CHRISTMAS HYMNS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 23 December 1933, Page 10

CHRISTMAS HYMNS

SOME FAVOURITES (By A. 11. Reed, in “New Zealand Methodist Times - ’) Perhaps the most famous of all Christmas hymns is •‘Hark! the herald angels sing. - ’ In ISS7 “The Sunday at Home” took a.vote of its readers as to the best 10(1 hymns and this one lof Charles Wesley’s was placed sixteenth. It. is said to have been translated into sixty-four languages. The. lirst line originally read: "Hark! how all the welkin rings.'’ It, lirst saw the light in 173!), but did not find a place in the Methodist Hymn Book until IS3O. it has probably appeared in most hymn books compiled since then. Many editors have altered it, to their own ideas, in some eases almost out of [recognition; in fact it has been stated that in one version the o'filv word in the lirst stanza which is also in the original is the word “Hark!'’ The second Christian hymn in our hook “O come, all ye faithful” rye owe to a Catholic priest who, to he sure, was an Anglican when he wrote the hymn, being then Canon Oakulcy of St. Margaret’s (.'lmpel, London. In 1!>2!) “The .Methodist Times” (England) inaugurated a competition —"My Favourite Christmas Hymn, and AVhy.” In order of popularity this hymn tied with "It came upon midnight clear” for first place.

There is a beautiful little story connected with the authorship of "Christians awake.” It was written by Holm Byron, in 17-1">, as a Christmas gift for his little daughter, and I believe the original manuscript is still preserved in the British Museum, inscribed "Christmas Day for Dolly.” Little did Dolly think, as she lifted her plate on that Christinas morning a generation before. Cook saw New Zealand, that the lovely present slit: found there would sing itself into the hearts of people the world around for hundreds of years. John Wesley knew Byron, spoke highly of him, and indeed partly used his system of shorthand. Bvron wrote a few other lines that have lived. He wrote, for instance, that famous and clever Jacobite verse:

t.'od bless the King, God bless our faith’s defender; God bless—no harm in blessing —the Pretender. But who Pretender is. and who is King, God bless us all. that’s quite another thing.

“As with gladness men of old” was written by William Chalterton Dix at the age of twenty-three, when recovering from a serious illness. Lord Selborne considered it one of the finest English livmns.

“While shepherds watched” has been sung for a longer period than most English hymns, having found a place in the Prayer Book nearly 2a() years ago. It, is described by L. .1. Gillman as "a word picture of great beauty, faithfully portraying the Scripture." The writer, Nahum Tate, a native of Dublin, became poet laureate to King William 111, but his claim to fame rests chiefly upon this hymn. “It came upon the, midnight clear” is an American contribution to the hymn book, written b'v Edmund Hamilton Sears who died nearly sixty years ago. It was first published in “The Christian Register” in 1830. The editor, Dr. Morrison, said: “I always feel that-, however poor my Christmas sermon may he. the reading and singing of this hymn is enough to make up for all deficiencies.

“Arise my soul, arise,” another of Charles Wesley’s hymns, was sung at the 1933 British Methodist Conference. The president, the Rev. F. Luke Wiseman, drawing particular attention to it. claimed that this is one of the suhlimest of ail Wesley's hymns, and that the closing verse is almost unequalled in the intensity of its lyrical passion. Reference has previously been made to the competition on “My Favourite Christmas Hymn, and Why.” The prize was awarded to a. competitor who selected the hymn “Thou didst leave Thy throne.” The reasons given for the choice were that (1) Its sentiments are excellently arranged. (2) Its theme covers all the life of Jesus. (3) It has great personal appeal. (4) >fung to “Margaret” it is an inspiration and a blessing. The hymn was written by Emily Elliott (a niece of Charlotte Elliott of “Just as I am”) for use in iSt. Mark’s Church, Brighton, and was first published in 1 <S(»4. This article may fittingly he brought to a close hv relating an incident quoted by A. If. Hughes in “The Methodist Times” (England) in l!)2!l, and which was awarded the prize lor the best Christmas anecdote. A mother was reading to her children for their evening portion, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, ln.it the Non of Man hath not where to lay His head,” when her little lad broke in: "Muni, let Him come and live with us!” What a beautiful illustration to such hymns as “Cradled in a manger, meanly,” and “0 little town of Bethlehem," which latter by the wav, was written by Phillips Brooks', with recollections of his visit to Bethlehem, for his Sinaiav school children at Trinity Church,' Boston. He it was who said, "Ye who help a child help humanity with a distinctness which no other help given to human creatures in any other stage of their •human life can possibly give again.”