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Eventually Handel discarded Mr. Beard's air also, and wrote the chorus afterwards embodied in the work. It must not be supposed that even these amendments represent the whole of the composer's struggle. In a volume of MS. sketches now at Buckingham Palace, the duet before mentioned is considerably altered, as well as prefaced by part of a Chandos Anthem overture. The same collection is said to contain also an entirely new air in D, for soprano; but, so far as is known, the last was never used in public. Such facts will help to remove a very erroneous impression entertained, not merely with regard to Handel, but all other composers of genius. Great musicians have ever been something more than inspired media, and the greatest musical works bear evidence of painful, persevering labour, which should be recognised as among their strongest claims to admiration.

Nothing in "Why do the nations" calls for remark, except that Handel's first idea was to let the first two bars of the air read thus:

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Why do the nations while in "Let us break their bonds," the only noticeable amendment consists in giving the lead at "And cast away their cords" to the tenors instead of to the basses. "Thou shalt break them stands just as it was originally written, and so, one or two unimportant points excepted, does the magnificent "Hallelujah" which Handel scored in his first copy for trumpets and drums, as well as for the invariable string quartet. It should be observed, however, that the pianissimo delivery of "The kingdom of this world" is unsanctioned by the manuscript. There is no direction whatever appended to the phrase, and hence the German fashion of giving the chorus forte throughout is more Handelian than that of the Handelian nation par excellence. Not only so, but it is artistically more correct. There is nothing in the words to call for change, and if it be desirable to

produce a special effect upon the passage "The kingdom of our God, and of His Christ," Handel amply secured it by a higher pitch. But in these days, unhappily, there is a rage for new readings, and the "Hallelujah "is by no means the only chorus of Handel with which liberties are taken. The reader's thoughts will revert to "For unto us a Child is born," and the outbursts upon its tutti passages. It is true that Handel intended the greatest possible effect for those points, but not at the cost of what precedes and follows. In his score there are no marks appended to the voice parts, and their occurrence in the accompaniment shows that he was content with such results as could be produced by the orchestra alone. This is but one instance out of a thousand that prove an intuitive and delicate perception of his text. He could not have tolerated the whispering, as if in fear and trembling, of the most glorious announcement ever made by joyful lips. It is time all licences for meddling with a great composer's works were withdrawn ; or, at all events, that the licencees were jealously watched. At present, things are permitted in music which, in any other art, would be indignantly cried down. If any one desires to test this, let him tamper with an Ode of Horace, or a soliloquy of Shakespeare; let him retouch one of Raphael's faces to give it more expression, or for the same purpose lay his chisel upon the Venus de' Medicis. Why should not a like veneration be shown to the works of the Horaces, Shakespeares, and Raphaels of music?

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The air "I know that my Redeemer liveth is sung now exactly as first written, and the score shows an almost entire freedom from second thoughts. Not without a special reason, therefore, is the composer represented in Westminster Abbey as receiving his theme from the angels. Like "He was despised," the most pathetic recital of suffering, this song, the most confident expression of hope, appears as a veritable inspiration. In the short quartets and choruses which follow, there are at least two points of interest. One is,

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Since by man came death.

It will be observed that by his amendment Handel avoided ending both phrases of the quartet upon the same chord-E major. The next point is that the words, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," were introduced as an afterthought, the first idea being to repeat "Since by man," &c. Few alterations were required in the music to adapt it to the new verse, and these duly appear in the manuscript.

"The trumpet shall sound" affords a curious example of misplaced accent. Throughout the air, Handel has divided the word "incorruptible" after this fashion::

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The reader does not require to be told that the mistake was subsequently corrected, nor need he be reminded into how few like errors the German comfell when dealing with our Engposer lish language. Save this verbal alteration, the air remains precisely as found in the MS. It should be noticed, however, that it is the first instance in the "Messiah" of the second or minorstrophe being accompanied only by a figured bass. The duet "O death, where is thy sting?" is sixteen bars shorter as now sung than as originally written, a large portion of the somewhat overelaborated first subject being cut out.

"Thanks be to God" calls for no remark; but the following air, "If God be for us," presents another example of Handel's happy after-thought. His first impulse was to introduce the words "Who makes intercession for us" upon this phrase :

His second, however, was to substitute the longer and more melodious passage with which everybody is familiar. In "Worthy is the Lamb" the alterations. are too unimportant for citation; but its superb sequel, "Amen," offers two noteworthy features. One of these is in the subject given out by the basses. Had Handel kept to the idea which first came into his mind, we should have lost that grand progress through an entire octave now so striking a feature of the theme. Originally, the second part of the phrase imitated the first in its relative minor key, as thus:

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As to the value of the changes thus made in the beginning and end of one of the finest choral fugues ever written, there can hardly be a difference of opinion.

