Per damna tu cædesque surges celsior, Ferrumque opes dabit peregrinum tibi : Procella ceu, quæ miscet æthera et salum, Novas tuis vires ministrat quercubus. Fluctus, &c. Non te tyrannus perdomabit insolens, Illi ruinam, gloriam tibi pariet. Ruris colonos imperia beant tua; Cives beant in urbibus commercia; Camana, Libertatis usque hæc est comes, Fluctus regas, domina regas Brittania; From Blackwood's Magazine. April, 1819. This was the welcome London roared, Hail, Imperial, Imperial Statesman, hail! Let Gladstone boast of silver axe, 'Great Gladstone, less astute than we, Then hail, Imperial freedom, hail! Me dissolution ne'er shall shock, "Libertas et Imperium," My watchword and my battle-call, Still more secure shall be my lease Of Downing-street and county votes, And borough members turn their coats. Here, when November days come round, So Truscott, when the circling year ENGLISH NATIONAL SONGS. GOD SAVE THE KING. "God save the THE most remarkable feature about King," (or Queen) is the great uncertainty which exists as to its origin. There seems little doubt that the melody is German, but it is not known when, or by whom, it was imported, whilst the words have been handed down, with slight verbal alterations, since the days when James the First was congratulated on his escape from the Gunpowder Plot. The words as hey were then sung were written by Dr. John Bull, to whom some also ascribe the melody; Germans assert that it was imported into England by Handel whilst others state that either Lulli, or Purcell, was the composer. George Saville Carey claimed both the words and the melody as the productions of his father, Henry Carey (the author of "Sally in our Alley,") and one hypothesis is, that no other song writer could have been guilty of such atrocious rhymes as are to be found in the anthem : Victorious. Glorious. Over us. Laws. Cause. Voice. There is no doubt that Henry Carey had some part in as they are now known, whilst settling the words, as to the melody the most likely supposition is that he adopted German music in honour of the House of Brunswick, for the same air was at once the Royal Hymn for Prussia, Saxony, Weimar, Brunswick and Hanover; the German version known as "Heil Dir im Sieger Kranz" is still the official anthem of the German Empire. This theory is far more probable than are the various other conjectures as to its origin, such as that it was either a Scotch, French, or Jacobite Song. The grand simplicity of the air is almost sufficient proof of its German origin, and it is far more probable that it was introduced here with the Hanoverian dynasty than that an English melody should have been adopted as the Royal Hymn by nearly all the states of central Europe. A good many years ago it was stated in Edinburgh that the manuscript memoirs of the Duchess of Perth contained an account of the establishment of St. Cyr, in which she stated that "When the most christian king Louis XIV entered the chapel, all the choir of noble damsels sung each time the following words, to a very fine air by the Sieur de Sully : Grand Dieu, sauvez le Roy! Grand Dieu, vengez le Roy Vive le Roy! Que toujours glorieux, Louis victorieux ! Voye ses ennemis, Toujours soumis ! Grand Dieu, sauvez le Roy ! Grand Dieu, vengez le Roy! Vive le Roy ! The tradition is, that the composer Handel, obtained leave to copy the air and words, which he submitted to George the First as his own composition." The importation of the air of "God save the King, appears undeniable, but it certainly did not come from France, neither is there anything to show that Handel passed it off as his own composition. Indeed in a court mainly composed of Germans, and before a German King. to whom the air must have been familiar from early childhood, such an attempt would have been ridiculous. Many interesting facts bearing on these disputed questions will be found in an account of the National Anthem, entitled, "God save the King," by Richard Clarke; London, W. Wright, Fleet Street, 1822; also in "Old National Airs," by W. Chappell; "The Music of the Church," by Thomas Hirst; and "An Introduction to the study of National Music," by Carl Engel, London, 1866. These authorities are not agreed as to the origin of the melody, but they all assert that words, somewhat similar to those now in use, were written to congratulate 'James the First on his escape from the Gunpowder Plot, and were sung for the first time at an entertainment given to that King in July 1607 in the Hall of the Merchant Tailors' Company, in the City of London. Indeed, the balance of evidence tends to prove that the song never was intended for the House of Hanover, whose anthem it has become, but for the Stuart family. Up to the time of Charles I. the national anthem-sung in honour of the king was "Vive le Roy"-an English song with a Norman burden. After the revolution that made Cromwell Protector, the Cavaliers, without utterly discarding the old song, made themselves a new one-" When the King shall enjoy his own again," which, with its by no means contemptible poetry, and its exceedingly fine music, kept up the heart of the party in their adversity, and did more for the royal cause than an army. was, In the reigns of Charles II. and James II., when the King had come into the full possession of his own, the loyal song Later on, when "Here's a Health unto his Majesty.' the Stuarts were in exile, it would seem that Carey revived "God save the King," but that it did not become popular until 1745, about two years after his death. 