"Il caro Sassone," the dear Saxon, found a formidable opponent as well
as dear friend in the person of Scarlatti. One night at a masked ball,
given by a nobleman, Handel was present in disguise. He sat at the
harpsichord, and astonished the company with his playing; but no one
could tell who it was that ravished the ears of the assembly. Presently
another masquerader came into the room, walked up to the instrument, and
called out: "It is either the devil or the Saxon!" This was Scarlatti,
who afterward had with Handel, in Florence and Rome, friendly contests
of skill, in which it seemed difficult to decide which was victor. To
satisfy the Venetian public, Handel composed the opera "Agrippina,"
which made a _furore_ among all the connoisseurs of the city.

So, having seen the summer in Florence and the carnival in Venice, he
must hurry on to be in time for the great Easter celebrations in Rome.
Here he lived under the patronage of Cardinal Otto-boni, one of the
wealthiest and most liberal of the Sacred College. The cardinal was
a modern representative of the ancient patrician. Living himself in
princely luxury, he endowed hospitals and surgeries for the public. He
distributed alms, patronized men of science and art, and entertained
the public with comedies, operas, oratorios, puppet-shows, and academic
disputes. Under the auspices of this patron, Handel composed three
operas and two oratorios. Even at this early period the young composer
was parting company with the strict old musical traditions, and his
works showed an extraordinary variety and strength of treatment.

From Rome he went to Naples, where he spent his second Italian summer,
and composed the original Italian "Aci e Galatea," which in its English
version, afterward written for the Duke of Chandos, has continued a
marked favorite with the musical world. Thence, after a lingering return
through the sunny land where he had been so warmly welcomed, and which