F-U, 
 
sion 
 Section 
 
■RXVI. No. 1. 
 
 NEW ENGL A 
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 THE BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND 
 
 IOI 
 
 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and some- 
 times White-throated Sparrows 
 appear. 
 
 May ist. 
 
 About the ist of the month the 
 Barn Swallows, Black and White 
 Warblers, Least Flycatchers, 
 Night Hawks, Purple Martins, 
 Solitary Vireo, Towhee Buntings, 
 Yellow-rump Warblers, and Yel- 
 low-winged Sparrows make their 
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 May 5th. 
 
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 May ioth. 
 
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 May 20th. 
 
 About the 20th the Tennessee 
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 mav be looked for. 
 
 Lark Bunting 
 
r&fc OF PHIHG^ 
 NOV 11 1932 
 
 Z*l 
 
 ■ i or 
 
 \m> 
 
 A Century of Choral Singing in 
 New England 
 
 By Henrv C. Lahee 
 
 THE cause of music in New 
 England has always re- 
 ceived its greatest impulse 
 from the enthusiasm of men 
 who, while posslssed of comparatively 
 small technical ability or musical edu- 
 cation, put the whole force of their 
 souls into the work of helping the 
 masses of people to a higher enjoy- 
 ment of music than that in which they 
 found them. Their accomplishments 
 to this end must always be regarded 
 with respect, for he who does the most 
 for the cause of music in a nation is the 
 man who inspires the greatest number 
 with a love for the art and a desire for 
 some knowledge of it, and as choral 
 singing affords the surest foundation, 
 we naturally look to those men who 
 have been foremost in its cultivation. 
 
 Until the latter part of the eigh- 
 teenth century there was practically no 
 choral singing except in the church, 
 but an enthusiast arose who not only 
 initiated important reforms in church 
 choirs, but also established that pecul- 
 iar institution of olden times generally 
 known as the "singing skewl," and 
 who is said to have originated, in New 
 England, the concert. 
 
 This enthusiast was William Bil- 
 lings, born in Charlestown, Massachu- 
 setts, a tanner by trade, who has been 
 described as a mixture of the ludi- 
 crous, eccentric, commonplace, active, 
 patriotic, and religious elements, with 
 
 a slight touch of musical and poetic- 
 talent. He was deformed, — one arm 
 somewhat withered, one leg shorter 
 than the other, and blind of one eye, 
 and he was given to the habit of con- 
 tinually taking snuff. He had a sten- 
 torian voice, drowning that of every 
 singer near him. He was an advocate 
 of the "fuguing tunes" then being in- 
 troduced into the country from Eng- 
 land, and he wrote many such tunes 
 himself, using the sides of leather in 
 his tannery on which to work out his 
 musical ideas with a piece of chalk. 
 With the compositions of Billings, 
 crude as they were and amusing, we 
 have nothing to do. Let a single sam- 
 ple, and that a poem ( ?) stand for all. 
 This verse was written as a dedication 
 ode to his "New England Psalm 
 Singer," published in 1770: — 
 
 O, praise the Lord with one consent. 
 
 And in this grand design 
 Let Britain and the Colonies 
 
 Unanimously join. 
 
 Billings introduced the bass viol into 
 the church and thus broke down the 
 ancient Puritanical prejudice against 
 musical instruments. He also was the 
 first to use the pitch pipe in order to 
 ensure some degree of certainty in 
 "striking up the tune" in church. Bil- 
 lings gradually drifted away from tan- 
 ning and became a singing teacher. 
 As early as 1774 he began to teach a 
 class at Stoughton, and as a result of 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 103 
 
 his labors the Stoughton Musical So- 
 ciety, which still flourishes, was 
 formed in 1786, and it has the record 
 of being the first musical society of 
 Massachusetts. The Dartmouth, N. 
 H., Handel Society was also formed 
 about this time, and numerous singing 
 schools sprang up, for the example of 
 Billings was followed by others. In- 
 deed, Billings was able to impart so 
 much enthusiasm to his classes and he 
 taught them to sing with such good 
 swing and expression, that singing be- 
 came a revelation to most people. He 
 died at the beginning of the nineteenth 
 century, but he had given the impulse 
 which has gathered in force with each 
 succeeding year, and which has been 
 carried forward and increased by other 
 enthusiasts. 
 
 The Massachusetts Musical Society 
 was formed in 1807 with the same 
 object as most of the singing societies, 
 viz., that of singing psalms and an- 
 thems. It was dissolved in 1810, but 
 in 181 5 the Handel and Haydn Society 
 was formed, and on December 25th of 
 that year, gave a performance at 
 King's Chapel in Boston of the first 
 part of Haydn's "Creation," and airs 
 and choruses selected from Handel's 
 works. The audience numbered nine 
 hundred and forty-five and the verdict 
 on the performance was, "Such was 
 the excitement of the hearers, and at- 
 tention of the performers, that there is 
 nothing to compare with it at the 
 present day." There had, however, 
 been performances of oratorio in Bos- 
 ton previous to this, both in 1812 and 
 1813 under the direction of Dr. Jack- 
 son, the organist, at that time, of the 
 Brattle Street church. At this last 
 performance, in 1813, part of the Det- 
 tineen Te Peum and t^o HaUpbijah 
 
 Chorus were given by a choir of two 
 hundred and fifty voices and an or- 
 chestra of fifty instruments, and the 
 impulse given by this concert undoubt- 
 edly had much to do with the forma- 
 tion of the Handel and Haydn Society. 
 
 Thus within fifteen years of the 
 death of Billings, choral singing, poor 
 as it was, had reached a much higher 
 plane than that in which he left it. 
 Amongst his most eminent contem- 
 poraries and successors were Andrew 
 Law, who was a better musician, 
 though a man of less magnetism ; 
 Jacob Kimball, less original than Bil- 
 lings; Oliver Holden, first a carpenter 
 and joiner of Charlestown, then 
 teacher of singing, composer of hymns 
 and fuguing tunes, and later a pub- 
 lisher ; Samuel Holyoke, of Boxford, 
 teacher of singing, violin, flute and 
 clarinet; Daniel Read, Timothy Swan, 
 Jacob French, Oliver Shaw, a blind 
 singer, and many others, who all flour- 
 ished and taught the "singin' skewl." 
 
 A vivid description of an old fash- 
 ioned New England singing school was 
 given in the Musical Visitor for Janu- 
 ary, 1842, by Moses Cheney, an old 
 time preacher and singer, who was 
 born in 1776. Elder Cheney was the 
 progenitor of the well known family 
 of sinsrers of that name, who during 
 the middle of the century traveled all 
 over the country giving concerts. 
 
 After relating some incidents of his 
 childhood. Flder Cheney says : 
 
 "We were soon paraded all around the 
 room, standing up to a board supported by 
 old-fashioned kitchen chairs. . . . The 
 master took his place inside the circle, took 
 out of his pocket a paper manuscript, with 
 rules and tunes all written with pen and ink, 
 read the rules, and then said we mu^t attend 
 to the rising and falling of the notes. I shall 
 now take the liberty to call ladies and gen- 
 
io4 A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 tlemen and things just as they were called 
 in that school, and I begin with the rules as 
 they were called, first : 
 
 FLATS. 
 
 The natural place for mi is in B 
 But if B be flat mi is in E. 
 If B and E be flat mi is in A. 
 If B, E, and A be flat mi is in D. 
 If B, E, A, and D be flat mi is in G. 
 
 SHARPS. 
 
