nt putting on one side all questions of the allegory of
_Endymion_, there are two reasons which seem to go a long way towards
justifying Mr Bond for placing _Campaspe_ as the earliest of Lyly's
plays. In the first place the atmosphere of _Euphues_, which becomes
weaker in the other plays, is so unmistakeable in this historical drama
as to force the conclusion upon us that they belong to the same period.
The painter Apelles, whose name seemed almost to obsess Lyly in his
novel, is one of the chief characters of _Campaspe_, and the dialogue is
more decidedly euphuistic than any other play. The second point we may
notice is one which can leave very little doubt as to the correctness of
Mr Bond's chronology. _Campaspe_ and _Sapho_ were published before 1585,
that is, before Lyly accepted the mastership at the St Paul's choir
school, whereas none of his other plays came into the printer's hands
until after the inhibition of the boys' acting rights in 1591; the
obvious inference being that Lyly printed his plays only when he had no
interest in preserving the acting rights.

But whatever date we assign to _Campaspe_, there can be little doubt
that it was one of the first dramas in our language with an historical
background. Indeed, _Kynge Johan_ is the only play before 1580 which can
claim to rival it in this respect. But _Kynge Johan_ was written solely
for the purpose of religious satire, being an attack upon the priesthood
and Church abuses. It must, therefore, be classed among those political
_moralities_, of which so many examples appeared during the early part
of the 16th century. _Campaspe_, on the other hand, is entirely devoid
of any ethical or satirical motive. Allegory, which Lyly was able to
put to his own peculiar uses, is here quite absent. The sole aim of its
author was to provide amusement, and in this respect it must have been
entirely successful. The play is interesting, and at times amusing, even
to a modern reader; but to those who witnessed its performance at
Blackfriars, and, two years later, at the Court, it would appear as a
marvel of wit and dramatic power after the crude material which had
hitherto been offered to them. In the choice of his subject Lyly shows
at once that he is an artist with a feeling for beauty, even if he
seldom rises to its sublimities. The story of the play, taken from
Pliny, is that of Alexander's love for his Theban captive Campaspe, and
of his subsequent self-sacrifice in givin