courtier and the gravity of the Christian. But what distinguished him more than even his talents or the powers of his wit, was a certain generous contempt of vice and an exalted love of virtue, which seem to have been the great bond of union between the noble-hearted Surrey and himself. These were not with him qualities merely speculative; they were vital principles, perpetually pressing forward into action. "God and goodness," to use his own expression, "were ever the foundation of his conduct;" so that it was not possible to know him, and converse with him, without feeling the same magnanimous longing after moral excellence by which he himself was animated. Thus he ennobled learning, and rendered poetry and polite attainments honorable, by making them subservient to the cause of Virtue and Religion.

THE LOVER COMPLAINETH THE UNKINDNESS OF HIS LOVE.1

My lute, awake! perform the last
Labor, that thou and I shall waste,
And end that I have now begun;
For when this song is sung and past,
My lute! be still, for I have done.

As to be heard where ear is none;
As lead to grave in marble stone,2

My song may pierce her heart as soon:
Should we then sing, or sigh, or moan?
No, no, my lute! for I have done.

The rock doth not so cruelly
Repulse the waves continually,
As she my suit and affection;
So that I am past remedy;

Whereby my lute and I have done.

Proud of the spoil that thou hast got
Of simple hearts, thorough Love's shot,
By whom unkind thou hast them won;
Think not he hath his bow forgot,

Although my lute and I have done.

Vengeance may fall on thy disdain,
That makest but game of earnest pain.
Trow not alone under the sun,
Unquit to cause thy lover's plain,
Although my lute and I have done.
May chance thee lie wither'd and old,
The winter nights that are so cold,
Plaining in vain unto the moon:
Thy wishes then dare not be told;
Care then who list! for I have done.

1 This poem is of singule merit, and as Dr. Todd remarks, "is one of the most elegant amatory odes in our language." The te corresponded nearly to the modern guitar, and every person of good education played upor. it.

That is, it would be more asy for lead, which is the softest of metals, to engrave characters on hard marble, than it is for me to make impression on her obdurate heart. To grave-to make an Impression upon.

And then may chance thee to repent
The time that thou hast lost and spent,
To cause thy lovers sigh, and swoon:
Then shalt thou know beauty but lent,
And wish and want, as I have done.

Now cease, my lute! this is the last
Labor, that thou and I shall waste,
And ended is that I begun;
Now is this song both sung and past:
My lute! be still, for I have done.

THE LOVER PRAYETH NOT TO BE DISDAINED, REFUSED, MISTRUSTED,

NOR FORSAKEN.

Disdain me not without desert,

Nor leave me not so suddenly;
Since well ye wot that in my heart
I mean ye not but honestly.

Refuse me not without cause why,
Nor think me not to be unjust;
Since that by lot of fantasy,

This careful knot needs knit I must.

Mistrust me not, though soine there be
That fain would spot my steadfastness.
Believe them not, since that ye see
The proof is not as they express.

Forsake me not, till I deserve;
Nor hate me not, till I offend,
Destroy me not, till that I swerve;
But since ye know what I intend.1

Disdain me not, that am your own;
Refuse me not, that am so true;
Mistrust me not, till all be known;
Forsake me not now for no new.2

A DESCRIPTION OF SUCH A ONE AS HE WOULD LOVE.

A face that should content me wondrous well,
Should not be fair, but lovely to behold;
With gladsome chere, all grief for to expell;
With sober looks so would I that it should

Speak without words, such words as none can tell;
The tress also should be of crisped1 gold.
With wit, and these, might chance I might be tied,
And knit again the knot that should not slide.

OF THE MEAN AND SURE ESTATE.

Stand whoso list, upon the slipper top
Of high estate; and let me here rejoice,
And use me quiet without let or stop,
Unknown in Court, that hath such brackish joys.
In hidden place so let my days forth pass;
That when my years be done withouten noise,
I may die aged, after the common trace:

For him death grip'th right hard by the crop,
That is much known of other, and of himself, alas!
Doth die unknown, dased with dreadful face.

OF HIS RETURN FROM SPAIN.

Tagus, farewell! that westward with thy streams
Turns up the grains of gold already tried; 2
With spur and sail, for I go seek the Thames,
Gainward the sun that sheweth her wealthy pride;
And to the town which Brutus sought by dreams,3
Like bended moon, doth lend her lusty side,
My King, my Country, alone for whom I live,
Of mighty Love the wings for this me give.4

What little prose Sir Thomas Wyatt has left us, consists chiefly of letters. The following extract from a letter to his only son presents, in its elevated sentiments and uncompromising spirit of Christian purity, a beautiful view of a true Christian father:

MY DEAR SON, -Inasmuch as now ye are come to some years of understanding, and that you should gather within yourself some fame of Honesty, I thought that I should not lose my labor wholly if now I did something advertise you to take the sure foundations and stablished opinions that leadeth to honesty.