Scrawled underneath the blurs and blots made by the eager musician, then exulting in the close of his task, are the words, "Fine dell' oratorio, G. F. Handel, Septembre 12. Ausgefüllt en 14 dieses." Who is there that cannot sympathise with this Hercules as he rested from his labours conscious of having produced an imperishable thing?

THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS; OR, THE WHITE AND BLACK RIBAUMONT.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE."

CHAPTER XXIX.

IN THE KING'S NAME.

"Under which king, Bezonian? speak or die." "Under King Harry." King Henry IV.

"ONE bird in the hand is not always worth two in the bush, assuredly," said Philip, when Berenger was calm enough to hold council on what he called this most blessed discovery; "but where to seek them?"

"I have no fears now," returned Berenger. "We have not been borne through so much not to be brought together at last. Soon, soon shall we have her! A minister so distinguished as Isaac Gardon is sure to be heard of either at La Rochelle, Montauban, or Nîmes, their great gathering places.'

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"For Rochelle, then?" said Philip. "Even so. We will be off early tomorrow, and from thence, if we do not find her there, as I expect, we shall be able to write the thrice happy news to those at home."

Accordingly, the little cavalcade little cavalcade started in good time, in the cool of the morning of the bright long day of early June, while apple petals floated down on them in the lanes like snow, and nightingales in every hedge seemed to give voice and tune to Berenger's eager, yearning hopes.

Suddenly there was a sound of horses' feet in the road before them, and as they drew aside to make way, a little troop of gendarmes filled the narrow lane. The officer, a rough, harsh-looking man, laid his hand on Berenger's bridle, with the words, "In the name of the King!"

Philip began to draw his sword with one hand, and with the other to urge his horse between the officer and his brother, but Berenger called out, "Back! No. 106.-vOL. XVIII.

This gentleman mistakes my person. I am the Baron de Ribaumont, and have a safe-conduct from the King."

"What king?" demanded the officer. "From King Charles."

"I arrest you," said the officer, "in the name of King Henry III. and of the Queen-Regent Catherine."

"The King dead?" exclaimed Berenger. "On the 30th of May. Now, sir." "Your warrant-your cause?" still demanded Berenger.

"There will be time enough for that when you are safely lodged," said the captain, roughly pulling at the rein, which he had held all the time.

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What, no warrant ?" shouted Philip "he is a mere robber!" and with drawn sword he was precipitating himself on the captain, when another gendarme, who had been on the watch, grappled with him, and dragged him off his horse before he could strike a blow. The other two English, Humfrey Holt and John Smithers, strong, full-grown men, rode in fiercely to the rescue, and Berenger himself struggled furiously to loose himself from the captain, and deliver his brother. deliver his brother. Suddenly, there

was the report of a pistol: poor Smithers fell, there was a moment of standing aghast, and in that moment the one man and the two youths were each pounced on by three or four gendarmes, thrown down and pinioned.

"Is this usage for gentlemen?" exclaimed Berenger, as he was roughly raised to his feet.

"The King's power has been resisted,” was all the answer; and when he would have bent to see how it was with poor Smithers, one of the men at arms kicked over the body with sickening brutality, saying, "Dead enough, heretic and English carrion.”

Philip uttered a cry of loathing horror, and turned white; Berenger, above all else, felt a sort of frenzied despair as he thought of the peril of the boy who had been trusted to him.

"Have you had enough, sir?" said the captain. "Mount and come."

They could only let themselves be lifted to their horses, and their hands were then set free to use their bridles, each being guarded by a soldier on each side of him. Philip attempted but once to speak, and that in English, "Next time I shall take my pistol."

He was rudely silenced, and rode on with wide-open stolid eyes and dogged face, stedfastly resolved that no Frenchman should see him flinch, and vexed that Berenger had his riding mask on so that his face could not be studied; while he, on his side, was revolving all causes possible for his arrest, and all means of enforcing the liberation, if not of himself, at least of Philip and Humfrey. He looked round for Guibert,

but could not see him.

They rode on through the intricate lanes till the sun was high and scorching, and Berenger felt how far he was from perfect recovery. At last, however, some little time past noon, the gendarmes halted at a stone fountain, outside a village, and disposing a sufficient guard around his captives, the officer permitted them to dismount and rest, while he, with the rest of the troop and the horses, went to the village cabaret. Philip would have asked his brother what it meant, and what was to be done, but Berenger shook his head, and intimated that silence was safest at present, since they might be listened to; and Philip, who so much imagined treachery and iniquity to be the order of the day in France, that he was scarcely surprised at the present disaster, resigned himself to the same sullen endurance. Provisions and liquor were presently sent up from the inn, but Berenger could taste nothing but the cold water of the fountain, which trickled out cool and fresh beneath an arch surmounted by a figure of our Lady. bathed his face and head in the refresh

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ing spring, and lay down on a cloak in the shade, Philip keeping a constant change of drenched kerchiefs on his brow, and hoping that he slept, till at the end of two or three hours the captain returned, gave the word to horse, and the party rode on through intricate lanes, blossoming with hawthorn, and ringing with songs of birds that spoke a very different language now to Berenger's heart from what they had said in the hopeful morning.

