, O my
soul, he will appear as thy Savior, thy sacrifice, and
friend; he will shine forth in all his mediatorial glory,
as the Lord our righteousnese;—Then shall the heavens
and the earth flee away; I shall meet my beloved,
my espoused, in the air, and be for ever with the
Lord: until this day break, and the shadows of time flee
away, turn, my beloved
thy countenance on me; listen to the ceaseles moanings
of thy plaintive turtle dove; come over the rock and L2r 147
and rising grounds of all my unworthiness, and all my
enemies, and be thou like a young hart, upon the
Mountains of Bether.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, “Rise up, my
love, my fair one, and come away: rise up from the
death of sin, to the life of faith and righteousness; for I have loved thee, I have made thee fair in the comeliness
that I have put upon thee. Come away, come
away, from sin and satan; come away, come away
from the world and its delusive vanities; let thine affections
soar up to thy Savior, who hath given himself
for thee: for lo, the winer is past, the rain is over
and gone, all the storm was poured out on the surety’s
head; his locks were wet with the dews of the night,
that thou might be blessed with the smiles of the sun
of righteousness; The winter is past, the vernal season
appears, the flowers spring, the fruits ripen, and the
voice of the turtle, charms the listening ear; arise, my
love, arise my redeemed fair one, and cme away”
.

“By night on my bed, I sought Him whom my soul
loveth, I sought him,, but I found him not;”
the Sun of
righteousness, who was wont to shine upon my soul,
and gild my happy hours with the blessings of peace,
withdrew his divine and comfortable influences;—that
precious Jesus, in whose favour is life; whose presence
filled my soul with heavenly day: In order to
teach me that divine lesson, resignation to his will; in
order to bring me to his feet, as he did Abraham of old
he turned away the sweet shinings of his face from his L2 beloved L2v 148
beloved, and suffered me to walk in the shadows
of the night, without the directing light, without
the reviving warnth of his blessed spirit; he drew
a veil, a cloud of thick darness over his creation
in my heart, and having lost the quickening influence
of him, who only can keep my soul awake, velvetshod
Morpheus shook his poppies over me, and forgetful
of my Savior, forgetful of myself, I insensibly
sunk into the arms of spiritual slumber; but Jesus stood
by, he beheld me stretched out on the bed of security,
and kindly awaked me from that sinful sleep, that lethargic
condition in which my soul was plunged. On
my bed I sought hin, him whom my soul loveth, for
Jesus was still the dleight of my heart; having drank
of his spirit: having tasted of his love, nothing but the
presence of my eternal, unchangable immortal lover,
can satisfy the vastdesires of my soul, which aspires
after the blissful enjoyment of God, even my God, for
ever: I sought him, but I found him not; I looked for
him, but I could not see him; I searched my heart,
but he was not there; he had withdrawn from that
temple where he delighted to dwell: and who shall shew
me any good? lift thou up the light of thy countenance
on me; I have slumbered and slept by the way, and my
beloved is gone; where shall I find him? where shall
I seek him? I will rise from this fatal, drowsy state,
which has grieved my Beloved, and caused my Lord
to turn away in displeasure. I will arise now, I cannot,
I must not delay, but while it is called to day, will seek
after him, in whose favour is life, and at whose right
hand there are pleasures for evermore; I will arise now, and L3r 149
and go about the city; in the streets, and in the broad
ways, I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought
him, but I found him not Jesus the only wise God
our Savior, uttereth his voice inthe streets, he crieth
in the chief places of concourse, in the opening of the
gates int he city he uttereth his words; thither I make
my resort, hoping to find my beloved, to hear his
well known voice; to behold his august adorable person,
as coming from Bozrah with his garments dyed

in blood, travelling in the greatness of his strength;
him that speaketh in righteousness, mighty to save:—
I sought him, but I found him not; his ways and ordinances,
though some times delightful, are now but
dry breasts, and barren wombs, becusse I cannot find
my Savior in them. By the rivers of Babylon, now
I sit down, I hang my harp upon the willows, and
cry out in my haste, “My Lord hath forsaken me,
my God hath forgotten to be gracious”
. The watchmen
that go about the city found me; to whom I said,
“Saw ye Him, whom my soul loveth?” Jesus hath
appointed watchmen, who go about his Zion, telling
the bulwarks thereol, who instant in season, and out of
season, proclaim to the citizens of Jerusalem, “Thy
God reigneth:”
they saw my distress, they beheld the
anziety of my heart, I enquired of them, “Have ye
seen my Lord? saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
know ye which way he went, or where he takes up his
abode? Tell me, O ye favoured embassadors, ye messengers
of peace, that I may fly on the wings of the wind,
And fall at his feet again; it was but a little that I passed
from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth.”

L3 When L3v 150

When Jesus, by the secret influence of his spirit,
convinced me that his servants were not able to help me,
could not bring me to him after whom I was seeking,
nor afford me that consolation I vainly expected from
them, but gave me tolook to the everlasting hills, from
whence cometh salvation, and from heart-felt experience
to say, “My expectation is from thee, O Lord,
I found him whom my soul loveth.”
Jesus the Sa
vior
and friend of my soul, again whispered peace
to his disconsolate bride; again he returned to his
throne in my heart, dispersing my fears, subduing my
foes, and giving me to exult in the favour of Him, who is
the joy of angels, the glory of saints, in whom dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily: I held him
and would ot let him go, tasting again the sweet sense
of his love, I clung to his arms be the power of faith;
Thou art my supreme and only good; O bind me, my
beloved, by the sweet bands of thy love, to the horns
of the altar, the precious wounds of my Savior;
that I may never depart from thy feet, never lose sight
of that dear Immanuel, who is exalted as a prince
and Savior, to bless me with the blessings of an ever;
lasting covenant; in whom all my happiness centers, in
whom all my treasures are eternally laid up: thou art
my beloved, and thou art my friend; whom have
I in heaven but thee, there is none upon earth I
would desire in comparison of thee. I charge you,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and
by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake
my love, till he please: let nothing disturb the repose
my Lord, he rests in my arms, he abides in my heart. L4r 151
heart. I charge you, O ye indwellers there; I charge
you that are round about me, that ye offend not my Savior,
that ye grieve not his spirit, nor cause him again
to depart in displeasure.

“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, like
pillars of smoak, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all powders of the merchant?”
Who is
this that having been long imprisoned in the dreary
confines of an howling wilderness, now abideth no
longer in the tents of Kedar, but travelleth towards
Zion, the city of the living God, like pillars of smoak
perfumed with myrrh? she is black, she is polluted
with sin, a smoaking brand, pluched out of the fire,
yet she is adorned out of the treasures of heaven, with
fine linen, white and clean; yea, her garment is of
wrought gold; her smell is as the smell of a field, well
watered by the spirit from above. Jesus enquires,
“Doth he not know?” yes, he declares, she is his
spouse, his well-beloved, the very delight of his soul:
he says of her, “Behold thou art fair, my love, behold
thou art fair, thou hast dove’s eyes: I have washed thee,
I have cloathed thee, I have sanctified thee; thou hast
dove’s eyes within thy locks; thy hair is as a flock of
goats, that appear from Mount Gilead; thy teeth are
like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came
up from the washing, whereof every one bear twins,
and none is barren among them: thy lips are like a

thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely, thy temples
are like a piece of a pomgranate within thy locks;
thy neck is like the tower of David, built for an armory, L4 whereon L4v 152
whereon there hand a thousand bucklers, all shields of
mighty men—thy breasts are like two young roes that
are twins, which feedeth among the lilies: until the day
break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the
mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense:
I will come unto thee, my beloved, and abide in
thine heart for ever; I will visit thee with the sweet
visitations of my grace and favour, till the bright day
of eternity bread; till every dark intervening cloud disappear,
and the shadows of night are dispersed for ever;
for thou art fairer and sweeter in thy Savior’s esteem,
than whole mountains of spices, or groves of myrrh;
yea, thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee.
Come with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana from the
top of Shenir, Hermon, from the lion’s den, from
the mountains of the leopards. Come my beloved,
with thy Savior and King who hath loved thee,
and betrothed thee to hisself, in an everlasting covenant;
O come with me, my beloved, from Lebanon,
look from the things which are seen, and are temporal,
to the things which though unseen, are of eternal duration,
and infinite: look from the deceitful pleasures
and deluding vanities of time, to the heavenly Jerusalem,
the habitation of my holiness, the place where
my honour dwelleth; where flows the water of life,
and where that tree whose leaves are for the healing
of the nations, blooms for ever; look from the lions
dens, the mountains of the leopards: thy spiritual enemies
are numerous and various, they rage and roar,
threatening to devour thee; but look not to their
power, their strength, or their might, left thou faint under L5r 153
under a sense of thy own weakness, and forget thy almighty
Savior, who is engaged to deliver thee, whose
everlasting arms are underneath thee, who goeth before
thee, and is thy rereward, and as a wall of fire
round about thee: thine enemies shall fight against thee,
but they shall not prevail, for I am with thee to save
thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord, and I will
deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will
redeem thee out of the hand of the terible, thou shalt
not be ashamed, nor confounded world without end”

“A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; thy
plants are an orchard of pomegranates:”
“I am the
careful husbandman, I am the watchful gardener; I
water thee with the waterings of my spirit, the gentle
showers of my reviving grace, the soft, the and sweet
dew of my blessing; I have planted my graces in thy
heart, and will cause them to grow, to bud, blossom,
and bring forth fruit, to the praise of the glory of my
free grace; I will root up the weeds, and prune thy
branches, and cut off whatever is not of my righthand
planting, and make thee to prosper as the garden
of the Lord, even as Eden, my antient delight: thou
art inlosed in the arms of my love, I have fenced
thee about with walls of salvation, this is a hedge
no robber can break through, no beast of prey demolish,
no subtle enemy undermine; it is built on a sure
foundation, a tried stone, a precious corner
stone
, it is firm as the rock of everlasting ages,
and shall endure to the days of eternity”

Awake L5v 154

“Awake, O north wind, and come thou south,
blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow
out.—Fragrant and sweet as thou art my beloved,
in the graces and precious things with which
I have adorned thee, unless thu art continually watered
by the showers from above, every moment refreshed
by the quickening power of my spirit, thou
wouldst fade as the leaf, and wither as the rose, and
sink into the cold benumbing arms of spiritual death,
forgetjul of thy Savior, thyself, and thy home.
Come then, my eternal, co-equal, co-essential spirit,
breathe on my garden, that the spices thereof may flow
out, breathe on my beloved with all thy chearing influence,
quicken her faith, confirm her hope, inflame
her soul with my pure, my holy love, increase in her
soul, that deep humiliation and self-abhorrence, which
shall lay her in the dust at my feet; shed thy divinest
rays on the beloved of my soul, and as I have cloathed
her inwrought gold, and given her raiment of fine
needle-work, do thou take of that grace which treasured
up in my fulness, adorn her, and make her all
glorious within”

“Awake, O north wind, and come thou south,
blow upon my garden that the spices thereof
may flow out.—Let my beloved come into his
garden and eat his pleasant fruits;”
I am thine, O
thou Savior of sinners; my blessed and adorable
Jehovah Jesus, thine in the sweet bonds of an everlasting
covenant: thou hast bought me with a price, and L6r 155
and I am still thy own, I am thy new creation, thy
garden of delights: let my beloved come into his
garden, and eat his pleasant fruits: come into my soul
O my King and my God, set up thy throne in my
heart, there reign with the golden sceptre of love,
Lord of my soul without a rival: thou hast adorned
me with the graces of thy spirit, the peaceable fruits
of thy righteousness; Lord, I lay them all at thy feet,
thine they are and not my own; take the glory, take
the everlasting praise, as all the work is thine, be thine
the honour, for thou workest all our good works in us.
O Lord, take up thine abode in my heart; O my
beloved, and create it anew by thy power, that I
may know thee, and the power of thy resurrection.

“I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten
my honey-comb with my honey, I have drank my
wine with my milk; eat O friends, drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O beloved:” I have taken up my abode in
thy heart, O thou fairest among women, I have made
it the palace where I delight to dwell, even an habitation
of God, through the spirit, having washed thee in
my blood, and made thee white in the fountain I have
smelled the sweet savour of those precious graces,
with thich I have perfumed thy soul: they are pleasant
to my eye, and sweet in my nostrils, I have feasted
with thee, my beloved, in the secret chambers; I have
delighted in thee, from the days of eternity; I am that bread L6v 156
bread of life, that heavenly manna which came down
from above, for the life of thy soul: feed on me, O my
sister, my spouse; drink of the water of life, which I
freely bestow: whosoever drinketh of those living
streams, shall never thirst again, they shall spring up in
thy heart, as a well of water, unto etrenal life. Eat
O my friend, drink, yea, drink abundantly: O beloved,
receive out of my fulness, grace upon grace; be not
content with a little, just to keep thee from starving,
but abundantly receive from my infinite treasure, that
grace which shall make thee strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might, that thou mayest mount
heavenwards, as on eagles wings; run with divine
alacrity, thy heavenly race, be more than conqueror
over all thy foes, and be filled with all the fulnesa of
God: plenteous grace islaid up in thy Savior, I
give it freely to them that need,—O come unto me,
my friend, my beloved, look unto me by an eye
of faith, and I will pour into thy empty vessel, the
blessings of peace, the sweet treasures of my love, and
all the good things which were given thee in that
covenant of peace, which is stedfast as the throne of
God, settled in all things, and sure: I came into the
world not for my own sake, but thine, O believer,
that thou mightest have life, and that more abundantly”

