To Thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry,
"Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and Earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory!"

and so, stave by stave, in alternating strains, sprang that day from the
inspired lips of Ambrose and Augustine the "Te Deum Laudamus," which has
ever since been the standard anthem of Christian praise.

Whatever the foundation of the story, we may at least suppose the first
public singing[3] of the great chant to have been associated with that
eventful baptism.

[Footnote 3: The "Te Deum" was first sung _in English_ by the martyr,
Bishop Ridley, at Hearne Church, where he was at one time vicar.]

The various anthems, sentences and motets in all Christian languages
bearing the titles "Trisagion" or "Tersanctus," and "Te Deum" are taken
from portions of this royal hymn. The sublime and beautiful "Holy, Holy,
Holy" of Bishop Heber was suggested by it.


_THE TUNE._

No echo remains, so far as is known, of the responsive chant actually
sung by Ambrose, but one of the best modern choral renderings of the "Te
Deum" is the one by Henry Smart in his _Morning and Evening Service_. In
an ordinary church hymnal it occupies seven pages. The staff-directions
with the music indicate the part or cue of the antiphonal singers by the
words Decani (Dec.) and Cantor (Can.), meaning first the division of the
choir on the Dean's side, and second the division on the Cantor's or