His many-sided Sympathies. 259 



Two instances may be adduced of eminent 

 leading article writers, each of whom was 

 superior to " The Druid " in culture and know- 

 ledge — I mean the Reverend John Sterling 

 and James Macdonell — of whom little more 

 is now remembered than that their Lives were 

 written, in John Sterling's case, by Archdeacon 

 Julius Hare and Thomas Carlyle, and in 

 James Macdonell's by W. R. Nicoll. Sterling 

 died at Bonchurch in 1844; Macdonell at 

 his home in Gower Street in 1879 ; and 

 except to a few scholars and, in the latter 

 instance, to his surviving relatives and per- 

 sonal friends, their very names are now 

 almost unknown. What differentiated them 

 both from " The Druid" was that their spheres 

 of interest were more restricted than his. In 

 previous chapters of this Biography I have 

 already stated that " The Druid " had an 

 absolutely unrivalled capacity for getting 

 men, women, and even children belonging 

 to all classes and conditions of humanity to 

 unbosom themselves of their closest secrets for 

 his benefit and instruction. His sympathies 

 were with every one that he approached or 

 with whom he came in contact. Leaning 