I sleep, but my heart waketh, it is the voice of my
beloved that knocketh, saying, “Open to me, my sister,
my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled
with dew, and my locks with the frops of the night”
L7r 157
I sleep, alas, sinful slumber hath taken hold of my soul,
my drowsy powers relax, a heavy weight hangs upon
my eyes, so that I cannot behold the sun of righteousness;
presses me down to the cold regions of earth, so
that I grovel as a worm thereof: my chariot wheels are
taken off which used to be as the chariots of Amminadab,
so that I go slowly, heavily, mournfully on: I lag, and
faint, and tire amid the heavenly road, and freeze in
the benumbing chains of cold and barren winter. I
sleep, but my geart wadeth; still, O my blessed and adorable
Jesus, there is somewhat in my soul, which panteth
after thee; that living, inward principle, which thou
hast imparted, a blessed spark of thine eternal flame,
though covered with ashes, though surrounded with
death, still it remains, still it lives and glows, though
with faint and feeble desires, after a Savior, after Him
whom my soul loveth—I sleep, but my heart waketh:
who is this that disturbs my slumbers with repeated
knockings? ’tis the voice of my Beloved, ’tis the voice
of my Friend, of that ever faithful compassionate Jesus,
who hath betrothed me to himself in everlasting lovinglindness,
in the bonds of a covenant which cannot be
broken, although I have ungratefully strayed from his
bosom, where only peace and rest is to be found—tho’
I have forsaken him, the fountain of living waters, and
hewn out to myself cisterns, broken cisterns that can
hold none of the water of life, yet behold he standeth
at the door and knocketh: her dealeth not with me as
with one who hath broden wedlock, and shed blood:
He cometh not in thundrs to alarm my soul, but gently
knocketh at the door of my heart saying, “Open to me L7v 158
me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; though
thou hast wandered from me, yet thou art still my own;
I have loved thee with an everlasting love: thou art still
my Beloved and the delight of my soul: thou art my
undefiled one, though thou hast again and again made
thy garments filthy, and been weary of me thine eternal
Lover; thou hast not brought me the small cattle of
ofthy burnt-offerings, neither hast not brought me the
with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve
with an offering, not wearied thee with incense: thou
hast brought me no sweet cane for money, neither hast not
thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins: return unto
me for I have redeemed thee.—”

“Open to me, O my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled,
for my head is filled with dew, my locks with
the drops of the night:—behold me, who have laid the
foundatins of the earth, and stretched the line upon it,
who bringeth forth Mazeroth in his season, and guidest
Arcturus with his sons—behold me, bowed beneath the
heavy load of thy iniquities, in the melancholy groves
of shady Gethsemane, amid all the damp vapours of the
night; and (be amazed at the thought) vindictive justice
pouring floods of tempestuous, stormy wrath upon my
head:—Justice stood forth and cried, Where’s the sinner L8r 159
sinner? where’s the rebel, who hath broken my laws,
and brought dishonour on the name of infinite Deity?
and I, thy friend, thy surety, thy Savior interposed
—I wo knew no sin, was made sin for thee; I
was wounded for thy transgressions, I was bruised for
thine iniquities, the chastisement of thy peace was upon
me, and with my stripes thou art healed. I am the
man that hath seen affliction by the rod of God’s
wrath: he hath bent his bow, and set me as the mark
for the arrow; he hath caused the arrow of his quiver
to enter into my reins; I was poured out like water,
and all my bones were out of joint; my heart was like
wax, my strength was dried up like a potsherd; my
tongue clave to my mouth, and he brought me into
the dust of death: is it nothing to you, all ye that
pass by? behold and see if there be any sorrows like
unto my sorrow, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted
me, in the day of his fierce anger; my soul hath it
still in remembrance: with this great sacrifice of myself,
I reconciled God to thee: with the blood of my
cross, I made thy everlasting peace; wrath hath
forsook the throne, and grace, love, and mercy, reign
for ever, mercy and truth have met together, righteousness
and peace have kissed each other: therefore open
to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, for
my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the
drops of the night.”

“My Beloved put in his hand, by the hole of the
door, and my bowels wer moved for him:”
Jesus accompanied
his word to my heart, by the power of his L8v 160
his spirit, and my affecttions ran out, after the Lord
of my soul. “I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved
had withdrwn himself, and was gone, my soul
failed when he spake: I sought him but I could not
find him, I called him, but he gave me no answer.”

The Beloved, the delight of my soul was retired from
my view; alas, I could not behold the light of his
countenance, the joy of his salvation: “I sought him,
but I found him not: I called him, but he gave me no
answer.”
Where art thou, my Beloved, my Savior,
my spouse? hast thou cast me off for ever? wilt thou
no more be gracious? O Lord God of my salvation,
I cry day and night before thee, for my soul is full
of trouble, and my life draweth nigh unto the grave;
thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the
deeps: mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction.
Lord, all my desires are before thee, and my groaning
is not hid from thee; my heart panteth, my strength
faileth me; as for the light of mine eye, it also is gone
from me; Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there
is none to comfort her, yet the Lord is righteous,
for I have rebelled against his commandments; behold O M1r 161
O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled,
my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously
rebelled.

“I called, but he gave me no answer, the watchmen
that go about the city found me, they smote me,
they wounded me.”
The ministers of Jesus beheld
my distress, but they afforded me no consolation: they
applied no healing balsom to soften the corroding
anguish, and alleviate the sorrow of my soul, but
treated me with harsh and severe reproaches, and bitter
words, which like so many daggers, pierce my heart,
encreased my distraction, and almost sunk me into the
black gulph of despair: To whom shall I look? I have
grieved by Lord, and he hath turned away in displeasure;
he shutteth his ears against my prayers; where
shall I go to find my Beloved, the consolation of Is
rael
, and desire of nations. “I charge you, O daughters
of Jerusalem (ye who like me, are seeking
a Savior) if Jesus favours you with light of his
countenance, if he takes you into the arms of his love,
O remember, remember me, think upon me his forlorn
bride; tell him, O tell him I am sick of love;
tell him the desire of my heart is towards him; tell
him I faint because he is absent, and let him not rest
till he return and bless me.”

“What is thy Beloved, more than another beloved,
O thou fairest among women? what is thy Beloved
more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge M us? M1v 162
us?”
“My Beloved is white and ruddy; the chiefest
among ten thousand;”
he is the eternal and almighty
God, whose goings forth have been from everlasting:
the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth:
before his throne, the bright armies of heaven veil
their faces, and cease not day and night saying,
“Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty”—fountain
of light, of life, and love, possessing the essential
perfection of every good. He is the man, the
exalted man, whom saints unseen adore: he cometh
from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosrah, glorious
in his apparel, travelling in the greatnese of his strength:
he goeth from conquering to conquer, mounted on his
whiter horse, and in his chariots of salvation: he is
faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth
judge, and make war; his eyes are a flame of fire, and
on his head are many crowns; he is cloathed with a
vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the
Word of God: the armies of heaven follow him, and
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it,
he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them
with a rod of iron; he treadeth the wine-press of the
fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God; he hath
on his vesture, and on his thigh a name written, King of kings,and Lord of lords; he is the lion of
the tribe of Judah, which has prevailed: from the prey
he is gone up? He stopped down, he couched as a lion,
and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? He is not
only thus awful in majesty, glorious in holiness, but he
is also that meek and lowly Lamb, which God hath ap- M2r 163
appointed for a burnt-offering, a great and sufficient
sacrifice for the sins of his people; he offered up himself
on that great altar, which sanctifieth the gift, and
now he appears in the midst of the throne as a lamb
newly slain; he is a great High-priest, for ever, after
the order of Melchisedec, such and High-priest as becometh
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who
not by the bloos of goats, or calves, but by his own
blood, he once entered into the holy place, having obtaines
etrnal redemption for us, and by one offering,
for ever perfected them that are sanctified; he is the mediator
of the new testament, the great peace-maker between
God and man: that blessed days-man who layeth
his hand upon both parties, and hath found out a way
by which God can be just, and yet justify sinners believing
in Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the
life; the way be which God can receive into his
favour rebels who have sinned and transgressed against
him;—the way by which sinners can come into the
presence of Jehovah, as to their reconciled, forgiving
covenant God; and by the power of his Spirit, in the
language of faith, call him, Abba, Father—the way by
which they receive every covenant blessing in time,
and by which they have abundant entrance administered
to them, into the kingdom of their Beloved, the
heavenly Canaan, the new Jerusalem, the city of the
living God, whose gates shall not be shut at all by day,
and there is no night there, but the glory of God doth
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. He is the
truth, that is his name; he is the faithful witness,
God that cannot lie; the fountain of life, the author M2 and M2v 164
and giver of eternal life to his people: because he
liveth, they shall live also; he is their advocate in
the court of heaven; he is one with the Father, and he
ever lives ot plead their cause; he throughly understands
the law; he well knows all their malicious
accusers, and is capable to answer all their allegations,
and triumphantly bring off that poor sinner, who commits
his cause, though a bad one, into his hands. Satan
says, That soul hath sinned, shall it live? thou hast said
the soul that sinneth it shall dis; canst thou be just, O
God, and not execute this sentence: but Jesus, our
adorable advocate is by; he says, “It is true, that soul hath
sinned, but I have died. Father, behold my hands, my feet,
my side: Why was I crowned with thorns on Calvary?
Why was I crushed beneath the weight of thy wrath?
was it not for that soul that it might not perish? all its
iniquities thou hast laid upon me; I have made my
soul an offering for it’s sins; thy justice is satisfied, I
have paid his debt—thy law is magnified, I have
made it honourable, thou art a just God, therefore
pardon and justify that sinner; I have bought him at
the price of my blood; I have taken away his filthy
garments, and cloathed him with change of raiment.
Father I will that he whom thou hast given me, be
with me where I am, that he may behold my glory:
the Lord rebuke thee satan, even the Lord that has
chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee: is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire”
Thus satan is disappointed,
thus the sinner is saved, and God for ever glorified in
the son of his lve, whose name is called wonderful
councellor
, the everlasting Father, and the
Prince of Peace. He is Jesus, a Savior! no name
so sweet to the ears of a sensible sinner; a name which can M3r 165
can bring peace to the distressed conscience, and lay
every storm of guilt in the delightful repose of calm
serenity: though we are continually wandering from
thy fold like lost sheep, still thy name is called Jesus;
thou art an everlasting Savior; this is my beloved,
and this is my friend: O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
is he not the altogether lovely

“Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou fairest among
women? whither is thy beloved turned aside, that we
may seek him with thee?”
since he is this all-glorious
Savior, this adorable superlatively excellent person,
tell us, O thou his beloved and bride, whither he is
turned aside? wher he takes up his abode? that we
may seek him with thee, that we may inquire after the
knowledge of him, whom to know is life eternal; that
we may partake of his saving benefits, receive out
of his abundant fulness, and share those rich blessings
he so freely bestows.

“My beloved is gone down into his garden to the
beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies;
God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound
of a trumpet; he is ascended into the heaven of heavens,
leading captivity captive, having received gifts for
sinners, even for the rebellious; he is enterd into
the holy place, and sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty of high: there he reigneth, there he walketh
among his saints in light. Those trees of righteousness,
who arelike green olives, and full of sap, of his
own right hand planting, whose pleasant fruits are
sweeter than camphire, with trees of frankincense,
myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices: there he M3 un- M3v 166
unfolds the bright beams of his glory, and displays the
sweet smiles of his face; yet he bows his ears to the
cry of his beloved, who hath not yet arrived at that
glorious haven of eternal rest, but is still like a ship in
the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, and contrary
winds; he is the pilot: he setteth at the helm, and
will steer her safe to the good port, the heavenly praise
the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works
to the children of men: my beloved is mine, and I
am his, he feedeth among the lilies.”

“Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,fair
as the moon clear as the sun, and terrible as an army
with banners?”
who but the beloved, the spouse,
of Jesus, in whose heart the sun of righteousness is
beginning to rise; her light, her excellency and beauty
shineth not forth at once, but when the day-spring from
on high hath visited her soul, she shineth brighter and
brighter, to the perfect day, going from strength to
strength, and from glory to glory, till she appear before
the God of gods in Zion: she is fair as the moon, for
as that receives all its splendour from the sun, so Zion
the perdection of beauty, receives all her loveliness from
the fulness of Jesus; and being filled with his grace,
shines with bright celestial lustre, in the midst of a
dark benighted world: but tho’ she is bright, adorned
with silver rays, she is not altogethe a fair orb of
light; many, too many dark spots of sin abide in
her heart, and appear in her conversation, yet
though fair as the moon, she is clear as the sun, without M4r 167
without spot or blemish, or any such thing, being
complete in Jesus, made white in the blood of her
Beloved, and cloathed in the spotless; robe of his everlasting,
glorious righteoussness; she is as blameless, as
sinless, as perfectly righteous, as the great God-Man,
Immanuel, the beloved of God, in whom his soul
delighteth, and in whom he is eternally well pleased,
who hath declared that satan had no part in him. This
her glory is for ever the same, it neither waxeth nore
waineth, nor is subject to change, but endures to the
days of eternity, unsullied, undiminished, brighter than
the angels of light, those fair sons of the morning; she
is terrible as an army with banners, standing with her
loins girt about with truth, and haviang on the breastof
righteousness; her feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace, and gaivng above all, the
shield of faith, which is able to quench all the fiery
darts of the devil: on her head, the helmet of salvation;
in her hand, the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God, praying always, with all prayer and supplication.
Thus armed and prepared for the battle,
she follows the great Captain of salvation, to a sure and
certain victory; she wrestles not only against flesh and
blood, buat against principalities and powers, the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places, but looking to Jesus her strong deliverer,
having on the whole armour of God, she fights
the good fight of faith, and is more than conqueror,
through him who hath loved her; she is terrible as
an army with banners; her enemies fall before her,
for he that is the mighty God of Jacob, hath promised M4 no M4v 168
no weapon formed against thee shall prosper; he saith,
“Fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for
I am thy God, I will strengthen thee yea, I will help
thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of
my righteousness; behold all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded, they
shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall
perish; thou shalt seed them, and shall not find them,
even them that conteded with thee; they that war
against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of
nought; for I the Lord the God, will hold thy right
hand, saying unto thee,”
“Fear not, I will help thee,
fear not, thou worm Jacob”
saith the Lord, “and thy
Redeemer, the holy one of Israel: behold I will make
thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth;
thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small,
and shall make the hills as chaff; thou shalt fan them,
and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind
shall scatter them, for all things are possible to
him that believeth; and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,
and shalt glory in the holy one of Israel,”

“How beautiful are thy feet with shoes; O prince’s
daughter,”
thou hast dipped thy foot in oit: thy shoes
are iron and brass; yea, I have shod thee with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Says Jesus, the Savior
and friend of his church, “It was impossible
for thee to wald with me in a state nature, becsuse
it is enmity against me: can two walk together, unless
they are agreed? but I have not only slain that enmity by M5r 169
by the blood of my cross, but have subdued the power
of it in thy heart, bringing home to thy soul, that gospel
of peace which publisheth salvation, which declares
I am reconciled unto thee, by the sacrifice of
myself; having communicated to thy heart my gospel
grace, thou art not only able to walk, but run in the
ways of my commandments: the dreary waste, through
which thou art travelling, abounds with burning sands
rough and uneven places, rugged ways, sufficient to
turn thy naked feet out of the way, and to thrust thee
down into the bottomless pit of inexpresseble perdition;
but I have given thee for shoes, the gospel of peace,
in which thou shalt tread on the necks of thin enemies;
before it, the rough places shall all become
smooth, and every mountain become a plain; safely
may’st thou travel through an enemy’s land, till thou
arrivest on Immanuel’s groung; it is an everlasting
salvation, shoes that will never wear out”

“Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her Beloved? I raised thee up under the
apple tree, there thy nother brought thee forth, there
she brought thee forth that bare thee”
“O my beloved,
thou that art journeying from time to eternity, that art
flying from Babylon the city of destruction, to that
land overflowing with wine and oil, even the heavenly
Jerusalem, the Mount Sion, the city of the living God:
thou art not come to Mount Sinai, that burned with fire,
and unto blackness and darkness and tempest, but thou
art come to the general assembly and church of the firstborn
whose names are written in heaven; to the spirits of M5v 170
of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator
of the new and better covenant, to the blood of sprinkling,
which speaketh better things than that of Abel,
that cried from the earth for vengeance; this speakpeace
to the distrssed conscience burdened with
guilt, afflicted with a sense of sin. Thou art coming
up from a desert place, barren of every good thing; a
waste howling wilderness, full of evils, surrounded with
enemies: thou art weak and void of strength, in thee is
no might at all, but thou leanest on thy beloved, on
him that is mighty to save: fear not then, thou worm
Jacob, but still repose on thy Savior’s bosom; cast all
thy fears, thy cares and burdens upon me: repose thy
confidence in my faithfulness, willingness and ability
to save: depend on my word which endureth for ever;
remember my covenant which is ordered in all things
and sure, and standeth eternally fast—Look unto me,
and be ye saved, O thou beloved of my soul, for I am
the mighty God of Jacob, thy strong Deliverer, thy
Almight Friend: I raised thee up from that state of
spiritual death in which thou wert by nature immersed;
I saw thee in that iniquity wherein thou wert born;
that state of darkness, blindness and total depravity; a
slave to thy own deceitful heart, led captive by the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience.— I saw thee,
I beheld thee in this forlorn, detestable, wretched condition:
I set my love upon thee from the days of eternity;
I looked nad there was none to help, and I wondered
there was none to uphold; therefore mine own
arm brought saalvationunto me; the angel of my presencesence M6r 171
saved thee; in my love and in my pity, I redeemed
thee and raised thee up in my own appointed time,
from the death of sin to a life of righteousness: with a
mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, exalting my
throne in thine heart, my puchased possession—set me
as a seal upon thine heart, and upon the palms of
my hands: O set me as a seal upon thine, for love is
strong as death; yea, my love to thy soul is stronger
than death, it hath combated with and overcome that
tyrant; it has drawn his sting, and broke his dart: My
love is higher than heaven, and deeper than hell, it is
from everlasting and to everlasting; it hath looked over
all difficulties, and steemed them light, that it might
redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies, of those
that hated and were sworn to destroy thee, for the joy
that was set before me, even of saving thy soul from
death, of rescuing thee out of the jaws of hell, I despised
the shame nad endured the cross, and am now set
down in my heavenly kingdom, expecting to see of the
travail of my soul, to divide the spoil with the strong,
and be abundantly satisfied with the reward of my labour:
My love then is stronger than death, my jealousy
is cruel as the grave; the coals theeof are coals
of fire which hatha most vehement flame”
I am a
jealous God, I will not endure a rival in thy heart; I
will not divide and give my glory to another: I will
not be satisfied with a divided heart: I must have all Behold M6v 172
Behold, my behold, what I have done; behold
my beloved, how I have loved thee; how I have suffered
and bled for thy sins: I have betrothed thee to
myself in everlasting loving-kindness, in righteousness,
faithfulness and truth. Canst thou, O canst thou forget
thy Savior; him who hath been a Husband unto
thee, and place thine affections on any thing else? I
know thou canst, thy heart is fickle, light and inconstant
as the waves of the sea; but I will not have it
so: I am a jealous God, I will hide the light of my
countenance from thee; I will haedge up thy way with
thorns, and make a wall that thou shalt not find thy
paths: Though thou go after many lovers, thou shalt
not overtake them, for they would lead thee to the pit
of destruction: though thou dost run away from me,
thy Friend and Savior, yet my goodness and mercy shall
follow thee all the days of thy life, and bring thee back
to my feet, though with broken bones and an aching
heart; for thou shalt find it a bitter thing to depart from
the Lord thy God; yet I will allure thee and bring
thee into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto
thee; for how shall I give thee up Ephraim, how shall
I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah?
how shall I set thee as Zeboim? my heart is
turned within me; my repentings are kindled together:
I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,
I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God
and not man, the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee

Many M7r 173

“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the
floods drown it;”
so vast, so strong, so immense is
my love to thee, ungrateful, unkind, and prone to backslide
as thou art, that neither earth nor hell can decrease
or quench it; not all the affronts thy foolish heart
is continually putting upon it, can prevent its infolding
thee still in its everlasting arms: not all the floods of
thine inquities, which wave after wave are continualy
arising, can put a damp on that bright eternal flame,
which burns, and shall burn for ever; it shall never go
out, it shall never decay, but uninterruptedly continues
the same: in thy joy, in thy sorrow, in thy life and
death, during the urmost period of time, and thoughout
the infinite space of an ever advanding, never ending
eternity; whin thou shalt be swallowed up in that vast
ocean of love divine which knows no bounds, which
knows no shore, and shall be able to comprehend what
is the breadth and length, the depth and height of that
love of Christ which passeth knowledge; being filled
with all the fulness of God; for I am love, my nature
and my name is love”

“Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions
hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it”
thou King
of saints, and Lord of life and glory; thou good Shepherd
of Israel, the Keeper thereof, who never slumbers,
neer sleeps; whose watchful eyes are continually upon
me for good—Thou that dwellest in the gardens, those
blissful seats of everlasting peace, where spotless purity
and perfect love for ever reigns: those upper chambers, those M7v 174
those heavenly mansions, where the cherubic legions
bow before thee, and all the dazzling choirs of seraphims
unite t chaunt thine everlasting praise—where
all the white robed saints, my elder brethren, receive
that crown, that palm of victory which thou hast purchased,
which thou hast promised in that copy of the
heavenly records whcih thou hast handed down to earth:
they listen to thy voice with delight; it fills their souls
with extatic transprt, for the heaven of heavens is
communion with thee; tou dwellest also in thy garden
below, even in the hearts of thy ransomed ones:
there thou walkest, there thou takest up thine abode.
O cause me to haer thy voice, unstop my deaf ears, that
I may hear the voice of Jesus my Beloved, speaking
in his word, speaking to my soul by the secret influence
of his eternal spirit, saying “I have loved thee,
I have laid down my life for thee: I am given for the
covenant of the people. This is the way walk ye in
it”
Incline my ears, incline my heart, O thou God
of grace, to listen with the most divine attention to the
soft gentle whisper of my Savior’s voice, that I may
fall at thy feet in the obedience of faith, filled with
wonder, love and praise, till time shall be exchanged
for eternity, earth for heaven, and all the anxieties of
this valley of tears, for the full fruition of eternal blessedness;
when I shall put off this polluted garment of
mortality, and be conveyed on the wings of ministering
spirits to the bosom of my God, leaving my sins, sorrows
and fears, behind for ever.—

O then make haste, my beloved, and be thou like
to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices: M8r 175
spices: why are thy chariot wheels so long a coming?
make no long tarrying, O my God, but quickly bow
thine heavens and come down; speed away the moments
on theor swiftest wings, and hasten that blessed,
that delightful period, when the great angel of the covenant,
who standeth on the earth and on the sea, shall
lift up his hand to heaven, and swear by him that liveth
for ever and ever, that time shall be no longer.

How long wilt thou delay, O thou Savior of sinners?
how long shall thy forlorn bride mourn in the wilderness?
Rise, O thou bright eternal Sun of Righteousness;
disperse the dark shadows of night, and hasten
the dawing of that eternal day, when the heavens shall
be rolled up a a scroll, the earth depart for ever, when
thy redeemed shall lift up their heads with joy, knowing
their complete redemption draweth nigh; all that
meet thee in the air with songs of triumph, saying,
“This is our God, we have waited for him; this is
our beloved, our redeemed and friend;”
then
shall the ransomed of the Lord return and come to
Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads:
then shall they obtaing joy and gladness; and sorrow
and fighting shall flee away for ever.

O quickly let thy chariot wheels appear,

Darting bright beams of glory thro’ the air;

Bid the Archangel sound, bid worlds draw nigh,

To meet the awful Judge enthron’d on high:

And M8v 176

And while confusion, wrath and woe are hurl’d

Withdreadful uproar, on a guilty world,

Thou wilt unfold the glories of thy face,

In full meridian on thy chosen race;

They shall with joy behold, with joy confess

Their Savior-God, the Lord their righteousness!

And full of thee, for ever shall remain,

Live in thy life, and in thy glory reign:

With loving heart and grateful voice shall raise

A tuneful chorus of seraphic lays,

Eternal anthems of eternal praise.

Thro’ the wide arches of the courts above,

While all their theme, and all their bliss is love.

Christ N1r (177)


An
Ode

Written at the Request of a Friend.

Let universal nature bring,

An humble tribute to her King,

Jesus, the God, who bade the earth

Exist, and gave creation birth.

High on his glorious throne he reigns,

And all the bright etherial plains

Resound the triumphs of his name,

Lo! glad archangels shout his fame:

With harps of gold, the ransom’d throng

Exulting, swell the choral song;

Still higher let your notes arise:

Ye winged armies of the skies;

Adore him through eternal days,

With growing ardour, boundless praise.

Praise him, bright Sol, refulgent king of day,

When thy first rising beam dispels the night,

When from thy flaming car, the noontide ray,

Pours on the universe a flood of light.

The moon and stars shall catch the glorious theme:

Hear it, ye planets, as ye roll along

In boundless space; delighted, hear of him,

And join to praise him in a noble song.

N Ye N1v 178

Ye little warblers of the grove,

Ye his care and kindness prove

As ye fly from spray to spray

Join the universal lay.

Ye who rove the forest thro’

His kind hand provides for you.

’Tis by his almighty power

Lambkins bleat, and lions roar,

Earth, and seas, and air, unite,

Gloomy darkness, orient light:

Rosy summer, chearful spring,

Sheav-crown’d autumn too shall sing,

Winter with his stormy face,

Shall adore the God of grace,

Every season, every thing,

Bless the great immortal King.

Low at the feet of Jesus, they shall fall,

And own him God, and sovereign Lord of all.

Saints redeemed by his blood,

Sing your great redeeming God.

Come, Philander, join the lay,

Help his glories to display:

Let us raise our voices higher

Than the great angelic choir;

They adore their Maker-God,

But we bless him for his blood,

He is theirs, and he is ours,

Praise him with thy noblest powers.

Christ N2r


Christ
All in All

Whither shall I go, but unto thee, O Lord?
thou hast the words of eternal life, thou art life, and in
thee it is I live and move, and have my being; I am
a poor stranger in this workd, and a traveller, as all my
fathers were, journeying from time to eternity, from
this vale of tears, this region of sin and sorrow, to the
heavenly Jerusalem, the mount Sion, the city of the
living God, whither my great Forerunner is already
entered, even Jesus, to prepare a place for me: that is
my rest, there my treasures are laid up, there I shall
behold my Father’s face without a cloud: there all tears
shall be wiped from my eyes; I shall nomore hang
my harp on the willows, but for ever join the harmonic
chorus of uninterrupted hallelujahs, singing the
songs of Moses and the Lamb, with all those who N2 have N2v 180
have washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb, and therefore are before the throne
for ever. But I am not yet called home to my Father’s
house: I am a poor exile, passing through a wilderness,
in my way to glory; I must be tried in the furnace
of affliction, before I come out bright gold, but
when I walk through the fire, I have the word of an
unchangeable God, that he will be with me, and when
I pass through the waters, he hath promised they shall
not overflow me, therefore I may boldly press on, for
though hosts of foes will rise against me; by the strength
of my God, I shall leap over them all: for though
storms may roar, and tempests blow, yet Jesus, my
God, is mightier far than they, when he says, “Peace
be still,”
they shall all be hushed into a calm.

While I am in the world, I am beset with enemies,
enemies on all sides, within and without: within, a
heart deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked; a heart in league with hell, to stop me in
my heavenly race; prone to wander from the God of
love; a heart which is by nature the sink of sin, ready
every moment to betray me into the hands of my
spiritual enemies, this is my nearest and greatest foe;
and when I should soar on the wings of faith and love,
far above the things which are seen, and are temporal
to those which are unseen, and eternal, this weighs
me down, this keeps me grovelling in the dust, and
will do so, more or less, till the chain is brode, the
bond dissolved, and my fettered soul set at libertly; then I
shall fly away upborne on angels wings to my heavenly home N3r 181
home, and leave sin and mortality behind for ever:
but that time is not yet come, I am yet in the body
waiting for the hour when Jesus shall say, “Come
up hither:”
till then, I remain in an howling wilderness
full of burning sand, beasts of prey, and fiery flying
serpents. The world is a subtle enchantress, she lays
her snares on every side to catch the unwary travellers
feet, and we not only fight with flesh and blood,
but with principalities, and powers, the rulers of the
darkness of this world, with spiritual wickedness in
high places. O who shall deliver my soul from all
this host of foes: I am but a worm, I have no might,
my strength is perfect weakness, but the Lord ruleth
on high; Jesus reigns, he is the King of Israel, and the
Savior thereof. Rejoice then, ye citizens of Zion
in the recollection of this truth, Jesus is King of
kings
, and Lord of lords, all power is in his hand,
he reigns in and over our hearts, by the golden sceptre
of his grace; he ruleth over the world by his providential
empire, and he reigneth over the devils with a
rod of Iron; he hath ascended up on high, leading
captivity captive, and he shall reign till all things are
put underneath his feet.

But I am not only surrounded with enemies, while
passing through this valleyof the shadow of death, but
I am altogether an unclean thing, and all my righteousnesses
are as filthy rage; born in sin, and by nature
corrupted, all I do is defiled with sin; Lord, I am a
leaper, unclean throughout, and God is of purer eyes
than to behold iniquity; he hath declared, he will by N3 no N3v 182
no means clear the guilty; to whom should I turn? to
whom shoul I go? Lord, thou hast the words of eternal
life; Jesus is a priest upon his throne, a great
high-priest, who is entered into the holy place, not
made with hands; who himself bare our sins in his
own body on the tree, and by that oblation of himself
once offered, hath for ever perfected them that are
sanctified, being himself at once the sacrifice and sacrificer,
and the offended Jehovah, to whom he made the
atonement: for God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself—these are mysteries the world rereceiveth
not.