 But if F be sharp mi is in F. 
 
 If F and C be sharp mi is in C. 
 
 If F, C, and G be sharp mi is in G. 
 
 If F, C, G, and D be sharp mi is in D. 
 "These rules as then called were all that 
 was presented in ftiat school. 
 
 "The books contained one part each, bass 
 books, tenor books, counter books, and 
 treble books. Such as sung bass had a bass 
 book ; he that sung tenor had a tenor book ; 
 he who sang counter a counter book, and 
 the gals, as then called, had treble books. 
 I had no book. With all these things before 
 the school the good master began, 'Come, 
 boys, you must rise and fall the notes first 
 and then the gals must try.' So he began 
 with the oldest, who stood at the head, — 
 'Now follow me right up and down; sound.' 
 bo he sounded, and followed the master up 
 and down as it was called. Some more 
 than half could follow the master. Others 
 would go up two or three notes and then 
 fall back lower than the first note. My 
 feelings grew acute. To see some of the 
 large boys, full twenty years old, make such 
 dreadful work, what could I do ! Great fits 
 of laughing, both with boys and gals, would 
 often occur. . . . Then the gals had 
 their turn to rise and fall the notes. 'Come, 
 gals, now see if you can't beat the boys.' So 
 when he had gone through the gals' side of 
 the school he seemed to think the gals had 
 done rather the best. Now the rules were left 
 for tunes. Old Russia was brought on first. 
 The master sang it over several times, first 
 with the bass, then with the tenor, then with 
 the counter and then with the trebles. Such 
 as had notes looked on, such as had none 
 listened to the rest. In this way the school 
 went on through the winter. A good num- 
 ber of tunes were learned in this school and 
 were sung well as we thought, but as to the 
 science of music very little was gained. 
 
 "At the close of the school, and after 
 singing the last night, we made a settlement 
 with the master. He agreed 'to keep,' as 
 then called, for one shilling and sixpence a 
 night, and to take his pay in Indian corn at 
 three shillings a bushel. A true dividend 
 of the cost was made among the boys, the 
 gals found the candles for their part, and it 
 amounted to thirteen quarts and one pint of 
 corn apiece. After the master had made 
 some good wishes on us all, we were dis- 
 missed and all went home in harmony and 
 good union." 
 
 It would be difficult to find a more 
 touching or more convincing tribute to 
 the value of the singing school than 
 that given by Elder Cheney. "Think 
 for a moment," he says, "a little boy at 
 twelve years of age, growing up in the 
 shade of the deep and dense forests of 
 New Hampshire, seldom out of the 
 sight of his mother, or the hearing of 
 her voice, never saw a singing master 
 or a musical note — seldom ever heard 
 the voice of any human being except 
 in his own domestic circle, by the fire- 
 side of his father's humble hearth. 
 Think of it ! Now he is a member of 
 a school — more, a singing school ! 
 Singing the tunes by note ! Singing 
 'We live above !' Carrying any part 
 all in the same high boy's voice. O, 
 that winter's work. The foundation 
 of many happy days for more than 
 fifty years past. The master too ! Ah, 
 that blessed form of a man. His bright 
 blue, sparkling eyes and his sweet, 
 angelic voice — his manifest love and 
 care for his pupils — everything com- 
 bined to make him one of a thousand." 
 
 Then comes a repetition of the story 
 of Elijah and Elisha, with a New Eng- 
 land coloring. "Forty-three years ago" ■ 
 (one hundred and four years from 
 the present date, for Mr. Cheney wrote 
 in 1841) "or the winter after I was 
 twenty-one, I followed Mr. William 
 
 MBM 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 105 
 
 Tenney, the best instructor I had ever 
 found. He taught every afternoon and 
 evening in the week, Sunday excepted. 
 When he left us, he gave me his sing- 
 ing book and wooden pitch pipe and 
 told me to believe I was the best singer 
 in the world and then I should never 
 be afraid to sing anywhere. . . . 
 After this last school, from the time of 
 my age, twenty-one, I have taught 
 singing until I became fifty — that is, 
 more or less, from time to time." 
 
 There is in the Religious Monthly of 
 1861 an acount of the Oxford, Massa- 
 chusetts, singing school, founded in 
 1830 in which a good deal of human 
 nature is revealed. The jealousies 
 among the singers, their sarcastic re- 
 marks, at one another's expense, and 
 the oddities of the teacher are very 
 amusing. "Fill your chests and open 
 your mouths. Don't squeeze your 
 mouths as if you were going to whistle 
 Yankee Doodle," the teacher exclaims, 
 and then proceeds to give an example 
 of a thunderous tone, roll it, quaver 
 and shake it. Then he shows the oppo- 
 site, in mimicry of his class. Now the 
 pupils endeavor to imitate him, and 
 subject themselves to the biting sar- 
 casm of their fellow pupils, — "Now 
 I understand being threatened with 
 lock-jaw," says one. "She looks as if 
 she was trying to swallow the uni- 
 verse," another exclaims. But these 
 little pleasantries have become unin- 
 teresting by frequent repetition, and 
 we may well turn to a later number of 
 the same journal and glance at an ac- 
 count of "a singing school of fifty 
 years ago," which means about 1820: 
 
 "The class arrives in a straggling stream, 
 the meeting being held at seven o'clock in 
 the parish vestry. The teacher takes from 
 his pocket a yellow flute with one key, fits 
 
 the parts together with much care, adjusts 
 the instrument to the corner of his mouth 
 and gives a preliminary flourish. With a 
 few well considered remarks the school is 
 open for the season. 
 
 "The pupils are marshalled according to 
 their voices and attainments. Now he 
 stands before a row of young ladies, gets 
 the pitch from the yellow flute and elevates 
 his sonorous voice. Now he listens along 
 the line for unison or discord, as the class 
 repeat the note or passage. From the rattle 
 of short, diffident responses, let off at every 
 possible grade, his quick ear is able, after 
 some severe trials of patience, to judge of 
 the materials offered. They are afterwards 
 put through a series of more difficult tests. 
 At one bench shrill tenors respond as 
 through a comb covered with thin paper. 
 Boys crow like young chanticleers, or fall 
 into ruins from some high note, while basses 
 drop into unfathomable depths of sound 
 which seem to come up everywhere through 
 the floor and give no hint of origin or rela- 
 tion to other sounds. 
 
 "Failing at his bench to govern the tones 
 of the class by his voice, the teacher now 
 goes to an obscure corner of the candle- 
 lighted room and returns with a violoncello 
 in a green bag, and after some wailings 
 and shrieks from the upper strings, groans 
 from the lower ones, and a little tub-tub- 
 tubbing with the thumb and finger, the in- 
 strument is in tune and away they go at it 
 again guided in their perilous path by the 
 tones of the bass viol. 
 
 "As the class proceeds from week to 
 week, Fa, Sol, La become obsolete, varieties 
 of time and movement are noted, keynotes 
 discovered, and the class goes from "Dun- 
 dee" and "Old Hundred" to more stirring 
 music. Now they start on some ambitious 
 fuguing tunes of Billings and Holden, in 
 which the several parts worry and puzzle 
 each other like half a dozen reckless fire 
 engines in full cry to a conflagration, and 
 the few remaining lessons are more like 
 musical reunions." 
 
