ght have played Viola and Sebastian with the same
exquisite effect produced by the appearance of Mrs. Henry Siddons and her
brother, Mr. William Murray, in these characters. They had the same
antique and regular correctness of profile; the same dark eyes,
eye-lashes, and eye-brows; the same clearness of complexion, excepting
that Fergus's was embrowned by exercise and Flora's possessed the utmost
feminine delicacy. But the haughty and somewhat stern regularity of
Fergus's features was beautifully softened in those of Flora. Their
voices were also similar in tone, though differing in the key. That of
Fergus, especially while issuing orders to his followers during their
military exercise, reminded Edward of a favourite passage in the
description of Emetrius:
--whose voice was heard around,
Loud as a trumpet with a silver sound.
That of Flora, on the contrary, was soft and sweet--'an excellent thing
in woman'; yet, in urging any favourite topic, which she often pursued
with natural eloquence, it possessed as well the tones which impress awe
and conviction as those of persuasive insinuation. The eager glance of
the keen black eye, which, in the Chieftain, seemed impatient even of the
material obstacles it encountered, had in his sister acquired a gentle
pensiveness. His looks seemed to seek glory, power, all that could exalt
him above others in the race of humanity; while those of his sister, as
if she were already conscious of mental superiority, seemed to pity,
rather than envy, those who were struggling for any farther distinction.
Her sentiments corresponded with the expression of her countenance. Early
education had impressed upon her mind, as well as on that of the
Chieftain, the most devoted attachment to the exiled family of Stuart.
She believed it the duty of her brother, of his clan, of every man in
Britain, at whatever personal hazard, to contribute to that restoration
which the partisans of the Chevalier St. George had not ceased to hope
for. For this she was prepared to do all, to suffer all, to sacrifice
all. But her loyalty, as it exceeded her brother's in fanaticism,
excelled it also in purity. Accustomed to petty intrigue, and necessarily
involved in a thousand paltry and selfish discussions, ambitious also by
nature, his political faith was tinctured, at least, if not tainted, by
the views of interest and advancement so easily combined with it; and at
the moment he should unsheathe his claymore, it m