Love fashion of the prose pastoral and dainty speech of the court amorists. What story it had was used as a block for the display of choice patterns of verbal gallantry; dialogues of the kind then thought wittiest, in quips, dumps, privy nips, or passions; formally set debates upon love questions, after dinner or supper; model love letters, of suit, repulse, absolute denial, half denial, holding off or leading on; soliloquies, pages long, of amorous desire, of thought in conflict balancing opinions. Sometimes there was a little interposed verse, and there was always a free use of alliteration, antithesis, and forced analogies with supposed properties of things in nature, which are just as far from nature as the way of speech they were intended to adorn. John Grange's "Golden Aphroditis" * may be taken as a type of the love pamphlet that is nothing else. "Euphues," which remained unequalled for neat combination of antithesis with transverse alliteration, and which otherwise deserved the credit it obtained as the best model of the style named after it, aimed in its first part higher than the mere love pamphlet, and was less conventional in its suggestion of the persons of the story. But the dramatic sense was yet stronger in Greene than in Lyly, and even in "Mamillia there is play of life to stir under the load of fashionable raiment. The dialogues, as to their manner, are all alike. Old men of the world and enamoured maidens, the faithful old nurse and the fickle young lover, all alike talk Euphuism. Whether driven into the deep den of distrust, or sunk in the surging seas of suspicion, when love is light, or fancy fickle, or faith fading, they are still far from so stayless a state as to miss their game of hunt the letter. Homely proverbial metaphors are welcome; a hero may have his heart on his halfpenny or find fish on his fingers, but his speech must be well spiced with classical "E. W." ix. 153, 154, allusions. Cupid, Venus, Paris, Enone, Ulysses, Demophoon, Jason, Theseus, Alexander, Æneas, Silenus, Salomon, and a hundred more share their fitnesses as objects of comparison with "the stone Echites," "the herb called Flos Solis," "the birds of Colchos," "the bodies of the flies Cantharides," which are not to be cast away because their legs are poison. "Mamillia." That last illustration touches the real theme of Greene's "Mamillia," which is meant to show that, although some women are false, most women are faithful. The book is by its second title called "A Mirror for the Ladies of England," and it opposes to the rough censures of women an upholding of their constancy and truth. Men are less constant. Pharicles, the hero of the story, is a gallant courtier, rich, handsome, and well-spoken, but light of love, though not so light as to be untroubled by a conscience. He entangles himself in the first part of "Mamillia" with engagements to marry two ladies, Mamillia and Publia, who are cousins at Padua, and in his perplexity flies from them both to Saragossa, in a palmer's dress. Publia remains faithful, dies in a nunnery, and leaves her fortune to the faithless Pharicles. Mamillia's father dies and leaves her a large fortune, which is to pass from her to the city of Padua if she should marry Pharicles. But Pharicles, who had put off his palmer's weed in Saragossa and shone out again as an accomplished courtier, firmly repels the advance of a rich courtesan whose fancy he has fired; she, in revenge, accuses him of treason, and he is to die for it. On the day when he is to die for it, Mamillia reaches Saragossa with proof of his innocence. She saves him and then gives herself to him, careless of the loss of her inheritance *Not without an occasional slip, as when Mamillia, in set debate upon fidelity of women, asks touching men "if ever any of their bravest champions offered to die for his wife as Admeta did for her husband Alcest." in Padua, "where the senators hearing of the strange adventures which Pharicles had passed, and perceiving the incomparable constancy of Mamillia, they were not only content that they two should marry together, but also, contrary to her father's last will and testament, let her peaceably enjoy all his lands and possessions." Greene added to his novel a letter from Mamillia to the virtuous young lady Modesta on the choice of a husband, which he illustrates by the story of a rich merchant of Toledo who had married for money, and found life a burden till his wife died, leaving him a daughter. He resolved that he would not fetter his daughter's choice, and when there came three suitors-an Italian, old and very rich, a Frenchman of surpassing beauty but somewhat foolish, and an Englishman of great wit but of very small wealth-each