k Ijtintrmiiir of fyiilifqttiau JVo St > ^ > > ' > ^ ! ''-> ; I \ > \ IV A\ 9>tf v&T >* >J5t* % ^ of Diti 2lutt)orsu this is h& whose rnfank](iiis& l>etf arm v Iraue tb eWorld \teforej-eavbs stifd Ui owjl praise, be slewbt^^ * comes io uors or opinion of the iTy-mes, by^ood inert lam fane more ^ mlric^ m2%bulam m&ihs imddoft HYMNS AND SONGS OF THE CHURCH. BY GEORGE WITHER. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD FARE. LONDON: JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, SOHO SQUARE. 1856. INTRODUCTION. the numerous poets of the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries, there is scarcely a name more worthy of honour than that of George Wither. Some writers have, indeed, pronounced Wither a fanatical rhymer and an intemperate Puri- tan. Such was the judgment of Kitson, Heylin, Dryden, Swift and Pope : all writers of undoubted talent, but whose criticism and taste must have been governed by prejudice. In the " neglected leaves" of Wither, Dr. Southey discerned " felicity of ex- pression ;" " tenderness of feeling;" and " elevation of mind ;" and Sir Egerton Brydges, Mr. Park, Mr. Willmott, and that truly Christian poet and critic, James Montgomery, have all borne testimony to Wither's merits. The cloud which obscured his merits as a poet, arose from his mingling in the political warfare of the turbulent period in which he lived. Sir Egerton Brydges in his Eestituta has thus given the pedigree of the poet. " Thomas Wither of the County of Lancaster, Esq. left three sons. vi INTRODUCTION. " Robert Wither, third son, came to Manydowne in Hampshire, and there lived, leaving issue. " Thomas Wither, of Manydowne, who married Joane, daughter and heir of Richard Mason of Lyd- monton in Hampshire, and had three sons, John, Thomas, and Richard. " John, eldest son, of Manydowne who married Ann daughter of Ayliffe of Skeynes in Hampshire, had three sons, John, Richard and George (which last married Avelyn, daughter of John Shank, and had Gilbert, Thomas, John and Reginald ; and the said Gilbert was father of George, William, Reginald and Henry). " Richard Wither, second son of John Wither and Ann Ayliffe, was of Manydowne, and married a daughter of William Poynter of Whitchurch in Hampshire, by whom he had four sons, John, George, (father of the poet) Otho and Ferdinando. " John Wither of Manydowne, eldest son, married Jane, daughter of John Love of Basing in Hamp- shire, and had five sons, William, Anthony, John, James, and Richard. William, eldest son, was of Manydowne, and married Susan, daughter of Paul Risley of Chetwood in Buckinghamshire, and had issue, John, Paul, and Susan. " George Wither (second son of Richard Wither by the daughter of Poynter) had issue three sons, viz. George Wither the poet, James Wither, and Anthony Wither." In most of Wither's poems something of his private history may be collected. The date of his birth even is better substantiated by his verse than by the bap- tismal Register. Aubrey and Anthony Wood state INTE OD UCTION. . vii that he was born in 1588 : other authors assert that the poet was horn in 1590. His verse settles the question in favour of Wood and Auhrey. In a pamphlet entitled " Salt upon Salt/' written and published in 1658 he writes : When I began to know the world and men, I made records of what I found it then, Continuing even since to take good heed How they stood still, went back, or did proceed : Till of my scale of time ascending heaven The round I stand in maketh ten times seven. " Ten times seven" or seventy years, fixes the date of his birth in 1588. The poet received his early education in the village of Colemore, under one John Greaves, a schoolmaster of some celebrity. The tutor evidently gained the love of his pupil, for he is noticed in the poet's epigrams in this touching language : If ever I do wish I may be rich (As oft perhaps such idle breath I spend), I do it not for any thing so much, As to have wherewithal to pay my friend : For trust me there is nothing grieves me more Than this, that I should still much kindness take, And have a fortune to my mind so poor, That though I would, amends I cannot make : Yet to be still as thankful as I may, (Sith my estate no better means afford) What I indeed receive, I do repay In willingness, in thanks, and gentle words. The father of the poet appears to have enjoyed con- siderable affluence, for alluding to his juvenile years, Wither, in a poem entitled Britain's Remembrancer, writes : When daily I on change of dainties fed, Lodged night by night upon an easy bed, yiii INTRODUCTION. In lordly chambers, and had wherewithal! Attendants forwarder than I to call, Who brought me all things needful ; when at hand Hounds, hawks, and horses, were at my command, Then choose I did my walks on hills or vallies, In groves, near springs, or in sweet garden allies, Reposing either in a natural shade Or in neat harbours which by hands were made, Where I might have required without denial, The lute, the organ, or deep sounding viol, To cheer my spirits ; with what else beside Was pleasant, when my friends did thus provide Without my cost or labour. From the village school of Colemore Wither was sent to Magdalen College, Oxford, and it was here that his poetical talents were first developed. Before he left the school of Greaves he had become acquainted with " Lilly's Latin" and " Camden's Greek," but at the University he seems to liave neglected classical learning, and to have devoted his powers to the Muses, until his kind old tutor, " by his good per- suasion," again brought him to a love of what he had been taught. Then after Cynthia " had six times lost her borrowed light," he again " drank at Aristotle's well," It was while Wither was redevoting his attention to classical studies, and when he had been at Oxford about two years, and was beginning to love a college life, that the change in his father's temporal circum- stances seems to have taken place, for he was sud- denly removed from the University and taken home " to hold the plough." He alludes thus touchingly to this change in " Abuses Whipt and Stript :" But now ensues the worst I setting foot And thus digesting learning's bitter root, INTRODUCTION. ix Ready to taste the fruit ; then when I thought I should a calling in that place have sought, I found that I for other ends ordain'd Was from that course perforce to be constrain'd. If the plough had a charm for Cincinnatus, not so had it for Wither. According to Aubrey he re- turned in discontent to " the beechy shadows of Brentworth ;" and his sojourn at home was more embittered by officious friends, who were constantly urging his relations to apprentice him to some trade. But the mind of Wither was not to be cast down. When only eighteen years of age he made his way to London of his own accord, there to seek his for- tune. Shortly after his arrival in the metropolis, he entered himself of Lincoln's Inn, where he appears to have formed an acquaintance with the pastoral poet, William Brown, who belonged to the Inner Temple. This seems to have been the turning point in his history. Anthony W^ood says that hanging after things more smooth and delightful than the law, he did at length make himself known to the world by certain specimens of his poetry, which being dis- persed in several hands, he became shortly after a public author. The poetical works of George Wither are nume- rous. Most of them are of a secular character, but interspersed throughout his writings are beautiful passages indicating the mind of a Christian. There is the fine gold of Christian thought even in " Abuses Stript and Whipt," a satire of the most galling nature ; and in " Prince Henry's Obsequies," " Epithalamia," or " Nuptial Poems," the " Shepherds Hunting," the " Motto," " Fair Virtue," the " Eemembrancer," x INTRODUCTION. and the " Emblems," there are lines on almost every page which reflect a hallowed light over much that is unworthy of a Christian poet. In his earlier years of authorship Wither appears to have obtained the semblance of court favour. But the favour of courts is proverbially fickle, and so Wither found. His expectations of preferment were not realized, and being unable to procure pre- ferment, he applied himself to watching the vices of the times. These vices were abundant, and in his " Abuses Stript and Whipt" he exposed them un- sparingly. Never did satirist write with more thrilling effect, but the chief result of his exertions to mend the public morals was his committal to the Marshalsea prison. What sufferings he there en- dured he thus describes in the " Scholar's Pur- gatory:" " All my apparent good intentions were so mis- taken by the aggravation of some ill affected towards my endeavours, that I was shut up from the society of mankind, and as one unworthy the compassion vouchsafed to thieves and murderers, was neither permitted the use of my pen, the access or sight of acquaintance, the allowances usually afforded other close prisoners, nor means to send for necessaries befitting my present condition : by which means I was for many days compelled to feed on nothing but the coarsest bread, and sometimes locked up four- and-twenty hours together, without so much as a drop of water to cool my tongue : and being at the same time in one of the grossest extremities of dull- ness that was ever inflicted upon my body, the help both of physician and apothecary was uncivilly denied INTRODUCTION. . xi me. So that if God had not, by resolutions of the mind which he infused into me, extraordinarily en- abled me to wrestle with those and such other afflic- tions as I was then exercised withall, I had been dangerously and lastingly overcome. But of these usages I complain not ; he that made me, made me strong enough to despise them." But Wither did not so quietly endure his incarce- ration as these last sentences would lead us to suppose. His " Shepherds Hunting" was written in the Mar- shalsea, which, although it is a pastoral poem of great beauty, yet contains some passages burning with indignation against his persecutors. But his indignation is more clearly seen in a satire which he addressed to King James. In this satire he writes : Did I not know a great man's power and might In spite of innocence can smother right, Colour his villanies to get esteem, And make the honest man the villain seem. I know it, and the world doth know 'tis true, Yet I protest if such a man I knew, That might my country prejudice or thee Were he the greatest or the proudest he, That breathes this day 5 if so it might be found That any good to either might redound, I unappalled, dare in such a case Rip up his foulest crimes before his face, Though for my labour I were sure to drop Into the mouth of ruin without hope. This Satire was addressed to the King in 1614, and it has been asserted that his liberation from prison was attributable to its influence. It would rather appear from some lines in one of his Emblems, that his release was owing to the friendly interposi- tion of the Earl of Pembroke. He writes that this friend xii INTRODUCTION. found such means and place To bring and reconcile me to his grace, That therewithall his majesty bestow'd A gift upon me which his bounty show'd, And had enrich 3 d me if what was intended Had not by othersome been ill befriended. The gift alluded to in these lines was a patent for his Hymns and Songs of the Church. This is the work we lay before our readers, and it may be safely asserted that none of Wither's works possess greater interest. The King's patent bears date the 17th of February, 1622-3. It reads thus : " James by the Grace of God. To all and singular printers, booksellers. Whereas, our well beloved subject George Wither, gentleman, by his great industry and diligent study hath gathered and composed a book, entitled Hymns and Songs of the Church, by him faithfully and briefly translated into lyric verse, which said book being esteemed worthy and profitable to be inserted in convenient manner and due place into every English Psalm book in metre. We give and grant mil and free license, power and privilege unto the said George Wither, his executors and assigns, only to imprint or cause to be imprinted, for the term of fifty and one years, &c. Witness our self at Westminster the 17th day of February." Keg. 201622-3. The origin of the privilege granted by King James has thus been explained by Wither : " For before I had license to come abroad again into the world, I was forced to pay expenses so far beyond my ability that ere I could be clearly dis- charged, I was left many pounds worse than nothing, and to enjoy the name of liberty, was cast into a INTRODUCTION. xiii greater bondage than before. Wherefore coming abroad again into the world, accompanied thither with those affections which are natural to most men, I was loth (if it might conveniently be prevented) either to sink below my rank, or to live at the mercy of a creditor. And, therefore, having none of those helps, or trades, or shifts which many others have to relieve themselves withall, I humbly petitioned the King's most excellent Majesty (not to be supplied at his, or by any projectment to the oppression of his people) but that according to the laws of Nature, I might enjoy the benefits of my own labours, by virtue of his royal privilege. His Majesty vouchsafed my reasonable request with addition of voluntary favours, beyond my own desire." But the publication of the Hymns and Songs of the Church brought no profit to their author. The work did not, it is true, like " Abuses Stript and Whipt," have the effect of casting him into the Mar- shalsea prison, but it not only failed to produce him the profit he so much needed and desired, but it raised against him a powerful body of active and malignant enemies in the Company of Stationers, who considered their own privileges invaded by the patent the King had granted to Wither. The result of the publication of the Hymns and Songs is related in the before mentioned curious prose tract entitled " The Scholar's Purgatory," which Wither issued in 1624. This tract was addressed to Archbishop Abbott and the other bishops of the Convocation, in vindication of the patent. The following copious extract from it is deeply interesting, as relating to the poetical pages of this volume : xiv I NT ROD UCTION. " With a good purpose, I began and finished those Hymns and Songs, which make up the book called, the HYMNS AND SONGS OF THE CHURCH. So named, not for that I would have them accounted part of our Liturgy, as I have delivered to his Majesty in my Epistle ; but because they do for the most part treat of such particulars as concern the whole Church of God. And this is that Book, for which his Majesty vouchsafed me the privilege before mentioned, and which he piously and graciously commanded to be annexed to the Singing Psalms, that it might be the more generally and more conveniently divulged among his subjects, for their instruction. " And indeed, by that means, these poor people, whose pastors suffer them, or cause them to be mis- informed concerning that point, shall carry about with them, in their most usual book, what may at one time or other open their understandings, to perceive their error. " This is that Book, for which I, ever worst used for my best intentions, suffer more than for all my former indiscretions ; and for which I have received those affronts, that may well be ranked among my greatest injuries ; notwithstanding it had besides the ordinary allowance of authority, the particular appro- bation and commendation both of the King himself, o and of many the Members of this most reverend Convocation. " Yea, this is that Book, for which the Common- wealth of Stationers, a tyranny unheard of in former ages, desire to make me as odious, as if I had em- ployed my whole study to the oppression of this weal public, or to the subversion of religion : and for which INTE OD UCTION. xv they have pursued me with such violence and clamour, as hath seldom or never been exampled in any cause. # # * # " Some give out that my Book contains nothing but a few needless Songs ; which I composed, and got privilege by Patent, merely for my private be- nefit, to the oppression of the Commonwealth. " Some discourage those that come to buy the Book ; otherwhiles denying that it is to be had ; and otherwhile peremptorily protesting against the selling of it ; or disgracefully telling such as enquire after the same, that the book is ridiculous ; and that it better befitted me to meddle with my Poetry than to be tampering with Divinity ; with such like other words of contempt. " Other some there be, who dare aver that my Lord's Grace of Canterbury, with many of the Bi- shops and best Divines, do much dislike and oppose the said HYMNS. " Others again buzz in the people's ears, that the Hymns for the observable times are Popish, and tending to the maintenance of superstition. " And some there be among them, who in such terms of ribaldry, as no Stews can go beyond them, blasphemingly affirm, that the CANTICLES are ob- scene, and not fit to be divulged in song or verse. " Yea, many other objections they make, and cast out diverse aspersions, as well upon the Author, as on his Book, to bring both into contempt. * * * * " To keep myself the closer to that, which shall be pertinent to this apology, I will make these par- ticular objections my themes, which I have repeated: xvi INTRODUCTION. nor will I bring any other authorities to make good my defence than the true relations of what hath been done, and such plain arguments as mine own reason shall be able to frame. For, if this discourse come to the view of your Reverences only, you well enough know what the records of antiquity can afford to these purposes. And if it happen among those only of mean capacity, such plain expressions, as I purpose to use, will acquire most credit among them. " And, first, whereas they give out that my Hymns are needless ; they do not only thereby contemn and slight my pains, but lay imputation upon the wisdom of the Holy Ghost also. For a great part of them are parcels of the Canonical Scriptures ; originally Song. And to say, any fragment thereof were need- less, is, in effect, to diminish from God's words, upon which follows a heavy curse. " God deserves every day to be praised of us for delivering his Church, by the overthrow of Pharaoh in the Ked Sea, as much as he did in the very mo- ment of their deliverance. And the Song of Moses, then used, doth in every particular, as properly con- cern every Christian congregation, as it did the Jews themselves upon that occasion. For God's mercy shewed to us in our baptism, and the spiritual over- throw of the Devil, pursuing us with an host of sins and temptations, is, in mine opinion, more effectually expressed to a spiritual understanding by apprehend- ing the actions and circumstances of that temporal deliverance, than it could be by the power of any words, or by any other ordinary means ; except by contemplating, of that most excellent material object, the Sacrament of Baptism itself, of which the other was but a type. INTRODUCTION. xvii " In like manner, all the other Canonical Hymns do admirably help towards God's everlasting mercies, and for illustrating those particular mysteries of our Christian Faith, which they did typically and pro- phetically foreshow. Yea, they are part of the Pro- phetical Witness, as the Hymns of the New Testa- ment are part of the Evangelical Witness, of our interest in Christ Jesus. And, verily, the late neg- lect of their application in our Christian mysteries hath not only much injured one of the two great witnesses of our salvation, but given occasion also, that many unsound professors have corrupted them, even to the bringing in of diverse Jewish and Tal- mudical fancies, to the fearful distraction of weak people. " But, were not those Hymns necessary in re- spect of the variety of their arguments, yet the variety of expression were somewhat needful, although the matter were the same. For, as the several dressings of one sort of meat make it diversely agreeable