appendix ii

Unpublished Music by Billings in Manuscript Sources

Bennington

2. “Jesus, the God whom Angels fear,

Comes down to dwell with you;

To-day he makes his Entrance here,

But not as Monarchs do.

3. “No Gold, nor purple swaddling Bands,

Nor royal shining Things;

A Manger for his Cradle stands,

And holds the King of Kings.

4. “Go, Shepherds, where the Infant lies,

And see his humble Throne;

With Tears of Joy in all your Eyes,

Go, Shepherds, kiss the Son.”

5. Thus Gabriel sang, and strait around

The heav’nly Armies throng,

They tune their Harps to lofty Sound,

And thus conclude the Song:

6. “Glory to God that reigns above,

Let Peace surround the Earth;

Mortals shall know their Maker’s Love,

At their Redeemer’s Birth.”

7. Lord! And shall Angels have their Songs,

And Men no Tunes to raise?

O may we lose these useless Tongues

When they forget to praise!

8. Glory to God that reigns above,

That pitied us forlorn,

We join to sing our Maker’s Love,

For there’s a Saviour born.

Bradford

2. Jesus, our God, ascends on high!

His heav’nly Guards around,

Attend him rising thro’ the Sky

With Trumpets’ joyful Sound.

3. While Angels shout and praise their King,

Let Mortals learn their Strains:

Let all the Earth his Honours sing;

O’er all the Earth he reigns.

4. Rehearse his Praise with Awe profound,

Let Knowledge lead the Song;

Nor mock him with a solemn Sound,

Upon a thoughtless Tongue.

5. In Isr’el stood his ancient Throne,

He lov’d that chosen Race;

But now he calls the World his own,

And Heathens taste his Grace.

6. These ransom’d States are all the Lord’s,

Here Abra’m’s God is known;

While Pow’rs and Princes, Shields and Swords,

Submit before his Throne.

Dunstable

Germantown

2. Are we not tending upward too

As fast as Time can move?

Nor should we wish the Hours more slow,

To keep us from our Love.

3. Why should we tremble to convey

Their Bodies to the Tomb?

There the dear Flesh of Jesus lay,

And left a long Perfume.

4. The Graves of all the Saints he bless’d,

And soften’d ev’ry Bed:

Where should the dying Members rest,

But with the dying Head?

5. Thence he arose, ascended high,

And show’d our Feet the Way:

Up to the Lord our Flesh shall fly,

At the great Rising-day.

6. Then let the last loud Trumpet sound,

And bid our Kindred rise;

Awake, ye Nations under Ground,

Ye Saints, ascend the Skies.

Hacker’s Hall

2. For high the Lord and dreadful is,

His Wonders manifold.

A mighty King he is likewise

In all the Earth extoll’d.

3. The People shall he make to be

Unto our Bondage thrall,

And underneath our Feet shall he

The Nations make to fall:

4. For us the Heritage he chose

Which we possess alone,

The Excellency of Jacob

His well beloved one.

5. Our God ascended up on high

With Joy and pleasant Noise;

The Lord goes up above the Sky

With Trumpets’ royal Voice.

6. Sing Praises to our God, sing Praise,

Sing Praises to our King;

For God is King of all the Earth,

All skilful Praises sing.

7. God o’er the Heathen reigns, and sits

Upon his holy Throne;

The Princes of the People have

Them joined every one.

8. To Abra’m’s People; for our God

Who is exalted high,

As with a Buckler doth defend

The Earth continually.

Hadley

Hallifax

2. No more shall Atheists mock his long Delay;

His Vengeance sleeps no more: behold the Day;

Behold the Judge descends; his Guards are nigh;

Tempests and Fire attend him down the Sky.

When God appears, all Nature shall adore him,

While Sinners tremble, Saints rejoice before him.

3. “Heav’n, Earth, and Hell, draw near; let all Things come

To hear my Justice and the Sinner’s doom;

But gather first my Saints; (the Judge commands)

Bring them, ye Angels, from their distant Lands.”

When Christ returns, wake every chearful Passion:

And shout, ye Saints, he comes for your Salvation.

4. “Behold my Cov’nant stands for ever good,

Seal’d by th’eternal Sacrifice in Blood,

And sign’d with all their Names; the Greek, the Jew,

That paid the ancient Worship or the new:”

There’s no Distinction here, join all your Voices,

And raise your Heads, ye Saints, for Heav’n rejoices.

5. “Here (saith the Lord) ye Angels, spread their Thrones,

And near me seat my Fav’rites and their Sons,

Come, my Redeem’d, possess the Joys prepar’d

Ere Time began, ’tis your divine Reward.”

When Christ returns, wake ev’ry chearful Passion;

And shout, ye Saints, he comes for your Salvation.

6. “I am the Saviour, I th’almighty God,

I am the Judge: Ye Heav’ns, proclaim abroad

My just eternal Sentence, and declare

Those awful Truths, that Sinners dread to hear.”

When God appears, all Nature shall adore him;

While Sinners tremble, Saints rejoice before him.

7. “Stand forth, thou bold Blasphemer, and profane,

Now feel my Wrath, nor call my Threat’nings vain;

Thou Hypocrite, once drest in Saint’s Attire,

I doom the painted Hypocrite to fire.”

Judgment proceeds; Hell trembles; Heav’n rejoices;

Lift up your Heads, ye Saints, with chearful Voices.

