Greetings, all. I just created an account on the forum, although I've been a lurker and user of CMAA resources for a long time. I wanted to share with you all a fascinating resource which I believe is more than just a historical curiosity. I went to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's music library in Fort Worth, obtained permission to photograph and transcribe one of the few surviving copies of Augustus Welby Pugin's "Earnest Appeal for the Revival of the Ancient Plain Song", first published in 1850. Augustus Pugin, whose bicentenary we celebrate this year, was the most influential Catholic architect of Victorian Britain. He designed the interior of the Houses of Parliament and the Clock Tower of Big Ben; but he spent the greater part of his career building Catholic churches across England, including the first Catholic cathedral in England since the Reformation, and spearheading the Gothic revival. He was involved in every level of the liturgical arts, including the design of vestments, chalices, altars, episcopal rings, and even book covers. He was also a chanter, known to attend the Divine Office daily in cassock and surplice.

The year before he died, he published this tract in defense of Gregorian chant, congregational singing, and the placement of the choir in the chancel (within the sanctuary, vested in cassock and surplice). This pamphlet has never before appeared on the Internet until I posted it on my blog this week. Here's a link with a brief introduction: An Earnest Appeal for the Revival of the Ancient Plain Song.

I've also attached here an easy-to-read copy in .pdf, if you might prefer that.

Finally, here's a link to my own commentary on the Earnest Appeal, but they're only my own opinions, which I hope can be evaluated separately from the tract itself.