se, and late that night wrote the words of "Stille Nacht."
The next day he hurried to his friend and co-worker, Franz Gruber,
organist and school teacher, and asked him to write music for his lines.
The latter eagerly embraced the opportunity, and thus was given to the
world one of the most exquisite of Christmas carols.

A Classical Harvest Hymn

We plow the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft, refreshing rain.

He only is the Maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him,
By Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children,
He gives our daily bread.

We thank Thee, then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food;
No gifts have we to offer
For all Thy love imparts,
But that which Thou desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.

Matthias Claudius, 1782.

HYMNODY IN THE AGE OF RATIONALISM

In religion, as in other things, the pendulum often swings from one
extreme to the other. Scarcely had the Pietistic movement run its course
before the rationalistic tendencies which had thrown religious thought
into confusion in France and England began to make their appearance in
Germany. Rationalism was an attempt to subject all revealed religion to
the test and judgment of the human reason. That which seemed to
contradict reason was rejected as superstitious and untrue.

Strangely enough, the University of Halle, which had been the citadel of
Pietism, became the stronghold of Rationalism in Germany. Christian Wolff
and Johann Semler, noted philosophers of Halle, were leaders in the
movement. It was not their purpose to establish a new religion of reason,
but to "purge" Christianity of the things that seemed unreasonable. But
the results of the movement were devastating. The miracles of the Bible
that could not be explained by natural causes were rejected as "fables."
Christ was robbed of His glory as a divine Saviour and was regarded only
as a teacher of morals. Religion became merely the knowledge of God and
the pursuit of