8. “Not for the want of Goats or Bullocks slain

Do I condemn thee; Bulls and Goats are vain

Without the Flames of Love: in vain the Store

Of brutal Off’rings that were mine before.”

Earth is the Lord’s: all Nature shall adore him;

While Sinners tremble, Saints rejoice before him.

9. “If I were hungry, would I ask thee Food?

When did I thirst, or drink thy Bullocks’ Blood?

Mine are the tamer Beasts, and savage Breed,

Flocks, Herds, and Fields, and Forests where they feed.”

All is the Lord’s: he rules the wide Creation;

Gives Sinners Veng’ance, and the Saints Salvation.

10. “Can I be flatter’d with thy cringing Bows,

Thy solemn Chatt’rings and fantastic Vows?

Are my Eyes charm’d thy Vestments to behold,

Glaring in Gems and gay in woven Gold?”

God is the Judge of Hearts, no fair Disguises

Can screen the Guilty when his Veng’ance rises.

11. “Unthinking Wretch! How could’st thou hope to please,

A God, a Spirit, with such Toys as these?

While with my Grace and Statutes on thy Tongue,

Thou lov’st Deceit, and dost thy Brother wrong.”

Judgment proceeds; Hell trembles; Heav’n rejoices;

Lift up your Heads, ye Saints, with chearful Voices.

12. “In vain to pious Forms thy Zeal pretends;

Thieves and Adult’rers are thy chosen Friends:

While the false Flatt’rer at my Altar waits,

His harden’d Soul divine Instruction hates.”

God is the Judge of Hearts, no fair Disguises

Can screen the Guilty when his Veng’ance rises.

13. “Silent I waited with long-suff’ring Love;

But did’st thou Hope that I should ne’er reprove?

And cherish such an impious Thought within,

That the All-holy would indulge thy Sin?”

See, God appears, all Nations join t’adore him;

Judgment proceeds, and Sinners fall before him.

14. “Behold my Terrors now; my Thunders roll,

And thy own Crimes affright thy guilty Soul;

Now like a Lion shall my Veng’ance tear

Thy bleeding Heart, and no Deliv’rer near.”

Judgment concludes; Hell trembles; Heav’n rejoices;

Lift up your Heads, ye Saints, with chearful Voices.

15. “Sinners, awake betimes; ye Fools, be wise;

Awake before this dreadful Morning rise:

Change your vain Thoughts, your crooked Words amend,

Fly to the Saviour, make the Judge your Friend.”

Then join the Saints, wake ev’ry chearful Passion;

When Christ returns, he comes for your Salvation.

Hatfield [III]

2. For some require the best Attire,

Appearing fine and fair,

Yet Death will come into the Room,

And strip them naked there.

3. The Princes high and Beggars die,

And mingle with the Dust,

The rich and brave, the negro Slave,

The wicked and the just.

4. Come let us hark, and now remark

The Mortal’s dying Day;

Behold how Death doth stop the Breath,

And change the Flesh to Clay.

5. Open your Eyes on him that dies,

How mournful is the Sight,

When he, alas! begins to pass

Into a dreadful Night.

6. His helpless Hands now feel the Bands

That cruel Death doth tye,

The vital Heat hath left its Seat,

And he begins to die.

7. Now at the Heart, that little Part,

The Force of Nature hangs;

But Heart and all its Powers fall

A Prey to dying Pangs.

8. The Pains of Death now stop the Breath,

The human Frame doth fall,

With bitter Cries in Ruin lies,

An awful Sight to all.

9. And when the Sound doth echo round,

The living Mortals must

Prepare a Bed to lodge the Dead,

And cover it with Dust.

10. Here in this Place the human Face

Deep in Oblivion lies,

Till Christ on high shall rend the Sky,

And bid the Dead arise.

11. But though we die our Spirits fly

Beyond the lofty Poles;

Why do we dwell upon the Shell,

And let alone the Souls?

12. The Body must waste in the Dust,

But Spirits shall remain

In perfect Rest or be distrest

As long as God shall reign.

Morriston

2. In Vain, on Earth, we hope to Find

Some solid Good to fill the Mind:

We try new Pleasures—but we feel

The inward Thirst, and Torment still.

3. So, when a raging Fever burns,

We shift from Side to Side by Turns;

And ’tis a poor Relief we gain,

To change the Place but keep the Pain.

4. Great God! Subdue this vicious Thirst,

This Love to Vanity and Dust;

Cure this vile Fever of the Mind,

And feed our Souls with Joys refin’d.

New Haven

Raleigh

Spencer

2. His Mercy and his Righteousness

Let Heav’n and Earth proclaim;

His Works of Nature and of Grace

Reveal his wond’rous Name.

3. His Wisdom and almighty Word

The heav’nly Arches spread;

And by the Spirit of the Lord

Their shining Hosts were made.

4. He bade the liquid Waters flow

To their appointed Deep:

The flowing Seas their Limits know,

And their own Station keep.

5. Ye Tenants of the spacious Earth,

With Fear before him stand:

He spake, and Nature took its Birth,

And rests on his Command.

6. He scorns the angry Nation’s Rage,

And breaks their vain Designs;

His Counsel stands thro’ ev’ry Age,

And in full Glory shines.

Anthem

Praise the Lord, O My Soul