attributed to St. Hilary of Arles, and to a monk of Lerins, whose name is not known; the number of persons named shewing how much uncertainty has always surrounded the matter. It is scarcely possible that so remarkable a hymn should have originated in so remarkable a manner as that first referred to without some trace of it being found in the works of St. Ambrose or St. Augustine, especially the Confessions of the latter.1 It may be that their names were connected with it because the one introduced it into the Church of Milan, and the other (taught by St. Ambrose) into the Churches of Africa, For there is reason to think that the Te Deum Laudamus is much older than the time of St. Ambrose. So early as A. D. 252 we find the following words in St. Cyprian's Treatise "On the Mortality" that was then afflicting Carthage: “Ah, perfect and perpetual bliss! There is the glorious company of the Apostles; there is the fellowship of the prophets exulting; there is the innumerable multitude of martyrs, crowned after their victory of strife and passion ;" and the striking parallel between them and the seventh, eighth, and ninth verses of the Te Deum seems certainly more than accidental. There are several coincidences also between words in the Baptismal and other offices of the Eastern Church and particular verses of the Te Deum, and the former are supposed to be of extremely ancient date. In the Alexandrine MS. of the Scriptures, a work of the fourth or fifth century, preserved in the British Museum, there is moreover a Morning Hymn which is written at the end of the Psalter, and which is still used in the daily services of the Greek Church. [See also GRABE'S LXX. 1709, p. 408.] The following is a transla tion : Glory to Thee, the Giver of light. Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. O Lord, heavenly King, God, Father Almighty: O Lord, only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin of the world; have mercy upon us, Thou that takest away the sin of the world. Accept our prayer: Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou only art holy; Thou only Lord Jesus Christ art in the glory of God the Father. Amen. Day by day I bless Thee, and praise Thy Name for ever, and for ever and ever. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep me this day without sin. Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our fathers; and praised and glorified be Thy Name for ever. Amen. Lord, let Thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord: O teach me Thy statutes. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, from one I said, Lord, be merciful to me, heal my For with Thee is the well of life; in Thy Ps. xxxiii. 22. Ps. cxix. 12. Ps. xc. 1. Ps. xli. 4. Ps. exliii. 9, 10. Ps. xxxvi. 9. 1 In the latter we do indeed read "... we were baptized, and anxiety for our past life vanished from us. Nor was I sated in those days with the wondrous sweetness of considering the depth of Thy counsels concerning the salvation of mankind. How did I weep, in Thy Hymns and Canticles, touched to the quick by the voices of Thy sweet-attuned Church!" [ST. AUG. Conf. IX. vi. p. 166, Oxf. trans.] But this passage seems rather to indicate the use of Canticles already well known than the invention of any new one. Tu ad dexteram DEI sedes in gloria PATRIS. Judex crederis esse venturus. The first division of this hymn is identical with the Eucharistic Gloria in Excelsis, and the last verse is the Trisagion of the ancient Eastern Liturgies; the remaining portion has clearly a common origin with the Te Deum. Verses 8 and 9 are the same as the 24th and 26th verses of the latter. The 11th is also identical with the last of the Te Deum, but it is taken from Psalm xxxiii. 22. Like the Te Deum, this ancient Morning Hymn of the Greek Church borrows largely from the Psalms in its concluding portion, and the verses chosen are of a supplicatory character in both, though otherwise they do not correspond. The most probable conclusion to arrive at is, that this noble Canticle, in its present form, is a composition of the fourth or fifth century; and that it represents a still more ancient hymn, of which traces are to be found in St. Cyprian and the Morning Hymn of the Alexandrine Manuscript. The Te Deum is only known as connected with the ritual of the Church. It seems also from the first to have been connected with the reading of the Morning Lessons, the expression "Keep us this day without sin" being some evidence of this, though not convincing, as an analogous form is used in "Give us this day our daily bread.' In the Salisbury Use, which probably represents the more ancient use of the Church of England, it was directed to be sung after the last lesson on Sundays and other Festivals, except during Advent and the Lenten season from Septuagesima to Easter. Quignonez, in his Reformed Roman Breviary, directed it to be used every day even in Lent and Advent. The Prayer Book of 1549 ordered it to be used "daily throughout the year, except in Lent;" and as Festivals were previously almost of daily occurrence, this was practically a continuance of the old rule. In 1552 the exception was erased, and has not since been restored; but as the alternative Canticle, Benedicite, remains, some ritualists conclude