Rousseau, when speaking of the operas of that period, terms "a false air
of magnificence, fairyism, and enchantment, which, like flowers in a
field before the harvest, betokens an _apparent_ richness," may be
matter of speculation; but it is recorded that even on its _first_
introduction on the stage, it caused a heavy loss to the patentees, in
consequence of which their affairs were thrown into Chancery, where they
remained some twenty years. Even Purcell's fame is confined to our own
shores, and we are not aware that his music was ever known upon the
Continent.

Arne, who established his reputation as a lyric composer by the music of
_Comus_ in 1738, is the next composer whom we think it necessary to
mention. To this master belongs the singular glory of having composed an
English opera--a term by which, as will be seen hereafter, we mean a
musical drama in which the whole of the plot is carried on without the
intervention of spoken dialogue. _Artaxerxes_, the only work of the kind
which we possess, was first produced in the year 1762. Though the music
is of a form now obsolete, this opera has seldom been long a stranger to
our stage, having been from time to time revived for the debut of new
and ambitious singers. One of these revivals has recently taken place;
the piece, however, was performed for a few nights only, and perhaps
popularity may be, at length, deserting _Artaxerxes_. This "standard
work of the English school" appears to be of more than doubtful
parentage. Arne is stated to have crowded the airs, those of Mandane in
particular, with all the Italian divisions and difficulties of the day,
and to have incorporated with his own property all the best passages of
the Italian and English composers of his time. With the exception of
_Comus_ and _Artaxerxes_, none of his pieces or operas met with great
success; and he seems to be principally remembered by those compositions
which were the least original. "Rule Britannia," by the combined effect