14 NOVEMBER 1947, Page 16

HYMNS AND THE PEOPLE

SIR,—Sir Norman Birkett's reference in a recent Spectator to Isaac Watts' hymn " 0 God, Our Help in Ages Past " seems to present an oppor- tunity to express my long-felt regret at the changing of the penultimate line from the original, "Be Thou our guard while life shall last" to the very much less fine, "Be Thou our guard while troubles last." This petition was clearly not intended by the author to be confined solely to times of crisis, and its subsequent alteration has always struck me not merely as being an alteration very much for the worse but also as being entirely unnecessary.—Yours faithfully, J. P. BARDSLEY.

The Royal Empire Society, Northumberland Avenue, W.C. 1.