his royal mistress. She is personified in the "Faerie Queen," under the several characters of Gloriana, Belphoebe, and Mercillæ, and made the subject of the highest eulogiums in each of these allegorical creations. She is also greatly extolled in the pastoral poem of "Colin Clout's Come Home Again," as the “ as the "Shepherdess Cynthia, the lady of the sea." In this quaint, but elegant poem, the distress of sir Walter Raleigh, on account of his temporary disgrace with the queen, is pathetically set forth. The

poem was probably written at the desire of that accomplished courtier, to whom it is dedicated, and who is there called the "shepherd of the ocean;" and, in his dialogue with the other illustrious swains, is made by Spenser to speak thus of his royal patroness:

"Whose glory, greater than my simple thought,

I found much greater than the former fame :
Such greatness I cannot compare to aught:
But if I her like aught on earth might read,
I would her liken to a crown of lilies
Upon a virgin bride's adorned head,

With roses dight, and goolds, and daffadillies;
Or, like the circlet of a turtle true,

In which all colours of the rainbow be ;
Or, like fair Phoebe's girland, shining, new,
In which all pure perfection one may see;
But vain it is to think, by paragon

Of earthly things, to judge of things divine!
Her power, her mercy, and her wisdom, none
Can deem, but who the Godhead can define!
Why then, do I, base shepherd, bold and blind,
Presume the things so sacred to prophane?
More fit it is t'adore, with humble mind,

The image of the heavens in shape humane."

After this hyperbolical strain of adulation, Spenser goes on to explain, that it was "the shepherd of the ocean" who first made him known to the queen, and this is very prettily done, with the exception of the epithet goddess, which, applied to any lady, whether sovereign or beauty, is always in bad taste

"The shepherd of the ocean, quoth he,

Unto that goddess' grace me first enhanced,
And to mine oaten pipe inclined her ear,
That she thenceforth therein 'gan take delight,
And it desired at timely hours to hear.
All were my notes but rude and roughly dight;
For not by measure of her own great mind
And wondrous worth, she met my simple song,
But joy'd that country shepherd aught could find,
Worth hearkening to amongst that learned throng."

It must have been the influence of party spirit alone which could have blinded Mulla's bard to the want of moral justice, displayed by him in endeavouring to distort the character and situation of the persecuted captive, Mary Stuart, into the hideous portrait of Duessa. In this, however, Spenser was probably only performing the task enjoined to him by the leaders of the cabinet, by whom nothing was omitted, that was calculated to poison the minds both of the sovereign and the people of England against

the ill-fated heiress of the realm.

1

The young, graceful, and accomplished Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, is supposed to have been first introduced to the notice of queen Elizabeth, by his step-father, Leicester, in the hope of diverting her majesty's regard from her

1 He was the son of Walter, earl of Essex, and Lettice Knollys, who was considered the favourite of Elizabeth. She was the daughter of the queen's first cousin, Lettice Lady Knollys, daughter of Mary Boleyn, and sister to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon. Lettice Knollys was one of the most beautiful girls at the court of Elizabeth, and seems to have inherited not only the charms of person, but the fascination of manners of the queen's mother and aunt, Anne and Mary Boleyn. She married the earl of Essex, and became the mother of a family, beautiful as herself. Unfortunately, she made a conquest of the heart of the earl of Leicester, while yet a wife. The death of her husband, the earl of Essex, in Ireland, 1576, was attributed to poison, administered by the agents of Leicester. Two days before earl Walter died, he wrote to the queen, recommending his infants to her care and patronage. The eldest of these children was Robert, afterwards the noted favourite of Elizabeth: he was then scarcely ten years old. Leicester soon after put away his wife, Douglas lady Sheffield, and married the widow, lady Essex, at first privately, and afterwards in the presence of her stern father, sir Francis Knollys. The young earl of Essex was placed at Trinity College, Cambridge, under the guardianship of lord Burleigh, to whose daughter his father wished to contract him in marriage. Though in possession of considerable landed property, the young earl was either so poor in ready money, or his statesman-guardian so thrifty, that his tutor, Mr. Wroth, had to write for a supply of clothes for him, in 1577, saying, that his pupil was not only "thread-bare, but ragged.' Letters from the young earl to Burleigh, in very elegant Latin, occur, from Cambridge, till the year 1579; and as early as the year 1582, Burleigh found it needful to write his ward a letter on his prodigality. Essex's answer, acknowledging his fault, is dated at York. [See Ellis' Letters.] Soon after, he emerged into Elizabeth's court, where he was as much distinguished by her favour, as by his boundless extravagance. His beautiful sister, Penelope, the wife of lord Rich, became, at the same time, one of the leading intriguantes of that day. Essex involved himself, by reason of his extensive patronage to a vast number of needy military followers, who devoured his substance, and constantly urged him to obtain gifts from the queen. When he was but twenty-four, he was in debt to the enormous amount of 23,0007.; and in his letter, dated 1590, to Elizabeth's vice-chamberlain, (evidently meant for the queen's eye,) he owns the queen "had given him so much, he dared not ask her for more.'

