SIDNEY, Sir Philip, one of the brightest ornaments of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was born at Penshurst, in the county of Kent, on the 29th day of November 1554. By both parents his descent was illustrious. The Sidney family came over from Anjou with Henry II., to whom William de Sidney acted as chamberlain. Sir William, Philip's grandfather, was chamberlain and steward of the household to Henry VIII., and his father, Sir Henry, was companion and bosom friend of Edward VI. The latter was a man of great ability and accomplishments. At court he was distinguished for his wit, gallantry, and manly bearing, and was universally beloved. He was appointed Lord
President of Wales, and afterwards Lord-Deputy of Ireland. The latter was at that time a post of great difficulty and danger; but he acquitted himself in it with great credit, bringing subordination and order out of anarchy and confusion. He was, besides, a man of exemplary piety; and his letters to his sons show, that while anxious for their advancement in secular learning, he was most of all solicitous for their religious and moral up-bringing. Philip's mother was Mary, eldest daughter of John, Duke of Northumberland; and at the time of his birth she was mourning the untimely deaths of her father and brother. She was a woman of very superior character, and devoted herself chiefly to the education of her family, superintending not less their amusements than their studies, and instilling into their minds the principles of religion and virtue. Young Sidney remained at home till the age of twelve, when he was sent to a school in Shrewsbury; and by this time he had made considerable progress in various branches of knowledge, and was able to write letters to his father in Latin and French. From Shrewsbury he proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford, where he distinguished himself by his assiduity and diligence. "He aspired," says Fuller, "to pre-eminence in every part of knowledge;" and "such was his appetite for learning, that he never could be fed fast enough therewith, and so quick and strong his digestion, that he soon turned it into wholesome nourishment, and thrived healthfully thereon." In early life he seems to have been of a weakly constitution; and there exists a letter, written, when he was fifteen years of age, by his uncle, the Earl of Leicester, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, craving a licence for him to eat flesh during Lent, on account of the delicate state of his health. By judicious exercise, however, he strengthened his physical nature so, that at length he became distinguished for his bodily, not less than for his mental, accomplishments. Spenser describes him as—
"In wrestling nimble, and in running swift;
In shooting steady, and in swimming strong;
Well made to strike, to throw, to leap, to lift,
And all the sports that shepherds are among.
In every one he vanquished every one.
He vanquished all, and vanquished was of none."
From Oxford he proceeded to Cambridge, where he spent some time, and then set out for foreign travel, in the eighteenth year of his age. Queen Elizabeth granted a licence "to her trusty and well-beloved Philip Sidney, Esquire, to go out of England into parts beyond the seas, with three servants and four horses, to remain during the space of two years immediately following his departure out of the realm, for his attaining the knowledge of foreign languages." He set out for Paris in May 1572, and was specially recommended by the Earl of Leicester to Mr (afterwards Sir Francis) Walsingham, the English ambassador there. The French king, Charles IX., being, or pretending to be, captivated by his manners and conversation, showed him special marks of favour, and conferred on him the office of gentleman ordinary of his chamber. Scarcely had he held this office a fortnight, when the dreadful massacre of St Bartholomew took place (24th August 1572), and Sidney with difficulty saved his life by taking refuge in the house of the English ambassador. He was now urged to return home; but he chose rather to proceed on his travels. He spent some time in Frankfurt, in the house of Wechel the printer, where he had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of the esteemed and learned Hubert Languet, who had also escaped from the massacre of St Bartholomew. Languet ever after manifested the deepest interest in the young Englishman. His letters to him fill a volume; and it is affecting to observe the extreme solicitude shown by the old diplomatist for his young friend. "Our friendship," he writes on one occasion, "and the hopes I have conceived
Sidney, of your character, are my only comfort; if any misfortune befall you, I shall be the most unhappy of men." He so longed for letters from him after his return to England, that he requested that even a servant might write him, so that he should hear often of the son of his adoption.
