modes, according to the variety of their characters. The series of
passions growing out of that disappointment, was the not very remote
cause of the death of Lavater. In the midst of society, Alfieri buried
himself in misanthropic solitude; and the shock, which awakened him
from the dreams of enthusiasm, darkened and shortened his days. In the
mean time the multitude, comprehending not only those who have neither
ardour of sensibility, nor compass of understanding to give weight to
their suffrage, but those also whom accident had not brought into
close and perpetual contact with the events, were insensibly detached
from the revolution; and, before they were well aware that they had
quitted their old 'position', they found themselves at the antipodes."

The excitement which this state of things produced might have been
highly advantageous to some, and even quickened their intellectual
powers, particularly those destined either for the bar or the senate,
but certainly not those intended for the church.

The revolution [5] and its consequences engrossed the thoughts of all
men too much for the calmer pursuits of life; and the minds of the young
especially were so absorbed by passing temporal events, as to leave but
little time for the contemplation of the deeper and more serious affairs
of futurity. However, Coleridge appears in his political opinions to
have leaned too much to the side of democracy; but this was so prevalent
and so much a fashion, particularly in those filled with enthusiasm,
that it seemed a natural consequence in any young man possessing even
ordinary intellect. Middleton, his friend, passed on without attaching
himself to either party. His manners (as I have before noticed) were
austere and sedate. He steadily persevered, without deviation, in his
studies, though chance did not always favour him, nor crown him with the
success he merited. He was a good and amiable man, and an affectionate