 A graphic picture is given of the 
 bent and aged sexton, an old sailor, 
 and his frequent dashes to the door to 
 disperse the crowd of young street buc- 
 
io6 
 
 A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 caneers who gather to have some fun 
 at the expense of the class. At them 
 he hurls a broadside of invective, of 
 which his sea training has made him 
 master. The grotesque shadows of 
 the teacher cast upon the wall by the 
 dim glimmer of the candles afford 
 gentle mirth. Then, too, many a run- 
 ning noose flung over young people 
 unawares at the singing school was 
 drawn into a love-knot in after months 
 and years. Undoubtedly the singing 
 school was a great institution in its day. 
 Another great*factor in the develop- 
 ment of choral singing amongst the 
 people was the Musical Convention, 
 and the establishment of these conven- 
 tions has generally been attributed to 
 Lowell Mason. But we must refer 
 again to the Cheney family and quote 
 from a letter written by Moses E. 
 Cheney, the son of Elder Cheney. 
 
 "You know, perhaps, that the singing con- 
 ventions, or 'musical conventions,' had their 
 beginning in Montpelier, Vermont, in May, 
 1839, and that your humble servant was the 
 projector, and that they were continued 
 yearly until five very successful conventions 
 had been held. At every convention a com- 
 mittee was appointed to fix upon a town 
 within the state for the next convention and 
 give due notice to the newspapers. The five 
 conventions under the organization were 
 held at the following villages : Montpelier, 
 1839; Newberry, 1840; Windsor, 1841 : 
 Woodstock, 1842; Middlebury, 1843. The 
 committee made no appointment for 1844 
 and that ended the organization. Seven 
 years later, when I returned to Vermont to 
 live, I found that musical conventions had 
 been going on for three or four years. 
 Mason, Baker. Woodbury, Root and others 
 were holding them ; it was a new start. 
 Plainly enough they had all rooted from the 
 convention held in Montpelier in 1839." 
 
 Mr. Cheney then enters into the de- 
 tails of the origin of these conventions : 
 "E; K. Prouty. a broken merchant in 
 
 Waterford, then a travelling peddler with a 
 horse and wagon, came along with his cart 
 and took me to Coventry. As he was a 
 singing teacher there, we could meet some 
 singers and have a great musical time. 
 Very good. Prouty was a fine singer and 
 also a composer, ten years my senior. Af- 
 terward I used to meet Prouty who kept 
 me aroused to music, and soon I was teach- 
 ing in Montpelier and leading the brick 
 church choir. I was in request as a teacher 
 for all I could do. Well, in 1836 Prouty 
 was visiting his wife's relations at the Cap- 
 ital. I chanced to meet him, and he was 
 very eloquent on the subject of music. As 
 we parted I said to him jocularly, 'Prouty, 
 we must have a musical convention.' 
 
 "I soon found myself seriously in thought 
 on the subject. I spoke of it to Judge 
 Redfield and other eminent persons, all of 
 whom gave their approval. Judge Howes 
 said a call must be issued, inviting the peo- 
 ple to assemble for a convention. So I 
 trained all my schools to the practice of un- 
 usual tunes, anthems, quartets, male quar 
 tets, duets and solos for both sexes. We 
 used for secular music 'The Boston Glee 
 Book' and Kingsley's two volumes. We 
 had more than two hundred singers, half of 
 them good and some very good. All could 
 read music. Every one, I think, knew his 
 or her part. The convention was held May 
 22 and 23, 1839. . . . Lowell Mason 
 knew nothing of it ; Henry E. Moore knew 
 nothing of it. The musical convention was 
 begotten and born in Vermont, not 
 in Massachusetts ; in Montpelier, not in 
 Boston. It was suggested, nursed and 
 trained by Moses E. Cheney and not by 
 Lowell Mason, who stated at our third con- 
 vention, held at Windsor in 1841, that that 
 was the first day he had ever stepped foot 
 into Vermont. Our committee invited him 
 to come to lead our singing. He came 
 bringing two hundred Carmina Sacras just 
 from the press, and the convention sang the 
 new music. He said to me that Vermont 
 was the second state in the Union in point 
 of musical culture. He did not think it the 
 equal of Massachusetts, but it surpassed all 
 other states." 
 
 The officers of the first musical con- 
 vention, held at Montpelier, were : 
 
 
 ■ — 
 
 wr» 
 
 •MMMMMHM 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 107 
 
 President, Joshua Bates, President of 
 Middlebury College; Vice-president, 
 E. P. Walton ; Secretary, E. P. Wal- 
 ton, Jr. ; Treasurer, Solomon Durgin ; 
 Director, Moses E. Cheney ; Organist, 
 John H. Paddock. 
 
 There were also thirteen clergymen 
 present, who spoke on thirteen dif- 
 ferent subjects, all connected with 
 music. Tneir speeches were inter- 
 spersed with anthems, tunes and glees 
 which constituted the prime object of 
 the convention. 
 
 There appears to have been a pecu- 
 liar confusion of name in connection 
 with musical meetings. The word 
 "convention," which has been custom- 
 arily applied to such affairs as that just 
 related, means a gathering of select 
 persons for discussion of a subject. 
 This certainly does not apply very well 
 to the conventions of the Cheney type, 
 which consisted of singers gathered 
 together from far and wide for the 
 purpose of singing, but it does apply 
 very aptly to the gatherings organized 
 by Lowell Mason and called Teachers' 
 Institutes. These were really gather- 
 ings of teachers for the purpose of dis- 
 cussing matters of musical education. 
 They were held at various places and 
 lasted a few weeks. As an institute is 
 essentially something on a firm founda- 
 tion and of a lasting nature this title 
 seems peculiarly inappropriate, even 
 more so than the use of the word con- 
 vention for musical festival. 
 
 With all due allowance for confusion 
 of terms, there is still evidence that 
 Elder Cheney is mistaken as to the 
 origin of the musical convention, for 
 according to good authorities a similar 
 gathering was held at Concord, N. H., 
 in 1829, under the auspices of the Cen- 
 tral Musical Societv of that State, and 
 
 was conducted by Henry E. Moore, 
 the same gentleman who, according to 
 Elder Cheney, knew nothing of the 
 Montpelier convention of 1839. 
 
 It is now advisable to go back a 
 little for the purpose of sketching the 
 career of Lowell Mason and his great- 
 est works — introducing singing into 
 the public schools, and establishing 
 conventions — that is, "Teachers' In- 
 stitutes." 
 
 Lowell Mason will always be a 
 prominent figure in the history of 
 music in America. He marked the 
 transition period from the illiteracy of 
 the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury to the generally diffused musical 
 information of the present time. To 
 him we owe some of our best ideas in 
 religious music, elementary musical 
 education, music in the public schools, 
 the popularization of classical chorus 
 singing, and the art of teaching music 
 on the inductive plan. In short, he 
 formed the musical taste of his gen- 
 eration and of the next following, and 
 has been called, "The Father of Music 
 in America." 
 
 Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, 
 Massachusetts, January 8, 1792, and 
 was the son of a manufacturer of 
 straw bonnets. As a boy he had a 
 great fondness for music, but such a 
 thing as devoting himself to it for a life 
 business was not contemplated. In 
 school he did not distinguish himself, 
 and although he had no bad habits, he 
 acquired the reputation of being a 
 ne'er do well. His thirst for every- 
 thing relating to musical art was qreat, 
 and he amused himself by learning to 
 play almost every instrument which 
 came in his way. This he could do 
 with very little trouble, and he taught 
 singing schools, led a choir and became 
 
io8 
 
 A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 prominent in his native town quite 
 early. At the age of twenty he went 
 South with a view to making his for- 
 tune. He secured a position in a bank 
 at Savannah, but there also his chief 
 work became that of teaching singing 
 and leading a choir, which soon be- 
 came famous in the surrounding 
 country, not only for the musical qual- 
 ity of its work, but especially for the 
 religious spirit which characterized 
 its singing. 
 
