James Montgomery, greatest of Moravian hymn writers, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, near the birthplace of Robert Burns. His father became a minister in the Moravian Church and finally went as a missionary to the West Indies where both he and his wife died. After spending a part of his youth in precarious and doubtful ways of living, and failing in several business ventures, James became the editor of _The Sheffield Register_, a position he held with honor and distinction for thirty-one years. He was twice imprisoned for expressing liberal political views in his paper. He is classed by the _literati_ as a minor English poet, but in the writing of hymns he ranks with Wesley, Watts, and Doddridge. Of his 400 hymns, 100 are still in use. Eleven of his hymns are found in the _Hymnary_, exceeded in number only by those of Hosmer, Wesley and Watts. All of Montgomery’s hymns show a marvelous knowledge of the Scriptures on the part of their author. He found in the Psalms an inexhaustible source of devotional material and made metrical versions of many of them. _MUSIC._ POLAND. The tune is unique in the _Hymnary_ in that the melody in the first three lines is found in the alto. To bring the melody out with sufficient clearness, the altos might well be reenforced by some sopranos, or men’s voices, or both. Thomas Koschat, 1845-1914, was an Austrian composer and singer. While a student of natural science at Vienna University he sang in the Court Opera Chorus, and soon became its leader. In 1875, Koschat organized the Kärnthner Quintet which became famous for its singing of Carinthian folk songs. He is known for his harmonization of Carinthian melodies and original songs in their style, for which he wrote the texts. 63. Father and Friend, Thy light, thy love _John Bowring_, 1792-1872 A hymn on the omnipresence of God who reigns as Lord of life and cares for His children. For comments on John Bowring see Hymn 55. _MUSIC._ ILLA, a simple long-meter tune within easy compass of the voices, is by the American composer, Lowell Mason, 1792-1872, an exact contemporary of Bowring. Mason’s tunes were popular at first and then for a time they were frowned upon by some of the “highbrow” musicians but in late years are returning with new favor into the hymn books. Mason’s name appears 24 times in our collection. For further comments on Mason see Hymn 12. 64. Let us with a gladsome mind _John Milton_, 1608-74 This delightful lyric is the result of John Milton’s paraphrasing of Psalm 136 when he was a boy of 15 years. The original has 26 stanzas. The Psalm tells the story of Israel’s history, ending each verse with the refrain, “For his mercy endureth forever.” The selections here are his renderings of verses 1, 2, 7, and 25. The closing stanza returns to verse 1.