To thee then I come, O my compassionate High-
Priest, to be washed in that fountain which thou hast
opened for sin, and for all uncleanness; from thy heart,
thy hands, and feet it flowed, blood and water, to
cleanse and to redeem: wash me in that precious flood,
O thou Savior of sinners, and I shall be clean.
Come hither, O ye wounded souls, ye that are pricked
to the heart, that are crying out your wounds are incurable;
behold your priest: behold you sacrifice: behold
the Lamb of God that takes your sins away, he
hath given his life a ransom for many, and there is
balm in Gilead, there is a kind Physician there: behold
him by faith, he spreads his pierced hands to receive
you, your names are engraven on the palms of his
hands, and he will bid you go in peace. He now appears
before the throne, as a lamb newly slain, and
he ever lives to make intercession for us. Sin N4r 183
Sin hath binded our eyes, hath stopped our ears, and
shut up our hearts in more than Egyptian darkness;
Lord, I am as a brute beast before thee, I know not
the ways of God, nor the way in which I shoul walk:
I am by nature intirely immersed in blindness and ignorance,
to what teacher should I go, but to thee,
thou great prophet of thy church; thou art the wisdom
of God; thou art make unto us wisdom, and it
is thy office to open the eyes of the blind, to unstop the
deaf ears, to teach thy people by thy Spirit, all truth,
and to make fools wise unto salvation. Listen then,
my soul, to thy heavenly teacher, hear him in his
word, directing thy feet into the way of peace. Hear
him say, “This is the way, walk ye in it, go not
after thine own will, but follow the Lamb withersoever
he goeth, and he will lead thee to the good land,
the heavenly Canaan, where thou shalt be satisfied
with the blessings of his kingdom, and though the way
may lay through many a dark path, Jesus will be thy
light, and defence, thy sun, and thy shield; the sun
of righteousness will rise upon thee, with healing underneath
his blessed wings, will shed his divinest influence
upon thee, diect thee by his wisdom, guide
thee by his eye, lay his everlasting arms underneath
thee, and be thy God, and thy Savior in time and
eternity. When thou, poor silly sheep, wandereth from
the fold, the good shepherd will keep his eye upon
thee, he willnot suffer the wolf to devour thee, but
by the chastisement of his rod, will bring thee back,
when thou art weary and faint in thy mind, thy allskillful
Physician will make thee whole: he will heal N4 all N4v 184
all my backslidings, and love thee freely, for with him
there is no variableness, neither shadow of changing.
Rejoice then, O my soul, and ye saints of God, rejoice
in that Jehovah Jesus, who is the alpha and omega:
if he is our King, none can hurt us; if he is our
priest, he will save us; if he is our prophet, he
will guide us right, for he is called wonderful,
counsellor. We indeed are poor and blind, naked
and miserable in ourselves, but Jesus is made unto us
of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption: if we are nothing, he is all.”

Now to him who hath loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and
priests unot God, be honour and glory, thanksgiving and
praise, for all the inhabitants of heaven, and redeemed
saints upon earth, henceforth, and for ever. Amen.
and Amen.

A N5r 185


A
Summer Day’s
Excursion:

Farewell ye horrors of winter, ye have fled
to your bleak habitation in the north, and even gentle
Spring with all her “vernal airs” have taken flight—
Summer, rosy Summer, triumphs in her turn, and
spreads verdure, health, and festivity, through the vegetative,
animal and rational worlds.

Come, my Miranda, friend of my heart, let us
walk forth with the early dawn, let us contemplate the
dew drops that shine upon the grass, those bright diamonds
of the morning; let us admire the rising sun,
while he permits us to behold his glories; ere long his rays
will be too powerful, and his splendors to refulgent for
us to bear: but now the air is balmy, cool, and delightful,
we may lift up our eyes and behold the wonders of the N5v 186
the heavens—See the eastern clouds glow with most
magnificent colours, azure, purple and gold: Phœbus
has just mounted his flaming carr, Aurora flies before
him, and the hours in dance, follow in his train;
and are thy silent? is the bright progress of the imperial
king of day enclelbrated with celestial song? No,
methinks I hear the music of the sphere—Listen,
my Miranda, listen O my soul, for Meditation
has an ear can catch the most distant sound; softly
wafted on gentle echo’s wing it comes.

Fly, shadows fly! bright Sol appears,

Obtrusive darkness, haste away;

His flowing robe of light he wears,

And pours around a flood of day.

Rejoice, ye grovae-crow’d hills rejoice,

Ye humbler vallies laugh and sing,

Let universal nature’s voice

Raise the loud triumphs of her King.

God of the sun, his brightest rays

Sink into night, compar’d with thine,

In his refulgent noontide blaze

The glimm’rings of thy glories shine.

Yes, O sun, bright, and glorious as thou art, how
infinitely brighter, how inconceivably more glorious
must He be, who called thee into beng by his word,
created and upholds thee by his power, and from whom N6r 187
whom as the great fountain of light, thou receivest all
thy splenours, And who is this infinite Being, this
glorious God, but the Lord Jesus Christ? Col. i.16.
“For by him were all things created that are in heaven
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they
be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers, all
things were created by him and for him”
: Yes, O my
soul, he that created the heavens and formed the earth,
is no other than the great God thy Savior! how
sweet, how delightful a reflection; the Creator and
Preserver of all the grand and noble objects around me,
became a babe at Bethlehem, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief for me—lived for me, died for
me! O how grand, how noble, how sufficient and
infinite must that atonement, that righteousness and intercession
be which is the work of no less a person than
the author of universal nature: Is his work of creation
perfect? so is his grand work of redemption. Yes
my soul, his works are all perfect, all complete and
“thou art complete in him,” Col. ii.10.

How chearful, my dear Miranda, appears the face
of nature; a little while ago it was covered with the
shades of night; all was silent and solemn; but now
the rising sun has dissipated the gloom, the fields look
gay, the flowers open to drink in the dew and the first
gales of the morning, while the little feathered warblers
of the grove, are sending up a sweet song to their great
Creator and Benefactor, without whose permission, a
sparrow cannot fall to the ground. And O how chearful
is the believer in Jesus, when after a long night of, sorrow N6v 188
sorrow, the Sun of Righteousness arises upon him with
healing in his wings, heals his sorrows, speaks peace to
his soul, discovers some of the glories of his person and
offices, and gives the soul to see and enjoy a little of
the wonders of redeeming grace and dying love: How
sweet, how inexpressibly sweet is such a transition?
then the believer experiences the truth of the Psalmist’s
assertion, sorrow may endure for a night, but joy
cometh in the morning.”

Now blooms the rose, now the noble lily rears its
stately head; the garden puts on its most lovely appearance
and emits its most fragrant perfumes; while the
fields look gay, though clad with more artless attire:
there the yellow butterflower, the humble daisy, the
sweet smelling violet and spiral sorrel, mingling with
the tender grass, form a delicate carpet of the most variegated
colours;—and the softly breathing zephyrs,
carries on his gentle wings far and wide, the healthful
and pleasing efluvia of the new made hay. How delightful
and wide extended is the prospect around us!
the meadows are covered with flocks; here are sheep
feeding in green pastures, while the playful lambs are
striking hither and thither, and the contented shephers
sitting under yon lofty oak, diverts himself with his
pipe, enjoys the beautuous scene, unenvious of the pomp
and magnificence of the great. On the other hand, see
that vast ridge of hills that rise as it were, half way to
heaven, and forbid our sight to penetrate any further;
How sublimely majestic they appear. O! my Miranda,
who would not leave the confinement and confusionsion N7r 189
of London, for the acalm delights of so sweet a retirement,
and to contemplate the beauties of such a prospect
as this; and yet how far more noble a prospect,
how infinitely more grand a scene does the believer in
Jesus behold, when he is enabled wo view by faith,
Immanuel’s land, the kingdom of grace and glory,
where his inheritance is. “All things are yours, whether
Paul, or Apolles, or Cephas, or the world, or life,
or death, or things present or things to come, all are
your, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s,”

I Cor. iii.21--23.

Here are heights and depths of salvation; lengths
and breadths of astonishing grace: and all this our
own; yes, my friend, it was for us, and all the heirs
of glory, that the heavens and the earth were created:
it is for us they are still continued; for us the sun shines,
the rains descend, the dews distill; for us the earth is
crowned with fruitfulness and fragrance: the wicked
partake of the bounties of providence, but they are not
the proprietors of them. This world is a grand school
erected by the omnipotent God, in which he chuses to
educate his children, and when their education is complete,
he will present them to himself a glorious church
without spot or wrinkle, or any scuh thing; and then
he will pull down the school as a swept away, and all the
wonders of the first creation sink into nothing to make
room for the superior glories of the second; that brighter
better world, where the sun of righteousness shall shine
in his meridian splendour, and to which, the ransomed of N7v 190
of the Lord shall return, and come with singing, and
everlasting joy upon their heads.

Upon what swift pinions doth time fly! already hath
the sun entered the zenith: all nature seems to faint
under his scorching beams; the flowers droop, the cattle
take refuge under the wide spread shadow of the oak,
the elm, or the walnut tree. Come, my Miranda,
let us retire to yonder rural bower, it is composed of
laurel and bay, it is ornamented with jessamine and honeysuckles;
O how sweet, how delightful a retirement.
The robin has come hither before us; see, he
sits on yonder bough and whistles forth his joy. Here
let us sit down and recollect for a moment, that if this
retreat from the sultry beams of noon is so welcome, so
desirable, so refreshing to our wearied bodies and fatigued
spirits, how precious, how inexpressibly precious
must he Lord Jesus Christ be to that soul, who
when fainting under the fiery temptation of satan, the
scorching heat of persecution and overshelming afflictions,
is brought to sit down under his shadow; for one
of the glorious characters he sustains, is that of a shadow
from the heat Isa. XXV. 4. “The shadow of a
great rock in a weary land”

The Lord Jesus may be compared to a rock, because
of his immutability, and everlasting strength; and
to a great rock, because he is the great God. “Tell
me,”
says the spouse in the Canticles, “tell me, O
thou whom my soul loveth, wherte thou feedest? where thou N8r 191
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon?”
the good
shepherd
leads his flock to green pastures; he feeds
them under his own shadow, and upon the finest of
the wheat; his everlasting love, his exceeding great
and precious promises, his unchangeable veracity, his
all-sufficent power, the riches of his grace, the infinite
merit of his life and death, his covenant and oath. O
my dear friend, are not these some of the branches of
that gloriou apple-tree, under whose shadow you and
I have oft-times sat down with great delight? are not
these some of the rich fruit upon which we have fed,
when the king has taken us into his banqueting house,
and make his banner over us to be love? These are
soft resting places, quiet and secureresting places; the
apostle Paul found them so, and therefore could say,
“I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day”
2 Tim. i.12. It was a
sultry noon of persecution with Paul when he wrote
those words, but notwithstanding, he could sweetly
rest in peace, under the shadow of an almighty
Savior.

What gradual advances doth not Pheobus make in his
diurnal journey? he doth not burst upon us with aw
flood of light and heat, out of the womb of midnight
darkness, but arises upon our world by gentle degrees,
till at length he arrives at his zenith, than he blazes
forth in his full refulgence, and not only the corn is
ripened, the fruit matured, but his piercing rays penetratetrate N8v 192
to the deepest recesses of the earth, and shed their
influences upon the most solid rock, to form the diamond,
to bid the ruby glow, and to adorn the emerald,
the amythist, and the pearl, with all their varied beauties.
Thus gradual, thus progressive, were the discoveries
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his great
salvation, made to a lost fallen world; the sun of
righteousness did not arise at once, his first rising beams
shone but faintly, the great designs of Jehovah were
revealed at first in dark sayings, mystical ceremonies,
types so enveloped with clouds, that nothing but
the eye of faith could penetrate them: then brighter,
and still brighter displays of sovereign grace and mercy
in the person of Christ, were given by the divinely
inspired lips of the prophets; and in the appointed
ime, the sun of righeousness shone forth in
his meridian splender, “God was manifest in the
flesh
, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the gentiles, believed onin the world, received
up into glory”
I Tim. iii.16. In this gradual manner
also, does the Lord Jesus carry on his work in the
hearts of his people; the Holy Spirit sheds a little
of his divine light on their dark understandings, and
the night of nature is in a measure dissipated, but they
perceive spiritual objects in a very imperfect manner,
like the man whose eyes when once touched by the
sun of righteoussness shines with brighter and brighter
beams, and thy see more and more of his beauty and
excellence; their faith is strengthened, their hope is
confirmed, their hearts glow with stronger beams of O1r 193
of divine love; they become more and more acquainted
with their own vileness, wretchedness, and helplessness,
and thus they go from one degree of grace to another,
from strength to strength, till they appear before the
Lord, in Zion. “The path of the just is like the
shining light which shineth more and more unto the
perfect day.”

What little dependence to be placed on the weather;
how very uncertain is all created good; see, my
Miranda, the sun has hid his radiant head; the
clouds gather, they appear dark and gloomy, and
threaten a shower. Well, it will be a welcome refreshment
to the gardens, the fields will smell more
aromatic; see! it comes already, in what gentle drops
it falls, there are no thunders to alarm, no vivid lightnings
to reffify us, it is not attended with a storm, it
does not descend in a rapid torrent: no, it is a mild
pacificshower, the coulds drop fatness, it will revive
and invigorate all nature: so when the clouds of affliction
gather around the christian, there is no real
cause for him to be terrified and affrighted, there is no
storm of divine wrath to overwhelm him, no thunders
of Sinai, no curses of a fiery law to consume him,
they are quenched in the precious blood of Jesus: thy
darkest cloud, O believer, will produce nothing but
the gentle chastisement of a father’s hand, it will drop
fatness on thy paths, humble thy spirit, soften thy hard
heart, and in due time, bring forth the peaceable fruits
of righteouse: then shall thy sun again shine forth,
and till he does, wait patiently for hi, and rememberO ber O1v 194
that he abideth faithful, he is the same yesterday,
to day, and for ever.

