“LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT.”

New Zealand Tablet, 22 July 1920, Page 45

“LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT.”

The first man to sing the immortal hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light," was a boatman; the place, an orange-boat becalmed on the Mediterranean, off the island of Caprera; the time, June 16, 1833. John Henry Newman, afterward the great Cardinal, was a passenger on the boat. 11l in body and mind he hoped to recover his health. He was especially depressed on that day when the orange-boat was beealmed, and he sought to soothe his spirits by composing a hymn. The result was "Lead, Kindly Light." The composition occupied but a few hours, and the boatman, who spoke English and possessed a fine voice, was asked to sing it. As the day melted into darkness a breeze sprang up, and the becalmed voyagers were guided by the "kindly lights" along the Caprera shore into a safe harbor. . After Newman regained his health he returned to England and became a leader in the Oxford movement until 1845, when he came into the Holy Catholic Church, which later regarded his ability and devotion by the bestowal of tho red- hat — Gathoic Bulletin.