s scarcely
uncharitable to hold him directly responsible for much mischief. The faults
of _Euphues_ were faults which were certain to work their own cure; those
of the _Arcadia_ were so engaging in themselves, and linked with so many
merits and beauties, that they were sure to set a dangerous example. I
believe, indeed, that if Sidney had lived he might have pruned his style
not a little without weakening it, and then the richness of his imagination
would probably have made him the equal of Bacon and the superior of
Raleigh. But as it is, his light in English prose (we shall speak and speak
very differently of his verse hereafter) was only too often a
will-o'-the-wisp. I am aware that critics whom I respect have thought and
spoken in an opposite sense, but the difference comes from a more important
and radical difference of opinion as to the nature, functions, and
limitations of English prose. Sidney's style may be perhaps best
illustrated by part of his Dedication; the narrative parts of the _Arcadia_
not lending themselves well to brief excerpt, while the _Apology_ is less
remarkable for style than for matter.

_To my dear Lady and Sister, the Countess of Pembroke._

"Here have you now, most dear, and most worthy to be most dear,
lady, this idle work of mine; which, I fear, like the spider's
web, will be thought fitter to be swept away than wove to any
other purpose. For my part, in very truth, as the cruel fathers
among the Greeks were wont to do to the babes they would not
foster, I could well find in my heart to cast out in some desert
of forgetfulness this child which I am loth to father. But you
desired me to do it, and your desire to my heart is an absolute
commandment. Now it is done only for you, only to you; if you
keep it to yourself, or commend it to such friends who will weigh
errors in the balance of good will, I hope, for the father's
sake, it will be pardoned, perchance made much of, though in
itself it have deformities. For indeed for severer eyes it is
not, being but a trifle, and that triflingly handled. Your dear
self can best witness the manner, being done in loose sheets of
paper, most of it in your presence, the rest by sheets sent unto
you as fast as they were done. In sum, a young head, not so well
stayed as I would it were, and shall be when God will, having
many fancies begotten in it, if it h