Scene in a Church.
--We have heard of a scene of a somewhat extraordinary nature, which varied the usual afternoon service in one of our largest churches very recently.
The swelling notes of the organ announced the prelude of a musical composition of wonderful beauty, and the audience listened with emotions not far removed from rapture.
Now, some will think it strange that harmony, so soothing to others, should have touched the delicate sensibilities of one mind, and even aroused a feeling of resentment, which could not be controlled.
Yet there was such an instance.
A young lady, devoted to the subline science of music, deliberately arose from her seat, proceeded to the choir, took the manuscript composition from one of the singers and tore it into shreds.
We know that there exists among professional musicians, as well as among painters and poets, a degree of pride which cannot submit tamely to humiliation.
If a painter sees his own favorite work exhibited for the purpose of establishing another's reputation, or if the poet suddenly awakes from a dream of fame and finds his unpublished manuscript appropriated by another, the world is not astonished at the
emeute which ensues.
So a musician may have an unpublished composition, perhaps original, or perhaps the gift of a beloved patron, which may, by some unexplained process, be made to serve the purposes of another.
Professional pride is aroused, and heaven and earth stand still to witness the denouncement.
Whether a similar influence operated or not, in the instance we have just mentioned, we do not pretend to say; but there must have been some intense provocation to have led to such an unusual scene in a place consecrated to the worship of the Almighty.
