I
As David could his eyes no rest afford
Till he had found a place out to the Lord
To build an altar, so this man of worth,
The mirror which these later days bring forth,
Barkham the worthy, whose immortal name —
Marble’s too weak to hold, for this work’s fame.
He never ceased in industry and care
From ruins to redeem this house of prayer,
Following in this the holy patriarchs’ ways,
That ready were Him altars still to raise —
Where they received a blessing; so this lord,
Scarce warm in honour’s seat, did first accord
To this most pious work, in which is shown
God’s blessing and his thanks met both in one.
The charge the honourable City bears, —
Whose bounty in full nobleness appears
To acts of best condition, in such wise
That all things, bettering by their ruin, rise.
Two noble faithful supervisors then
(Amongst a Senate of religious men)
Selected were, to whom the care they gave:
Generous Hamersley, and Campbell the grave,
Each being a masterpiece of zeal and care
Towards God’s own temple, St for truth’s affair.
Now at the blessed foundress I arrive,
Matilda, whom Henry the First did wive.
The Christendom she gave it held the same
Till James our sovereign gave it his own name.
And since I touch antiquity so near,
Observe what notes remarkable appear:
An alderman of London was at first
Prime prior of this church; falling to worst,
It is now raised by encouragement and care
Of a Lord Mayor of London, which is rare
And worth observing. Then, as I began, —
I end best with the honour of the man.
This city’s first Lord Mayor lies buried here,
Fitz Ailwin, of the Drapers’ Company,
And the Lord Mayor, whose fame now shines so clear,
Barkham, is of the same society. —
II
The rising here of the clear Gospel’s sun
Is through the Senate’s free donation.
The globe of that bright sun, the God of might;
Christ Jesus is the rising and the light;
The heat, the blessed Spirit of truth and right.
And as these three (the globe, the light, the heat)
Are all one sun, so three one God complete.
Thrice ‘Alleluia’ speaks about the rays
That three in one may only have the praise.
This sacred structure, which this Senate fames,
Our King hath styled ‘The Temple of St James’.