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scientious scruples, is plain from his political principles, as laid down in his writings, from his frequently expressing his approbation of that act, and from the consequence he seems to have maintained in the parliament, where we find him on the 15th of May in the same year on a committee for settling the succession, and regulating the election of future parliaments. Nor does his family appear to have fallen under suspicion; for, although his father was obliged to sign the engagement of fidelity to the commonwealth, the duke of Gloucester and the princess Elizabeth were intrusted by the parliament to the care of lady Leicester, with an allowance of three thousand pounds a year.

Sydney had been invested (13th of Oct. 1648) with the government of Dover castle. In the winter of 1650-1 he became involved in a quarrel with the officers of the garrison there, which gave rise to a court martial, whose report was unfavorable to Sydney. Thinking himself aggrieved, he applied to the parliament for redress, which he at last obtained, not without great inconvenience and delay. In the mean time, he went over to the Hague, where he had a quarrel with the earl of Oxford, whom he challenged, but the affair was settled without bloodshed.

On his return to England (1651) Sydney was assiduous in attention to his duties in parliament, and as a member of the council of state. The firm and vigorous administration of affairs at home, and the great success of the fleet under Blake, had now raised the spirits of the nation to a high pitch, and Sydney, ever alive to the true interest and prosperity of his country, began to look forward with the most exulting hopes. These pleasing anticipations were soon blasted by the ambitious projects of Cromwell, who saw with the utmost concern the attachment of the nation to a republican form of government, which it was far from his intention to establish. Failing in all his endeavors to bring the parliament to his views, he at length threw off the mask, and on the 16th of April 1653 dissolved that assembly by force. The conduct of Sydney on that memorable occasion is thus related in lord Leicester's journal: It happened that Algernon Sydney sat next the speaker, on the right hand; the general said to Harrison, put him out; Harrison spake to Sydney to go out, but he said he would not go out, and sat still. The general said again put him out; then Harrison and Worsley put their hands upon

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Sydney's shoulders, as if they would force him to go out; when he rose and went towards the door.' The indignation. of Sydney at this and the subsequent measures of Cromwell was so openly and loudly expressed, as to give great offence to his brother, who adhered to the general. Unable to endure so mortifying a change in affairs, he sought at Penshurst, among the scenes of his childhood, to alleviate his chagrin in the society of his family. Here he remained until the restoration of peace with the United Provinces in 1654, when he again went over to the Hague, where he contracted an intimacy with the celebrated John De Witt, for whom he seems ever after to have entertained the highest admiration. On his return to England, Sydney again retired to Penshurst, where he devoted himself to literary pursuits. We find among his productions at this period an Essay on Love.' On the 3d of Sept. 1658, Cromwell died; and on the 7th of May 1659, the Long parliament was restored, and Sydney resumed his seat in that body, as well as at the council board. He had, however, little opportunity to distinguish himself in parliament during the interval between the death of the protector and the restoration of the king, for on the 5th of June he was appointed a commissioner with admiral Montagu, Honeywood and Boon, to mediate, in conjunction with the States General, a peace between the kings of Denmark and Sweden. This negotiation Sydney at length succeeded in bringing to a happy termination, though greatly embarrassed by the defection of Montagu, the selfish policy of the Dutch, and the unreasonable demands of both the contending parties. Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, died before the conference was brought to a close. Sydney had conceived a high idea of his opinions and character, and felt a warm interest in the affairs of his young successor, Charles XI, who, on his taking leave of the court, (June 28, 1660) presented him with a gold chain and a picture of his father in a case set with diamonds. On the 8th of July he joined his colleague at Copenhagen, and on the 21st of the same month took leave of the king of Denmark. In the mean time the restoration of Charles II had taken place, and Sydney, while Honeywood returned to England to report their proceedings, thought it prudent to retire to Hamburg, until he should be advised of the temper of the court, and the situation of those, who, like himself, had borne a leading part in the service of the commonwealth. He at first entertained hopes New Series, No. 9.

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from the intimate connexion of Monk with himself and his family, and from some favorable expressions that had been reported to him from that minister, that he should be permitted to return to England on the honorable terms, on which alone he would consent to it. He was soon convinced by the treatment of his associates, and the treachery of Monk, that he had no hope of being received, but upon conditions which he considered disgraceful. He rejected with disdain the splendid offers made him by Monk; and to a friend, who had expostulated with him on his inflexibility, he vindicates his conduct in a letter, which, as the author justly observes, would have done honor to the noblest characters of Greece and Rome. We would gladly lay it before our readers entire, but its length obliges us to confine ourselves to the following extract:

