The subject of the paper which I have the honour to submit to the members of the Association this afternoon is so intimately entwined about our art, extends over so large an area, and is of such deep personal interest to musicians of every degree, that I venture to hope it will elicit copious observations from the members present. It were easy from a subject of such magnitude to fill a volume, but I have carefully condensed my remarks, and dealt only with the salient features, those from which the art is likely to gain the most by discussion. On this theme most of the master minds in art have eloquently discoursed, and not the least, Goethe. There is the real ring of downright affection for art in his words—“It is our bounden duty to hold style in highest honour, to reverence a term which should imply the noblest and worthiest that art has ever achieved, or ever can achieve. Only to have the power to recognise it is a happiness. To discourse on it with fellow intelligences is a pure joy.” It is in this spirit that I approach my paper.