&, a NT THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG, .TUESDA ® ¥, JANUARY 11, 1910, PAGE. NINE: | PRESIDED AT. THE ORG "took his fancy. To.a rehearsal of this type, A SKETCH OP THE CAREER OF GEO. FREDERICK HAMILTON. © 'With Some Ability as an Amateur, he Picked : up Enough Knowledge of Church Music to Play--The Organ in Chapel--He After- wards Graduated Bachelor of Music. For Church Life by Wm, Q. Phillips, Sarnia, Ontario. : George Frederick Hamilton, Mus. Bac. entered \his modest apartments, consisting of studio and bedroom, threw off his coat, and, like a thoroughbred Englishman, stirred the fire. No Englishman can ever resist the tsmp- tation to stir the fire; "besides it was a raw, chilly, cast-windy sort of day, with alternate "showers of sleet and rain, 'very disagreeable weather indeed, and within a week of Christ- mas. Having provoked 4 cheerful blaze, he . meditatively warmed his coat-tails until the postman arrived with letters. One of these was in a clerkly hand, reading: "The Vicar of St. Margaret's church begs to inform Mr, Hamilton that the position of organist has " been filled." - "Just about what I expected," said Hamil- ton; "well, what next? But the next letter was of no importance; the third was a dainty missive, plumply filling a square envelope. Evidently this also was. just what he expected, for after a calm perusal, he deliberately filled a pipe, and -lounged back in a big chair for a second reading. "Dearest George," the letter began, but just' beyond this we need not fran- scribe. Those who have received love letters will readily reconstruct for themselves; to others it would be unintelligible set out in cold print. The accompanying pipe lasted out the second and third readings, and had usher- ed in a spell of cheerful day-dreaming, when it was suddenly dropped as Hamilton made a nervous examination of the contents of his pocket-Book, and remarked, "What a nuisance --Christmas time too--well, there is no help for it at present." . Then followed 'a somewhat careful and niinute examination into. ways and means, which not only confirmed the basic fact that there was. no money to. spare, but. it. also) indicated the approach of a period of financial 'stringency. In other: words, Mr. Hamilton . was hard up, with no relief in sight which would warrant any relaxation of extreme caution in the administration of his finances. Now there is nothing very original in being * hard up, for it is an experience that comes to almost every one, sometimes sooner, some- times later; but in thi* case it was distinctly annoying. It meant that he could not accept an invitation to visit his lady love at Christ- masa careful man, he had never before want- ed the means for any modest and legitimate purpose; what was he coming to? Young Hamilton was the son of a physician, who had enjoyed a good country practice for many years, and had given the boy a good education. But the doctor lost his health, his practice fell away, and expenses made heavy inroads on his small savings. In the meantime the son was at®college, busy with his arts course, beyond which his mind was not fully made up." With some ability as an amateur, he had picked up enough knowledge of church music to play the organ in chapef This brought him to the notice of Dr. Vinde- water, who advised that he devote himself seriously to the art; then college wor re- ceived a definite impetus; proper tuition was readily available, and our friend graduated Bachelor of Music just a month befdre his father's death. ! The estate turnéd out badly, Most of it was required to purchase a small annuity for Mrs, Hamilton. George Frederick came in for a little ready money, and decided to pur- chase the teaching comnection of a masician, who wished to retire owing to_ advancing age. But the goodwill turned out to be personal, rather than negotiable, and for all practical purposes Hamilton might as well have begun on his own account. © Pupils were scarce, and it was difficult to meet expenses. If he could -Ret a, good appointment as organist,--there was the tub; but there was nothing worth while "6ffering; even St. Margaret's was a poor church, only it might hive led to some- ' thing better. There were other churches, of course, but no vacancies, except--well it was not exactly a vacancy, and not to be thought of in any case. The organist of the cathedral was an old man, and dying, but the music went on Winder the capable supervision of the subcbrganist, himself a maw/of parts, and very sugbessful with bys. I For a few weeks, however, Hamilton had : "presided at the organ" of the meeting house of the Saints of Israel, an exclusive and bumptious sect. The pay was small the Pros- pects nil, and the work uninteresting, often J storm burst. ing to sing them togéther." Brother David turned - purple. he sputtered: ? "Exactly," said Hamilton, and the organ, and walked out, leaving Brother David to finish the rehearsal as best he might. Morning brings counsel. -Of course a man like Hamilton could not héld such a position with agy satisfaction or self-respect; but the Saints owed him some money, which he might have trouble in collecting. Pdghaps it would be better toNpatch things up for a while; any- way it orld thinking about. There was a lesson to give at ten o'clock; like a sensible man he started for a brisk walk. Presently he met the Dean, to whom he had onte been introduced, and was about to pass.with a formal salute. The Dean stopped and peered at him; the old man did, not see well. "Mr. Hamilton, is it not?" "Nes" "And you are an. organist?" "Yes" "Well, how strange that I should meet you; perhaps you know that thé organist of the cathedral has been ill for a long time. 