The rain is over, the clouds break off, the blue heavens
again appear in their etherial beauty and elegance;
again the sun sens forth his golden beams to drink
up the residue of the late fallen shower, but he shines
in milder beams, abated splendor; in the calm hour
of morn he crowned the eastern clouds with gold and
purple, but now he illumintes the western hemisphere
with his glories, and instead of the sultry blaze of
noon, presents us with the cool delights, the refreshing
breezes of the sober evening. Welcome, sweet
hour of prime”
, thou art sacred to meditation, devotion,
and the muses: thus peaceful, thus serenely calm is the
conscience sprinkled with the blood of Jesus: but hark,
my Miranda, friend of my heart, did I not hear the
cuckow’s chearful note? yes, yonder he sits, perched on
that tall fir, and repeats, and again repeats his pleasing
tale: wherever he is, he has but one theme to record,
and though he constantly pays us a visit with every
returing May, yet his story is always the same, his
song never varies. Will not this remind us, my dear
Miranda, that the joyful sound of the glorious Gos—
pel
, in all ages, in all climates, is constantly, unalterably,
invariably the same. The Lord Jesus Christ
is its grand theme, he is the illustrious object it incessantly
displays. God the father presents him to
our view, and says, “This is my beloved son, in
whom I am well pleased, hear ye him,”
Matt.xvii.5.
The Holy Spirit leads the repenting sinner to none
but Jesus, as the great author and finisher of salvation; He O2r 195
“He shall glorify me,” says the Savior, “for he shall
receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you”
John
xvi. 14.
“He shall testify of me” ibid. xv. 26. the
Lord Jesus is the grand subject of the scriptures,
both of the old and new testament. “Search the scriptures,
for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and
they are they that testify of me”
John V.39. “To
him give all the prophets witness”
Act, X.43. and the
apostle of the Lamb had nothing else to preach or
write of, but the sovereign love, froee grace, and rich
abundant mercy of a triune Jehovah, as manifested in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet,
the priest, the king, the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption of his people. O, my Miranda,
if this joyful sound has reached our ears, has
penetrated our hearts, has filled our souls with triumph;
this will be, yes, and this is our language, God forbid
that we should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, I am determined to know nothing
among you, O ye sons and daughters of this world,
but Jesus Christ and him crucified

The shadows of evening are lengthening apace,
and warn us of the approach of night, the moon is
rising in cloudless majesty. Come, my dear friend,
let us return to our habitation, how short is the longest
day: thus when in the evening of life the night of
death approaches, may it find my dear Miranda
and her friend, thus fearless, thus calm and peaceful:
yes, O thou gloomy tyrant of the grave, we shall triumph
over thee, Jesus our all-conquering God and O2 Sa- O2v 196
Savior hath taken away thy string, and he is gone
as our great Forerunner to prepare us an habitation
among the blessed; he hath given us as inheritance
among the saints in light, there our sun shall no more
go down, neither shall our moon withdraw itself; there
the Lord shall be unto us an everlasting light, and our
God our glory; there we shall enjoy an eternal summer,
and employ our golden harps through endless
ages, in celebrating the God of our salvation, to whom
we would join with angels and archangels, and all the
ransomed throng in ascribing glory and praise, for ever.
Amen.

O3r


A
Meditation
For the
Lord’s Supper

See, O my soul, thy condescending Savior has spread
a table for thee in the midst of this howling wilderness
—thy great Melchisedec brings forth bread and
wine to regale thee, and this is the language of his
heart, “Eat, O my friend, drink, yea drink abundabtly,
O beloved, and as often as thou doest this, do it in
remembrance of me”
My Savior, my Lord, and my
God, I would fain obey thy gracious command, I
would fain remember thee, but ah! thou knowest the
stupidity of my heart, how apt it is to forget thee;
Lord, it is dead, Oh breathe upon it the breath of O3 life O3v 198
life: it is insensible, Oh! quicken it by the almighty
agency of thy good Spirit; lead me to Gethsemane,
lead me to Calvary, there open to my view, the heights
and depths, the lengths and breadths of thine inexpressible,
inconceivable love; there let me sit at thy feet,
O thou whom my soul loveth, and remember with
unutterable joy, with heart-felt delight, with the deepest
contition and humiliation, let me remember that I
have redemptin in blood of Jesus, the forgiveness
of my sins.

“Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed
garments from Bozrah?”
Lord, I remember thee,
thou art the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the
Prince of peace; thou art the self-existent Jehovah,
the God whom angels and archangels adore; they
bow at thy footstool, they fly at thy bidding; univesal
nature depends upon thee, thou art the Creator and
Preserver of all things; thou art my God, I fall at thy
feet, andremember with astonishment that thou hast
so loved me, as to become for my sake a man, a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief! I see thee born
in a stable, laid in a manger, growing up to a mature
age in poverty and obscurity, under the deep disguise
of a carpenter’s son. O ye angels of God, ye bright
etherial sons of the morning, how did your seraphic
bosoms swell with astonishment, for ye beheld him—
you acknowledged him for your Sovereign, though the
world knew him not.

I see O4r 199

I see thee, O Immanuel, my King and my God,
prostrate in Gethsemane; there I remember thy soul
was sorrowful, sorrowful even unto death: I see thee
silent at Pilate’s bar, and growning out thy spirit upon
Calvary’s Cross; and I remember that in all this,
thou stoodest forth as my faithful Surety and Bondsman,
bound by thy own solemn engagement to pay to
divine justice, the infinite debt I had contracted; and
now I see thee inviolably faithful to thy covenant,
clearing off my long arrears, with groans, with blood,
with agony, and death. Lord, I remember thy
dying love, and blush that I have ever forgot it;—be
ashamed, O my soul, that thou art so little mindful of
thy Savior; be ashamed that thou canst think of any
thing else but him. O thou bleeding lover of my
soul, I am amazed and confounded, I am covered with
self-abasement, at the vileness, the base ingratitude,
and stupidity of my heart, which after all thou hast
done, after all thou hast suffered is so awfully prone
to wander from, and forget thee, the fountain of all
blessedness. Thou hast set me as a seal upon the heart;
thou hast graven my upon the palms of thine hands,
and though tou art exalted upon a throne of glory,
yet thou wilt not for a moment forget me, thy watchful
eye is continually upon me for good; thine ear is
continually open tomy prayer, and thine hand is every
moment stretched out to bless me; thy heart is now
glowing with the same ineffable, unbounded love to
me, which constrained thee to die for my sake; all
the waters of my ingratitude, all the floods of my forgetfulness
of thee has not been able to quench that infinite
flame. O my God, here is my happiness, thou O4 wilt O4v 200
wilt, thou dost love me still: surely then thou deservest
all the affections of my soul. Thou sayest, “My son,
my daughter, give me thine heart”
O take it, by the
omnipotent power of thy Holy Spirit; set thyself as a
seal upon my heart, I would offer it as a thank-offering
unto thee, do thou bind the sacrifice to the horns of
the alter; by the sweet silken cords of love divine,
stamp thy own holy image upon this ungrateful, forgetful
heart; and as thou dost pardon its vileness and
baleness, O hold it so fast in thine Almighty hand, that
it may never wander from, never forget thee more, thou
God of my salvation.

Midst the solemn shades of night,

Let my soul remember thee,

Midst the noontide blaze of light,

Thou, my sun, shine bright on me:

Ever present be thy grace,

Be thy power ever nigh,

Till I see thy smiling face,

In the realms above the sky.

O5r (201)


A
Walk at Enfield.

The clock’s struck three, and lo! Philander comes

True (as the needle to the northern pole)

To his appointed hour, by friendship led,

To guide Miranda and her friend, in paths

Of smiling verdure, where, before their feet

Had never trod: he for awhile lays by

Sublimer studies, to enjoy the sweets

Gay summer hangs on every bush and spray,

To view great nature in her rich attire,

And in converse agreeable, beguile

A cheerful hour, stol’n from the sciences.

Calm is the day, unruffled by a storm,

Th’therial heavens wear their azure robe,

Pheobus at times puts forth his golden beams

And smiles in orient glories on the earth,

Then lest the weary traveller should faint

Beneath his sultry ray, kindly withdraws,

And leaves a cool refreshing shade around.

Hark how the little warblers of the grove

Attune their softest songs to charm the ear

And sooth the heart with sweetest melody,

As thro’ green allies, o’er the flow’ry lawn

We O5v 202

We rove, delighted with the beauteous scene,

Or up the gently rising hill ascend,

Or climb the steeper heights with labouring steps;

Sweet labour, where fatigue is overpaid

By such a prospect, such delights as these,

Peace, heavenly peace triumphant in the soul,

And the dear voice of friendship in my ear;

The laughing vallies, and the grove crown’d hills,

And universal nature smiling round,

All gay, all happy—how the distant town

Sinks from our view; low in a vale it lies,

Half hid in woods: hail lovely shades, the seat

Of contemplation and retirement sweet,

But for awhile farewell, we bid adieu

Till the fair star of evening call us home

To the lov’d spot where God and Paulus dwell,

And science and religion call their own.

The wide spread heath, the waving forest crowns

The distant prospect; hill o’er hill ascends

Sublimely grand, and kiss the bending skies,

Wile the clear river draws its humid train,

In soft meanders thro’ the verdant meads,

Diffusing health and fruitfulness around.

Here might we dwell, and with admiring hearts

Adore the God whose boundless glories shine

Above, beneath, around: But objects new

Invite us—then adieu ye grove-croen’d hills,

The wide spread heath, the river’s humid train,

And humble Enfield, dwelling in the vale.—

Lo! O6r 203

Lo! as we turn, fresh wonders rise in view,

Enemell’d meadows spangled o’er with gold,

Or green with corn just rising in the ear,

While gentle Zephyr on his silken wings

Bears the rich fragrance of the new mown hay.

And see, in yonder field, a rural train

With sprightly vigour, active diligence,

Pursue their wholesome toil: they toss and turn

The tender grass that ripens as it lies

In the bright splendours of the lamp and day;

Placid and chearful as a summer’s eve,

And lest their spirits fail before the hour

Of eve proclaim their pleasant labours o’er,

They chat, they smile, and with united voice,

They speed the lagging moments with a song.

But say, Philander, who is that appears

Lord of the pastures, on a goodly steed

He sits, but wih a melancholy air

Surveys unmov’d the beauties of the scene,

And clad in sable colour’d weeds of woe?

’Tis Clio, late the happy, late the blest,

If aught below the skies can bear the name

Of bliss of happiness; but ah! ’twas frail,

A fleeting joy, death with an envious frown

High rear’d a fatal dart, and lodg’d it deep

In his Lucinda’s bosom; in her tomb

Lies Clio’s bliss: in vain the charming spring

And rose-crown’d summer smile, in vain for him

Ten thousand sweets arise, his sadden’d heart

Chear- O6v 204

Chearless remains, so Jacob mourn’d his son,

And sweet Psalmist—his lov’d Jonathan.

See down the hill’s slope side, a traveller pass,

A weak old man, infirm with age and care,

Tott’ring and slow, his aspect spare and mean

Awakes the tend’rest pow’rs of sympathy.

Ah feeble age! and must thou groan beneath

Th’ oppressive wallet, and penurious want?

But soft—methinks upon a nearer view,

’Tis Graspall’d little soul inspires that frame,

So lank and meagre; let compassion wipe

Her tearful eye, and indignation rise,

Gen’rous displeasure, ’gainst the meanest sin,

The meanest passion, sordid love of gold.

Graspall counts o’er his bags, but not enjoys

The treasures sweets, by avarice forbid,

He counts his thousands, and he yet is poor.

See how the sprightly boy with nimble feet,

Trips lightly on, still singing as he goes;

His heart is blith, content sits smiling there,

While ruddy health, with bright vivacity

Glows in his cheek, and sparkles in his eye.

Now to the summit of the hill arriv’d,

How fair a prospect opens to our view!

The flow’ry vale beneath, the gurgling brook

Whose gentle murmurs sooth the list’ning ear:

On either hand the chequer’d meads that rise,

Or fall, in hill or dell, a best dispos’d

By O7r 2905

By the great Maker’s hand, in that blest day

When angels sung creation’s mighty work

To harps of gold—See thro’ the distant woods

A glassy lake appear; how smooth, how calm,

Unruffled by a breeze: the vale invites,

Let us descend and taste its humble charms.

Soft be our steps, and watchful be our eyes,

Lest with a thoughtless mind, and heedless feet

we crush the busy tribes that swarm around,

And bury millions in a foot of sand.

“Go to the ant thou sluggard, saith the wife,

And in her school learn prudence:” how they toil,

Pleas’d with the prospect of a sunny day,

They quit their cities, and to labour throng

In num’rous armies, wise to gather food,

The bouties which the God of providence

From his all-gracious hand scatters around,

Amply to fill their winter’s magazines,

That when the low’ring skies and driving storms

Confine them to their little earthly cells,

The free community may feel no want,

But live in plenty, tho’ without the sun.

Here let us sit, beneath this aged oak,

Whose wide spread branches shade the gentle stream,

Whose waters softly flowing, scarce forbid

The trav’ller’s foot to reach the distant side.

Hark how the nightingale and robin pour

Thier softest notes, their sweetest music forth

To entertain us, form the neighb’ring grove.

The O7v 206

The cuckow too his constant theme repeats;

Ah welcome stranger! my enraptur’d ear

Shall listen to thy voice with more delight

Than all the feather’d choristers beside.

But while the airy serenade proceeds,

Come gentle friends, and let us join the lay;

Let hill and valley sing, and all the race

Of creatures join in one harmonious song

To hail the glorious God, whose fist call’d

Creation forth from the chaotic womb

Of night and darkness to illustrious birth,

And bade it shine a noble universe

Worthy the mighty builder. Raise we still

A higher note, a more triumphant strain,

Jesus the mighty builder of the skies,

Who calls the earth the footstool of his throne,

Bow’d his majestic head on calvery,

And cry’d “’Tis finished:” then redemption rose, redemption all triumphant, all divine,

Let his redeem’d exult, with boundless joy

Sing the Creator, the redeemer God.

High let their songs arise and pierce the clouds,

And join the hallelujahs of the skies,

Where our Immanuel reigns enthron’d in light,

The God of glory and the God of grace.

Farewell sweet fields, thou gurgling brook adieu;

And all ye airy warblers of the grove:

The setting sun adorns the western clouds

Wtih gay magnificence, and the cool eve,

With her fair rising star calls us away

To O8r 207

To other scenes, still pleasing, still serene;

For beauteous is the spot where Paulus dwells,

And humble Enfield dwelling in the vale,

Partakes the bouties of her Maker’s hand

In rich profusion. See her spires arise,

Half hid in verdant groves, how bright they glow

In Sol’s departing rays: Yon antient pile

Whose venerable tow’rs from age to age,

Sacred to heaven, has bvav’d the shocks of time.

