The monastery; The abbot.

THE MONASTERY. 145
less, there were interjectional flourishes to the Maid of the Mill, under the
title of Comely Damsel, and to the Dame, under that of Worthy Matron.
Nay, lest he should fail to excite their admiration by the graces of his
rhetoric, he generously, and without solicitation, added those of his voice;
and after regretting bitterly the absence of his viol-de-gamba, he regaled
them with a song, "which," said he, "the inimitable Astrophel, whom
mortals call Philip Sidney, composed in the nonage of his muse, to show the
world what they are to expect from his riper years, and which will -one day
see the light in that nott-b-be-paralleled perfection of human wit, which he
has addressed to his sister, the matchless Parthenope, whom men call Countess of Pembroke; a work," he continued, "whereof his friendship hath
plrmitted me, though unworthy, to be an occasional partaker, and whereof
Imay well say, that the deep afflictive tale which awakeneth our sorrows,
is so relieved with brilliant similitudes, dulcet descriptions, pleasant poems,
and engaging interludes, that they seem as the stars of the firmament,
beautifying the dusky robe of night. And though I wot well how much the
lovely and quaint language will suffer by my widowed voice, widowed in
that it is no longer matched by my beloved viol-de-gamba, I will essay to
give you a taste of the ravishing sweetness of the poesy of the un-to-beimitated Astrophel."
So saying, he sung without mercy or remorse about five hundred verses;
of which the two first and the four last may suffice for a specimen -
"What tongue can her perfections tell,
On whose each part all pens may dwell.
Of whose high praise and praiseful bliss,
Goodness the pen, Heaven paper is;
The ink immortal fame doth send,
As I began so I must end."
As Sir Piercie Shafton always sung with his eyes half shut, it was not
until, agreeably to the promise of poetry, he had fairly made an end, that
looking round, he discovered that the greater part of his audience had,
in the meanwhile, yielded to the charms of repose. Mary Avenel, indeed,
from a natural sense of politeness, had contrived to keep awake through all
the perplexities of the divine Astrophel; but Mysie was transported in
dreams back to the dusty atmosphere of her father's mill. Edward himself,
who had given his attention for some time, had at length fallen fast asleep;
and the good dame's nose, could its tones have been put in regulation, might
have supplied the bass of the lamented viol-de-gamba. Halbert, however,
who had no temptation to give way to the charms of slumber, remained
awake with his eyes fixed on the songster; not that he was better entertained
with the words, or more ravished with the execution, than the rest of the
company, but rather because he admired, or perhaps envied, the composure,
which could thus spend the evening in interminable madrigals, when the
next morning was to be devoted to deadly combat. Yet it struck his natural
acuteness of observation, that the eye of the gallant cavalier did now and
then, furtively as it were, seek a glance of his countenance, as if to discover
how he was taking the exhibition of his antagonist's composure and serenity
of mind.
He shall read nothing in my countenance, thought Halbert, proudly, that
can make him think my indifference less than his own.
And taking from the shelf a bag full of miscellaneous matters collected
for the purpose, he began with great industry to dress hooks, and had
finished half-a-dozen of flies (we are enabled, for the benefit of those who
admire the antiquities of the gentle art of angling, to state that they were
brown hackles) by the time that Sir Piercie had arrived at the conclusion
of his long-winded strophes of the divine Astrophel. So that he also testified
a magnanimous contempt of that which to-morrow should bring forth.. As it now waxed late, the family bf Glendearg separated for the evening;
Sir Piercie first saying to the dame, that "her son Albert —
VOL. V. 10