The author, Frederic L. Hosmer, one of America’s foremost hymn writers, was born in Framingham, Mass., and died in Berkeley, Calif. He was educated at Harvard University and Divinity School and served as minister of Unitarian churches in Northboro, Mass., Quincy, Ill., Cleveland, O., St. Louis, Mo., and Berkeley, Calif. At least 35 of his hymns have come into more or less use in this country and in England. The _Hymnary_ includes thirteen, a larger number than of any other writer except Wesley and Watts. _MUSIC._ DORKING, an English folk tune of anonymous composition, as all folk tunes are, has characteristic grace of melody and strength of rhythm. 73-74. While shepherds watched their flocks _Nahum Tate_, 1652-1715 This carol is the work of Nahum Tate, poet laureate and co-author with Nicholas Brady of the _New Version_ of the psalms in meter, to which was added a supplement in 1770 containing this hymn. The quaint and picturesque paraphrase of Luke 2:9-11, closing with the doxology, was one of the few hymns permitted to be sung in the English churches along with the metrical psalms. It became very popular and has been translated into the Latin and nearly all the living languages. The words have been set to many tunes. For comments on Nahum Tate, see Hymn 18. _MUSIC._ CHRISTMAS is an adaptation of a melody from Handel’s opera, _Siroe_. Geo. F. Handel was born in Prussia in 1685 (the same year as J. S. Bach) and died in 1759. He lived in England 50 years and became a naturalized English citizen. He wrote many forms of music but is chiefly known and loved for his oratorio, _The Messiah_. _MUSIC._ ST. MARTIN’S (74), by William Tans’ur, is less joyful than “Christmas,” but the tune fits the words perfectly. Its quiet, mystic melody suggests the serenity of the Judean hillside where shepherds watched their flocks. William Tans’ur, 1706-85, was the son of a laborer, whose name is spelled “Tanzer” in the church register. He became a teacher of psalmody, moved from town to town to conduct singing classes, and did much to improve psalm-singing in the Church of England. He published a number of books on music. An eccentric man, given to self-advertisement, he described his first volume _The Harmony of Sion_, 1734, as “The most curiosest Book that ever was published.” 75. It came upon a midnight clear _Edmund H. Sears_, 1810-76