And here, I call not Honesty that, men commonly call Honesty, as reputation for riches, for authority, or some like thing; but that Honesty, that I dare well say your grandfather had rather left to me than all the lands he did leave me; that was, Wisdom, Gentleness, Soberness, desire to do Good, Friendship to get the love of many, and Truth above all the rest. A great part to have all these things, is to desire to have them. And although glory and honest name are not the very ends wherefore these things are to be followed, yet surely they must needs follow them as light followeth fire, though it were kindled for warmth. Out of these things the chiefest and infallible ground is the dread and reverence of God, whereupon shall ensue the eschewing of the contraries of these said virtues; that is to say, ignorance, unkindness, rashness, desire of harm, unquiet enmity, hatred, many and crafty falsehoods, the very root of all shame and dishonesty. I say, the only dread and reverence of God, that seeth all things, is the defence of the creeping in of all these mischiefs into you. And for my part, although I do well say there is no man that would wish his son better than I; yet on my faith, I had rather have you lifeless, than subject to these vices.

Begin therefore betimes. Make God and goodness your foundations. Make your examples of wise and honest men: shoot at that mark: be no mocker: mocks follow them that delight therein. He shall be sure of shame that feeleth no grief in other men's shames. Have your friends in a reverence, and think unkindness to be the greatest offence, and least punished among men; but so much the more to be dreaded, for God is Justiser upon that alone. Love well and agree with your wife; for where is noise and debate in the house, there is unquiet dwelling. Frame well yourself to love and rule well and honestly your wife as your fellow, and she shall love and reverence you as her head. Such as you are unto her, such shall she be unto you. Obey and reverence your father-in-law, as you would me; and remember that long life followeth them that reverence their fathers and elders; and the blessing of God, for good agreement between the wife and husband, is fruit of many children.

Read oft this my letter, and it shall be as though I had often written to you; and think that I have herein printed a fatherly affection to you. If I may see that I have not lost my pain, mine shall be the contentation, and yours the profit; and upon condition that you follow my advertisement, I send you God's blessing and mine, and as well to come to honesty, as to increase of years.

HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY. 1516-1547.

HENRY HOWARD, Earl of Surrey, the eldest son of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Lady Elizabeth Stafford, was born about 1516. We say about that year, for we are as ignorant of the precise date of his birth as we are of all that relates to his early education, and the habits of his early life. In 1535 his marriage with the Lady Frances Vere was publicly solemnized, from which time what relates to his personal history is authentic. In 1540 he began to take an active part in public affairs, being sent by the king over to the continent, to see that the English towns and garrisons were in a proper state of defence against the threatened attack of the French. In April, 1542, he was made Knight of the Garter, which was esteemed a great mark of royal favor; and in October of the same year, he bore an active and leading part in the expedition against Scotland. In 1544 he acted as field-marshal of the English forces on the continent, and in that and the two succeeding years, he greatly distinguished himself by his valor and skill, at the sieges of Landrecy and Boulogne.

But as his popularity increased, his interest declined with the king, whose caprices and jealousies grew more violent with his years and infirmities. The brilliancy of Surrey's character, the celebrity he had acquired in military science in his command on the continent, his general abilities, his wit, learning, and affability, were viewed with suspicion by the Earl of Hertford, the king's brother, who, as he saw the monarch's end approaching, was anxious to secure to himself the protectorship during Edward the Sixth's minority; and he saw that the only rival he had to fear was the great and good Earl of Surrey. Accordingly he did all he could to poison the mind of the king against him; and in April, 1546, he was recalled from the continent, imprisoned in Windsor Castle, and in December of the same year was sent to the Tower. He was soon brought to trial. The accusations against him were of the most frivolous character, the chief of which was brought against him by his unnatural sister, the Duchess of Richmond. She said that he wore on his arms, instead of a duke's coronet, what "seemed, to her judgment, much like a close crown;" and a cipher, "which she took to be the king's cipher, H. R." On this did she intimate that her brother was guilty of high treason. Surrey defended himself with great spirit and ability, and as to the main point in the indictment, showed conclusively that his ancestors had, of a long continuance, worn the same coat of arms, as well within the kingdom as without; and that it had constantly been borne by himself in Henry's presence. But all was of no avail; the ruling influences, with Hertford at their head, determined that he should be convicted. Accordingly he was pronounced guilty, and was beheaded on the 19th of January, 1547.

Thus fell, at the early age of thirty, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; a man of such elevated virtues, and such rare endowments, that his untimely death must, with every one, be a subject of deep regret; for what might he not have done for English Literature, had his life been spared?? The endow