together, but gradually I did so, and then assuredly I saw the awfulness
of my influence and position, and determined, with God's blessing, to be
a comfort and support to the widows and orphans who trusted in me, as
well as a source of strength, security, and honour to the nation and its
rulers, and I resolved that henceforth my name, _the Bank of England_,
should carry with it a meaning wherever it was heard, far beyond its
original signification; it should be another term for wealth, honour,
and thrift--a something to be trusted, and in which nothing foul, mean,
or sordid must be found.

(_To be continued._)




HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF MUSICAL FORMS.

SKETCH I.--THE ORATORIO AND PASSION MUSIC (SACRED DRAMA).

BY MYLES B. FOSTER, Organist of the Foundling Hospital.


In a former number, in prefacing reviews of new music, we said
sufficient upon the subject of listening to music to call the attention
of our many readers to the performances going on so frequently in all
parts of the world, and now we persuade ourselves that there may be some
to whom a short account of the various and varied forms, to which our
attention as audience is most frequently invited, would be of interest,
even though they have some knowledge of the subject already; and that
there may be others to whom these very incomplete sketches may appear as