[241] In the midst of his misery he still thought of those more miserable than himself. In April, 1738, he founded with other well-known English musicians, Arne, Greene, Pepusch, Carey, etc., the Society of Musicians for the succour of aged and poor musicians. Tormented as he was himself, he was more generous than all the others. On March 20, 1739, he gave _Alexander's Feast_ with a new Organ Concerto for the benefit of the Society. On March 28, 1740, he conducted his _Acis and Galatea_ and his little _Ode on Cecilia's day_. On March 14, 1741, in his worst days he gave the _Parnasso in festa_, a gala spectacle very onerous for him with five Solo Concertos by the most celebrated instrumentalists. Later on he bequeathed £1000 to the Society. [242] A clumsy friend tried to raise a public charity in an anonymous letter to the _London Daily Post_ (see above). He made excuses for Handel, and thus gave the composer the most cruel blow of all. (The clumsiness of a bear!) This letter is found at the end of Chrysander's third volume. [243] On November 4, 1741, he still had time to see, before his departure, the reopening of the Italian Opera, under the direction of Galuppi, supported by the English nobility. [244] Handel wrote the _Messiah_ between August 22 and September 14, 1741. Certain historians have attributed the composition of the _libretto_ to him. There is no reason for robbing Jennens, a man of intelligence, author of the excellent poem of _Belshazzar_, of this honour, and of that shown by the fact that Handel changed none of the text which Jennens gave him. A letter of March 31, 1745, to a friend (quoted by Schoelcher) shows that Jennens found the music of the _Messiah_ hardly worthy of his poem. [245] The great Musical Society of Dublin, the Philharmonic, gave only benevolent concerts. For Handel they made a special arrangement. It suited them that Handel reserved one concert for charity. Handel was engaged there with gratefulness by promising "some better music." This "better music" was the _Messiah_. See an article on _Music in Dublin_ from 1730 to 1754 by Dr. W. H. Gratten-Flood, I.M.G. (April-June, 1910). [246] But not at London, where Handel gave the _Messiah_ only three times in 1743, twice in 1745, and not again until 1749. The cabals of the pious tried to stifle it. He was not allowed to put the title of the oratorio on the bills. It was called A Sacred Oratorio. It was only at the close of 1750 that the victory of the _Messiah_ was complete. Handel all his life preserved his connection with charitable objects. He conducted it once a year for the benefit of the Foundling Hospital. Even when he was blind he remained faithful to this noble practice, and in order to better preserve the monopoly of the work for the Hospital he forbade anyone to publish anything from it before his death.