love and esteem for his virtues, which will be retained as long as the
name of Sidney shall exist. He is described by the writers of that age,
as the most perfect model of an English gentleman, that could be formed,
even in imagination; and when to this we add his amiable disposition,
his elegant erudition, his rare talents and dauntless valour, we are
prepared to estimate the demonstrations of grief which were expressed
for his loss, and the almost unexampled honours paid to his memory. The
court went into mourning for him, and his remains received a magnificent
funeral in St. Paul’s: the United Provinces having in vain requested
permission to inter him at their own expence, promising that he should
have as fair a tomb as any prince in Christendom. Elizabeth, who had
called him ‘her Philip,’ always spoke of him with affectionate regret.
The kings of France and Scotland lamented him in verse. Cambridge and
Oxford published three volumes of ‘Lachrymæ’ on his death. Spenser in
rhyme, and Camden in prose, commemorated and deplored their patron. Lord
Brooke was so proud of his friendship, that he directed it to be part of
his epitaph, ‘Here lies Sir Philip Sidney’s friend.’ A crowd of humbler
votaries emulously strove who best should paint his excellence and loss;
and it would be endless to enumerate the names of those who have, in
latter times, celebrated, in various forms, the name of Sidney.
“Envy, for a while, seemed to have expired, whilst foreigners and
countrymen alike joined in the tribute of respect offered to his memory.
Du Plessis Mornay, a celebrated Hugonot leader, condoled with Walsingham
on the loss of his incomparable son-in-law, in terms of the deepest
sorrow: Count Hohenloe passionately bewailed his friend and
fellow-soldier: and even the obdurate heart of Philip the Second, was
touched by the untimely fate of his god-son.
“Henry Sidney, the father of this accomplished young nobleman, was a
man endowed with wisdom and talent. Exemplary in his own conduct, he
sought to infuse into the mind of his son, the purest and most
elevated moral principles. Nor was his laudable conduct—his parental
solicitude—disappointed: he saw, in the brilliant career of his
beloved son, his warmest wishes anticipated, his fondest hopes
realized.
“That Philip Sidney, whilst on his travels, though still very young,
conducted himself with prudence, and displayed much soundness and
clearness of principle, may be inferred from his obtaining the
friendship of Hubert Languet, a celebrated protestant at Frankfort. And,
though his character was not faultless, though he partook of some of the
errors incident to his age and station, yet, as a man—a high-souled and
accomplished man—he had, among his contemporary countrymen, neither
equal nor competitor.
“Flattery has long since ceased to spread her meretricious splendour
round his name, and the historian can now calmly examine the pretensions
to that merit, which not only England, but Europe, attached to his
short-lived but brilliant career; and she can, with confidence and
complacency, enrol him amongst the noble few, whose example may be held
up as a beacon to youth, and still serve to kindle the animating glow of
emulation.
“His death was worthy of the best parts of his life: he showed himself,
at the last, devout, courageous, and serene. His last words are worthy
of remembrance, they were uttered with seriousness and composure: ‘Love
my memory; cherish my friends: their fidelity to me, may assure you that
they are honest. But, above all, govern your wills and affections by the
will and word of your Creator. In me, behold the end of this world and
its vanities.’
“His wife, the beautiful daughter of Walsingham; his brother Robert, to
whom he had performed the part of an indulgent and anxious parent rather
than that of a brother; and many sorrowful friends, surrounded his bed.
Their grief was, beyond doubt, sincere and poignant, as well as that of
the many persons of letters and of worth, who gloried in his friendship,
and flourished by his bountiful patronage. He was the author of a
romance, entitled ‘Arcadia,’ now only known to the curious in
literature.”
Whilst Mrs. Spencer and Susan were expressing their high admiration of
the character of Sir Philip Sidney, Ann was busily examining a picture
which hung next to the before-mentioned painting. As soon as the
observations on this last subject had ceased, she eagerly enquired whose
rustic dwelling it represented.
Mr. Wilmot replied: “That of Edmund Spenser, one of our first genuine
poets; whose rich and melodious strains will find their way to the
tastes of the real lovers of minstrelsy, as long as inexhaustible
fertility of invention, truth, fluency, and vivacity of description,
copious learning, and a pure, amiable, and heart-ennobling morality,
shall be prized among the students of English literature.
