We Three Kings

John H. Hopkins, Jr., a reporter at the time, enrolled at General Theological Seminary, which was established by Clement C. Moore as a result of his increased income upon the success of his poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Born in Pittsburgh, Hopkins had matriculated at the University of Vermont before moving to New York to pursue legal studies. But he fell in love with the Lord’s work, enrolled in General, and graduated from the seminary in 1850. In 1855, he was hired as the school’s first instructor of church music. Hopkins wrote “We Three Kings” (see story in Matthew 2) as part of a Christmas pageant produced by General Theological Seminary in 1857. In 1863 it was published in his Carols, Hymns, and Songs. This hymnal went through three editions by 1882, establishing Hopkins as a leader in Episcopalian hymnody. He wrote other hymns, but most have fallen into obscurity. “We Three Kings” was his crowning achievement, made possible, in a way, through the generosity of another poet whose most famous work ends:

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” edited from Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan