d by the unsightly tiers of benches that, empty, make
one long for magic power to waft them all away, but which, once tenanted
by their legitimate occupants, banish every murmur from one's heart and
mind?

Thanks to the enterprise and spirit of the lovers of harmony, this is not
seldom; concerts for the rich and concerts for the poor, for the hundreds
and the "millions," have risen up to meet the calls of humanity for
heart-culture by other inspirations than may be got from alphabets and
primers, or intellectual disquisitions. And, triennially, arrive the
great epochs of the city's glory, when she asserts her claims upon the
world of music, to be classed high among the nursing mother of genius,
and foster-parents of art. Then is the hour of triumph for the Black
Friars' solemn and grand old nave, when its roofs and pillars tremble at
the thunders of the Messiah's "Hallelujah," and resound to the
electrifying crash, uttering "Wonderful;" or when they echo the sweet
melodies of Haydn, Mozart, and Spohr; the refined harmonies of a
Mendellsohn's "Elijah," the magic strains of his "Loreley," or reflect
the wondrous landscape painting of the mystic Beethoven. Nor was the day
a small one when its orchestra gave utterance to the outpourings of a
genius cradled and nurtured in its bosom, whose work is acknowledged to
be great and good, _albeit_ "a prophet" is not without honour save in his
own country. And all praise be given as due to the generous help yielded
to the son of the stranger as to the son of the soil. The world may yet
live to be grateful to the city that in one year brought before it two
such conceptions and creations as "Israel Restored" and "Jerusalem." And
so would we take our farewell of the old "Hall," while our eyes are yet
dazzled with the bright glitter of its thronged benches, galleries, and
aisles, and our ears and hearts vibrating to the mighty "concert of sweet
sounds" and peals of harmony poured forth from the almost matchless
orchestra and benches of choristers, that lend their powers to complete
the glories of the great "Festival."

The festival suggests thoughts on music, its history and progress, and of
the minds that have fostered and directed its growth in this particular
region, so successfully as to have gained for the "Old City" its present
high position in the musical world.

Music and devotion have gone hand-in-hand from the era of the earliest
singing men and singing women of Israel