“From the circumstance of Spenser’s being entered as a sizar at
Cambridge, it is probable that he sprung from an obscure parentage, and
possessed but a slender patrimony. His merit, however, soon dawned
through the shades that surrounded him; and his intimacy with Stubbs, a
noted character of the day, and still more his friendship with Gabriel
Harvey, by whom he was introduced to Sir Philip Sidney, attest the
superiority of his mental acquirements.
“The choice of his associates, together with some passages in his
‘Shepherd’s Calendar,’ had given rise to the suspicion that he was
inclined towards puritanical sentiments; and possibly had some share in
the disappointment of a fellowship, which he had hoped to obtain in
1576. Leaving college on this event, he retired for a time into the
north of England; but the friendship of Sidney, who was fully capable of
appreciating his genius, drew him again from his retirement; and it was
at Penshurst that he composed much of the ‘Shepherd’s Calendar,’
published in 1579, under the signature of _Immerito_, and dedicated to
his accomplished patron.
“This year Spenser was sent by the earl of Leicester (probably at his
nephew’s request) to France, on some commission; and, in the following,
he obtained the post of secretary to lord Grey, and attended him to
Ireland.
“Spenser, though the child of fancy and of the Muse, was yet the man of
business; and an excellent paper on the state of Ireland, which he drew
up at this time, is still read and valued. He received a considerable
tract of land out of the forfeited estates of the earl of Desmond; and
also the castle of Kilcoman, which henceforth became his residence, and
where he had the pleasure of receiving a first visit from Raleigh.
“Similarity of taste and pursuits must soon have created an intimacy
between these candidates for fame; and the barbarism and ignorance which
surrounded them, must have cemented their friendship, and heightened the
pleasure they must have experienced in each other’s society.
“Nor did the seductive blandishments of a court banish from the
affections or remembrance of Raleigh, when he returned to England, the
tuneful bard whom he had left behind in the ‘emerald isle.’ He mentioned
him to the queen with enthusiasm; obtained for him some favours, or
promise of favours; and, on the second visit which he made to Ireland,
(probably for the purpose of inspecting some large grants which he had
himself obtained,) he insisted upon his friend’s returning with him; and
hastened to initiate him into those arts of gaining a fortune, which had
proved so prosperous to himself. But neither the taste, nor the retiring
temper of the poet, was calculated to combat with the intrigues and
treacheries of this heart-sickening scene; nor yet to endure the servile
dependence on another’s will, that must be borne by the pursuer of
courtly fortune. Bitterly did he regret his learned leisure, and deplore
the mistaken kindness which had taught him to forsake retirement and
ease, for the ‘solitude of a crowd, where all around were either foes or
strangers.’ He has left upon lasting record, in a few brief, energetic
lines, his warning to others, his grief and repentance; and, hastening
back to obscurity, he prepared to earn that title to immortal fame,
which will ever attend the author of the ‘Faery Queen.’ This great work
appeared in 1589, with a preface addressed to Raleigh, and a
considerable number of recommendatory poems; one of which, a sonnet of
great elegance, is marked by the initials of that same patronizing
friend.
“The premature death of Spenser, under circumstances of severe distress,
now called forth the sympathy and bitter regrets of the friends of
English literature. After witnessing the destruction of his whole
property, including the plunder of his house, by the Irish rebels, he
fled to England for shelter. The fifty pounds per annum, which he
enjoyed as her majesty’s poet laureate, being apparently his only
resource, he took up his abode in an obscure lodging in London, and
pined away in penury and despondence.
“The genius of this great poet, formed on the most approved models of
the time, and exercised upon themes peculiarly congenial to its taste,
received, in all its plenitude, that homage of contemporary applause,
which has sometimes failed to reward the nobler masters of the lyre.
“The adventures of chivalry, and the dim shadowings of moral allegory,
were almost equally the delight of a romantic, a serious, and a learned
age. It was also a point of loyalty to admire, in ‘Gloriana,’ ‘Queen of
Faery,’ or in ‘The Empress Mercilla,’ the avowed types of the graces and
virtues of her majesty; and she herself had discernment sufficient to
distinguish between the brazen trump of vulgar flattery, with which her
ear was sated, and the pastoral reed of antique frame, tuned sweetly to
her praise by Colin Clout.
