CHAPTER I.

Ancient Hymns of the Church.

THE earliest Christian hymns are found in the New Testament. St. Luke records four in the opening chapters of his Gospel. The first, the Magnificat, was sung by Mary when she reached the home of Elizabeth. Not long after Zacharias gave utterance to the Benedictus. The third was the angels' song, and the last was the prayer and prophecy of Simeon when he saw the world's Redeemer. These hymns which clustered about the birth of Christ were prophetic of the character of his religion. Christianity has always been a religion of song. There has scarcely been a century in all its history which has not produced some lyric in honor of its Founder.

The earliest uninspired hymn which has come down to us entire is "Shepherd of tender youth." Clement of Alexandria recorded it in his “Pædagogue." Some think, therefore, that he was the author; others claim, however, that he quoted a hymn already in existence. Whichever theory

is correct, it is quite certain that the hymn was written before the close of the second century.

At that time Rome was still mistress of the world, although her power was beginning to decline. Christianity had been faithfully preached throughout the empire, and the whole number of converts was about two million. The older religions were hostile to the new faith, and tried by every means to prevent its growth. Contempt and slander were their usual weapons, but not infrequently they resorted to open and violent persecution. "Daily," wrote Clement, "martyrs are burned, beheaded, crucified before our eyes." Such was the condition of the world and the Church when this hymn was written. It is a fair sample of all the early Christian hymns. Some one has said of all of them, "They were simply a glorification of Jesus Christ." That is certainly true of this one, for it says:

"Ever be Thou our guide,

Our shepherd and our pride,
Our staff and song:
Jesus, Thou Christ of God,

By Thy perennial word

Lead us where Thou hast trod,
Make our faith strong."

Although hymns were sung by Christians from the earliest times, they did not form a regular part of the Church service until the third cen

tury in the East, and the latter part of the fourth century in the West. At the latter time there appeared in France a man who did much to promote the interests of Church music.

His name was Ambrose. His father had been a Roman governor; and he himself was a prefect, noted for wisdom and eloquence. One day in the church at Milan there occurred a riot over the election of bishop. Ambrose went into the pulpit to restore order. A child saw him and exclaimed, "Ambrose is bishop!" The multitude received the cry as a voice from heaven and shouted, "Ambrose is bishop!" In vain he protested, reminding them that he was, as yet, unbaptized. The congregation were deaf to his protests, and unanimously elected him their bishop.

Although chosen in so strange a manner, Ambrose proved an able prelate. He was bold and stern, yet just and kind. The following story illustrates the impartiality of his administration:

During a riot the Thessalonians had killed their governor. In revenge for their lawlessness the Emperor Theodosius had them treacherously murdered while attending a circus. Ambrose was horrified at the atrocity of the deed. He wrote a letter to Theodosius, reproving him and forbidding him to come to the sacrament. The