the air
itself, the contention that Handel took it from another composer has
never been proved, and there is 'absolutely nothing to show that it is
not the work of Handel.'[4]

[Illustration: '_The strokes of his hammer on the anvil kept
time to his song._']

It is difficult for us to imagine the road leading from the Marble
Arch (then called Tyburn) to Edgware as being infested by highwaymen.
This fact, like that regarding the condition of Piccadilly, serves to
show in a striking manner how circumscribed the London of those days
must have been. Handel must often have had to travel between Cannons
and London, but we do not hear of his having been robbed by the way.
The Duke, however, was attacked on more than one occasion, and he
always performed the journey with an escort of his favourite Swiss
Guards, of whom a body was kept to protect the palace.

For several years the production of opera 'after the Italian style,'
which Handel on his coming over had done so much to stimulate, had
languished for lack of funds. To many Londoners who were fond of music
the sight of the closed doors of the King's Theatre in the Haymarket
imparted a feeling of regret and loss. When, therefore, a number of
rich patrons of music met together and decided to form themselves into
a society for the purpose of reviving the opera in London, the project
was received with signs of general pleasure. The King was greatly
interested, and subscribed L1,000 to the venture. Handel was at once
engaged in the double capacity of composer and 'impressario,' the
latter duty charging him with the selection and engagement of singers.
The new society was to be called the Royal Academy of Music, but we
must not confuse this body with the Royal Academy of Music existing
at the present day, which was founded in 1822.

Handel now set out for Germany with the object of visiting Dresden,
where the Elector of Saxony was maintaining a company of the best
singers for the performance of Italian opera. On his return journey he
paid a visit to Halle, where he found his mother alive, and overjoyed
to see him, though the cheery welcome of his old master Zachau could
no longer be heard, for the old man had gone to his rest. There was
another sad note about this visit, for on the very day that Handel
left for England Sebastian Bach, filled with a longing to meet his
great contemporary, arrived at Halle, whither he had journeyed from
Coethen, only to find that he w