St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-12-27
SYDNEY SMITH.
Some characteristics of a Famous Gsniu,
and Wit.

and Wit.
When one tries to estimate the genius
of sydney Smith. what strikes one
most is his humor unaccompanicd by
melancholy. Most great humorists
have been melancholy men. like Mo-
liere sydney Smith. on the other hand.
was not jester only in his books and
in society His wonderful high spirits
were almost constantly with him in the
home which they filled with happiness
and laughter The essence of his wit is
this volatile and airy spirit. soaring
without trammel high above the labor
ine world. and discovering. from its
familiar heights, mirthful resembiances
in things where other men only saw in
con"ruities BoldncSs, freedom, viraci-
". these are the characteristics of his
humor. He had an extraordinary
audacitv in venturing almost on the
the verge of nonsense. He was daring
in humorous exaggeration. This buoy
ant courage and gayety of fancy some
times give his good thing the character
of American humor.
He BEGAN his history of Ethics with
Socrates. and ayowed that Aristotle
was not such 4 fool rs many people think
who have never read him. The early
philosophers. ne declared. ..were gallant
gentlemen, for whose company, | con-
fe~S. have never had any great relish.
Again: If Orpheus or Linus sang. in
bad verse. such advice as grandmother
would now give child of six years old,
he was thought to be inspired by the
oil tal
10 his memory This good-humored
irreverencc to the mighty shades of Or
pheus and Linus reminds one. in its
frank Philistianism, of Mark Twain and
the Innocents Abroad. | am aceus-
toned to take Orpheus very seriously.
and do not quite enjoy this cavalier
treatment of Linus. But the gayety OF
sydney Smith becomes more boisterous
than ever when he tries to account for
the superiority of man over the beasts.
| To these he allows the rlldiments Of our
faculties. But Uf, he remarked. live
longer. collect more experience and are
| .regariouS. SO that we communicate
our valuable discoveries to each
| other. How different is the con-
duct. he says. of the unprogreSsive
| lion, Il lion lives under Il hole in a
rock. and if any other lion happens to
| pass by. they fight. Now whoever gets
| s,habit Of lyilx, under hole in rock,
a. z1n1 19F fnNlenan yd
| passes neaI ear q 1Dssil make
lang ons q nm
communicative, very: hence fhefr st1-
tionary culture. If lions would only
come together and growl out the OBJ
servations they have made about killing
| sheep and shepherds. and the most
likely places for catching a calf grazing.
they could not fail TO improve" This
is quite in Marks way" aS Lord Ten
| nyson SAYS. Again. when the Catholics
were oppressed in Ireland. sydney smith
said to the clergy and the Government,
why do YOU choose these fierce people
to bullv9 Why don't you torment Will
lam Wilberforce and the Clapham
saints? Why torture 4 bulldog when
| YOU can get frog or a rabbit. Again
he writes. on pulpit oratory: Why are
we natural everywhere but in the pulpit?
Why call in the aid of paralysis TO piety?
| Is sin to be taken from man. as Eve
was from Adam. by casting him into
Il deep sleep?n Yet. with all his
au,lacious humor. his friends could
only once remember that Sydney
Smith made a jest bordering on
| irreverence towards things Scriptural.
and he instantly withdrew it, and
seemed ashamed of his words.
He was great lover of light; he re-
ioiced. like Scott. in the discovery of
gas. a ilaring mode of lighting which
we do not much admire nowadays. This
love of light. of shadowless views and
clear-cut distinctions. was part Of his
intellectual nature. I'VE are all for
orthodoxy and common-sense. he eN-
claimed, in the Edinburgh Recicw, and
he was convinced that common-scnse
and orthodoxy We're at one in their de-
cisions His mind was of the eighteenth
century He had no more mercy on
Methodsts and missionaries (guiity, both
of them. of enthusiasm than on
.PuSeyiteS. those ambiguous creatures,
the bats of the modern twilight of the
gods.-Indrew Lang, in Harpers Nag
| u-iue.