Serapis. If we ask the question why Isis and Serapis recommended themselves so well to the people, the answer can only be that it was the teaching of immortality which was seen embodied in their ceremonial worship. Isis sought her murdered husband Osiris; and all the faithful did so likewise, and afflicted themselves. She finds his scattered limbs, and the deceased Osiris stands renewed in youth as Serapis, and god of the world below, a joy and consolation for all his followers. However much, or however little, this teaching was, it gave the initiated more confidence in the night-side of human existence, than the open and cheerful nature-worship of the later Romans. We cannot now follow out the downfall of heathenism and the change of the Roman religion into a new and higher order of things. Neither the Egyptian service of Isis, nor the Persian Mithras (the mediator between Ormuz and Ahriman, the good principle of light, and the evil one of darkness) triumphed over Roman heathenism: nor could Judaism overcome it. Christianity most undoubtedly it was whose divine teaching achieved the victory. Yet the attempts of heathendom to mitigate and ennoble human life are not unworthy the deepest considerations." H. F. W. THE "TE DEUM." [The following notes are not intended to interfere with an interesting correspondence now going on in these pages; but rather to aid and to direct it. Most of these notes have been by us for some time, but we have added a little to them, and although mere fragments we give them here, because we cannot take a direct part in the correspondence respecting the "Te Deum."] AMONG all the hymns of the Latin church there is no one so well known, so honoured, and so extensively used as the "Te Deum." Its composition reminds us of the Psalms in the Old Testament, for like them it is not metrical in its arrangement. The separate versicles are of different lengths and of irregular construction. But it is at the same time pre-eminently Christian " However, attempts were made. For proof, see Tacitus, Annal., ii., 85. Ed. J. S. L. • We insert this article, somewhat abridged from the original, as a pendant to one in our last number on "Atheism.'-ED. J. S. L. in its language and spirit. Its noble and majestic cadence, its boldness and simplicity of expression, and its exultant spirit, distinguish it from all other compositions not of inspired origin. We do not wonder that inspiration has been claimed for it. This claim, however, it is not necessary for us to admit. Although so well known in its Latin form, and found in every edition of the Prayer Book, we present a copy of it in Latin and another in English. We quote the Latin from a Roman breviary of 1650. "Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur, Te æternum Patrem: omnis terra veneratur. Tibi omnes angeli: tibi cœli et universæ potestates, Pleni sunt cœli et terra: majestatis gloriæ tuæ. Te prophetarum laudabilis numerus, Te martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus. Te per orbem terrarum, sancta confitetur ecclesia, Venerandum tuum verum, et unicum Filium, Tu Rex gloriæ Christe. Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius. Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem; non horruisti Virginis uterum. Tu devicto mortis aculeo: aperuisti credentibus regna cœlorum. Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes: in gloria Patris. Judex crederis esse venturus. Te ergo quæsumus, tuis famulis subveni: quos pretioso sanguine redemisti. Eterna fac cum sanctis tuis: in gloria numerari. Salvum fac populum tuum Domine: et benedic hereditati tuæ. Et rege eos et extolle illos usque in æternum. Per singulos dies, benedicimus te: Et laudamus nomen tuum in sæculum: et in sæculum sæculi. Dignare Domine, die isto: sine peccato nos custodire, Miserere nostri Domine: miserere nostri. Fiat misericordia tua Domine super nos: quemadmodum speravimus in te. In te Domine speravi: non confundar in æternum." As thus arranged, the "Te Deum" consists of twenty-nine versicles; whereas, if intended for responsive singing, the number should have been equal. The odd number can only be explained by supposing an interpolation, a real fault in the structure, or that the last verse was joined in by all. The last supposition may be correct, as there is a sudden change of persons from the plural to the singular. We simply throw out this as a suggestion. We may add that for numerari in verse 21, munerari is often read; but we think this is owing to an ancient clerical error. There are some other various readings of slight importance, and the arrangements in the older copies is not always the same. We e now give the "Te Deum" in its English version as it is to be found in the Book of Common Prayer. "TE DEUM LAUDAMUS. "We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting. To thee all angels cry aloud; the heavens, and all the powers therein. To thee cherubin and seraphin: continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy; Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory. The glorious company of the apostles: praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the prophets: praise thee. The noble army of martyrs: praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world: doth acknowledge thee; Thine honourable, true: and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost: the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory: O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son: of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man: thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death: thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God: in the glory of the Father. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants: whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy saints: in glory everlasting. O Lord, save thy people: and bless thine heritage. Govern them and lift them up for ever. : Day by day we magnify thee; And we worship thy name: ever world without end. 