Handel was a greater man than Homer (I mean the author of the _Iliad_);
but the very people who are most angry with me for (as they incorrectly
suppose) sneering at Homer are generally the ones who never miss an
opportunity of cheapening and belittling Handel, and, which is very
painful to myself, they say I was laughing at him in _Narcissus_.
Perhaps—but surely one can laugh at a person and adore him at the same
time.