Transcribed from the 1823 R. O. Weston edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org [Picture: Book cover made from title page] THE FALL OF JERUSALEM; A Poem. IN THREE PARTS. * * * * * BY J. CHURCH, JUN. * * * * * “My God will cast them away because they did not hearken unto him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.”—_Hosea_, c ix. v. 17. * * * * * LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY R. O. WESTON, CROSBY-ROW, SOUTHWARK. 1823 _Price Three Shillings_. * * * * * TO MRS. J. REVETT, OF BRANDESTON HALL, SUFFOLK. * * * * * DEAR MADAM, THE particular kindness and regard with which you have ever honored our family, the liberality with which you have received my father’s works, and a knowledge of your native goodness, embolden me to sue for your patronage and attention to this my first (and probably the last) essay, which, though it has no claim to merit, may afford you a few moments amusement in your solitude; where, being surrounded by Nature, and free from the noise and bustle of the town, you have leisure to survey the wonders of Creation, and admire the incomprehensible power of the Creator; “To look thro’ nature up to nature’s God;” to look back at the revolutions of nations, and bless Him who has placed you in peace, and given you a longing for his heavenly rest. It is customary with authors, either from the expectation of a fee, their knowledge of the weakness of those to whom they present their works, or some interested motives, to fill their dedications with the most ridiculous applause and fulsome adulation; but as I have no such motives or ideas, I shall not be under the painful necessity of saying any thing foreign to my heart, or drawing a blush from the cheek of injured sensibility, which, though conscious of superiority, must ever feel insulted when attacked by flattery.—Reposing therefore in your friendship, and generosity to protect the humble effort of a young author, I beg leave to subscribe myself, Dear Madam, Your most obliged and very humble Servant, J. CHURCH, JUN. _Tabernacle House_, _April_ 22_nd_, 1823. TO THE READER. COURTEOUS READER,