I confess we are naturally inclined to delight in our own country, and I have a particular love to mine. I hope I have given some testimony of it. I think that being exiled from it is a great evil, and would redeem myself from it with the loss of a great deal of my blood. But when that country of mine, which used to be esteemed a paradise, is now like to be made a stage of injury; the liberty we hoped to establish oppressed; luxury and lewdness set up in its height, instead of the piety, virtue, sobriety, and modesty which we hoped God by our hands would have introduced; the best of our nation made a prey to the worst; the parlia ment, court, and army corrupted; the people enslaved; all things vendible, no man safe but by such evil and infamous means as flattery and bribery; what joy can I have in my own country in this condition? Is it a pleasure to see all that I love in the world is sold and destroyed? Shall I renounce all my old principles, learn the vile court arts, and make my peace by bribing some of them? Shall their corruption and vice be my safety? Ah! no: better is a life among strangers, than in my own country on such conditions. Whilst I live, I will endeavour to preserve my liberty, or at least not consent to the destroying of it. I hope I shall die in the same principles in which I have lived, and will live no longer than they can preserve me. I have in my life been guilty of many follies; but, as I think, of no meanness. I will not blot and defile that which is past, by endeavoring to provide for the future. I have ever had in my mind that when God should cast me into such a condition, as I cannot save my life but by doing an indecent thing, he shews me the time is come wherein I should resign it: and, when I cannot live in my own country but by such means as are worse than dying in it, I think he shews me I ought to keep myself out of it.'

The conduct of Sydney was conformable to the sentiments here expressed. Conscious of honest intentions, he had nothing to repent of; having, as he supposed, supported the rights and liberties of his country, and consulted her best interests, he could not make concessions to men whom he looked upon as her enemies and oppressors. He did not take the least pains to conceal his political opinions. In visiting one of the public libraries at Copenhagen, he wrote the famous lines in the Album:

'Manus hæc inimica tyrannis

Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem ;'

which Terlon, the French ambassador, on hearing it translated, for he did not understand Latin, indignantly tore from the book, as an insult to his sovereign. When it was observed to him in company at Copenhagen, 'I think you were none of the late king's judges, nor guilty of his death?' He instantly replied, Guilty! do you call that guilt? Why it was the justest and bravest action that ever was done in England or any where else.'

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As might have been expected from such a course, Sydney was excepted from the general amnesty, and his application for an assurance of safety during a residence of a few months at Penshurst, for the arrangement of his private concerns, was refused. Sydney was more and more convinced by the fate of the republicans who had trusted to the king's promises, and the profligacy and perfidy which marked the whole conduct of that monarch, that he could not with safety return to England. Hopeless and deserted, he was at a loss what course to take. After remaining some time at Hamburg, he wandered, apparently without an object, into Germany, and passed through the territories of Lunenburg, Brunswick, and Hesse, where the poverty and desolation of the country, and the fierce manners of the inhabitants seem to have had no very favorable effect upon his agitated mind. On reaching Frankfort on the Mayn, he found a milder and more fertile climate. Here he received intelligence from England, which was not calculated to remove the melancholy that had taken possession of him. He seems to have incurred the displeasure of his father, though we are not distinctly told on what account; his pecuniary circumstances were embarrassed, in consequence of advances he had made to lord Strangford, his brother in law, a vicious and prodigal man, as well as by the expenses of his late employ

ment. In these distressing circumstances he had thoughts of offering his services to the emperor Leopold, then engaged in a war against the Turks. This design he soon relinquished, and pursued his original intention of proceeding to Italy. Meanwhile, the persecutions against the republicans proceeding with great rigor, in open violation of faith and honor, Sydney had reason to congratulate himself on the state of comparative security he enjoyed at Rome, where he arrived late in the autumn (1660.) Alexander VII, who then filled the papal chair, was a pontiff of a mild and gentle character. His prime minister and favorite, cardinal Pallavicini, was no less remarkable for his learning, than for his political sagacity and personal merit. With him Sydney soon contracted an acquaintance, and through him became known to several other members of the Sacred College, particularly to cardinal Chigi, the pope's nephew, Francesco and Antonio Barberini, Sachetti, and Spada, of whom, as well as of the prelates generally, he spoke in terms of respect. I do not find,' says he, that they want any quality that makes men estimable; and they are so far from that looseness of life, of which they have been formerly and ordinarily accused, that I have not seen any of that order do an indecent thing; and yet I mark them as narrowly as I can.'

In such society Sydney found some alleviation of his misfortunes. The only inconvenience he suffered was in consequence of injurious reports that were spread respecting his religious principles by some of his own countrymen. These however, he says, are but slight vapors; and if nothing comes from England to my prejudice, I can easily blow them away.' During the three years that Sydney passed in Italy, he was no inattentive observer of the political occurrences of that period, nor of the manners and customs of the people. The following is a curious specimen of the habits of the court of Rome :

The skill of preserving health, he says in one of his letters, is in great perfection in this place, exercised most upon old men. Little physic is used, things that are cooling and desiccative are mostly chosen. Their rules are reduced to these two principal heads, a slender diet, and much exercise. An old cardinal the other day told me that in other places exercise was good citra sudorem, but in Rome, by reason of the grossness of the air, it must be used usque ad sudorem. Besides the natural desire of living long and well, they are invited unto a more than ordinary

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