2°d S. NO 99., Nov. 21. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



417 



proved by the fact that the first printed copy of 

 Arne's music to " Rule Britannia " (at the end of 

 his Judgment of Paris) bears that title. 



The statement that the music of Alfred had 

 never been performed in England, except at Clief- 

 den, refers to the circumstance of some pieces 

 from it having been performed in Dublin, to 

 which city Arne and his wife had, in the interval 

 between 1740 and 1745, paid a visit. I have not, 

 however, been able to learn whether " Rule Bri- 

 tannia " was one of such pieces. 



The designation of "Rule Britannia" as "a 

 celebrated Ode," naturally leads to the supposition 

 that it must have been publicly performed some- 

 where prior to its presentation as a part oi Alfred 

 in 1745 ; otherwise, whence its celebrity ? Had it 

 been introduced at any of the theatres between 

 the acts on any occasion ? I cannot think Arne 

 would have applied the word " celebrated " to a 

 song which had only been performed before a pri- 

 vate party. 



The Occasional Oratorio of Handel was not 

 composed until early in 1746. It was produced 

 for the first time at Covent Garden Theatre, on 

 Friday, February 14, in that year; the score of the 

 overture and songs being published by Walsh on 

 the 3rd of the following April. (Vide the Oene' 

 ral Advertiser of these dates.) 



Arne's music to " Rule Britannia," was, there- 

 fore, not only composed and performed upwards 

 of five years before the Occasional Oratorio was 

 written, but had been twice at least publicly heard 

 in London nearly a year before Handel's work 

 appeared. I should have been pleased to have 

 been also able to show that the publication of 

 Arne's song preceded the production of Handel's, 

 but I cannot at present do tliis, although I think 

 it highly probable that farther search might en- 

 able it to be done. I have no doubt that it really 

 was the fact. 



With this I leave the matter, having, I hope, 

 * shown enough to settle the question, at all events 

 as between Arne and Handel, of " Who composed 

 Rule Britannia." 



W. H. Husk. 



P.S. Would your correspondent, J. M. (Ox- 

 ford), who inquires (2"* S. ii. 489.) as to the in- 

 troduction of the lines by Collins into the oratorio 

 o( Alfred in 1754, kindly favour me with a sight 

 of the book of words mentioned by him ? 



PBOFESSOB TOUNG AND PROFESSOR MOOR : CRI- 

 TICISM ON THE ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY 

 CHURCHYARD. 



(2°'J S. iv. 196. 276. 354. 363.) 



I have been favoured with extracts from let- 

 ters on this subject, written by those peculiarly 



well qualified to express an opinion, and who 

 write as follows : — 



"I cannot for a moment credit the allegation 

 that the playful critique on Gray's Elegy was the 

 production of Dr. Moor, the predecessor of Mr. 

 Young in the Greek Chair at Glasgow. I well 

 remember that Mr. Young's very intimate friends 

 Professors Hunter and Jackson at St. Andrew's, 

 were accustomed to speak confidently of the un- 

 doubted claim of Young to the authorship. I 

 think it almost demonstrable that Moor (humor- 

 ous though he was in his best days) could not be 

 the author. 



" Johnson's Lives or Prefaces were partly pub- 

 lished in 1779, the remainder in 1781. Now, Dr. 

 Moor died in September, 1779, having been previ- 

 ously for more than twelve years in a state of very 

 infirm health and depressed spirits. Before the 

 year 1767 he had sunk into great diflicultles, inso- 

 much that, in the course of that year, his credi- 

 tors sold his furniture. By this time his humour 

 had evaporated, and, conscious of his growing in- 

 firmity (though then only fifty-five years old), 

 he employed Mr. Young as his assistant, and de- 

 volved on him the entire charge of the Greek 

 class. In 1774, he formally resigned his Chair, 

 and was succeeded by Mr. Young. Seven months 

 before his death his library was sold, amounting 

 to nearly 3,000 books, and this was a great morti- 

 fication to him. I have a printed catalogue of 

 that collection, which was sold in Edinburgh by 

 James Spottiswood, a bookseller. If Dr. Moor 

 ever saw Johnson's Lives, it is not likely that in 

 his debilitated state he could have produced so 

 •clever an article, and if he had, it could have 

 scarcely failed to transpire. It is curious enough 

 that the character of Gray, in the Lives of the 

 Poets, was not written by Johnson, but by the 

 Rev.. Wm. J. Temple, Boswell's friend." (See 

 Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 401.) 



" While attending the University of Glasgow as 

 a student from 1800 to 1807, I never heard a 

 doubt expressed or hinted on the subject. The 

 brochure was universally understood to be the 

 production of Professor Young. His own com- 

 position was characterised by a very marked man- 

 nerism, and some of us who attended his lectures 

 fancied we could detect unmistakable Youngisms 

 ever and anon betraying themselves in the periods 

 of the Pseudo- Johnson." 



When I add that Mr. David Laing, the Keeper 

 of the Library of the Writers of the Signet, Edin- 

 burgh, remembers distinctly having conversed on 

 the subject with Professor Young, who admitted 

 the Criticism to be his composition, the readers 

 of " N. & Q." will, I think, agree with me that all 

 doubts upon the subject are now at an end. 



^ W. J. T. 