 In 1825 Deacon Julius Palmer, of 
 Boston, spent a* Sabbath in Savannah 
 and was so impressed with the music 
 in the Presbyterian church where Mr. 
 Mason was playing the organ and lead- 
 ing the choir, that on his return home 
 he interested a number of gentlemen in 
 joining a movement to invite Mr. 
 Mason to remove to Boston and work 
 for the improvement of church music 
 there. The result was that Lowell 
 Mason moved to Boston in 1827 and 
 took charge of the choirs of Dr. Lyman 
 Beecher's church in Hanover Street, 
 Dr. Edward Beecher's and the Park 
 Street church. After a time the plan 
 of managing three church choirs was 
 found not to work well and he con- 
 fined his labors to the first. In the 
 same year he was elected president of 
 the Handel and Haydn Society, a posi- 
 tion which he held for five years. 
 
 Meanwhile his mind became occu- 
 pied with schemes for the musical edu- 
 cation of children. In 1829 he met Mr. 
 William C. Woodbridge, who had been 
 abroad for several years studying edu- 
 cational systems, and brought with him 
 the published works of Pestalozzi and 
 the music book on Pestalozzian prin- 
 ciples by Nageli and other writers. 
 Being engaged to lecture in Bos- 
 ton Mr. Woodbridge wished to find 
 
 some school children to help him 
 with illustrations of a musical nature 
 and was referred to Lowell Mason, 
 who had a well trained class of 
 boys. Mr. Mason did not at first care 
 to change his method in favor of that 
 of Pestalozzi, and it was not until after 
 a good deal of persuasion that he con- 
 sented to teach a class upon the new 
 system. The result, however, so far 
 surpassed his expectations that he was 
 permanently converted, and became a 
 consistent advocate of the inductive 
 method. 
 
 It was apparently this new departure 
 which caused his resignation from the 
 presidency of the Handel and Haydn 
 Society, for many of the members were 
 old fashioned, and opposed to innova- 
 tions. It also caused the founding of 
 the Boston Academy of Music in 1833. 
 
 Shortly after his conversion to the 
 new method, efforts were made to es- 
 tablish music as a regular study in the 
 public schools, and in 1832 a resolution 
 was passed by the primary school 
 board to the effect that "one school 
 from each district be selected 
 for the introduction of syste- 
 matic instruction in vocal mu- 
 sic." The experiment did not 
 prove to be more than a partial trial 
 and Mr. Mason became convinced that 
 it was necessary to bring more potent 
 influences to bear in shaping public 
 opinion as a motive power with the 
 educational authorities. He therefore 
 organized gratuitous classes for chil- 
 dren and gave concerts to illustrate 
 their proficiency and the practicability 
 of his scheme for primary musical edu- 
 cation, and thus the people's interest 
 became aroused. 
 
 This, all took time and it was not 
 until 1836 that the school board, on 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 ict; 
 
 petitions from citizens, authorized the 
 introduction of music into the public 
 schools, and even then the city failed 
 to make the necessary appropriation. 
 
 Mr. Mason, however, was not to be 
 daunted by trifles after he had gone so 
 far, and he volunteered to teach in one 
 school for a year without charge. He 
 did this and in addition supplied the 
 pupils with books and materials at his 
 own expense. The result was that the 
 report of the committee on music in 
 1838 testified to the entire success of 
 the experiment and said : "The com- 
 mittee will add, on the authority of the 
 masters of the Hawes School, that the 
 scholars are farther advanced in their 
 studies at the end of this than of any 
 other year." 
 
 Thus, seven years after the enter- 
 prise was first taken in hand by Mr. 
 Mason, a work was accomplished 
 whose influence has ever more been 
 felt and continues to expand in its 
 beneficent operation throughout the 
 whole United States. Music was 
 formally adopted as a public school 
 study and Lowell Mason was placed in 
 charge of the work. In 1839 the school 
 committee said in their report, "It may 
 be regarded as the Magna Charta of 
 musical education in America." 
 
 Lowell Mason remained in charge of 
 the music in the public schools of Bos- 
 ton until 1853 when he was superseded 
 by a former pupil of his own, an event 
 which caused him some mortification, 
 although of a nature common in city 
 politics. 
 
 Shortly after 'this, Mr. Mason went 
 abroad where he was received with 
 great honor and everywhere recog- 
 nized as an eminent teacher and a most 
 impressive lecturer. " 
 
 Aside from his books, and occasional 
 
 musical conventions, his last days were 
 not occupied with teaching, with the 
 exception of the Normal Musical In- 
 stitutes held for several years at North 
 Reading, Massachusetts, where he con- 
 ducted the oratorio choruses and the 
 sacred music classes, and brought them 
 to a remarkable degree of perfection. 
 The degree of Doctor of Music was 
 conferred upon him by the University 
 of Yale. 
 
 Dr. Mason was a natural teacher, 
 full of tact, logical, handy with the 
 black board and delightfully simple in 
 his phraseology. He declared that 
 teachers ought to be promoted down- 
 wards, for the real work must be done 
 at the bottom. His great merits were 
 his simplicity, sincerity and unaffected 
 kindness. He died at Orange, N. J., 
 in 1872. 
 
 The establishment of the "conven- 
 tion" was a part of Lowell Mason's 
 plan for the education of the masses in 
 singing by note. The Boston Academy 
 of Music was founded with this object 
 in view and in 1834, the year after its 
 establishment, a course of lectures was 
 given by its professors to teachers of 
 singing schools, and others. The 
 "others" must have been few in num- 
 bers for the lectures, we are told, were 
 attended by twelve persons, most of 
 whom had been accustomed to teach. 
 In 1835 a similar course was given 
 with an attendance of eighteen persons, 
 besides several of the class of '34. In 
 1836 the membership rose to twenty- 
 eight, besides members of the previous 
 classes, and the gentlemen present on 
 this occasion organized themselves into 
 a convention for the discussion of 
 questions relating to the general sub- 
 ject of musical education, church 
 music, and musical performances, dur- 
 
no A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 ing such hours as were not occupied by 
 the lectures. 
 
 It is not our purpose to follow the 
 history of the convention in detail. It 
 resemhled the course of true love 
 which never does run smoothly. Suf- 
 fice it to say that the con- 
 vention became a popular method 
 for the diffusion of musical 
 knowledge, — and sometimes also for 
 the display of ignorance. Much 
 good was done by it, however, and 
 when properly conducted, with its true 
 intentions carried out it enabled the 
 psalm-tune teacher, the music teacher 
 from small country towns, and mem- 
 bers of singing societies or church 
 choirs to hear new works rendered by 
 a good chorus, to gather some new 
 and much needed information, and 
 sometimes to enjoy the inspiring per- 
 formance of some noted artist. 
 
 Like every other good thing, it was 
 subject to abuse, and many conventions 
 were held by ignorant impostors, men 
 of low tastes, and those whose sole ob- 
 ject was "trade," but on the whole the 
 convention wrought much good, and 
 helped to make possible the Oratorio 
 and Choral Society. 
 
 The evolution of the Oratorio So- 
 ciety in New England was not rapid, 
 and we may perhaps get the best idea 
 of it by tracing the history of choral 
 singing in one of the smaller cities. 
 
