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Proceedings of the Royal Society 
published during the Protectorate, and dedicated to Cromwell. 
But I pass on to the last on my list, Algernon Sydney’s “ Treatise on 
Government,” and a few words on that work will bring my remarks 
to a close. 
Algernon Sydney, the second son of the Earl of Leicester, as we 
all know, was one of the last victims of political oppression before 
the Be volution. He was convicted of accession to the Byehouse 
plot, and executed in 1683. He had been a strong opponent of 
Cromwell’s tyranny, and whatever his complicity in the alleged plot 
may have been, there can be no doubt of the iniquity of his trial 
and sentence, which was solemnly reversed by parliament after the 
Bevolution. But my only concern at present is with his contribu- 
tion to the constitutional idea or principle. 
The discourses on government were not published until five years 
after Sydney’s death. They were written in opposition to the 
views of a royalist writer, Sir B. Filmer, a defender of absolute 
monarchy, and of the doctrine that kings are above the law. Sir 
B. Eilmer’s tracts were published anonymously in 1652, and this 
series of discourses by Algernon Sydney probably was written some 
years afterwards. It shows a great advance towards maturity in 
the thoughts and opinions of men on these important topics. The 
collision of published thought, and still more the irresistible logic 
of events, had done much to dispel many visionary and enthusiastic 
tenets. The country had seen the doctrine of divine right develop 
into general revolt. They had seen the republican spirit of the 
Independents develop, by a rapid transition, into military despotism 
of the most arbitrary kind. It was time to profit by the lessons of 
experience, and to fall back on less excited and more moderate 
counsels. This work of Algernon Sydney is a philosophical, 
thoughtful, practical work. Take it altogether, it is the best of the 
series ; and, while it combats with great learning and power the 
dogmas of Sir B. Filmer, breathes a tone of reflective moderation 
which contrasts strongly with the subacute excitement which 
pervades the others. 
The exhaustive table of contents which is prefixed to his volume, 
containing the heads of his discourse, furnishes a very clear analysis 
of the principles contained in it. I extract one or two of them, which 
indicate the colour of the whole, 