Languet being appointed to represent the Elector of Saxony at the court of Vienna, Sidney accompanied him to that capital, and remained there for some time. From Vienna he went to Venice, and thence to Padua, where he spent some time, visiting also Milan and Genoa. It may seem remarkable that he did not also, at this time, visit Rome,—a city which, to him, would have presented so many objects of interest; but he denied himself the pleasure at the earnest request of Languet, who was afraid that his Protestant principles might be contaminated in the Romish capital,—surely a groundless fear for one of Sidney's character, who had, moreover, so recently witnessed the massacre of St Bartholomew. Returning to Venice, he thence proceeded to Poland, and took part in some skirmishes between the Poles and Russians. He then went to Vienna, and resumed his studies under the direction of Languet. In the spring of 1575, the emperor went to Prague to open the Bohemian Diet; Languet and Sidney accompanied the court, saw the ceremony, and then parted.
Sidney arrived in England in the end of May 1575, and was now the pride and admiration of the English court. The queen herself treated him with marked kindness, and called him "her Philip." The beauty and gracefulness of his person, the benignity of his disposition, his pleasing manners and insinuating address, all served to endear him to all that knew him. His form was tall and manly, his complexion fair, and his features beautiful, regular, and of rather a feminine cast. His expression was mild and thoughtful, approaching even to sadness, while at the same time he was not devoid of a certain degree of sprightliness in conversation, and abounded in a playful kind of humour. In 1576 he was sent as ambassador to the court of Vienna, accompanied by a pompous retinue, worthy alike of his office and his sovereign, to condole with the Emperor Rodolph on the death of his father. His mission had also a more important object in view—the union of all the Protestant states in a common league in defence of their religion against the ambition and intolerance of Rome and Spain. He likewise visited the court of the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and gained the friendship of Prince John Casimir. But the highest testimony to his merits was his having won the esteem and affection of William Prince of Orange, probably the most wise and politic chief of his time in Europe. He enjoined it to be told to the queen, that if he were a judge, she had in Philip Sidney one of ripest and greatest counsellors of state in that day in Europe. Even Don Juan of Austria, in spite of his national pride and religious bigotry, was compelled to admire and applaud the talents and graces of the young Englishman. Sidney returned to England in 1577, having successfully accomplished his mission, and gained golden opinions wherever he went. Till the occasion in which he lost his life he was little employed in public service, but kept principally about the court; and in the tilts and tournaments of the period he was ever among the most distinguished for his skill and daring. He did not, however, relish the life of a courtier, and desired nothing more than to spend his days in studious retirement in the society of a few select friends. Soon after his return to England, he was called upon to defend his father, who, in his endeavours to settle the government of Ireland, met with a great amount of opposition and misrepresentation at court. Philip warmly espoused his cause, demonstrated the falsehood of the various charges brought against him, and succeeded in reinstating him in royal favour. He was once or twice on this occasion betrayed into an impetuosity of temper not to be
expected from his general character, but excusable from the times in which he lived, and the circumstances which called them forth. His father's letters had been betrayed, Sidney's suspicions fell upon his secretary, Mr Molyneux, to whom he wrote a very intemperate and violent letter; but as soon as he found that his suspicions were groundless, he amply apologised. The Earl of Ormond, too, fell under his displeasure from having attacked his father in the House of Lords. Though allied to the queen, and high in her favour, Sidney scrupled not to attack him in his defence, and afterwards refused to speak to him. To the credit of the earl, however, he refused to accept a "quarrel from a gentleman that is bound by nature to defend his father's cause, and who is otherwise furnished with so many virtues as he knows Mr Philip to be." The proposed marriage of the queen with the Duke of Anjou was creating a great excitement in Protestant England, and was said to be favourably looked upon by her Majesty, when Sidney addressed to her a letter upon the subject, characterized by its boldness and freedom. The Remonstrance was well received, and probably induced her Majesty to decline the alliance. A dispute between him and the young Earl of Oxford led to his withdrawing himself from court for a time. While he was playing at tennis the earl came forward and insulted him; and having afterwards refused to apologise, the matter was likely to become serious, when the queen herself interposed, and admonished Sidney, reminding him of the difference between lords and gentlemen. Sidney replied, "That although he was a great lord by birth, alliance, and grace, yet he was no lord over him," and that "the difference of degrees between free men could not challenge any other homage than that of precedence." Though the boldness of these sentiments did not displease the queen, Sidney retired to Wilton, the residence of his sister, the Countess of Pembroke, to recover his composure and serenity of mind. It was while there that he composed his Arcadia, chiefly for the amusement of the countess.
