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vate grounds, become his enemies, and that both had toavenge the blood of near kinsmen who had, in the same year, -fallen victims to his implacable severity. Here the resem-blance ends. Russell, with considerable abilities, was proud,acrimonious, restless, and violent. Sidney, with a sweettemper and winning manners, seemed to be deficient in capa-city and knowledge, and to be sunk in voluptuousness and in-dolence. His face and form were eminently handsome. Inhis youth he had been the terror of husbands; and even now,at near fifty, he was the favourite of women and the envy ofyounger men. He had formerly resided at the Hague in apublic character, and had then succeeded in obtaining a largeshare of William’s confidence. Many wondered at this: foritseemed that between the most austere of statesmen and themost dissolute of idlers there could be nothing in common.Swift, many years later, could not bo convinced that onewhom he had known only as an illiterate and frivolous old rakecould really have played a great part in a great revolution.Yet a less acute observer than Swift might have been awarethat there is a certain tact, resembling an instinct, which isoften wanting to great orators and philosophers, and whichis often found in persons who, if judged by their conversationor by their writings, would be pronounced simpletons. In-deed, when a man possesses this tact, it is in some sense anadvantage to him that he is destitute of those more showytalents which would make him an object of admiration, ofenvy, and of fear. Sidney was a remarkable instance of thistruth. Incapable, ignorant, and dissipated as he seemed tobe, he understood, or rather felt, with whom it was necessaryto be reserved, and with whom he might safely venture to becommunicative. The consequence was that he did what Mor-daunt, with all his vivacity and invention, or Burnet, withall his multifarious knowledge and fluent elocution, nevercould have done.*

With the old Whigs there could be no difficulty. In theiropinion.there had been scarcely a moment, during many years

* Sidney’s Diary and Correspondence, edited by Mr. Blecnowe;Mackay’s Memoirs with Swift’s note; Burnet, i. 103 .

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