ously declared the winner, amid thunders of applause.

Heidegger, who made so light of a joke at his own expense, dedicated the
libretto of Amadis to the Earl of Burlington, at whose house, in
Piccadilly, the music had been composed by Handel. When the King asked
the Earl why he went so far to live, he replied that he was fond of
solitude, and that he was certain that he had found a place where no one
could come and build beside him. It is one hundred and forty seven years
since he said this. Piccadilly, where the house of this solitary lord is
to be found, is now, I need scarcely tell you, one of the most central
and fashionable parts of London.

In 1717, Handel paid a flying visit to his native town. When he returned
to London, in 1718, he found the Italian theatre closed, being unable to
support itself; but the chapel of the Duke of Chandos was in a
flourishing condition. The Duke of Chandos, formerly Paymaster-General
of Queen Anne's army, had built near the village of Edgeware a mansion
called Cannons.

In "A journey through England," by Miss Spence, this mansion is thus
described:--

"The palace of the Duke of Chandos was erected in the eighteenth
century. This magnificent structure with its decorations and furniture
cost L230,000. The pillars of the great hall were of marble, as were the
steps of the principal staircase, each step consisting of one piece
twenty-two feet long. The establishment of the household was not
inferior to the splendour of the habitation. Notwithstanding the three
successive shocks which his fortune received by his concern in the
African Company and the Mississippi and South Sea speculations in
1718-19-20, the Duke lived in splendour at Cannons till his death in
1744, rather as the presumptive heir to a diadem than as one of Her
Majesty's subjects. So extraordinary indeed, was his style of living,
that he was designated '_The Grand Duke_.'"

Among other objects of luxury this duke had a chapel furnished like the
churches of Italy. It was situate a short distance from the mansion, and
we are told that he went there with true Christian humility, "attended
by his Swiss Guards," ranged as the Yeoman of the Guard. Every Sunday
the road from London to Edgeware was thronged with carriages of the
members of the nobility and gentry, who went to pray to God with his
grace. Dr. Pepusch, one of the greatest musical celebrities of the time,
was the first chapel master; but the Duke of Chandos, who