soule ". Spenser sought to lift the lives of his contemporaries into the region of the ideal, to make men feel that evil is no mere abstraction, but that this world, that the England in which they lived, was a true faerieland, in which they were to fight against evil; that the simple and the weak are transfigured by the armour of light, and if taught and guided by truth, are enabled to lead heroic lives. In this faith, he sought "to fashion noble persons," men and women, in such virtuous and gentle discipline, as should enable them to recognise and overcome evil in all its many disguises; he set before them an ideal to which they might aspire; he sang of his fellow-countrymen, not as they were, but as he would have them be; he saw in vision, his Queen sending forth warriors brave and devoted, to contend, first with what he regarded as the incarnation of wickedness, the mystery of iniquity, and afterwards with evil in its many forms, open and insidious. Still, in this wilderness of the later books, there are some passages we would not willingly have missed, and some teaching regarding the inner life as beautiful and true as the lessons of book i. Specially interesting for us is the story of the Lady Knight. We know what was Spenser's general design, "to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline". I think by the story of Britomart he sought to fashion a true woman. Britomart is different from all the ladies we have met in the earlier books. She is a real woman, propriâ personâ, not merely the usual appendage of a knight. She sets forth alone, and proves herself no mere satellite, for she owns a squire. We are at once interested in her career, and we long to follow her path, but we soon find ourselves in a labyrinth, and we wish for a guide. Such a guide I would be to those who desire to learn the poet's thoughts about women. How beautiful is his first introduction to her! We marvel that one whose life was passed in so much trouble and turmoil, should have been able to depict not only scenes of wild strife, but should have sat as it were by some woodland lake, and patiently looked down into the unruffled transparent depths of a young girl's heart, should have been able to paint a picture as charming and simple as Mrs. Browning's Swan's Nest. Let us follow the story. In the classic region of Deheubarth in South Wales, at the court of her father Ryence, lived the Princess Britomart. She was no pale, sickly maiden, but one whose physical frame had been developed by healthy exercise. healthy exercise. There she had been "Trained up in warlike stowre To tossen speare and shield, and to affrap She says, (Book iii., canto 2, v. 6.) "Sithence I loathed have my life to lead, Me lever were with point of foeman's spear be dead". Is this the poet's ideal? No gentle maiden, passive and retiring, but a bold warrior? Yes, a warrior! For men and women are alike enrolled as soldiers of Christ. In early years must their whole being be strengthened by the use of those powers which make us men; all must bear the weight of the heavenly armour, and wield the sword of the spirit. The doctrine of Fainéance, sometimes preached to women, would have been impossible for a subject of Elizabeth who believed in his Queen and his Country; and such teaching would have been an anachronism in the sixteenth century, while four great Queens, for good or for evil, were changing the current of historyCatharine of France, and Mary of Scotland, representing to Spenser and his friends an incarnation of evil; Jeanne d'Albret, the Warrior-Queen, and their own Elizabeth, the Champions of Good. Ryence owned a magic globe or mirror, such as we read the Egyptian magicians used; it was cunningly contrived by Merlin : "It vertue had to shew in perfect sight Forthy it round and hollow shaped was, Like to the world itselfe, and seem'd a world of glas." (Book iii., canto 2, v. 19.) One day Britomart entered her father's study, and looked into the mirror; at first she saw only the reflection of herself, then it occurred to her to wish that she might see her future husband. subject of our first window. This is the "Eftsoones there was presented to her eye (Book iii., canto 2, v. 24.) Our maiden warrior then has learned in the quiet home, from the example and teaching of a noble-minded father, to form a high ideal of manly perfection. With this vision in her soul, she will be secure from all meaner influences, she will pass safely through worldly temptations; she will recognise the true knight when she sees him, and will be content with nothing less than that true love. "Most sacred fyre that burneth mightily In living breasts, ykindled first above, Emongst th' eternall spheres and lamping sky." (Canto 3, v. i.) Old Glauce, Britomart's nurse, soon perceives that a change has come over the Princess, and obtains from her the confession that she loves "But th' only shade and semblance of a knight”. So it was with Arthur. It was a vision seen in a dream which kindled in him the flame of love. It was a glorious ideal to be followed here on earth, to be found in heaven. Glauce thinks the Princess bewitched. She first takes her to church, and then tries the effect of charms in vain: finally they resolve to visit in disguise the framer of the mirror, and learn from him the name of the knight whom Britomart had seen. Merlin, in spite of their disguise, recognises them at once; he tells them that the knight is Arthegal, brother of the Cornish King. He prophesies the union of Britomart and Arthegal, and foretells the future glories of their posterity. Lord Grey of Wilton is doubtless the political Sir Arthegal, but into the historic allusions I do not propose to enter. Britomart and Glauce return, but not to remain in the quiet home. She feels she must go forth to seek her ideal knight. It seems that our heroine's mother is dead, her father is engaged in constant warfare. For her there are no longer home duties; the quiet trainingtime is past, the vision she has seen, the prophecy of Merlin, her own longings for action call her away. But first she enters the church. This is the subject of our second window. There hangs the armour of a brave Queen, Angela; clothing herself in this angelic armour, the counterpart of that of the Red Cross Knight, she sets forth, accompanied by Glauce, who is disguised as her squire. And one weapon she takes of mighty strength,-not to wound, but to protect,-a long spear which could throw to the ground every assailant, the ebon spear of womanly dignity and self-respect. "For never wight so fast in sell could sit, But him perforce unto the ground it bore; Both speare she tooke and shield which hong by it; Both speare and shield of great powre, for her purpose fit." And now we must pick up a few threads of our story. At the end of book ii. we have read of the destruction of the Bower of an Enchantress, Acrasia, by Sir Guyon, the Knight of Temperance; he and Arthur seem then to have returned to the house of Alma, and afterwards proceeding on their way, they met the disguised Princess. Sir Guyon immediately resolved to try his strength against the stranger, and was surprised to find himself thrown to the ground by the magic spear. He wished to renew the battle, but abstained at length, being persuaded by Arthur that he would suffer no disgrace by giving up the contestthat his defeat was the fault of his horse and his page, and that the spear was endued with magic power. It seems strange that Sir Guyon should attack Britomart without provocation. Does our poet mean, that the first use to which she is to put her spear is to teach others self-restraint, or temperance, in the larger sense in which Spenser uses the word? "For she was full of amiable grace |