Great preparations were made at Cliefden, and on the 1st of August, the Prince of Wales received his guests. An interesting account of the proceedings was printed in the _London Daily Post and General Advertiser_ of Saturday, the 2nd, in the following words: "Last night was performed at the gardens of Cliefden, (in commemoration of the Accession of his late Majesty King George, and in Honour of the Birth of the Princess Augusta; their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, with all their Court being present,) a new Masque of Two Acts, taken from the various Fortunes of Alfred the Great by Mr. Thomson; and performed by Mr. Quin, Mr. Milward, Mrs. Horton, and others from both Theatres;--also a Masque of Music, call'd 'The Judgement of Paris' writ by Mr. Dryden;[33] and concluded with several Scenes out of Mr. Rich's Pantomime Entertainment, perform'd by himself, and others of his appointing particularly the Skeleton Scene in Merlin's Cave, and the Dwarf Scene in Orpheus and Euridice. Also the famous Le Barbarini (newly arriv'd with Mr. Rich from Paris,) performed several Dances, and so much to the satisfaction of their Royal Highnesses, that his Royal Highness was pleas'd to make her a very handsome Present, and the work was conducted with the utmost Magnificence and Decorum." The Fête was repeated on the following evening, but unfortunately a violent rain-storm interrupted the proceedings, and the Masque of Alfred had to be performed in the house. The _Daily Post_, of August the 5th, reported that "the whole was exhibited upon a Theatre in the Garden, composed of Vegetables and decorated with Festoons of Flowers, at the End of which was erected a Pavilion for Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince George, and Princess Augusta." It is remarkable that the newspaper report makes no mention of Thomas Arne, who composed the music for both Masques, whose work alone has rescued from oblivion the memory of the proceedings. One of the songs in "Alfred" was "Rule, Britannia." The Masque is forgotten; poet and composer, and they who first heard its thrilling burst from chorus and orchestra are mouldering in their tombs; the halls through which the strain resounded have long since perished; but the enthusiasm then awakened still vibrates in the British heart to the sound of the words, Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves. Thomas Arne resided at Cliefden before and during the Fête; his wife, who was one of the principal vocalists in both Masques, many years afterwards told her grand-niece, Cecilia Maria Barthelemon, that she witnessed a curious scene on one of the lawns: "Two men were mowing, when the hinder man severely cut the calf of the leg of the other, and the Prince of Wales immediately dipped a cambric handkerchief in some Arquebusade[34] and himself wrapped it round the man's leg, which needed no other cure."