to that in which he embarked on his unfortunate expedition to the Netherlands, an interval of about eight years, he might be considered as the model to which all the aspiring youth of England endeavoured to conform themselves; not merely as an exemplar of chivalric excellence, but as one also exhibiting, in the most enlarged and liberal import of the terms, the finished gentleman and scholar. He was, in truth, the munificent and unrivalled patron of whatever contributed to extend the bounds of learning, art, or science. How he fostered and supported the rising talents of a Raleigh and a Spenser, is well known to fame; but it should also be remembered, that he who knew him best has declared, that "there was not a cunning painter, a skilful engineer, an excellent musician, or any other artificer of extraordinary fame, that did not make himself known to this famous spirit, and found him his true friend without hire *."

Nor was he less a friend to his country in a political point of view; for when the queen, in 1579, showed a strong inclination to form a matrimonial union with Henry duke of Anjou, a connexion

* Sir Fulke Greville's Life of Sir Philip Sidney, p. 39.

which would in all probability have struck at the very foundations of our religion and liberty, Mr. Sidney had the address, by a letter couched in the most elegant style of the age, yet written, at the same time, with great strength of argument and openness of opinion, to awaken her apprehensions for the result, and finally to induce her to break off all negotiations on the subject; and this, too, notwithstanding the extreme delicacy and hazard of such a discussion, without giving her the smallest offence.

When Elizabeth, one of the most sagacious monarchs that ever filled the throne of England, thus deferred to the judgment of Philip Sidney, let us recollect that her youthful counsellor had but just completed his twenty-fifth year; and yet, although learned and accomplished for his age almost beyond all precedent, acquisitions which must necessarily have absorbed a vast portion of his time, he had nevertheless obtained such a knowledge of men, manners, and legislation, as would have done honour to the oldest head. Nor, what is praise surpassing every other, were the qualities of his heart less estimable than those of his intellect; a combination which rendered him, even amongst his own

VOL. I.

K

familiar friends and relations, an object of as much deference and admiration as with the public, who viewed him, comparatively, at a distance. No stronger proof of this can be given than that his father, a man himself, as we have seen, of high endowments both in a mental and a moral light, and intrusted with important duties, looked up to him at this very period, and not in vain, for counsel, consolation, and protection; and when writing shortly afterwards to his second son, Robert Sidney, thus pours forth his heart in the following affecting eulogy on the virtues of his eldest born. "Follow," he says, "the advice of your most loving brother, who in loving you is comparable with me, or exceedeth me. Imitate his virtues, exercises, studies, and actions: he is a rare ornament of his age, the very formular that all welldisposed young gentlemen of our court do form also their manners and life by. In truth, I speak it without flattery of him or myself, he hath the most virtues that ever I found in any man. I saw him not these six months, little to my comfort. You may hear from him with more ease than from me. In your travels these documents I will give you, not as mine, but his practices. Seek the

knowledge of the estate of every prince, court, and city, that you pass through. Address yourself to the company, to learn this of the elder sort, and yet neglect not the younger. By the one you shall gather learning, wisdom, and knowledge: by the other acquaintance, languages, and exercise. Once again I say, imitate him." And in a subsequent letter to the same son, after repeating similar advice, he concludes in a strain than which nothing can be more truly affectionate and impressive. "God bless you, my sweet child, in this world and for ever, as I in this world find myself happy in my children;" a sentence which at once assures us that in the family of sir Henry Sidney there dwelt peace, and piety, and home-felt happiness, with as little alloy as the tenure of humanity will admit.

It is impossible, indeed, to view without astonishment the varied and opposed qualities and accomplishments which at this period, namely, that of 1580, centred in the person of Philip Sidney; for with a mind stored with the richest products of ancient and modern literature, with a disposition naturally grave, and even pensive, and with a heart sighing for leisure and retirement, he was yet,

though avowedly disgusted with the life of a courtier, the very life and animating spirit of the gorgeous court of Elizabeth, the first and leading star in the joust, the triumph, and the tournament!

Yet thus acting a part which, though at first highly flattering to his chivalric enthusiasm, every day became less congenial with his more serious thoughts and studies, little was wanting to accelerate what may be, perhaps, justly termed his romantic scheme of retirement; and this occurred in the person of Edward Vere, earl of Oxford, who having personally insulted Mr. Sidney whilst playing at tennis, the latter, deprived by the interposition of the queen of the satisfaction of calling his adversary to arms, and impatient of the smallest intrenchment on his honour, retired to Wilton, the seat of his brother-in-law, the earl of Pembroke, to recover, in the society of his beloved sister, and in

* See his letters about this period, written to his great and learned friend Hubert Languet, in which he expresses so decided an aversion to a court life, and so much love for privacy and the society of a few select friends, as to draw from his sage Mentor a remonstrance against the indulgence of feelings incompatible with the duties which he owed to himself, his family, and his country.