“Spenser was interred with great solemnity in Westminster Abbey, by the
side of Chaucer; the generous Essex defraying the expences of the
funeral, and walking himself as a mourner. That ostentatious but
munificent woman, Ann, countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery,
erected a handsome monument to his memory, several years afterwards. The
brother poets who attended his obsequies, threw elegies and sonnets into
the grave; and, of the more distinguished votaries of the Muse in that
day, there is scarcely one who has withheld his tribute to the memory of
this beautiful author. Shakspeare, in one of his sonnets, had already
testified his high delight in his works.
“Joseph Hall, afterwards eminent as a bishop, a preacher, and a polemic,
but, at this time, a young student at Emanuel College, has more than one
complimentary allusion to the poems of Spenser, in his ‘Toothless
Satires,’ printed in 1597.”
“I think you mentioned, Sir,” said Mrs. Spencer, “that it was in Ireland
Sir Walter Raleigh first became acquainted with the illustrious bard.
Did Sir Walter spend much of his time there? Perhaps you will oblige us
by some account of him.”
“Willingly,” answered Mr. Wilmot. “Ireland, in particular, was the scene
of several of the early exploits of that brilliant and extraordinary
genius, Walter Raleigh; and it was out of his service in this country,
that an occasion arose for his appearing at court, which he had the
talent so to improve, as to make it the origin of all his favour and
advancement.
“Raleigh was the poor youngest son, of a decayed but ancient family in
Devonshire. His education at Oxford was yet incomplete, when the ardour
of his disposition encouraged him to join a band of a hundred
volunteers, led by his relation, Henry Champernon, in 1569, to the aid
of the French protestants. Here he served a six years’ apprenticeship to
the art of war; after which, returning to his own country, he gave
himself for awhile to the more tranquil pursuits of literature; for
‘both Minervas claim’d him as their own.’
“In 1578 he resumed his arms, under general Norris, commander of the
English forces in the Netherlands. The next year, ambitious of a new
kind of glory, he accompanied that gallant navigator, Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, his half-brother, in a voyage to Newfoundland. This expedition
proving unfortunate, he obtained, in 1580, a captain’s commission in the
Irish service; and, recommended by his vigour and capacity, rose to be
governor of Cork.
“A quarrel with lord Grey put a stop to his promotion in Ireland; and,
on following this nobleman to England, their difference was brought to a
hearing before the privy council, when the great talents, and uncommon
flow of eloquence, exhibited by Raleigh in pleading his own cause, by
raising the admiration of all present, proved the means of introducing
him to the presence of the queen. His comely person, fine address, and
prompt proficiency in the arts of a courtier, did all the rest; and he
rapidly rose to such a height of favour, as to inspire with jealousy
even him who had long stood foremost in the good graces of his
sovereign.
“It is recorded of Raleigh, during the early days of his court
attendance, when a few handsome suits of clothes formed almost the sum
total of his worldly wealth, that, as he was accompanying the queen in
one of her daily walks, she arrived at a miry spot, and stood in
perplexity how to pass. With an adroit presence of mind, the courtier
pulled off his cloak, and threw it on the ground to serve her for a
foot-cloth. She accepted with pleasure an attention which flattered her;
and it was afterwards quaintly said, that the spoiling of a cloak had
gained him many good suits.
“As a soldier, a statesman, and a scholar, Raleigh was eminently
distinguished through the whole reign of Elizabeth. He rendered her many
important services; and she not only acknowledged them, but protected
and encouraged him in the enterprises which he projected. He was the
discoverer of Virginia, and took effectual measures for promoting its
prosperity. His active enterprises against the Spaniards, both in Europe
and South America, excited the particular enmity of the court of Spain,
which used every means to effect his destruction. During the reign of
Elizabeth, these machinations were fruitless; but, on the accession of
James the First, Sir Walter lost his interest at court, was stripped of
his employments, and unjustly accused and condemned for a plot against
the king. He was afterwards trusted by James with a commission of
considerable importance, and thus virtually pardoned for all supposed
offences. The malice of his enemies at last prevailed against him; and
he was pusillanimously sacrificed to appease the Spaniards, who, whilst
Raleigh lived, thought every part of their dominions in danger.
