HAN 
| Society derived £6000 more; from the profits of a 
commemoration in honour of Handel, perform. 
ed by 525 voices and instruments in Westminster Ab- 
, in 1784. 
‘Handel's merit as a ny, ee ranks very high ; and 
few if any have excelled in that —e th 
which he latterly chalked out for himself. The style of 
music indeed, has undergone inconceivable alterations 
since his death ; but many of his compositions are even 
at this day heard with delight, though a century has 
elapsed sinee their production. His music is alike su- 
blime in one character, and pathetic in another ; and so 
long as simplicity and 
will never lose their impression. The quanti 
that Handel wrote is surprising. It certainly ex 
what has flowed from the coe of any other compo- 
ser, however voluminous his works; and it is so 
great, that we must be content with observing, that 
produced between 40 and 50 operas, between 
20 and 30 oratorios, besides organ concertos, and other 
music. _A complete edition of the whole, we believe, 
was published a few years ago, in 80 folio volumes. Al- 
though a large proportion of Handel’s compositions are ' 
excellent, it is undeniable that many seem dull and 
h on modern ‘taste ; and the reiteration of favourite, 
or he might conceive appropriate passages, cer- 
inly impairs their effect. The Grand Chorusses of the 
Messiah, the Coronation Anthem, Farewell ye lim- 
pid streams, Angels ever bright and fair, and nume- 
rous others, can never be listened to without emotion, 
Yet Handel, with all his excellence, committed that 
egregious error to which musicians are so prone,—he 
wrote too much. It is vain to expect perpetual novelty 
in thoughts or actions ; the inexhaustible renewal of hu- 
. man genius does not exist, or it appears only in arrange- 
ment. Nature has bestowed but a trifling portion of 
originality on any individual, however comprehensive 
his intellect ; and so soon is that of composers betowed™ 
on their works, that extravagancé aiid‘ caprice are offer- 
ed for what is already exhausted. They enjoy a lati- 
tude, it is true, which is denied to literature or pai 
ing. These must be guided by certain principles which - 
are special and defined, and of which the violation will 
ever be’ rejected by genuine taste. But musie is not 
restricted within definite boundaries ; while we acknow- 
ledge a few imperfections that should be avoided, we 
imperfe 
cannot describe that particular course which shall guide. 
us to éxcellence. “Hence public opinion will long be~ 
divided on musical merit; that which pleases the ear 
will gratify. the majority ; and the rest will seek for 
some less prominent property, which may be the sub- 
ject of reflection. Perhaps a piece of music should be 
compared to a narrative, while it is agreeable in one 
part, nothing ought to be outdone in another. A ge- 
neral character should be preserved throughout. Were 
this attended to, fewer useless compositions, parti- 
cularly instrumental itions, would be obtruded 
on the public. Handel’s works unquestionably evince 
the mind of a great master. He who can move an au- 
dience, both by pathos and grandeur, must be admit- 
ted to have no ordinary ius. Nevertheless he 
has perhaps fallen into another error, in endeavour~ 
ing to e the imagination feel what it is necessary 
to behold, before being alive to the impression, or 
what it would probably require a kind of complex 
machinery to represent.. For example, the sun stand- 
ing still, a phehomenon of nature, from which we 
‘expect the annihilation of the ter- 
should at this , 
ly imitated by a note of uncommon 
restrial globe, is 
629 
deur are valued by mankind, . 
- of the 
HAN 
duration, 
The hopping of frogs, 
ann rephing frogs, the buzzing of flies, Wane? 
sufficient in words; they are 
ra y. t 
scarcely appropriate inmusic. Another inimitable Hanaitel, 
yan, " m8 Sy 
ter, Ha has followed the fi of his country- 
man — my eva points. Bat how can uby 
one discover es of lightning, the flowing of streams, 
pas roaring of = — ae of worms, from 
'Y @ssociation of musical notes? Such allegories are 
beyond the reach of the most vigorous imagination, ° 
which would be perplexed in searching for the analogy. 
One of Handel's operas opens with an imitation of a storm 
and a shipwreck ; anda symphony is introduced in ano- 
ther to express the shrieks and cries of tortured souls 
in the infernal regions. 
We must conclude, on the whole, that Handel is one 
masters who has ever flourished; and. 
that his style and rformance materially contributed to: 
ce that revolution in music, which has taken place 
in the course of the ei th century. (c) 
HANG-TCHEOU-FOO. See Cura, p- 211. 
HANNIBAL, the celebrated Carthaginian com- 
mander, was born about 220 years B. C.; and, when 
only nine years of age, accompanied his father Hamil- 
car tothe army in Spain. Before his re, hes 
vowed at the altar, that he would never be in friend~ 
ship with the Romans ; and in the camp of Hamilcar, 
the most distinguished _— of those times, he ac- 
quired that military skill, which afterwards rendered 
his enmity so formidable. At the death of his father, 
nine years after, he continued to serve in the field un- 
der his brother-in-law, Asdrubal, who had succeeded 
to the command ; and, when this general fell by assassi- 
nation, abouteight years afterwards, he was unanimously 
chosen by the army as their leader, while the senate at 
Carthage with one voice ratified the election. Soon after’ 
his confirmation in the command of the troops, he accom 
ae the reduction of the Olcades, and, loaded with 
, took up his winter quarters in New ame (the: 
modern Carthagena), where he completely the af-. 
fections of the soldiery by his liberal distribution of the 
lunder, and the hopes of farther conquests, with which. 
inspiredthem. Inthe following year he reduced all 
the Spanish nations on the south of the Iberus, except 
the Saguntines, the allies of Rome; and, upon returns: 
ing to his former winter — received an admoni«. 
tion from the Romans to beware of molesting a people: 
who had been taken under their i Concei- 
ving. the armies of his to have now attained’ 
sufficient strength to contend with the legions of Rome, 
and eager to vent his long cherished hatred against that 
rival republic, he returned such an answer as clearly’ 
intimated his hostile intentions, and immediately trans-. 
mitted to direct charges. against the 
times of having committed outrages upon the allies of 
the state. Having received’ permission to make i 
posing the designs of the Carthaginians to have been li 
baited’ the reduction of Saguntum, and were prepa< 
ring to send an army by sea to Spain, as the seat of the 
approaching contest, Hannibal having secured the 
friendship of the Gauls on both sides of the Alps, be< 
his march for Italy with an army of 50,000 in- 
antry, and 9000 horse ; evaded the Consul P: Scipioy 
who attempted, by landing at the mouth of the Rhone, 
to intercept his progress, carried his army across the 
