An essay on music with musical examples "To alleviate the innumerable calamities of human life, to soothe and calm the boisterous passion, to light up the emotions of love and friendship, to elevate and inspire the mind with true devotion, to give us some foretaste of those sublime pleasures enjoyed by the celestial choirs, is the office and effect of music:--"

John Hubbard, Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy at Dartmouth College founded The Handel Society in 1807 to fulfill a need for the study and performance of sacred music. Hubbard advocated musical reform in church music and the development of musical taste in America as he saw it, espousing the work of worthy European composers while denigrating the “unworthy” compositional efforts of early Americans. [Dartmouth History]