 Let us take Salem. Massachusetts, 
 for our example. Previous to 1814 
 there was an association called the 
 Essex Musical Society, by which v 1 re 
 held primitive festivals in different 
 towns in the county, but the first regu- 
 lar society formed in Salem was the 
 Essex South Musical Society, organ- 
 ized in October, [814, with Tsaac 
 Flagg of Beverly for director, and 
 
 consisting of about sixty members. It 
 was customary in those days for the 
 clergy to make addresses on musical 
 subjects at the public performances 
 and even at the rehearsals, and many 
 of these were considered important 
 and undoubtedly aided in developing 
 the interest in music. This society con- 
 tinued to exist for ten years and a half, 
 the last concert being given on No- 
 vember 20, 1829. 
 
 There were also other societies, — 
 the Handel Society was organized in 
 1 817 and lasted three years ; the Haydn 
 Society came into existence in 1821, 
 but was short lived ; the Mozart Asso- 
 ciation was formed in 1825 and existed 
 nearly ten years. These societies chose 
 ambitious names, and sang selections 
 from Handel, Haydn and Mozart, be- 
 sides minor composers, but the mem- 
 bers were untrained in the vocal art, 
 except for such instruction as was af- 
 forded by the old fashioned singing 
 school. 
 
 In 1832 the Salem Glee Club was 
 formed for the purpose of studying a 
 lighter and more modern class of 
 music. This society flourished for 
 about twenty years and became very 
 efficient. There was also the Salem 
 Social Singing Society formed in 1839. 
 and a new Mozart Association in 1840. 
 
 In 1846 the Salem Academy of 
 Music was formed, with a membership 
 of fifty persons and an orchestra of 
 sixteen instruments, and in 1849 die 
 Salem Philharmonic Society was or- 
 ganized. These two societies amalga- 
 mated in 1855 under the name of the 
 Salem Choral Society. All these so- 
 cieties tended to raise the standard of 
 music, more ambitious work was con- 
 tinually being done, better musicians 
 were constantly becoming associated. 
 
 ■ -" 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND in 
 
 and the general average of musical 
 knowledge was greater each year. 
 
 In 1868 the time was considered 
 ripe for the formation of a society 
 capable of performing the greater 
 choral works and the result was the 
 establishment of the Salem Oratorio 
 Society, which has always had a high 
 reputation. The prominent names in 
 the musical history of Salem include 
 Henry K. Oliver. Dr. J. F. Tucker- 
 man, B. J. Lang, Manuel Fenolosa, 
 Carl Zerrahn and others. 
 
 Some of the most noted choral socie- 
 ties are the Worcester County Musical 
 Association of Worcester, Mass., the 
 Hampden County Musical Associa- 
 tion of Springfield. Mass. ; the Salem 
 Oratorio Society ; and the Portland 
 Oratorio Society. New Bedford, 
 Mass., Hartford and New Haven, 
 Conn., Burlington, Vt., and many 
 other cities and towns have flourishing 
 choral societies. 
 
 In the middle of the century there 
 was little or no earnest musical effort 
 outside of the two or three largest 
 cities, which was not included in the 
 range of culture represented by Lowell 
 Mason and his associates, who effected 
 a great deal in the way of introducing 
 the chief choruses from the great ora- 
 torios. 
 
 After the war the conditions changed. 
 Many musical societies were formed, 
 but with the increase of wealth and 
 culture there became a wider differ- 
 ence between the advanced and the 
 elementary grades of knowledge. Thus 
 while a high class of music was culti- 
 vated amongst the few, the masses of 
 people did not advance, — in fact they 
 appear to have retrograded. 
 
 Nevertheless the work. of the conven- 
 tion and the musical institute went 
 
 steadily on, and made possible the 
 Peace Jubilee of 1869. 
 
 This great musical festival was 
 planned by P. S. Gilmore and it was 
 intended to "whip creation." The 
 plan included a chorus of twenty 
 thousand voices, an orchestra of two 
 thousand, an audience of fifty thous- 
 and, and a building to hold them all. 
 In addition to all these wonders, there- 
 were to be soloists, both vocal and in- 
 strumental, suitable for the occasion. 
 To give a complete history of the affair 
 would take more space than can be 
 spared, and would lead us beyond the 
 limits of this paper, but some little 
 sketch of the chorus, which actually 
 exceeded ten thousand voices is within 
 our province, and at the same time it 
 may be remarked that a second Jubilee 
 was held in 1872 in which the num- 
 bers planned for the first one were 
 realized, and the whole program car- 
 ried out with all its elaborate details, 
 even to the importation of several of 
 the finest military bands from Europe. 
 The first Jubilee was financially a suc- 
 cess, the second a failure. It will an- 
 swer our purpose to glance at the first 
 only, for the second was merely a rep- 
 etition on a larger scale, the methods 
 employed being the same, but the artis- 
 tic residt certainly no greater, because 
 of the unwieldy mass of material to be 
 managed. 
 
 From the beginning the project was 
 worked up with consummate skill, first 
 in the securing f financial support, 
 second in advertising and third in the 
 organizing of the chorus and orches- 
 tra. When Mr. Gilmore first ventilated 
 his huge plan, he visited many of Bos- 
 ton's musicians and organizers, but 
 they were appalled by the magnitude 
 of the undertaking. Finallv he sue- 
 
ii2 A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 ceeded in interesting Dr. Eben Tour- 
 jee, who, after a couple of days' reflec- 
 tion, came to the conclusion that the 
 scheme was feasible, and convinced 
 other men who were influential in mus- 
 ical and financial circles. 
 
 Mr. Gilmore could not have secured 
 a more efficient assistant than Dr. 
 Tourjee, who was a born organizer 
 and an inspirer of enthusiasm in oth- 
 ers, whom he impressed by his inborn 
 grace and suavity of manners. For 
 many years Eben Tourjee had worked 
 with the desire to make possible for 
 the masses the best musical education. 
 He became impressed, during a foreign 
 journey, with the idea of establishing 
 a musical conservatory in America 
 similar to the great institutions abroad, 
 and his efforts in that direction bore 
 fruit in the New England Conserva- 
 tory. In regard to the establishment 
 of this institution an amusing story is 
 told, which gives the keynote to Dr. 
 Tourjee's ingenuity and tenacity of 
 purpose. On unfolding his plans to a 
 friend from whom he wished to secure 
 financial aid, he was told, "You can no 
 more do it than you can make a whistle 
 out of a pig's tail." Tourjee went off, 
 but in a few days returned to his friend 
 and showed him a whistle which he 
 had made out of a pig's tail. In such 
 ways he enlisted the confidence of 
 moneyed men, his scheme was carried 
 out and the whistle is to be seen to this 
 day in the museum of the New Eng- 
 land conservatory. 
 
 When Dr. Tourjee decided to co- 
 operate with Gilmore in the Peace Jub- 
 ilee, it not only saved the Jubilee but 
 ensured its success, and the result of 
 this success was that Dr. Tourjee was 
 called upon to lecture all over the coun- 
 try. Bv this means he established "the 
 
 Praise Service," giving lectures and 
 illustrating the subject in nearly one 
 thousand churches, and inspiring a 
 vast number of people with his own 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 The organization of the chorus was 
 thus placed in the hands of Dr. Eben 
 Tourjee, whose great services in the 
 cause of musical education had already 
 become conspicuous. Dr. Tourjee 
 sent out invitations to all choral socie- 
 ties, clubs, choirs and conventions to 
 join the huge chorus. The replies came 
 in quickly, many new societies sprang 
 up and choruses were organized 
 for the occasion. Musical instruction 
 in the public schools had been unosten- 
 tatiously feeding all these fountains. 
 The program was laid out and sent to 
 each organization. The singers came 
 together in their respective towns with 
 enthusiasm and in the work of rehears- 
 al, the sense of participation was in- 
 spiring and uplifting. 
 