that it is to be used in Lent, as originally directed by the First Book of Edward VI., and not the Te Deum.2 Of ritual customs anciently connected with the singing of this hymn, one still retains a strong hold upon English people, viz. that of bowing at the words "Holy, Holy, Holy," with the same reverent gesture that is used in the Creed: a custom derived from the angelic reverence spoken of in Isaiah in connection with the same words. "And for bycause Angels praise God with great reverence, therefore ye incline when ye sing their says the Mirror. The same work also says, And therefore, according to the angels, ye sing quire to quire, one Sanctus on the one side, and another on the other side, and so song, 2 This is not the ancient practice of the Church, it must be remembered. During Advent the following was sung instead of Te Deum on all Festivals when the latter would otherwise have been used. It is the last of nine Responds [Responsoria] used after the nine Lessons respectively. "R. 9. Lætentur coeli, et exultet terra: jubilate montes laudem: quia Dominus noster veniet. Et pauperum suorum miserebitur. V. Orietur in diebus ejus justitia et abundantia pacis. Et pauperum suorum miserebitur. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto: Et pauperum suorum miserebitur." The ancient ritual use of the Benedicite was entirely festive; though it was not indeed set aside from its place in Lauds during Lent and Advent. In Monasteries the Te Deum was sung all the year round [Grancolas, cap. 33]; and in Quignonez' Reformed Breviary it was ordered for Festivals even in Advent and Lent. But admirable substitutes for it at these seasons might be found in two other of the discontinued Lauds Canticles, the Song of Hezekiah [Isa. xxxviii.] being exactly adapted for Lent, and that of Habakkuk [Hab. iii.] being equally suitable for Advent. The Salisbury version of the latter [from the Vulgate] had two beautiful renderings of the 13th and 18th verses: "Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people: even for salvation with Thy Christ;" and "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord: I will joy in God my Jesus." and lift them up for ever. we magnify Thee; And we worship Thy Name: ever world without end. દ 191 Salvum fac populum Tuum, DOMINE et bene"in gloria numedic hæreditati Tuæ. rari. Vulgate, rege; The custom seems to have been to forth of other verses. sing each Sanctus on one side of the quire only, the remainder of the verse on both sides, and then to proceed with the succeeding verses in regular antiphonal order. Besides the use of the Te Deum in the Morning Service, there is a well-known custom of singing this triumphal hymn, by itself, arranged to elaborate music, as a special service of thanksgiving. It is directed to be used in this manner in "Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, after Victory, or deliverance from an Enemy:" and at the conclusion of coronations it is always so used, as it has been, time immemorial, in England, and over the whole of Europe :— "Which performed, the choir, With all the choicest music of the Kingdom, [Henry VIII. Act iv. sc. 1.] The Sovereigns of England have been accustomed to go in state to the singing of the Te Deum after great victories, and Handel's "Dettingen Te Deum" was composed for one of these occasions. Custom has also established this separate use of the Te Deum on other important occasions of thanksgiving. The most ancient Christian music known has come down to us in connection with this Canticle; being that known as the "Ambrosian Te Deum," which is found in a work on Music written by Boëthius, a Roman Consul, in A. D. 487. This is, however, thought to be an adaptation of the Temple psalmody of the Jews, like the other ancient Church tones. A very striking characteristic of this heavenly hymn is the strictly doctrinal form in which it is composed, which makes it a literal illustration of St. Paul's words, "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." [1 Cor. xiv. 15.] It has been thought by some, from the singularity of the opening words, Te Deum, that it is throughout a hymn to Christ as God, representing, or analogous to, that spoken of by Pliny in his letter to Trajan. But the English version truly represents the Latin form, in which a double accusative is joined to the verb laudamus that could not be otherwise rhythmically translated. That the English Church has always considered the earlier verses of it to be addressed to the First Person of the Blessed Trinity is evidenced by the ancient Salisbury Antiphon to the Athanasian Creed, which is "Te Deum Patrem ingenitum, te Filium unigenitum, te Spiritum Sanctum Paracletum, sanctam et individuam Trinitatem toto corde et ore confitemur." It has also been conjectured that the 11th, 12th, and 13th verses have been interpolated, but there is not the slightest ground for this conjecture, all ancient MSS. in Latin, Teutonic of the ninth century, and English from the ninth to the fourteenth, reading precisely the same: and the hymn being rendered imperfect by their omission. The first ten verses are an offering of praise to the Father Almighty, with the Scriptural recognition of the Blessed Trinity implied in the Ter Sanctus which Isaiah heard the