BRITISH PHYSICIANS. compreliencleclin two words — nihil agendum. This opposition on the part of his medical brethren, to- gether with the prejudices of mankind, threw many obstacles in the way of its general adoption, but its author foretold with confidence, and with truth, that, after his own death, it would prevail. The fact is, that though Sydenham lived in the first degree of reputation, enjoyed the friendship and acquaintance of many of the most eminent men of his day, amongst others, that of the illustrious Locke, and was in very considerable practice; yet he never possessed that overwhelming ascendency and irre- sistible popularity which his immediate successor attained. Nor were the improvements of Syden- ham fully appreciated by the world, till they were forced upon the notice of the public by Radclilfe, who, in this way, advanced the art of medicine much more than by any original discoveries of his own. The part he took in the civil wars, and the politics of his brother, William Sydenham, who, under the Protectorate, obtained many high ap- pointments, amongst others the post of governor of the Isle of Wight, might possibly have kept him out of favour with the court ; in truth, he appears to have been desirous only of conscientiously doing his duty to the utmost of his power, and chiefly anxious to practise his profession in the most unostentatious manner. His distaste for popu- larity (for it could not be affectation in so candid a nature) may be inferred from these expres- sions, in the epistle prefixed to his chapter on the gout: — " I do not much value public applause; and, indeed, if the matter be rightly weighed, the
