And in that judgment look upon thine own! HYMN. Even thus amid thy pride and luxury, Oh Earth! shall that last coming burst on thee, When that Great Husbandman shall wave his fan, Sweeping, like chaff, thy wealth and pomp away : Still to the noontide of that nightless day, Shalt thou thy wonted dissolute course maintain. Along the busy mart and crowded street, The buyer and the seller still shall meet. And marriage feasts begin their jocund strain : Still to the pouring out the Cup of Woe; Till Earth, a drunkard, reeling to and fro, And mountains molten by his burning feet, And Heaven his presence own, all red with furnace heat. The hundred-gated Cities then, The Towers and Temples, nam'd of men Eternal, and the Thrones of Kings; The courtly bowers of love and ease, Go gaze on fallen Jerusalem! Yea, mightier names are in the fatal roll, 'Gainst earth and heaven God's standard is un furl'd, The skies are shrivell'd like a burning scroll, And the vast common doom ensepulchres the world. Oh! who shall then survive? Oh! who shall stand and live? When all that hath been, is no more: In the sky's azure canopy; When for the breathing Earth, and sparkling Sea, Is but a fiery deluge without shore, Heaving along the abyss profound and dark, A fiery deluge, and without an Ark. Lord of all power, when thou art there alone That in its high meridian noon Needs not the perish'd sun nor moon: When thou art there in thy presiding state, Wide-sceptred Monarch o'er the realm of doom: When from the sea depths, from earth's darkest womb, The dead of all the ages round thee wait: And when the tribes of wickedness are strewn Like forest leaves in the autumn of thine ire: Faithful and True! thou still wilt save thine own! The Saints shall dwell within th' unharming fire, Each white robe spotless, blooming every palm. Even safe as we, by this still fountain's side, So shall the Church, thy bright and mystic Bride, Sit on the stormy gulf a halcyon bird of calm. Yes, 'mid yon angry and destroying signs, O'er us the rainbow of thy mercy shines, We hail, we bless the covenant of its beam, Almighty to avenge, Almightiest to redeem! NOTES. Note 1, page 13, line 1. Advance the eagles, Caius Placidus. Placidus, though not expressly mentioned as one of the Roman generals engaged, had a command previously in Syria. Note 2, page 16, line 11. A mount of snow fretted with golden pinnacles! Τοῖς γε μὴν εἰσαφικνουμένοις ξένοις, πόῤῥωθεν ὅμοιος ὄρει χιόνος πλήρει κατεφαίνετο καὶ γαρ καθὰ μὴ κεχρυσωτο λευκότατος ἦν. (Joseph. lib. v. c. 5.) See the whole description. Note 3, page 18, line 1. Thy brethren of the porch, imperial Titus. Mr. Reginald Heber's Stoic tyrant's philosophic pride" will occur to the memory at least of academic readers. Note 4, page 20, lines 3, 4. Our wide encircling walls complete their circuit. "The days shall come upon thee when thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side." Luke xix. 43. For the remarkable and perfect completion of this prophecy, see the description of the wall built by Titus. (Josephus, lib. v. ch, 12.), Note 5, page 20, lines 10, 11. I should give to the flame Whate'er opposed the sovereign sway of Cæsar. Terentius, or Turnus Rufus, is marked with singular detestation in the Jewish traditions. Note 6, page 21, line 1. Sweet fountain, once again I visit thee! The fountain of Siloe was just without the walls. The upper city, occupied by Simon, (Joseph. v. 6.) ended nearly on a line with the fountain. Though, indeed, Simon had possession of parts also of the lower city. (Jor seph. v. 1.) Note 7, page 24, line 16. Let Gischala, let fallen Jotapata. Gischala and Jotapata, towns before taken by the Ro mans. Note 8, page 35, line 3. Our bridal songs, &c. It must be recollected, that the unmarried state was looked on with peculiar horror by the Jewish maidens. By marriage there was a hope of becoming the mother of the Messiah. Note 9, page 51, line 4. Did old Mathias hold. Simon put to death Mathias the High Priest and his sons, by whom he had been admitted into the city. Note 10, page 55, line 16. Ye want not testimonies to your mildness. Titus crucified round the city those who fled from the famine and the cruelty of the leaders within. (Joseph |