nt for a later treatment,
let us conclude our study of the evolution of euphuism in England.

[58] Craik, I. p. 269.

So far we have been dealing with euphuistic tendencies only, since in
the style of Ascham and his predecessors, alliteration and antithesis
are not employed consistently, but merely on occasion for the sake of
emphasis. Other marks of euphuism, such as the fantastic embroidery of
mythical beasts and flowers, are absent. Even in North's _Diall_
alliteration is not profuse, and similes from natural history are
comparatively rare. In George Pettie, however, we find a complete
euphuist before _Euphues_. This writer again brings us in touch with
that Oxford atmosphere, which, I maintain, surrounded the birth of the
full-blown euphuism. A student of Christ Church, he took his B.A. degree
in 1560[59], and so probably just escaped being a contemporary of Lyly.
But, as he was a "dear friend" of William Gager, who was a considerably
younger man than himself, it seems probable that he continued his Oxford
connexion after his degree. However this may be, he published his
_Petite Pallace of Pettie his Pleasure_, which so exactly anticipates
the style of _Euphues_, in 1576, only two years before the later book.
The _Petite Pallace_ was an imitation of the famous _Palace of Pleasure_
published in 1566 by William Painter, who, though he had known Guevara's
writings, drew his material almost entirely from Italian sources. That
Pettie also possessed a knowledge of Spanish literature, as we should
expect from the period of his residence at Oxford, is shown by his
translation of Guazzo's _Civile Conversation_ in 1581, to which he
affixes a euphuistic preface. This again was only a left-handed
transcript from the French. Therefore the Spanish elements, though
undoubtedly present, cannot be insisted upon. We may concede that Pettie
had read North, or even go so far as to assert with Mr Underhill that he
was acquainted with "parts of the Gallicized Guevara," without lending
countenance to Dr Landmann's radical theories. No one, reading the
_Petite Pleasure_, can doubt that Pettie was the real creator of
euphuism in its fullest development, and that Lyly was only an imitator.
Though I have already somewhat overburdened this chapter. I cannot
refrain from quoting a passage from Pettie, not only as an example of
his style, but also because the passage is in itself so delightful, that
it is one's duty to rescue it from oblivion