66 George Saville Carey in The Balnea (London, 1801) gives the following account of the origin of God save the King: In spite of all literary cavil and conjectural assertions, there has not yet appeared one identity to invalidate the truth that my father was the author of that important song, some have given the music to Handel, others to Purcell, some have signified that it was produced in the time of Charles I. others James I. and some, in their slumbers, have dreamed that it made its appearance in the reign of Henry VIII. it might as well have been carried still further back, to the reign of song-singing Solomon, or psalm singing David. I have heard the late Mr. Pearce Galliard assert. time after time, that my father was the author of "God save the King"; that it was produced in the year 1745-6, and printed in the year 1750, for John Johnson. But, for the satisfacopposite Bow Church, in Cheapside. tion of my readers, I will insert the song of "God save the King,' as it is printed in the original text, where it is called a song for two voices : I. God save GREAT GEORGE our King, Long Live our noble King, God save the King, Send him victorious, O Lord our GOD, arise, And make them fall; III. Thy choicest gifts in store, On him be pleased to pour, Long may he reign, May he defend our laws, And ever give us cause To sing, with heart and voice GOD save the King. IV. Lord grant that MARSHALL Wade, * May, by thy Mighty aid, Victory bring: May he sedition hush, God save the King. There can be little doubt that Henry Carey was the author of the first three verses of this particular version of the song, but he could not have written the fourth verse as he committed suicide in 1743, two years before the Scotch rebellion to which the verse refers. The first time that the song or anthem of "God save the King" was made known generally to the public was at the end of the month of September. 1745 after the young Pretender's forces had beaten Sir John Cope, and Prince Charles himself had made his triumphant entry into Holyrood Palace. "On Saturday night," says the Daily Advertiser of September 30th, 1745, "the audience at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane were agreeably surprised by the gentlemen belonging to that house performing the anthem of God save our noble King.' Another paper, the General Advertiser, of October 2nd, said—" At the Theatre in Goodman's Fields, by desire, 'God save the King,' as it was performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, was sung with great applause." That the song was a novelty is proved not only by these records, but by a letter from Benjamin Victor to David Garrick, bearing date October, 1745. The writer says "The stage at both houses is the most pious as well as the most loyal place in the three kingdoms. Twenty men appear at the end of every play, and one stepping forward from the rest, with uplifted hands and eyes, begins singing to an old anthem tune the following words : 'Oh, Lord our God, arise, Confound the enemies Of George our King; Send him victorious, He adds, "These are the very words and music of an old anthem that was sung at St James's Chapel for King James II., when the Prince of Orange landed to deliver us from Popery and Slavery, which God Almighty, in his goodness, was pleased not to grant.' From that time God save the King became the recognised official and loyal song, or anthem, but it is, of course, incorrect to style it the National Anthem, in the sense that Rule Britannia is National, as it is simply a prayer for the Royal Family. Richard Brinsley Sheridan wrote an impromptu verse, which was sung at Drury Lane Theatre, in 1800, on the night when Hatfield fired from the pit of that theatre at George III. It is scarcely necessary to observe that Sheridan's verse, as poetry, is immeasurably superior to the older portion of the anthem : "From every latent foe, From the assassin's blow, Commander of the royal troops against the Scots in the 1745 rebellion. O'er him thine arm extend, For Britain's sake defend Our father, prince and friendGod save the King!" In 1795 The Gentleman's Magazine published the following Latin version : "DOMINE, SALVUM FAC Regem. O vivas, omnibus, GEORGI, O REX! Hostes, O Domine Fiat clarissimus On the accession of William IV. a new version of the anthem was prepared : GOD save our noble King, God save the King. O Lord our God arise, Or make them fall; Or should some foreign band Thy choicest gifts in store Time-servers, wond'ring, shall View us determin'd all Spite of the Court; Spite of their wily tricks, We, like Sir Judas Wray, In aid of liberty, Let the whole nation see True and staunch we will be Void of all treachery, Foremost stands Fox : Let, then, be this our cry Huzza! boys, VICTORY! FREEDOM, and Fox. From The History of the Westminster Election, 1784. In 1790 Charles James Fox brought forward a motion in the House of Commons for the repeal of the test and Pitt and Burke opposed any such concescorporation acts. sion to the dissenters, and the motion was rejected by nearly three to one. A great agitation was got up, all over the country, by the Tory party, against the dissenters, who were ridiculed and abused in pamphlets, poems, and caricatures. Councillor Morfit, of Birmingham, composed a parody of God save the King which became very popular, it was extensively printed with a large caricatured representation of the chief dissenters broodIt was entitled :ing over sedition. OUR MOTHER CHURCH. GOD save great George our King! Long live our noble King, God save the King, Send him victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the King! Old mother Church disdains God save the King! Sedition is their creed; Feigned sheep, but wolves indeed, Gunpowder Priestley would History, thy page unfold, And they would overthrow "O Lord our God arise Scatter our enemies, And make them fall; Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks ; On thee our hopes we fix, God save us all." OLD PRICES. A parody of God Save the King circulated in Covent Garden Theatre, on the night of October 18, 1809, during the celebrated O.P. riots. GOD save great Johnny Bull, Long live our noble Bull, Send him victorious, Loud and uproarious, God save John Bull. O Johnny Bull be true, And make them fall; Curse Kemble's politics, Frustrate his knavish tricks, On thee our hopes we fix. Confound them all. No private boxes let Thy right, John Bull. And we will sing, by goles, God save John Bull. The Covent Garden Journal. Vol. II. London, 1810. These volumes contain full accounts of the O.P. Riots in the new Covent Garden Theatre, which arose from some injudicious alterations made in the prices, and structural He raised the prices partly arrangements by John Kemble. in order to pay high salaries to Madame Catalani and other foreigners. The war cries of the rioters were "Old Prices! No Private Boxes! No Catalani! The English Drama!", many songs and parodies were written to annoy Kemble, who had, eventually, to compromise matters, and Madame This lady Catalani's name was withdrawn from the bills. had a fine voice, but was so ignorant of the English language that the following version of "God save the King' prepared to assist her pronunciation when she had to sing the solo: Oh, Lord avar God Arais, schaeter Is enemis and Mece them fol Politekse frosstre Their nevise trix On George avar hopes We fix. God save the Kin. was |