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Observer, Volume 2, Issue 35, 14 May 1881, Page 373

Mr. Pope-of-Rome Nelson having, by dexterous maneuvering, 'got rid of Mr. Gordon Gooch has himself undertaken the duties of " boss" ing St. Paul's choir, and is fast driving the singers to distraction, and the congregation to other and better Sabbath evening concerts. Last Sunday the music was (with the single exception of Mr. Angelo Forest's playing) execrable. Many stopped their ears in sheer agony, and during the execution — it was, indeed, an execution — of the quartette, the members of the choir who were not performing, either burst into tears, or relapsed into satirical grins. Alas ! how has St. Paul's fallen from its high estate, Swallow Stephens, Stanier, Wilson, and Gooch ; all, all are gone, and very little more of the Pope-of-Rome business will suffice to drive away the melodious Brett, and the harmonious Edmiston When Mr. Nelson stands like Scipio (or some such classic "bloke ") amidst the ruins of Carthage, we mean of his choir, he may perhaps remember "the days that are no more," and, lifting up his clarion voice on high, cry out that "pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."