A CHRISTMAS CHANT.

Four thousand years earth waited, Four thousand years men prayed, Four thousand years the nations sighed That their King so long delayed. The prophets told His coming, The saintly for Him sighed; And the star of the Babe of Bethlehem Shone o'er them when they died. Their faces toward the future, They longed to hail the light That in the after centuries Would rise on Christmas night. But still the Saviour tarried, Within His father's home; And the nations wept and wondered why The promise had not come. At last earth's hope was granted, And God was a child of earth; And a thousand angels chanted The lowly midnight birth. Ah! Bethlehem was grander That hour than paradise; And the light of earth that night eclipsed The splendour of the skies. Then let us sing the anthem, The angels once did sing; Until the music of love and praise O'er whole wide world will ring. Glory in excelsis! Sound the thrilling song; In excelsis Deo! Roll the hymn along.

Glory in excelsis! Let the heavens ring; In excelsis Deo! Welcome, new-born King. Gloria in excelsis! Over the sea and land, In excelsis Deo! Chant the anthem grand. Gloria in excelsis! Let us all rejoice! In excelsis Deo! Lift each heart and voice. Gloria in excelsis! Swell the hymn on high; In excelsis Deo! Sound it to the sky. Gloria in excelsis! Sing it sinful earth. In excelsis Deo! For the Saviour's birth. Thus joyful and victoriously, Glad and ever so gloriously, High as the heavens, wide as the earth, Swelleth the hymn of the Saviour's birth.