A country singing-school--who, that has ever attended one, is not carried back to some of the most delightful scenes of his earlier years by the mere mention of the name? What visions of early playmates and schoolmates, of bright moonlight rides, with the merry chimes of bells and shouts of joyous hearts, as group after group from different families was gathered for the school, and crowded into the capacious sleigh--mothers' warm, home-made mittens, stockings, and flannels, and all the buffalo-robes in the neighborhood, bidding defiance to an atmosphere at zero! And then the frank, unstudied greetings and companionship at the village church; the lighting of candles that each one had brought from home (no lamps or sextons in those days); the first essays, of each pupil alone, at the ascending and descending scale, with this one's failure and that one's success; the coquettings and rivalries of the "intermission," and the successful and unsuccessful offers of the youthful beaux to "go home with the girls" at the close of the school--these and a thousand other pleasant memories come thronging upon the mind at the remembrance of a country singing-school! We had spent several evenings upon the rudiments, singing from the blackboard; the teacher had decided that the old books would not do (what singing-school teacher since that day, in view of his commissions on the new book, has failed to reach the same conclusion?); and we had obtained the "Manhattan Collection," which was just then a candidate for public favor. Several of the old members of the choir were standing in a group, during an "intermission," expressing their opinions on the merits of the new book, when Deacon Arnold said to the teacher: "Here is a new tune I should like to have you look at--'Ortonville.' I have hummed it over, and it seems a very good one." The teacher glanced over it, said they would try it, and very soon the school were singing-- "Majestic sweetness sits enthroned," as those words have been sung a thousand times to the sweet and simple notes of-- [Illustration: ORTONVILLE. C.M. Thomas Hastings, Mus. Doc. Ma-jes-tic sweet-ness sits enthroned Up-on the Sav-iour's brow: His head with radiant glory crowned, His lips with grace o'erflow, His lips with grace o'erflow.] Such was my first acquaintance with this piece of sacred music. Little did I then think that it was an acquaintance I was to meet in such different and distant parts of the world, in so many and such varied circumstances, and that was to afford me such peculiar pleasure.