Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/149

 12 S. X. FEB. 11, 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 119 1. This looks like an adaptation of the epigram by Evenus in the Greek anthology (' Anth. Pal.,' ix. 75), which in 1895 I translated thus ('Para- phrases,' p. 30) : " Tho' thou eat'st me to the root, I shall bear enough of fruit To be poured, O goat, on thee When thy sacrifice shall be." JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT. 2. The stanzas beginning " I have seen the robes [not wings] of Hermes glisten " are the 15th and 16th of W. E. Aytoun's poem ' Hermotimus.' A. E. H. (12 S. x. 94.) ' To-day and other Poems ' was an anonymous work published many years ago by Mr. R. J. Masters. It contained the poem sought, which, set to music by Mr. F. G. Ladds, forms Hymn No. 90 in ' The Union Mission Hymnal ' of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. In Mr. E. C. Stedman's ' Victorian Anthology ' the poem is attributed to Samuel Wilberforce (1805-1873), bishop successively of Oxford and Winchester. JOHN B. WAINEWBIGHT. (12 S. x. 49.) 1. The right words are : In that minor third There is none but the cuckoo knows " (or " a irinor third " in a later printing). From B. Browning's 'A Lover's Quarrel,' stanza 18. ISAAC SHARP. MATTHEW ARNOIJ> : REFERENCE SOUGHT (]2 S. x. 34). The words " the huge Mississippi of falsehood called history " are in the essay on ' The Literary Influence of Academies, in Matthew Arnold's ' Essays in Criticism ' (1st ed., 1865), p. 75. A. E. H. on IBooks. The Life of Henry, Third Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's Patron. By Charlotte Car- michael Stopes. (Cambridge University Press, 2 2s.) EACH successive generation may find new subject for enjoyment in the study of the Elizabethan age. The Maiden Queen who could bid the English House of Commons " not to meddle with any matters of state " presents a fascinating theme for reflection at the present time, and the excitement provided for members of her Court during her 45 years of rule was sufficient to satisfy the most ardent of sensation-hunters in the twentieth century. For those who were admitted to her intimacy must gamble and the stakes might mean a man's whole fortune, possibly his life. The Queen could impose indefinite imprison- ment if she were so minded, and her expression of displeasure was as effective as the Papal interdict of earlier tunes in isolating the culprit from his fellows. When she smiled, the hopes of those around her soared to heights not visible to subjects under normal rule. And these rapid alternations were so disturbing to the balance of a man's judgment that only a few maintained com- posure. Among these must be reckoned that mysterious being Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, also the Cecils, father and son, but the spirit of patriotism that spread more and more widely as the years of the great reign drew on did not engender prudence. Mrs. Stopes has given us a full and detailed record of the career of Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton, who first saw the light in October, 1573, and as we follow his experiences we may catch a glimmering impression of some of the perils that encompassed a youth who was promi- nent by right of birth. Southampton succeeded to his father's earldom at the age of eight and became ward to Lord Burleigh. He gave early proof of the possession of a vigorous will. The marriage which his guardian arranged did not please him, and at ruinous cost to himself he evaded it. When he reached manhood, society was already divided by the Cecil and Essex factions. He had had opportunity to discover that Burleigh's example stood for wisdom and prudent calculation, but his heart drew him to Essex, and then and always he went where his heart led him regardless of consequences. Alike in love and in friendship his choice made havoc of his fortunes. He roused the wrath of the Queen by a secret marriage with her maid of honour, he fanned it by his insistence on his right to serve her in some conspicuous position. In the tragedy which ended Elizabeth's last romance Southampton narrowly escaped the penalty paid by his leader and hero. The bonds of that friendship were very close. " You whom I account another myself," Essex had written to him in 1598, but their union of hearts was not close enough to reconcile Southampton to sharing the fate of his friend : the youth in him clamoured desperately for life. From his confession and his petition to the council we can form some estimate of the mental suffering implied even for one who faced death readily on the battlefield -by confinement in the Tower. He remained there for more than two years in constant peril. Release came only by the death of the Queen. No one had more reason than Southampton to welcome the new order, but full and secure pros- perity never fell to his lot. He was not skilful in the craft of courts, and as Buckingham became more and more fixed hi favour thwarted am- bition turned to bitterness. A conspicuous figure until he met his death (when serving with the King's armies in Flanders), Southampton made no definite mark on history. TTis life as presented by Mrs. Stopes is of extreme interest, none the less, and it should appeal to ordinary readers as well as to students of the period. It is based on documents that are not easily accessible, it is carefully arranged and contains excellent portraits. Unfortunately where so much is admirable there are serious blemishes. Mrs. Stopes takes far too much for granted in dealing with her readers. She has long been distinguished for her vehement support of the theory (first propounded more than a century ago) that Shakespeare's sonnets were inspired by his friendship with Southampton. Now this question has been fully treated in her Other books and must, unless fresh evidence should come to light, remain an open one ; she admits that her recent investigations have not resulted in any new discovery. To assume that an un-
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