Some have asked—why did the Shakers invent so much—why did such beauty abound in their work—I can only say—The beauty of the world about us is only according to what we ourselves bring to it. For example: to some, Autumn is a prelude to winter with its cold and loneliness. To others, Autumn represents the magnificence of God’s Great Creation, but for we who follow the path of Godliness, the world takes on a new and more beautiful dimension, and everywhere we find that inner love that brings to our lives the great radiance of God’s great love. With you and only you, lies the choice of selection. To me—I like the words of the poet, who looking on the beauty of Autumn, said, “Dear Lord, when with this life I’m thru and I make my abode with you, Just one thing I would ask of Thee. Will Heaven have Autumn, and crimson trees?” SHAKER MUSIC The study of music was a basic feature of education among the Shakers. In the early days, songs were learned orally, and communicated from one Society to another, by word of mouth. The first person to urge the study of music was Brother Abram Whitney, a teacher of music, and a member of the Shaker Society at Shirley, Mass. Upon solicitation, Brother Abram visited Canterbury and Enfield, N. H., and gave lessons in the rudiments of elementary music. About 1821 he, with the help of other inventive minds, developed a form of musical notation, called Shaker Script or Letteral System, so named, because of the use of letters, instead of the conventional round notes. In this method, the first seven letters of the alphabet, were used. Capital letters were whole notes, small letters designated quarter notes, while Italics were used for eighth notes, and half-notes had a line added to the side of the letter. In 1843, a Shaker brother from Mt. Lebanon, N. Y., by the name of Isaac N. Youngs, changed this method, and used only the small letters of the alphabet, and altered the system of designating the tempo. He published a pamphlet, entitled “A Short Abridgement of the Rules of Music”. Later, Russel Haskell of Enfield, Conn. wrote “A Musical Expositor”, or a treatise on the rules and elements of music, about the year 1847.