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THE CONGRESS OE WOMEN.

Singing should be treated like a course of medical studies, where the student is not allowed to practice until he has his diploma. So with singers. They should not be allowed to sing in public before they have acquired a diploma, certifying that they have overcome all the difficulties in the art of singing and pronunciation. This ability makes them self-reliant, banishing stage fright, and all the music they sing will then be rendered artistically. In this way a young woman at the age of eighteen or twenty years becomes a first-class artist, and as a singer or teacher she has won her independence. She carries her capital in her head and throat, to draw upon with singing or teaching wherever she goes, and nobody can steal it from her. In case she would wish to be an opera singer, thus prepared she-would require only two years repertoire study, with acting, to become a brilliant star in art, and at the same time remain a model of a virtuous woman, as her career is based upon earnest learnings and not held up by momentary favors.

This is the right independence of woman.

Music in General:—“Music is not an invention,” says Ritter in his history of music; “ its seed lay dormant in the breast of primeval man. Music is in many respects a reliable guide of progress and development, and no art is more closely connected with the inner life of men than music, where its magic power steps in at precisely the point where the positive expression of language fails, and participates in man’s strug­gles, triumphs, reverses, and in all his feelings. Music, the deeper expressions of man’s joys and emotions, will find always a fructifying field to take root in, because it reveals to man’s senses the great mystery, the beautiful. Music is the language of the soul, its influence upon men’s minds is thus ennobling, strengthening, elevating.”

Further on Ritter quotes Martin Luther, and it is not out of place to repeat it here. The great reformer calls music one of the greatest gifts of the Creator, and assigns it the first place next to Divinity; for “ like this,” he says, “ it sets the soul at rest and places it in the most happy mood, a clear proof that the demon who creates such sad sorrows cind ceaseless torments retires as fast before music and its sounds as before Divinity. There is no doubt the seed of many virtues exists in the minds of those who love music, but those who are not moved by it resemble sticks and stones.” As a means of education Martin Luther attached great importance to the influence of music. “ It is beneficial ” he says, “to keep youth in continual practice in this art, for it renders people intellectual; therefore it is necessary to introduce the practice of music in the schools; and the schoolmaster must know how to sing, otherwise I do not respect him.”

Before closing this brief essay I will touch on social position. There can be no doubt in your minds, as there is none in mine, how much higher social position comes to man when, besides his business or profession, he is educated in music. Everybody looks at him as superior to others; why should not a woman in private life strive for this great accomplishment which adorns her with inexpressible charm, thus remaining the attraction for husband and friends? Such homes, in which women dedicate their leisure hours to music, and especially to good artistic singing, become temples of a higher sphere, and the influence of this gentle art will be felt in the refined inclina­tions of their children, as intelligent mothers make intelligent nations. In this way music becomes hereditary, and its difficulties are easily overcome by the love for it. I have above explained the advantages of music for women as a profession; “ prima- donna,” church and concert singer, “and teacher.” The musically well-educated woman in private life though becomes an anchor of hope and safety in case the hus­band is overtaken by sickness or other reverses. In such cases—and only in such— the wife will be the bread-winner, and the children will imitate the mother’s noble example. Welfare and independence will then soon re-enter the threatened house­hold; and all this by the acquired charm of music