A convent bell was ringing to evensong, when passing its gateway; the escort turned up a low hill, on the summit of which stood a chateau, covering a considerable extent of ground, with a circuit of wall, whitewashed so as perfectly to glare in the evening sun; and at every angle a round, slim turret, crowned by a brilliant red-tiled extinguisher-like cap, and the whole surmounted by a tall, old keep in the centre. There was a square projection containing an arched gateway, with heavy doorways, which were thrown open as the party approached. Philip looked up as he rode in, and over the doorway beheld the familiar fretted shield, with the leopard in the corner, and "A moi Ribaumont" round it. Could it then be Berenger's own castle, and was it thus that he was approaching it? He himself had not looked up; he was utterly spent with fatigue, dejection, and the severe headache brought on by the heat of the sun, and was only intent on rallying his powers for the crisis of fate that was probably approaching; and thus scarcely took note of the court into which he rode, lying between the gateway and the corps de logis, a building erected when comfort demanded more space than was afforded by the old keep, against which one end leant; but still, though inclosed in a court, the lower windows were small and iron barred, and all air of luxury was reserved for the mullioned casements of the upper storey. The court was flagged, but grass shot up between the stones, and the trim air of ease and inhabited comfort to which the brothers were used at home was utterly wanting.

Berenger was hustled off his horse, and roughly pushed through a deep porch, where the first thing he heard was the Chevalier de Ribaumont's voice in displeasure.

"How now, sir; hands off! Is this the way you conduct my nephew?" "He resisted, sir."

"Sir," said Berenger, advancing into the hall, "I know not the meaning of this. I am peacefully travelling with a passport from the King, when I am set upon, no warrant shown me, my faithful servant slain, myself and my brother, an English subject, shamefully handled."

"The violence shall be visited on whatever rascal durst insult a gentleman and my nephew," said the Chevalier. "For release, it shall be looked to; but unfortunately it is too true that there are orders from the Queen in Council for your apprehension, and it was only on my special entreaty for the honour of the family, and the affection I bear you, that I was allowed to receive you here instead of your being sent to an ordinary prison."

"On Berenger.

what pretext?" demanded

"It is known that you have letters in your possession from escaped traitors now in England, to La Noue, Duplessis Mornay, and other heretics."

"That is easily explained," said Berenger. "You know well, sir, that they were to facilitate my search at La Sablerie. You shall see them yourself, sir."

"That I must assuredly do," replied the Chevalier, "for it is the order of her Majesty, I regret to say, that your person and baggage be searched;" then, as indignant colour rushed into Berenger's face, and an angry exclamation was beginning, he added, "Nay, I understand, my dear cousin, it is very painful, but we would spare you as much as possible. It will be quite enough if the search be made by myself, in the presence of this gentleman, who will only stand by for form's sake. I have no doubt it will enable us quickly to clear up matters, and set you free again.

Do me the honour to follow me to the chamber destined for you."

"Let me see the order for my arrest," said Berenger, holding his head high.

"The English scruple must be gratified," said the Chevalier. And accordingly the gendarme captain unfolded before him a paper, which was evidently a distinct order to arrest and examine the person of Henri Bérenger Eustache, Baron de Ribaumont and Sieur de Leurre, suspected of treasonable practices-and it bore the signature of Catherine.

"There is nothing here said of my stepfather's son, Philip Thistlewood, nor of my servant, Humfrey Holt," said Berenger, gathering the sense with his dizzy eyes as best he could. "They cannot be detained, being born subjects of the Queen of England."

"They intercepted the justice of the King," said the captain, laying his hand on Philip's shoulder. "I shall have them off with me to the garrison of Luçon, and deal with them there."

"Wait!" said the Chevalier, interposing before Berenger's fierce, horrorstruck expostulation could break forth; "this is an honourable young gentleman, son of a chevalier of good reputation in England, and he need not be so harshly dealt with. You will not separate either him or the poor groom from my nephew, so the Queen's authority be now rightly acknowledged."

The captain shrugged his shoulders, as if displeased; and the Chevalier, turning to Berenger, said, "You understand, nephew, the lot of you all depends on your not giving umbrage to these officers of her Majesty. I will do my poor best for you; but submission is first needed."

Berenger knew enough of his native country to be aware that la justice du Roi was a terrible thing, and that Philip's resistance had really put him in so much danger that it was needful to be most careful not further to offend the functionary of Government; and abhorrent as the proposed search was to him, he made no further objection, but taking Philip's arm, lest they should

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