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to the Æneid, that it might be committed to the flames.

It had, however, as we have just seen, been placed, whilst in manuscript, under the protection of his beloved sister; and so greatly was it endeared to her heart by every past and present association, that as soon as the first agonies of her grief for his loss had subsided, she sate down with a melancholy pleasure to the task of correcting and improving it. It would appear, in fact, from an address to the reader, prefixed to several of the folio editions of the Arcadia, and signed with the initials H. S., that the labours of the countess of Pembroke in these departments were carried to such an extent as might warrant us in considering this romance as being truly, and beyond what is usually supposed, the joint production of the brother and sister. "It moved that noble lady," remarks the addresser, to whose honour consecrated, to whose protection it was committed, to take in hand the wiping away those spots wherewith the beauties thereof were unworthily blemished. But as often repairing a ruinous house, the mending of some old part occasioneth the making of some new so here her honourable labour begun in correcting the faults, ended in

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supplying the defects; by the view of what was ill done, guided to the consideration of what was not done. Which part with what advice entered into, with what access it had been passed through, MOST BY HER DOING, all by her directing, if they may be entreated not to define, which are unfurnished of means to discern, the rest, it is hoped, will favourably censure." And he concludes with a passage which, whilst it repeats his former assertion, adverts in a striking manner to the more than ordinary affection and esteem with which, it was well known, the countess of Pembroke had always repaid the confidence and admiration of her highly-gifted relative. "It is now," says he, "by more than one interest, THE COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE'S ARCADIA: done as it was, for her; as it is, by her. Neither shall these pains be the last (if no unexpected accident cut off her determination) which the everlasting love of her excellent brother will make her conse crate to his memory."

This work, therefore, may be justly considered as one of those memorials of that blended genius and affection which has carried down Sidney and his sister to posterity with unfading celebrity and

esteem. It was first printed in 1590, in quarto, and underwent six editions previous to the death of the countess. The seventh, which now lies before me, is a folio of 624 pages, printed in 1629, and contains, besides the Arcadia, firstly, Certain Sonnets; secondly, The Defence of Poesy; thirdly, Astrophel and Stella; and fourthly, The Lady of May, a Masque. Since this edition, seven others have appeared, making in all fourteen impressions, though of these not one, I believe, has appeared posterior to 1725.

However neglected in the present day, the Arcadia of sir Philip Sidney and his sister is, beyond all doubt, a production of very superior talent. It is, in truth, to the prodigious change of manners, and of modes of thinking, which has occurred in the lapse of more than two centuries, rather than to any radical defect in the work itself, that we are chiefly to attribute its loss of popularity; for, if we examine either the construction or execution of the narrative, we shall find much both to admire and to treasure up. The fable is not only skilfully contrived, but the interest increases with its progress, and is maintained to the last. The incidents are

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striking and diversified, and, what is still more indicative of genius, the characters are strongly drawn, and admirably discriminated.

To these claims to reconsideration may be added what is of yet higher import, that in no work of fiction, either of its own, or any subsequent age, is there to be found a loftier and more thoroughlysustained tone of practical morality; nor, extraordinary as it may appear for the period in which it was written, sentiments more chastely delicate and pure.

Another and very prominent excellence of the Arcadia, and in which it has been scarcely surpassed by any effort of ancient or modern times, is the singular beauty and fidelity of its descriptions. Almost every page, in short, exhibits proof of the painter's pencil, and the poet's imagination; and, as numerous instances of superior merit in these provinces will admit of insulation without injury, I cannot resist the temptation of placing one or two of them before my readers, as specimens of what they may expect from turning over the leaves of this neglected folio. Can there, for example, be found a more exquisite delineation of female beauty of feature, than what the following passage affords

VOL. I.

M

us ?

The Sidneys are describing the gorgeous celebration of the marriage between Argalus and Parthenia.

"But all the cost bestowed," he remarks, "did not so much enrich, nor all the fine decking so much beautify, nor all the dainty devices so much delight, as the fairness of Parthenia, the pearl of all the maids of Mantinoea: who as she went to the temple to be married, her eyes themselves scemed a temple, wherein love and beauty were married; her lips, though they were kept close with modest silence, yet with a pretty kind of natural swelling, they seemed to invite the guests that looked on them; her cheeks blushing, and withal, when she was spoken unto, a little smiling, were like roses when their leaves are with a little breath stirred *."

Nor could the pencil of Poussin or Claude have embodied upon their canvas a more delightful picture of rural loveliness and solitude, than that which has been drawn for us by the sweet fancy of Sidney and his sister.

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Lord, dear cousin," said he, "doth not the

* Edition of 1629, p. 30.

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