All that the vicar had yet done was to intone a part of the service, and at once many announced that they should stay away.
Next he introduced a choir.

The sweet voices of the white-robed boys rising along the vaulted roof of the old church melted the hearts of those who, with excuses for their curiosity to their neighbours, ventured to go and hear them.

The vicar had a natural talent, almost a genius, for music.
There was a long struggle in his mind whether he might or might not permit himself an organ in his library.

He decided it against himself, mortifying the spirit as well as the flesh, but in the service of the Church he felt that he might yield to his inclination.

By degrees he gathered round him the best voices of the parish; the young of both sexes came gladly after awhile to swell the volume of song.