Rofalind, whom he finely celebrates in his pasloral poems, and of whofe cruelty he has written fuch pathetical complaints.

It is probable that about this time Spenfer's genius began firft to diftinguifh itself; for the Shepherd's Calendar, which is fo full of his unprofperous paffion for Rofalind, was amongst the firft of his works of note, and the fuppofition is ftrengthened, by the confideration of Poetry's being fre`quently the offspring of love and retirement. This work he addreffed by a fhort dedication to the Macenas of his age, the immortal Sir Philip Sidney. This gentleman was now in the highest reputation, both for wit and gallantry, and the moft popular of all the courtiers of his age, and as he was himself a writer, and efpecially excelled in the fabulous or inventive part of poetry; it is no wonder he was ftruck with our author's genius, and became fenfible of his merit. A ftory is told of him by Mr. Hughes, which I fhall prefent the reader, as it ferves to illuftrate the great worth and penetration of Sidney, as well as the excellent genius of Spenfer. It is faid that our poet was a tranger to this gentleman, when he began to write his Fairy Queen, and that he took occafion to go to Leicefter-houfe, and introduce himself by fending in to Mr. Sidney a copy of the ninth Canto of the first book of that poem. Sidney was much furprized with the defcription of defpair in that Canto, and is faid to have fhewn an unusual kind of tranfport on the discovery of fo new and uncommon a genius. After he had read fome ftanza's, he turned to his fteward, and bid him give the perfon that brought thofe verfes fifty pounds; but upon reading the next stanza, he ordered the fum to be doubled. The fteward was no lefs furprized than his mafter, and thought it his duty to make fome delay in executing so fudden and lavish a bounty; but upon reading one

ftanza

ftanza more, Mr. Sidney raised the gratuity to two hundred pounds, and commanded the fteward to give it immediately, left as he read further he might be tempted to give away his whole eftate. From this time he admitted the author to his acquaintance and converfation, and prepared the way for his being known and received at court.

Tho' this seemed a promifing omen, to be thus introduced to court, yet he did not inftantly reap any advantage from it. He was indeed created poet laureat to Queen Elizabeth, but he for fome time wore a barren laurel, and poffeffed only the place without the penfion * Lord treasurer Burleigh, under. whofe difpleasure Spenfer laboured, took care to intercept the Queen's favours to this unhappy great man. As misfortunes have the most influence on elegant and polished minds, fo it was no wonder that Spenfer was much depreffed by the cold reception he met with from the great; a circumstance which not a little detracts from the merit of the ministers then in power: for I know not if all the political transactions of Burleigh, are fufficient to counterballance the infamy affixed on his name, by profecuting refentment againft diftreffed merit, and keeping him who was the ornament of the times, as much diftant as poffible from the approach of competence. Thefe difcouragements greatly funk our author's fpirit, and accordingly we find him pouring out his heart, in complaints of fo injurious and undeferved a treatment; which probably, would have been lefs unfortunate to him, if his noble patron Sir Philip Sidney had not been fo much abfent from court, as by his employments abroad, and the share he had in the Low-Country wars, he was obliged to be. In a poem called, The Ruins of Time, which was written fome time after Sidney's death, the au

thor feems to allude to the difcouragement I have mentioned in the following stanza.

O grief of griefs, O gall of all good hearts!
To fee that virtue fhould defpifed be,
Of fuch as first were raised for virtue's parts,
And now broad-spreading like an aged tree,
Let none shoot up that nigh them planted be;
O let not thefe, of whom the mufe is fcorned,
Alive or dead be by the mufe adorned.

Thefe lines are certainly meant to reflect on Burleigh for neglecting him, and the Lord Treasurer afterwards conceived a hatred towards him for the fatire he apprehended was levelled at him in Mother Hubbard's Tale. In this poem, the author has in the most lively manner, painted out the misfortune of depending on court favours. The lines which follow are among others very remarkable.

Full little knoweft thou, that haft not try'd,
What Hell it is in fuing long to bide,
To clofe good days, that nights be better spent,
To waste long nights in penfive discontent ;
To fpeed to day, to be put back to-morrow,
To feed on hope, to pine with fear and forrow
To have thy prince's grace, yet want her peers,
To have thy asking, yet wait many years.
To fret thy foul with croffes, and with care.
To eat thy heart, thio' comfortless defpair;
To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride, to run
To spend, to give, to want, to be undone.

As this was very much the author's cafe, it probably was the particular paffage in that poem which gave offence; for as Hughes very elegantly obferves, even the fighs of a miferable man, are fometimes refented as an affront, by him who is the occafion of them. There is a little ftory, which feems founded

од

on the grievance juft now mentioned, and is related by fome as a matter of fact* commonly reported at that time. It is faid, that upon his prefenting fome poems to the Queen, the ordered him a gratuity of one hundred pounds, but the Lord Treasurer Burleigh objecting to it, faid with fome fcorn of the poet, of whofe merit he was totally ignorant, What, all this for a fong?" The queen replied, Then give him what is reafon." Spenfer for fome time waited, but had the mortification to find himself difappointed of her Majesty's bounty. Upon this he took a proper opportunity to present a paper to Queen Elizabeth in the manner of a pe tition, in which he reminded her of the order the had given, in the following lines.

I was promised on a time
To have reafon for my rhime,
From that time, unto this season
I received nor rhime, nor reafon.

This paper produced the intended effect, and the Queen, after sharply reproving the treafurer, immediately directed the payment of the hundred pounds fhe had firft ordered. In the year 1579 he was fent abroad by the Earl of Leicester, as appears by a copy of Latin verfes dated from Leicesterhoufe, and addreffed to his friend Mr. Harvey; but Mr. Hughes has not been able to determine in what fervice we was employed. When the Lord Grey of Wilton was chofen Deputy of Ireland, Spenfer was recommended to him as fecretary. This drew him over to another kingdom, and fettled him in a fcene of life very different from what he had formerly known; but, that he understood, and difcharged his employment with skill and capacity, appears fufficiently by his difcourfe on the state of

Ireland, in which there are many folid and judicious remarks, that fhew him no lefs qualified for the bufinefs of the ftate, than for the entertainment of the mufes. His life was now freed from the difficulties under which it had hitherto struggled, and his fervices to the Crown received a reward of a grant from Queen Elizabeth of 3000 Acres of land in the county of Cork. His houfe was in Kilcolman, and the river Mulla, which he has more than once fo finely introduced in his poems,ran through his grounds. Much about this time, he contracted an intimate friendship with the great and learned Sir Walter Raleigh, who was then a captain under the lord Grey. The poem of Spenfer's, called Colin Clouts come home again, in which Sir Walter Raleigh is described under the name of the Shepherd of the Ocean, is a beautiful memorial of this friendship, which took its rife from a fimilarity of tafte in the polite arts, and which he agreeably defcribes with a foftness and delicacy peculiar to him. Sir Walter afterwards promoted him in Queen Elizabeth's efteem, thro' whofe recommendation fhe read his writings. He now fell in love a fecond time with a merchant's daughter, in which, fays Mrs. Cooper, author of the mufes library, he was more fuccefsful than in his firft amour. wrote upon this occafion a beautiful epithalamium, with which he prefented the lady on the bridal-day, and has configned that day, and her, to immortality. In this pleafant easy fituation our excellent poet finished the celebrated poem of The Fairy Queen, which was begun and continued at different intervals of time, and of which he at first published only the three first books; to these were added three more in a following edition, but the fix laft books (excepting the two canto's of mutability) were unfortunately loft by his fervant whom he had in hafte fent before him into England; for tho' he passed his life for fome time very fe

He

renely