William How was an Englishman born to a middle-upper class family in Shrewsbury. He attended Oxford in the heyday of the Tractarians and the Oxford Movement, of conservative Anglican churchmen professing the catholic faith in reaction to the growing Liberalism of Britain. How was ordained the year after Newman’s defection to Rome, and no doubt was caught up in the midst of the highly-charged politics of the Victorian Church of England. And yet, How seemed to be more interested in the work of Christ’s church than in the polemics and inter-Anglican debate, expending his energies on the preaching of the word, the administration of the sacraments, the upkeep of churches, and charitable works for the poor. 
Perhaps Bishop How’s most memorable contribution to Christendom was his famous hymn “For All The Saints”. This has become one of my favourites, and is in our Lutheran hymnal. How seems to have understood what Graham Greene would later conclude, namely that in the end, the only thing that matters in this life, is to have been a saint.
“For All the Saints” by Bp. William How (1823-1897)
For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!