in the fine..arts were as exanitite as his patronage to their i 
votaries was liberal. And during the other two years, Han- 
del feems to ear been emplo tee at Cannons, as maeftro di misfort 
apella to the duke of Chandos ; who, amon: other fplen- 
did and eet kinds of magnificence, eftablifhed a ¢ 
ig which the thedral fervice was daily performed by a ir to 
in number and excellence, to that of any fovereign prince in 
Europe. Here Handel produced, befides his anthems, the 
chief part of his hautbois concertos, fonatas, leffons, and 
fugues ; which are all fo mafterly, {pirited, and ex- 
quifite i in their feveral kinds, that if he had never compofed 
_ an opera, oratorio, T’e Deum, duet, cantata, or any other 
fpecies of vocal mufic, his ae would have been held in 
reverence true muficians, as long as the characters i in 
which oa are Moog fhould A Pati to be le: 
WwW now to the bufieft and moft glorious via a 
; who, arrived at that flage of exiftence which 
«“ a ah mezzo del cammin | di Rola vita 5 a 
mbarrafs 3a psestor es compo- 
® profelion sates Fail 
great and jc eoptak ro i - 
cite happinefs and trang 
left wit ae leifi ifure and zeal. oy late ‘he 
but. with power. > liberally. 
ze heel oe ae carcied ‘ee beyond he bound 
eet brace the. 
18 Se ee r bette 
t his n me api as ss 
Rais, ; to. y theriand, pane: called 
sa FR oyal Ac y.? ? "i 
: snl Progrels and declenfion of, this cReablidhiness; willbe 
: account fy cs eee 
waa snot Teal. . of Peuds, and Se eee 
demy was fu 
ed an and continued to flourith, with the 
ting the + 
‘or difionourable terms. It is painful to dwell on this 
emai his life, which was one. a tidhie of loffes:and 
unes. He produced thirty’ 
ras between the years 
1721 and 1740; yet, after the diffohetion! of the academy, - 
none — attended with the fuccefs that was due 
47205 
their i intrinfic and fuperior merit, t 
ugh fome of the 
bef were rise to that period. | Negle& and oppofition 
eonfpired to rob him at once of health, fame, and fortune.’ 
Inthe mid&- of opera fquabbles, whi'e 
e principal n 
who feized on. the theatre in 
he, was oppofed by 
the pri obility and gentry of the Royal Academy; 
the Haym 
eiepper ing 
an opera without his compofitions, or the perfort rance of 
his adherents; when, fetting up for himnfelf, at his own rifks 
he engaged the’ t atre in Lincoln’ ‘s-inn-Fields, and a new 
this period t 
a of oratorios in the theatre. 
“Handel, in the year 1732, 
began th 
«« Efther,’’ lich 
he had compofed for the duke of Chandos, at Canbonsiea in 
riber' was _ firft ;.«« Deborah,” the fecond ; and * Atha- 
liah,”’ the third ; which was poeta in the public theatre 
at Oxford. im 1733, when he open 1 ki in fuch a 
manner as atto: hm Ai AB L 
he I 
Chriftian Felting a nd ee Arne, who were nce hy bot 
affured us, that neither themfelves, nor any one elfe of their 
It was during thefe earl performances of oratories that 
of mufic wholly of his 
& 
erg firft gratified the public by playing concertos 
a fj 
own “sa in 
widak eke uall alle witeahased an. extempore fy fugue, a diapafon- 
é piece, or an mais manifefting not 
tility and readinefs of his SAG = t the molt 
acc curac and neatnefs of execu 
age | 
of «© Souk* wad : performed for the 
“ In 1740, the orat 
firft S gf the tate Lincoli’s-inn-Fields; and from’ 
f may be faid — Pe de 
gee to tr ae of the chur 
3 as, eXce 
voted ov Tabours 
concertos for en and the « “Phcork B ufie, en rte 
ions than oratorios, that were 
ie 
Fir 
Kah ea. shai he totally sii 
175%, ‘the produced fifteen Ht crt ora 
h words t to the mu 
obferve _— that till the. year 1727, this + ich We had t4 “te Taban. Wor 
pporte : 
oe 
ee ca Aix ha , Chapelle, 17485 we pepe no othe 
‘he! errt ; 
orios, aud 2 
be ara St 
yet t! of them which exduilves and darling 
merit fog ach Mr, Sh, or MiB 
= FH gga 