There heroes sleep; no more the clang of war

Disturbs their slumbers; may their dust repose

In peaceful silence, till the trump of God

Awake the world and bid it sleep no more.

Behold yon pensive trav’ller silent stand,

Leaning like Jacob, on his oaken staff;

He bends beneath the weight of num’rous years,

And muses o’er a thousand by-past scenes,

Which faithful memory revives to view,

And ev’ry tought is follow’d by a sigh.

So when our fainting spirits tire and lag,

As on we journety up the heavenly road,

May the firm promise of a faithful God

Support our steps; there may we safely lean

By stedfast faith, and rest our weary souls,

Look backward on the wonders of his hand,

Look forward to the crown beyond the veil,

And ev’ry rising thought be wing’d with joy,

O’erflowing gratitude, and humble love;

Till from the skies his winged messengers

Descend O8v 208

Descend, to bear us to our Father God;

To walk the golden streets, to gather fruit

From life’s immortal tree, and prove the bliss

That blossoms in the paradise of God;

A brighter paradise than Adam lost,

An Eden purcha’d by a Savior’s blood.

There shall we sing his boundless name, and fall

Before his throne in extacies divine;

No more to sigh, to sin and part no more,

But in immortal triumphs to exult

With the bright sons of morn, as bright as they,

Wile everlasting ages roll along.

P1r


A
Meditation
On Rev. xii. 6.

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she
hath a place prepared of God, that they should
feed her there, a thousand two hundred and threescore
days.”

The church of Christ, his mystical body, those
whom he loved in eternity, redeemed in time, calls
by his spirit to the knowledge of themselves, and of
him whom to know is life eternal, and finally brings
to his kngdom and glory,—This elect church of God,
we find in the scriptures of truth, described under
various characters, typified by verious things, but all
significative either of what it is in itself, or of what
it it in its glorious head; thus it is sometimes called
a Worm, a Vine, and helpless Infant, descriptive P of P1v 210
of its weakness, imbecelity and want of support; for
what is more despicable and weak than a worm? what
stands in more need of support than a vine? and what is
more incapable of helping itself than a new born infant?
—we know it is totally void of the power of defence,
and of every means of providing for its own
subsistence: and so in a spiritual sense, is the church of
God, totally weak, void of power, and without strength,
and utterly unable to provide for itself, stand against
any of its numerous enemies, or extricate itself out of
the many dangerous and disagreeable situations it is often,
very often brought into. On the other hand, “I
have compared thee, O my love,”
says the Lord, by
the mouth of an inspired penman, “to a company of
horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.”
Now we know that
horses are creatures possessed of a very large portion
of strength, and were thy capable of knowing theri
own strength, there remains a doubt whether or no they
would be subjest to man: but the church is weak, and
in itself without strength; therefore this character of
horses can only relate to them as they are considered
in Jesus; for in the Lord Jehovah, they have not only
righteousness, but also strength to conquer
sin, strength to conquer devils, and strength to conquer
death, their last enemy; for all the strength and power
of a triune God, an omnipotent Jehovah, is engaged on
their side, to fight their battles for them, to tread their
spiritaul enemies under their feet, to give them the victory,
and make them finally more than conquerors over all
that rise against them; and were they but more sensible of P2r 211
of tis, could they but, when feeling their own insufficiency,
behold and rely of that Almighty arm, that
infinite strength, and everlasting power, which is engaged
by covenant, by promise and oath to be exercised
for them;—had they but full views of this, they
would never be subject to sinking fears, and evil questioning,
dark surmises, and unbelieving doubts, which
often arises in their hearts, and sometimes hold their
troubled spirits in bondage, under the gloomy apprehension
of being finally overcome by their enemies,
and snatched from the arms, and torn from the bosom
of him who hath sworn never to let them go: no, they
would rather cry out with the psalmist, “The Lord
is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
when the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came
upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell;
tough an host should encamp against me, my heart
shall not fear, though war should rise against me, in
this will I be confident, the Lord is with us, the God
of Jacob is our refuge:”
and add with the apostle, “if
God be for us, who can be against us? who shall seperate
us fro the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress,
of persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors, through him that loved us; for I am persuaded
that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to seperate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

P2 Thus P2v 212

Thus we find that the church in scripture is described
under various figures, and perhaps out of many more
instances that might be brought, none are more strikingly
beautiful, more picturesque or fuller of divine
consolation to the church in general, and every individual
member in particular, than the text I would
desire, under the divine influences of the Lord the
Spirit, now to contemplate; for as he is the author of
these lively oracles, he must be also the revealer of
them to our hearts, or we shall see no beauty in them,
and consequently receive no divine consolation, no
heavenly blessing from them. Come then, O thou
divine Paraclete, and with thy light illuminate my
darkness, with thy fire warm my cold heart, with
thine unerring hand direct my pen into the paths of sacred
truth, because thou hast engaged to be an instructor
to the ignorant, a teacher of babes.—“And the woman
fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared
of God, that they should feed her there, a thousand,
two hundred, and threescore days.”

If we attend to the origin of women, we find that
she received her life and being from the side of man;
“the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,
and he slept, and he took out one of his ribs, and closed
up the flesh instead thereof, and the rib which the Lord
God
had taken from man, made he a woman, and
brought her to the man; and Adam said, this is now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be
called woman, because she was taken out of man”

Gen.ii.21,22,23. Analogus to this, the church may P3r 213
may very properly be called a woman; for as Eve received
life from the side of Adam, so the church receives
her spiritual, divine, eternal life from the side of her
dying Christ, the second Adam, the Lord from
heaven. The Lord God put Adam into a deep sleep,
while he took from him the rib of which he created
him a wife, and Jesus was fast locked int he arms of
death, when his side was pierced, from whence flowed
that precious fountain of atoning blood, which purchased
him a bride, and streams of water, significative of that
Holy Spirit which should convey to his church that
life and those blessings he had purchased for her.

When Eve was created, Adam awaked from his profound
slumber; and so when the great work of redemption
was compleated, when the justice of God was fully
satisfied, his law gloriously magnified, sin made an end
of transgression finished, and everlasting righteousness
brought in for the church, the Lamb’s wife, then
the Almighty conqueror, the victorious Savior,
burst the bars of death, snapt asunder the power of the
grave, and rose triumphant to reap the fruits of his
pains, to receive the reward of his labour, and fee of
the travail of his soul, and be abundantly satisfied.

The Lord God having made the woman, brought
her unto the man: she did not come to him of herself,
and being brought unto him by God, Adam received
her joyfully, with all the marks of the most tender
affection, acknowledging her to be bone of his bones,
and flesh of his flesh, and called her woman, because P3 she P3v 214
she was taken out of man; so the church of Christ,
the purchase of his blood, though she has cost him dear,
and stands under infinite obligations to him, comes not
to him of her own accord, but is brought unto his by God.
“No man cometh unto me,” says the Savior, “except
the father draw him”
We don’t read that Eve
had any objections to coming to Christ; her
understanding is darkened, she don’t see her need of
him, her will is depraved, she is positively determined
never to come to him, and her affections are so alienated
from him that she hates him, desires not his presence,
seeks not his love, but every thing that is contrary to
him, that she loves, that she seeks, and pursues with
delight and greediness; she is in no concern about
his dispresure, she fears not his wrath, but she wraps
herself up in a false security, and vainly imagines that
she has made a covenant with death, and with hell is
at agreement: she thinks herself safe, though her refuge
is a refuge of lies; and says in the pride and deceit of
her heart, “When the overflowing scourge shall pass
through, it shall not come nigh me; I sit a queen,
and shall never see evil.”
This is her miserable situation
by nature, and while it is so, alas, there is little
appearances of her coming to Christ: but what is
to be done in this case? why the promise is, “All that
the father giveth me, shall come unto me”
The
father therefore draws her to the son, that she may
be betrothed unto him in righteousness faithfulness,
and truth, and that for ever: he sees the pride of her
heart, and the iron sinew that is in her neck, and has de- P4r 215
determined that it shall be no prevention to his bringing
about, and fully accomplishing his gracious designs towards
her. He therefore declares, “Because ye have
said, We have made a covenant with death, and with
hell are we at agreement, when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we
have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we
hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God,
Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation;
judgment also will I lay to the line, and tighteousness
to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the
refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding
place, and your covenant with death shall be disanulled,
and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when
the overflowing scourge shall pass through ye shall be
trodden down by it, form the time that it goeth forth
it shall take you; for morning by orning shall it pass
over by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation
only to understand the report, for the bed is shorter
than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the
covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it,
for the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim; he
shall be wrath as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may
do his work, his strange word, and bring to pass his
act, his strange act,”
Isa. xxviii. 16-24.

This is the way God the father brings the church
to Christ; she is proud and stout hearted, and fortified
with all the armour that satan canput upon her,
but the Lord God knows how to humble her pride, P4 to P4v 216
to break her stout heart, and to take away all the false
props in which she trusted;—he has laid a sure foundation
for her everlasting happiness, and he will place
her upon it in spite of all that hell and she can do
against it; to this end he arrests her by his Spirit, apprehends
her by his powerful grace, and convinces her
of sin, brings her conscience to the bar of his justice,
and obliges her to plead guilty; and though she may
perhaps endeavour to hide herself under the lying refuge
of a righteousness of her won, yet he will hunt
her uot of thie false covert, the hail, the storm, shall
sweep it away; he will lay judgment to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet, and convince her that
she is not only a sinner by actual transgression, but
that the fountain is corrupt, that her heart is depraved,
that her nature is not only dead, but opposite to God,
and that God’s holy righteou law has passed the sentence
of condemnation upon her: he will lay judgment
to the line and righteousness to the plummet,
he will convince her of the spiritual nture of the law;
how holy, how perfect, how righteous it is: she will
find it not only condemns her nature, and evil practice,
but when she brings her best things unto it, her refuge
of lies, in which she trusted, and which she called
righteousness; when she sees this weighed in the aweful
balance of the sanctuary, and finds it found wanting:
finds it lighter than air, and altogether vanity; a
shadow without any substance, a phantasm without any
reality; finds it is sin, altogether sin, and that as such
the law of God condemns it: as such it stinks in the
nostrils of the infinitely holy Jehovah, who casts it from P5r 217
from his presence as a polluted garment, and esteems
it but filthy rags. When she sees and feels this, she
is ready to cry out, in the anguish of her heart, “Woe
is me, for I am undone;”
and why so? even because
the hail hath swept away her refuge of lies, and the
overflowing storm destroyed her hiding-place; she finds
that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against
all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men; and alas,
she feels that she is nothing but an unrighteous
sinner; and this humbles her haughty heart, this bows
her stubborn will, and makes her glad to come weary
and heavy laden to Jesus Christ, for life and salvation.
Thus the Lord accoplishes his strange work,
his wonderful workm his omnipotent work, the conversion
of a sinner, the bringing a ruined soul, a ruined
church, to a crucified Lord; and never did Adam
receive his new created Eve with that joy, that heartfelt
delight and complacency that Jesus Christ receives
the poor ill and hell deserving sinner, that comes
to him by faith, being drawn by the Father unto
him, he acknowledges him for his own. He says,
“Thou art the purchase of my blood, I loved thee
in eternity; I laid down my life for thy ransom; for
thee I laboured thirty-three years, bearing the contadiction
of sinner: I stood in thy place, and fulfilled
all righteousness for thee, in order that I might wipe
the tears of sorrow from thine eyes; I sweated blood;
my soul was sorrowful, sorrowful even unto death,
and I never left off toiling, and suffering for thee, till
I bowed my head on the cross, and had finished thy
salvation. Behold then, how I loved thee! come and look P5v 218
look into my heart that was pierced for thee, and behold
thy name engraven there in characters never to be
erazed; yea, thy name is engraven upon the palms of
my hands, and thy walls are continually before me.”

Thus the church may very properly be compared to
a woman, because the analogy there is betwixt it and
the first woman, the mother of all living; and as Eve
was the beloved spouse of Adam, so is the Church of
Christ: he has declared he is “married unto her”
Jer. iii.14. And says in another place, “Thy Maker
is thine husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name,”
Isa.
liv.5.
“And” (says the apostle,) “we are members of
his body, of his flesh, and of his bones”
Eph. v.30.
but the Husband is in heaven, and the Wife upon earth;
the Bridegroom is in a palace, and the Bride in a wilderness:
“For,” saith the text, “the woman fled into
the wilderness.”
Now a wilderness is remarkable
for two things; first, there is nothing in it that is profitable
or delightful; but every ting that is frightful,
dangerous, and distressing: there is no evershadowing
branches to screen the fainting traveller from the scorching
heat of the meridian sun, no cooling streams to allay
his thirst, and afford him some kind refreshment;
no beds of roses, no vernal bowers to rest his weary
limbs; when fatigued with his journey; no delicious
fare to abate his hunger, recruit his spirits, or increase
his strength:—nothing but burning sands, and fiery serpents,
howling winds and barren wilds, or only fruitful
in producing briers and thorns, which prick his feet
and retard his pace, and make him cry out, “O that I had P6r 219
had wings like a dove, that I might flee away from the
noisy wind and tempest:”
Or, in the language of an
inspired apostle, “O wretched man that I am!”
Such a wilderness is this world, though it is full of
beauty, crown’d with verdure, and adorn’d by the hand
of its infinite Creator with every thing that can accommodate
and supply our bodies, yet it is void of every
thing which is spiritually profitable; there is nothing
in it which can satisfy the vast desries of an immortal
soul; nothing which can comfort, support or console
the mind of the pilgrim who is journeying through it,
from time to eternity, from earth to heaven: no, he
finds it a barren desert, void of every thing that is substantially
and abidingly good; but it is filled with every
thing that can hurt and annoy him; snares, and nets,
and gins are continually laid for his feet; briers and
thorns are often besetting him round, and hedging up
his way that he cannot go forward: besides, it is infested
with beasts of prey; the roaring lion of hell wanders
up and down it, seeking whom he may devour: and
happy, happy, yea, thrice happy is he who escapes his
ravenousjaws: buring sands of fierce temptation, blustering
winds and rushing storms, oft-times surprise him;
so that sometimes his day is turned into night, his joy
into sorrow, and this very heart thrills with fear lest he
should lose his way, perish in the wilderness, and never
reach the good land, the heavenly Canaan he is seeking.

