e same relative
position at rehearsal and in church. There should be a double row of
desks in the practice room, provided with a shelf for books, just as in
the stalls. If the boys have to hold the books and music in their hands
they stoop, and the singing suffers. Each boy should have a copy of the
music, and it should bear his number, so that he is personally
responsible for its good keeping. Punctuality at rehearsal is important.
Let the choirmaster call for order at the exact time, and let the roll
be gone over at once. To be unpunctual, or not to register early
attendance, is to encourage laxity.

There is no doubt that the long services in many churches are trying to
the choir boys. In some churches the morning service lasts two hours and
a quarter. It is very hard even for an adult to keep his thoughts from
wandering, and his eyes from glancing over the congregation during all
this time. How much more hard is it, then, for a boy who is by nature a
fidget, and if healthy, brimming over with activity? Nevertheless boys
can be trained, if not to control their thoughts, at least to an outward
reverence and quietude in harmony with the service. Reproof, if it is
needed, is best administered in private. Boys should be paid, if only a
small sum; this gives the choirmaster a hold upon them, and enables him
to impose fines, if necessary. Payment can be increased for those who
take Tonic Sol-fa or other sight-singing certificates, which of course
increase their value as choristers. Let it be noted that the voices will
carry further if the boys hold up their heads. This caution is
especially needed when they are singing in the kneeling posture.

All that can be done to interest the boys in their work by encouraging
the social feeling, will be to the advantage of the choir. Their hearts
are easily won. An excursion, an evening party once a year are great
attractions. Mr. H. B. Roney, of Chicago, advocates a choir guild, and
in the choir-room he would have a library, games, puzzles, footballs,
bats and balls, Indian clubs, and dumb-bells. He would open and warm the
choir-room an hour before each service and rehearsal. To some extent he
would let the youngsters govern themselves, and says that the gravity
with which they will appoint a judge, a jury, sheriff, prisoner, and
witnesses to try a case of infraction of the choir rules, would bring a
smile to the face of a graven image. Prizes at Christmas are part of his
scheme; th