to the palates and stomachs of men, so the various manner of things delivered in Holy Scrip- tures makes them applicable to our understandings : and what in one kind of delivery seems harsh or ob- scure, in another kind is acceptable, and more easily apprehended. That, which is easy to you, is hard perhaps to me ; and what may be thought an im- propriety to some great judgments doth many times most properly insinuate the speaker's meaning unto them of meaner capacities. * * * * " If it be but to awaken our dulness, and take away our wearisomeness in holy duties, variety is xviii INTE OD UCTION. needful. For flesh and blood, as we find by daily experience, loaths those things, wherewithal they are naturally best pleased, if they be too frequent : how much more tedious then will those things be unto us, which are perpetually iterated in the same words, being naturally unpleasing to a carnal ear? Since God in mercy hath provided and permitted, as means to assist our weaknesses, let not such as are strong enough to be without them, condemn the use of such helps in those who, being not so able, must have their affections weaned by degrees from their childish inclinations. " We see the flesh and the Devil, having for their service thousands of vain songs and profane ballads, stored up in the stationers' warehouses, have never- theless many Muses perpetually employed for the composing of new strains ; and that many hundred pounds are yearly consumed upon them, to the en- riching of those merchants ; to the shame of our pro- fession ; to the corruption of youth ; and to the building up of the kingdom of sin and Satan : as it is well known and observed by many of good note in this Reverend Assembly. Yet there having been, for divers ages together, but so many Hymns com- posed and published, as make in some impressions not above two sheets and an half of paper, for the reverence and practice of devotion unto the honour of God, they are censured impertinent ; maliciously exclaimed on ; violently opposed ; and the author of them seeking, for the needful hire of his labour, but his due, and what strangers should have been suffered to make thereof, is publicly accused, as a man co- vetously hunting after the world, and an injurious oppressor of the Commonwealth. INTRODUCTION. xix # # # # " My weak fortunes, my troubles, and the charge- ableness of a study, that brings with it no outward supply, put me into a kind of necessity to cast my thoughts aside unto worldly respects ; but I have since been sorry for it upon better consideration. And as a just reward for my too earnest looking after vain hopes, I do now accept of my present trouble, that outwardly is like to impoverish me. And the time thereof draws me the more needfully to consider it, being just about that season wherein I expected to reap some contentment in the fruition of my labour and expences. God grant this experience may enrich me another way, and settle my hopes upon more certain things ; and that those, who accuse me of this imperfection, may examine their own hearts, and if they find them guilty of the like infirmity, learn by mine example to confess their error : and my prayer shall be, that we both may more directly seek God's glory in our undertakings. " But why should I be the man more accused than all others, for seeking after the just hire of my labours? Am I the only one guilty of studying mine own profit, in the course of my painful endeavours for religious end ? I would to God I were; and that no man living, save I,. were so wicked as to make his own glory and enriching, the end and scope of his Christian dili- gence ! For, doubtless, such an universal piety would be a powerful means of drawing me to repentance ! But I believe there be so few that can, with the Apostle, clear himself herein, that if none might be permitted to throw at me the stone of reproof, but only they who are free from this weakness, I may xx INTRODUCTION. walk from St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall to Dover, and from thence even through our Metropolitan Churches, to the farthest Northern Isles, without touch of exception. " And whereas they ohject I have compassed a privilege to the puhlic grievance ; jour Reverences shall perceive how innocent I am from giving cause of such an imputation, if you please to consider the circumstances of his Majesty's grant, with his pious intention, and my carriage in the procuring and execution of it : for I did not, as some of the Sta- tioners have done in the name of many, and hy pre- tending the relief of the poor, whom they may be proved thereby to oppress, monopolize the principal books of sale within this realm, even those wherein the Commonwealth have a just interest, which is really one of those monopolies which our State abhors: but having composed a new Book, which no man could claim a share in, while it remained mine own, and in mine own power to make public or no ; and proposing the same to his Majesty briefly and plainly, without pretence of any bye-respect, I obtained a free and gracious grant to make such benefit there- of as usually heretofore, in like cases his Majesty hath vouchsafed unto others : yea, such as the Sta- tioners would have made of it without a privilege, if so be I had left it in their power. * * * * " How unfortunate am I, as some think, that, having performed a good work, do nevertheless hear it exclaimed upon as a frivolous labour ; and stand accused for oppressing the people, because a few Hymns, containing the praises of God, are commanded INTR OD UCTION. xxi to be divulged the most convenient way, while such abuses as these aforementioned, and many of an higher nature, may be winked at in my accusers. Yet I say rather, how happy am I, and how much bound to praise God's mercy, who covers the multi- tude of my transgressions, and still brings me into public question for such actions only as shall upon trial become mine honour ; and to the shame of my traducers. For I am confident that I shall in due time be delivered from that, and from all other scan- dalous imputations, which the world hath laid to my charge. And, therefore, whether it be now or here- after, I am indifferent, and place such assurance in God's word, that I can stay his leisure. " I procured the King's grant, being the possi- bility of a temporal blessing, by moving for it where I ought ; and as I ought to seek the same, without any man's furtherance : and if it be not in every particular just and convenient that I should enjoy the same, it shall go ; and I will venture an utter undoing, rather than make use of any man's friendship to de- tain it. For God, who hath hitherto provided for me in such a manner, as best befitted both my temporal and spiritual condition, will, I know, continue his provident care of me, while I can have grace to be thankful, and retain the resolution to do my lawful endeavour. Howsoever, let the world conceit of me as it pleaseth, I scorn to enjoy my life, much more any privilege, to the common prejudice: and am able to demonstrate, as shall hereafter appear, that my Book, and the King's Grant, have been mali- ciously traduced without cause. xxii INTR OD UCTION. " I will omit to particularize those many dis- courtesies which I am offered, and proceed to answer such other objections as they and their abettors have framed, to bring both my Hymns and me into con- tempt. " And first, they object, forsooth, that they are not worthy to be annexed with their Psalms in metre, in respect of that insufficiency which they have dis- covered in my expressions. For so harsh and im- proper do my lines appear to these judicious censurers and their chaplains, that some compare them to Dod theSilkman's late ridiculous translation of the Psalms; which was by authority worthily condemned to the fire. Some term them in scorn, WITHEB'S SONNETS ; and some, among them, the better to express what opinion they have of their pious use, are pleased to promise that they will procure the roving ballad-singer with one leg, to sing and sell them about the city : which base speeches, proceeding from those scoffing Ismaelites, I could well enough brook in respect of mine own person or merit ; for there is so much evil, even in the best of my actions, that contempt is the fairest reward which they can justly challenge. Yet when I call to mind with what Christian intentions I was employed upon those Hymns ; and how many hours at midnight I spent about them, whilst, it may be, my traducers were either sleeping out their time, or worse employed : when I consider also how many learned and religious men have approved them, and how much their pious use might further the reverence and practice of devotion to the praise of God ; it grieves me that there should be in this nation any so wicked as to oppose so Christian a work to so frivolous INTR OD UCTION. xxiii an end. But when I remember by whom and by what authority that book was allowed and commanded to be made public ; and withal, what mystery of iniquity it is that hath conspired against the same, methinks it is an injury not to be tolerated. " Is it reason, they, who live by books, should be permitted to abuse the authors of their livelihood ? Or is it seemly, that those, who, as I said before, are but the pedlars of books, should become their censure rs ; and, by consequent, both the censurers and depravers of that authority which allowed them ? If this be tolerated, the fairest draughts of Apelles shall be daily subject to the foolish criticisms of those arrogant cobblers ; and the State shall not be able, ere long to publish any thing but what they have a fancy to approve. For to this pass it is already come, that whatsoever the State dislikes, shall be imprinted and divulged by them, though both absurd and scandalous, with twice more seriousness, than any book lawfully commanded : but let it tend to schism, and they will disperse more underhand in one week, than the Royal Authority shall be able to divulge in a year, toward the settling of unity in the Church. " I know not what it is which should make my Book of Hymns appear so ridiculous unto them, or or so unworthy to be annexed to the English Psalm- Book, as they pretend. In respect of the matter, it cannot justly be excepted against ; for a great part thereof is Canonical Scripture ; and the rest also is both agreeable thereunto in every particular, and consonant to the most approved discipline of the Church of England. So that, how squeamishly so- xxiv INTE OD UCTION. ever some of their stomachs brook it, they, being allowed by authority, are as fit, I trust, to keep company with David's Psalms, as ROBERT Wis- DOME'S Turk and Pope, and those other apocryphal Songs and Prayers, which the Stationers add to the Psalm-Book, for their more advantage. Sure I am, that if their additions shall be allowed of by the most voices, yet mine shall be approved of, before those, by the best judgments. # # # # " I did not leap of a sudden, and irreverently into this employment ; but having consumed almost the years of an apprenticeship in studies of this kind, I entered thereunto conscionably, and in the fear of God; nor have I proceeded without his assistance, as the difficulties and discouragements which I have passed through do witness unto me. For if it be well weighed, how full of short sentences and sudden breakings off, those Scriptures are ; how frequently these particles, for, but, and such like, which are graceful in the original text, will seem to obscure the dependency of sense in the English phrase, if the power of their signification be not needfully observed in those places : how harsh the music will be, if the chief pauses be not carefully reduced into the same place in the line throughout the whole Hymn, which they have in the first stanza ; how many differences must be observed between Lyric Verse, and that which is composed for reading only : how the Trans- lator is tied not to make choice of those fashion stanzas, which are easiest to express the matter in, but to keep that with which he first began : how he is bound, not only to the sense, (according to the liberty INTRODUCTION. xxv used in other translations) but to the very words, or words of the same power with those used in our allowed interpretations : lastly, how precise he must be, when he is forced to express any sentence by circumlocution, to labour still to retain a relish of the holy phrase in his expressions : I say, if all these circumstances be well considered, (and how difficult they make it to close up every stanza with a period, or some such point that the voice may decently pause there,) I am persuaded a work of this nature could not have been persisted in, to this conclusion, by a man having so many weaknesses and discouragements as I have had ; unless the Almighty had been with me. Nor can I believe that the Devil would have raised up so many maliciously to oppose the same, if it had not tended to God's honour. " But sure no man will grudge the annexing of the Boole of Hymns to our metrical Psalms now used, in regard of any faultiness in their expression, if they consider the meanness of that translation. For though some, of no mean degree, are very violent for the maintenance and continuance of their old version, pleading, as the papists do, for many of their trumperies, a long prescription instead of better argu- ments : yet I know it to be so much to blame, that no man of understanding can sing many of those Psalms, but with trouble to his devotion. And I dare undertake to demonstrate, that they are not only full of absurdities, solecisms, improprieties, nonsense, and impertinent circumlocutions, to more than twice the length of their originals in some places, but that there are in them many expressions also, quite be- side, if not quite contrary, to the meaning of the text ; xxvi INTRODUCTION. which I would not thus openly have declared, but that even school-boys perceive it ; though some, that would be thought wiser, do ignorantly or wilfully protest against an alteration of our singing Psalms. Excuse me, I beseech you, if I seem a little too plain in discovering the faultiness of that, whereof so many are overweening; for I do it not to dis- parage the pious endeavours of those who took pains in that translation ; but rather, commending their laborious and Christian intention, do acknowledge, that, considering the times they lived in, and of what quality they were, they made so worthy an attempt, as may justly shame us, who came after, to see it no better seconded during all the flourishing times which have followed their troublesome age : especially, seeing how curiously our language and expressions are refined in our trivial discourses. u This hath given the Papist, the Atheist, and the Libertine occasion to scoff at our Christian exer- cises ; and troubles the devotion of many a religious man, who being desirous to sing with his understand- ing in the congregations, doth often, before he is aware, lose the sense of the Prophet : yea, and some- times fall upon direct nonsense, among those many impertinent circumlocutions and independencies, which he is for rhyme's sake compelled to wander through in that translation. " Nevertheless, some I know will be obstinate in defence of their old metre ; and I shall seem to them, as one that had presumptuously laid an imputation upon our Church, and unreverently taxed what her authority had commanded ; which, I thank God, I am not guilty of. For I well enough know, and INTR OD UCTION. xxvii your Reverences can witness it, that those metrical Psalms were never commanded to be used in divine service, or in our public congregations, by any canon or ecclesiastical constitution, though many of the vulgar be of that opinion. But whatsoever the Sta- tioners do in their title-page pretend to that purpose, they being first allowed for private devotion only, crept into public use by toleration rather than com- mand. Yea, custom hath been hitherto their chief authority ; and therefore we may not only lay open their defects to a good purpose, without just blame to ourselves, or scandal to the Church, but, I hope, charge them also without offence, when a better translation shah 1 come to light. For the mean time there shall be no reason, I am sure, why those should condemn my expressions, while they approve those measures we have hitherto made use of in our de- votions. " But lest the work should be able to justify itself, in spite of their detraction, my adversaries do pick personal quarrels also : alleging that I have undecently intruded upon the divine calling ; and that my per- formances, being but the fruits of a private spirit, are therefore void and unwarrantable. Yea, if we may believe the Stationers, many zealous ministers have taxed me for meddling with a work of that nature, affirming that it was a task fitter for a divine, than for me : and so bitterly have many of them, as I hear, censured me for it in their private conferences, that I have good cause to suspect it was rather envy than any thing else, which induced most of them to be of that opinion. If it be a work so proper to a divine that no man else ought to have meddled with xxviii INTR OD UCTION. it, I would some of them had taken it in hand, who give me so little thanks for my labour, that we might have seen with what spirit they are guided. I wonder what divine calling HOPKINS and STERNHOLD had more than I have, that their metrical Psalms may he allowed of, rather than my Hymns. Surely, if to have been Groom of the Privy Chamber were sufficient to qualify them, that profession which I am of,* may as well fit me for what I have undertaken, who having first laid the foundation of my studies in one of our famous Universities, f have ever since builded thereon, towards the erecting of such fabrics, as I have now in hand. " But I would gladly know by what rule those men discern of spirits, who condemn my endeavour as the work of a private spirit. The time was, men did judge the tree by his fruit ; but now they will judge the fruit by the tree. If I have expressed any thing repugnant to the analogy of the Christian Faith ; or irreverently opposed the orderly and allowed dis- cipline ; or dissented in any point from that spirit of verity, which breathes through the Holy Catholick Church, then let that which I have done, be taxed for the work of a private spirit. Or if it may appear that I have undecently intruded myself to inter- meddle with those mysteries of our Christian Sanc- tuary, which the God of order hath by his divine law reserved for those who have, according to his ordi- nance, a special calling thereunto ; then indeed let me be taxed as deserving both punishment and re- proof. " But if, making conscience of my actions, I ob- * The Law. t Oxford. INTE OD UCTION. xxix served that seemly distance, which may make it ap- pear I intended not upon ought appropriated to the outward ministry ; if, like an honest hearted Gibeonite, I have but a little extraordinarily laboured to hew wood and draw water, for the spiritual sacrifices ; if, according to the art of the Apothecary, I have com- posed a sweet perfume to offer up to God, in such manner as is proper to my own faculty only; and then brought it to those unto whom the consecration thereof belongs ; if, keeping my own place, I have laboured for the building up of God's House, as I am bound to do, in offering up of that which God hath given me, and making use with modesty of those gifts which were bestowed on me to that pur- pose : if, I say, the case be so, what blame -worthy have I done? Why should those disciples, which follow Christ in a nearer place, forbid us from doing good in his name, who follow him further off? Why should they with Joshua forbid Eldad and Medad from prophesy ing, seeing every good Christian wisheth with Moses, that all God's people were prophets, and that he would give his spirit to them all ? * * * * " Let it not therefore, I beseech you, be an im- putation unto me, that I have performed a better work than my calling seems to oblige me unto. For though some have taxed me