tinthatyear,whichwasthedayoftheMassacreofSt.

    Bartholomew.HewasshelteredfromthedangersofthatdayinthehouseoftheEnglishAmbassador,SirFrancisWalsingham,whosedaughterFannySidneymarriedtwelveyearsafterwards.

    FromParisSidravelledonbywayofHeidelbergtoFrankfort,wherehelodgedataprinters,andfoundawarmfriendiLa,whoseletterstohimhavebeenpublished.SidneywaseighteenandLafifty-five,aFrenchHuguenot,learnedandzealousfortheProtestantcause,whohadbeenProfessorofCivilLawinPadua,andwhowasagassecretministerfortheElectorofSaxonywhenhefirstknewSidney,andsawinhimafuturestatesmanwhosecharacterandgeniuswouldgivehimweightintheselsofEngland,andmakehimamaiheProtestantcauseinEurope.SidravelledonwithHubertLafromFrankforttoVienna,visitedHungary,thenpassedtoItaly,makingfhtweeksVenicehishead-quarters,andthengivingsixweekstoPadua.HereturhroughGermanytoEngland,andwasinattendaheCourtofQueenElizabethinJuly,1575.monthhisfatherwassenttoIrelandasLordDeputy,andSidneylivedinLondonwithhismother.

    AtthistimetheoppositionoftheMayorandCorporationoftheCityofLondontotheagofplaysbyservantsofSidneysuheEarlofLeicester,whohadobtainedapatentforthem,obligedtheactorstoceasefrroomsorinnyardsiy,andbuildthemselvesahouseoftheirownalittlewayoutsideoheCitygates,andwhollyoutsidetheLordMayorsjurisdi.ThusthefirsttheatrecametobebuiltinEnglandintheyear1576.Shakespearewasthenbuttwelveyearsold,anditwastenyearslaterthathecametoLondon.

    InFebruary,1577,PhilipSidney,wenty-threeyearsold,wassentonaformalembassyofgratulationto