Seraphim sing when he beheld the glory of Christ, and spake of Him. In the three following verses this implied recognition of the Three in One is developed into an actual ascription of praise to each, the Pater immensæ Majestatis, the Unicus Filius, and the Sanctus Paracletus Spiritus. In these thirteen verses the Unity and Trinity of the Divine Nature is celebrated in the name of the whole Church of God. The Militant Church, the various orders of holy Angels with which it has fellowship in the New Jerusalem, the Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs of the Old and New Dispensation now gathered into the Church Triumphant, all thus adore God the Lord, the Lord God of Sabaoth, the Father Everlasting: and the holy Church gathers up its praises in a devout acknowledgement of each Person of the Blessed Trinity as the Object of Divine worship. Then begins that part of the hymn which glorifies God for the blessing of the Incarnation: the latter Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in æternum. Et laudamus nomen Tuum in sæculum et in sæculum sæculi. sixteen verses addressing themselves to our Lord and Saviour; commemorating His Divine Nature and Eternal Existence, His Incarnation, Sacrifice, Ascension, and Session at the right hand of the Father. In the last verses, with a mixture of plaintiveness and triumph, the hymn follows the line marked out by the angels at the Ascension, looking to our Lord's Second Advent as the true complement of His First. This concluding portion is as well fitted to express the tone of a Church Militant as the initial portion is to express that of a Church Triumphant: and the personal form of the last verse is a touching reminder of the individual interest that each of us has in the corporate work of praise and prayer of which Divine Service is constituted. Few uninspired compositions give so clear an echo of the spirit and depth of Holy Scripture. 44 There are three verses of the Te Deum which require special notice, with reference to the modern Latin and English in which they are given to us at the present day. [1] The ninth verse, "Te Martyrum candidatus, laudat The noble exercitus," is very insufficiently rendered by In pre-Reformation versions army of Martyrs praise Thee.' it stood, "The, preiseth the white oost of martiris ;" and considering the distinct connection between this verse and Rev. vii. 9, 14, it is strange that the Scriptural idea of "white robes" which have been "made white in the blood of the Lamb," should have been superseded by the word "noble." It is possible that the idea of something lustrous and pure was more expressed by "noble" in the early part of the sixteenth century than is conveyed by it to modern ears;1 but the change of the word from the old English "white,' and Anglo-Saxon "shining," has gone far to obliterate the true sense of the original in our present version. 66 [2] In the sixteenth verse the ancient and modern English versions alike fail to give the full sense of the Latin. The former usually give, Thou wert nost skoymes [squeamish] to take the maydenes wombe, to delyver mankynde," which is little different in sense from our present version. But it is clear that "Tu, ad liberandum, suscepturus hominem " includes a reference to the Incarnation, as much as "non horruisti and if the ordinary text of the Latin were Virginis uterum : received as correct, the verse would be more literally rendered, "Thou, being about to take manhood upon Thee, to deliver it." But it is nearly certain that the received reading is a corIn the Utrecht Psalter, which is thought by some rupt one. experts to have been written in the sixth century, the reading and in the is "Tu ad liberandum suscepisti hominem: Bangor Antiphonary, written about the end of the eighth century, it is, "Tu ad liberandum mundum suscepisti homiThe author of the Mirror of our Lady gets very near to the first of these two readings in the version which is given above in the margin. The second might be given with a slight alteration of our present English version in the form, "When Thou tookest upon Thee manhood to deliver the world." It is not improbable that some early copyist having written the last letters of "liberandum," took them, as he turned his eyes to his work after a pause, for the last letters of munsuscepisti." Afterwards, not dum, and went on at once to earlier than the twelfth century, the verb may have been altered to "", suscepturus" for the purpose of connecting nem. 66 "liberandum" with "hominem." [3] The twenty-first verse has been altered both in Roman Breviaries and in the English Prayer Book. All Latin MSS. previously to 1492 read Eterna fac cum sanctis Tuis gloria munerari:" and the equivalent of munerari is found in every known version of the Te Deum up to that time; our own in "Make hem to be rewarded the fourteenth century being, with thi seyntes, in endles blisse." The "numerari "reading 1 So gold and silver were called "noble metals" by the early chymists. Vouchsafe, O LORD to keep us this day without sin. O LORD, have mercy upon us have mercy upon us. O LORD, let Thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in Thee. O LORD, in Thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded. O a The Lyons Breviary added Gloria Patri. ¶ Or this Canticle, Benedicite, omnia Opera. ALL ye Works of the LORD, bless year. the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him. for ever. O ye Angels of the LORD, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Heavens, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Waters that be above the Firmament, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O all ye Powers of the LORD, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Sun, and Moon, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Stars of Heaven, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Showers, and Dew, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Winds of GOD, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Fire, and Heat, bless ye the LORD : praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Winter, and Summer, bless ye the LORD; praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Dews, and Frosts, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Frost, and Cold, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Ice, and Snow, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Nights, and Days, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Light, and Darkness, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. Oye Lightnings, and Clouds, bless ye the LORD praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O let the Earth bless the LORD yea, let it praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. appears to be an error of the early printers, arising out of the very slight difference presented by mun and num in black letter; and the easy occurrence of such an error is illustrated by a story which De Thou tells respecting the imprisonment of a Landgrave of Hesse by the Emperor. In the Landgrave's treaty of submission there was a condition that he should not suffer any imprisonment. "Nicht ein einig tag gefangen sein" this the Emperor's minister read, "Nicht ein ewig tag gefangen sein," that he should not suffer perpetual imprisonment. On this pretence they sent the Landgrave to prison directly on his arrival at the Emperor's court. [De Thou, iv. 13. The word "in" is a modern insertion of the same date, and probably arose from confusion between the twentyfirst and the eighteenth verses, in the latter of which occurs "in gloria Patris." Since our Lord said, "Great is your reward in Heaven," and "Himself shall reward you openly," the old English rendering of munerari is quite Scriptural; but it may be pointed out that the sense of the Latin is rather that of free gift than reward, munerari, not re-munerari. Perhaps the original may be rendered, "Make them to be awarded with Thy saints: Thy glory everlasting," without departing from the sense of the original, or the familiar rhythm of our Prayer Book version. The received version, although not faithful to the original, is happily comprehensive; for, to be "numbered with the children of God," and to have a "lot among the saints," is to receive the "great recompense of reward," the heavenly heritage of those who are joint heirs with Christ of His triumphant kingdom.1 THE BENEDICITE. There is no doubt that this Canticle is of Jewish origin, although its claim to be part of the Canonical Book of Daniel is not recognized by the modern Church of England, which has placed it among the books of the Apocrypha. It has a great resemblance to the 148th Psalm, and is generally considered to be a paraphrase of it. Several of the Fathers speak of the Benedicite as being used in the Services of the Church. [CYPR. de Laps., de Orat. Dom.; Ava. de Civ. Dei, xi. 9; Conc. Tolet. iv. can. xiii.] St. Chrysostom especially refers to it as "that admirable and O ye Mountains, and Hills, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Wells, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Seas, and Floods, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O all ye Beasts, and Cattle, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Children of Men, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O let Israel bless the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Priests of the LORD, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Servants of the LORD, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. O ye Spirits and Souls of the righteous, bless ye the LORD: praise Him, and magnify Him for marvellous song, which from that day to this hath been sung everywhere throughout the world, and shall yet be sung in future generations." [CHRYSOST. Hom. de Stat. iv.] Rufinus speaks of it in the same manner (in defending its Canonical authority against Jerome), as having been sung by holy confessors and martyrs, who would not have been permitted to sing that as Holy Scripture which is not so. It was used as one of the Psalms at Lauds as early as the time of St. Athanasius, and occupied the same position on Sundays in the ancient services of the Church of England. When the Psalter was restricted, in 1549, to the hundred and fifty psalms which go by the general name of the Psalms of David, the Song of the Three Children was placed after the Te Deum, to be used as a responsory canticle to the first Lesson, under the title "Benedicite, Omnia Opera Domini Domino." use of it was not by any means novel, as it was