“He was executed in Old Palace-yard, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
His behaviour on the scaffold was manly, unaffected, and even cheerful.
Being asked by the executioner which way he would lay his head, he
answered: ‘So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head
lies.’
“During his imprisonment, he wrote the following affecting letter to his
son; and, as it contains many solemn and affecting admonitions, and
testifies the influence of religion on his mind, I shall read it to you.
“‘My son, let my experienced advice and fatherly instructions sink deep
into thy heart. Seek not riches basely, nor attain them by evil means:
destroy no man for his wealth, nor take any thing from the poor; for the
cry thereof will pierce the heavens; and it is most detestable before
God, and most dishonourable before worthy men. Nor wrest any thing from
the laborious and needy soul: God will never prosper thee, if thou
offendest therein. Use thy poor neighbours and tenants well: have
compassion on the poor and afflicted, and God will bless thee for it.
Make not the hungry soul sorrowful; for if he curse thee in the
bitterness of his spirit, his prayer shall be heard of him that made
thee.
“‘Now for the world, dear child: I know it too well to persuade thee to
dive into the practices of it: rather stand upon thy guard against all
those that tempt thee to it, or may practise upon thee, thy conscience,
thy reputation, or thy estate. Be assured, that no man is wise or safe,
but he that is honest. Serve God, commend all thy endeavours to him, who
will either wither or prosper them. Please him with prayer; lest, if he
frown, he confound all thy fortune and labour, like the drops of rain
upon the sandy ground. May God direct thee in all thy ways, and fill thy
heart with his grace!’
“He also wrote a letter of consolation, and filled with pious
sentiments, to his wife; but the specimen I have given you, will serve
to exemplify the prepared state of his mind, previous to the solemn
event.
“An engagement this morning,” said Mr. Wilmot, “obliges me now to
conclude; and we will, therefore, quit the gallery.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAP. IX.
----------
THE first picture which attracted the little girls’ attention, on their
entrance into the gallery this morning, was the representation of an
eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They instantly applied for information to
Mr. Wilmot, which he as willingly gave them, in the following words:
“This celebrated volcano is situated a few miles east of Naples, in
Italy. The first eruption on record, happened on the twenty-seventh of
August, A.D. 79. It was accompanied by an earthquake, which overturned
several cities. Pliny, the naturalist, being too curious in observing
the effects of this violent convulsion of nature, was suffocated by the
sulphureous smoke.”
“Who was Pliny?” asked Susan.
“Pliny the Elder,” replied Mr. Wilmot, “was one of the most learned of
the Roman writers; and was born at Verona in Italy, A.D. 23. But a
letter from his nephew to a friend, describing his character and the
event, will give you a more perfect idea of both, than any other means I
can adopt. This amiable and learned man first enters into an account of
his uncle’s surprising application, as well as great mental powers; and
after relating the nature of his employments, he proceeds to say:
“‘You will wonder how a man, so engaged as he was, could find time to
compose such a number of books as he did; and some of them, too, upon
abstruse subjects. But your surprise will rise still higher, when you
hear that, for some time, he engaged in the profession of an advocate;
that he died in the fifty-sixth year of his age; that, from the time of
his quitting the bar, to his death, he was employed, partly in the
execution of the highest posts, and partly in personal attendance on
those emperors who honoured him with their friendship.”
[Illustration:
Page 158.
Page 159.]
“‘But he had a quick apprehension, joined to _unwearied application_. In
summer, he always began his studies as soon as it was night; in winter,
generally at one in the morning, but never later than two, and sometimes
at midnight. No man ever spent less time in bed; insomuch, that, without
retiring from his book, he would sometimes take a short nap, and then
pursue his studies. Before day-break he used to wait upon Vespasian,
who, likewise, chose these seasons to transact business. When he had
finished the affairs which that emperor transmitted to his charge, he
returned home again to his studies.
“‘After a short and light repast, at noon, according to the good old
custom of the ancients, he would frequently, in the summer, if
disengaged from business, repose himself in the sun; during which time,
some author was read to him, from which he made extracts and
observations; as, indeed, this was his constant method, whatever book he
read; for it was a maxim of his, ‘that no book was so bad but that
something might be learned from it.’
