The record-union., 1898-11-11
QUEENS FAvoRITE HYMNS.
Some That Have Comforted the
Sovereign In Sorrow.

SOECxVAkA Ia S0xxOWs
For many years after the Queen had
made her Highland home at Balmoral
with her family she would not have
any hymns sung either at Crathie
Church or at the private services in
the castle, but was content with the
quaint version Of the Psalms in general
use among the Presbyterians of the old
school. Now the Scottish Hymnar' is
| used at both, and the hymns selected
for the castle services are generally
chosen by Princess Beatrice or the
ladies IN personal attendance on .ne
sovereign. The Queen Is very fond of
| Nearer, My God, to Thee" and so are
the Prince and Princess of Wales. An
other great favorite with the Prince is
| the Soldiers Hymn" written by the
| Rev Arthur Robins Of Holy Trinity
Church, Windsor, and set to Rossini' $
music. Never does H. r. II. attend
that church without this hymn being
sung, in which he joins heartily.
Charles Wesley's Jesus Lover of My
! Soul" and old John Newton's How
Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds"
have always been enjoyed and appre-
ciated by the Queen, but for the last
frequently on hymns relating to the fu-
ture state, and breathing the spirit Of
resignation. It is impossible to fol-
low them from year to year without
| feeling that the attitude of her majes-
| tvs mind is Though He slay me, yet
will trust in Him" For some years
after the death Of the Prince Consort
no hymns were sung at the annual me-
mortal services, and then Princess Alice
Of Hesse died on the anniversary Of
| her beloved fathers death, and on the
! day of her funeral the Queen chose
both anthem and hymn for the service
in the private chapel in Windsor Cas-
tie. The former was The Souls OF the
Righteous Are in the Hand of God"
the music by DR.. Elvey, and the latter
Thy Will Be Done" This exquisite
hymn, by Miss Charlotte Elliott, SO
universally known by the four words
that form it's refrain, taken from our
Savior's prayer in the Garden of Geth-
semane, has for it's first line my God,
my Father, while I stray" and is
probably sung by all Christian
churches throughout the world. This
hymn was again chosen by her majesty
for the memorial services in 1879,
which commemorated both father and
daughter, and those who are about the
court have observed that ever since
that date it has been one of her special
favorites. A beautiful and interesting
old hymn, written by Nicolai in 1903,
beginning Wake, for the night is iiy-
Ing" was also sung by the Queens de-
sire that year.
The death of her majesty's youngest
son, the Duke Of Albany, was a very
great grief to her, though she rose out
Of 1t in her endeavors t1 comfort his
young widow. Judging from her let
ter to Lord Tennyson, it was trial in
which she found it hard to see why
"a young life, so full of talent. so
gifted and so useful" should have been
''cut off SO soon," and perhaps this
feeling dictated her choice of New
mans Lead, Kindly Light" which
was sung over his grave, and her
strong faith, reasserting itself, was ex-
pressed in the majestic
o God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
that followed it. A bereavement that
| fell very heavily on the Queen, not
only on account of her maternal SYM
pathy with the Princess Beatrice-"the
daughter who has never left me"-but
because she was personally sincerely
attached to him, was the death Of
Prince Henry Of Battenberg, who was
SO dutifully companionable and pleas
ant to her during the few years he
was one of her home circle. The hymn
she selected for the earlier part Of the
ceremony when he was laid to rest in
Whippingham Church was Dean Mil
| mans Brother, Thou Art Gone Be-
| fore U.s." and pathetic, too. are the
verses which were sung Immediately
after the benediction. Their author
| ship is unknown, but the widowed
Princess chose them from a volume
Of hymns that is one Of her private
| treasures:
| Sleep thy last sleep
| Free from care and sorrow,
Rest where none weep
Till the eternal morrow.
| The Culver.