That is to say, he attempted to found something which is so different from what has actually come about that we can in reality scarcely judge of it, any more than we can judge whether it would be better to live in another planet, or pleasanter to have been born a dog or an elephant.

It would require enormous imagination to reconstruct the political ideals of Strafford.

Now Browning, as we all know, got over the matter in his play, by practically denying that Strafford had any political ideals at all.

That is to say, while crediting Strafford with all his real majesty of intellect and character, he makes the whole of his political action dependent upon his passionate personal attachment to the King.

This is unsatisfactory; it is in reality a dodging of the great difficulty of the political play.