Hark! what mean those holy voices Sweetly sounding through the skies? Lo th' angelic host rejoices; Heavenly hallelujahs rise. Hear them tell the wondrous story, Hear them chant in hymns of joy, Glory in the highest, glory, Glory be to God on high! The Rev. John Cawood, a farmer's son, was born at Matlock, Derbyshire, Eng., March 18, 1775, graduated at Oxford, 1801, and was appointed perpetual curate of St. Anne's in Bendly, Worcestershire. Died Nov. 7, 1852. He is said to have written seventeen hymns, but was too modest to publish any. _THE TUNE._ Dr. Dykes' "Oswald," and Henry Smart's "Bethany" are worthy expressions of the feeling in Cawood's hymn. In America, Mason's "Amaland," with fugue in the second and third lines, has long been a favorite. "WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS." This was written by Nahum Tate (1652-1715), and after two hundred years the church remembers and sings the song. Six generations have grown up with their childhood memory of its pictorial verses illustrating St. Luke's Christmas story. While shepherds watched their flocks by night, All seated on the ground, The angel of the Lord came down And glory shone around. "Fear not" said he, for mighty dread Had seized their troubled mind, "Glad tidings of great joy I bring To you and all mankind." _THE TUNE._ Modern hymnals have substituted "Christmas" and other more or less spirited tunes for Read's "Sherburne," which was the first musical translation of the hymn to American ears. But, to show the traditional hold that the New England fugue melody maintains on the people, many collections print it as alternate tune. Some modifications have been made in it, but its survival is a tribute to its real merit. Daniel Read, the creator of "Sherburne," "Windham," "Russia," "Stafford," "Lisbon," and many other tunes characteristic of a bygone school of psalmody, was born in Rehoboth, Mass., Nov. 2, 1757. He published _The American Singing Book_, 1785, _Columbian Harmony_, 1793, and several other collections. Died in New Haven, Ct., 1836. "IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR." Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears, author of this beautiful hymn-poem, was born at Sandisfield, Berkshire Co., Mass., April 6, 1810, and educated at Union College and Harvard University. He became pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Mass., 1838. Died in the adjoining town of Weston, Jan. 14, 1876. The hymn first appeared in the _Christian Register_ in 1857. It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold. "Peace to the earth, good will to men From Heaven's all-gracious King." The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing. Still through the cloven skies they come With peaceful wings unfurled And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world.