for meddling with that which seems more properly to belong to their pro- fession ; it is odds but they are otherwhile as busy in some employments, which would better have be- seemed a man of my quality, than a man of my coat; and therefore let us excuse and forgive one another. That which I have done, when it was my own, was xxx INTE OD (7CTION. subject to any man's censure; but now Authority hath consecrated it, and delivered the same forth for public use, it is no more mine, but the work of Authority which they traduce. " Let all my writings, privately or publicly dis- persed, be examined, from the first Epigram that ever I composed, until the publishing of these Hymns, now traduced by my adversaries ; and if there can be found one line savouring of such a mind as may give cause to suspect I undertook that task, without that true Christian aim which I ought to have had ; or if the performance itself shall make it appear that I proceeded without that due preparation ; or if you can have any probable testimony that through the course of my life, or by any one scandalous act, I have given that cause of offence, as may disparage my studies, or trouble their devotions to whose use my Hymns are tendered, let those things be laid to my charge, until I find means to disprove and wash away imputations. Sure I am, no man can attempt such a work, with a heart more desirous to be rectified, or more fearful to offend by a negligent performance; and therefore if I wanted an outward calling there- unto, which this reverend Assembly may supply, yet I hope I had that inward calling, which is beyond the power of any to confer." The anxiety Wither displays in this extract from the Scholar's Purgatory, respecting his Hymns and Songs of the Church, may well be pardoned, for beside his hope of relief from previous necessities by the sale of the work, he had been induced by the favour of the King " to engage his credit almost 300 further to divulge the book," and by the ani- I NT ROD UCTION. xxxi mosity of the Stationers he felt himself deprived even of the means of subsistence. The special pleadings of the poet, however, were of no avail. Self-interest made the Worshipful Company of Stationers in- exorable, and the patent granted by King James was to him a dead letter. But notwithstanding the exertions of the Stationers to keep the Hymns and Songs of the Church " out of print," they will be read and admired so long as the English language is extant. " His language," says Mr. Willmott, " is unadorned and homely, and the thoughts such as would naturally arise to a calm and benevolent mind. Yet his humblest strains frequently awake a cheerfulness and serenity in the heart of the reader. The spirit of his supplication is so pure and beautiful, that we do not doubt for an instant that the golden sceptre of mercy will be ex- tended to it." The Hvmns and Songs were set to music by / o / Orlando Gibbons, a distinguished musician of the day, and it is thought that a reprint of these old and rare tunes would render the work more acceptable to the public. These tunes are described by Sir John Hawkins as melodies in two parts and excellent in their kind ; in them may be traced the germs of several of the most popular church tunes now used in Divine Worship. In 1625 Wither was a spectator of the great plague which desolated London. This plague broke out in the house of a Frenchman " without the bishop-gate," and the poet has given a glowing description of its ravages, and the effects which it had on society in general, in a poem which he published xxxii INTR OD UCTION. soon after entitled " Britain's Kemembrancer." Wither seems to have lived on the hanks of the Thames at the time the plague hroke out, and while the rich fled from the devoted city he remained to aid the perishing multitude. He is decidedly an advocate of non-contagion, for he records as a fact that hut few sextons and surgeons died of the plague, and that he did not hear of a single death among the market people, who brought provisions into the city. But what is more remarkable, he adds, that in the parish where he resided and where about five hundred died of the plague weekly, not one of the common- oearers of the pestilential corpses fell a victim to its ravages. There is not a more graphic picture of Death and Desolation extant than Britain's Remembrancer gives of this terrible Scourge ; and the man who could quietly remain in the midst of it to aid the sick and dying deserves immortal honour for his philanthropy. As Mr. Willmott justly ob- serves, " It is impossible to contemplate the conduct of Wither" during this season of grief without a feeling of admiration and respect." But the Christian poet placed his trust in the protecting care of the Almighty and was safe. From the date of the plague no mention is made of Wither till the year 1631, when we are told that he assisted the Rev. William Bedwell in the publi- cation of the Tournament of Tottenham. In the following year he published the " Psalms of David translated into Lyric verse, according to the scope of the Original." He was again favoured with the King's Patent " that this translation should be printed and bound to all Bibles that were sold," but his old INTR OD UCTION. xxxiii enemies the Stationers by their influence set it aside. In Wither' s own estimation this version of the Psalms was the best jewel he possessed : and it is certain that it was the best which had yet been written for de- votional purposes. Even that harsh critic Johnson awarded him the praise of having done best what he dogmatically asserted " no one could do well." Wither was in the Netherlands when he published his Psalter. He does not appear to have sojourned long in that country, but the publication of his Em- blems, in 1634 seems to have been promoted by his residence there. In his Emblems the poet shewed himself to be a warm supporter of Monarchy and the Church. In various parts he inveighs bitterly against the Puritan spirit of the age. Within a few years, however, after the publication of his Emblems, a great change took place in his sentiments. In the year 1646 he had become, indeed, as fiery a puritan as any in England. The Church was denounced by him as the cause of all the misery in the country : " her avarice and pride" he asserted had first divided the island ; and it was from her the firebrands came, That set this empire in a flame. Alas, how weak a thing is human nature ! This change in the sentiments of Wither is evidently the fruit of disappointment. While hope of patronage warmed his breast he firmly supported the existing institutions of his country, but when poverty stared him in the face as it did at this period ; when " death and wasting time 7 ' had removed from him those friends from whom to ask a favour was to receive, the poet lost heart, and not only used the pen but c xxxiy INTE OD UCTION. unsheathed the sword against the cause he had so long and nobly supported. Before, however, this change came over the poet, he rendered considerable service to the cause of de- votional literature by the publication in 1641 of the Halleluiah, or Britain's Second Remembrancer. This book is very rare, but copious extracts have been given from it by Wither himself in the Fragmenta Prophetica ; by Sir Egerton Brydges, in the Censura Literaria ; and by Dalrymple, in his selections from the Juvenilia. The touching pathos of many of these hymns have rarely been equalled, and the republiea- tion of them would be a boon to the age in which we live. Witness the beautiful Hymn for Anniversary Marriage days : Lord, living here are we As fast united yet, As when our hands and hearts by thee Together first were knit. And in a thankful song, Now sing we will thy praise, For that thou dost as well prolong Our loving as our days. The frowardness that springs From our corrupted kind, Or from those troublous outward things Which may distract the mind ; Permit not thou, O Lord, Our constant love to shake, Or to disturb our true accord, Or make our hearts 4o ache. Who would have imagined that the mind from which such tender thoughts as these emanated, could have mingled in the strife and bitterness of party spirit, which was every day and hour becoming stronger INTRODUCTION. xxxv and stronger at this period of English History ? yet so it was. With the Halleluiah the poetical life of Wither seems to have terminated. He hecame actively engaged in the earlier part of the civil war ; and the " sweetness of his Shepherd's pipe was lost to him for ever." In an address to his Muse written years before this period he writes : Therefore Muse to thee I call, Thou (since nothing else avails me) Must redeem me from my thrall. If thy sweet enchantments fail me, Then adieu, life, love, and all. The latter years of the life of Wither were worn out in strife, in petulant complaints, in penury, and in sorrow. Over this dreary period of the poet's history we draw a veil. The discordant din of politics, war, and fanaticism was to him like as the evil spirit was to Saul : it drove far from him that fine spirit of poesy, which had so long been to him the comfort and solace of his heart. He continued it is true from time to time to pour out rhymes, and that with considerable facility, but the spirit and the life of poetry were no longer discernible in his verse. In a word, the after poetry of Wither chiefly consists of narrations and invectives relative to the strife of Royalists and Parliamentarians. Wither reaped the bitterest fruits of his tergiver- sation at the Restoration of the Royal Family. His property was confiscated; and all his MSS. and books were seized under a warrant from Secretary Nicholas, while he himself was sent to Newgate. He was subsequently removed to the Tower, where he appears to have remained for more than a year. Campbell says that he died in the Tower ; but this xxxvi INTR OD UCTION. is a mistake, for he was released on the 27th of July, 1663, after having given bond for his good behaviour. Before his incarceration in the Tower, Wither appears to have been living in retirement in Hamp- shire. It is probable he returned thither, but if so he shortly after took up his abode in London. He was living there at the time of the second plague and the great fire of London, as we gather from his Meditations upon the Lord's Prayer, and his Frag- menta Prophetica. In the former he remarks : " During the great mortality yet continuing, and wherein God evidently visited his own household, my little family, consisting of three persons only, was visited and with my dear consort, long engaged in daily expectation of God's diviner purpose concerning our persons : yet with confidence, whether we were smitten or spared, lived or died, it would be in mercy ; for having nothing to make us in love with the world, we had placed our hopes upon the world to come." The pestilence and the fire so thinned and separ- ated the poet's friends that he contemplated retire- ment " to a solitary habitation in the place of his nativity," but this intention was abandoned on the advice of some of his few remaining friends. But his end was drawing nigh. His " path had gradually been growing rougher and more painful, as he wound deeper into the vale of years," but it is pleasing to observe from some of the last words traced by the poet's pen that, after all the storms and roughnesses of life his faith remained unshaken, and that he awaited his final summons with the calm fortitude of a genuine Christian. He died on the 2nd of May, 1667, and was buried in the church belonging to the Savoy Hospital in the Strand. INTE OD UCTION. xxxvii According to Aubrey Wither married Elizabeth Emerson, of South Lambeth, who was a great wit, and could also write verse. How tenderly he was attached to his consort many touching passages in his poetry testify. No mention is made of her death, but it seems probable that she had preceded him to the tomb. His wife had borne him six children, but one only, a daughter, survived her parents. The private character of Wither was one of almost patriarchal simplicity. It was a reflex of his poetry. As a son, a friend, a parent, and a husband, never did character shine more brightly. Austerely simple and unostentatious he loathed the fawning adulation of the age in which he lived. To use his own language, When any bow'd to me with congee's trim, All I could do was stand and laugh at him : Bless me ! I thought what will this coxcomb do, When I perceived one reaching at my shoe. In his habits he was very temperate. His chief in- dulgence was in the luxury of smoking. In New- gate his pipe was a solace to him, and he gratefully acknowledged God's mercy in wrapping up " a bless- ing in a weed." As a politician no praise can be given to Wither. Yet though in reference to politics he was like a reed shaken by every wind, he seems on the whole to have preserved his honesty. He was unbending even to Cromwell, and for this he finally lost the Pro- tector's favour. His political sentiments can scarcely be defined, nor are his religious feelings less difficult to portray. In early life he was a strict Episcopalian, and when he joined the ranks of Republicanism he seems to have forsaken the outward forms of Episco- xxxviii INTE OD UCTION. pacy rather than its ordinances. He called himself a Catholic Christian ; and asserted that he separated " from no church adhering to the foundations of Christianity." Of his inherent piety there can be no question. His writings abound with proofs of the sincerity of his religious profession, and though there is in " all of them somewhat savouring of a natural spirit," yet there is also in all, much " that is dictated by a better spirit than his own." Amidst all his mis- fortunes, his character was marked by dignity and fortitude the result of true piety. Even in the midst of the deepest affliction he could sing, But, Lord, though in the dark, And in contempt thy servant lies ; On me there falls a spark Of lovingkindness from thine eyes. As a poet Wither ranks high among those who were his contemporaries. His secular poetry contains touches of rural simplicity rarely surpassed ; and his sacred poetry reminds the reader of the fine chords of the sweet singer of Israel. There is no exuberant fancy displayed in his verse : he deals not with elabo- rate metaphors, nor produces any striking imagery to enchain the senses ; but still by the natural grace and melody of his style, by the touching simplicity of his language, and by the skilful handling of his metre, he carries conviction to the mind of the reader that his verse everywhere contains the fine gold of poetry. Simplicity is a primary quality of genius, and never did writer display this quality in richer profusion than the poet Wither. A flower is not the less beautiful for being simple ; on the contrary, the rose and the lily vie in beauty with the most gor- INTE OD UCTION. xxxix geous flowers produced by nature or by art. Just so it is with the language of Wither's poetry com- pared with that of many of his contemporaries . Faith- ful to nature and truth he despised their glittering eccentricities, their fantastic images, their inflated diction, their quaint conceits, their forced pathos, and their far-fetched learning; and the result is, that while their verse fails to affect the heart, Ms comes home to every bosom. Nature answers to nature, as in the glass face answers to face ; thus demon- strating the high qualities of his poetical genius. These remarks on the poetical talent of Wither will be borne out by a perusal of his Hymns and Songs; and we intend laying before our readers other works from his pen which will equally testify- to his merits as a poet. EDWAED FABB. Iver, July 1st, 1856. THE HYMNES AND SONGS OF THE C H V R C H. Diuided into two Parts. The firft Part comprehends the Ca- nonical! Hymnes, and fuch parcels of ' Holy Scripture, as may properly be fung : With fome other ancient Songs and Creeds. The fecond Part confifts of Spiritual! Songs, appropriated to the feuerall Times and Occafions, obferuable in the Church of England. Tranjlated, and Compofed BY G. W. LONDON, Printed by the Affignes of GEORGE WITHE R. 1623. Cum Priuilegio Regis Regali. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE, JAMES, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND IRELAND, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, &C. MERCY AND PEACE, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. JyHESE HYMNS, dread Sovereign, hav- ing divers ways received life from your Majesty, as well as that approbation which the Church alloweth, are now imprinted according to your royal privilege, to come abroad under your gracious protection. And what I delivered unto your princely view at several times, I here present again, incorporated into one volume. The first part whereof comprehends those canonical Hymns, which were written, and left for our in- struction, by the Holy Ghost. And those are not only plainly and briefly expressed in lyric verse, but by their short Prefaces properly applied also to the xliv DEDICATION. Church's particular occasions in these times : inso- much, that, however some neglect them as imper- tinent, it is thereby apparent, that they appertain no less to us than unto those in whose times they were first composed. And (if the conjecture of many good and learned men deceive them not) the latter part, containing Spiritual Songs, appropriated to the several times and occasions observable in the Church of England (together with brief Arguments, declar- ing the purpose of those observations) shall become a means both of increasing knowledge, and Christian conformity within your dominions ; which, no doubt, your Majesty wisely foresaw, when you pleased to grant and command that these Hymns should be annexed to all Psalm Books in English metre. And I hope you shall thereby increase both the hon- our of God, and of your Majesty : for these Hymns, and the knowledge which they offer, could no other way, with such certainty, and so little inconvenience, be conveyed to the common people, as by that means which your Majesty hath graciously provided. And now (maugre their malice, who labour to disparage and suppress these helps to devotion) they shall, I trust, have free scope to work that effect which is desired ; and to which end I was encouraged to translate and compose them. For, how meanly soever some men may think of this endeavour, I trust the success shall make it appear, that the DEDICATION. xlv Spirit of God was the first mover of the work : wherein, as I have endeavoured to make my ex- pressions such as may not he contemptible to men of hest understandings ; so I have also laboured to suit them to the nature of the subject, and the common people's capacities, without regard of catching the vain blasts of opinion. The same also hath been the aim of Master Orlando Gibbons (your Majesty's servant, and one of the Gentlemen of your honourable Chapel) in fitting them with tunes : for he hath chosen to make his music agreeable to the matter, and what the common apprehension can best admit, rather than to the curious fancies of the time ; which path both of us could more easily have trodden. Not caring, therefore, what any of those shall censure, who are more apt to control than to consider, I com- mit this to God's blessing, and your favourable pro- tection ; humbly, beseeching your Majesty to accept of these our endeavours, and praying God to sanctify both us and this work to his glory: wishing, also, most unfeignedly, everlasting consolations to your Majesty, for those temporal comforts you have vouch- safed me, and that felicity here, which may advance your happiness in the life to come. Amen. Your Majesty's Most loyal Subject, GEORGE WITHEB. A TABLE OF THE HYMNS AND SONGS CONTAINED BOTH IN THE FIRST AND SECOND PAET OF THIS BOOK; The first Number declaring the Song, the second the Page. Hymns found in the Books of Moses, and in the other Books of Holy Scripture, called Hagiographa. Song Page 1. The first Song of Moses 2 2. The second Song of Moses 6 3. The Song of Deborah, &c 14 4. The Song of Hannah 23 5. The Lamentation of David 26 6. David's Thanksgiving . 