Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Second Jubilee In Commemoration Of Handel.
success ivhich attended him in his oratorios , during the rest of his life . In gratitude for the favour shown him by the public , and actuated by motives of benevolence , he performed the Messiah for the benefit of an institution ivhich then stood in need of every assistance , the Foundling Hospital ; and this he continued to do for several years . At the theatre his Messiah was frequently performed to such audiences as he could
no otherwise ' accommodate than by erecting seats on the stage to such a number as scarcel y left room for the performers . In this prosperous state did his affairs go on , till he was afflicted ivith the misfortune of blindness , which , great as it was , did not totally incapacitate him from study , or the power of entertaining the public . In the beginning of the year 1751 , he was alarmed by a disorder in
his eyes , which , upon consulting with the surgeons , he was told was an incipient gutta serena . From the moment this opinion of his case was communicatedjto him , Ms spirits forsook him ; and that fortitude wliich had supported him under afflictions of another kind , deserted him in this ; scarcely leaving him patience to wait for that crisis in his disorder , in which he might hope for relief . He submitted , however , to some operations , but without any beneficial effect .
Towards the beginning of the year 1758 , he began to find himself decline apace ; and that general debility ivhich was coming on him was rendered still more alarming by a total loss of appetite . AVhen that symptom appeared , he considered his recovery as hopeless ; and , resigning himself to his fate , expired on the 14 th of April , 1759 . He was buried in AVestminster Abbey , the Dean , Dr . Pearce , Bishop of
Rochester , assisted by the choir , performing the funeral solemnity . Over the place of his interment is a monument , designed and executed by Roubiliac , representing him at full length in an erect posture , with a music paper in his hand , inscribed , " I know that my Redeemer liveth ;" with the notes to ivhich those words are set in his Messiah . He died worth about twenty thousand pounds , almost the ivhole of wliich he
bequeathed to his relations abroad . As the Commemoration of Handel gave rise to one of the most splendid exhibitions ivhich has ever been seen in this kingdom , ive think it our duty to communicate to our readers the particular circumstances which first led to its being adopted . In a conversation which took place in the beginning of the year 1783 ,
between Earl Fitzivilliam , Sir Watkin AVilliams Wynne , and Joah Bates , Esq ., one of the Commissioners of the Victualling Office , at the latter ' s house , it was lamented , that , as London contained a greater number of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Second Jubilee In Commemoration Of Handel.
success ivhich attended him in his oratorios , during the rest of his life . In gratitude for the favour shown him by the public , and actuated by motives of benevolence , he performed the Messiah for the benefit of an institution ivhich then stood in need of every assistance , the Foundling Hospital ; and this he continued to do for several years . At the theatre his Messiah was frequently performed to such audiences as he could
no otherwise ' accommodate than by erecting seats on the stage to such a number as scarcel y left room for the performers . In this prosperous state did his affairs go on , till he was afflicted ivith the misfortune of blindness , which , great as it was , did not totally incapacitate him from study , or the power of entertaining the public . In the beginning of the year 1751 , he was alarmed by a disorder in
his eyes , which , upon consulting with the surgeons , he was told was an incipient gutta serena . From the moment this opinion of his case was communicatedjto him , Ms spirits forsook him ; and that fortitude wliich had supported him under afflictions of another kind , deserted him in this ; scarcely leaving him patience to wait for that crisis in his disorder , in which he might hope for relief . He submitted , however , to some operations , but without any beneficial effect .
Towards the beginning of the year 1758 , he began to find himself decline apace ; and that general debility ivhich was coming on him was rendered still more alarming by a total loss of appetite . AVhen that symptom appeared , he considered his recovery as hopeless ; and , resigning himself to his fate , expired on the 14 th of April , 1759 . He was buried in AVestminster Abbey , the Dean , Dr . Pearce , Bishop of
Rochester , assisted by the choir , performing the funeral solemnity . Over the place of his interment is a monument , designed and executed by Roubiliac , representing him at full length in an erect posture , with a music paper in his hand , inscribed , " I know that my Redeemer liveth ;" with the notes to ivhich those words are set in his Messiah . He died worth about twenty thousand pounds , almost the ivhole of wliich he
bequeathed to his relations abroad . As the Commemoration of Handel gave rise to one of the most splendid exhibitions ivhich has ever been seen in this kingdom , ive think it our duty to communicate to our readers the particular circumstances which first led to its being adopted . In a conversation which took place in the beginning of the year 1783 ,
between Earl Fitzivilliam , Sir Watkin AVilliams Wynne , and Joah Bates , Esq ., one of the Commissioners of the Victualling Office , at the latter ' s house , it was lamented , that , as London contained a greater number of