this hymn. The verse, "Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin," Dignare Domine die isto sine peccato nos custodire, gives reason to think that it was originally composed for the matin, and not for the nocturnal office, for it appears that the day is supposed to have actually commenced. Now Cæsarius and Aurelian both appoint Te Deum to be sung in the morning, while Benedict directed it to be sung in the nocturnal office on Sundays, and thence we may observe that the former appear to have adhered closer to the intentions of the author of this hymn than the latter; that therefore they were better acquainted with the author's design than Benedict, and therefore the hymn was probably not composed in Italy, but in Gaul.

In the office of matins this hymn occupies the same place as it always has done, namely, after the reading of Scripture. The ancient offices of the English church gave this hymn the title of the "Psalm Te Deum," or the "Song of Ambrose and Augustine" indifferently. As used in this place, it may be considered as a responsory psalm, since it follows a lesson; and here the practice of the church of England resembles that directed by the council of Laodicea, which decreed that the psalms and lessons should be read alternately. The following original Latin of Te Deum is transcribed from the breviary of Sarum, Psalter, folio vii.

We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.

Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur.

c

Regula S. Benedicti, c. 11.

d Breviar. Sarisbur. fol. 4. 22. Breviar. Eboracens. fol. 5.

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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.

Fiat misericordia tua Domine super nos : quemadmodum speravimus in te.

In te Domine speravi : non confundar in æternum.

BENEDICITE.

In the ancient English offices the matins (nocturns) terminated with Te Deum, and were immediately followed by lauds (ancient matins). This office began with several psalms, of which one was the "psalm Benedicite," or "the Song of the Three Children," as it was variously called'. This canticle was retained in the position it now occupies, and is appointed to follow the first lesson, in place of Te Deum, at the pleasure of the officiating minister. In the Mosarabic, or ancient Spanish office, Benedicite is also used at lauds. The ancient liturgies of the Gallican and Spanish churches prescribed the Song of the Three Children to be sung between the lessons, and we adopt the same rule in the office of Morning Prayer. Benedict and Amalarius both speak of Benedicite as used at matins (lauds '); and Athanasius appointed it to be said at the same time. When used as appointed by the English office, it may be regarded in the light of a responsory psalm.

f Brev. Sar. fol. 5, et Psalt. ibid. fol. 8. Brev. Ebor. fol. 5. Bona, de Div. Psalmod.

p. 636, c. 18, § 11.

1 Πρὸς ὄρθρον δὲ τὸν ψαλμὸν τοῦτον λέγετε· ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεός μου πρὸς σὲ ὀρθρίζω. εδίψησε σε ἡ ψυχή μου. (διάφανμα δέ.)

h Mabillon. de Lit. Gall. εὐλογεῖτε πάντα τὰ ἔργα κυρίου

τὸν κύριον. δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Oεw K. T. X. Athanasius de Virginitate, c. 20, p. 122, tom. ii. Oper. ed. Benedict.

SECTION XII.

THE SECOND LESSON.

After the psalms of lauds, amongst which Benedicite occurred, the ancient English offices prescribed a short lesson from Scripture. Benedict, in the sixth century, and Amalarius, A.D. 820, both speak of the lesson in this place'. The reformers of our offices enlarged this short lesson, appointing it always to be taken from the New Testament, according to the ancient rule of the Egyptian church in the fifth century; for, according to Cassian, only two lessons were read in their nocturnal or matutinal assembly, of which the second was always taken from the New Testament ".

SECTION XIII.

BENEDICTUS.

The lesson at lauds, in the ancient English offices, was followed by the canticle which is the subject of the present section, and which was indifferently called the "psalm Benedictus," and the "Song of the Prophet Zacharias "." It occupies at present the same relative position as it has always done in the English offices. Benedict speaks of a Canticum de Evangelio as occurring in this place, but whether he refers especially to this Song of Zacharias or

k Breviar. Sarisb. fol. 5, et Psalt. fol. 8. 22. Brev. Ebor. fol. 5, Brev. Hereford.

1 S. Benedict. Regula, c. 12, 13. Amalar. de Eccl. Off. lib. iv. c. 10. "Dein sequitur lectio quæ pro admonitione fraterna recitatur in choro, quæ semper

placita erit quamdiu in præsenti sæculo deget ecclesia."

m Cassian. Institut. Cœnob. lib. ii. c. 6.

n Brev. Sarisb. fol. 5. Brev. Ebor. fol. 6. Brev. Hereford; Psalt. in Dominica die.