basis of the
euphuistic construction. This brief survey of the framework of euphuism
is far from being an exhaustive analysis. All that is here attempted is
an enumeration of the most obvious marks of euphuism, as a necessary
step to an investigation of its origin, and to a determination of its
place in the history of our literature.

[14] Child, pp. 6-20, for an account of chief writers who have dealt
with euphuism.

[15] _John Lyly and Euphuism._ C. G. Child.

[16] _On Euphuism_, Phil. Soc. Trans., 1870-2.

[17] Child, p. 43.

[18] _id._, p. 44.

[19] _Euphues_, p. 90.

[20] Child, p. 39.

[21] _id._, p. 46.

Before, however, leaving the subject entirely, we must mention two more
characteristics of Lyly's prose which are very noticeable, but which
come under the head of ornamental, rather than constructional, devices.
The first of these is a peculiar use of the rhetorical interrogation.
Lyly makes use of it when he wishes to portray his characters in
distress or excitement, and it most frequently occurs in soliloquies.
Sometimes we find a string of these interrogations, at others they are
answered by sentences beginning "ay but," and occasionally we have the
"ay but" sentence with the preceding interrogation missing. I make a
special mention of this point, as we shall find it has a certain
connexion with the subject of the origins of euphuism.

The other ornamental device is one which has attracted a considerable
quantity of attention from critics, and has frequently been taken by
itself as the distinguishing mark of euphuism. In point of fact,
however, the euphuists shared it with many other writers of their age,
though it is doubtful whether anyone carried it to such extravagant
lengths as Lyly. It took the form of illustrations and analogies, so
excessive and overwhelming that it is difficult to see how even the
idlest lady of Elizabeth's court found time or patience to wade through
them. They consist first of anecdotes and allusions relating to
historical or mythological persons of the ancient world; some being
drawn from Plutarch, Pliny, Ovid, Virgil, and other sources, but many
springing simply from Lyly's exuberant fancy. In the second place
_Euphues_ is a collection of similes borrowed from "a fantastical
natural history, a sort of mythology of plants and stones, to which the
most extraordinary virtues are attributed[22]." "I have heard," says
Camilla, bashfully excusing hersel