 When the great gathering took place 
 and visitors streamed to Boston for the 
 final rehearsals en masse there was in- 
 describable enthusiasm. Perhaps the 
 greatest object lesson of the whole fes- 
 tival was the chorus of seven thousand 
 school children giving a concert of 
 simple music on the last day of the 
 week. No greater testimonial to the 
 work of Lowell Mason could have been 
 devised. 
 
 As far as the artistic results of the 
 Jubilee are concerned, there was much 
 that was disappointing, although some 
 grand effects were produced at times, 
 especially in the rendering of the great 
 chorals from the Oratorios. It gave a 
 new impulse to the cause of choral 
 singing all over the country. The first 
 bond of union of the new societies was 
 the practice of good music, — the great 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 113 
 
 works of Handel, Haydn, Mozart and culture, is impossible except in the capital 
 Mendelssohn °^ New England. Children in Boston learn 
 
 Ti -,, , 1 ^i r 11 • music with their alphabet. Singing by note 
 
 it will be seen by the following: sta- , ", * 
 
 — not the mere screaming of tunes — is 
 tistics that by far the greatest part of taught in the most thorough and syst ematic 
 
 the chorus was recruited from Boston manner in all the public schools. This is why 
 
 and its immediate vicinity, although Boston has such magnificent choruses; and 
 
 there were representatives from states sha11 we not sa y that the charming good 
 
 r ,. , T11 . . 1 /-\i • t order, good temper, and enthusiasm which 
 
 as far distant as Illinois and Ohio. In •-.,., j 
 
 were so conspicuous in the motley crowd 
 
 the second Jubilee the representations that overflowe d the Coliseum were also at- 
 
 were from almost, if not quite, every tnbutable in no small degree to the refining 
 
 state as far west as Nebraska, and the and elevating influence of an early musical 
 
 chorus was twice as large. In com- education. Here New York and all the 
 
 ,, T , -i ., -KT great cities of America may find their lesson 
 
 menting upon the Jubilee, the New r ^ T , .. „ 
 
 b . ^ J ' of the Jubilee. 
 
 York Tribune said : _, . „' . ,. . . . 
 
 I. he following list of organizations 
 
 "The Jubilee could have been organized which took part j n the p eace J ubilee 
 
 nowhere but in Boston. A great orchestra , „, . . . f ~ . , i? T , 
 
 , „ . . , , , , . ,, of 1 000 is taken from Dwieht s ournal 
 
 can be collected by anybody who has the y ° J 
 
 the money to pay for it ; but a great chorus. of Music. We copy simply the mat- 
 in the present state of American musical ter referring to the Chorus : 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Directors. Members. 
 
 Boston Chorus — Bumstead Hall Classes Carl Zerrahn, P. S. Gilmore, and 
 
 Eben Tourjee 2934 
 
 Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Carl Zerrahn 649 
 
 Boston Choral Society, South Boston J. C. D. Parker 278 
 
 Chelsea Choral Society John W. Tufts 504 
 
 Newton Choral Society George S. Trowbridge 221 
 
 Worcester Mozart & Beethoven Ch. Union .... Solon Wilder 202 
 
 Salem Carl Zerrahn 269 
 
 Randolph J. B. Thayer 101 
 
 Spingfield Mendelssohn Union Amos Whiting 113 
 
 Georgetown Musical Union E. Wildes 51 
 
 Newburyport Charles P. Morrison 92 
 
 Haverhill Musical Union J. K. Colby 132 
 
 Fall River Chorus Society C. H. Robbins 75 
 
 Medford W. A. Webber ' 84 
 
 Weymouth C. H. Webb 188 
 
 Athol Musical Association W. S. Wiggin 40 
 
 Quincy Point Choral Society E. P. Hey wood 30 
 
 Groton Centre Musical Association Dr. Norman Smith 49 
 
 Maiden Chorus Club O. B. Brown 56 
 
 Plymouth Rock Choral Societv John H. Harlow 29 
 
 South Abington Choral Society William A. Bowles 46 
 
 Waltham Choral Union J. S. Jones 143 
 
 Fitchburg Choral Society Moses G. Lyon y^ 
 
 East Douglas Musical Society John C. Waters 25 
 
 Quincy H. B. Brown 60 
 
 Lawrence S. A. Ellis 167 
 
 Abington Centre Henry Noyes 45 
 
 Yarmouth Chorus Club Jairus Lincoln 28 
 
*9 
 
 114 A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 Sandwich Choral Society H. Hersey Heald 21 
 
 Hyannis R. Weeks 24 
 
 Mansfield George E. Bailey 35 
 
 Holliston W. L. Payson 5c 
 
 Melrose Musical Association H. E. Trowbridge 25 
 
 Northfield Miss M. A. Field 24 
 
 Springfield Choral Union J. D. Hutchins 24 
 
 North Abington J. F. L. Whitmarsh 21 
 
 East Somerville S. D. Hadley 25 
 
 Sherborn Musical Association Augustus H. Leland 22 
 
 South Braintree Choral Society H. Wilde 14c 
 
 Whitinsville '. . . . B. L. M. Smith 13 
 
 New Bedford J. E. Eaton, Jr 75 
 
 West Acton Schubert Choral Union George Gardner 4c 
 
 Middleboro A. J. Pickens 23 
 
 East Boston Choral Society Dexter A. Tompkins 54 
 
 Hopkinton .. f . E. S. Nason 31 
 
 Methuen Jacob Emerson, Pres 30 
 
 Natick J. Asten Broad 102 
 
 Milford C. J. Thompson 38 
 
 Woburn P. E. Bancroft 58 
 
 Lowell Solon W. Stevens 148 
 
 Amesbury Musical Ass'n Moses Flanders 65 
 
 Belmont Musical Ass'n F. E Yates, Pres 37 
 
 Acushnet Musical Ass'n Ammi Howard 24 
 
 Framingham L. O. Emerson 40 
 
 Winchester Choral Society J. C. Johnson 48 
 
 Webster Carl Krebs 23 
 
 Ashland C. V. Mason 41 
 
 North Bridgewater Dr. G. R. Whitney 138 
 
 Reading Musical Ass'n D. G. Richardson, Pres 43 
 
 Sterling Birney Mann 18 
 
 Andover George Kingman . 32 
 
 Groveland L. Hopkins 25 
 
 Taunton Beethoven Soc'y L. Soule 97 
 
 Lynn Rufus Pierce 133 
 
 Westfield J. R. Cladwin, Pres 36 
 
 Roxbury H. W. Brown, Pres 35 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 Manchester E. T. Baldwin 40 
 
 Nashua E. P. Phillips 49 
 
 Wolfeboro Union Chorus and Glee Club M. T. Cate 31 
 
 Plaistow Choral Soc'y Mrs. J. T. Nichols 23 
 
 Keene G. W. Foster and C. M. Wytnan . . 23 
 
 Farmington B. F. Ashton 20 
 
 Lebanon J. M. Perkins 39 
 
 New Hampton Z. C. Perkins 29 
 
 Salmon Falls George W. Brookings 30- 
 
 Exeter, Rockingham Mus. Ass'n Rev. J. W. Pickering, Jr 82 
 
 Concord Choral Soc'y John Jackson 96 
 
 Francestown G. Epps 31 
 
 Dover. Strafford Co. Mus Ass'n W." O. Perkins 193 
 
A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 115 
 
 Laconia, Belknap Mus. Ass'n Ralph N. Merrill . 
 