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.” It will be observed that the translation is not always exact. The rendering of "Te Deum laudamus," by "We praise thee, O God," is incorrect. The verb governs both Te and Deum, and the nearest approach to this would be, either "Thee God we praise, or, "We praise thee as God." Lower down, "Praise thee" is repeated three times, whereas the Latin has laudat only "The noble army of martyrs " should be "The whiterobed army of martyrs." "Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's once. 66 womb" is a rendering fairly open to question; the idea is, "didst not shudder at, and therefore shrink from." In the following verse, "Didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers," a word not in the Latin is introduced. Further on, we have "This day" as a translation of die isto,-but this can be justified; and in the last verse but one, our trust is in thee," hardly represents speravimus in te. There is, however, nothing in the translation which detracts from its general merit as a fine and faithful exhibition of the original. Until we can mend our own language we shall continue to meet with difficulties in translation, which are not readily overcome. With regard to the question of interpolation that has been raised, on critical grounds it might be dismissed with the simple remark that no trace of such an interpolation as is referred to can be found in extant copies. The supposed insertion consists of three verses: "The Father of an infinite Majesty, Thine honourable, true and only Son, It is asserted that the hymn is perfect, i.e., gives a good sense without these: and that their introduction mars the unity of the piece; and also, that by their removal we get rid of the odd versicle. With regard to these points, let us observe that the omission of other verses would not affect the grammatical completeness of the whole, nor be detected by persons previously unacquainted with it. Who, for instance, would consider the conclusion less abrupt if the last versicle were left out, than it is at present? The argument has no weight in cases of this description. That the unity of the piece is restored by removing this portion is fairly open to dispute; for surely the distinct recognition of the divine Trinity in such a hymn is not contrary to unity. It is our firm conviction that the first thirteen lines are addressed to God the Father as such, and that the enumeration with which they close is to be viewed as a confession of faith in some sort. The remaining portion may, with equal probability be regarded as addressed to Christ, God the Son. This is certainly the case to the twentieth verse, after which the terms are somewhat vague, and might be viewed as a general address to the Divine Being. In support of this opinion it might be alleged that much of this latter part is made up of quotations from the Psalms. In any case the notion of unity must not be pressed as though we were criticising a chorus by Sophocles or Eschylus. There are, however, facts which render it highly probable that this hymn is either the composition of more writers than one, or based upon more originals than one. It is difficult, if not impossible, to defend its true originality : this has been seen by others, and therefore Herzog, in his Real Encyklopädie, holds that it is a Latin version of an oriental evening hymn in the Greek language, introduced and prepared by Ambrose, and introduced into Africa by Augustin. The Greek original he regards as of very early date, and refers to ancient hymns of a similar character to some extent. We cannot entertain the opinion that the "Te Deum" has any connexion with the practice of the Bithynian Christians, carmen Christo quasi Deo dicere" of Pliny, for we must hold that his words refer rather to a custom than to a special composition. There is no trace of any hymn resembling this till we come to the post apostolic age, although it is interesting to know that the earliest Christians delighted in psalmody. Routh gives us proofs of this in his Reliquiæ Sacræ. Thus Caius, who lived about A.D. 200, says that "psalms and odes written by the faithful from the beginning celebrate Christ the Word of God, calling him divine." Hippolytus also says, "I prepared your mouth to utter glorification and praise, and psalms and spiritual hymns." The works of Clement of Alexandria contain a hymn of praise to Christ, but it has no resemblance to the "Te Deum." The council of Antioch, in 269, brought as one of its accusations against Paul of Samosata, that "having abolished the psalms sung to our Lord Jesus Christ as modern, and the compositions of men of recent date, he brought women into the church on the great day of the Passover to sing psalms, though it made one shudder to hear them." The council of Laodicea condemned the singing of psalms written by private persons in public worship, which implies that there were psalms or hymns publicly sanctioned. Long before this, in the east, Harmonius the son of Bardesanes wrote hymns of an heretical tendency in this he imitated Bardesanes his father. Valentinus, Marcus the Manichæan, Arius and other heretics did the same. Ephræm Syrus wrote orthodox hymns to counteract those of Bardesanes; and Philostorgius says that Arius wrote hymns for sailors, travellers and persons grinding at the mill. One of the most ancient Christian hymns, and which is supposed to go back to the second or third century, is as follows: EVENING HYMN. Joyful light of the holy glory of the Father immortal, heavenly, holy, blessed; Jesus Christ! Coming to the setting of the sun, seeing the evening light, we praise the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit of P Vol. i., 277, Ambrosianischer Lobgesang. |