The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-12-14
Sydney Smith,


Mr.. STUART ]. REID has given great deal
OF industry and much literary ability to q
study of The LIFE anil Yimes of Me Ker Syd,,e.
SmM Iiiarpersl Regarding tho authors exc.
cution Of his task there will be. we imagine.
but ono opinion. for although we should scarce
ly go to this book for information about
the era in which his subject lived
tho account Of the man himself is exhuus.
tive. and. il we except the inclina-
ton to magnify his merits. satisfactory
We arc by no means sure. however. that the
work was worth performing on so elaboratea
scale, II. indeed. it were worth doing at all
When so many really great mon still lack
biographers. was there any call for tho minute
portrayal Of person who. whatever may have
been the prestige acquired among his contem-
porarics by fugitive review articles and witty
sayings at dinner parties. has left no abiding
mark on history or literature?
The few who are still disposed to overrate the
Importance Of Sydney Smith arc wont to com.
pare him with Dean Swift. coupling the parallel.
however. with the remark that the Canon of st.
Pauls only approached tho Dean of ST. Pat
rcks as closely as tho nineteenth century
would permit Tho fact IL that both wrote
much on political and social subjects that
both had the faculty of uttering as we'll
as penning sharp things. and that both were
clergymen. But there tho likeness ends
the influence with any Minister of tho
day that the redoubtable assailant OF the Duke
OF Marlborough and Irresistible champion OF
the treaty Of Utrecht exercised deservcdly for
years over Oxford and Bolingbroke. Nor did
any OF the formers writings. intended to sub.
serve political or social purpose make an i'm.
preston on events at all comparable with that
produced by the "Drapiers Letters" But the
essential impertiEenco Of the comparison be-
,vrha
humor. irony satire and sarcasm Of Swift. which
are among tho imperishable treasures OF the
English language. have at least as firm q hold
upon posterity as anything that made
illustrious tho Augustan ago OF Anne
On the other hand. We venture to affirm
that among the educated young mon Just issu-
ing from the universities not one in thou
sand has read. or will ever read q line of tho
writings by which sydney Smith undertook to
move. enlighton. or divert tho readers of sew
enty years ago. Undoubtedly Smith had the
gift OF pouring forth with great fiuency. and in
a telling. pungent way. ideas that were always
sensible and occasionally new; but his wisdom
lacked profundity and tho Germinative power
that evokes disciples and his wit. 50 far as wo
may Judge from the samples preserved to us.
missed what somebody has called tho delirous
touch. Indeed. We have always fancied that
much OF the credit gained by Smiths
smart sayings was due to the surprise.
not unaccompanied with shock. that they
should have proceeded from a clergyman,
Neither liabelais nor Swift. nor. for that matter
Sterne. had any such effective BACKGROUND fol-
their coruscations. In their times there was
nothing homogeneous in the conception of q
jesting eccesiastic But by tho first quarter
Of the nineteenth century men had come to
look for an exceptional degree OF decorum and
circumspoction from tho CLOTH and the fact tina.
many of Smiths sallies were levcllcd at his own
profession. while IL by no means tended to i'm
prove his position in the Church. made him in tho
eyes OF laymcn a curious. original. and cccen-
trio phenomenon. But five wholly di,sociate his
recorded Jokes and repartees from tho eXtrinsic
circumstance OF their utteranco by Il parson.
their Hastings seem but fnnt and pale beside
Douglas Jerrod good many OF his ' joDs "ats
are strewn through the pages of this volume.
e~ G s are T%D to three s or @
repeating here. At dinner once Buckland was
expatintins 70 Smith on, tho rartnrousS pleas:
bones transmitted from NDw Zealand. oh"
SAD w smith; wonder the Pr2fos-
hearty laugh resqunaeq round the table. Which
Paui'- were perpe xeJ by tho diNiciltcs con:
the cathedral sydney smith is reported '' to
haye said in IN innocent matter fact tone.
in trice.' He described Mncnuay. happily
enough. as n book in breaches" and
said thar If he. like Dante could
writo an Inferno" he would put lIacuulny
among /, number OF disputnnts and fag him.
Seeing Mrs. Grotr once come into the room
with an extraordinary structure in tho euiso
Of turhan on her head, he remarked that
meaning OF tho word Grotesq',e.' Everybody.
we suppose, has heard HI; answer to Rogers
walk on an empty stomach" Whose q" was
tho naiyc, reI.ly We ar" not surc whether Il
q n,sn
have thought had he behcli u lot OF Bishops
onsiderabiy worse for their rotations of
donho X rcjoned. We'll. should have pro-
nounccd il a case Of double tf CdtiteL'd."
Book Notes..
In tLrlr llnnt I'd IL.