'I am afraid he will not last much longer. But Mr. Selwyn, the deputy, has kept everything go- ing. Now he haw the offer of an excellent position, if he can leave immediately. We must not stand in'his way, but to release him we need some competent person at once. Now what experience have you had?" * Hamilton told him, 2 "Bless me," said the Dean; "Trinity--my old college, and you studied with Dr. Vande- water. | know him well, and had thought of tetegraplting him. Come to the cathedral this afternobn, for Evensong, at half-past three; the choir vestry is on the north side" The sky cleared, and the sun shone out brilliantly, as Hamilton entered the cathedral close, and found his way to the thousand-year- old room. that served for a choir vestry. The Dean introduced Mr. Selwyn, the deputy or- ganist. "Glad to meet you, I am sure," said Selwyn. "You sing, of course?" A boy was sent for cassock and surplice. "Come in with us now, and after service we will look at the organ." So the little proces- sion filed its way into the chancel; Hamilton felt like a wanderer who, returning home, finds himself once more en a familiar road. "Phe console is rather complex," Selwyn explained, "but quite convenient when you get accustomed to it." Then followed a minute examination of stops, couplers, switches, push- buttons and pedals. At last Hamilton seated himself before the shining key-boards, and-- rather gingerly--played a few hymn tunes. Selwyn looked at his watch. "I must leave you now," he said. "Don't hurry yourself, but stop the motor and cut oyt the batteries before you go. There is a general rehearsal to-night; it will give you & chance to meet the choir." For-the rest of the weck, Hamilton spent most of his time at the cathedral. On Sun- tlay evening he played the whole service, and Selwyn said good-bye, leaving him to sink or swim. The choir, of course, was in full run- ning order, but the spirit of Christmas was abroad, and manifested 'itself as a spirit of mischief in the choir F-vs. Even the men were disinclined to work uard, and at the very last rehearsal before Clristmas Day, nothing seemed to go well, ¢:cept the traditional hymns. On the Day itself there was an early choral Eucharist, sung by a small choir; per- haps' Hamilton was fidgety, but he thought it sounded very thin and weak. All the heavy music came at Mornitig Prayer, and here tite choir was in full strength, or rather more, for some old boys) were rl] and one of them was a singer of renown, who had recently made a success in oratorio; but he seemed delighted to find himself once more in his old stall. Still Hamilton was nervous and apprehensive; there were so many chances of slips and flaws; he was not quite sure of himself; what if he should-make some absurd mistake? So he began the service with mind bent on de- tails; the best he hoped for was to escape palpable blunders; and there were careless slips in the Psalms that set his teeth on edge. What, would happen in the Te Deum, which was really difficult? Well, it was now or never. "Here endeth the first lesson," and Hamilton began thé stately prelude in strict time, hoping for a firm and prompt attack, for the/ voices entered . in the middle of a glowing phrase and carried it--to a-dignified! climix. ; The attdck was not merely prompt; it was brilliant; never before had he heard the choir do anything quite so well. And before he realized it, he was carried away by the en- thusiasm of the moment, and played with a freedom that would have threatened disaster on an ordinary occasion. Absorbed iw his work, he no longer thought of failure; he felt the consciousness of power; the whole cathe- annoying. Most of the music was ofS the! Gaspel-song variety, but the organist had ne? thing to do with selecting it. Everything was. managed by the chief musician,' Brother | David, 'a congeited, domineering man, gifted ..» with a large, wild voice, and a: hazy--a very hazy~knowledge of music. Rehearsals. con? - sisted of the repeated playing over of th piece de resistance, the choir being invited or rather commanded by Brother David, to "catch 1" and also to "chirp. it out" Meanwhile, ¢ pounded time, or what he called time, With a small baseball lub; 'and sing any part that young Hamilton directed his steps in the evening; but if dddition to the usual gospel songs. an anthem was to be learned, as a con- cession to 'the Christmas © season. Brother «David distributed gopies of Stainer's "O Zion 'That Bringest Good Tidings," told the organ ist to play it over; and ordered a general at. tack on the chorus' The résult was chiefly noise, the choir "catching on" in spots, while' the voice- of Brother David butted "into one - part after another, with the nice" discrimina- tion of a bull in a china shop. iA "Detter try the parts separately," suggested Hamilton, . smear 2% i "You leave that to me" growled Brother David. "Go on; the next is my solo" And after several false starts he fidundered thrvugh the lovely pastoral melody. This was too . «much, even for the choir of Saints, a laughter was suppressed with difficulty, o 