singer of his day,
achieved one of his brightest triumphs in the part of Samson. His
history was romantic. In 1732 he married the Lady Henrietta, daughter
of James, Earl of Waldegrave, and widow of Lord Edward Herbert, second
son of the Marquis of Powis. In 1759 he took as his second wife
Charlotte, daughter of John Rich, the harlequin."--_Rockstro._

[5] Alexander's Feast; or, the Power of Music.

The Messiah.

The "Messiah" represents the ripened product of Handel's genius, and
reflects the noblest aspirations and most exalted devotion of mankind.
Among all his oratorios it retains its original freshness, vigor, and
beauty in the highest degree, in that it appeals to the loftiest
sentiment and to universal religious devotion, and is based upon the most
harmonious, symmetrical, and enduring forms of the art.

It was begun on the 22d day of August, 1741. The first part was concluded
August 28, the second, September 6, the third, September 12, and the
instrumentation, September 14. It is an illustration of Handel's almost
superhuman capacity for work, that at the age of fifty-six he should have
written his masterpiece in twenty-three days. The text was taken from the
literal words of Scripture, and the libretto arranged by Charles Jennens,
who, singularly enough, was not satisfied with the music which has
satisfied the world. In a letter written at that time, he says:--

"I shall show you a collection I gave Handel, called 'Messiah,' which I
value highly. He has made a fine entertainment of it, though not near
so good as he might and ought to have done. I have with great
difficulty made him correct some of the grossest faults in the
composition; but he retained his overture obstinately, in which there
are some passages far unworthy of Handel, but much more unworthy of the
'Messiah.'"

For two or three years prior to the appearance of the "Messiah," Handel
had been harassed by cabals set on foot by rival opera-managers in
London, who, by importing Italian singers, drew off the patronage of the
nobility, and ultimately succeeded in reducing him to the condition of an
insolvent debtor. While in this wretched plight an invitation came to him
from the Duke of Devonshire, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to visit
Dublin. He eagerly accepted it, and in the correspondence which passed
between them promised to contribute a portion of whatever might accrue
from hi