new favourite Raleigh, whose influence was regarded with a jealous eye by her ministers. As Essex was the greatgrandson of Anne Boleyn's sister Mary and William Carey, he was nearly related to queen Elizabeth, who distinguished him in the first instance, rather as a youthful pet and kinsman, than a lover. The young earl, however, quickly assumed the haughty and jealous airs of a person, who considered that he had a right to distance all other pretenders to the royal favour. Elizabeth's fickle fancy was just then engaged, more peculiarly, by a gentleman, of whom the busy plotting conspirator Morgan, in one of his secret letters to the captive queen of Scots, speaks as follows, commencing, as the reader will observe, with an allusion to a supposed coolness between her and the late object of her regard, sir Walter Raleigh: "Whether," writes he, Raleigh, the mignon of her of England, be weary of her or she of him, I hear she hath now entertained one Blount, brother of the lord Mountjoye, being a young gentleman, whose grandmother she may be, for her age and his."1

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This letter, which was written in the year 1585, places to a certainty the introduction of Charles Blount to the court of Elizabeth, at an earlier date than has generally been supposed. The circumstances connected with that introduction are pleasantly related by Sir Robert Naunton.

When queen Elizabeth first saw Charles Blount, at Whitehall, she was struck with his tall graceful stature and agreeable countenance. She was then at dinner, and asked her lady-carver who he was; who, not being able to satisfy her majesty's curiosity, further inquiry was made, and she was informed that he was the younger brother of the lord William Mountjoye, a learned student from Oxford, and had just been admitted to the inner temple. This inquiry, with the eye of her majesty fixed upon him, according to her custom of daunting those she did not know, made the young gentleman blush, which she perceiving, gave him her hand to kiss, encouraging him with gracious words and looks, saying to her lords and ladies in attendance," that she no sooner observed him than she saw that there was noble blood in his veins," adding some expressions of pity for the misfortunes of his house-his father having wasted much in the vain pursuit of the philosopher's stone, and his brother, 1 Inedited State Paper MS.-Mary queen of Scots, vol. xv. p. 414.

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by extravagant profusion. Her majesty, having made him repeat his name to herself, said to him, Fail you not to come to court, and I will bethink me how to do you good." His fortune was then very small. The earl of Essex was seized with jealous displeasure at the favourable reception given by the queen to this modest young courtier, who, bashful as he was, was well accomplished in the manly exercises of that chivalrous age. One day, the noble student ran so well at the tilt, that the queen, being highly pleased with him, sent him, in token of her favour, a golden chessqueen, richly enamelled, which his servant next day fastened to his arm with a crimson ribbon. Proud of this token, and the better to display it, Charles Blount passed through the privy chamber, with his cloak under his arm, instead of over his shoulder, on which, the earl of Essex observing the decoration, demanded what it was, and wherefore so placed? Mr. Fulke Greville replied, "that it was the queen's favour, which the day before she had, after the tilting, sent to Charles Blount," on which the earl contemptuously observed, "Now I perceive that every fool must have a favour."

1

Blount replied to this unprovoked impertinence by a challenge. He and Essex met near Marybone park, and the haughty favourite was wounded in the thigh, and disarmed. When the queen was informed of this hostile encounter, and its result, she swore, "by God's death, that it was fit that some one or other should take the earl down, and teach him manners, otherwise there would be no ruling him."2

Essex had distinguished himself very honourably at the battle of Zutphen, where he encouraged his men with this chivalric address:-"For the honour of England, my fellows, follow me!" and with that he "threw his lance into the rest, and overthrew the first man; and with his curtelax so behaved himself, that it was wonderful to see."3

In that same battle, the flower of English chivalry, the illustrious sir Philip Sidney, received his death-wound; after performing prodigies of valour, his thigh-bone was shattered, in the third charge. When Leceister saw him,

1 Birch's Memorials; Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia.

2 Naunton.

3 Stowe.

he exclaimed with great feeling, "Oh, Philip! I am sorry for thy hurt."

"Oh, my lord!" replied the dying hero, "this have I done to do you honour and her majesty service."

Sir William Russell kissed his hand, and said, with tears, Oh, noble sir Philip! never man attained hurt more honourably than ye have done, nor any served like unto you." But Sidney's most glorious deed was yet to do; when, a few minutes after this, he resigned the cup of cold water which he had craved, in his agony, to quench the death-thirst of a private soldier, who had turned a longing look on the precious draught. "Give it to him!" exclaimed sir Philip, "his necessity is greater than mine;" an incident which must have inclined every one to say, that the death of Sidney was worthy of his life. Public honours were decreed to the remains of her hero by his weeping country, and the learned young king of Scotland composed his epitaph in elegiac Latin verse. Elizabeth is said to

have prevented sir Philip Sidney's election to the sovereignty of Poland, observing, "That she could not afford to part with the choicest jewel of her court." Sidney, in a tone of chivalric loyalty, replied, " And I would rather remain the subject of queen Elizabeth, than accept of the highest preferment in a foreign land."1

Elizabeth subsequently alluded to the death of this accomplished hero, in terms approaching to levity, on the occasion of her youthful favourite, Charles Blount, escaping from the silken bonds in which she essayed to detain him, and joining the English army in Flanders. Her majesty sent a special messenger to his commander, sir John Norreys, charging him to send her truant back to her. She received Blount with a sound rating, asking him how he durst go without her consent. "Serve me so once more," added she, "and I will lay you fast enough, for running!—you will never leave off, till you are knocked over the head, as that inconsiderate fellow Sidney was."" Such was the respect cherished by the sovereign, for the memory of the brightest ornament of her court-he who had worshipped her as a goddess, during his life, and rejoiced to die in her service!

She concluded her lecture to her dainty pet, in these