indeed, music continues to be a part of the service, as frequently, in ordinary cases, it is not. "China" with its comforting words—and terrifying chords— is forever obsolete, and not only that, but Dr. Muhlenberg's, "I Would Not Live Alway," with its sadly sentimental tune of "Frederick," has passed out of common use. Anna Steele's "So Fades the Lovely, Blooming Flower," on the death of a child, is occasionally heard, and now and then Dr. S. F. Smith's, "Sister, Thou Wast Mild and Lovely," (with its gentle air of "Mt. Vernon,") on the death of a young lady. Standard hymns like Watts', "Unveil Thy Bosom, Faithful Tomb," to the slow, tender melody of the "Dead March," (from Handel's oratorio of "Saul") and Montgomery's "Servant of God, Well Done," to "Olmutz," or Woodbury's "Forever with the Lord," still retain their prestige, the music of the former being played on steeple-chimes on some burial occasions in cities, during the procession Nor pain nor grief nor anxious fear The latter hymn (Montgomery's) is biographi cal-as described on page 301 Servant of God, well done; Rest from thy loved employ; Enter thy Master's joy. Only five stanzas of this long poem are now in use. The exquisite elegy of Montgomery, entitled "The Grave," There is a calm for those who weep, A rest for weary mortals found -is by no means discontinued on funeral occasions, nor Margaret Mackay's beloved hymn,— Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep, -melodized in Bradbury's "Rest." Mrs. Margaret Mackay was born in 1801, the daughter of Capt. Robert Mackay of Hedgefield, Inverness, and wife of a major of the same name. She was the author of several prose works and Lays of Leisure Hours, containing seventy-two original hymns and poems, of which "Asleep in Jesus" is one. She died in 1887. "MY JESUS, AS THOU WILT.” (Mein Jesu, wie du willst.) This sweet hymn for mourners, known to us here in Jane Borthwick's translation, was written by Benjamin Schmolke (or Schmolk) late in the 17th century. He was born at Brauchitzchdorf, in Silesia, Dec. 21, 1672, and received his education at the Labau Gymnasium and Leipsic University. A sermon preached while a youth, for his father, a Lutheran pastor, showed such remarkable promise that a wealthy man paid the expenses of his education for the ministry. He was ordained and settled as pastor of the Free Church at Schweidnitz, Silesia, in which charge he continued from 1701 till his death. Schmolke was the most popular hymn-writer of his time, author of some nine hundred church pieces, besides many for special occasions. Withal he was a man of exalted piety and a pastor of rare wisdom and influence. His death, of paralysis, occurred on the anniversary of his wedding, Feb. 12, 1737. The last line is the refrain of the hymn of four eight-line stanzas. THE TUNE. "Sussex," by Joseph Barnby, a plain-song with a fine harmony, is good congregational music for the hymn. But "Jewett," one of Carl Maria Von Weber's exquisite flights of song, is like no other in its intimate interpretation of the prayerful words. We hear Luther's "bird in the heart" singing softly in every inflection of the tender melody as it glides on. The tune, arranged by Joseph Holbrook, is from an opera-the overture to Weber's Der Freischütz-but one feels that the gentle musician when he wrote it must have caught an inspiration of divine trust and peace. The wish among the last words he uttered when dying in London of slow disease was, "Let me go back to my own (home), and then God's will be done." That wish and the sentiment of Schmolke's hymn belong to each other, for they end in the same way. My Jesus, as Thou wilt: All shall be well for me; My Lord, Thy will be done. "I CANNOT ALWAYS TRACE THE WAY." In later years, when funeral music is desired, the employment of a male quartette has become a favorite custom. Of the selections sung in this manner few are more suitable or more generally welcomed than the tender and trustful hymn of Sir John Bowring, rendered sometimes in Dr. Dykes' "Almsgiving," but better in the less-known but more flexible tune composed by Howard M. Dow 502 I cannot always trace the way Where Thou, Almighty One, dost move, But I can always, always say That God is love. When fear her chilling mantle flings When mystery clouds my darkened path, Yes, God is love. A thought like this Can every gloomy thought remove, For God is love. The first line of the hymn was originally, "Tis seldom I can trace the way.' Howard M. Dow has been many years a resident of Boston, and organist of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons at the Tremont St. (Masonic) Temple. WEDDING. Time was when hymns were sung at weddings, though in America the practice was never universal. Marriage, among Protestants, is not one of the sacraments, and no masses are chanted for it by ecclesiastical ordinance. The question of music at private marriages depends on conven |