Sir  Philip  Sidney  was,  in  fact,  very  fond  of  this  very
play.  "  Gorboduc^''  he  says  in  his  Defense  of  Poesie^  "  is  full
of  stately  speeches  and  well-sounding  phrases,  climbing  to
the  height  of  Seneca  his  style,  and  as  full  of  notable  mo-
rality ;  which  it  doth  most  delightfully  teach,  and  thereby
obtain  the  very  end  of  poetry."

The  argument  of  the  tragedy,  as  given  in  the  quaint
and  strong  English  of  the  old  edition,  is  this  (and  if  you
have  ever  meditated  upon  the  subtle  indications  which  are
revealed  in  the  very  choice  of  subjects  you  will  be  able  to
formulate  a  certain  moral  status  from  the  very  plot  as  given
here  ;  I  must  ask  you  to  observe  also,  by  the  way,  the  won-
derfully brief,  pithy,  and  effective  sentences  which,  I  think,
make  this  argument  a  most  notable  piece  of  sixteenth-cen-
tury prose) :  "  Gorboduc,  king  of  Brittanie,  divided  his
realme  in  his  lifetime  to  his  sonnes,  Ferrex  and  Porrex.  The
sonnes  fell  to  discention.  The  younger  killed  the  elder.
