e good gifts of God.

Another rare expression of musical enthusiasm comes from the Central
West. The little town of Lindsborg, on the broad high prairies of
Kansas, holds each spring during Holy Week a musical celebration called,
naturally, the "Messiah Festival." In this case a college is the
leader--Bethany College, where there are a thousand students with
regular standard courses of study besides varied and excellent choruses,
orchestras, societies, and classes for musical development. In the
spring of 1914 there was a chorus of six hundred voices; another of
children alone contained four hundred and fifty; distinguished singers
gave the solos; a week was filled with concerts of classic and modern
renderings; Brahms, Dvorak, MacDowell, Sibelius, were found together
with Beethoven and Handel, and the whole reached a wonderfully high
level of attainment.

What interests us most, however, is to see what this work does for the
people of the region. Men and women come from fifteen miles away to
attend the rehearsal, and this in winter; three generations of one
family sang in the chorus at the last Festival; they play and sing for
the pure love and enjoyment of the music. It is altogether impossible to
state in words what all this must mean to the moral and spiritual
development of the region, to the binding of the hearts of the people in
the community, and to the forging of those ties that will hold the young
people true in their loyalty to their homes.

It is not claimed that every country community can have such a concourse
as this for concert work during the winters; but something like the old
singing school might be installed, and home music might be made far more
of a joy and comfort than it now is.

That this can be the mission of music in community service is being
discerned by many. In the always forward-looking University of
Wisconsin, a plan has been made for the development of musical feeling
among the people. The desire is to make the people realize the immense
social power of music and to give a chance for this welding and
delighting influence to have its way in the home, the schools, the
churches, in musical organizations of all kinds, in all places of
amusement, and in entertainments of all kinds. No doubt other
universities in other States will follow this admirable example.

But we do not need colleges and universities to tell us that we should
do more with singing than we at present do. Here are six