hus a company of adequate size. He retained Hunnis, no doubt, as one
of the trainers of the Boys, and he kept Evans as manager of the
troupe. Moreover, shortly after the purchase, probably in June, 1583,
he made a free gift of the lease to his private secretary, John Lyly,
a young man who had recently won fame with the first English novel,
_Euphues_. The object of this, like the preceding transfers of title,
it seems, was to put as many legal blocks in the path of Sir William
More as possible. More realized this, and complained specifically that
"the title was posted from one to another"; yet he had firmly made up
his mind to recover the property, and in spite of Oxford's
interference, he instructed his "learned council" to "demand
judgment."

Meanwhile the dramatic organization at Blackfriars continued under the
direction of Hunnis, Evans, and Lyly, with the Earl of Oxford as
patron. Not only was Lyly the proprietor of the theatre, but he
attempted to supply it with the necessary plays. He had already shown
his power to tell in effective prose a pleasing love romance. That
power he now turned to the production of his first play, written in
haste for the Christmas festivities. The play, _Alexander and
Campaspe_, was presented before Her Majesty on January 1, 1584, and at
Blackfriars, with great applause. Lyly's second play, _Sapho and
Phao_, was produced at Court on March 3, following, and also at
Blackfriars before the general public.

But at the Easter term, 1584, Sir William More got judgment in his
favor. The widow begged Sir Francis Walsingham to intercede in her
behalf, declaring that the loss of the lease "might be her utter
undoing."[161] Walsingham sent the letter to More, and apparently
urged a consideration of her case. More, however, refused to yield. He
banished Lyly, Hunnis, Evans, and the Children from the "great upper
hall," and reconverted the building into tenements.

[Footnote 161: The letter is printed in full by Mr. Wallace in _The
Evolution of the English Drama_, p. 158. Mr. Wallace, however,
misdates it. It was not written until after More had "recovered it
[the lease] against Evans."]

CHAPTER VI

ST. PAUL'S

As shown in the preceding chapter, not only were the Children of the
Chapel Royal and of Windsor called upon to entertain the Queen with
dramatic performances, but the Children of St. Paul's were also
expected to amuse their sovereign on occasion. And following the
example o