29 7. Nehemiah's Prayer 32 8. The Song of Lemuel 36 ' The Song of Solomon, divided into ten Canticles. 9. The first Canticle .......... 41 10. The second Canticle 44 11. The third Canticle . . 47 12. The fourth Canticle 51 xlviii CONTENTS. Song Page 13. The fifth Canticle 53 14. The sixth Canticle 58 15. The seventh Canticle 61 16. The eighth Canticle 65 17. The ninth Canticle 68 18. The tenth Canticle 73 The Hymns found in the Books of the Prophets, with the Lamentations of Jeremiah. 19. The first Song of Esai 77 20. The second Song of Esai 80 21. The third Song of Esai 82 22. The Prayer of Hezekiah 88 23. Hezekiah's Thanksgiving 90 24. The first Lamentation of Jeremiah 94 25. The second Lamentation 102 26. The third Lamentation 109 27. The fourth Lamentation 117 28. The fifth Lamentation 122 29. The Prayer of Daniel 125 30. The Prayer of Jonah 130 31. The Prayer of Habakuk 133 The Hymns of the New Testament. 32. The Song of our Lady, or Magnificat . . . . 140 33. The Song of Zachary, or Benedictus .... 142 34. The Song of Angels 144 35. The Song of Simeon 146 36. The Song of the Lamb 147 The rest that make up thejirst part are these. 37. The Ten Commandments 149 38. The Lord's Prayer 152 39. The Apostles Creed 153 CONTENTS. xlix Song Page 40. A Funeral Song 155 41. The Song of the Three Children 157 42. The Song of St. Ambrose 160 43. The Creed of Athanasius 163 44. Come, Holy Ghost, or Veni Creator . . . . 168 THE SECOND PAET OF THE HYMNS AND SONGS OF THE CHURCH. Spiritual Songs, appropriated to those times, in which are com' memorated the principal Mysteries of Christian Religion. 45. The Song for Advent 175 46. For Christmas 178 47. Another for Christmas . 179 48. For the Circumcision 181 49. For Twelfth Day 184 50. For the Purification 186 51. The First Day of Lent 189 52. The Annunciation 191 53. Palm Sunday 193 54. Thursday before Easter 195 55. Good Friday 198 56. Easter Day 203 57. Ascension Day 206 58. Whit Sunday 208 59. Trinity Sunday 212 60. Sunday 216 Spiritual Songs appropriated to the Saints Days, most observable throughout the year, 61. For St. Andrew's Day 218 62. For St. Thomas's Day 220 d 1 CONTENTS. Song Page 63. St. Stephen's Day 222 64. St. John the Evangelist 224 65. Innocents' Day 226 66. The Conversion of St. Paul 228 67. St. Matthias's Day 230 68. St. Mark's Day 231 69. St. Philip and Jacob's Day 233 70. St. Barnabas's Day 235 , 71. St. John Baptist's Day 237 72. St. Peter's Day 240 73. St. James's Day 242 74. St. Bartholomew's Day 244 75. St. Matthew's Day 246 76. St. Michael's Day 249 77. St. Luke's Day 251 78. St. Simon and Jude's Day 253 79. All Saints' Day 255 Spiritual Songs Jilted for other Solemnities, and to praise God for public Benefits. 80. For Eogation Week 261 81. St. George's Day 266 82. For Public Deliverances 268 83. For the Communion 271 84. For Ember Weeks 282 85. For seasonable Weather 285 86. For Plenty 287 87. For Peace 289 88. For Victory 291 89. For Deliverance from Public Sickness . . . 293 90. For the King 295 The Author's Hymn 298 To the Reader 304 The Tunes , 305 THE FIBST PART OF THE HYMNS AND SONGS OF THE CHURCH. CONTAINING THOSE WHICH ABE TRANSLATED OUT OF THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURE, TOGETHER WITH SUCH OTHER HYMNS AND CREEDS, AS HAVE ANCIENTLY BEEN SUNG IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. THE PREFACE. false is their supposition, who conceive that the Hymns, Songs, and Elegies of the Old Testament are impertinent to these later ages of the Church ; for, neither the actions nor writings of the ancient Israelites, which are recorded by the Holy Spirit, were permitted to be done or written for their own sakes, so much as that they might be profitable to warn and instruct us of the latter times, according to St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. And, indeed, so much is not only testified by that Apostle, in the lii PREFACE. place afore recited, and throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews, but the very names of those Persons and Places, mentioned in these Hymns and Songs, do manifest it, and far better express the nature of that which they mystically point out, than of what they are literally applied unto ; as those who will look into their proper significations shall apparently discover. That, therefore, these parcels of Holy Scripture (which are for the most part metre in their original tongue) may be the better remembered, to the glory of God ; and the oftener repeated, to those ends for which they were written; they are here disposed into lyric verse, and do make the First Part of this BOOK ; which BOOK is called The Hymns and Songs of the Church ; not for that I would have it thought part of the Church's Liturgy, but because they are made in the person of all the faithful, and do (for the most part) treat of those things which concern the whole Catholic Church. THE FIKST SONG OF MOSES. EXOD. xv. HIS Song was composed and sung to praise the Lord for the Israelites' miraculous passage through the Red Sea, and for their delivery from those Egyptians who were there drowned. It may (and should also) he sung in the Christian congregations, or hy their particular memhers, hoth with respect to the historical and mystical senses thereof: Histori- cally, in commemoration of that particular deliver- ance, which God had so long ago and so wondrously vouchsafed to his persecuted and afflicted church: Mystically, in acknowledgement of our own powerful deliverance from the hondage of those spiritual ad- versaries, whereof those were the types : for Pharaoh (signifying Vengeance) typified our great enemy, who, with his host of temptations, afflictions, &c. pursueth us in our passage to the spiritual Canaan. B 2 HYMNS AND SONGS The Red Sea represented our baptism, 1 Cor. x. 2. By the Dukes and Princes of Edom (mentioned in this Song) are prefigured those Powers and Friends of the kingdom of darkness, which are, or shall be, molested at the news of our regeneration : and there- fore this Hymn may very properly be used after the administration of baptism. THE FIRST SONG. 1. NOW shall the praises of the Lord be sung ; For he a most renowned Triumph won : Both horse and man into the sea he flung ; And them together there hath overthrown. The Lord is he whose strength doth make me strong, And he is my salvation and my song ; My God, for whom I will a house prepare, My father's God, whose praise I will declare. 2. Well knows the Lord to war what doth pertain, The Lord Almighty is his glorious name : He Pharaoh's chariots, and his armed train, Amid the sea o'erwhelming, overcame : Those of his army that were most renown'd, He hath together in the Red Sea drown'd ; OF THE CHURCH. 3 The deeps a covering over them were thrown, And to the bottom sunk they like a stone. 3. Lord, by thy power thy right hand famous grows ; Thy right hand, Lord, thy foe destroyed hath ; Thy glory thy opposers overthrows, And stubble-like consumes them in thy wrath. A blast but from thy nostrils forth did go, And up together did the waters flow : Yea, rolled up on heaps, the liquid flood Amid the sea, as if congealed, stood. 4. I will pursue them (their pursuer cried), I will o'ertake them, and the spoil enjoy : My lust upon them shall be satisfied : With sword unsheath'd my hand shall them destroy. Then from thy breath a gale of wind was sent ; The billows of the sea quite o'er them went : And they the mighty waters sunk into, E'en as a weighty piece of lead will do. 5. Lord, who like thee among the Gods is there ! In holiness so glorious who may be ! Whose praises so exceeding dreadful are ! In doing wonders, who can equal thee ! 4 HYMNS AND SONGS Thy glorious right hand thou on high didst rear, And in the earth they quickly swallowed were. But thou in mercy onward hast conveyed Thy people, whose redemption thou hast paid. 6. Them by thy strength thou hast been pleas'd to bear Unto a holy dwelling-place of thine : The nations at report thereof shall fear, And grieve shall they that dwell in Palestine. On Edom's princes shah 1 amazement fall ; The mighty men of Moab tremble shall ; And such as in the land of Canaan dwell, Shall pine away, of this when they hear tell. 7. They shall be seized with a horrid fear. Stone-quiet thy right hand shall make them be, Till passed over, Lord, thy people are ; Till those pass over, that were bought by thee. For thou shalt make them to thy hill repair, And plant them there (O Lord) where thou art heir ; E'en there, where thou thy dwelling hast prepared, That holy place, which thine own hands have rear'd. 8. The Lord shall ever and for ever reign, His sovereignty shall never have an end ; OF THE CHURCH. For when as Pharaoh did into the main, With chariots and with horsemen, down descend, The Lord did hack again the sea recall, And with those waters overwhelmed them all. But through the very inmost of the same The seed of Israel safe and dry-shod came. THE SECOND SONG OF MOSES. DEUT. xxxii. \ HIS Song was given hy God himself, to he taught the Jews, that it might remain as a witness against them when they should forget his benefits. For it ap- pears the Divine Wisdom knew that when the Law would be lost or forgotten, a Song might be remem- bered to posterity. In this Hymn (heaven and earth being called to witness) the Prophet makes first a narration of the Jews' perverseness, and then deliver- eth prophetically three principal things, wherein divers other particulars are considerable. The first is a prediction of the Jews' idolatry, with the punish- ments of it. The second is their hatred to Christ, with their abjection. And the last is of the calling of the Gentiles. We, therefore, that have by faith 6 HYMNS AND SONGS and experience seen the success of what is herein foretold, ought to sing it often, in remembrance of God's Justice and mercy. And (seeing we are all apt enough to become forgetful of our Redeemer's favour as they) we should, by the repetition hereof, seek to stir up our considerations, that (as St. Paul counselleth) we might the better meditate the good- ness and severity of God, Who is my beloved-one// v Daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you seriously To inform him how that I Sick am grown of love for him. 2. Fairest of all women, tell How thy lover doth excel, More than other lovers do. Thy beloved, what is he, More than other lovers be ; That thou dost adjure us so ? 62 HYMNS AND SONGS 3. He in whom I so delight, Is the purest red and white ; Of ten thousands chief is he ; Like fine gold his head doth show, Whereon curled locks do grow ; And a raven-black they be. 4. Like the milky doves that hide By the rivers, he is ey'd ; Full and fitly set they are : Cheeks like spicy-beds hath he ; Or like flowers that fairest be : Lips like lilies dropping myrrh. 5. Hands like rings of gold, beset With the precious chrysolet ; Belly'd like white ivory, Wrought about with sapphires rich ; Legs like marble pillars, which Set on golden bases be. 6. Fac'd like Libanus is he, Goodly as the cedar tree, OF THE CHURCH. 63 Sweetness breathing out of him : He is lovely ev'ry where. This, my friend is, this my dear, Daughters of Jerusalem. 7. Oh, thou fairest (ev'ry way) Of all women ! whither may Thy heloved turned he ? Tell us whither he is gone ?* Who is thy beloved-one, That we seek him may with thee ? To his garden went my dear, To the beds of spices there ; Where he feeds, and lilies gets : I my love's am, and (alone) Mine is my beloved-one, Who among the lilies eats. * Whither is he gone ? What accident hath wrapt him from us ? Par. Regained. 64 HYMNS AND SONGS THE EIGHTH CANTICLE. ^ EKELN" is contained a continuation of the praises of the Bride, and of that ardent affection expressed by her Be- loved in the fifth Canticle ; yet it is no unnecessary repetition : for it seemeth to have respect to the Church's estate, and the passages between her and Christ in another age ; even when the Gentiles began to be called and united unto the church of the Jews, according to what is desired in the first Can- ticle : and therefore she is here compared to Tyrzah and Jerusalem for loveliness. Her glorious increase, her singular purity, her extraordinary applause, the splendour of her majesty, and the powerfulness of her authority, is here also described. Moreover, the fears and hinderances sustained in her first persecu- tions are here mystically shewn. And, lastly, they who through fear or obstinacy are separated from her, are called to return, in regard of her apparent power. This we may sing to remember us of those graces God hath bestowed on his Church. To comfort our souls, also, with that dearness which Christ express- eth towards her of whom we are members, and on divers other occasions, according as he that useth it hath capacity to understand and apply the same. / OF THE CHURCH. 65 SONG XVI. Sing this as the Thirteenth Song. 1. BEAUTIFUL art thou, my dear ! Thou as lovely art as are Tirzah or Jerusalem, (As the beautifuPst of them,) And as much thou mak'st afraid, As arm'd troops with flags displayed. 2. Turn away those eyes of thine ; Do not fix them so on mine ; For there beam forth (from thy sight) Sweets that overcome me quite : And thy locks like kidlings be, Which from Gilead-hill we see. 3. Like those ewes thy teeth do show, Which in rows from washing go ; When among them there is none Twinless, nor a barren one. And (within thy locks) thy brows Like the cut pomegranate shows. F 66 HYMNS AND SONGS 4. There are with her sixty queens ; There are eighty concubines ; And the damsels they possess Are in number numberless : But my dove is all alone, And an undefiled one. 5. She's her mother's only dear, And her joy that did her bear ; When the daughters her surveyed, That she blessed was they said : She was praised of the queens, And among the concubines. 6. Who is she (when forth she goes) That so like the morning shows ? Beautiful, as is the moon ; Purely bright, as is the sun ; And appearing full of dread, Like an host with ensigns spread ! 7. To the nut-yard down went I, (And the vale's increase to spy) OF THE CHURCH. 67 To behold the vine-buds come, And to see pomegranates bloom ; But the prince's chariots did Vex me so, I could not heed. 8. Turn, oh turn, thou Shulamite ! Turn, oh turn thee to our sight ! What, I pray, is that which you In the Shulamite would view, But that (to appearance) she Shews like troops that armed be. THE NINTH CANTICLE. r, in the first part of this Canticle, commending the Church's universal beauty in her several parts, is understood to have respect to that time after the conversion from Paganism, wherein she was endowed and made lovely by the variety of those offices, states, and degrees, into which her members were for order's sake distinguished ; as well as by the addition of those other graces formally re- ceived : which states and degrees are here mystically understood by the parts of a beautiful woman (as doth excellently appear, the allegory being particu- 68 HYMNS AND SONGS larly expounded.) The second part of this Hymn expresseth the mutual interchange of aifections be- tween the Bridegroom and his bride ; and those sweet contentments they enjoy in each other's loves. Lastly, here is set forth both the Church's desire to be freed from those persecutions, which hinder her open and full fruition of her beloved ; and mention is here made also of those public and undisturbed embraces which they shah 1 at length enjoy. The first part hereof we ought so to sing, that it may remember us to shun their blindness, who discern not the beauty of order and degrees in the Church. The second part puts us in mind that she is the treasuress both of those graces which cause content- ment within ourselves, and make us acceptable to God. By the last part we may apprehend the com- fort that will follow, when we desire that the open profession of Christ may be granted merely for the love of him. SOJSTG XVII. Sing this as the Ninth Song. 1. HOU daughter of the royal line,* T How comely are those feet of thine, When their beseeming shoes they wear ! * Weep, daughter of a Koyal line ! Byron. OF THE CHURCH. 69 The curious knittings of thy thighs Is like the costly gems of prize, Which wrought by skilful workmen are. 2. Thy navel is a goblet crown'd, Where liquor evermore is found ; Thy fair and fruitful belly shows, As doth a goodly heap of wheat, With lilies round about beset, And thy two breasts like twinned roes. 3. Thy neck like some white tower doth rise ; Like Heshbon fish-pools are thine eyes, Which near the gate Bath-rabbim lie. Thy nose (which thee doth well become) Is like the tower of Libanum, That on Damascus hath an eye. 4. Thy head like scarlet doth appear ; The hairs thereof like purple are ; And in those threads the King is bound. Oh, Love ! how wondrous fair art thou ! How perfect do thy pleasures show ! And how thy joys in them abound ! 70 HYMNS AND SONGS 5. Thou statured* art in palm-tree wise ; Thy breasts like clusters do arise : I said unto this palm, I'll go, My hold shall on her branches be ; And those thy breasts shall be to me Like clusters that on vines do grow. 6. Thy nostrils savour shall as well As newly-gathered fruits do smell. Thy speech shall also relish so, As purest wine, that for my dear As fitting drink, and able were To cause an old man's lips to go. 7. I my beloved's am, and he Hath his affection set on me. Come, well-beloved, come away, Into the fields let's walk along ; And there the villages among, E'en in the country we will stay. 8. We to the vines betimes will go, And see if they do spring or no ; * Like a Statue* OF THE C 'HUE OH. 71 Or, if the tender grapes appear : We will, moreover, go and see If the pomegranates blossom'd be ; And I mj love will give thee there. 9. Sweet smells the mandrakes do afford, And we within our gates are stor'd, Of all things that delightful he : Yea, whether new or old they are, Prepared they he for my dear, And I have laid them up for thee. 10. Would as my brother thou might'st be, That suck'd my mother's breast with me ; Oh, would it were no otherwise ! In public then I thee would meet, And give thee kisses in the street, And none there is should thee despise. 11. Then I myself would for thee come, And bring thee to my mother's home : Thou likewise shouldst instruct me there ; And wine that is commixt with spice (Sweet wine of the pomegranate juice) I would for thee to drink prepare. 72 HYMNS AND SONGS 12. My head with his left hand he staid ; His right hand over me he laid ; And heing so embraced by him, Said he, I charge you, not disease, Nor wake my love, until she please, You daughters of Jerusalem. THE TENTH CANTICLE. N this last part of Solomon's Song he first singeth that sweet peace and ex- traordinary prosperity vouchsafed unto the Church after her great persecu- tions ; and expresseth it hy putting the question, who she was that came out of the wilderness leaning on her Beloved. Secondly, he introduceth Christ putting the human nature in remembrance from what estate he had raised it, and requiring the dear- est of our affections, in regard of the ardency, un- quenchableness, and inestimable value of his love. Thirdly, having remembered the Church of the af- fection due to him, Christ teacheth her the charitable care she ought to have of others ; and that she being brought into his favour and protection, should seek the preferment of her younger sister also, even the OF THE CHURCH. 73 people who have not yet the breasts of God's two testaments to nourish their souls. Fourthly, the Church's true Solomon, or Peace-Maker (meaning Jesus Christ) having a vineyard in Baal-hammon (that is) wheresoever there are people; herein is declared the reward of such as are profitably em- ployed in that vineyard. And lastly, the confirma- tion of Christ's marriage upon the hills of spice (meaning Heaven) is hastened. In singing this Canticle we ought to meditate what estate God hath raised us from ; what love he hath vouchsafed ; what our charity should he to others ; what we should mind concerning this life, and what desire we should have to the comforts of the world to come. SONG XVIII. 