is greater than the written; we should worship not the Bible, but Christ. Christianity is founded not on a Book, but on a Person; and the difference is as great as between the written and unwritten constitutions of men. He lives in His Church, which is indefectible and cannot fail. Many Christians fall into the error of Bibliolatry, or worship of the Bible, and this is the surest way to convict it of radical error.

"Christianity has conquered the world not so much by its words as by its works. It is Christ's works that bear Him witness; they testify of Him. He gave no commandment to His disciples to write. Till it is proved that in the New Testament we have a fixed rule for the guidance of the Church in all particulars, and that the Apostles have made an authoritative statement of all which they received during the great Forty Days, the appeal to the letter of Holy Scripture as if it contained all they taught and practised cannot be admitted."

Its main purpose was not to manifest verbal uniformity, chronological accuracy, or even scientific facts, but the way to Heaven. Its words were adapted to the understanding of those to whom they were first addressed; they are

adapted to us. But they are to be expounded by the Church, which wrote them by the power of the Holy Ghost; the Church which has discriminated between a true and a false revelation; the Church which is the perpetual Witness and Keeper of Holy Writ.

IX.

THE TE DEUM AND CANTICLES.

"Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory."— The Te Deum.

"The Day-spring from on high hath visited us; to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace."-The Benedic

tus.

THE English Book says of the TE DEUM LAUDAMUS,

which follows the First Lesson, that it shall be said or sung" in English, daily." The First Book says, "except in Lent, when shall be used Benedicite." The latter is our custom, though not specifically prescribed; the Benedicite being the succeeding Canticle, and less associated with lofty accents of thanksgiving. The Te Deum is here called a Hymn; and it is indeed the most exalted and stupendous of all hymns of praise. For centuries it has been the crowning feature of coronation services, at thanksgivings for national blessings and on other jubilee occasions, and to it have been wedded some of earth's sublimest music. The most ancient Christian music known is the "Ambrosian Te Deum," written in 487 A. D.

To ears accustomed to such inspired strains as this, very much of modern popular hymnody is a weariness, if not an impertinence. Milton does not rival it in Paradise Lost, or Dante in the Divine Comedy. It is to Western Christendom what the Gloria in Excelsis is to the Eastern

Church, and has been sung every morning from time immemorial. Its origin and authorship are dim. There is a legend of its joint improvisation by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine responsively, at the baptism of the latter at Milan, on Easter Even, 386 A. D.; but its material was probably gathered from many sources, and it was perhaps a growth, like a liturgy. It is not taken from the Jewish Church, like the Psalter and many Canticles, but is purely a Christian hymn. It was first written in Latin, much of its matter originating before 250 A. D., and has preserved its present form since the fourth century.

"As the Nicene Creed is indirectly a hymn, so is the Te Deum indirectly a Creed," for it is most doctrinally phrased. It is natural for us to express our belief in words of praise, when that belief is rooted deep in our spiritual natures. And this Hymn is indeed praise, creed and prayer, arranged in this order: the first portion being addressed mainly to God the Father, and the second to God the Son, while God the Holy Ghost is distinctly recognized. Some have thought it addressed to Christ as God ("We praise Thee as God"), but the Latin is a double accusative, an ascription of Deity to God the Father. It is naturally divisible into several parts.

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The first six verses are an offering of praise to the Father Almighty, from earth and heaven. The word Lord is the self-existent and eternal Name, known to the Jews as Jehovah. Coupled with our own worship, as of " earth," is that of the heavenly host, who are here spoken of as "Angels, Heavens, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim," indicating their gradations. Scripture has much to tell us of the ministry and office of angels, though but little of their

nature. They are a distinct order of beings from us, and are often styled "spirits," having no perishable body. They are not necessarily incorporeal, but seem to possess a spiritual body, such as Our Lord's after His resurrection. Christians can never become angels, as a loose theology would teach; but shall be like them, and indeed unworthily possess a yet greater dignity, in that for us Christ died. They are capable of temptation, as the greatest of them fell; by what sin we know not, but probably pride or ambition. Often in the Old Testament "the angel" is the Son of God, appearing in angelic guise; a foreshadowing of the Incarnation. After Christ's coming angelic appearances (as if they might be worshipped), became fewer and then ceased, until their accompaniment of Him at His return in the latter day.

In Heaven their office is ceaseless praise and service. In many ways they minister to men, especially to those “who shall be heirs of salvation." They do not lose personality because invisible to us, and are always about our pathway. This is more than hinted in the case of children, who are spoken of as having "their" (own guardian) angels. They are referred to as agents of the Almighty, through whom He works such natural operations as we ascribe to air, fire, pestilence and death. A destroying angel visited the Egyptians when the Israelites were "passed over." They have names, not so much personal as denoting an office, as Micha-el, Gabri-el, (compounded with the name of Deity), Satan, etc. Both good and evil angels are called "princes," and some seem to be set over nations. Gabriel is sent on benign errands to men, and Michael, the archangel, fights God's battles.

Cherubim are symbolized by winged figures, and apparently had a protective office in Eden over the Tree of Life, and over the Ark of the Hebrew Covenant. Seraphim are represented by Isaiah as having six wings, with two of which they veil their faces. Angelic ranks and numbers are beyond computation; their name is legion. In the Book of Revelation, the Bishops of the Asian Churches are called "Angels," or messengers, as the word signifies. The fifth and sixth verses are the Angelic hymn of Isaiah's vision. The Hebrew word Sabaoth means hosts or armies; or, in its import, all rational beings.

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The seven succeeding verses vary the note of praise to a Christian harmony, sung by Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world, to the Blessed Trinity. The ascription becomes individual to each Person, in the last three verses of this section. A better rendering of the word "noble" would be "whiterobed" (candidatus), or martyrs "having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." In the English Book the Son is addressed as "honourable " instead of "adorable." Thus the Old and New Dispensations join, and the Church Militant unites with the New Jerusalem above in worshipping the Three Persons in the Godhead.

Here enters a distinct change of address, and God the Son, in the remaining verses, receives the praises and prayers of the faithful, and first for the blessings of the Incarnation. Beginning with "Thou art the King of Glory," Christ's Royalty, Sonship, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, Session and Judgment are consecutively dwelt on. In the sixteenth verse, for "Thou didst humble Thyself," etc.,