merit. The following short specimen will perhaps. suffice.

Nothing alas remains at all in wonted old estate,

But all are turned topset down, quite void and desolate ; The fainting horse for sudden pain his back from burden tats, And after on his master's breast his lifeless limbs he squats, Who cries for help, but all in vain; the beasts in field that

bide

Unkept, unknowen ways and paths do range and overstride;
The bull for lack of food and meat in field all fainting lies,
And all his flock dispersed quite, the sely shepherd dies.
The herdsman eke among his beasts his fatal breath expires,
And to the heavens with piteous cries commends his last desires.
The harts without all fear of wolves, do live in wretched peace,
The rage and wrathful roaring sounds of ramping lions cease;
The vengeful wild outrageous bears are now as tame as sheep;
The ugly serpent that was wont in rocky dens to keep,
Oft quaffing poisoned venom sups in inward heat she boils,
And all inflamed and scorched, in vain for longer life she toils;
The woods are not adorned now with fresh and lively hue,
The wonted shades are gone. All things are quite out of their

cue.

No greenish grass on ground doth grow, the earth no moisture. soups,

The vine withouten any sap his drowsy head down droops. What shall I say? all things alas! are writhen out of course, And as it seem to me are like to fare still worse and worse.

This is part of the chorus at the end of the first act, which gives minute particulars of the misery arising from the wrath of the gods.

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.

BORN 1554.-DIED 1586.

Thy SIDNEY, CANTIUM!—He, from court retired,
In Penshurst's sweet Elysium sung delight,
Sung transport to the soft responding stream
Of Medway-and enlivened all her groves.

(SMART.)

"The life of Sir Philip Sidney" says Mr. Campbell, was poetry put into action." "As his heart was all virtue," says Miss Porter, " so his soul was all poetry : poetical thoughts burst and bloom even in his gravest prose." Yet, strange to say, his poems have never been admitted into any collection, and are in a great measure unknown to the poetical reader. The truth is, that it has been a fashion for more than two hundred years, to praise Sir Philip Sidney, and in praising him, language itself has been exhausted. Much of this adulation has passed current from one author to another, without any examination of its merits, or the foundations upon which it was at first erected. It is certainly proper to approach this idol of his country with respect; but, if we desire to do justice to his character, we must endeavour to divest our minds of prejudice; to forget all that has been written of him; and to form our opinions solely from what he himself has written.

Sir Philip Sidney was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney, and of Mary, eldest daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and, what is of more

consequence to the reader of his life to remember, nephew to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. He was born at Penshurst in Kent, his father's residence, November the 29th, 1554.

The family of Sidney is of French extraction, and cannot be traced, in this country, higher than the reign of Henry the second, to whom William de Sidney was Chamberlain.

The grandfather of our hero, Sir William de Sidney, was one of the Commanders at the battle of Flodden, and was made a Knight Banneret in consequence.— He was Chamberlain and Steward of the Household to Henry the Eighth.

Sir Henry Sidney, his father, the only surviving son of Sir William de Sidney, was, from his earliest infancy, the companion and bosom friend of King Edward the Sixth; who knighted him, selected him as his representative at the court of France, and afterwards promoted him to several appointments near his person. During the succeeding reign, he conducted himself with so much prudence, as not only to obtain honour and promotion, but also most effectually to serve the obnoxious family to which he was allied by marriage. By Queen Mary, he was first appointed Vice-Treasurer, and afterwards Governor General of the Revenue, and Lord Justice of Ireland. He was so much in favour with the Queen, as to obtain the especial honour of giving to his eldest son the name of the haughty Spanish monarch, to whom she was united. Upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth, all his honours and employments were confirmed to him. He was, in addition, made Lord President of Wales, and a Knight

of the Garter. The Government both of Ireland and Wales, which was never before nor since united in one person, he continued to hold for upwards of 20 years. Sir Henry Sidney was one of the most eminent Statesmen in an age celebrated for producing great men in that department; of unblemished honour, and of the strictest integrity; unable, after a life spent in the service of three sovereigns, and in employments where ample fortunes may, and have been acquired, to give a small portion of 2000 pounds to his daughter, upon her marriage, or to reward his faithful secretary for his services. He was removed from the government of Ireland in 1578, but retained that of Wales until his death, which happened at Ludlow Castle, May 5th, 1586, in the 57th year of his age.

Greatly indebted as Sir Philip Sidney must have been to the instruction and example of such a father, he was probably even under greater obligations to his excellent mother. This lady, highly born, and carefully instructed, as the ladies of that age were-and as ladies should be in every age—in polite learning, possessed a mind and spirit equal to her illustrious birth. Warned by the fearful example in her family, she shrunk from public life, and sought happiness where it was more likely to be found, in the careful discharge of the retied and domestic duties.

She was the first instructor

of her son, and formed his infant mind to that love of virtue and noble actions, which afterwards rendered him so illustrious in his life time, and has embalmed his memory to every future age. From his mother's care, the youngPhilip was removed to a school at Shrewsbury, which was probably selected from its vicinity to Ludlow Castle, the residence of his father, as Governor of

Wales. He was an instance of early proficiency in mental attainments. Sir Fulke Greville says, "though I lived with him, and knew him from a child, yet I never knew him other than a man, with such a steadiness of mind, lovely and familiar gravity, as carried grace and reverence above his years." At the age of twelve years he addressed his father in two letters, written in Latin and French. His father's answer, which is a valuable record of paternal solicitude, contains a compendium of excellent advice and instruction, but is too long for insertion in this place.

In the year 1569, Sir Philip Sidney was removed to Oxford, and entered of Christ Church College; and he afterwards, according to the custom of that age, passed some time at the sister University. During this period, "such," says Fuller, "was his aptitude for learning, that he could never be fed fast enough therewith, and so quick and strong his digestion, that he soon turned it to wholesome nourishment, and thrived healthfully thereon."

In 1572, he obtained a licence for travelling, and was in Paris during the massacre of the protestants; in the horror and confusion of which, he saved his life by taking refuge in the residence of Sir Francis Walsingham, the English Ambassador. He spent three years abroad, visited the principal cities of Italy and Germany, and formed intimacies with several distinguished foreigners. But, perhaps, the greatest acquisition he made during this period of his life, was the friendship of Hubert Languet, a distinguished scholar, and excellent man; who continued ever afterwards to correspond with him, and furnished him with the best advice and instruction.