353. Let there be light, Lord God of hosts _William Merrill Vories_, 1880— A good peace hymn. The author, William Merrill Vories, was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. He is the founder of an independent mission in the province of Omi, Japan. Vories published the present poem February, 1909, in the _Advocate of Peace_. Since that time, it has found a place in a number of hymn books. The copyright, appropriately enough, is held by the American Peace Society. _MUSIC._ PENTECOST, a dignified tune, simple in structure, was first used with the hymn, “Veni Creator,” and appeared in _Thirty-two Hymn Tunes, Composed by Members of the University of Oxford_, 1868. It was revised by Arthur Sullivan who set it to Monsell’s hymn, “Fight the good fight with all thy might,” for the tune lends itself to spirited rendition as well as the more devotional and contemplative as required by the present hymn. The composer, Rev. William Boyd, 1847-1928, was born in Jamaica and educated at Oxford where Baring-Gould was his tutor. The latter asked him to compose a tune to “Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,” for a meeting of Yorkshire coal miners on the Day of Pentecost. The result was this tune to which he gave the name PENTECOST. Boyd was ordained priest in 1882 and from 1893 until his retirement in 1918, he was vicar of All Saints, Norfolk Square, London. 354. Father eternal, Ruler of creation _Laurence Housman_, 1865— One of the hymns of our time in which, characteristically, the international note is struck. It was written at the request of the Rev. H. R. L. (Dick) Sheppard, minister of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London, for the Life and Liberty movement after World War I. The bitter experiences of that war, with the subsequent fear and distrust among the nations, had intensified the longing for the realization of the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” This hymn gives utterance to that longing. Laurence Housman is an English artist known chiefly for his book illustrations, but he is also known as a writer of poetry and prose of merit. A contemporary wrote of him: “He has the heart of compassion for the little ones of the earth, the dumb and the helpless, that ought to be, but is not always, an essential part of poetry. His is the true Franciscan spirit.” _MUSIC._ OLD 124TH is from the _Genevan Psalter_, 1551, where it is set to Psalm 124. It is commonly attributed to L. Bourgeois (See 34). The tune has always been popular in England with the non-conformist churches and is one of the few surviving tunes from the _Old Version Psalter._ 355. Not alone for mighty empire _William Pierson Merrill_, 1867—