4 David. essayed| 4 determined to shine, Brother the 'tenor of the sécond verse, opdering the basses' to sing the lower part. At-nobody sang correctly, the choifmaster lost his tem- dral seemed to burt into music at the touch af his fingers. Once in a while it is good for 4 man to get on the mountain top; to rejoice -a¥ a giant to run his course The Bishop made an excellent discourse of the words: "The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain," which ed to Hamilton a peculiar text. But he really too much elated to pay' strict at- tention to the sermon. After the service the choir received fatherly congratulations from the Bishop, who in his quaint way referred to the bountiful provision of ngsic, and also t0 our. young friend, the organist, who was the latest addition to the cathedral staf. And this was not "altogether a figure of speech. 'The Dean took Hamilton home to dinner, and there was a long chat afterwards. "There will be a "meeting of the Chapter to-morrow fight," said the Dean, "and if you are satisfied with the position, I think these will be no difficulty in appointing you deputy organist at once. The office carries a fair stipend." > ; > A tew days later Hamilton was informed that Brother David wished to see him, bw that an apology would be expected. So he replied: "Dear Brother David. --1 shall be glad to see you at anyftime--at the cathedral; the music will do you good Never mind about an apology." J ? For H On a letterhead of a 0 nufacturing are three cuts; per, and blamed the organist. Hamilton lis "There is just one thin | "Nou--yon meds {0 tell me that I do not know my part? . | Asia. thei the| Ten minutes later he locked up| { i A scene from "The Blue Mouse" at the Grand on Thursday, January 13th. THE FLIPPANT PRESS. The Cardinal Was Worried For Years Ove the Button, a is startled. Mrs. Caroline As tor's gold dinner set is only ' gold-plated. From time to itime comes mformation to prove that the inhabitants of Mflionaires' Row have more sefise than was imagined. A British correspondent announces that he has bought a collar button in a building form- erly Cardinal Wolsey's palace. And no doubt the Cardinal was worried for years because he couldn't find the illasive thing. We find nothing in the diary Munchausen that inakes us ashamed of Dr. Cook. Really now, the Cook incident has served a certain good purpose; it has prepared us for the 1910 seed catalogue. The superiority of man to nature is con- tinually illustrated. Nature needs an im- mense quantity of quills to make a goose with, but a man can make a goose of himself with one. 3 That widow, the legal guardian of five step- children; who has married a Baltimore widow- er who has seven children, apparently believes in avoiding race suicide by proxy. Dr. Cook. has been expelled from the Ex- plorers' Club. This is unreasonable, as he seems to have explored the field of fiction pretty thoroughly. A Cincinnati man has left $150,000 for the cause of public music. The executors might have found a fund for the elimination of the hand-organ man. : There really appear to be some feminine natures to which the whine of a cur is more irresistible than the moan of a human being: A Houston newspaper has read Dr. Cook out of the Democratic paMy for "absence from the polls in a time of emergency." The American parlor is 'disappearing, says an architectural journal. But not so rapidly as the parlor maid. A Texas woman wants a divorce because her" husband is too tall. Poor woman, mar- ried above her. . New. York of- Baron Under Sealed Orders. Out she swung from her moorings, And over the harbor bar; -As the moon was slowly rising She faded from sight afar, And we traced her gleaming canvas - * By the twinkling evening star. do None knew the port she sailed for, Nor whither her cruise would be; Her future course she shrouded In silence and mystery; She was sailing under "sealed orders," « To be openeWout at sea. ~- So souls, cut off from meorings Go drifting into the night, Darkness before and around them, With scare a glimmer of light; | o They are acting under "sealed orders," And sailing by faith, not. sight Keeping the lie of duty Through good and evil report. They shall ride the storms out safely, Be the passage long or short; For the ship that carries God's orders Shall anchor at last in port. Living in 'Glass House. + The little ones are natural born imitators and would rather copy any day than carry out any abstract illustrations. Can you expect your son to be honest whet he hears you put off tradespeople on the ground that you have not the money, When you really have it, but don't want to pay the bill just then® And can you expect that your daughter will not deceive you when she hears you tell the maid repeatedly that "you are not at home when you are' % . How about teaching self-control when yon lose your temper at the shightest provecation and mope over every little bad turn that hap- pens' to you - And what about self-respect and-neatness when you go about the house in shabby garments or deshabille, and when you gassip over subjects which belong to the yellow papers? ray : Can a child form the right ideas of life when it sees yop reading trash and wasting your time? Hours of lecturing do aot connt against one minute of bad exampl:. Be the things yourself that you 'want your children to be. Thi is make an impression on them 5 LL ep