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as she ought, and, in a fit of anger, he strikes her with his sword, and casts her into a well; but the god of the place heals her wound, and, so strong is her love, she seeks again the man who had wounded her. On finding him, she tells him she has forgotten his cruelty, and is ready to forgive him. Perigot, still blind to her devotion, wounds her a second time. Once more, a kindly deity heals her wound; and Perigot, now convinced of her fidelity, throws himself at her feet, and is at once forgiven for all he has done.

The principal characteristics of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays are fun and fancy. They are full of mirth, and abound in bright and happy pictures; although it is a pity that they should have contained so much that is indecent.

THE FOUNTAIN DEITY'S SPEECH TO AMORET.

"I am this fountain's god! Below,

My waters to a river grow,

And 'twixt two banks with osiers set,
That only prosper in the wet,

Through the meadows do they glide,
Wheeling still on ev'ry side,
Sometimes winding round about,
To find the even'st channel out.
And if thou wilt go with me,
Leaving mortal company,

In the cool stream shalt thou lie,
Free from harm as well as I;
I will give thee for thy food
No fish that useth in the mud !

But trout and pike, that love to swim
Where the gravel from the brim

Through the pure streams may be seen:
Orient pearl fit for a queen,
Will I give, thy love to win,
And a shell to keep them in;

Not a fish in all my brook
That shall disobey thy look,

But, when thou wilt, come sliding by,
And from thy white hand take a fly.
And to make thee understand
How I can my waves command,
They shall bubble whilst I sing,
Sweeter than the silver string.'

The Faithful Shepherdess.

PHILIP MASSINGER.

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PHILIP MASSINGER (b. 1584, d. 1640).--Massinger's life was a very sad one. He was born a gentleman, and was well educated; but, somehow, he was always poor. When he became a play writer he was constantly in trouble; and at one time we find him begging earnestly for the loan of a small sum to get him out of the debtors' prison. As he lived, so he died. There is a record in the parish register that there was buried " one Philip Massinger, a stranger." He wrote thirty-seven plays as many as Shakespeare-consisting of tragedies, dramas, and comedies. The play which is considered his best is a comedy called A New Way to Pay Old Debts. The principal character is that of Sir Giles Overreach, who is the personification of selfishness. Massinger's works are remarkable for their representations of persons who, though poor, are made to resist temptations to do evil. His language is dignified, tender, and graceful; but, when he tries to be comic, he becomes coarse and indecent.

SIR GILES OVERREACH DESCRIBES HIMSELF.

"I am of a solid temper, and

Steer on a constant course: with mine own sword,
If called into the field, I can make that right
Which fearful enemies murmured at as wrong.
Now, for those other trifling complaints,
Breathed out in bitterness; as, when they call me
Extortioner, tyrant, cormorant, or intruder
On my poor neighbour's right, or grand encloser
Of what was common to my private use;

Nay, when my ears are pierced with widows' cries,
And undone orphans wash with tears my threshold,
I only think what 'tis to have my daughter
Right honourable; and 'tis a powerful charm,
Makes me insensible of remorse or pity,

Or the least sting of conscience."

A New Way to Pay Old Debts.

Other Dramatic Poets.-Chief among these were JOHN FORD, who beautifully illustrates the story of those who have been unhappy in their loves; JOHN WEBSTER, whose tragedies are full of "skulls, and graves, and epi

taphs;" GEORGE CHAPMAN, the translator of Homer, who wrote classical plays; THOMAS DEKKER, who "united the simplicity of prose with the grace of poetry;" THOMAS MIDDLETON, notable for his witches; JOHN MARSTON, a satirical dramatist; THOMAS HEYWOOD, a clever and graceful writer; and JAMES SHIRLEY, whose plays give us excellent pictures of the fashionable society of his time.

CHAPTER VII.

PROSE LITERATURE.

FROM 1558 TILL 1660.

Sir Philip Sidney-Sir Walter Raleigh-Hooker-Bacon-Hobbes -Sir Thomas Browne-Jeremy Taylor-Other Authors.

