illiam Pelham without cuishes upon his thighs,
prompted by mistaken but chivalrous generosity, he took off his own, and
had his thigh broken by a musket-ball. This was on the 2d of October,
1586, N.S. He lingered for twenty days, and then died at Arnheim, mourned
by all. The story of his passing the untasted water to the wounded
soldier, will never become trite: "This man's necessity is greater than
mine," was an immortal speech which men like to quote.[25]

SIDNEY'S WORKS.--But it is as a literary character that we must consider
Sidney; and it is worthy of special notice that his works could not have
been produced in any other age. The principal one is the _Arcadia_. The
name, which was adopted from Sannazzaro, would indicate a pastoral--and
this was eminently the age of English pastoral--but it is in reality not
such. It presents indeed sylvan scenes, but they are in the life of a
knight. It is written in prose, interspersed with short poems, and was
inspired by and dedicated to his literary sister Mary, the Countess of
Pembroke. It was called indeed the _Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia_. There
are many scenes of great beauty and vigor; there is much which represents
the manners, of the age, but few persons can now peruse it with pleasure,
because of the peculiar affectations of style, and its overload of
ornament. There grew naturally in the atmosphere of the court of a regnant
queen, an affected, flattering, and inflated language, known to us as
_Euphuism_. Of this John Lilly has been called the father, but we really
only owe to him the name, which is taken from his two works, _Euphues,
Anatomy of Wit_, and _Euphues and his England_. The speech of the Euphuist
is hardly caricatured in Sir Walter Scott's delineation of Sir Piercie
Shafton in "The Monastery." The gallant men of that day affected this form
of address to fair ladies, and fair ladies liked to be greeted in such
language. Sidney's works have a relish of this diction, and are imbued
with the spirit which produced it.

DEFENCE OF POESIE.--The second work to be mentioned is his "Defence of
Poesie." Amid the gayety and splendor of that reign, there was a sombre
element. The Puritans took gloomy views of life: they accounted
amusements, dress, and splendor as things of the world; and would even
sweep away poetry as idle, and even wicked. Sir Philip came to its defence
with the spirit of a courtier and a poet, and the work in which he upholds
it is his best,