1. WHO'S this, that leaning on her friend, Doth from the wilderness ascend ? Mind how I raised thee, E'en where thy mother thee conceiv'd, Where she that brought thee forth conceiv'd, Beneath an apple-tree. 2. Me in thy heart engraven bear, And seal-like on thy hand- wrist wear ; 74 HYMNS AND SONGS For love is strong as death ; Fierce as the grave is Jealousy, The coals thereof do burning lie, And furious flames it hath. 3. Much water cannot cool love's flame, No floods have power to quench the same, For love so high is priz'd, That who to buy it would essay, Though all his wealth he gave away, It would be all despis'd. 4. We have a sister, scarcely grown, For she is such a little one, That yet no breasts hath she ; What things shall we now undertake To do for this our sister's sake, If spoken for she be ? 5. If that a wall she do appear, We turrets upon her will rear, And palaces of plate ; And then with boards of cedar-tree Enclose, and fence her in will we, If that she be a gate. OF THE CHUECH. 75 A wall already built I am, And now my breasts upon the same, Do turret-like arise ; Since when, as one that findeth rest, (And is of settled peace possest) I seemed in his eyes. 7. A vineyard hath King Solomon, This vineyard is at Baal-hammon, Which he to keepers put ; And ev'ry one that therein wrought, A thousand silver-pieces brought, And gave him for the fruit. 8. My vineyard, which belongs to me, E'en I myself do oversee : To thee, O Solomon, A thousand-fold doth appertain, And those that keep the same shall gain Two hundred-fold for one. 9. Thou whose abode the gardens are, (Thy fellows unto thee give ear) 76 HYMNS AND SONGS Cause me to hear thy voice : And let my Love as swiftly go, As doth a hart or nimble roe, Upon the hills of spice. THE FIRST SONG OF ESAL ESA. v. this Song the Prophet, singing of Christ and his vineyard, first sheweth, that, notwithstanding his labour be- stowed in fencing and manuring there- of, it brought forth sour grapes. Secondly, he sum- moneth their consciences whom he covertly upbraided, to be judges of God's great love, and their unprofit- ableness. Thirdly, he shows both how he intends to deal with his vineyard, and who they are whom he pointeth out in this parable. Now, seeing it hath befallen the Jews according to this prophetical hymn, we are to make a twofold use in singing it. First, thereby to memorize the mercy and justice of God, both which are manifested in this song: his mercy in forewarning, his justice in punishing even his own people. Secondly, we are so to meditate thereon, that we may be warned to consider what favours God hath vouchsafed us, and what fruits we ought to bring forth; lest he leave us also to be OF THE CHURCH. 77 spoiled of our adversaries : for in this parable the Holy Spirit speaketh unto every congregation who abuseth his favours. And doubtless all such (as it hath fallen out in Antioch, Laodicea, and many other particular churches) shall be deprived of God's pro- tection, of the dews of his Holy Spirit, and of the sweet showers of his word, to be left to thorns and briers, the fruit of their natural corruptions. SONG XIX. Sing this as the Fourteenth Song. 1. SONG of Him whom I love best, A And of his Vineyard sing I will. A vineyard once my love possest, Well-seated on a fruitful hill ; He kept it close -immured still : The earth from stones he did refine, And set it with the choicest vine. 2. He in the midst a fort did rear, (A wine-press therein also wrought ;) But when he look'd it grapes should bear, Those grapes were wild ones that it brought. Jerusalem, come speak thy thought, 78 HYMNS AND SONGS And you of Judah judges be, Betwixt my vineyards here, and me. 3 - Unto my vineyard what could more Performed be, than I have done ? Yet looking it should grapes have bore, Save wild ones it afforded none. But go to, (let it now alone) Resolv'd I am to shew you too, What with my vineyard I will do. 4. The hedge I will remove from thence, That what so will, devour it may. I down will break the walled-fence, And through it make a trodden way. Yea, all of it I waste will lay. To dig or dress it none shall care : But thorns and briers it shall bear. 5. The clouds I also will compel, That there no rain descend for this ; For lo the house of Israel The Lord of Armies' vineyard is : And Judah is that plant of his, OF THE CHURCH. 79 That pleasant one, who forth hath brought Oppression, when he judgment sought. He seeking justice, found therein, In lieu thereof, a crying sin. THE SECOND SONG OF ESAI. ESAI xii. ^SAIAH having a little before prophe- sied of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the excellency of his kingdom, doth in this Hymn praise him for his mercy; and foreshows the Church also, what her Song should be in that day of her redemption, the principal contents whereof are these : A confession of God's mercy, a prediction concerning the sacra- ment of baptism, and an exhortation to a joyful thanksgiving. This Song the Church should still sing to the honour of Jesus Christ for our redemp- tion. Yea, in regard the Prophet (foreseeing the good cause we should have to make use hereof) hath prophesied it should be the Church's Hymn, it seem- eth not improper to be used on those days, which are solemnized in memorial of our Saviour's Nativ- ity ; or whensoever we shall be moved to praise God, 80 HYMNS AND SONGS in memorizing the gracious comforts promised us by his Prophets, and fulfilled by his own coming. And to fit the same the better to that purpose, I have changed the person and the time in this translation. SONG XX. 1. LOED, I will sing to Thee, For thou displeased wast, And yet withdrew'st thy wrath from me, And sent me comfort hast. Thou art my health, on whom A fearless trust I lay ; For thou, oh Lord ! thou art become My strength, my song, my stay ! 2. And with rejoicing now, Sweet waters we convey, Forth of those springs whence life doth flow ; And, thus, we therefore say, Oh, sing unto the Lord ; His name and works proclaim ; Yea, to the people bear record That glorious is his name. OF THE CHURCH. 81 3. Unto the Lord, oh sing, For wonders he hath done, And many a renowned thing, Which through the earth is known Oh sing aloud, all ye On Sion-hill that dwell ; For, lo, thy Holy One in thee Is great, oh Israel ! THE THIED SONG OF ESAL ESAI. xxvi. composed this Song to comfort the Israelites in their captivity ; to strength- en their patience in affliction and settle their confidence on the promises of God. First, it rememhereth them that God's pro- tection being every where as available as a de- fenced city, they ought always to rely on the firm peace which that affordeth. Secondly, he sheweth that the pride of sin shall be overthrown ; and that the faithful are resolved to fly unto their Redeemer, and await his pleasure in their chastisements. Third- ly, he singeth the utter desolation of tyrants ; the increase of the Church ; her afflictions ; her deli- ct 82 HYMNS AND SONGS verance ; and the resurrection from death through Christ. Lastly, the faithful are exhorted to attend patiently on the Lord their Saviour, who will come shortly to judgment, and take account for the blood of his saints. This Song is made in the person of the Church, and may be sung to comfort and con- firm us in all our chastisements and persecutions ; by bringing to our consideration the short time of our endurance, and the certainty of our Redeemer's coming. It may be used also to praise God both for his justice and mercy. SONG XXI. Sing this as the Third Song. I. A CITY now we have obtained, Where strong defences are ; And God salvation hath ordain'd For walls and bulwarks there. The gates thereof wide open ye, That such as justly do, (And those that Truth's observers be) May enter thereunto. 2. There thou in peace wilt keep them sure, Whose thoughts well grounded be ; OF THE CHURCH. 83 In peace that ever shall endure, Because they trusted Thee. For ever, therefore, on the Lord, Without distrust, depend ; For in the Lord, th' eternal Lord, Is strength that hath no end. 3. He makes the lofty city yield, And her proud dwellers bow ; He lays it level with the field, E'en with the dust below. Their feet that are in want and care, Their feet thereon shall tread ; Their way is right, that righteous are, And thou their path dost heed. 4. Upon the course of judgments we, Oh, Lord, attending were, And to record thy name and thee, Our souls desirous are. On thee our minds, with strong desire, Are fixed in the night ; And after thee our hearts inquire, Before the morning light. 84 HYMNS AND SONGS 5. For when thy righteous judgments are Upon the earth discern'd, By those that do inhabit there, Uprightness shall be learn'd. Yet sinners for no terror will Just dealing understand, But in their sins continue still, Amid the Holy Land. 6. To seek the glory of the Lord They unregardful be ; And thy advanced hand, oh Lord, They will not deign to see. But they shall see, and see with shame, That bear thy people spite ; Yea, from thy foes shall come a flame, Which will devour them quite. 7. Then, Lord, for us thou wilt procure That we in peace may be, Because that every work of our Is wrought for us by thee. And, Lord our God, though we are brought To other lords in thrall, Of thee alone shall be our thought, Upon thy name to call. OF THE CHURCH. 85 8. They are deceas'd, and never shall Kenewed life obtain ; They die, and shall not rise at all To tyrannise again : For thou didst visit them, therefore, And wide dispersed them hast ; That so their fame for evermore May wholly be defac'd. But, Lord, increased thy people are, Increased they are by thee ; And thou art glorified as far As earth's wide limits be ; For, Lord, in their distresses, when Thy rod on them was laid, They unto thee did hasten then, And without ceasing pray'd. 10. As one with child is pain'd, when as Her throes of bearing be, And cries in pangs (before thy face ;) O Lord, so fared we. We have conceiv'd, and for a birth Of wind have pained been. The world's unsafe, and still on earth They thrive that dwell therein. 86 HYMNS AND SONGS 11. The dead shall live, and rise again With my dead body shall. Oh, you, that in the dust remain, Awake, and sing you all ! For as the dew doth herhs renew, That buried seem'd before, So earth shall through thy heavenly dew Her dead to life restore. 12. My people, to thy chambers fair ; Shut close the door to thee, And stay a while (a moment there) Till past the fury be : For lo, the Lord doth now arise, He cometh from his place, To punish their impieties, Who now the world possess. 13. The earth that blood discover shall Which is in her concealed, And bring to light those murders all Which yet are unrevealed. The edit, of 1623 has the above stanza with only four lines. OF THE. CHURCH. 87 THE PRAYEK OF HEZEKIAH. ESAI. xxxvii. 15. N" this Prayer, Hezekiah, having first acknowledged God's majesty and al- mighty power, desires him, both to hear and consider his adversaries' blas- phemy : then (to manifest the necessity of his present assistance) urgeth the power his foe had obtained over such as served not the true God: and, as it seemeth, importunes deliverance, not so much in re- gard of his own safety, as that the blasphemer, and all the world, might know the diiference between the Lord's power, and the arrogant brags of men. This Song may be used whensoever the Turk, or any other great adversary (prevailing against false wor- shippers) shall thereupon grow insolent, and threaten God's Church also ; as if, in despite of him, he had formerly prevailed by his own strength. For the name of Sennacherib may be mystically applied to any such enemy. We may use this Hymn also against those secret blasphemies which the Devil whispers unto our souls ; or when by temptations he seeks to drive us to despair, by laying before us 88 HYMNS AND SONGS how many others he hath destroyed, who seemed to have been in as good assurance as we ; for he is in- deed that mystical Assyrian Prince, who hath over- thrown whole countries and nations, with their gods in whom they trusted. Such as are these, temporal power, riches, superstitious worship, carnal wisdom, idols, &c. which being but the works of men (and yet trusted in as gods), he hath power to destroy them. SOJSTG XXII. 1. OLOBB of Hosts, and God of Israel ! Thou who between the Cherubims dost dwell ; Of all the world thou only art the King, And heaven and earth unto their form didst bring. 2. Lord, bow thine ear ; to hear attentive be ; Lift up thine eyes, and deign, O Lord, to see What words Sennacherib hath cast abroad, And his proud message to the living God ! 3. Lord, true it is, that lands and kingdoms all Are to the king of Ashur brought in thrall ; OF THE CHURCH. 89 Yea, he their gods into the fire hath thrown, For gods they were not, but of wood and stone. 4. Man's work they were, and men destroyed them have ; Us, therefore, from his power vouchsafe to save, That all the kingdoms of the world may see That thou art God, that only thou art he. HEZEKIAH'S THANKSGIVING. ESAI. xxxviii. 10. ^EZEKIAH, having been sick, and re- covered, made this Song of Thanks- giving ; and setteth forth the mercy of God, by considering these particu- lars : The time of his age ; the fears of his soul ; the rooting out of his posterity ; the violence of his disease ; and the forgiveness of his sins, added to the restoring of his health. Then (seeming to have entered into a serious consideration of all this) he confesseth who are most bound to praise God, and voweth this deliverance to everlasting memory. This Song may be used after deliverance from temporal sickness. But, in the principal sense, it is a special 90 HYMNS AND SONGS Thanksgiving for that cure which Jesus Christ wrought upon the human nature, being in danger of everlasting perdition : for Hezekiah which signifieth helped of the Lord, typifieth mankind labouring under the sickness of sin and death. Isaiah, who brought the medicine that cured him (and is interpreted the Salvation of the Lord,) figured our blessed Redeem- er, by whom the human nature is restored; and whose sending into the world was mystically shewed by the miracle of the sun's retrogadation. To praise God for that mystery therefore, (the circum- stances being well considered) this Hymn seemeth very proper. And doubtless for this cause it was partly preserved for these our times, and ought often and heartily to be sung to that purpose. SONG XXIII. W Sing this as the Fourth Song. 1. HEN I supposed my time was at an end, Thus to myself I did myself bemoan : Now to the gates of hell I must descend, For all the remnant of my years are gone. The Lord (said I) where now the living be, Nor man on earth shall I for ever see. OF THE CHURCH. 91 2. As when a shepherd hath remov'd his tent, Or as a weaver's shuttle slips away, Eight so, my dwelling and my years were spent ; And so, my sickness did my life decay ; Each day, ere night, my death expected I ; And ev'ry night, ere morning, thought to die. 3. For he, so lion-like, my hones did creak, That I scarce thought to live another day ; A noise I did like cranes or swallows make, And, as the turtle, I lamenting lay. Then, with uplifted eye-lids, thus I spake, Oh Lord, on me oppressed, mercy take ! 4. What shah 1 I say ? he did his promise give, And as he promised he performed it ; And, therefore, I will never, whilst I live, Those hitter passions of my soul forget : Yea, those that live, and those unhorn, shall know What life and rest thou didst on me bestow. 5. My former pleasures sorrows were become ; But in that love, which to my soul thou hast, 92 HYMNS AND SONGS The grave, that all devours, thou keepst me from, And didst my errors all behind thee cast ; For, nor the grave, nor death, can honour thee ; Nor hope they for thy truth that huried be. 6. Oh ! he that lives, that lives as I do now, E'en he it is that shall thy praise declare : Thy truth the father to his seed shall shew. And how thou me, oh Lord, hast deign'd to spare ! Yea, Lord, for this I will, throughout my days, Make music in thy house unto thy praise. THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEEEMIAH. JS useful as any part of the Old Testa- ment, for these present times (nigh fallen asleep in security) are these Elegical Odes; for they bring many things to our consideration. First, what we may and should lament for. Secondly, how careful we ought to be of the common-wealth's prosperity ; be- cause, if that go to ruin, the particular Church there- in cherished must needs be afflicted also, and God's worship hindered. Thirdly, they teach us, that the overthrow of kingdoms and empires follows the abuse OF THE CHUECH. 93 and neglect of religion : and that (sin being the only cause thereof) we ought to endure our chastisements without murmuring against God. Fourthly, they warn us not to abuse God's merciful long-suffering. Fifthly, they persuade us to commiserate and pray for the Church and our brethren in calamities, and not to despise them in their humiliations. Sixthly, they leave us not to judge the truth of professions, by those afflictions God lays upon particular churches, seeing the Jewish religion was tlie truth, and those idolaters, who led them into captivity. Seventhly, they shew us, that neither the antiquity, strength, fame, or formal sanctity of any place (no, nor God's former respect thereunto) shall privilege it from de- struction, if it continue in abusing his grace. And lastly, they (as it were, limiting our sorrows) mind us to cast our eyes on the mercies of God ; and to make such use of his chastisements, as may turn our lamentations into songs of joy. LAMENT. I. Elegy first bewaileth, in general terms, that calamity and destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, which is afterwards more particularly mention- ed. Secondly, it makes a confession of their mani- 94 HYMNS AND SONGS fold sins committed ; and is full of many passionate and penitential complaints, justifying the Lord in his judgments, and confessing the vanity of human con- solations. Lastly, it containeth a short prayer for God's mercy, and a divine prediction of those judg- ments which will fall on them, by whom his people have been afflicted. This Elegy may be sung when- soever any general calamity falleth on the common- wealth in which we live ; we having first considered and applied the particular circumstances, as there shall be cause. We may sing it also historically, to memorize the justice of God, and the miserable desolations of Judah and Jerusalem, recorded for our example. SONG XXIY. 1. HOW sad and solitary now (alas !) Is that well-peopled city come to be, Wliich once so great among the nations was ! And, oh, how widow-like appeareth she ! She rule of all the provinces hath had, And now herself is tributary made ! 2. All night she maketh such excessive moan, That down her cheeks a flood of tears doth flow ! OF THE CHUECH. 95 And yet among her lovers there is none That consolation doth on her bestow ! For they that once her lovers did appear, Now turned foes, and faithless to her are ! 3. Now Judah in captivity complains That (others) heretofore so much opprest, For her false service, she herself remains Among those heathens, where she finds no rest. And apprehended in a strait is she, By those that persecutors of her be ! 4. The very ways of Sion do lament ; The gates thereof their loneliness deplore ; Because that no man cometh to frequent Her solemn festivals, as heretofore. Her priests do sigh, her tender virgins be Uncomfortable left, and so is she ! 