Kiss Endymion, kiss his eyes,
Then to our midnight heidegyes. [_Exeunt._]

An additional interest of allegorical meaning attaches to the story of
Endymion and Cynthia as told by Lyly, curious students tracing behind it
all the details of the _affaire_ between the Earl of Leicester and Queen
Elizabeth. To learn the extent to which the inquiry has been pursued we
may turn to Professor Ward's _English Dramatic Literature_ and read the
following: 'Mr. Halpin has examined at length the question of the secret
meaning of Lyly's comedy, and has come to the conclusion that it is a
dramatic representation of the disgrace brought upon Leicester
(Endymion) by his clandestine marriage with the Countess of Sheffield
(Tellus), pending his suit for the hand of his royal mistress (Cynthia).
Endymion's forty years' sleep upon the bank of lunary is his
imprisonment at Elizabeth's favourite Greenwich; the friendly
intervention of Eumenides is that of the Earl of Sussex; and the
solution of the difficulty in Tellus's marriage to Corsites is the
marriage of the Countess of Sheffield to Sir Edward Stafford. I need
pursue this solution no further, except to note that under the three
heads of "highly probable", "probable", and "not improbable", Mr. Halpin
has assigned originals to all the important characters of the piece. I
am inclined to think the attempt successful.'

More entertaining to the reader than either the devotion of Endymion or
the mischievous jealousy of Tellus is the character of Sir Tophas. His
position in the play is that of Diogenes in _Campaspe_, and we observe
the same tendency to eccentric speech and action. When we pursue the
comparison further, however, we discover a marked decline in wit in the
second creation. Lyly had a tradition of truth to help him in his
conception of the crusty philosopher. In his picture of the foolish,