Hall, and hold their rehearsals in an adjoining room, capable of accommodating some six or seven hundred persons. This room contains a small organ of ten or twelve stops. The large hall has lately been much altered, enlarged, ornamented, and improved, so that it is one of the best concert-rooms any where to be found. It seats comfortably three thousand persons, and by the aid of extra chairs and standing-places will accommodate a thousand more; so that it often contains a company of three thousand or three thousand five hundred hearers. The organ has also undergone very thorough repairs, and has been considerably enlarged. It was built by Walker, one of the best London organ builders, and in its improved state contains a little less than three thousand pipes. Its compass is from F to G, or sixty-three pipes. The pneumatic principle has been applied to this instrument; so the touch is easy, and the three rows of keys, when coupled, may be played with but very little extra power of the finger. The pedal organ has nine stops; there are also eight changing or coupling stops. Though not so large as some, it is very complete, has sufficient power for the hall, and is well adapted to the wants of the different societies. At the reopening of the hall this season, an organ performance was given, under the direction of the "Sacred Harmonic Society," by its organist, Mr. J. L. Brownsmith. This performance commenced at eleven o'clock, A. M., and consisted of the following selections:

Perhaps nothing could more distinctly mark the difference of taste for organ music and style of organ playing betweer the Germans and the English than this performance, when compared with the similar organ performances one hears in the German cities. Here there was not a single organ piece, but the bill was mostly made up with extracts from the vocal compositions of Handel. However beautiful these may be, they are not adapted to organ playing, or certainly not to the exhibition of the powers of the instrument or the capacity of the player. Mr. Brownsmith is really an excellent organist, and we could not but regret that he should not have done himself the justice to play some of the great German organ music. But the public taste must be consulted, and unhappily there is too often amongst the musical profession a willingness to sacrifice their own taste, and the opportunity of ministering to the improvement of that of the public, by the performance of such music as will please rather than improve. We could see, too, by observing the countenances and movements of the company, that the lightest music pleased the most. For example, no one piece pleased more than the minuet from Samson. It was very tastefully and beautifully performed, and with the organist every one must have been delighted; so also the music is good in its place-nothing better. But, alas! that the poor organ should have to come down from its lofty eminence and be made a mere imitator of an orchestra. The minuet commanded universal attention, and the people were pleased. A fugue by Leo

followed; and this afforded them a fine opportunity to express the gratification they had just received, as the old fuguist had no tum, tum

diddle, diddle dum | tum, tum

I diddle, diddle dum, with which to produce the graceful waving of the head, and occasionally the foot-movement upon the floor. We are a little more Germanized in America; and I can hardly think it possible that a similar organ exhibition could be made in Boston or New York in which old Bach would not be heard. There is a greatness about the organ-playing of the Germans that is not known here. In the church service the difference is very great. In Germany we hear the lofty, grand, soul-inspiring strains of the full organ and of fugue; whereas in England the ornamental, gilded, spangled, fringe-trimming style too often prevails.

LETTER XLV.

St. George's Bloomsbury-St. Paul's Cathedral-Dr. Watts's Chapel-Pickle ShopJohn Newton.

LONDON, 20th September, 1852. REV. MR. VILLIERS, the clergyman of this parish, is not only a very popular, but a very excellent and evangelical preacher; he has a large congregation, and the service throughout, on Sabbath last, was highly interesting. Of course the common Episcopal liturgy is used. The psalms are read, but at the end of each psalm, as is very common here, the Gloria Patri is chanted. The Canticles are chanted; though this day the "Jubilate Deo" was sung in anthem form by the whole congregation. The music was very plain, and rather quick; that is, about as quick as it is convenient to speak the words and observe a distinct

and solemn utterance. This Congregational anthem singing is not common, though it is quite practicable. The Canticles were chanted by the whole people, and quite well done. Cadences no slower than the utterance of the words on the chanting note. Both the chanting and the anthem singing this morning afforded sufficient proof of the practicability of these forms of music in congregations; but it must be understood that the anthem was, as we have already said, very plain. We know of but very few sufficiently plain, contained in our American singing books. Two metrical psalms were sung, both well done everybody taking a part. The organ was not very well played; the organist seeming rather to adapt himself to choir than to Congregational singing, and making too much variation of stops and of piano and forte in different stanzas. The introductory voluntary was not more than three minutes in length, and there were no interludes between the stanzas of the hymns.

At three o'clock we attended service at St. Paul's. Mr. Goss very kindly gave us a seat in the organ loft-the most favorable place for observing the whole service.

In the evening we started to go to the chapel in which Dr. Watts used to preach, Bury Chapel, St. Mary, Axe. We looked and looked again, but could find no chapel; after walking down and up the street for several times, we found a man who could give us information, but alas! it was sad indeed to hear that the house so long occupied by him whose praise is in all the churches, and in whose words all the churches sing praise, is no longer used for public worship, but has been turned into a pickle shop. We do not know what has become of the congregation. We then went to St. Mary, Woolworth, Lombard-street, and attended service in the church where John Newton used to preach. Here we heard an excellent and faithful sermon.

The spirit of Newton, or rather the spirit of

the Gospel, is yet manifested within these walls. The singing was led by about a dozen charity children; the girls being dressed as the old ladies of New England used to dress half a century ago, each having a square handkerchief folded about the neck, a high white muslin cap, and a white apron. The chants were plain, and tolerably well done, and so were the tunes, all the people singing. The organist played very long interludes; in several cases the interludes were one quarter longer than the tune itself. They were tedious, and in bad taste; otherwise the organ was well played. The exercises closed with the hymn, "May the grace of Christ our Saviour," sung to the tune Sicily, quite home-like.

LETTER XLVI.

The Norwich Musical Festival.

LONDON, September 30, 1852.

THIS, like the Birmingham Festival, is triennial. It was omitted last year on account of the absence of Mr. Benedict, its conductor, in America. Previous to the conductorship of Mr. Benedict, was that of the Gresham professor, Mr. Ed. Taylor, the friend of Spohr, who was instrumental of the introduction of the great German composer's oratorios into England. Indeed, Professor Taylor translated and adapted the English words to several oratorios and other vocal compositions of the Capellmeister of Cassel. The success of Spohr's oratorios was represented as having been entirely satisfactory, and we wonder why the directors of the Norwich Festival who had the honor of first bringing out these great works, should not, at