160 A HALF CENTURY. 



side by side in our choir for twenty-five years, the latter continuing 

 for a much longer period. 



Lack of time forbids the mention of many important events in the 

 history of our song service, the introduction of the melodeon and the 

 exit of the stringed instruments, the change to the pipe organ, first 

 used in the new church, the introduction to this town of the special 

 evening praise service by Dr. Barnett, etc., etc. The organ was dedi- 

 cated by a concert on the evening before the dedication of the new 

 church. It was then played by the now famous Dudley Buck. At 

 the dedication of this church the music was under the direction of Mr. 

 George Henry Mitchell, of Bristol, with a quartette of Bristol singers, 

 Miss Atkins soprano. The farewell service of Dr. Goodell stands out 

 in the memory, — the church crowded in every part, the last loving 

 benediction pronounced, and the congregation standing with heads 

 not yet raised, when the organ's soft notes float out over the church, 

 and the sweet melody, bearing tender words of affection and well 

 wishing, is sung, sending the beloved pastor away with a farewell of 

 song ringing in his ears. 



We should be false to our trust should we fail to pay our tribute of 

 acknowledgment and appreciation to all those who have, and do now, 

 so effectively aid us in this part of our service. While we recall the 

 past, we acknowledge our pleasure in the present ; and as we contrast 

 the scant equipment of early days with the " splendid organ, gifted 

 chorister, and trained choir of this, our day, we realize that the 

 present outshines the past, brilliant as we find it. 



Such, in barest outline, is the sketch of our service of song. 

 Would that time permitted to touch in the colors and give life to the 

 picture. What associations, what a wealth of incident, even the bare 

 recital of the singers' names suggests ! That old choir was a feature 

 in the life of that day. One old member, of whom I made inquiries, 

 remarked that "about all our fun in those days was at choir and 

 prayer meeting " ; and one notices that the last vestiges of the use of 

 those institutions as sources of amusement have not entirely faded 

 away even in our time. What a misleader of the future careers of its 

 prominent members that old choir life often was ! No doubt they of 

 that day, as the Hon. Geo. M. Landers led the choir at the old North 

 church, and sang in the old South church, looked forward to him as 

 to be no less than the conductor of some state musical festival, or the 

 composer of Te Deums to the praise of God, little anticipating him as 

 a politician who should enroll his name on the list of the nation's leg- 

 islators at Washington, or, like his fellow singer, Mr. Corbin, as a 

 manufacturer, give name and fame to the products of New Britain 

 skill and industry. 



That early choir life, too, affords an incident typical of the wonder- 



