ed with the titles of his religious
works that we are almost ready to believe that all which had gone
before was merely in the nature of preparation for such noble works as
'Saul,' 'Israel in Egypt,' 'Samson,' 'Jephtha,' and, above all, the
'Messiah.' It is on the 'Messiah' alone that our space permits us to
dwell, and we will endeavour to relate the story of how this great
oratorio came to be written.

It was in 1741 that the plan of writing the 'Messiah' was formed, but
it is not known whether the subject originated with Handel himself, or
was suggested to him by a friend named Mr. Charles Jennens, a man of
great literary tastes and acquirements, who lived a retired life in
the country. It is certain, however, that Mr. Jennens selected and
wrote out the passages from the Scriptures, and sent them to Handel to
set to music, and for the care and choice exercised in this
compilation we owe to Mr. Jennens a deep debt of gratitude. Towards
the end of this year Handel received an invitation from the
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland to visit Dublin, as the Irish people were
very desirous of hearing some of his compositions performed in their
country. Handel accepted the invitation very willingly, for he saw in
the tone in which it was conveyed an assurance of the sympathy of the
sister isle, as well as a prospect of being enabled to retrieve his
fallen fortunes. He left England at the beginning of November, having
previously sent a promise to Dublin that he would devote a portion of
the money realised by his performances to three charitable
institutions in that city. The music of the 'Messiah' must have been
actually composed before he set foot upon the ship at Chester, for at
the end of the following month we find him writing to Mr. Jennens from
Dublin, and referring to the latter's oratorio, '"Messiah," which I
set to music before I left England,'[5] Moreover, he must have had the
manuscript score with him on his voyage, though his friends in London
were ignorant of the fact; for we learn that being detained at
Chester for some days by contrary winds, he got together at his inn
several of the choir boys from the cathedral in order to try over some
of the choral passages in the work. Needless to say, the title of the
oratorio was not allowed to transpire on this occasion, but many of us
may feel curious to know whether any of these young singers felt
impressed by the beauty of the parts which it was their envied lot to
'try over