When we consider the immense amount and varied kind of labour Purcell accomplished during his short life of thirty-seven years, we must conclude that although of a bright and joyous nature he was of temperate habits; he had not only his duties at Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal to fulfil, but there was also constant occupation in composing for the Church, the Court, and the Theatre; he had numerous professional pupils, and gave lessons in the families of some of the most distinguished gentry and aristocracy; he also was frequently called upon to preside over and direct the concerts which were given in private assemblies. The Lord Keeper North, well known for his theoretical and practical skill in music, and the author of the _Memoires of Musick_, was wont to employ him in that capacity at his house in Queen Street. The position Purcell held in his profession necessitated his keeping late hours, which undoubtedly overtaxed a delicate constitution and culminated in his fatal illness in the prime of his manhood. Valuable testimony to this view of the circumstances attending Purcell's death is to be found in a curious volume called the _Great Abuse of Musick_, published in 1711 by the Rev. Arthur Bedford, Chaplain to the Duke of Bedford, and Vicar of the Temple in Bristol. The author, himself a musician and composer, was also the writer of a companion volume, _On the Evil and Danger of Stage Plays_, and in both books he vigorously exposes the vice and immorality prevalent in his day, and is justly severe on poets and musicians; therefore the passages in which he speaks of his contemporaries, Blow and Purcell, are of great importance. He says:-- "It must be confess'd, that whilst musick was chiefly employ'd in the nation for the glory of God, God was pleas'd to shew his approbation thereof by wonderfully improving the skill of the composers, insomuch that I believe no Art was advanced from so mean a beginning to so vast a height in so short a time as the Science in the last century. Our musick began to equal that of the Italians and to exceed all other. _Our Purcell was the delight of the nation and the wonder of the world_, and the character of Dr. Blow was but little inferior to him. But when we made not that use thereof which we ought, it pleas'd God to shew his resentment, and a stop to our progress by taking away our Purcell in the prime of his age, and Dr. Blow soon after. We all lamented our misfortunes, but never considered them as judgements for the abuse of this science, so that instead of growing better we grew worse and worse. Now, therefore, musick declines as fast as it did improve before." This testimony respecting Purcell, from a contemporary, a distinguished divine and musician, ought surely to wipe out the preposterous stories of Purcell's cold-catching and low associations.