ateliness of a crane, and, at every step, rises on tiptoe; his
dress and aspect resemble those of the Moors of Malabar, and remind
us forcibly of the swarthy Menalcas. Indeed, if we compare this
serio-comic exaggeration of the Carle with the purely comic picture
of Don Armado given by Holofernes, we shall see at a glance that
both depict the same object of ridicule.

That Mirabella is linked in wedlock to this angry Fool is nowhere
more clearly depicted than in the passage where Prince Arthur,
having come to her rescue, is preparing to put her tormentor to death,
until his sword is arrested by the shrieks and entreaties of the
unhappy lady that his life may be spared for her sake:--

"Stay, stay, Sir Knight! for love of God abstain
From that unwares you weetlesse do intend!
Slay not that carle, though worthy to be slain;
For more on him doth than himself depend:
My life will by his death have lamentable end."

This is the language of a virtuous wife, whom neither the
absurdities of a vainglorious husband, nor "the whips and scorns of
the time," to which his conduct necessarily exposes her, can detach
from her duties and affections.

Assuming, then, that the circumstances of this allegory identify
Mirabella with Rosalinde, and Rosalinde with Rose Daniel, and, in
like manner, the Fool and Carle with Menalcas and John Florio, have
we not here a thrice-told tale, agreeing so completely in all
essential particulars as to leave no room for doubt of its original
application to the early love-adventures in which the poet was
disappointed? And these points settled, though intrinsically of
trivial value, become of the highest interest, as strong
corroboration of the personal import of all the allegorical
characters introduced into the works of Spenser. Thus, in the
"Shepherd's Calendar," the confidant of the lover is Hobbinoll, or
Gabriel Harvey; and in the "Faery Queen," the adventurers who come
to Mirabella's relief are Prince Arthur, Sir Timias, and Serena, the
well-known allegorical impersonations of Spenser's special friends,
the Earl of Leicester, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton,
to whom Sir Walter was married. Are not these considerations, added
to the several circumstances and coincidences already detailed,
conclusive of the personal and domestic nature of the history
conveyed in both the poetical vehicles? And do they not amount to a
moral demonstration, that, in assigning the character and