the evening concerts. The whole net proceeds, after the expenses are deducted, go to the support of the Hospital. Thus a rare opportunity and inducement are presented to make a virtue out of pleasure, and to give both self and sympathy a rich treat at the same time. The first festival was held in 1778 at St. Philip's Church, the best building then in the town for such performances, which consisted of selections of sacred music, and lasted three days. The total receipts were £800, and the net profit £299. In 1834 the festival was held in the new Town Hall and with the new organ; and the receipts were £13,527, and the net profit £4,035. In 1864 the receipts amounted to £13,777, and the clear profit to £5,256. The grand total received at all these Triennial Festivals, from 1768 to 1864 inclusive, is £216,499; and the whole net amount realized for the Hospital is £84,589. Thus music has had a beautiful mission in connexion with the Birmingham Town Hall and its organ. It has brought songs of gladness and gratitude to thousands in the long, dark night of suffering, and, like the angel at the pool of Bethesda, helped many a poor maimed or sick man and woman into the healing fountain.
The Free Grammar School, on New Street, is a large and well-proportioned Gothic building, with less space sacrificed to acute angles than is generally the case with that order of architecture. It