5. Her adversaries are become her chiefs ; On high exalted, those that hate her are ; And God hath brought upon her all those griefs, Because so many her transgressions were. Her children, driven from her by the foe, Before him into loathed thraldom go. 96 HYMNS AND SONGS 6. From Sion's daughters (once without compare) Now all her matchless loveliness is gone : And like those chased harts, her princes fair, Who seek for pasture, and can find out none. So (of their strength deprived, and fainting nigh) Before their abler foes they feebly fly. Jerusalem now thinks upon her crimes, And calls to mind (amid her present woes) The pleasure she enjoy 'd in former times, Till first she was surprised by her foes : And how (when they perceived her forlorn) They at her holy sabbaths made a scorn. Jerusalem's transgressions many were ; And therefore is it she disdained lies : Those who in former time have honoured her, Her baseness now behold, and her despise. Yea, she herself doth sit bewailing this, And of herself herself ashamed is. 9. Her own uncleanness in her skirt she bore, Not then believing what her end would be : OF THE CHURCH. 97 This great destruction falls on her therefore, And none to help or comfort her hath she. Oh, heed thou, Lord ! and pity thou my woes, For I am triumph' d over hy my foes ! 10. Her foe hath touched with his polluted hand Her things that sacred were, before her face : And they, whose entrance thou didst countermand, Intruded have into her holy place ; Those, that were not so much approved hy thee, As of thy congregation held to he. 11. Her people do, with sighs and sorrows, get That little bread, which for relief they have : And give away their precious things for meat, So to procure wherewith their life to save : Oh, Lord ! consider this, and ponder thou, How vile and how dejected I am now ! 12. No pity in you, passengers, is there ? Your eyes, oh ! somewhat hitherward incline ; And mark, if ever any grief there were, Or sorrow that did equal this of mine ! This which the Lord on me inflicted hath, Upon the day of his incensed wrath. 98 HYMNS AND SONGS 13. He from above a flame hath hurled down, That kindles in my bones prevailing fire : A net he" over both my feet hath thrown, By which I am compelled to retire. And he hath made me a forsaken one, To sit and weep out all the day alone. 14. The heavy yoke of my transgressions now His hand hath wreathed, and upon me laid ; Beneath the same my tired neck doth bow, And all my strength is totally decayed. For me to those the Lord hath given o'er, Whose hands will hold me fast for evermore. 15. The Lord hath trampled underneath their feet E'en all the mighty in the midst of me : A great assembly he hath caus'd to meet, That all my ablest men might slaughter'd be ; And Judah's virgin daughter treads upon, As in a wine-press grapes are trodden on. 16. For this (alas !) thus weep I ; and mine eyes, Mine eyes drop water thus, because that he, On whose assistance my sad soul relies, OF THE CHURCH. 99 In my distress is far away from me : E'en while (because of my prevailing foe) My children are compelled from me to go. 17. In vain hath Sion stretched forth her hand, For none unto her succour draweth nigh ; Because the Lord hath given in command, That Jacob's foes should round about her He : And poor Jerusalem, among them there, Like some defiled woman doth appear. 18. The Lord is justified, nay-the-less,* Because I did not his commands obey ; AJ1 nations, therefore, hear my heaviness, And heed it (for your warning) you, I pray ; For into thraldom (through my follies) be My virgins, and my young men, borne from me. 19. Upon my lovers I have cried out ; But they my groundless hopes deceived all : I for my rev'rend priests inquired about ; I, also, did upon my elders call ; But in the city up the ghost they gave, As they were seeking meat, their lives to save. * Nevertheless. 100 HYMNS AND SONGS 20. Oh, Lord ! take pity now in my distress ; For, lo, my soul distempered is in me ; My heart is overcome with heaviness, Because I have so much offended thee ! Thy sword abroad, my ruin doth become, And death doth also threaten me at home ! 21. And of my sad complaints my foes have heard ; But to afford me comfort there is none : My troubles have at full to them appeared, Yet they are joyful that thou so hast done : But thou wilt bring the time set down by thee, And then in sorrow they shall equal me. 22. Then shall those foul offences they have wrought Before the presence be remembered all : And whatsoe'er my sins on me have brought, (For their transgressions) upon them shall fall : For so my sighings multiplied be, That, therewithal, my heart is faint in me. OF THE CHURCH. 101 LAMENT. II. N" this Elegy the Prophet useth a very pathetical exordium, the better to awaken the people's consideration ; and to make them the more sensible of their horrible calamity; which he first illustrateth in general terms, by comparing their estate to the miserable condition of one fallen from the glory of heaven to the lowest earth : and in mentioning their being deprived of that glorious temporal and eccle- siastical government, which they formerly enjoyed. Afterwards, he descends to particulars ; as the de- struction of their palaces, forts, temples, walls, and gates ; the profaning of their sabbaths, feasts, rites, &c. ; the suspending of their laws, priests, prophets; the slaughter of young men and virgins, old men and children ; with the famine and reproaches they sustained, &c. All which acknowledging to be the just judgments of God, he adviseth them not to hearken to the delusions of their false prophets, but to return unto the Lord by tears and hearty repent- ance. For the use and application, see what hath been said, before the former Elegy. 102 HYMNS AND SONGS SONG XXV, Sing this as the Twenty -fourth Song.. 1. HOW dark, and how be-clouded (in his wrath) The Lord hath caused Sion to appear ! How Israel's beauty he obscured hath, As if thrown down from heav'n to earth he were ! Oh ! why is his displeasure grown so hot ? And why hath he his footstool so forgot ? 2. The Lord all Sion's dwellings hath laid waste ; And, in so doing, he no sparing made : For in his anger to the ground he cast The strongest holds that Judah's daughter had. Them, and their kingdom, he to ground doth send, And all the Princes of it doth suspend. 3. When at the highest his displeasure was, From Israel all his horn of strength he broke ; And from before his adversary's face His right-hand (that restrained him) he took. Yea, he in Jacob kindled such a flame, As, round about, hath quite consumed the same. OF THE CHURCH. 103 4. His bow he as an adversary bent, And by his right-hand he did plainly shew He drew it with an enemy's intent ; For all that were the fairest marks he slew. In Sion's tabernacle this was done ; E'en there the fire of his displeasure shone. 5. The Lord himself is he that was the foe ; By him is Israel thus to ruin gone. His palaces he overturned so ; And he his holds of strength hath overthrown : E'en he it is, from whom it doth arise, That Israel's daughter thus lamenting lies. 6. His tabernacle, garden-like that was, The Lord with violence hath took away : He hath destroyed his assembling-place ; And there no feasts nor sabbaths now have they : No, not in Sion ; for in his fierce wrath He both their King and Priests rejected hath ! 7. The Lord his holy altar doth forego ; His sanctuary he hath quite despis'd. 104 HYMNS AND SONGS Yea, by his mere assistance hath our foe The bulwarks of our palaces surpriz'd : And in the Lord's own house rude noises are As loud as heretofore his praises were. 8. The Lord his thought did purposely incline, The walls of Sion should be overthrown : To that intent he stretched forth his line, And drew not back his hand till they were down. And so, the turrets, with the bruised wall, Did both together to destruction fall. Her gates in heaps of earth obscured are ; The bars of them in pieces broke hath he : Her king, and those that once her princes were, Now borne away among the Gentiles be. The law is lost, and they no prophet have, That from the Lord a vision doth receive. 10. In silence, seated on the lowly ground, The senators of Sion's daughter are : With ashes they their careful heads have crown'd, And mourning sackcloth girded on them wear. Yea, on the earth in a distressed-wise, % Jerusalem's young virgins fix their eyes. OF THE CHURCH. 105 11. And, for because my people suffer this, Mine eyes with much lamenting dimmed grow ; Each part within me out of quiet is, And on the ground my liver forth I throw ; When as mine eyes with so sad objects meet, As babes half dead, and sprawling in the street. 12. For, to their mothers called they for meat ; Oh where shall we have meat and drink ! they cry ; And in the city, while they food entreat, They swoon, like them that deadly wounded lie : And some of them their souls did breathe away, As in the mother's bosom starv'd they lay. 13. Jerusalem ! for thee what can I say ? Or unto what may'st thou resembled be ? Oh ! whereunto, that comfort thee I may, Thou Sion's daughter, shall I liken thee ? For, as the seas, so great thy breaches are ; And to repair them then, ah, who is there ? 14. Thou by thy prophets hast deluded been ; And foolish visions they for thee haye sought. 106 HYMNS AND SONGS For, they revealed not to thee thy sin, To turn away the thraldom it hath brought. But lying prophecies they sought for thee, Which of thy sad exile the causes he. 15. And those, thou daughter of Jerusalem, That on occasions pass along this way, With clapping hands, and hissings, thee contemn ; And, nodding at thee, thus in scorn they say : Is this the city men did once behight* The flower of beauty, and the world's delight ? 16. Thy adversaries (every one of them) Their mouths have open'd at thee to thy shame : They hiss, and gnash at thee, Jerusalem ; We, we (say they) have quite destroyed the same : This is that day hath long expected been : Now cometh it, and we the same have seen. 17. But, this the Lord decreed, and brought to pass ; He, to make good that word which once he spake, (And that which long ago determin'd was) Hath hurled down, and did no pity take. He thus hath made thee scorned of thy foe, And rais'd the horn of them that hate thee so. * Or call. OF THE CHURCH. 107 18. Oh wall of Sion's daughter, cry amain ; E'en to the Lord set forth a hearty cry : Down, like a river, cause thy tears to rain, And let them neither day nor night be dry. Seek neither sleep, thy body to suffice, Nor slumber for the apples of thine eyes. 19. At night, and when the watch is new begun, Then rise, and to the Lord Almighty cry : Before him let thy heart like water run, And lift thou up to him thy hands on high. E'en for those hunger-starved babes of thine, That in the corners of the streets do pine. 20. And thou, oh Lord, oh be thou pleas'd to see, And think on whom thy judgments thou hast thrown ! Shall women fed with their own issue be, And children that a span are scarcely grown ? Shall thus thy priests and prophets, Lord, be slain, As in thy sanctuary they remain ? 21. Nor youth, nor age, is from the slaughter free ; For in the streets lie young, and old, and all. 108 HYMNS AND SONGS My virgins and my young men murdered be ; E'en both beneath the sword together fall. Thou, in thy day of wrath, such havoc mad'st, That in devouring thou no pity hadst. 22. Thou round about hast call'd my feared foes, As if that summon'd to some feast they were ; Who in thy day of wrath did round enclose, And shut me so, that none escaped are. Yea, those that hate me, them consumed have, To whom I nourishment and breeding gave. LAMENT. III. the Prophet Jeremy, having con- templated his own afflictions, with the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, seemeth, by that material object, to have raised his apprehension higher, and, by the spirit of prophecy, both to foresee the particular suf- ferings of Jesus Christ, and to become sensible also of those great afflictions which the church militant (his mystical body) should be exercised withal. And in this most passionate Elegy, either in his own per- son bewaileth it, or else personates Jesus Christ, the OF THE CHUECH. 109 head of that mystical body; taking upon himself those punishments, with that heavy burden of God's wrath, and that unspeakable sorrow, which mankind had otherwise been overwhelmed withal. In brief, this Elegy contains an expression of God's heavy anger for our sins ; the severity and bitterness of his judgments ; the greatness of his mercies ; the hope and patience of the faithful in all afflictions ; the un- willingness of God to punish ; the hearty repentance of his people ; and a prophetical imprecation concern- ing the enemies of the spiritual Jerusalem. This may be sung to move and stir us up with a feeling of our Redeemer's Passion ; to remember us of our miserable condition through sin ; to move us to re- pentance ; and to comfort and instruct us amid our afflictions. SONG XXVI. Sing this as the Twenty -fourth Song. 1. I AM the man, (who scourged in thy wrath) Have in all sorrows throughly tried been : Into obscurity he led me hath ; He brought me thither, where no light is seen ; And so adverse to me himself he shows, That all the day his hand doth me oppose. 110 HYMNS AND SONGS 2. My flesh and skin with age he tired out ; He bruis'd my hones, as they had broken been ; He with a wall enclosed me about, With cares and labours he hath shut me in : And me to such a place of darkness led, As those are in, that be for ever dead. 3. He shut me where I found no passage out, And there my heavy chains upon me laid ; Moreover, though I loudly cried out, He took no heed at all for what I pray'd : My way with hewed stones he stopped hath, And left me wand'ring in a winding path. 4. He was to me like some way-laying bear ; Or as a lion that doth lurk unseen ; My course he hindering, me in pieces tare, Till I quite ruin'd and laid waste had been. His bow he bended, and that being bent, I was the mark at which his arrow went. 5. His arrows from his quiver forth he caught, And through my very reins he made them pass : OF THE CHURCH. Ill E'en mine own people set me then at naught, And all the day their sporting song I was. From him my fill of bitterness I had, And me with wormwood likewise drunk he made. 6. With stones my teeth he all to pieces brake He dust and ashes over me hath strown ; All rest he from my weary soul did take, As if contentment I had never none. And then I cried, Oh ! I am undone ! All my dependance on the Lord is gone ! 7. Oh mind thou my afflictions and my care, My miseries, my wormwood, and my gall ; For they still fresh in my remembrance are, And down in me my humbled soul doth fall. . I this forget not ; and when this I mind, Some help again I do begin to find. 8. It is thy mercy, Lord, that we now be, For had thy pity fail'd, not one had liv'd. The faithfulness is great that is in thee, And ev'ry morning it is new revived : And, Lord, such claim my soul unto thee lays, That she will ever trust in thee, she says. 112 HYMNS AND SONGS 9. For thou art kind to those that wait thy will, And to their souls, that after thee attend : Good therefore is it, that in quiet still, We hope that safety, which thou, Lord, wilt send. And happy he, that timely doth enure His youthful neck the burden to endure. 10. He down will sit alone, and nothing say ; But since 'tis cast upon him, bear it out : (Yea, though his mouth upon the dust they lay) And while there may be hope will not misdoubt. His cheek to him that smiteth offers he, And is content, though he reviled be. 11. For sure is he (whatever doth befall) The Lord will not forsake for evermore ; But that, he having punish'd, pity shall, Because he many mercies hath in store. For God in plaguing take no pleasure can, Nor willingly afflicteth any man. 12. The Lord delighteth not to trample down Those men that here on earth enthralled are ; OF THE CHURCH. 113 Or that a righteous man should be overthrown, When he before the Highest doth appear. Nor is the Lord well-pleased in the sight, When he beholds the wrong subvert the right. 13. Let no man mutter then, as if he thought Some things were done in spite of God's decree ; For all things at his word to pass are brought, That either for our good or evil be. K Why then lives man, such murmurs to begin ? Oh, let him rather murmur at his sin ! 14. Our own lewd courses let us search and try ; We may to thee again, O Lord, convert. To God, that dwelleth in the heav'ns on high, Let us (oh, let us) lift both hand and heart : For we have sinned, we rebellious were, And therefore was it that thou didst not spare. 15. For this (with wrath o'ershadow'd) thou hast chas'd, And slaughter made of us, without remorse : Thyself obscured with a cloud thou hast, That so our prayers might have no recourse. And lo, among the heathen people, we As outcasts and off-scourings reckon' d be. 114 HYMNS AND SONGS 16. Our adversaries all (and ev'ry where) Themselves with open mouth against us set ; On us is fallen a terror and a snare, Where ruin hath with desolation met : And for the daughter of my people's cares, Mine eyes doth cast forth rivulets of tears. 17. Mine eyes perpetually were overflown, And yet there is no ceasing of my tears ; For if the Lord in mercy look not down, That from the heav'ns he may hehold my cares, They will not stint : hut for my people's sake Mine eyes will weep until my heart doth hreak. 18. As when a bird is chased to and fro, My foes pursued me, when cause was none ; Into the dungeon they my life did throw, And there they rolled over me a stone. The waters, likewise, overflowed me quite, And then, methought, I perished outright. 19. Yet on thy name, oh Lord ! I called there, (E'en when in that low dungeon I did lie) OF THE CHUECH. 115 Whence thou wert pleased my complaint to hear, Not slighting me, when I did sighing cry ; That very day I called, thou drew'st near, And saidst unto me, that I should not fear. 20. Thou, Lord, my soul maintainest in her right ; My life by thee alone redeemed was ; Thou hast, oh Lord ! observed my despight :* Vouchsafe thy judgement also in my cause : For all the grudge they bear me thou hast seen, And all their plots that have against me been. 21. Thou heardst what slanders they against me laid, And all those mischiefs they devis'd for me : Thou notest what their lips of me have said, E'en what their dayly closest whisperings be ; And how, whene'er they rise, or down do lie, Their song and subject of their mirth am I. 22. But, Lord, thou shalt reward and pay them all, That meed their actions merit to receive ; Thy heavy malediction seize them shall ; E'en this, sad hearts, they shall for ever have ; And by thy wrath pursued they shall be driven, Till they are chased out from under heaven. * Wrongs. 116 HYMNS AND SONGS LAMENT. IV. JJS in the two first Elegies, the Prophet here begins by way of exclamation, and most passionately sets forth the cause of his complaining by a threefold explication : First, by expressing the dignity, sex, and age, of the persons miserably perishing in this calamity ; as, princes, priests, men, women, and children. Secondly, by paralleling their estate with that of brute creatures, and their punishment with Sodom's. Thirdly, by shewing the horrible effects which followed this calamity ; as, the nobility being driven to clothe themselves from the dunghill, and women to feed on their own children, &c. After this he sheweth what are the causes of all that misery which he bewaileth. Secondly, declareth the vanity of relying on temporal consolations. Thirdly, setteth forth the power and fierceness of the Church's adver- saries. Fourthly, prophesieth that even Christ was to suffer the fury of their malice, before God's wrath could be appeased. And lastly, assureth that the Church shall be at length delivered, and her enemies rewarded according to their wickedness. This Song may be sung to set before our eyes the severity of God's wrath against sin, to win us to repentance, and to comfort us upon our conversions. H OF THE CHURCH. 117 SONG XXVII. Sing this as the Fifth Song, 1. OW dim the gold doth now appear ! (That gold, which once so brightly shone :) About the city, here and there, The sanctuary-stones are thrown. The sons of Sion, late compared To gold (the richest in esteem) Like potsheards are, without regard, And base as earthen vessels seem. 2. The monsters of the sea have care The breasts unto their young to give ; But crueller my people are ; And, *Estridge-like, in deserts live. "With thirst the sucklings' tongues are dry, And to their parched roofs they cleave : For bread young children also cry, But none at all they can receive. 