From Rome he went to Naples, where he spent his second Italian summer, and composed the original Italian “Aci e Galatea,” which in its English version, afterward written for the Duke of Chandos, has continued a marked favorite with the musical world.  Thence, after a lingering return through the sunny land where he had been so warmly welcomed, and which had taught him most effectually, in convincing him that his musical life had nothing in common with the traditions of Italian musical art, he returned to Germany, settling at the court of George of Brunswick, Elector of Hanover, and afterward King of England.  He received commission in the course of a few months from the elector to visit England, having been warmly invited thither by some English noblemen.  On his return to Hanover, at the end of six months, he found the dull and pompous little court unspeakably tiresome after the bustle of London.  So it is not to be marveled at that he took the earliest opportunity of returning to the land which he afterward adopted.  At this period he was not yet twenty-five years old, but already famous as a performer on the organ and harpsichord, and as a composer of Italian operas.

When Queen Anne died and Handel’s old patron became King of England, Handel was forbidden to appear before him, as he had not forgotten the musician’s escapade; but his peace was at last made by a little ruse.  Handel had a friend at court, Baron Kilmansegge, from whom he learned that the king was, on a certain day, going to take an excursion on the Thames.  So he set to work to compose music for the occasion, which he arranged to have performed on a boat which followed the king’s barge.  As the king floated down the river he heard the new and delightful “Water-Music.”  He knew that only one man could have composed such music; so he sent for Handel, and sealed his pardon with a pension of two hundred pounds a year.

II.

Let us take a glance at the society in which the composer moved in the heyday of his youth.  His greatness was to be perfected in after-years by bitter rivalries, persecution, alternate oscillations of poverty and affluence, and a multitude of bitter experiences.  But at this time Handel’s life was a serene and delightful one.  Rival factions had not been organized to crush him.  Lord Burlington lived much at his mansion, which was then out of town, although the house is now in the heart of Piccadilly.  The intimate friendship of this nobleman helped to bring the young musician into contact with many distinguished people.

It is odd to think of the people Handel met daily without knowing that their names and his would be in a century famous.  The following picture sketches Handel and his friends in a sprightly fashion: 

“Yonder heavy, ragged-looking youth standing at the corner of Regent Street, with a slight and rather more refined-looking companion, is the obscure Samuel Johnson, quite unknown to fame.  He is walking with Richard Savage.  As Signor Handel, ‘the composer of Italian music,’ passes by, Savage becomes excited, and nudges his friend, who takes only a languid interest in the foreigner.  Johnson did not care for music; of many noises he considered it the least disagreeable.