Page:The Story of the Jubilee Singers (7th).djvu/70

 for a private concert at Willis's Rooms on the afternoon of the 6th of May. Cards of invitation, issued in the name of the Earl of Shaftesbury and the Committee of the Society, were sent to the nobility, members of Parliament, the leading clergymen of different denominations, editors, and other persons of influence likely to be interested in such a cause. The visit to London had been timed with a view to reaching the influential ministers and laymen from all parts of the kingdom who throng there during the May anniversaries. Mr. Pike—and Rev. James Powell, who, being of English birth and used to English ways, had come with him to aid in launching the enterprise in foreign waters—had spent nearly a month in stirring up an interest through the press and in private effort.

When the time for the concert came, the hall was filled with a distinguished assemblage. The Singers, keenly eager to justify the promises made on their behalf, did their best.

Before the programme was half-finished they had carried their audience by storm. At the close congratulations were lavished upon them, and offers of co-operation were abundant. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll were foremost in expressing a desire to assist them, and, before leaving the hall, arranged for a visit of the Singers to Argyll Lodge the next day. The leading dailies, the Times, the Standard, the News, the Telegraph, on the next morning gave cordial praise of the entertainment. Through this first concert, and the distinguished hospitalities to which it led, the Singers found themselves at once