said between the Lessons (according to Mabillon), in the old Gallican ritual which was once common to France and England. This When first inserted in its present place, this Canticle was ruled by the following Rubric prefixed to the Te Deum : 1 It is inserted in the Comes of St. Jerome among the Lections on the Festival called Statio ad S. Petrum under the title "Hymnus Trium Puerorum." Benedicite montes et colles DOMINO : benedicite universa germinantia in terra DOMINO. Benedicite fontes DOMINO : benedicite maria et flumina DOMINO. Benedicite cete et omnia quæ moventur in aquis DOMINO: benedicite omnes volucres cœli DOMINO. Benedicite omnes bestiæ et pecora DOMINO : benedicite filii hominum DOMINO. Benedicat Israël DOMINUM: laudet et superexaltet Eum in sæcula. Benedicite Sacerdotes DOMINI DOMINO : benedicite servi DOMINI DOMINO. Benedicite spiritus et animæ justorum DOMINO: benedicite sancti et humiles corde DOMINO. "After the first Lesson shall follow throughout the year (except in Lent, all the which time, in the place of Te Deum, shall be used Benedicite Omnia Opera Domini Domino) in English, as followeth." This Rubric was altered to its present form in 1552, the object of the alteration being probably to allow greater freedom in the substitution of Benedicite for Te Deum. It was an ancient rule to use the former when any portion of the Prophet Daniel was read. In more recent times it has been customary to sing it when Genesis i., or when Daniel iii., is the first Lesson; and on week-days during Lent and Advent.2 The ordinary Doxology was substituted for the one proper to the psalm in 1549. The latter is, "O let us bless the Father, and the Son, with the Holy Ghost let us praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, in the firmament of Heaven; worthy to be praised, and glorious, and to be magnified for ever." Pope Damasus [A.D. 366] is said to have been its author; but it is founded on the verse which precedes the words "Benedicite Omnia Opera." THE BENEDICTUS. This prophetic hymn of Zacharias has been used as a re 2 See, however, note on .p 190. sponsory canticle to the Gospel Lessons from very ancient times, being spoken of as so used by Amalarius [A. D. 820 ]; and perhaps by St. Benedict, nearly three centuries earlier, since he speaks of a Canticum de Evangelio occurring here in Mattins. In the Salisbury Use it occupied a similar position, but was not so definitely connected with the Lessons themselves as it now is, being used after the Capitulum, at Lands, on Sundays. It was the only Canticle appointed for use after the second Morning Lesson in 1549, and the Rubric by which it is preceded shews very clearly that it is intended to be the ordinary Canticle, the Jubilate being an exceptional one, inserted to avoid repetition on St. John Baptist's Day, or whenever the Benedictus occurs in the second Lesson itself. That it was the Canticle most used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is shewn by the Service-books of Cathedral choirs, in which it is much more frequently set to music than the Jubilate. The position of this Canticle makes its ritual meaning selfevident. It is a thanksgiving to Almighty God for His mercy as exhibited towards mankind in the Incarnation of our Lord, whereof the Gospel speaks, and in the foundation of the Church in His blood, as recorded in the Acts of the Holy Apostles. It is the last prophecy of the Old Dispensation, and the first of the New, and furnishes a kind of key to the Evangelical interpretation of all prophecies under the one by which they are connected with the other. The Benedictus is a continual acknowledgement also of the Communion of Saints under the two Dispensations; for it praises God for the salvation which has been raised up for all ages out of the house of His servant David, and according to the ancient covenant which He made with Abraham, "the father of them that believe, though they be not circumcised "[Rom. iv. 11]; whose seed all are if they are Christ's, and heirs according to the promise. [Gal. iii. 29.] The use of the Benedictus by the Church indicates to us where we are to find true sympathy and communion with God's ancient people; not in their outward relationship to Abraham, "for God can of these stones raise up children unto Abraham," but in their faithful acknowledgement of the Lord Jesus, as the Christ Whom the Old Testament Scriptures predicted. THE JUBILATE. The This was the second of the fixed Psalms at Lauds on Sunday, and was adopted as a responsory Canticle in 1552. object of its insertion here was to provide a substitute for the Benedictus on days when the latter occurs in the Lesson or Gospel, on the same principle which rules the omission of the Venite when it occurs in the Psalms of the day. The days on which it should be used are therefore March 25th, Lady Day, and June 24th, St. John Baptist's Day. The general substitution of the Jubilate for the Benedictus is very much to be deprecated. There is, however, a prophetic reference to the Chief Shepherd of the Church, and to the service of praise offered to Him, which makes it well fitted for occasional use, as, for example, at Easter; and Dean Comber says that it seems to have been used after the reading of the Gospel as early as A. D. 450. |