_MUSIC._ LONDONDERRY, the famous Irish traditional melody, is a tune which every congregation loves to sing. It rises gradually and skilfully to an effective climax near the end. The tune, unfortunately, has suffered at the hands of arrangers who have employed it, with various degrees of merit, for many different combinations of voices and instruments. Its appropriateness for church use is questioned only by those who have long associated it with secular words and occasions. 397. Lord in the fulness of my might _Thomas Hornblower Gill_, 1819-1906 A consecration hymn for young people, much used in schools and colleges. It was written by Gill in 1855 and published in his _Golden Chain of Praise_, 1869, under the title, “Early Love. ‘How good it is to close with Christ betimes!’ Oliver Cromwell.” The original poem has eight stanzas. For comments on Thomas Hornblower Gill see Hymn 385. _MUSIC._ AZMON. For comments on this tune see Hymn 12. 398. Shepherd of eager youth _Clement of Alexandria_, _c._ 170-_c._ 220 _Tr. Henry M. Dexter_, 1821-90 A hymn to Christ, based on a Greek poem attributed to Clement of Alexandria, beginning with the line Στόµιον πώλων ἀδαῶν. The poem is one of two which Clement attached to his book, _The Tutor_. Some say it is the earliest Christian hymn extant. (But see comments on Hymn 34). Titus Flavius Clemens, known as St. Clement of Alexandria, _c._ 170-_c._ 220, remains something of an enigmatic figure in church history. It is not known where or exactly when he was born. He was a pagan philosopher in his younger days. After his conversion to Christianity, he became head of the Cathedral School at Alexandria, then the center of Christian scholarship. Here he remained until A.D. 203 when he was driven out by persecution under Septimus Severus. Clement then became a wanderer and nothing is known of his later life. Henry Martyn Dexter was a graduate of Yale and Andover Theological Seminary, a Congregational minister and editor. He translated the text of Clement’s hymn into prose and then made a free rendering of it into verse, in 1846. The hymn was written for use in a service in Dexter’s church in which he preached on the text, Deut. 32:7: “Remember the days of old,” his sermon topic being, “Some Prominent Characteristics of the Early Christians.” Hymnbook editors have made a few changes in the text: “eager youth” for “tender youth” in the first stanza; and “let all the holy throng” for “infants and the glad throng” in Stanza 4. The third stanza, omitted here, reads as follows: Thou art the great High Priest; Thou hast prepared the feast Of holy love; And in our mortal pain None calls on Thee in vain; Help Thou dost not disdain, Help from above.