3. Those, that were us'd to dainty fare, Now in the streets half-starved lie : * Ostrich. 118 HYMNS AND SONGS And they, that once did scarlet wear, 'Now dunghill rags about them tie. Yea, greater plagues my people's crime Hath brought on them, than Sodom's were : For that was sunk in little time, And no prolonged death was there. 4. Her Nazarites, whose whiteness was More pure than either milk or snow, Whose ruddiness did rubies pass, Whose veins did like the sapphire show, Now blacker than the coal are grown ; And in the streets unknown are they : Their flesh is clung unto the bone, And like a stick is dried away. 5. Such, therefore, as the sword hath slain, Are far in better case than those, Who death for want of food sustain, Whilst in the fruitful field it grows. For when my people were distress'd, E'en women (that should pity take) With their own hands their children dress'd, That so their hunger they might slake. OF THE CHURCH. 119 6. The Lord accomplished hath his wrath ; His fierce displeasure forth is pour'd ; A fire on Sion set he hath, Which e'en her ground-work hath devoured ; When there was neither earthly king, Nor, through the whole world, one of all Thoughts any foe to pass could hring, That thus Jerusalem should fall. 7. But this hath happened for the guilt Of those that have her prophets been ; And those, her wicked priests, that spilt The blood of innocents therein. Along the streets they stumbling went, (The blindness of these men was such) And so with blood they were besprent,* That no man would their garments touch. 8. Depart, depart ('twas therefore said) From these pollutions get ye far ; So, wand'ring to the heathen, fled, And said there was no biding there. And them the Lord hath now in wrath Exil'd, and made despised live ; * Covered over, or polluted. 120 HYMNS AND SONGS Yea, sent their priests and elders hath, Where none doth honour to them give. 9. And as for us, our eyes decay'd, With watching vain reliefs, we have ; 'Cause we expect a nation's aid, That is unable us to save : For at our heels so close they he, We dare not in the streets appear ; Our end we, therefore, coming see, And know our rooting-out is near. 10. Our persecutors follow on, As swift as eagles of the sky ; They o'er the mountains make us run, And in the deserts for us lye : Yea, they have Christ (our life) betray'd, And caus'd him in their pits to fall : (E'en him) beneath whose shade, we said, We live among the heathen shall. 11. O Edom ! in the land of Huz (Though yet o'er us triumph thou may) Thou shalt receive this cup from us, Be drunk, and hurl thy clothes away ; OF THE CHURCH. 121 For when thy punishments for sins Accomplished, oh Sion, be, To visit Edom he begins, And publick make her shame will he. LAMENT. V. \N this Elegy the Prophet prayeth unto the Lord to remember and consider his people's afflictions, acknowledging before him their miseries, and present- ing them unto him as distressed orphans, widows, and captives, (by such humiliation) to win his com- passion. He moveth him also, by repetition of the miserable ruin they were fallen into, by the noble possessions and dignities they had lost, by the base condition of those under whose tyranny they were brought, and by the generality of their calamity, from which no sex, age, nor degree escaped. Then (in- genuously confessing their sin to be the just cause of all this) glorifieth God, and concludeth this petition- ary Ode with desiring that he would both give them grace to repent, and restore them to that peace which they formerly enjoyed. This elegiacal Song we may sing unto God in the behalf of many particular Churches, even in these times ; especially if we con- 122 HYMNS AND SONGS sider that mystical bondage, which the devil hath brought them into ; and apply these complaints to those spiritual calamities, which are befallen them for their sins. SONG XXVIII. Sing this as the Fifth Song. 1. OH mind thou, Lord, our sad distress ; Behold, and think on our reproach ; Our houses strangers do possess, And on our heritage encroach. Our mothers for their husbands grieve, And of our fathers robb'd are we : Yea, money we compell'd to give For our own wood and water be. 2. In persecution we remain, Where endless labour try us doth ; And we to serve for bread are fain, To Egypt and to Ashur both. Our fathers err'd, and, being gone, The burden of their sin we bear : E'en slaves the rule o'er us have won, And none to set us free is there. OF THE CHURCH. 123 3. For bread our lives we hazard in The perils which the deserts threat ; And like an oven is our skin, Both soiPd and parch'd for want of meat. In Sion wives defiled were, Deflowered were the virgins young, (Through Judah's cities every where) And princes by their hands were hung. 4. Her elders disrespected* stood ; Her young men they for grinding took ; Her children fell beneath the wood, And magistrates the gate forsook. Their musick young men have forborne ; E/ejoicing in their hearts is none : To mourning doth our dancing turn, And from our head the crown is gone. 5. Alas, that ever we did sin ! For therefore feels our heart these cares ; For that our eyes have dimmed been, And thus the hill of Sion fares. Such desolation there is seen, That now the foxes play thereon ; * Original. " Were not honoured." 124 HYMNS AND SONGS But thou for ever, Lord, hast been, And without ending is thy throne. 6. Oh, why are we forgotten thus ? So long time wherefore absent art ? Convert thyself, oh Lord, to us, And we to thee shall soon convert. Renew, oh Lord, those ages past, In which thy favour we have seen ! For we extremely are debased, And bitter hath thine anger been. THE PRAYER OF DANIEL. DAN. ix. 4. Prophet Daniel, in this prayer, be- seecheth God to be merciful unto his people in captivity : and these four things are principally considerable therein : First, an acknowledgement of God's power, justice, and mercy, with a confession that, from the highest to the lowest, they had broken his com- mandments, and were therefore justly punished. Secondly, it is confessed, that as their punishment is OF THE CHURCH. 125 that which they deserved, so it is also the same that was foretold should come upon them. Thirdly, he heseecheth that God, for his own mercy's sake, and the sake of his Messias, would (nevertheless) be merciful unto them ; as well in regard he had here- tofore gotten glory by delivering them, as in respect they were his own elected people, and were already become a reproach unto their neighbours. This may be sung whensoever any of those judgments are poured out on the commonwealth, which the prophets have threatened for sin ; or in our particular afflic- tions, we having first applied it by our meditations. SONG XXIX. Sing this as the Twenty-second Song. 1. LOED God Almighty I great, and full of fear ; Who always art from breach of promise free, And never failing to have mercy there, Where they observe thy laws, and honour thee : We have transgressed, and amiss have done ; We disobedient and rebellious were ; For from thy precepts we astray are gone, And we departed from thy judgments are. 126 HYMNS AND SONGS 2. We did thy servants' prophecies withstand, Who to our dukes, our kings, and fathers came, When they to all the people of the land Proclaimed forth their message in thy name. In thee, oh Lord ! all righteousness appears, But public shame to us doth appertain ; E'en as with them of Judah now it fares, And those that in Jerusalem remain. 3. Yea, as to Israel now it doth befall, Throughout those lands in which they scattered be ; For that their great transgression, wherewithall They have transgressed, and offended thee. To us, our kings, our dukes, and fathers, doth Disgrace pertain (oh Lord) for angering thee : Yet mercy, Lord our God, and pardon, both To thee belong, though we rebellious be. 4. We did (indeed) perversely disobey Thy voice (oh Lord our God,) and would not hear To keep those laws thou didst before us lay, By those thy servants, who thy prophets were. E'en all that of the race of Israel be, Against thy law have grievously misdone ; OF THE CHURCH. 127 And that they might not listen unto thee, They backward from thy voice, oh Lord, are gone. 5. On them, therefore, that curse and oath descended, Which in the law of Moses written was ; (The servant of that God whom we oifended,) And now his speeches he hath brought to pass ; On us, and on our judges, he doth bring That plague, wherewith he threatened us and them ; For under heaven was never such a thing, As now is fallen upon Jerusalem. 6. As Moses 7 written law doth bear record, Now all this mischief upon them is brought. And yet we prayed not before the Lord, That, leaving sin, we might his truth be taught : For which respect, the Lord in wait hath laid, That he on us inflict this mischief might : And sith* his holy word we disobey'd, In all his doings he remains upright. 7. But now, oh Lord our God, who from the land Of cruel Egypt brought thy people hast ; * Since. 128 HYMNS AND SONGS And by the power of thy almighty hand, Achieved a name, which to this day doth last ; Though we have sinned in committing ill, Yet, Lord, by that pure righteousness in thee, From thy Jerusalem, thy holy hill, Oh let thy wrathful anger turned be ! 8. For through the guilt of our displeasing sin, And for our fathers' faults, Jerusalem, (Thy chosen people) hath despised been, And are the scorn of ah 1 that neighbour them. Now, therefore, to thy servant's prayer incline ; Hear thou his suit, oh God, and let thy face, (E'en for the Lord's dear sake) vouchsafe to shine Upon thy (now forsaken) holy place ! 9. Thine ears incline thou (oh, my God) and hear ; Lift up thine eyes, and us, oh, look upon ; Us, who forsaken with thy city are ; That city, where thy name is called on ; For we upon ourselves presume not thus Before thy presence our request to make, For aught that righteous can be found in us, But for thy great and tender mercy's sake. OF THE CHURCH. 129 10. Lord, hear (forgive, oh Lord) and weigh the same ; Oh, Lord, perform it, and no more defer, For thine own sake, my God ; for by thy name, Thy city and thy people called are. THE PKAYER OF JONAH. JONAH ii. flying from God, and being preserved in a fish's belly, when he was cast into the sea, made this Prayer to praise God for delivering him in so great an extremity. And the principal things re- markable therein are these : First, the place where he prayed : Secondly, the terrible danger that en- closed him : Thirdly, the despair he was nigh falling into : Fourthly, God's mercy, with the Prophet's timely application thereof, and the comfort it infused into him : Fifthly, the occasions drawing men into such perils : Sixthly, the vow made upon his deliver- ance, and the reason of that vow. This burial of Jonas in the fish's belly, and his deliverance from thence, was a type of the burial and resurrection of our blessed Saviour, Matth. xii, 4. This Prayer, K 130 HYMNS AND SONGS therefore, we ought not only to sing historically, to memorize this wondrous work of God, hut to praise him also for the Resurrection of Christ, and raising mankind from that fearful and bottomless gulf of per- dition, wherein it lay swallowed up, without possi- bility of redeeming itself. SONG XXX. Sing this as the Twenty-fourth Song. 1. IN my distress to thee I cried, oh Lord ! And thou wert pleased my complaint to hear : Out from the howels of the grave I roar'd, And to my voice thou didst incline thine ear : For I amid the raging sea was cast, And to the hottom there thou plung'd me hast. 2. The floods did round about me circles make ; Thy waves and billows overflow'd me quite ; And then unto myself (alas) I said, I am for evermore deprived thy sight : Yet once again thou pleased art, that I Should to thy holy temple lift mine eye. OF THE CHURCH. 1.31 3. E'en to my soul the waters clos'd me had ; O'erswallow'd by the deeps, I fast was pent : About my head the weeds a wreath had made ; Unto the mountains' bottoms down I went ; And so, that forth again I could not get, The earth an everlasting bar had set. 4. Then thou, oh Lord my God, then thou wert he, That from corruption didst my life defend : For when my soul was like to faint in me, Thou thither didst into my thought descend. And, Lord, my prayer thence to thee I sent, Which upward to thy holy temple went, 5. Those who believe in vain and foolish lies, Despisers of their own good safety be ; But I will offer up the sacrifice Of singing praises with my voice to thee : And I will that perform, which vow'd I have, For unto thee belongs it, Lord, to save. 132 HYMNS AND SONGS THE PEAYEK OF HABAKTJK. HABAK. iii. ^ N tliis petitionary and prophetical Hymn, the Deliverer of mankind is first prayed for. Secondly, the glorious majesty of his coming is described by excellent allegories, and by allusions to former deliverances vouchsafed to the Jews. Thirdly, here is foretold the overthrow of Antichrist, who shall be destroyed by the brightness of our Saviour's coming. Fourth- ly, here is set forth the state of the latter times. Fifthly, he expresseth the joy, confidence, and safety of the elect of God, even amid those terrors that shall await upon their Kedeemer's coming. This Song is to be sung historically, in commemoration of the Church's deliverance by the first coming of Jesus Christ : and prophetically, to comfort us con- cerning that perfect delivery, assured at his second coming. For though the Prophet had some respect to the Jews' temporal deliverance, that he might comfort the Church in those times ; yet the Holy Ghost had principal regard to the spiritual deliver- ance of his spiritual kingdom, the holy Catholic Church. And to her, and her enemies, do the OF THE CHURCH. 133 names (of the Church's enemies,) here mentioned, very properly agree. Nay, Cushan, signifying dark, black, or cloudy, and Midian, which is interpreted condemnation, or judgment, hetter suit unto the nature of those spiritual adversaries, whom they pre- figured, than to those people who were literally so called. For none are so fitly termed People of Darkness, or of Condemnation, as the members of Antichrist, and the spiritual Babylon. SONG XXXI. 1. LOKD, thy answer I did hear, And I grew therewith afeard ; When the times at fullest are, Let thy work be then declared : When the time, Lord, full doth grow, Then in anger mercy show. 2. God Almighty he came down ; Down he came from Theman-ward ; And the matchless Holy One, From mount Paran forth appeared, Heav'n overspreading with his rays, And earth filling with his praise. 134 HYMNS AND SONGS 3. Sun-like was his glorious light ; From his side there did appear Beaming rajs, that shined bright ; And his power he shrouded there. Plagues before his face he sent ; At his feet hot coals there went. 4. Where he stood he measure took Of the earth, and view'd it well ; Nations vanished at his look ; Ancient hills to powder fell :* Mountains old cast lower wer<^ For his ways eternal are. 5. Cushan tents I saw diseased, f And the Midian curtains quake. Have the floods, Lord, thee displeased ? Did the floods thee angry make ? Was it else the sea that hath Thus provoked thee to wrath ? 6. For thou rod'st thy horses there, And thy saving chariots through : * Original. " The Everlasting Mountains were scattered/' t Afflicted. OF THE CHURCH. 135 Thou didst make thy bow appear, And thou didst perform thy vow : Yea, thine oath and promise past (To the tribes) fulfilled hast. 7. Through the earth thou rifts didst make, And the rivers there did flow : Mountains, seeing thee, did shake, And away the floods did go : From the deep a voice was heard, And his hands on high he rear'd. 8. Both the sun and moon made stay, And removed not in their spheres : By thine arrows light went they, By thy brightly shining spears. Thou in wrath the land didst crush, And in rage the nations thresh. 9. For thy people's safe release, With thy Christ, for aid went'st thou : Thou hast also pierc'd the chief Of the sinful houshold through ; And displayed them, till made bare From the feet to neck they were. 136 HYMNS AND SONGS 10. Thou, with javelins of their own, Didst their armies leader strike : For against me they came down, To devour me, whirlwind-like : And they joy in nothing more, Than unseen to spoil the poor. 11. Through the sea thou mad'st a way, And didst ride thy horses there, Where great heaps of water lay : I the news thereof did hear, And the voice my bowels shook ; Yea, my lips a quivering took. Rottenness my hones possest ; Trembling fear possessed me ; I that troublous day might rest : For, when his approaches be Onward to the people made, His strong troops will them invade. 13. Bloomless shall the fig-tree be, And the vine no fruit shall yield ; OF THE CHURCH. 137 Fade shall then the olive-tree ; Meat shall none he in the field : Neither in the fold or stall, Flock or herd continue shall. 14. Yet the Lord my joy shall be, And in him I will delight ; In my God, that saveth me, God the Lord, my only might : Who my feet so guides, that I, Hind-like, pace my places high. 138 HYMNS AND SONGS THE HYMNS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. five that next follow are the Hymns of the New Testament ; be- tween which, and the Songs of the Old Testament, there is great difference: for the Songs of the Old Testament were either thanksgivings for temporal benefits, typifying and signifying future benefits touching our redemption ; or else Hymns prophetically foreshewing those mys- teries which were to be accomplished at the coming of Christ. But these Evangelical Songs were com- posed, not for temporal, but for spiritual things pro- mised and figured by those temporal benefits men- tioned in the Old Testament, and perfectly fulfilled in the New. Therefore, these Evangelical Hymns are more excellent than such as are merely prophe- tical ; in regard the possession is to be preferred be- fore the hope, and the end before the means of ob- taining it. OF THE CHURCH. 139 MAGNIFICAT. LUKE i. 46. HE blessed Virgin Mary, being saluted by the Angel Gabriel, and having by the Holy Ghost conceived our Ke- deemer Jesus Christ in her womb, was made fruitful also, in her soul, by the oversha- dowing of that Holy Spirit ; and thereupon brought forth this evangelical and prophetical Hymn : where- in three things are principally observable. First, she praiseth God for his particular mercies and fa- vour towards her. Secondly, she glorifies God for the general benefit of our redemption. Thirdly, she magnifies God for the particular grace vouchsafed unto the seed of Israel, according to what was pro- mised to Abraham. This is the first Evangelical Song ; and was indicted by the Holy Ghost, not only to be the Blessed Virgin's Thanksgiving, but to be sung by the whole Catholic Church (whom she typi- cally personated) to praise God for our redemption and exaltation ; and therefore it is worthily inserted into the Liturgy, that it may be perpetually and reverently sung. 140 HYMNS AND SONGS SONG XXXII. Sing this as the Third Song. 1. IHAT magnify'd the Lord may be, T My soul now undertakes ; And in the God that saveth me My Spirit merry makes. For he vouchsafed hath to view His handmaid's poor degree ; And lo, all ages that ensue, Shall blessed reckon me. 2. Great things for me the Almighty does, And holy is his name ; From age to age he mercy shows, On such as fear the same. He by his arm declar'd his might, And this to pass hath brought, That now the proud are put to flight, By what their hearts have thought. 3. The mighty plucking from their seat, The poor he placed there ; OF THE CHURCH. 