an apart at
the fawning, flattering, self-seeking court of Queen Elizabeth.

"Good Queen Bess," as she has been miscalled, cared little for blunt
honesty. She was a vain and selfish woman, fond of flattery and
capricious in the extreme. She liked the soft speeches and fulsome
compliments of such men as the Earl of Leicester far better than she
liked the simple sincerity of the honest Sir Henry. Then, too, the queen
was avaricious. The condition of Ireland was of less moment to her than
the condition of her exchequer; and she was continually at odds with Sir
Henry because he spent more money than she thought necessary on the
unfortunate people whom she had sent him to rule.

But though the queen had little love for Philip Sidney's father, she was
all too partial to his brilliant uncle. The most conspicuous figure at
Elizabeth's court for many years was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
Leicester was own brother to Lady Sidney, but he had few of that lady's
noble qualities. He was a courtier of the most ignoble type, being a man
who ever sought his own advancement by flattery and cajolery--always
ready to "crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift might
follow fawning." For many years Leicester was the avowed lover of the
virgin queen, and there was some talk of a secret marriage having been
contracted between them, though there was probably no truth in the
rumor.

This much is certain, however--the queen favored Leicester in every
possible way, showering honor after honor upon him, and giving him great
riches.

When young Philip Sidney was not yet seventeen years of age, a dread
plague broke out in England and, reaching Oxford University, where he
was studying, necessitated the closing of that institution. Philip's
education was thus cut short before he had obtained his college degree,
but not before he had become one of the most scholarly men of the day.

Shortly after the closing of the university, he was summoned to court to
be in attendance on her majesty, and to take a place among the gay
company with which she was surrounded. This was considered a marked
advancement for him, and, at once, all thought that the queen would
specially honor him on account of his being nephew to the prime
favorite, Leicester.

The queen did favor Sidney--in her own capricious, selfish way--and he
shortly became the youngest darling of the court. He was only seventeen
when he took his place among Elizabeth's courtiers, bu