ght very highly of, and of which he possessed
seven. The musicians accompanied the king and Bach from one room to
another; and after the latter had tried all the pianos, he begged the
king to give him a fugue subject, that he could at once extemporise upon.
Frederick thereupon wrote out the subject, and Bach developed this in the
most learned and interesting manner, to the great astonishment of the
king, who, on his side, asked to hear a fugue in six parts. But since
every subject is not adapted for so full a working out, Bach chose one
for himself, and astounded those present by his performance. The king,
who was not easily astonished, was completely taken by surprise at the
unapproachable mastery of the old cantor. Several times he cried, 'There
is only one Bach!' On the following day Bach played on all the organs in
the churches of Potsdam."

[Illustration: Frederick the Great and Bach. From painting by Herman
Kaulbach.]

Rosenthal portrayed the composer making music among his family; Hermann
Kaulbach has depicted him playing before Frederick. The artist has given
such a look of naturalness to the scene, that we are quite satisfied to
accept his presentment and believe that thus the king and his court
listened

"While the majestic organ rolled
Contrition from its mouths of gold."

Hermann Kaulbach is a son of the renowned painter, Wilhelm von Kaulbach.
A pupil of Piloty, he was born at Munich in 1846, and has produced some
works of a historic character, such as "Lucrezia Borgia," "Voltaire at
Paris," "Louis XI. and His Barber," and "The Last Days of Mozart," but is
perhaps still more successful with his admirable pictures of childhood.
We must not forget to mention his "Madonna," a work which should add much
to his fame.

HANDEL.

Like many other children who grew up to fame, Handel was not intended
by his parents to follow the art in which he is renowned. His father,
who was body surgeon to the Prince of Saxony, wished him to become a
lawyer.

All accounts of Handel's childhood "agree in representing him as
bright, clever, energetic, and singularly tenacious of purpose. These
qualities he inherited; the special genius on which they were brought
to bear was all his own. Unlike Bach, the flower and crown of a race
of born musicians, there seems no record in Handel's case of his having
a single musical or artistic progenitor. From infancy, however, he
lived in music, its attraction for