When they finally sang, without books, Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" the Dorchestrians gave up the contest and gracefully acknowledged defeat.' At least the choristers of Massachusetts were enthusiastic and sincere, and for their enthusiasm and sincerity one can forgive them many faults. How many musical societies existed in Boston during the last years of the eighteenth century we cannot say. There seems to have been a number of them. In 1789, during the visit of Washington to Boston, 'an Oratorio or Concert of Sacred Musick' was given in which the choruses of the oratorio of Jonah were sung by the Independent Musical Society. There is no evidence of the dates at which this society began or ended its existence, but it must have been a fairly efficient organization. There was no lack of competent musicians in Boston at that time, and choral singing especially seems to have been in high favor with a goodly share of the population. The society of the Sons of Apollo, which existed in 1795, was probably a vocal organization also, though we know nothing about it. Boston possessed a Philharmonic Society which was founded probably before 1799. Possibly Gottlieb Graupner, one of the most prominent figures in the early musical life of Boston, was among its founders, and it seems likely that it was identical with the Philharmonic Society which is supposed to have been founded by Graupner and his friends in 1810 or 1811. According to Mr. J. S. Dwight, author of a 'History of Music in Boston,' the Philharmonic was 'simply a social meeting, held on Saturday evenings, when, in their small way, they practised Haydn's symphonies.' This statement, however, does not square with the fact that the society gave regular concerts and was described by the musical journal, 'Euterpeiad,' as a 'useful nursery of music.' Its last concert took place in 1824 and apparently it went out of existence in that year.