SIR ROBERT SIBBAT.D. 
23 
attended with bad consequences, as it led him to 
the study of Sir Kenelm Digby’s works “ with 
great delight.” Under the direction of Leighton, 
he was put upon a better course ; but it is pro- 
bable that his early admiration of Sir Kenelm 
might have some influence upon his opinions at 
the time he changed his religion, Digby having, 
like himself, embraced the Romish faith. Be this 
as it may, Leighton’s influence and his mother’s 
both encouraged him in theological studies. The 
latter was anxious he should enter into the minis- 
try ; but the polemical disputes at that time raging 
so furiously, had so completely banished all traces 
of Christian charity from the professors of religion, 
and Leighton had so impressed on his pupil 
the duty of loving “ all good men of any per- 
suasion,” that he preferred a mode of life that 
would not almost necessarily involve him in the 
factions of Church and State. 
Having chosen the profession of medicine, as 
one in which he could keep clear of party politics, 
and be of utility to his fellow-creatures, he pro- 
ceeded to Leyden, at that time in high repute as 
the first medical university in the world. He 
embarked in a Dutch frigate, March 23, 1660, 
and remained there a year and a half, studying 
anatomy and surgery, under Van Horne ; botany, 
under Adolphus Vorstius ; the institutions and 
practice of medicine with Sylvius ; and chemistry 
