for a garden party at Castle Wemyss, his residence on Wemyss Bay. Invitations were sent out to four hundred persons of prominence and influence in the west of Scotland; and Lord Shaftesbury, who was also present, made a very effective appeal for their co-operation in promoting the mission of the Singers.
To crown these helpful efforts to forward their work in Scotland, his Lordship placed in Mr. Pike's hands, before their departure from Castle Wemyss, letters of introduction to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Their contents were at that time unknown. Least of all was it suspected that they contained a proposal that the authorities of Glasgow and Edinburgh should vote a welcome to the Singers, and bring them before the public under the auspices of the "Lord Provost, the magistrates, and the Town Council" of these two leading cities! Reports of this gathering at Castle Wemyss had prominent place in the daily papers, kindling a general desire to hear the Singers.
A series of successful concerts followed. At Largs the pastor of the Established (Presbyterian) Church set a desirable precedent by opening his church for a concert with an admission-fee. The city authorities at Greenock gave the Singers the use of the Town Hall, which holds two thousand people. It was densely crowded on two evenings with audiences as sympathetic and enthusiastic as could be desired.
With the enterprise so well launched as it was when the Singers left London, it was not thought necessary for Rev. Mr. Powell to remain longer, and he returned to America, to look after the interests of the
