488 THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK ILLUSTRATED
It was received with a tumult of applause, and Covent Garden and Goodman s Fields followed the example of Drury Lane. In the Gentleman s Magazine for October, 1745, the air and words were given with a third verse
Thy choicest gifts in store On George be pleased to pour.
Arne said afterwards that he did not know either author or composer, but it was a received opinion that it was written for the Catholic Chapel of James II. At a concert given by John Travers, organist of the Chapel Royal, in 1743 or 1744, the programme closed with A Latin Chorus
O Deus optime ! Exurgat Dominus ;
Salvum nunc facito Rebelles dissipet,
Regem nostrum ; Et reprimat ;
Sit laeta victoria, Dolos confundito ;
Comes et gloria, Fraudes depellito ;
Salvum jam facito, In Te sit sita spes;
Tu Dominum. O I Salva nos.
This is probably the original which was sung in 1688, and from it Carey may have made the English version to sing in public. See an interesting article in the Dictionary of Hymnology.
Hymn 972. God bless our native land !
WILLIAM EDWARD HICKSON (1803-70).
An attempt to rewrite the National Anthem with a more religious note. It dates from 1836.
Hymn 973. Blessed be our everlasting Lord.
CHARLES WESLEY (i).
Short Hymns on Select Passages of Scripture, 1762 ; Works, ix. 204. I Chron. xxix. 10-13.
In ver. 6 the original reads, Thou hast to man made known.
Hymn 974. Praise to our God, whose bounteous hand.
JOHN ELLERTON (603).
A hymn of national thanksgiving written in 1870. It appeared in Select Hymns, and the Church Hymns, 1871.
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