collection of English songs long since out of print,

which is perhaps worth repeating here: —

66

64

Britannia, rouse at heav'n's command!

And crown thy native Prince again;
Then Peace shall bless thy happy land,

And Plenty pour in from the main:

Then shalt thou be-Britannia thou shalt be
From home and foreign tyrants free.

Behold, great Charles! thy godlike son,
With majesty and sweetness crown'd;
His worth th' admiring world doth own,

And fame's loud trump proclaims the sound.
Thy captain him, Britannia, him declare!
Of kings and heroes he's the heir.

"The second hope young Hero claims,
Th' extended empire of the main;
His breast with fire and courage flames,
With Nature's bounds to fix thy reign.
He (Neptune-like), Britannia, will defy
All but the thunder of the sky.

"The happiest states must yield to thee,
When free from dire corruption's thrall;
Of land and sea thou'lt Emp'ror be,

And ride triumphant round the ball:
Britannia, unite! Britannia must prevail,
Her powerful hand must guide the scale."

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

“When our great Prince, with his choice band, Arriv'd from o'er the azure main,

Heav'n smil'd with pleasure, with pleasure on the land,

And guardian angels sung this strain: Go, brave hero; brave hero, boldly go, And wrest thy scepter from thy foe.”

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 Rale Britannia a grateful song to patriotic Americans.