said his best to recommend himself, and she replied in full to each, choosing the Englishman. It may be added of "Mamillia" that in two places Greene cites Mantuan's eclogue on the Nature of Women* as a false indictment, and that his education at St. John's College, at the time of the attempts in aid of a reformed versifying, led him to try his hand at hexameters in the only piece of verse included in "Mamillia." They are verses on the vanities of women-matters to be argued before two ladies of Saragossa, Madame Gambara and the young lady Modesta. Here are half a dozen of the lines “Dames nowadayes? fie none: if not new guiséd in all points, Fancies fine, sawst with conceits, quick wits verie wilie.' 66 Up from the wast like a man, new guise to be casde in a doublet. Haires by birth as blacke as Iet, what? art can amend them. *E. W." ix. 34. That is from the second part of " Mamillia," finished in 1583 but not published until ten years later, in the year after its author's death. When he had continued for some time in London, Robert Greene wrote plays as well as love pamphlets, but of plays extant that can now be known for his there is not one of earlier date than Marlowe's "Tamburlaine." We might infer from his known works that, as he was made a novelist by the success of " Euphues," he was made playwright by the success of "Tamburlaine," following that also immediately with a piece in the same vein. Greene's novels or love pamphlets not only satisfied the requirements of fashion, but they were so kindly in spirit and so well contrived as bits of story-telling, that they gave not less content to simple human nature in their readers. Lyly produced no novels or love pamphlets to continue the success of "Euphues," but gave himself entirely to the production of Court plays. Robert Greene was the chief continuer of the supply of novels, and no other writer equalled his success. He produced in 1584 four piecesone was a short love pamphlet, of which only one copy remains, "The Myrrour of Modestie, wherein appeareth as in a perfect Glasse howe the Lorde deliuereth the innocent from all imminent perils, and plagueth the bloodthirstie hypocrites with deserued punishments. Shewing that the graie heades of dooting adulterers shall not go with peace into the graue, neither shall the righteous be forsaken in the daie of trouble. By R.G. Maister of Artes." Another piece published this year was "Gwydonius, or the Card of Fancie"; * Novels of 1584. *“ Imprinted at London by Roger Warde, dwelling at the signe of the Talbot neere vnto Holburne Conduit, 1584. "A Myrrour of Modestie," entered in the Stationer's Register on the seventh of April, 1579, was an earlier book of the same name, written by a Thomas Colter. 66 'Mirrors," as we have seen, abounded. a third was the first part of "Morando," and the fourth was Arbasto, the Anatomie of Fortune." 66 "The Myrrour of Modestie" is a new telling of the story of Susanna and the Elders, or the Judg "The Myrrour of Modestie." "Gwydonius.' ment of Daniel, from the apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel. Gwydonius was the handsome dissipated son of Clerophontes, Duke of Mitylene, who had also a perfectly fair and good daughter, Lewsippa. Gwydonius, sent upon his travels, wasted time at Barutta with riotous companions, who deserted him when he was put into the prison from which he escaped to Alexandria. There, received into the service of Duke Orlanio, he became the friend of the duke's son Thersandro, and the lover of the duke's daughter Castania. But Orlanio was vassal to the father of Gwydonius, and had refused him tribute. Therefore Clerophontes levied war, Thersandro was sent to treat for peace, and while at Mitylene he became the lover of Lewsippa. Clerophontes marched with his army. Gwydonius, to avoid being sent as leader of the forces raised to meet his father, planned flight with Castania. Betrayed by Valericus, a hopeless lover of Castania's, he was put in prison. Clerophontes was victorious in battle on a plain within thirty leagues of Alexandria, but lost much strength on his own part. Single combat was appointed to decide the issue. Gwydonius went out as champion for Alexandria disguised in the armour of Thersandro, who, having undertaken the combat, had expressed to his friend great doubts of the issue. Clerophontes came himself as champion for Mitylene. But Gwydonius, for whom Castania was the prize of victory, entered the lists even against his father, received hard blows, returning none, and when he saw his opportunity he flung away his sword and shield, ran in upon his father, tore his shield from him, threw him, and made him prisoner. Then Gwydonius declared himself, and all was |