“Nor did the seductive blandishments of a court banish from the affections or remembrance of Raleigh, when he returned to England, the tuneful bard whom he had left behind in the ‘emerald isle.’ He mentioned him to the queen with enthusiasm; obtained for him some favours, or promise of favours; and, on the second visit which he made to Ireland, (probably for the purpose of inspecting some large grants which he had himself obtained,) he insisted upon his friend’s returning with him; and hastened to initiate him into those arts of gaining a fortune, which had proved so prosperous to himself. But neither the taste, nor the retiring temper of the poet, was calculated to combat with the intrigues and treacheries of this heart-sickening scene; nor yet to endure the servile dependence on another’s will, that must be borne by the pursuer of courtly fortune. Bitterly did he regret his learned leisure, and deplore the mistaken kindness which had taught him to forsake retirement and ease, for the ‘solitude of a crowd, where all around were either foes or strangers.’ He has left upon lasting record, in a few brief, energetic lines, his warning to others, his grief and repentance; and, hastening back to obscurity, he prepared to earn that title to immortal fame, which will ever attend the author of the ‘Faery Queen.’ This great work appeared in 1589, with a preface addressed to Raleigh, and a considerable number of recommendatory poems; one of which, a sonnet of great elegance, is marked by the initials of that same patronizing friend. “The premature death of Spenser, under circumstances of severe distress, now called forth the sympathy and bitter regrets of the friends of English literature. After witnessing the destruction of his whole property, including the plunder of his house, by the Irish rebels, he fled to England for shelter. The fifty pounds per annum, which he enjoyed as her majesty’s poet laureate, being apparently his only resource, he took up his abode in an obscure lodging in London, and pined away in penury and despondence. “The genius of this great poet, formed on the most approved models of the time, and exercised upon themes peculiarly congenial to its taste, received, in all its plenitude, that homage of contemporary applause, which has sometimes failed to reward the nobler masters of the lyre. “The adventures of chivalry, and the dim shadowings of moral allegory, were almost equally the delight of a romantic, a serious, and a learned age. It was also a point of loyalty to admire, in ‘Gloriana,’ ‘Queen of Faery,’ or in ‘The Empress Mercilla,’ the avowed types of the graces and virtues of her majesty; and she herself had discernment sufficient to distinguish between the brazen trump of vulgar flattery, with which her ear was sated, and the pastoral reed of antique frame, tuned sweetly to her praise by Colin Clout.