The poet Southey declares that this noble ode in honor of Great Britain will be the political hymn of that country as long as she maintains her political power. It had a peculiar origin. Dr. Thomas Arne, the great musical composer, composed the music for his Masque of Alfred, and it was first performed at Cliefden House, near Maidenhead, on August 1, 1740. Cliefden was then the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the occasion was to commemorate the accession of George I. and in honor of the birthday of young Princess Augusta. Doctor Arne afterward altered it into an opera, and it was so performed at Drury Lane Theater on March 20, 1745, for the benefit of Mrs. Arne. In the advertisement of that performance Doctor Arne specially announces that Rule Britannia, which he calls “a celebrated ode,” will be sung. We judge from this that it had even at that time gained great popularity.

Dr. Thomas Arne himself had a very interesting story. He was the son of a wealthy upholsterer in London and was born in 1704. He was educated at Eton, and his father intended him for the law, but while in school he had such a craving for music that he would often dress himself in servant’s livery and sit in the upper gallery at the theaters. He learned to play with the strings of his spinet muffled in a handkerchief. One day his father attended a musicale at the house of a friend, and to his great astonishment and disgust, his own son occupied the place of first violinist. The father, however, decided to make the best of it, and not to fight against nature. From that time on the music-loving boy was allowed to play at home, and it was not very long before the whole family were proud of his achievements. He was the first English composer to rival Italian music in compass and difficulty. Doctor Arne lived and died absorbed in musical tones. Death came to him in the midst of his work, March 5, 1778. While attempting to illustrate a musical idea, he sang an air in faltering tones; the sound grew fainter, until song and breathing ceased together. Perhaps if he could have chosen his way to die this would have pleased him best of all.

The words for this Masque of Alfred, in which Rule Britannia appears, were written jointly by James Thomson, the author of The Seasons, and David Mallet, a Scotch tutor. It is not certain who was the author of these verses, Thomson, or Mallet. During Thomson’s life in the newspapers of the day he alone was mentioned as the author. He died in 1751, and Mallet brought out, in 1755, his Masque of Britannia, at Drury Lane Theater, and it was received with great applause. The Monthly Review, a Scottish magazine of the time, in noticing it says: “Britannia, a Masque set to music by Doctor Arne. Mr. David Mallet is its reputed author. His design is to animate the sons of Britannia to vindicate their country’s rights, and avenge her wrongs.” On the whole, the weight of evidence seems to be in favor of the famous ode having been written by Thomson, but no one will ever be able to prove certainly as to whether it originated in his brain or Mallet’s.

THE TOWER OF LONDON
THE TOWER OF LONDON

Rule Britannia soon became a favorite with the Jacobite party. Many parodies of it have been written, some of which were very famous in their time. One is to be found in The True Royalist, a collection of English songs long since out of print, which is perhaps worth repeating here:—

There is still another parody, also once very famous, contained in the book referred to. The first verse is as follows,—

In letting the parodies die, and in retaining the original song, succeeding generations have manifestly ensured the survival of the fittest. There has perhaps been no time since the Revolutionary War when Americans have listened to Rule Britannia with as sympathetic ears as since the beginning of our war with Spain. The almost universal sympathy expressed for us by all classes in England has served to bring the two nations closer together than a hundred years of ordinary intercourse. Whether or no it brings about the Anglo-American alliance so widely discussed, it has made Rule Britannia a grateful song to patriotic Americans.

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OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD VON BISMARCK-SCHÖNHAUSEN
OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD VON BISMARCK-SCHÖNHAUSEN