“‘When this was over, he generally went into the cold bath; and, as soon
as he came out of it, generally took a slight refreshment, and then
reposed himself for a little while. Thus, as if it had been a new day,
he renewed his studies till supper-time; when a book was again read to
him, upon which he would make some slight remarks. I remember once, his
_reader_ having pronounced a word wrong, somebody at table made him
repeat it again; upon which my uncle asked his friend, if he understood
it? who, acknowledging that he did: ‘Why, then,’ said he, ‘would you
make him go back again? We have lost, by this interruption, above ten
lines;’ covetous was this great man of time!
“‘In summer he always rose from supper by day-light, and in winter as
soon as it was dark; and he observed this rule as strictly as if it had
been a law of the state.
“‘Such was his manner of life amidst the noise and hurry of the town;
but, in the country, his whole time was devoted to study, without
intermission, excepting only when he bathed. In this exception I include
no more than the time he was actually in the bath; for, while he was
rubbed and wiped, he was employed in hearing some book read to him, or
in dictating. In his journeys he lost no time from his studies; but his
mind, at those seasons, being disengaged from all other business,
applied itself wholly to that single pursuit.
“‘A secretary constantly attended him in his chariot, who, in the
winter, wore a kind of warm gloves, that the sharpness of the weather
might not occasion any intermission to my uncle’s studies; and for the
same reason, when at Rome, he was always carried in a chair. I remember,
he once reproved me for walking. ‘You might,’ said he, ‘employ those
hours to more advantage;’ for he thought every hour lost, that was not
given to study. By this extraordinary application he found time to
compose the several treatises I have mentioned; besides one hundred and
sixty volumes, which he left me by his will, consisting of a kind of
common-place, written on both sides, in a very small character; so that
one might fairly reckon the number considerably more. I have heard him
say that, when he was comptroller of the revenue in Spain, Largius
Licinius offered him 400,000 sesterces (about £.3200 of our money) for
those manuscripts, and yet they were not then quite so numerous.’”
“What a remarkably industrious man he must have been!” said Ann.
“Yes,” replied Mr. Wilmot; “and although it would not be possible for
the generality of men to pursue his plans, yet I think we may all learn
something from his diligence, and his (may I not say) miserly care of
time. But to proceed with the narration.
“‘My uncle was at this time, with the fleet under his command, at
Misenum, in the gulf of Naples. On the twenty-fourth of August, at about
one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud, which
appeared of a very unusual shape and size. He had just returned from
enjoying the benefit of the sun; and, after bathing in cold water, and
taking a slight repast, was retired to his study: he immediately arose,
and went out upon an eminence, from which he might more distinctly view
the phenomenon. It was not, at this distance, discernible from what
mountain the cloud issued; but it was found afterwards to proceed from
Vesuvius, about six miles distant from Naples. I cannot give you a more
correct, or exact description of its figure, than to represent it by
that of a pine-tree; for it shot up a great height, in the form of a
tall trunk, which spread at the top into a sort of branches; occasioned,
I suppose, either by the force of the internal vapour, which impelled
the cloud upwards, decreasing in strength as it advanced, or, that the
cloud, being pressed back by its own weight, expanded itself in the
manner I have mentioned: it appeared sometimes dark and spotted, and
sometimes bright, as it was either more or less impregnated with earth
and cinders.
[Illustration:
Page 162.
Page 175.]
“‘This uncommon appearance excited my uncle’s philosophical curiosity to
take a nearer view of it. He accordingly ordered a light vessel to be
prepared; and offered me the liberty, if I thought proper, to attend
him. I chose rather to continue the employment in which I was engaged;
for it happened that he had given me a certain writing to copy.
“‘As he was going out of the house, with his tablets in his hand, he was
met by the mariners, belonging to the galleys stationed at Retina, from
which they had fled in the uttermost terror; for that port being
situated at the foot of Vesuvius, they had no other way than to escape
by sea. They conjured him, therefore, not to proceed, and expose his
life to imminent and inevitable danger. In compliance with this advice,
he exchanged his original intentions; and, instead of gratifying his
philosophical spirit, he resigned it to the more magnanimous principle
of aiding the distressed.