It is Mr. Crisparkle's custom to sit up last of the
early household, very softly touching his piano and
practising his parts in concerted vocal music.

Over a closet in his dining-room, where occasional refreshments
were kept,

a portrait of Handel in a flowing wig beamed down at
the spectator, with a knowing air of being up to the
contents of the closet, and a musical air of intending
to combine all its harmonies in one delicious fugue.

The Minor Canon is a warm admirer of Jasper's musical talents,
and on one occasion in particular is much impressed with
his singing.

I must thank you, Jasper, for the pleasure with which
I have heard you to-day. Beautiful! Delightful!

And thus we are introduced to the other musician, whose position
at Cloisterham Cathedral is almost as much a mystery as that of
Edwin Drood himself. He was the lay precentor or lay clerk, and
he was also a good choirmaster. It is unnecessary to criticize
or examine too closely the exact position that Jasper held. In
answer to a question on this subject, Mr. B. Luard-Selby,
the present organist of Rochester Cathedral, writes thus:

We have never had in the choir of Rochester Cathedral
such a musical functionary as Dickens describes in _The
Mystery of Edwin Drood_. The only person approaching