SIR. PHILIP SIDNEY (b. 1554, d. 1586).-Sir Philip was not only one of the handsomest men at the court of Elizabeth, but was also a brave soldier, a kind hearted and courteous gentleman, and one of the most splendid scholars of his age. No wonder that the Queen called him "the jewel of her court." He was fatally wounded at the battle of Zutphen, in the Netherlands, whither he had been sent to help the inhabitants against their enemies, the Spaniards. Everybody knows the story of the generosity of Sidney, in parting with the cup of cold water to the soldier whose necessity he considered greater than his own. He died shortly afterwards, at Arnheim.

He wrote sonnets, as Surrey had done before him, and, like Surrey, he had a lady love to whom he addressed them. Surrey had his Geraldine, and Sidney his Stella. But he is better known in literature for two prose works

-The Arcadia, written to amuse his sister, the Duchess of Pembroke; and A Defence of Poesy, against the attacks of the Puritans, who thought the reading of poetry was a sin. The former is simply a pastoral poem written in prose form, and was an immense favourite with the ladies

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

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of the court. The Defence is the more manly work, and shows, among other things, how the old ballads (short story-poems) about the great heroes of bygone days may stir up the reader of them to become heroic too; and how real poetry not only helps us to be good scholars, but teaches us to be noble, and honest, and true.

Sidney's prose and poetry both are disfigured by "conceits," or far fetched ideas; but his high estimate of female character had a most excellent influence on the morals of his time.

FROM THE "DEFENCE OF POESY."

"Now, of all sciences-I speak according to the human conceit -is our poet the monarch. For he doth not only show the way, but giveth so sweet a prospect into the way, as will entice any man to enter into it. Nay, he doth, as if your journey should lie through a fair vineyard, at the very first, give you a cluster of grapes; that, full of that taste, you may long to pass farther. He beginneth not with obscure definitions; but he cometh to you with words set in delightful proportion, either accompanied with, or prepared for, the well-enchanting skill of music; and with a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto you, with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner; and pretending no more, doth intend the winning of the mind from wickedness to virtue."

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SIR WALTER RALEIGH (b. 1552, d. 1618). This was the most extraordinary of all the writers of this period. He was remarkable in many ways. As a soldier, he distinguished himself both at home and abroad, both at sea and on shore; as a courtier, he was gallant and accomplished, and, like Sidney, a great favourite with the Queen; and, as an adventurer, he crossed the Atlantic, visited North and South America, founded a colony, and brought home the potato and the tobacco leaf. But, when James I. became King, he was imprisoned on a charge of being connected with a plot, with which in reality he had nothing to do. After twelve years' confinement in the Tower, he was liberated by the money loving King, who allowed him to go to South America to look for gold to fill the royal purse. But he

was most unfortunate. He failed to find the gold; he displeased the Spanish by attacking one of their settlements; and, losing his eldest son, returned to England a broken-hearted man. He was immediately placed in his old prison; and, to please the Spaniards, who had complained of Raleigh's behaviour in South America, the King caused him to be executed in 1618.

Raleigh's great book is The History of the World, written during his long imprisonment. It gives an account of the world from the time of the Creation till about 170 B.C., and is remarkable for the clearness of its language, its interesting style, and its great display of learning; but the reader may detect in its pages the heart sadness of the imprisoned author.

APOSTROPHE TO DEATH.

(From the "History of the World.")

"Oh, eloquent, just and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world, and despised; thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it over with these two narrow words-Hic jacet."

RICHARD HOOKER (b. 1553, d. 1598).-This was a man who, though born of poor parents, rose to a high position in the church to which he belonged. At school he was noted for his cleverness, and for his gentle and modest disposition. When at college (to which a kind bishop had sent him) he was a highly distinguished student, and when he took orders he speedily became a prominent clergyman in the Church of England. He was induced to marry a woman who was a shrew; but he did not rebel, being of a meek and quiet spirit. For some time he was Master of the Temple in London. Here he had a

colleague who disagreed with him on many subjects, and used to preach doctrines in the forenoon that he (Hooker) had to contradict in the afternoon. This duty was so much disliked by the amiable Master that he

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