The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-30 00:00:00

country for twenty years, argues that if you
" asked the best general upon earth to sing
" the finest opera in the world, he will not
" bring one halfpenny into the treasury of the
" theatre." M. Sehcelcher maintains that
Italian opera in England is much less a taste
than a fashion, and that it has never enjoyed
on the banks of the Thames but a sickly life,
like that of an exotic. " How many specula-
" tors," he adds, "has it not ruined. In the
" present day it is only supported by fashion,
" and the large number of wealthy strangers
" who abound in such cities as London and
" Paris. To prove how factitious is the
" audience, it is only necessary to mention
" the exceedingly high prices for admission,
" and the regulation that a frock coat cannot
"be admitted even in the pit. The free
" Briton who does not possess a dress coat is
" forbidden to listen to an Italian song."

M. Scheeteller's acquaintance with London
amateurship is singularly limited. Since the
days of Queen Elizabeth, when every gentle-
man was expected to be able to join in part-
singing at sight, there never existed an
aristocracy more accomplished in musical
acquirements. The French author's poli-
tical antipathies intrude themselves into
every portion of his work. Royalty and the
nobility are his horrors ; an amateur must
have a frock coat or no coat at all to command
his sympathy. Handel was a tyrant, he ad-
mits, " but to be a tyrant a man must be a
" slave, and Handel was no slave !" Sehcelcher's
antipathies are stronger than his logic. After
writing thirty-nine Italian operas, Handel
came to the conclusion " that John Bull (as
" the British nation is vulgarly called) had
" not yet the taste for that species of musio,
" and-he renounced it for ever." This was in
1741, and in November of that year Handel
went to Ireland, alluded to by Pope in the
" Dunciad"

Strong in new arms, lo! giant Handel stands,
Like bold Briareus with his hundred hands;
To stir, to rouse, to shake the soul, he comes,
And Jove's own thunders follow Mars's drums.
Arrest him, Empress, or you sleep no more—
She heard, and drove him to the Hibernian shore.

Handers musical entertainments in Dublin
were most successful, and The Messiah and
Mr. Townsend's book, "An Account of the
Visit of Handel to Dublin," amply proves that
his genius was thoroughly understood and
appreciated. The advertisements of these per-
formances request the "ladies to come without
4. their hoops," and the Crystal Palace directors
might as well suggest to the ladies of the
actual epoch to attend without their crinoline.
M Schcelcher is minute to weariness in tracing
the history of The Messiah, but he really adds
nothing to our previous knowledge. He pro-
tests against the pianissimos introduced by
Costa in the chorus, " Unto us a child is
born," and Mr. littlish in the choruses "Fallen
is thy foe " and "We hear, we hear" ; but
when he calls a pianissimo a " prettiness," we
must be pardoned for having our misgivings as
to his ability to read a score, the more especially
as he avows his ignorance even of the gamut !
The oratorio seasons of Handel in London for
a series of years, and his last visit to Germany
in 1750, are traced through the records of the
period with great industry by his biographer.
Jephtha was the last of his works: this was
composed in 1752 His sight then began to
fail, and in January, 1753, he totally lost it.
Ho continued, however, to preside at the
organ, where his oratorios were given. In
1759 his health began rapidly to decline. On
the 6th of April in that year, at Covent-garden
Theatre, The Messiah was given for the last
time under his direction, and on returning to
Brook-street after the performance, he went to
bed, never to rise again ; and at the age of
seventy-four years, one month, and tweut3 -one
d tys, the greatest musical mastermind of any
age died.
The legacies in his will show that even
after all his losses in his operatic specula-
tions, he was in excellent circumstances. He
left 6001. for a monument to be erected in
Westminster Abbey, requesting in the codicil
the permission of the Dean and Chapter of
Westminster to be buried " in a private man-
ner" therein. M. Schcelcher cites this as a
proof of an enfeebled intelligence. According
to Handers desire, on " Friday night, about