Handel was born in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685. The father was a surgeon and barber, a queer combination. We know that he did not like music, and that he was unwilling for his son to study it. Of the mother we know little. But we do know that she loved her little George Frederick, and helped him as far as she could. The father was so determined that his son should not study music that he refused to let him go to school. He feared, no doubt, that the boy would soon learn to read notes. But with the mother it was quite different. She observed the little boy's love of music. In the Handel home there was a big roomy attic; the ceiling was low, and the windows had thick panes; the walls and floors were built of heavy timber, and silence reigned there. [Illustration: No. 3 THE CHILD HANDEL PRACTICING IN THE ATTIC.] "Here," said Mother Handel, "my little boy can play the harpsichord to his heart's content and no one will be the wiser." You can imagine the surprise when the stern barber-surgeon stalked into the attic, followed by the family, holding high the lantern. After that it may have been agreed that the boy should practice a little; not, however, that he might become a musician. "No, indeed," we may imagine Father Handel exclaiming, "my son shall be a famous lawyer." One day when little George was seven years old his father set out by coach to visit another son, who was in the service of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The little boy begged his father to let him go on the journey. "No," he replied, "you are too young to go so far." However, when the coach set out George Frederick set out too on foot to follow, and he would not be sent home again. [Illustration: No. 4 HANDEL FOLLOWING HIS FATHER'S COACH.] He kept on trudging along as fast as his little feet would go. Every one hoped he would get tired and go back, but finally the father had to order the coach to stop and take him in. Thus did he show that determination which helped him all his life. Arrived at the castle the boy soon made friends with the chapel musicians. They took him to the organ loft, where he played for them. All were delighted with his talent. One day the Duke himself heard him play. He, too, was astonished that one so young should show so much skill. Calling the father into his presence, he pointed out how wrong it was to deny the boy the right to study music. "The world," he said, "should have the good of your son's great ability." At the Cathedral in Handel's home city, Halle, there was a famous organist named Zachau. He became the boy's teacher. They must have had a busy time together, for he had lessons from Zachau not only in organ playing, but in harmony, counterpoint, canon, and fugue; and in hautbois, violin, and harpsichord playing.