THE PURCELL COMMEMORATION.
THE yearly commemoration of PURCELL took place at Westminster Abbey on Thursday ; when the members of the Purcell Club, united with the Vicars-choral of the Abbey, formed a goodly and "full-voiced choir." The Service was that which PURCELL composed for St. Cecilia's Day in 1694; and which for truth and force of expression stands, in our estimation, unrivalled. In the intercessory portion of the Te Deum, allotted to the principal voices, equally with the choral harmonies of the Jubilate, their author's genius and erudition alike appear. The Anthems selected were " 0 praise God in his holiness," and "My heart is inditing "-each for eight voices, and therefore to be heard only on such occasions as these. Rarely, if ever, has the latter, been sung since it formed part of the ceremony of JAMES the Second's coronation ; for which occasion it was written. The performance was therefore historically interesting, and suggestive of instructive reminiscences; the words " Thou shalt have children whom thou mayest make princes in all lands," having been
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