This is the wilderness up and down in which the
church of God are scattered; but blessed be God, tho’
she is in a wilderness, she is inot alone, tha were a dismalmal P6v 220
situation truly, for were she alone in the wilderness,
she must perish, she would soon be overwhelmed
by the whirlwind, or carried away by the storm: but
though her Lord is in heaven, and she upon earth;
though, if considered as man, the heavens have received
and must contain him till the great day of restitution
comes; yet in Jehovah, God over al blessed for
ever, he fills all space, and crowns immensity with his
presence; and he hath said to his spouse, his purchased
inheritance, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”
His eye is incessantly upon her, his everlasting arms are
underneath her: when she passes through fire and
through water, he is nigh, and is as a wall of fire round
about her. Jesus is with her in the wilderness as a
guide, she ofen takes wrong steps, and is frequently at
the point of losing her way, but then she hears his friendly
voice behind her, saying, “This is the way, walk
thou therein”
—He is not only with her as a guide, but
he is with her as a guard, to protecther from her enemies:
when the lion roars, she trembles, when her foes,
strong and mighty approach, she stands aghast, but the
Lord her shield, advances, spreads over her the shadow
of his wing, and taking the battle into his own
hand, girds his sword upon his thigh, and rides on conquering
and to conquer, for they are all to him as the
dry stubble is to the burning flame; by the breath of
his mouth he scatters them as the small dust is dispersed
abroad by the force of the irresistable whirlwind, and
they are obliged to fall before him as Dagon fell before
the ark, or as a worm would be crushed under the foot
of one of the mighty sons of Anak. that P7r 221
He is not only with her as her guide and protector,
but also to supply all her wants, and comfort her under
all her oppressions:—She is often cast down and afflicted;
often grieved and distressed; but when this is
the case, Jesus draws nigh, and says ho her soul, “Peace
be unto thee; in the world ye shall have tribulation,
but in me ye shall have peace.”
When she hungers,
he feeds her with the bread of heaven; and when she
thirsts, he leadeth her to the wells of salvation, and
gives her to drink of the rivers of life, those rivers of
pleasure which flow at his right hand for evermore:—
when she is fainting, he strengthens her; when falling,
raises her; and when she is wounded by the beasts of
prey, stung by the poisonous nettles, with which this
world, this wilderness abounds, he makes her whole,
and restores her to health by applying to her wound the
healing balsom of his atoning blood, the chearing unction
of his holy Spirit; for she is not to be destroyed in
the wilderness, it is a place prepared of God, he built
it on purpose for her reception; there she is exercised,
tried, purified and made capable of enjoying that better
portion reserved in heaven for her—“the woman
fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared
of God, that they should feed her there:”
indeed she
hath a right to be fed, for she is not a widow, her husband
is living, and lives for evermore, and it is the
privilege of every wife to be maintained by her husband
if he has it in his power to maintain her, at least she
has a certain right to expect it; and if he neglects or
refuses to do it, when able, every one will allow he is
a bad husband, and deserves no better a character than that P7v 222
that of a villain; but Jesus is a faithful husband, a tender
affectionate husband; he loves his bride, he purchased
her with an infinite price, and has it well in his
power to provide for all her wants: the treasures of his
love are past finding out; the riches of his grace are
unsearchable, and the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness
thereof; thereof she hath a right upon the best
and surest foundation, and it is her priviege to look up
to him, not for a scanty allowance, but a full and ample
supply of all she stands in need of; for as she possesses
his hand and his heart, all that he has is hers; “for,”
saith the apostle, and he knew his Master’s mind, “all
things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or
the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things
to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ’s and Christ
is God’s”
Cor. iii.21-23.. This is a large grant,
a very valuable possession, if we had but eyes to behold
the extent of it; but our sight is now weak, and therefore
we can view but a little, very little part of it;
however, since this is the case, the church is in no danger
of starving; God hath determined she shall be fed:
he will feed her soul wiht his word and spirit, and feed
her body by a thousand providences; and though her
spiritual and temporal enemies, widked men and wicked
devils, are striving continually to cut off her supplies,
and to cause her to perish by famine from off the face
of the earth, yet, blessed be God, they are striving in
vain, for infinite wisdom knows how to counter-work
all their designs, and can, and often does out of the
strongest temtation, out of the bitterest affliction, bring
forth some sweet and savory meat to feed the souls and
bodies of his children. Job’s affliction were calculated to P8r 223
to feed his soul with heavenly manna, to bring him off
from feeding upon that which is not bread, even upon
the mouldy husks of his own righteousness, that he
might be fed with immortal food, the all-sufficient righteousness
of God his Savior. While Jacob’s trouble
was evidently designed for the temporal preservation of
himself and his house, at a time when famine and scarcity
overspread the earth; thus “the woman fled into
the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred
and threescore days.”

Blessed be God, though the church is in a wilderness
at present, she is not to abide there for ever, she shall
not be always beset with dangers, surrounded by enemies,
and filled with affliction and sorrow; no, her beloved
has not only prepared a place for her in this tumultuous
ses of fire and glass, where she is to be fed
and preserved, but he is also gone as her great forerunner,
to prepare a place in his palace, a mansion in
his heaven for her; and at the set time, the appointed
time, the expiration of that thousand two hundred and
threescore days, he will come himself and fetch her to
partake of his glory, to share in his kingdom, and sit
down onlhis throne to enjoy the utmost that a covenant
God can bestow on the beloved of his soul.—O eternal
life!
who can describe thee? What can we
say of thee? Alas, we can but say this, we know
not fully what thou art; for eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath it or can it enter into the heart to
conceive what it is to be with God for ever. He that
hath enjoyed most of the light of his coutenance, most of P8v 224
of the joy of his salvation, most sensible communion
with a condescending Savior, has but as it were sipt
of the cup, catch’d a drop from the infinite ocean; just
tafted the fruits of the good land:—but when the
time, the appointed period arrives, that wished-for period
which the saints of God long for, when the Lord
Jesus
the mighty, yea Almighty God, shall appear;
then shall we appear with him in glory, and be like
him; for we, his church, the purchase of his blood,
shall see him as he is, but O with what eyes shall we
behold him! with what hearts shall we love him! and
with what triumphant songs shall we proclaim his honours,
when we enter into that kingdom which was
red for us before the foundation of the world:—
then, and not till then, shall we be able clearly to expatiate
on that infinite privilege of the believer in Jesus.
Eternal life!

Great day of God, O when wilt thou appear

To usher in the grand sabbatic year,

When Jesussaints shall enter into rest,

And soul and body be completey blest;

When in full choir they shall their King adore,

And hear the rude alarms of war no more;

When immortality shall crown the just,

And all their enemies shall lick the dust;

O’erwhelm’d in awful wrath’s indegnant show’r,

And death and hell confess a victor’s pow’r.

“Great day! where art thou? angels cannot tell.”

Tho’ nigh the throne their shining orders dwell;

’Tis hid from angels ken, but known to thee

Great three in one, eternal one in three;

Thy great decree has fixt the period sure,

When sin shall vex, and saints shall weep no more.

Letters Q1r 225


Letters


Letter I
To Mr. and Mrs. M――n.

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed,”
John iii.31.

Dear Friends,

Agreeable to my promise, I now sit down to
write to you, and according to your request have taken
for a motto the text I mentioned to you when at out
house: it affords me, I assure you, no little pleasure to
see you both setting out in the good ways of God;
you may remember I told you I hoped to meet you
not only at—but also in the kingdom of heaven. This
is a pleasing hope, may it be fully accomplished in due
time. In the first place, give me leave to assure you, Q that Q1v 226
that I did not mention this text with any view to discourage
you; perhaps you are already troubled upon
this subject, and afraid lest you should not continue—
I know yound converts are very apt to be cast down
upon this accunt, but would not wish you ar present
to be troubled about this, but your principal concern
should be to see that you set our aright, for all depends
upon that.—Many set out in the profession of
religion who do not continue, but are presently blown
away by the wind of temptation and trial; but the reason
is, they did ot begin aright, they were not desciples
indeed. “If” says Christ, “ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed”

This is a consolatory text, for it proves that they
who are real disciples, or disciples indeed, do continue;
the great thing then is to become disciples indeed:
“they who are such, are kept by the power of God,
through faith unto salvation,”
Peter i.5. A disciple
indeed, is that in heart, which others are in shew:
he has not only the leaves of profession, but he has
also the root of grace, without that root the leaves
will presently wither, and the fairest blosoms fade:
but where that root is, though it may sometimes experience
a spiritual winter, yet it shall notwithstanding,
bud and blossom, and bring forth fruit even unto
old age. Mere professors are nery well contented with
their profession, and however others may fear and
tremble for them, they seldom fear and tremble for
themselves; but those who are disciples indeed, especially
when first called by divine grace, are deeply concernedcerned Q2r 227
to know whether they are right; they are subject
to many fears and doubts abut this matter, and
apprehensions of being deceived, or mistaken; and are
in the general, much more perlexed with doubts
about the reality of the work of grace in their hearts,
than of either the power of willingness of Christ to
save them: you perhaps may feel something of this.
Now there is none but the Holy Ghost himself that
can put this matter ertirely out of doubt, but it has
pleased him to lay down in his word some characteristics
of those who are disciples indeed, and it is our
duty to examine whether those characteristics belong
to us; if they do, it becomes our privilege to draw the
most obvious conlusion from them, viz, that God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation,
by our Lord Jesus Christ. The first characteristic
I shall mention is this, (and I mention this
becuase twenty one years ago, I myself experienced
the sweetness and consolation of it,) “whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,”
Acts
ii.21.
Joel ii.32.
This is an absolute promise to,
as well as a description of, the people of God. Here is
one great difference between the disciple indeed, and
the mere professio, the one prays, the other appears to
pray; could you look into the heart of a mere professor
of religion, you would not find one grain of the
spirit of grace and supplication in it, though perhaps he may be able
say much be way of prayer, even
in the great congregation; but the disciple indeed,
though he may not be able to say much in public, yet
could you take a peep into his heart, you would find Q2 him Q2v 228
him a wresting Jacob. Some of God’s people have
much of the gift of prayer, but they all have the
grace of prayer; the experience of God’s people are
various in some things, some are led by the deep waters
of conviction, and much sorrow upon the account
of sin; others are gently led forth out of a state of nature
into a state of grace, by the still waters, and drawn
by the cords of love; but which ever of these is the case,
they unite in this, viz. being wrestling Jacob’s before
they become prevailing Israels; and the reason of this
is evident, every disciple indeed feels the importance of
everlasting things, feels the necessity of salvation, of
being born again, of being washed in the blood of the
Lamb, and cloathed in his righteousness, for he finds
he has none of his won, and according to the degree
of the sense he ahs of ehse wants, he becomes a
wrestler with God for a supply of them; he cannot be
easy; he cannot be contented; he cannot be happy, in
time or eternity, without thse blessings; he finds in
his flesh dwelleth o good thing, but he sees that in
Christ all fulness dwells: and he hears him say,
“Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you: whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son”
John xiv.10. This encourages
his hope, the desires of his soul aspire after heaven, and
heavenly things; and the earnest, the constant language
of his heart and lips are, “I will not let thee go until
thou bless me:”
He now loses all relish for the pleasures
of the world; he despises them as trifling trash, unworthy
of a soul that is born for eternity; the things
which he formerly loved, he now hates, and the things which Q3r 229
which before were disfustful and disagreeable to him,
now become objects of his delight; he now finds wisdom’s
ways to be ways of pleasantness, and all her
paths peace—this is the disciple indeed. The mere professor,
though he may attend to all the outward forms
of religion, yet remains destitute of the power of it;
his heart feels no want, and consequently he seeks no
supply; but when God says the promise,
“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall
be saved; your heart shall live that seek God,”
Psalm
lxix.32.

Now, my dear friends, I hope and believe that in
the above little description of your own picture. Do you
feel the importance of everlasting things? do you feel
the necessity of being born again of God, of being
washed in the blood, and cloathed in the righteousness
of Jehovah Jesus, and so interested in his complete
salvation? do you so feel the necessity of these
things as earnestly to desire them? and do these desires
lead you to call upon God for them, in the
name of Jesus? are the secret breathings of your soul
aspiring to him, when no eye but his, is upon you?
if so, remember the promise—All who call upon the
name of the Lord, shall be saved; for none but disciples
indeed, so call upon him.—Have the pleasures
of the world lost their relish in your esteem? can you,
will you choose affliction with the people of God,
before the pleasures of sin for a season? this must be Q3 done Q3v 230
done, but none can do it but those who are disciples
indeed; if it is the choice of your heart, happy are you:
the family of God, that he may purify your hearts by faith,
and make you holy as well as happy? and do you find
his ways deightful to you? is a day in his house sweeter
to you than a thousand spent elsewhere? and do you
desire to continue in his ways? do you dread going
back? andis it the ardent wish of your heart, that
you may be kept by his power through faith unto salvation?
If you can go with me a step further, that is,
to heaven, for the Lord who gives grace, gives glory
also; none but the disciple indeed, can go thus far,
mere prefessors know nothing of these things.


