"HARK! HARK, MY SOUL!" The Methodist Reformation, while it had found no practical sympathy within the established church, left a deep sense of its reason and purpose in the minds of the more devout Episcopalians, and this feeling, instead of taking form in popular revival methods, prompted them to deeper sincerity and more spiritual fervor in their traditional rites of worship. Many of the next generation inherited this pious ecclesiasticism, and carried their loyalty to the old Christian culture to the extreme of devotion till they saw in the sacraments the highest good of the soul. It was Keble's "Christian Year" and his "Assize Sermon" that began the Tractarian movement at Oxford which brought to the front himself and such men as Henry Newman and Frederick William Faber. The hymns and sacred poems of these sacramentarian Christians would certify to their earnest piety, even if their lives were unknown. Faber's hymn "Hark, Hark My Soul," is welcomed and loved by every Christian sect for its religious spirit and its lyric beauty. Hark! hark, my soul! angelic songs are swelling O'er earth's green fields and ocean's wave-beat shore; How sweet the truth those blessed strains are telling Of that new life where sin shall be no more. REFRAIN Angels of Jesus, angels of light Singing to welcome the pilgrims of the night. Onward we go, for still we hear them singing "Come, weary souls, for Jesus bids you come," And through the dark, its echoes sweetly ringing, The music of the gospel leads us home. Angels of Jesus. Far, far away, like bells at evening pealing, The voice of Jesus sounds o'er land and sea, And laden souls, by thousands meekly stealing, Kind Shepherd, turn their weary steps to Thee. Angels of Jesus. _THE TUNES._ John B. Dykes and Henry Smart--both masters of hymn-tune construction--have set this hymn to music. "Vox Angelica" in B flat, the work of the former, is a noble composition for choir or congregation, but "Pilgrim," the other's interpretation, though not dissimilar in movement and vocal range, has, perhaps, the more sympathetic melody. It is, at least, the favorite in many localities. Some books print the two on adjacent pages as optionals. Another much-loved hymn of Faber's is-- O Paradise, O Paradise! Who doth not crave for rest? Who would not see the happy land Where they that loved are blest? REFRAIN Where loyal hearts and true Stand ever in the light, All rapture through and through In God's most holy sight. O Paradise, O Paradise, The world is growing old; Who would not be at rest and free Where love is never cold. Where loyal hearts and true. O Paradise, O Paradise, I greatly long to see The special place my dearest Lord, In love prepares for me.