Explore an Underground City. v ] re only teaching that will J and silver money unearthed from among the ruins, the town dates back two centuries.be- fore the birth of Christ. The edifices contain all kinds of domestic utensils, pots, urns and vases. The high civilization attained by the ifhabitants is shown by the way they built in several stories, by the symmetry of the streets and squares, and by the beauty of the baked clay and metal utensils, aud 6f the ornaments and coins found. It is supposed that long centuries ago this city, carefully concealed in the bowels of the earth, provided large num- bers of people with a refuge from the incur: sions of nomadic savages and robbers. Story of Masterpiece. On ghe wall of the old monastery in Milan hangs the famous "Last Supper" of Leonardo da'Vinci. Like every masterpiece, the painting required many years of patient labor, and, as a result, of that labor, it is perfect in its natural ness of expression and sublime in its story of love. An incident in its history contributes not a little toward making it a great- teacher. The artist, in painting the faces of the Apostles, studied the countenances of good men he knew. When, however, he was ready to paint the face of Jesus he could. find none that would satisfy' his conception ; the face must be dignified, in its simplicity and majestic in its sweetness. After several years of scarch tlie painter happened to meet Pietro Bandinelli, a choir boy of exquisite voice, belonging to the cathedral. Being struck by beautiful features' and tender Manner that be- spoke an angklic soul, the artist induced the boy to be the study for the painting of the face of Jesus, ' 1 All was done most carefully and reverently, but thé picture was yet incomplete, for the face of Judas was absent. Again the painter, with the zeal of his art, #t about in search of a counten- ance that might serve for the traitor. Years passed before his search was rewarded and the picture finally completed. As the artist was about to dismiss his model, the man said, "You have painted me before.s: To his great surprise the painter learned that the man was Pietro Band- inelli. During those intervening years Pietro had been at Rome studying music, had met with evil compaitions, had given himself up to drinking and gambling. had fallen into shameful dissipation and crime. The face now the model for Judas had once been the model for that of Christ. Good Health of Army. The improved condition of the ritish Army, shown the reports of the Medical Department, is continued. In 1900 the death ratio per 1,000 of troops at home and abroad was 905. This fell to 7.13 in 1903, and again to 4.78 The ratio:of the sick, at its highest, 1901, fell to 32.28 last year These improved returns mean that "the effec tive strength has been raised by 5776 men, and the wastage through deaths and invalid- ing Has been reduced by 2900 men per an- num." Many. causes combine to bring this about--care in recruing, improved treatment of diseases better applianc®s for operations, and, perhaps beyond all, improved sanitation The deaths from consumption are low, the rate being 150 to a million soldiers, or abou one-tenth of the death-rate among civilians im many parts of the country, This is doubt: less due to physical training, and the sup- porters of compulsory service will find it an effective argument : mn itt edmond ! Three Taps And Awake. penings. A curious scene in an old church in Lancashire, was described by the tate Rev. John Brame. He was preaching for the Curates' Society. The churth had a three- decker pulpit, and, before the preacher as- ceided to its topmost storey, the rector re- marked : : : : "When you have finished your discourse will you have the goodnesd to lean over and tap me on the head, and then I will lean over and tap the clerk on the head, and then we will have the collection" * This surprising performance was effectively carried out, and gravely; the clerk sprang vp to attention and handed round the plate. Pos- sibly the rector feared that sleep might seal the eyes of himseli and his faithful servitos, and to prevent a catastrophe this ingenious device was adopted. : : Pass This Message On. Ii you work for « man, in all fairness work for him. if be pays wages that supply you your bread and butter. work for him. speak well of him, thivk of him, stand by him; and stand by the institution he represents. Dao not work for him a part of the time, but all of the time. Live an gndivided service or none. If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyaity Russian explorers have made an interesting] discovery of a subterrapean city in Central In Turkestan, ind rocky hill near the Bokharan town of Karki, n ber of huge caves, which ware found tele to an underground city. According to the ¢ worth a pouddl of cleverness. 1 \you must condemn and disparage, resign yout position, and when you are outside, vilify to ypur eart's content. But, 'so long as you are a part of an institution, do not chyndema it. Not "The Old-Time Parson" tells of odd hap- 1° > TEA AT ITS BEST-- in all its garden freshness and fine flavour "SALADA" scaled lead packets are proof against dirt. The tea' can't be contaminated --and it costs more than common tea. vy < v > BEANS AND BOY are BOTH READY CLARK'S PORK AND BEANS are so good that they are always welcomed. 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