The duke spoke kindly to the little fellow, soon winning from him his secret. The lad told his new friend how dearly he loved to play and how much he should like to study music. He finished by saying that his father would not allow him to spend his time in that way.
The duke filled the little musician's pockets with shining gold pieces and called the father. He urged the surgeon to allow his son to study music. For a long time the two men talked together. At last the surgeon said that a teacher should be found for the boy as soon as they reached home.
George Frederick Handel was born in Germany, in 1685, on the 23d of February. Although the weather was cold and stormy, the babe was carried the very next day to the church and there baptized. According to the Lutheran custom, the child had a godmother and two godfathers.
When he was still very young, the parents of the child noticed that he was fond of music. Little George Frederick liked toys that made a noise. His friends made him presents of drums and horns. He learned to play a Jew's-harp and a flute.
At first, the father laughed at the childish music. When he saw that the boy cared for nothing else, he said that he wished to hear no more music in the house. Indeed, he would not even allow George Frederick to go to any house where music could be heard. The old surgeon wished his son to become a lawyer.
Although music was forbidden, George Frederick loved it more than ever. Every day the chimes in a neighboring church gladdened his heart. Several times each week he heard sacred music sung from the church tower.
The chimes and the tower music were a great comfort to little Handel. About this time, too, he was made happy by having a spinet of his own. With the help of his nurse, he hid his instrument in the garret.
A spinet is somewhat like a piano. The wires of little Handel's spinet were wound with cloth. This so deadened the sound that his father could not hear it. George Frederick spent much time in the garret, and often went there to practice when every one else in the house was fast asleep.
All this happened before the visit to the duke's castle. When he returned, his father kept the promise made to the duke by choosing a teacher for the boy. George Frederick and his teacher soon became the best of friends. The lad worked hard, and at the end of three years could play the organ, violin, and harpsichord.