141 And for the hungry takes the meat From such as wealthy are. But, minding mercy, he hath show'd His servant Isr'el grace, As he to our forefathers vow'd, To Abraham and his race. BENEDICTTJS. LUKE i. 68. | ACHAEY the Priest, heing (upon the hirth of his son) inspired with the knowledge of our [Redeemer's incar- nation, sung the second Evangelical Hymn ; in which two things are especially consider- able : First, he blesseth God, because, through the coming of Christ, all the promises made unto the Patriarchs and Prophets were fulfilled, for the sal- vation of his people. Secondly, he declareth the office and duty of his own Son, who was sent before to prepare the way of the Lord. This Song the Church hath worthily inserted into the Liturgy also, and we ought therefore to sing it reverently, in me- morial of our Saviour's Incarnation ; and to praise God both for the fulfilling of his promises, and for that means of our evangelical preparation which he vouchsafed, by sending his Forerunner. 142 HYMNS AND SONGS SONG XXXIII. Sing this as the Third Song. 1. BLEST be the God of Israel, For he his people bought ; And in his servant David's house Hath great salvation wrought ; As by his Prophets he foretold, Since time began to be, That from our foes we might be safe, And from our haters free. 2. That he might show our fathers grace, And bear in mind the same, Which by an oath he vow'd unto Our father Abraham ; That from our adversaries freed, We serve him fearless might, In righteousness and holiness, Our lifetime in his sight. 3. And (of the Highest) thee, oh Child ! The Prophet I declare, OF THE CHURCH. 143 Before the Lord his face to go, His coming to prepare ; To teach his people how they shall That safety come to know, Which, by remission of their sins, He doth on them bestow. 4. For it is through the tender love Of God alone, whereby That day-spring hath to visit us Descended from on high ; To light them who in darkness sit, And in Death's shade abide, And in the blessed way of peace Their wandering feet to guide. 144 HYMNS AND SONGS THE SONG OF ANGELS. LUKE ii. 13. A HIS is the third Evangelical Song mentioned in the New Testament ; and it was sung by a choir of Angels (at the birth of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ), whose rejoicing shall be made com- plete by the redemption of mankind. In this Song they first glorify God, and then proclaim that happy peace and reconciliation, which his Son's Nativity should bring unto the world, rejoicing therein ; and in that unspeakable good-will and dear communion, which was thereby established between the godhead, the manhood, and them. We therefore ought to join with them in this Song, and sing it often, to praise God, and quicken faith and charity in our- selves. SONG XXXIV. THUS Angels sung, and thus sing we ; To God on high all glory be ; Let him on earth his peace bestow, And unto men his favour show. OF THE CHUEOH. . 145 NUNC DIMITTIS. LUKE ii. 29. HE fourth Evangelical Hymn is this of Simeon, who, being in expectation of the coming of the Messias (which, according to Daniel's seventy weeks, was in those days to be accomplished), it was revealed unto him, that he should not die till he had seen Christ : and, accordingly, he coming into the Temple by the Spirit's instigation (when he was presented there as the law commanded), both beheld and em- braced his Kedeemer. In this Song, therefore, he glorifieth God for the fulfilling of his promise made unto him ; and joyfully confesseth Jesus Christ be- fore ah 1 the people. In repeating this Hymn we ought also to confess our Kedeemer: for Simeon was, as it were, the Church's speaker ; and hath for us expressed that thankful joy, wherewithal we should be filled, when God enlightens us with the knowledge and spiritual vision of our Saviour. 146 HYMNS AND SONGS SONG XXXV. Sing this as the Third Song. GKANT now in peace (that by thy leave) I may depart, oh Lord ! For thy salvation seen I have, According to thy word : That which prepared was hy thee, Before all people's sight, Thy Israel's renown to he, And to the Gentiles light. THE SONG OF MOSES AND THE LAMB. KEY. xv. 3. HE fifth and last Song recorded in the New Testament is this, called hy St. John, The Song of Moses and the Lamb; being indeed the effect of that triumph Song, which the Saints and blessed Martyrs shall sing unto the honour of that Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world, when they have gotten the victory over Antichrist. This Hymn the members of the true Church may sing to OF THE CHURCH. 147 God's glory, and the increase of their own comfort, when they perceive the power of the Almighty any way manifested upon that adversary. It may be repeated also amid our greatest persecutions, to strengthen our faith, and remember us, that whatso- ever we suffer, there will come a day, wherein we shall have cause to make use of this Hymn with a perfect rejoicing. SONG XXXVI. Sing this as the Thirteenth Song. 1. OH thou Lord, thou God of might, (Who dost all things work aright) Whatsoever is done by thee, Great and wondrous proves to be. 2. True thy ways are, and direct, Holy King of Saints elect. And (oh, therefore) who is there, That of thee retains no fear ? 3. Who is there that shall deny Thy great Name to glorify ? 148 HYMNS AND SONGS For thou, Lord, and thou alone, Art the perfect Holy One. 4. In thy presence nations all Shall to adoration fall ; For thy judgments now appear Unto all men what they are. Here end the Hymns of the New Testament. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. EXOD. xx. 5 I/THOUGH the Decalogue be not originally in verse, yet among us it hath heen heretofore usually sung : because, therefore, it may he a means to pre- sent these precepts somewhat the oftener to remem- brance, make them the more frequently repeated, and stir up those who sing and hear them to the better performance of their duties, they are here also inserted, and fitted to be sung. OF THE CHURCH. 149 SONG XXXVII. Sing this as the Fourth Song. THE Great Almighty spake, and thus said he ; I am the Lord thy God ; and I alone * From cruel Egypt's thraldom set thee free : And other Gods but me thou shalt have none. Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline, That we may keep this blessed Law of thine. Thou shalt not make an image, to adore, Of aught on earth, above it, or below : A carved work thou shalt not bow before ; Nor any worship on the same bestow. For I, thy God, a jealous God am known, And on their seed the fathers' sins correct, Until the third and fourth descent be gone : But them I always love, that me affect. Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline, That we may keep this blessed Law of thine. The Name of God thou never shalt abuse, By swearing, or repeating it in vain : 150 HYMNS AND SONGS For him that doth his Name profanely use, The Lord will as a guilty-one arraign. Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline, That we may keep this blessed Law of thine. To keep the Sabbath holy, hear in mind ; Six days thine own affairs apply thou to ; The seventh is God's own day, for rest assign'd, And thou no kind of work therein shalt do. Thou, nor thy child, thy servants, nor thy beast ; Nor he that guest-wise with thee doth abide ; For after six days labour God did rest, And therefore he that day hath sanctify'd. Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline , That we may keep this blessed Law of thine. See that unto thy parents thou do give Such honour, as the child by duty owes ; That thou a long and blessed life may'st live, Within the land the Lord thy God bestows., Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline, That we may keep this blessed Law of thine. Thou shalt be wary, that thou no man slay : Thou shalt from all adultery be clear : Thou shalt not steal another's goods away : ISTor witness false against thy neighbour bear. Have mercy, Lord, and so our hearts incline. That we may keep this blessed Law of thine. OF THE CHURCH. 151 With what is thine remaining well apaid, Thou shalt not covet what thy neighbour's is ; His house, nor wife, his servant, man nor maid, His ox, nor ass, nor any thing of his. Thy mercy, Lord, thy mercy let us have, And in our hearts these Laws of thine engrave. THE LORD'S PKAYEK. MATT. vi. 7. Lord's Prayer hath heen anciently and usually sung also; and to that purpose was heretofore both translated and paraphrased in verse ; which way of expression (howsoever some weak judgments have condemned it) doth no whit disparage or misheseem a Prayer ; for David made many prayers in verse : and, indeed, measured words were first devised and used to express the praises of God, and petitions made to him. Yea, those are the ancient and pro- per subjects of poesy, as appears throughout the sacred writ, and in the first human antiquities. Verse, therefore, dishonours not divine subjects ; but those men do profane and dishonour verse, who abuse it on vain and mere profane expressions. The scope and use of this Prayer is so frequently treated of, that I think I shall not need to insist thereon in this place. O 152 HYMNS AND SONGS SOISTG XXXVIII. Sing this as the Third Song. UR Father, which in Heaven art, We sanctify thy name : Thy kingdom come : thy will be done : In heaven and earth the same : Give us this day our daily bread : And us forgive thou so, As we on them that us offend Forgiveness do bestow : Into Temptation lead us not, But us from evil free : For thine the kingdom, power, and praise Is, and shall ever be. OF THE CHURCH. 153 THE APOSTLES' CKEED. ^ HE effect and use of this Creed is so generally taught, that this preface need not he enlarged : and as touching the singing and versifying of it, that which is said in the preface of the Lord's Prayer may serve for both. SONG XXXIX. 1. IN God the Father I helieve, Who made all creatures by his word ; And true belief I likewise have In Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord ; Who by the Holy Ghost conceiv'd, Was of the Virgin Mary born ; Who meekly Pilate's wrongs received, And crucified was with scorn. 2. Who died, and in the grave hath lain ; Who did the lowest pit descend : 154 HYMNS AND SONGS Who on the third day rose again, And up to Heaven did ascend. Who at his Father's right hand there Now throned sits, and thence shall come To take his seat of judgment here ; And give hoth quick and dead their doom. 3. I in the Holy Ghost helieve, The holy Church Catholick too, (And that the Saints communion have) Undoubtedly helieve I do. I well assured am, likewise, A pardon for my sins to gain ; And that my flesh from death shall rise, And everlasting life obtain. A FUNEKAL SONG. IE first stanza of this Song is taken out of St. John's Gospel, chap. xi. ver 25, 26. The second stanza, Job xix, 25, 26, 27. The third stanza, 1 Tim. vi. 7, and Job i. 21. The last stanza, Kev. xiv. 13. And in the Order of Burial appointed by the Church of England, it is appointed to be sung or read, as OF THE CHUECH. 155 the minister pleaseth : that therefore it may he the more conveniently used either way, according to the Church's appointment, it is here turned into lyric verse. It was ordained to comfort the living, hy putting them in mind of the Resurrection, and of the happiness of those who die in the faith of Christ Jesus. SONG XL. Sing this as the Ninth Song. 1. AM the Life (the Lord thus saith) I The Resurrection is through me ; And whosoe'er in me hath faith, Shall live, yea, though now dead he he : And he for ever shah 1 not die, That living doth on me rely. 2. That my Redeemer lives, I ween,* And that at last I rais'd shall he From earth, and, cover'd with my skin In this my flesh, my God shah 1 see. Yea, with these eyes, and these alone, E'en I my God shall look upon. * Know. 156 HYMNS AND SONGS 3. Into the world we naked come, And naked back again we go : The Lord our wealth receive we from ; And he doth take it from us too : The Lord both wills, and works the same, And blessed therefore be his name. 4. From Heaven there came a voice to me, And this it will'd me to record ; The dead from henceforth blessed be, The dead that dieth in the Lord : The Spirit thus doth likewise say, For from their works at rest are they. THE SONG OF THE THEEE CHILDBEN. \HIS Song hath been anciently used in the Liturgy of the Church, as profit- able to the stirring up of devotion, and for the praise of God : for it earnestly calleth upon all creatures to set forth the glory of their Creator, even angels, spirits, and reasonable creatures, with those also that are unreasonable, and unsensible. And this speaking to things without OF THE CHURCH. 157 life is not to intimate that they are capable of such like exhortations ; but rather, that upon consideration of the obedience which beasts and insensible creatures continue towards God, according to the law imposed at their creation, men might be provoked to remem- ber the honour and praise, which they ought to ascribe unto their Almighty Creator, as well as all his other creatures. SONG XLI. Sing this as the Ninth Song. 1. OH all you creatures of the Lord, You Angels of the God most high ; You heavens, with what you do afford ; And waters all above the sky : Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore, And magnify him evermore. 2. Of God, you everlasting Powers, Sun, moon, and stars, so bright that show ; You soaking dews, you dropping showers ; And all you winds of God that blow : Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore. And magnify him evermore. 158 HYMNS AND SONGS 3. Thou fire, and what doth heat contain ; Cold winter, and thou summer fair ; You blustering storms of hail, and rain ; And thou, the frost-congealing air : Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore. And magnify him evermore. 4. Oh praise him both, you ice and snow ; You nights and days, do you the same, With what or dark or light doth show ; You clouds, and ev'ry shining flame. Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore, And magnify him evermore. 5. Thou earth, you mountains, and you hills, And whatsoever thereon grows ; You fountains, rivers, springs, and rills ; You seas, and all that ebbs or flows : Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore, And magnify him evermore. 6. You whales, and all the water yields ; You of the feather'd airy breed ; OF THE CHURCH. 159 You beasts and cattle of the fields ; And you that are of human seed : Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore, And magnify him evermore. 7. Let Israel the Lord confess ; So let his priests, that in him trust ; Him, let his servants also bless ; Yea, souls and spirits of the just : Bless ye the Lord, him praise, adore. And magnify him evermore. 8. You blessed Saints, his praises tell ; And you, that are of humble heart, With Ananias, Misael ; And Azarias (bearing part) : Bless you the Lord, him praise, adore, And magnify him evermore. 160 HYMNS AND SONGS THE SONG OF ST. AMBEOSE; OK TE DEUM. Song, commonly called Te Deum, or the Song of St. Ambrose, was re- peated at the baptizing of St. Augus- tine ; and (as it is recorded) was com- posed at that very time by those two reverend Fathers, answering one another, as it were by immediate in- spiration. It is one of the most ancient Hymns of the Christian Church, excellently praising and con- fessing the blessed Trinity; and therefore is daily and worthily made use of in our Liturgy, and reck- oned among the sacred Hymns. SONG XLIL Sing this as the Forty-fourth Song. 1. WE praise thee, God, we knowledge thee To be the Lord, for evermore : And the eternal Father we, Throughout the earth, do thee adore : OF THE CHURCH. 161 All Angels, with all powers within The compass of the heavens high ; Both Cherubin, and Seraphin, To thee perpetually do cry. 2. Oh holy, holy, Holy One, Thou Lord and God of Sabbath art ; Whose praise and majesty alone Fills heaven and earth in ev'ry part : The glorious troop apostolick, The Prophets' worthy company ; The Martyrs' army royal eke* Are those whom thou art praised by. 3. Thou through the holy Church art known, The Father of unbounded power : Thy worthy, true, and only Son : The Holy Ghost the Comforter : Of glory, thou, oh Christ, art King ; The Father's Son, for evermore ; Who men from endless death to bring The Virgin's womb didst not abhor. 4. When Conqueror of Death thou wert, Heaven to the faithful openedst thou ; * Also. M 162 HYMNS AND SONGS And in the Father's glory art At God's right hand enthroned now : Whence we believe that thou shalt come To judge us in the day of wrath. Oh, therefore, help thy servants, whom Thy precious blood redeemed hath. 5. Them with those saints do thou record, That gain eternal glory may : Thine heritage and people, Lord, Save, bless, guide, and advance for aye.* By us thou daily prais'd hast been, And we will praise thee without end. Oh keep us, Lord, this day from sin, And let thy mercy us defend. 6. Thy mercy, Lord, let us receive, As we our trust repose in thee : Oh, Lord, in thee I trusted have ; Confounded never let me be. * Ever. OF THE CHURCH. 163 ATHANASIUS'S CREED ; OK, QUICUNQUE VULT. Creed was composed by Athana- sius (after the wicked heresy of Arius had spread itself through the world), that so the faith of the Catholic Church, concerning the mystery of the blessed Trinity, might be the better understood, and professed, to the over- throw and preventing of Arianism, or the like here- sies. And to the same purpose it is appointed to be said or sung upon certain days of the year in the Church of England. SONG XLIII. Sing this as the Third Sony. 1. THOSE that will saved be, must hold The true Catholick Faith, And keep it wholly, if they would Escape eternal death. Which faith a Trinity adores In One, and One in Three : 164 HYMNS AND SONGS So, as the substance being one, Distinct the persons be. 2. One Person of the Father is, Another of the Son, Another of the Holy Ghost, And yet their godhead one : Alike in glory ; and in their Eternity as much ; For as the Father, both the Son And Holy Ghost is such. 3. The Father uncreate, and so The Son and Spirit be : The Father he is infinite ; The other two as he. The Father an eternal is, Eternal is the Son : So is the Holy Ghost ; yet these Eternally but One. 4. Nor say we there are infinites, Or uncreated Three ; For there can but one infinite Or uncreated be. OF THE CHURCH. 165 So Father, Son, and Holy Ghost All three Almighties are ; And yet not three Almighties though, But only One is there. 5. The Father likewise God and Lord ; And God and Lord the Son ; And God and Lord the Holy Ghost, Yet God and Lord hut One. For though each Person by himself We God and Lord confess, Yet Christian faith forbids that we Three Gods or Lords profess. 6. The Father not begot, nor made ; Begot (not made) the Son ; Made, nor begot, the Holy Ghost, But a proceeding One. One Father, not three Fathers, then ; One only Son, not three ; One Holy Ghost we do confess, And that no more they be. 7. And less, or greater than the rest, This Trinity hath none ; 166 HYMNS AND SONGS But they both co-eternal be, And equal ev'ry one. He therefore that will saved be, (As we have said before) Must One in Three, and Three in One, Believe, and still adore. 8. That Jesus Christ incarnate was, He must believe with this ; And how that both the Son of God And God and Man he is. God, of his Father's substance pure, Begot ere time was made : Man of his mother's substance born, When tune his fulness had. 9. Both perfect God, and perfect Man, In soul, and flesh, as we : The Father's equal being God, As man beneath is he. Though God and Man, yet but one Christ ; And to dispose it so, The Godhead was not turn'd to flesh, But manhood took thereto. OF THE GHUECH. 167 10. The substance unconius'd ; he one In person doth subsist : As soul and body make one man, So God and Man is Christ ; Who suffered, and went down to hell, That we might saved be ; The third day he arose again, And Heaven ascended he. 11. At God the Father's right hand there He sits ; and at the doom, He to adjudge both quick and dead, From thence again shall come. Then all men with their flesh shall rise, And he account require : Well-doers into bliss shall go, The bad to endless fire. 168 HYMNS AND SONGS VENT CKEATOE. is a very ancient Hymn, composed in Latin rhyme, and commonly called Veni Creator, because those are the first words of it. By the canons of our Church it is commanded to be said or sung at the consecration of Bishops, and at the ordination of Ministers, >>">:> ^>> >>>