CHAPTER X.

GREAT MEN.

FOREMOST of all the eminent and illustrious courtiers of this reign must be mentioned Sir Philip Sidney. His name is ineffaceably inscribed upon the memorials of the times; and although he is not regarded as the first poet, first statesman, or first scholar, it does not seem too presumptuous to claim for him the place of the most illustrious man of his age. In all the qualifications which are supposed to make the courtier, neither in England or upon the Continent, did there exist his equal: he may be referred to as the most perfect specimen of the gentleman of the days of Elizabeth: he united high courage with generous and most refined courtesy; and to a spirit most fitted from its ease and elegance to dwell in the neighbourhood of courts, he added a lofty patriotism which made him bold enough to

speak when opportunity and necessity offered: the craving, covetous ambition of low minds, of which he saw so much, of which his own family furnished him with one most painful instance in the Earl of Leicester, this was far from the thoughts of Sidney; he appears to have lived ever beneath the more important guiding lights of duty, rather than beneath the stormy gleamings of wild and feverish desire. The bravery of the young courtier was shown in the letter he addressed to Elizabeth upon her proposed marriage with the Duke of Anjou. Assuredly the queen had never asked his opinion, had she not supposed that it would be favourable to the match. But thus solicited, he addressed her very boldly: he says—“These,” speaking of the queen's Protestant subjects— "These, how will their hearts be galled, if not aliened, when they shall see you take a husband, a Frenchman and a Papist, in whom, (howsoever fine wits may find further dealings and painted excuses,) the very common people well know this, that he is the son of a Jezebel of our age; that his brother made oblation of his own sister's marriage; the easier to make massacre of his brethren of belief, that he himself contrary to his promise and all gracefulness, having his liberty and principal estates by

the Hugonots' means, did sack La Charité, and utterly spoil them with fire and sword! This, I say, even at first sight, gives occasion to all truly religious to abhor such a master, and, consequently, to diminish much of the hopeful love they have of you." This kind of speech was plain enough, but its writer fared better than poor Stubbs: indeed the letter of Sidney is supposed to have moved her majesty in some degree to the final determination to which she made up her mind. And Elizabeth watched over the welfare of the young soldier; and when he was about to depart from England with Drake on an expedition against the Spaniards, in the West Indies, she especially commanded him to stay at home, lest she should lose the jewel of her dominions. Whether Sir Philip was in reality offered the crown of Poland, and declined, seems doubtful; but beyond all doubt he stood high in the favour and estimation of foreign courts, and was universally regarded as the pride and pattern of his time. The victor over all hearts, the man of whom the English monarch and foreign princes were alike proud, was unsuccessful in the world where it might be supposed all homage would await him-the world of love. Lady Penelope Devereux, whom he has cele

brated under the name of Stella, was the object of Sidney's ardent attachment. She contracted another marriage, and Sir Philip solaced himself by imitating her example, and marrying Frances, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham.

When the war between the people of the Netherlands and Spain was raging, Elizabeth appointed Sidney governor of Flushing. After the exhibition of conspicuous and successful bravery, Sidney and his troops met a force of above three thousand marching to relieve Zutphen, a town of Guelderland. An engagement ensued almost immediately, under the walls of the town. Sidney's horse was shot under him, and while making a third charge, he received a musket bullet in the left thigh, a little below the knee.

He was carried out of the battle-field, "in which sad progress, passing along by the rest of the army, where his uncle the general was, and being thirsty with excess of bleeding, he called for some drink, which was presently brought him; but as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a poor soldier carried along, who had eaten his last at the same feast, ghastly, casting up his eyes at the bottle; which Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his head

before he drank, and delivered it to the

poor

man with these words: Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.""

After many days of severe suffering, he died at Arnheim, on the 7th October, 1586, experiencing all the consolations that the tender attentions of Lady Sidney, and his faithful secretary, William Temple, could bestow. The body was conveyed to England, lay many days in state, and was interred in Old St. Paul's Cathedral, attended by seven deputies, one for each of the Seven United Provinces, and by a great number of peers, his friends, and others. There was a general mourning for him observed throughout the land-the first of the kind known in England. The Universities published three volumes of Elegies on his death. Spenser composed one, under the title of Astrophel.— The summary of his character is thus given in the Retrospective Review: "Sir Philip Sidney was a gentleman finished and complete, in whom mildness was associated with courage, erudition mollified by refinement, and courtliness dignified by truth. He is a specimen of what the noble English character was capable of producing, when foreign admixtures had not destroyed its simplicity, or politeness debased its honour.Of such a stamp was Sir Philip Sydney, and