in my dealings with pupils. The work is
trying, the nerves of a teacher of singing are throughout highly
strung, and very little cause is necessary to upset his equilibrium. He
should therefore be ever on his guard to check any tendency to show
impatience.

Never get a pupil to sing alone for the sake of showing his defects to
others. No one can _sing_ who does not possess a sense of his power to
do so. There should be encouraged an _abandon_ sort of manner. A
gentleman once said to me, "I see how you make your boys sing; you tell
them they can do it, and that makes them do it." The rigid watching of
the beat of the conductor should not be too closely insisted on. No
machine-like singing should satisfy, even though it be _correct_. The
correctness of a great painter's production is not everything, and
neither is it with the singer. There should an atmosphere of the liberty
of freedom.

At Swanley my work was lessened by the interest that all my colleagues
took in it. A moral force was constantly brought to bear on the boys,
which made them work with a will and a determination to excel. Their
success was the same in other departments of work, though not so
prominently placed. The music teacher who has in himself the power to
draw out the latent feeling of his pupils is the one who will best
succeed. I would draw my remarks to a close with this advice:--Make your
choir as large as possible. Take all who will come into it, and do not
go through the form of "trying" voices that have never tried themselves,
and of which you can form no opinion. For adults this is a necessity,
but for children it is better to get one or two per cent. of naturally
defective learners, rather than to turn away all but those showing
undoubtedly exceptional ability.

CHAPTER X.

THE SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES OF AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.

My object is to help those whose difficulties are greatest; who, so far
from being able to pick out boys of musical talent and fine voice, are
obliged to accept the material that offers, often of the poorest musical
description. The country boy is a more healthy animal than his brother
of the town, and there is no fault to be found with the natural volume
of his voice provided he can be taught to place his registers rightly,
to avoid straining the thick or chest register, to pronounce and phrase
properly. This is, however, what the Americans call "a large order."

I have been fortunate in collecting inform