The organ of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, O. [Ohio]) 1852-1853, 1852-05-21
WANTED, AN ORG ANIsT!

The church organ, had for years, been the
great musical anxiety Of the parochial district
of TwirliHgton. 1t was a Father Smith"
had seen its best days. and, to use the idiom Of
Captain 0'Sullivan, bothered the organist en-
tirely. If he played on the full organ, people
complained that the shrill sesquialtra drowned
their voices. If he played on the diapasons, or
the choir organ, people could hear nothing, and
could not follow the tune. If he used the
| swell, it ierked the people into the middle Of
the next verse. Que half the congregation said
the organ wanted power; the other half thought
it too loud. The first half thought there was
too much music in the service; the second half
declared that the Litany and responses ought to
be chaned as at st. Bells Church, Oxford,
Place cambridge street. The only matter they
agreed in, was in worrying the organist, aud in
determining not to spend shilling on the organ
to make it better.
After some seven Or eight years Of bad ger
ing the organist gave up his situation, very much
impaired in health, and reduced in spirits to a
state of chronic melanchOlia. The vicar had
contrived to get the parish into debt, for certain
repairs and alterations Of the church by con-
tract, the terms Of which few of the rate payers
understood; and, havig made sort of compost
tion with wealthy talloW-chandler for the set
tlement Of the contract, the taallow- chambers
daughter was quietly induced into the vacant
situation. Nobody understood anything about
the reason for the choice, except that Miss Kidd
was an indifferent pianist, aud that her father
was a sort Of bill discOunter, and had great
deal Of property together with six votes in all
parOchial elections. Although the wears set
were satisfied, people Of taste became angry.
Matters however, went on as usual. The
vicar, the ReVerned Prebend Schuckscuttle
preached as heavily, and spent the same number
Of months in the country, as Of old. The new
organists style was execrable, and her touch uR-.
steady. She took long time to forget that an
organ was not a stringed instrument; and, in
stead Of holding down the keys to sustain the
sounds Of the longer notes, brought out the fine
old psalm tunes in short puffs OF the most ag-
gravaling stacCatO. 70 increase the tortures
Of the Twirlington amatures, Miss Kidd's broth
ers, sisters, and intimate friends got up such a
powerful choir, that while it adVantageOusly
drowned the orgrn, it bawled down the voices
of the congregation. The service itself was
neither cathedral nor parochial, but clumsy
medley oil both. One setof psalms were chant
ed, and the others read, without even rubi-
cal reason for the distinction. The choir, des-
titute alike Of taste or training, saug the PEN
itential and thanksgiving psalms with the same
deafening, but unsteady vigOur. The whole
performance, vocal and instrumental, seemed
TO consist Of series OF jerks, which made people
tremble for the organ case and the organ gall
lery. One beautiful feature throughout, was
the compact uniformity Of the whole service;
for no one could detect the slightest variation
in the import Of the words, or in the character
Of the melodies.
The Reverend Prebend Shuckscdtlle cared
very little about thihgs in general and still less
about music. He hated the pedal pipes Of ST..
Doncaster cathedral, because they buried over
his head while he dozed through the afternoon
cathedral prayers; and he had an indistinet
notion Of the musical profession as being made
up respectively Of organists, Of people who gave
lessons. and Of theatrical performers. Fog, the
junior bhurehwafden, made bother now and
then, but heNaa afraid Of the vicar; and Stegg
the seinaF, or wears churchwarden, never said
anything, but what the vicar said about any
thing, iaf
Just about this time, the Rsverned Epitaph
Bronz threw the neighbouFing parish Of Fox
glave- upon Willows into fearful turmoil by
suddenly turning to the East, cutting down his
ample shirt collar to the even dimentions Of a
hoop, and opening an extensive account fer wax
candles with Mr. Kidd, senior. People began