 Suncook Choral Soc'y J. C. Cram 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 Randolph, Orange Co. Mus. Soc'y George Dodge 
 
 Rutland R. I. Humphrey 
 
 Middlebury C. F. Stone 
 
 MAINE. 
 
 Damariscotta G. M. Thurlow 
 
 Farmington Choral Society C. A. Allen 
 
 Augusta Waldemar Malmene 
 
 Saco G. G. Additon 
 
 Lewiston, Androscoggin Mus. Soc'y Seth Sumner 
 
 Bangor F. S. Davenport 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 New Haven Choral Union J. H. Wheeler. . . . 
 
 Thompsonville, Enfield E. F. Parsons 
 
 Waterbury J. W. Smith, Pres . 
 
 Wallingford J. H. Wheeler 
 
 Lakeville, Salisbury D. F. Stillman.... 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Pawtucket Choral Society George W. Hazel wood. 
 
 Providence Lewis T. Downes 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Granville D. B. Worley. . . 
 
 Malone Musical Ass'n T. H. Attwood. . 
 
 Saratoga Springs S. E. Bushnell. . 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 Chicago Mendelssohn Soc'y J. A. Butterfield. 
 
 OHIO. 
 
 Mansfield W. H. Ingersoll . 
 
 Cleveland S. A. Fuller.... 
 
 Total 
 
 34 
 31 
 
 18 
 50 
 26 
 
 3,2 
 27 
 23 
 69 
 61 
 57 
 
 83 
 14 
 42 
 40 
 20 
 
 33 
 
 82 
 
 28 
 21 
 
 95 
 
 20 
 28 
 
 . 10,228 
 
 From the time of the Jubilee the 
 work of educating the masses to sing 
 at sight went steadily foward and ef- 
 forts have been continually directed 
 to improving the musical taste of the 
 people. In the higher branches of 
 musical education and enjoyment im- 
 mense progress has been made. Bos- 
 ton to-day possesses an orchestra said 
 to be the finest in the world, and there 
 is no city in America in which great 
 musical artists are more highly appre 
 dated, or where more is being done for 
 
 music students. All this is actually a 
 testimonial to the work of those who 
 have labored for the masses. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, there is 
 still room for more foundation work, 
 and a lesson has been learned from 
 New York, where some nine or ten 
 years ago Mr. Frank Damrosch estab- 
 lished Sunday singing classes for all 
 people. The experiment was highly 
 successful, for the opportunity was 
 eagerly accepted by the people for 
 whom it was intended. 
 
ii6 A CENTURY OF CHORAL SINGING IN NEW ENGLAND 
 
 In the fall of 1897, a similar plan 
 was adopted in Boston under Mr. 
 Samuel W. Cole, a well educated mu- 
 sician, who has for many years been 
 a teacher of sight singing in the pub- 
 lic schools of Dedham and Brookline 
 and at the New England Conserva- 
 tory. 
 
 The same feeling of enthusiasm with 
 which the singing school filled Elder 
 Cheney in the days of his youth, in- 
 spired Samuel W. Cole when he at- 
 tended a convention at Concord, N. 
 H., as a boy. Always fond of music 
 and the son of a musically inclined 
 father, the impression made on him 
 by the singing of the grand choruses 
 from the oratorios by a large choir di- 
 rected by Carl Zerrahn was such that 
 he determined to make music his life 
 work. The hymn singing at Mr. 
 Cole's class was under the direction of 
 L. O. Emerson, and Mrs. Martha 
 Dana Shepard presided at the piano 
 skillfully supporting and coaching 
 the somewhat nervous choir. 
 
 Mr. Cole now entered seriously up- 
 on musical studies and secured the 
 best education available for the pur- 
 pose in view. He began life as a 
 music teacher in Portsmouth, N. H., 
 and has since been continually en- 
 gaged as organist, choir director and 
 as teacher of sight singing in the pub- 
 lic schools. A few years ago he gave 
 up his position as organist at the Clar- 
 endon Street Baptist Church in order 
 to travel abroad, and on his return, 
 his Sundays then being free, he was 
 able to accept the suggestion of the 
 committee of the Massachusetts Emer- 
 gency and Hygiene Society to estab- 
 lish and direct the Tropic's Singing 
 classes. These classes meet at four 
 o'clock on Sunday afternoons. Each 
 
 person pays ten cents towards the rent 
 of the hall and the purchase of music. 
 The instructors give their services, 
 and consider that their reward lies in 
 the moral and intellectual good gained 
 by the chorus. 
 
 In a very short time after the estab- 
 lishment of the first class in Bumstead 
 Hall, it was found necessary to pro- 
 vide for the overflow, and other classes 
 were formed in different parts of the 
 city, until there were five large 
 choruses. 
 
 Mr. Cole declares that people like the 
 music that they know, and the aim of 
 the People's singing class is to enable 
 them to know good music in the belief 
 that when they know it they will like 
 it. In answer to the statement that 
 the people always want a "tune," he 
 says that certainly they will have the 
 approval of all good musicians in this, 
 if they will only like good tunes, and 
 such they learn in these classes. This 
 work may be considered in some re- 
 spects the most important movement 
 since sight singing was established in 
 the public schools, for it enables peo- 
 ple to enjoy the inspiration of choral 
 singing, whose means and occupation 
 prevent their gaining it in any other 
 way, and makes it possible for them to 
 continue the study which they began 
 in the schools. In New York, where 
 the plan has been in existence for sev- 
 eral years, the classes are immense, 
 and have been so judiciously managed 
 financially that they have a good bal- 
 ance at the banker's. In Boston the 
 scheme is not less successful, and will 
 doubtless gain financially as long as 
 the present system is maintained. 
 There is ao doubt that the movement 
 will spread into the smaller cities and 
 towns of New England, just as all 
 
HOOSAC TUNNEL'S TROUBLED STORY 
 
 "7 
 
 schemes for choral singing have done. 
 There is, however, this difference, — 
 that while at the beginning of the cen- 
 tury few, very few, of the singers 
 could read the simplest music at sight, 
 today no one who has attended school 
 is without a moderate knowledge of 
 
 the elements of sight singing. In 
 what better manner can the work- 
 ing people spend their Sunday after- 
 noons than in the manner prescribed 
 by the old hymn : — - 
 
 "All people that on earth do dwell, 
 Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice." 
 
 Hoosac Tunnel's Troubled Story 
 
 By Edward P. Pressey 
 
 "A pathway cleft beneath Old Hoosac hoary! 
 
 How few will climb the mountain's weary stair; 
 And future years will hand its troubled story 
 
 From child to child as olden legends are." 
 
 THE Mohican name Hoosac 
 means far-over-the-mountain. 
 The Indians called the 
 streams just west of Hoosac 
 the Mayunsook and Ashuwillticook, 
 while the winding torrent to the east, 
 under the beetling rocks, was the 
 Pocumtuck. Over the mountain, from 
 the western to the eastern waters runs 
 an ancient roadway. This was first 
 known to the white settlers as the Mo- 
 hawk warpath, and many a brave 
 found it the short cut to the happy 
 hunting grounds. In the name of St. 
 Croix, for a junction of streams, there 
 is the single trace of an early Jesuit 
 missionary's hopes. 
 