In the next place, how is it that disciples indeed continue
in the word of Christ, and by so persevering,
give evidence of that they are? even because they are
like the house that is founded upon a rock, the floods
arise, and the winds blow, and the rain descends, but
the house stands safe, beause it is founded upon a rock;
so the believer is built upon Christ, he is a sure
foundation; and another reason is, because God the
Holy Ghost has promised that he will abide with the
christian for ever, John xiv.16. None but he who
first make the christian, can keep him when made; it
was God the Spirit first quickened you; had it not been
for his Almighty and gracious influence, you might have Q4r 231
have set under the gospel a million of years, and remained
dead in trespasses and sins; and I would wish
you to remember, and never forget, that even now, you
are not sufficient to think a good thought of yourselves;
you cannot keep yourselves a moment from sin; you
cannot overcome the world, or the devil, but by the
mighty power of the Holy Ghost; if he had wrought
divine faith in your hearts, remember you cannot exercise
that faith, but while under his influence, nor any
other grace: you can have no spiritual strength, no increase
of grace, no divine consolation, but from him;
therefore prize him highly, for he has promised to abide
with you for ever: it is only he can make his word
powerful and profitable to you; therefore pray mauch
for his presence, and influence, and teaching; seek him
in all ways, for we can do nothing spiritual without
him; love the means of grace: use them diligently:
he has promised to hive his Holy Spirit to them
that ask him, Luke xi.13. “And” says the Lord, “I
am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly:”
never be satisfied with present
attainments, but seek after more. The promise is,
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength”
Isaiah xl.31. Searc the scriptures, and
carefully avoid all eroneous preachers, and books;
let the bible be your chief study; visit other good authors
sometimes, but dwell with the word of God,
You will find many spiritual enemies to encounter
with; there is much contained under these three heads:
the world, the flesk, and the devil; but remembaer, “this
is the Victory, even our Faith,”
John v.4. There Q4 is Q4v 232
is nothing can conquer sin and satan, but faith and
prayer: but faith and prayer assuredly will conquer, because Jesus Christ, who is the object of faith, is
Almighty to save, and has promised to save; he is
always faithful to his engagements, and when faith
lays hold of his power and faithfulness, and calls upon
him to fulfil his word, this brings the very omnipotence
of Jehovah to the believer’s aid, and then sin and
satan flies before him, and the christian experiences the
truth of that word, “to him that believeth all things are
possible”
, but yet remember, the power is God’s, and
not the christian’s.—We do not always conquer, because
we are slow of heart to believe the promises of
GOD, and his power and faithfulness to fulfil them;
for want of this, the christian is often worsted by his
spiritual enemies, but notwithstanding this, he that is
a disciple indeed shall overcome at the last; he shall
endure to the end, because he is kept by the mighty
power of God, through faith unto salvation. God is
glorified by the perseverance of his saints in holiness,
and by so continuing in the good ways of God, they
prove to the angels, and to devils, to good men, and
bad men, that they are disciples indeed, and also get
a good evidence to theri own souls, that they are
amongst the number of those of whom Christ says,
“I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never
perish, neither shall any pluch them out of my hand”

John x.28. I could say a good more upon this subject,
but having already exceeded the moderate bounds
of a letter, shall postpone any further remarks till another
opportunity, and shall conclude with observing that Q5r 233
that they who know most of divine things in this world,
know but little, they who are most kept by thepower
of God, have most reason to be thankful; by faith we
stand, but let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed
lest he fall: we are never safe but when we are nothing
in our own eyes; when we are weak, then we are
strong; when we are most sensible of our own weakness,
then the power of Christ rests upon us. May
you and I then, my dear friends, by very humbles, very
thankful: may we press towards the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;
may we be enabled to glorify him on earth, and may
we meet in his kingdom to praise his name, and to
ascribe salvation to God and the Lamb, throughout the
countless ages of eternity.

I am, my dear friends,
Yours most sincerely in the best bonds,

Maria De Fleury.

LET Q5v 234


Letter II

My dear Madam,

It is with the greatest pleasure imaginable that I sit
down to fulfil my promise of writing to you the first
opportunity, indeed those whose hearts areunited in the
sacred bonds of friendship, find it a most agreeable privilege
to be able to converse together when distance of
place puts a separation between them. I hope you are
better in health and spirits whan whem I saw you last.
Ah, my dear friend, why do you give yourself up to
sorrow and anxiety; is it because you have no reason
to rejoice? that must be impossible: indeed, immoderate
grief is both unreasonable and unprofitable, and
therefore I cannot but blame you for induging it; yet
do not be angry with me, for though I blame you, it is
I assure you with a heart which sincerely sympathises
with your affliction: I am not a stranger to trouble,
I amnot a stranger to grief; and I know, then carried
to excess, it is dishonouring to God and unprofitable
to us.—“Let not your hearts be troubled” said
the compassionate Redeemer tohis disconsolate disciples,
when thy were sinking under dreadful apprehensions
of losing the presence of their best friend: but alas, how Q6r 235
how apt are out hearts to be troubled upon much slighter
occasions! indeed it is our folly, and we have reason
to be humbled in the dust upon the account of it;
not that I suppose there is any thing desirable in the
unfeeling disposition of a stoic: no, such a temper is
by no means the fruit of the Spirit; the soul who is
really gospelized, is taught to weep with those who
weep; and if it is a gospel precept to sympathize with
the afflictions of others, it is surely allowable to feel for
one’s own Jesus wept over his dear deceased Lazarus,
and tenderly shared in the sorrows of two amiable
sisters, who were lamenting the loss of a brother, who
was perhaps dearere to them than their lives. We do
not find that he chid their sorrow, but he did chide their
unbelief. Afflictions, my dear Madam, you are sensible,
spring not out of the ground; they do not happen
to us be chance, but are a valuable part of the saint’s
inheritance: but though they are a valuable and profitable,
yet they are so exceedingly disagreeable to nature,
so irksome and painful, that we are apt to start back,
and would fain, if possible, be excused from accepting
this part of our portion. Alas, we are foolish children,
but it is our mercy that we hav a wise Father, who
willnot study our humours, but will give us that which
is most for our good, Remember that you receive your
afflictions by weight and measure; there has nothing
happened to you fut what your heavenly Father appointed
for you when he wrote your name in the Lamb’s
book of life; and then infinite wisdom and infinite love,
sat as it were in council to contrive what should be
most for your advantage in time and in eternity: O then Q6v 236
then dry up your tears, and beno more sad, buat rejoice,
for you have abundant reason; “look away from the top
of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermion, from
the lions dens, from the mountains of the lepards,”

Cant. iv.8.

O my friend, turn your eyes from your troubles, your
difficulties and enemeies, especially from those which
are past, for they are gone for ever, and with the future
you have nothing to do: And what shall you behold?
indeed there is a glorious prospect before you, O that
you might be enabled to view it though the telescope
of faith, and then I am sure it will cheer your spirits,
be they sunk ever so low: what says the apostle, “Our
light afflictions which are but for a moment, work out
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,”
2 Cor. iv.17. There is light affliction for you
here, but a weight of glory in reversion: have but a
little patience, and sin and sorrow will be no more.
Could you borrow the wings of a seraph, and ascend
to the new Jerusalem, and there inquire of the white
robed inhabitants, the spirits of just men made perfect,
whether they or any of them arrived at those mansions
of blessedness any other way than by the way of the
cross, they would unanimously tell you, it was through
much tribulation that they entered the kingdom of God.
Why then should you be discouraged, who have the
same Jehovah Jesus to be your guide through the
wilderness that they had; the same exceeding great and
precious promises, and the same inexhaustable riches of
grace to support, to comfort and make you more than a Q7r 237
a conqueror through him who hath loved you? “Fear
not,”
says our divine Master, “thou worm Jacob, I
will help thee, yea, I will strengthen thee; yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

O how safe and secure must you be then who have the
right hand of omnipotence exerted in you defence!
surely you may say with the Psalmist, “though the hills
be removed and the mountains carried into the sea, yet
will I not be afraid;”
indeed you have no reason to
fear, for the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath
you are his everlasting arms, Deut. xxxiii.27. May
these considerations, my dear Madam, in the hand of
him whose office it is to comfort those who are cast
down, afford you strong consolation, may the sun of
righteousness arise and shine upon you, and with his
delightful joy-inspiring beams disperse the glooms which
hang upon your mind, and fill you with peace and joy
in believing unspeakable and full of glory.

I beg your pardon for being so prolix, it is my usual
fault, when I begin to scribble I seldom know when to
leave off; I wonder sometimes that my friends have
patience with me; however, friendship can pardon the
faults of a friend.

My father and brother unite with me in best wishes
to you, Madam, and Mr— we hope he got safe home
on Tuesday night, and it will give us the greatest pleasure
in the world to see you both in town as soon as
you please.

I am my dear Madam, with the greatest respect,
Your most sincere friend and servant,

Maria De Fleury.

Q7v 238


Letter III
To Miss J* * * * * Y.

Dear Miss,

It being at the request of your honoured father, that
the first poem in this book was written, and indeed the
whole published, I hope it will not be deemed an impropriety
if, before I conlude it, I beg leave to address
a few lines to you.—You are young, my dear Miss,
but you are not too young to be happy, you are not too
young to die; you are a young immortal. May
you be so deeply impressed with a sense of your true
dignity, that all the gay, inchating, deceitful pleasures
of sin may appear in your view, what they really are in
themselves, unworthy you pursuit; while the pleasures
of true religion, the sublime enjoyments which a
saving acquaintance with God in Christ Jesus, brings
home to the soul, may rise high in your estimation,
be your early choice, your first and last pursuit. Your
dear parents, I am persuaded, can tell you from their
own experience what are the advantages of true,
heart felt religion, being made partakers of its blessings them- Q8r 239
themselves; they can, and I doubt not but they do
recommend it to you as the one thing needful, and their
prayers for you incessantly are, that the same distinguishing
grace which has brought salvation to their
hearts, may be also bestowed upon you; they wish
you a better portion than they can give you, even that
Immanuel, the great God, our Savior may give
himself to you as your everlasting portion, and when
they shall see you enabled to devote yourself, your
youth, your soul and body, your all, as your reasonable
service to him, they will know that this is the case:
this is their wish for you, and this is my wish for you;
may the great hearer of prayer put his amen to our
wishes, and say, So be it.—

When you read the first poem this book contains, you
will remember that I wrote it at the request of your father,
and I am persuaded that love to the divine redeemer,
and zeal for his truth, were the motives of
that request: may your father’s God be your God;
may the great and glorious truths which this poem contains,
be so revealed to you soul by the Spirit of Truth,
that Immanuel’s name may become precious to you,
be the most charming sound to your ears, and himself,
altogether lovely in your view; and if ever this is the
case, which I hope and pray it may, you will possess
greater rivhes and sublimer happiness than the riches of
Peru, or the empire of th world could give you.—May
the divine Spirit enable you, my dear Miss, to seek for
these durable riches, and this sublime happiness: if you
seek them with your whole heart, you shall have them;
the Lord Jesus gives them freely to every one who 3 is Q8v 240
is really and truly desirous to have them; and it is his
peculiar delight to give them to those who seek them in
the early part of life: He says, “I love them that
love me, and they that seek my early, shall find me,”

Prov. viii.17.

The Lord Jesus, when he was upon earth was the
most gentle, kind and compassionate man in the world;
he was easy to be intreated, he healed all that came to
him to be healed of their diseases, and even died for sinners;
and now, though he is exalted at God’S right
hand—nay, though he is himself the eternal God, yet
he is as kind and gracious as ever, May his Holy Spirit
convince you of your need of his salvation, and cause
you earnestly and diligently to seek it, then shall you
find him the kindest father, the most graciou savior,
and the most faithful and affectionate friend,
all your future life, he will be your God and your guide
unto death, and your glorious portion to eternity.

That this may be your happy experience, is the sincere
wish, and shall be the hearty prayer of, dear Miss,

Your affectionate friend

Maria De Fleury.

1791-07-23July 23,1791
A SOLI- R1r (241)


A
Soliloquy.

In yonder heav’nly courts, those realms of light,

Where love, and joy, and peace for ever reign,

The sons of morn, the great seraphic choirs,

Tune their soft harps, and raise their loftiest notes,

To hymn the great I am.—Melodious anthems

Sound thro’ the arches of th’etherial sky,

And all the theme is, holy, holy, holy

Lord God Omnipotent!—Before his throne,

The white rob’d saints, the ransom’d of the Lord,

The trophies of his grace, enraptur’d bow,

And lowly reverent, before his footstool,

Adoring cast their amaranthine crowns,

And join th’ angelic song, “To him” (they cry)

“Who lov’d us, bought us, wash’d us in his blood,

And made us Kings, and holy Priests to God,

To him be glory, honour, power and praise,

Eternally ascrib’d”

.—And doth his praise

Alone employ the throng beatific?

Is earth indeed so far remov’d from heav’n,

R That R1v 242

That from her alters no bright flames can rise,

Of sacred love, and voices gratulant?

O no! he has a company below

Of royal priests, who offer daily incense

Of praise before his throne; a thankful song

From ev’ry corner of the people earth,

Rises, sonorous in Jehovah’s ears,

For they ascribe salvation to his name,

And sing the glories of the bleeding Lamb.

Nor does Jehovah’s praise alone aspire

From creatures, born to Immortality;

The lesser works of his Almighty hand,

With silent worship pay their homage due,

In swift odedience to his potent word.

Majestic Sol, bright emporer of day,

Shines forth his glory in his splendid beams.

The radiant Moon, walking in brightness, waits

To rise and set at his supreme command;

At his great word, nor sun nor moon arose

For three diurnal stages, on the land

Of clouded Egypt, but resign’d their sway

To night impenetrable, emblem sad

Of that black veil, that more than midnight gloom

Which overspread their minds, estrang’d from God.

By his authority, these shining orbs

Forsook their course and to the voice of man

Listen’d attentive, when the mighty chief

Divinely mission’d, led old Jacob’s sons

To honourable war; the sun stood still,

And silver Cynthia, in the flow’ry vale

Of pleasant Ajalon,—so the bright train,

Which R2r 243

Which spangle o’er yon azure firmament

In swift obedience to Jehovah’s will,

Pour’d all their baleful influence on the head

Of death devoted Sisera, the foe

Of God, and of his people.—Heav’n, and earth,

Fire, hail, and snow, and all created things,

Pay ready homage to the sov’reign word

Of their Almighty King, and in full choir,

Tho’ wanting voice, echo the grateful sound

Of universal hallelujah.——

List, O my soul, the empirean heav’ns,

With songs of triumph, voices jubilant

Sounds thro’ unbounded space.—Angelic choirs

And thy redeemed brethren join the theme,

And wilt thou silent stand?—O catch the flame,

The holy flame of love and gratitude,

To the Almighty Monarch of the skies,

Thy Father, and thy Friend. What names are
these?

How big with blessings—shall a worm of earth

Thus honour’d, dare refuse to join the song

Of “Wohhty is the Lamb?” Awake, my soul,

And all my powers awake, to celebrate

The God of glory, and the God of grace,

Who form’d the heav’ns—and bled on Calvary,

Who spoil’d the monster death, and broke his dart,

And captive led cativity along,

Chain’d to his chariot wheels O love divine!

Still will I sing of thee, in rising morn,

When Pheobus mounts his burning carr, and gilds

R2 The R2v 244

The eastern clouds with rays of orient light;

When in meridian glory thron’d, he shines,

And darts prolific glories round the world;

When sober evening’s mild refreshing air

Revives creation, and bright Hesper leads

The starry train, that ushers in the night:

Then shall my song arise—O for a song

Divine, like that ehich flows from Gabriel’s lips;

But ah! I faint unequal to the theme.

Fly swift ye moments, Time, increase thy speed,

To bring the period when my soul shall shake

Her fetters off, shall throw her chains aside,

And freed from flesh, shall mount and soar aloft

On angels wings, to her Redeemer’s throne;

Then shall his mighty love be all her theme,

And everlasting praise her sweet employ.

Finis