He had early become attached to the beautiful and accomplished Lady Penelope, daughter of the Earl of Essex, but to the great disappointment of Sidney, the match was broken off, and the lady was married to Lord Rich, afterwards Earl of Warwick. He, however, married in 1583 Frances, only surviving daughter and heiress of his early friend Sir Francis Walsingham, a lady of great beauty and worth. The same year the queen conferred upon him the honour of knighthood. Sidney, however, was becoming more and more disgusted with the inactive life of a courtier. He secretly planned to accompany Drake on an expedition against the Spanish settlements in America. The expedition was on the point of starting when the queen heard of it, and Sidney was commanded not to go. About the same time he is said to have been invited to become a competitor for the kingdom of Poland, but the queen refused to part "with the jewel of her crown." She however nominated him governor of Flushing, one of the towns committed for security to the English by the Dutch in their war with Spain. He arrived there on 18th November 1585. The Earl of Leicester followed shortly after with an English army of 5000 foot and 1000 horse, and Sir Philip was entrusted with the command of the horse under his uncle. His wise counsels and conduct served in some measure to conceal the incompetence and mismanagement of Leicester, while his kindness and moderation smoothed the dissensions that prevailed in the camp. In the early part of 1586 he suffered a severe affliction in the death of both his parents within a short time of each other. After some successes, in which he greatly distinguished himself, he accidentally came upon a body of 3000 Spaniards marching to the relief of Zutphen, a town of Guelderland. At the head of 200 horse he immediately attacked them, and a desperate conflict took place on the 22d September 1586. Sidney had his
horse killed under him, but mounting another, he continued to charge the enemy. In the third charge he received a wound from a musket-ball in the thigh. It was then that the incident occurred which has done more to immortalize Sidney than all his other acts. When leaving the field, faint and thirsty through loss of blood, he called for some drink, which was presently brought him. As he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a poor soldier carried along, bleeding and ghastly, wistfully cast his eyes at the bottle. He immediately took it, untasted, from his lips, and presented it to the poor man, saying, "Thy necessity is yet greater than mine." He lingered for sixteen days in great agony, and during all that time he exhibited the greatest composure and resignation to the will of God. Yet scarcely can we suppose circumstances more calculated to call forth repentance and regret. He was yet in the early vigour of manhood, with talents and accomplishments of a high order, the beloved of his queen, and the most esteemed of her courtiers both at home and abroad, and he might naturally have looked forward to a long and brilliant career of happiness and usefulness. But, believing in the principles of the Christianity which he professed, he had listened to the reiterations of the Preacher, that all is vanity, and had learned, from a higher than the Preacher, to say, Not my will, but thine be done; and so he thanked God that he did not strike him dead at once, but gave him space to seek repentance and reconciliation. He died on the 7th of October 1586, in the thirty-second year of his age. His body was brought to England, and, after lying many days in state, was interred in Old St. Paul's Cathedral on the 16th of February 1587. His death was lamented throughout Europe; in England a general mourning was observed, a respect, it is believed, never before shown to the memory of a private individual. Sir Philip left an only child, Elizabeth, afterwards married to Rogers Manners, fifth Earl of Rutland; but she died without issue. His widow was afterwards twice married; first to the famous Earl of Essex, and then to Richard de Burgh, fourth Earl of Clanricarde.
His literary works were not published till after his death. His Arcadia was left incomplete, and he is said, before his death, to have requested it to be destroyed. Though now little known, except by name, it long enjoyed an immense popularity. As a whole it is tedious, and abounds in extravagant pictures and improbable events; but it contains numerous passages of exquisite beauty, and "animated descriptions, equal to any that occur in the ancient or modern poets." The language is natural, elegant, and copious, above that of any other author of that period. His Defence of Poetry, published also after his death, was composed to repel the objections of the Puritans of that period upon poetry. It is a masterly production, displaying both erudition and taste, and abounding in gentle touches of humour. He likewise wrote some poems and sonnets, which are now little known. Sidney was a generous patron of learned men; and learned foreigners, as well as Englishmen, sought his acquaintance. Spenser, in particular, was much indebted to him, and has taken many opportunities of introducing him into his poetry as a model of virtue, honour, and learning. On his death he sang his praises in a pastoral elegy, entitled "Astrophel." (See Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Sir Philip Sidney, by Dr. Thomas Zouch, 1808.)