n
Pennsylvania, after which he became rector of Trinity Church, Boston,
and was elected bishop in 1891. He was an inspiring teacher and
preacher, an eloquent pulpit orator, and a man of deep and rich
religious life.

The hymn was written in 1868, and it was, no doubt, the ripened thought
of his never-forgotten visit to the "little town of Bethlehem" two years
before.

_THE TUNE._

"Bethlehem" is the appropriate name of a tune written by J. Barnby, and
adapted to the words, but it is the hymn's first melody (named "St.
Louis" by the compiler who first printed it in the _Church Porch_ from
original leaflets) that has the credit of carrying it to popularity.

The composer was Mr. Redner, organist of the Church of the Holy Trinity,
Philadelphia, of which Rector Brooks was then in charge. Lewis Henry
Redner, born 1831, was not only near the age of his friend and pastor
but as much devoted to the interests of the Sunday-school, for whose use
the hymn was written, and he had promised to write a score to which it
could be sung on the coming Sabbath. Waking in the middle of the night,
after a busy Saturday that sent him to bed with his brain "in a whirl,"
he heard "an angel strain," and immediately rose and pricked the notes
of the melody. The tune had come to him just in time to be sung. A much
admired tune has also been written to this hymn by Hubert P. Main.

_PALM SUNDAY_.

FAURE'S "PALM BRANCHES."

_Sur nos chemins les rameaux et les fleurs
Sont repandos--_

O'er all the way green palms and blossoms gay
Are strewn to-day in festive preparation,
Where Jesus comes to wipe our tears away.
E'en now the throng to welcome Him prepare;
Join all and sing.--

Jean Baptiste Faure, author of the words and music, was born at Moulins,
France, Jan. 15, 1830. As a boy he was gifted with a beautiful voice,
and crowds used to gather wherever he sang in the streets of Paris.
Little is known of his parentage, and apparently the sweet voice of the
wandering lad was his only fortune. He found wealthy friends who sent
him to the _Conservatoire_, but when his voice matured it ceased to
serve him as a singer. He went on with his study of instrumental music,
but mourned for his lost vocal triumphs, and his longing became a
subject of prayer. He promised God that if his power to sing were given
back to him he would use it for charity and the good of mankind. By
degrees he recovered his voice, and became k