nent musical journals.'

The same writer gives us to understand that Hullah originally
composed the music for an opera called _The Gondolier_, but
used the material for _The Village Coquettes_. Braham, the
celebrated tenor, had a part in it. Dickens says in a letter to
Hullah that he had had some conversation with Braham about the
work. The singer thought very highly of it, and Dickens adds:

His only remaining suggestion is that Miss
Rainforth[6] will want another song when the piece is
in rehearsal--'a bravura--something in "The soldier
tired" way.'

We have here a reference to a song which had a long run of
popularity. It is one of the airs in Arne's _Artaxerxes_,
an opera which was produced in 1761, and which held the
stage for many years. There is a reference to this song in
_Sketches by Boz_, when Miss Evans and her friends visited
the Eagle. During the concert 'Miss Somebody in white satin'
sang this air, much to the satisfaction of her audience.

Dickens wrote a few songs and ballads, and in most cases he
fell in with the custom of his time, and suggested the tune
(if any) to which they were to be sung. In addition to those
that appear in the various novels, there are others which
deserve mention here.

In 1841 he contributed three political squibs in verse to
the _Examiner_, one being the 'Quack Doctor's Proclamation,'
to the tune of 'A Cobbler there was,' and another called
'The fine old English Gentleman.'

For the _Daily News_ (of which he was the first editor) he
wrote 'The British Lion, a new song but an old story,' which
was to be sung to the tune of the 'Great Sea Snake.' This was
a very popular comic song of the period, which described a
sea monster of wondrous size:

One morning from his head we bore
With every stitch of sail,
And going at ten knots an hour
In six months came to his tail.

Three of the songs in the _Pickwick Papers_ (referred to
elsewhere) are original, while Blandois' song in _Little
Dorrit_, 'Who passes by this road so late,' is a translation
from the French. This was set to music by R.S. Dalton.

In addition to these we find here and there impromptu lines
which have no connexion with any song. Perhaps the best known
are those which 'my lady Bowley' quotes in _The Chimes_,
and which she had 'set to music on the new system':

Oh let us love our occupations,
Bless the squire and his relations,
Live upon our daily ration