THE STORY OF THE HYMNS AND THEIR WRITERS 493
inaccurate renderings of the Latin text, but it is so stately in its rhythm and so noble in its language, that it has held its throne in our public worship unchallenged ever since it was generally known. The Rev. F. W. Macdonald writes, Its vitality is that of an immortal. Sung more frequently than any other hymn, alike in rude and dark ages, and in those of amplest light and most advanced civilization, in cathedrals and in village chapels, at the coronation of kings and at humblest festivals, it has lost nothing of its dignity and strength and sweetness by lapse of time or frequent use, and will con tinue, we may confidently say, to be the Church s chief hymn till the worship of earth shall merge in that of heaven.
The proper translation is, We praise Thee as God ; The white-robed army of martyrs ; When Thou tookest man upon Thee to deliver him ; sting of death ; rewarded with Thy saints (not numbered). In the Primer, the layman s authorized book of devotion before the Reformation, we read, Thi sooth fast worschipful oonly Son ; The preiseth the white oost of marteres. In The Afyronre of our Ladye, written for the use of the Nuns of Sion about 1450, the Te Dcmn reads: The fair host of martyrs that are washed white and fair in their own blood praise Thee. Make Thy servants to be rewarded in endless bliss with Thy saints. Govern them here by grace and enhance them into bliss without end. And we praise Thy name from time to time, unto the end of the world, and after without end.
No other hymn of praise has been by such universal consent set apart as the supreme expression of the overflowing gratitude of the human heart. As it was sung after Agincourt, so it was sung after Waterloo, and will be sung after other victories yet unfought by generations yet unborn. Mrs. Charles, the author of The Schonberg-Cotta Family, told Mr. Stead, The Te Denm, with its glorious subjectiveness, its tender humility, and its note of hope, has, perhaps, helped and inspired me through life more than any other hymn.
984. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.
The BENEDICTUS, or Song of Zacharias (Luke i. 68-79), was used in worship at least as early as the ninth century. The version is from The Great Bible. Zacharias rejoices in the arrival of the times of the Messiah, in the fulfilment of the promises, in the mission of his own child as the forerunner of
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