THEIR AUTHOBS AND ORIGIN. 68
NAHUM TATE. 16521715.
THIS psalm-writer was born in Dublin, and educated there at Trinity College. His father, Faithful Teate, D.D., was a clergy man in Ireland, and a poet. After completing his education, Tate (his name having taken an English form), came to live in London. Intemperance and improvidence, its frequent companion, were blemishes in his life.
Tate was the author of several pieces for the stage, and of " Memorials for the Learned, collected out of eminent Authors in History," 1686. In his capacity as poet-laureate, which position he held from 1690 to his death, he wrote several odes, and an " Elegy on the death of Queen Mary." He also wrote " Charac ters of Virtue and Vice, &c., in verse," 1691; "Miscellanea Sacra, or Poems on Divine and Moral Subjects," 1696, and " Panacea, a Poem on Tea," 1700; " The Triumph," 1705, and some other short poems.
But it is chiefly by his metrical version of the Psalms, which he executed in conjunction with Dr. Nicholas Brady, that Tate is known. This version has taken the place of the earlier Psalter, by Sternhold and Hopkins, and is now commonly printed in the " Book of Common Prayer." Sternhold s version was pub lished in 1562, Tate s was authorized by King William in 1696. Of this later version, Montgomery truly says, "It is nearly as inanimate as the former, though a little more refined." Twenty Psalms were published in 1695. The whole Psalter was author ized in 1696. The whole of the Psalms, fitted to the tunes, ap peared in 1698, and a supplement of Church Hymns in 1703.
A few of the best of their renderings of the Psalms are given in the " New Congregational Hymn Book." With little claim to be called poetry, they have the merit of being simple, suitable for public worship, and of keeping close to the words of Scripture. The nine Psalms by Tate and Brady, given in the "New Con-
�� �
