ntinues the doctor, 'was somewhat heavy and
sour, but when he did smile it was the sun bursting out of a black
cloud. There was a sudden flash of intelligence, wit, and good humour
beaming in his countenance which I hardly ever saw in any other.' His
sense of humour was keen, and he could relish a joke--especially when
it was not directed towards himself. When visiting Dublin he was
accompanied by the celebrated violinist Dubourg, who was engaged to
play at his performances. One evening Dubourg was delighting the
audience with an extempore cadenza, and wandered so far away from the
original key that he found it no easy matter to return to it. At
length, after some moments of suspense, the shake was heard which
announced that the violinist was about to return to the theme; Handel
thereupon looked up from the harpsichord, and, in a voice loud enough
to be heard throughout the hall, exclaimed, with significant emphasis,
'Velcome _home_ again, Mr. Dubourg!'

In bringing our story of Handel's life to a close, we are tempted to
make a brief comparison between Handel and that other great master who
lived and worked at the same time--Sebastian Bach. When we compare the
two men we perceive this marked difference between them--namely, that,
while Bach evinced a complete indifference with regard to public
praise, but a very deep interest in the works of other musicians,
Handel cared a great deal for what the public thought of his works,
and was too much absorbed in his own music to give much attention to
the compositions of others. The one wrote for posterity; he published
but little, and it was only when half a century had passed since his
death that the musical world awoke to a sense of the inestimable value
which attached to the works which that life had produced. Handel, on
the other hand, studied the tastes of his own day as regards both
sacred and secular music, and devoted the whole of his life to the
supply of that demand on the part of the public which he had done so
much to create and develop.

Full as was Handel's life as regards the fulfilment of its great
object, it was in other ways extremely simple. Few things outside his
incessant round of work interested him, but he was fond of going to
the theatre, and he had a passion for attending picture sales. Of his
charity we have spoken, but we may add that he was always ready to
help those in distress, and he helped to found the Society for Aiding
Distressed Musicians.