 By 1744, the Hoosac Mountains be- 
 came famous in the military operations 
 in New England. The Mohawk war- 
 path, directly over the modern tunnel, 
 was becoming rutted with the wheels 
 of English cannon, while captives from 
 Deerfield and Charlemont fainted on 
 their forced marches up its weary stair, 
 straight and unsoftened by any engi- 
 
 neering triumphs of zigzag ap- 
 proaches. 
 
 By 1759, the year of Wolfe's capture 
 of Quebec, the exigencies of the 
 French wars had made necessary the 
 construction of a rude road following 
 this trail. The western gateway of 
 the valley, near the spot where twice 
 rose Fort Massachusetts, became the 
 Thermopylae of New England, in con- 
 sequence of the repeated defeats there 
 of Dutch, French and Indians. In 
 1797 the commonwealth ordered a fine 
 turnpike, of the easy, whiplash type, 
 built over the mountain across the east- 
 ern end of the trail, but by 1825 the 
 abruptness of the mountain's slope had 
 worn out so many good horses and 
 men that a tunnelled canal uniting Po- 
 cumtuck and Hoosac waters was pro- 
 posed. 
 
 The original trail was still open in 
 1848; and college boys often ran up 
 and down it ahead of the lumbering 
 Williamstown stage. It was trace- 
 able in 1803. There was an inn during 
 
Wt Guard the Western Gateway 
 
 stage days where the paths crossed at 
 the top of the mountain, "way up there, 
 out of sight of land," and near a typi- 
 cal New England school house. On 
 a sign board, which once stood at the 
 loot of the trail, the traveller read, 
 "Walk up, if you please," and on an- 
 other at the summit, "Ride down, if 
 you dare." In the heyday of staging 
 four milk white horses drew motley 
 humanity and its baggage over the 
 mountain. There still lingers the mem- 
 ory of the last of the stage drivers of 
 the '50's, Morris Carpenter. I once 
 sat on his garden wall in the twilight 
 looking down over the Hoosacs to the 
 Berkshires and heard strange tales of 
 his turnpike days. Much wealth at 
 one time and another passed over this 
 east and west thoroughfare ; and some 
 of the "hold-ups" became famous in 
 the legends of the road. One night in 
 mid-summer Carpenter, armed to the 
 teeth, had just rounded the ledge at 
 the summit going west, when, in the 
 moonlight suddenly appeared two fig- 
 
 ures covering his approach with four 
 enormous pistols. Under the circum- 
 stances nothing could be done but to 
 parley. The knights of the road be- 
 lieved that there was a clear ten thou- 
 sand in booty or ransom inside the 
 stage. But when upon thorough in- 
 vestigation a few half-empty bottles 
 were all they could find, they refused 
 to take the gentlemen's small change, 
 broke the bottles over the passengers' 
 heads, and wishing them God-speed 
 and a good surgeon, departed. The old 
 driver had an almost sacred memory 
 of the still, sunny winter days on the 
 mountain. In his seventieth year he 
 could not speak of their splendor with- 
 out emotion. Then there were days of 
 hurricane and cold when no living 
 thing could cross the ridges of the hill. 
 Legends of startling blow-aways 
 abound, and they say that the bells 
 from church steeples rolling down 
 the ledges at. midnight made fiendish 
 music above the roar of the tempest. 
 There is a reminiscence, almost the 
 
 n8 
 
-4i> 
 
 1875 "" "WHS^f/ 1901 
 
 Giant Strides by a 
 
 Giant Company 
 
 LIFE INSURANCE written and placed during 1901, over 273 Millions 
 
 PAID POLICY-HOLDERS, in 26 years, over . . 58 Millions 
 
 ASSETS, end of 1901, over 4-8 Millions 
 
 LIABILITIES, less than 42 Millions 
 
 SURPLUS, nearly 7 Millions 
 
 INCOME, during 1901, nearly 29 Millions 
 
 PAID POLICY-HOLDERS, during 1901, over . . 8 Millions 
 
 Policies in Force nearly Ah Millions. 
 
 Covering Life Insurance of over 
 
 $703,000,000 
 
 SURROUNDING WITH ABSOLUTE PROTECTION 
 
 More Than One Million Families 
 
 A Progressive Company in which the Safety 
 and Advancement of Its Policy-Holders' 
 interests are the chief considerations. 
 
 Write for Information to Dept. 1 4 
 
 THE PRUDENTIAL 
 
 Insurance Co. of America 
 
 JOHN F. DRYDEN, President. HOME OFFICE: Newark, N. J. 
 
VOSP pianos 
 
 V ^J W^^^ VOSE A SONS P 
 
 hare been established SO YEARS. By our system of payments* 
 •rv family in moderate circumstances can own a VOSE piano. 1 
 take old instruments in exchange and deliver the new piano iny< 
 bom* Ire* of expense. Writ* for Catalogue D and explanatio 
 
 PIANO CO., 160 Boylston St., Boston, Masj. 
 
 NEW YORK'S^ 
 
 HANDIESTHOTEL / 
 
 I THE 
 
 GRAND A 
 
 'UNION 
 
 42D ST. & PARK AVE . NEW YORK 
 
 Opposite the Grand Centra/ Depot 
 
 European Plan. Rates $i.oo per Day and Up 
 
 Within easy reach of the theatres and shopping dis- 
 trict. Reached by all the principal street-car lines of 
 New York, the GXAND UMON HOTEL is ac- 
 knowledged the most convenient and accessible hotel 
 in the city. 
 
 FINE CAFE AND RESTAURANT 
 Cood Rooms Moderate Charges 
 
 "Only a Little Hoarse- 
 ness." 
 
 Better cure the " hoarseness " or 
 the cold may settle on your lungs. 
 You can cure it at once if you take 
 
 Hale's 
 
 Honey of 
 
 Horehound 
 
 and Tar 
 
 Sold by druggists. 25c. 50c. and 
 #1.00 per bottle. Largest size 
 cheapest. Use it through the day 
 when you first notice your voice is 
 husky. It's convenient to take. 
 It won't disturb your digestion and 
 is palatable. Be sure and get 
 HALE'S. 
 
 Pike's Toothache Drops Cnre in One Minnte. 
 
 ^s^ssg*^ 
 
 SL 
 
 ^AKERm 
 
 BREAKFAST COCOA 
 
 has the largest safe in the United 
 States, because ifyiefds the most 
 and best for fhe money #s>m &&* 
 
 NOTE THE TRADEMARK ON EVERY CAN 
 
 WALTER BAKER 6 CO. 1 -™ 
 
 J 
 
 established i7so as 0O/lCtt£STER, MASS . 
 
 HOTEL EMPIRE 
 
 Broadway and 63d St., N. Y. CIT 
 
 Absolutely Fireproof. 
 European Plan Exclusively. 
 
 Don't pay exorbitant rates at old hotels. 
 Here we offer you everything modern at 
 
 MODERATE RATES. 
 
 Travelers can, on crossing any of the ferries, take t 
 9th Avenue- Elevated Kail way to" 59th St., from which il 
 one minute's walk to Hotel. 
 
 From Grand Central Station take Broadway and 7th Ai 
 cars f seven minutes to Hotel Emi'IRK. 
 
 From the Fall River Boats take the 9th Ave. Elevated 
 ;>9th St. 
 
 Within ten minutes of amusement and shopping centn 
 
 All cars pass the Empire. 
 
 Send postal for descriptive booklet. 
 
 W. JOHNSON QUINN, Proprietor. 
 

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