Evening star., 1934-04-22


warmth; when Disraeh appeared for a similar
purpose the greeting was that of friend as
well as sovereign. Disraei noted in his
letters and papers his opinion Of the value OF
fattery when dealing with those Of high sta
ton; Gladstone's temperament did not con-
descend to hattery, even if he recognized it as
a useful instrument, which is doubtful. In this
extended study of the official and personal re-
lations of Queen Victoria and the man who was
so long and so often her prime minister Mr..
Guedalla, one Of the most thorough OF present
day English biographers, has made use OF the
correspondence of the Queen and Gladstone.
turned over to him by the Gladstone trustees.
From the approximately 5000 documents, he
has selected about $500 for publication In
whole or in part IN this volume The letters
do not. naturally tell the whole story. There
were many personal meetings. So the cor
respondence IS prefaced by a commentary OF
$50 pages in which Mr.. Guedalla examines
the association of the Queen with her Liberal
Prime Minister and Disraeli's influence upon
the Queen (which is the key to the sharp
alteration in her attitude to Mr.. Gladstone
Queen Victoria and Gladstone we're in their
own time and are now the most talked-of per-
sonages of the nineteenth century. Mr.. Cue
dalla finds that there three Victorias
and four Gladstones. Victoria was romping
girl under the tutelage of Lord Melbourne.
Victoria II was the wife of Prince Albert. her
mentor in everything, the mother of large
family, and the sober Queen Of a country in
its of greatest prosperity Victoria III was
the Queen-Empress made SO by the wand of
Disraeli. Gladstone progressed from 'the
prim Oxonian, the judicious Peelite, and the
cautious Liberal" to the Grand Old Man"
The earlier Victoria and the earlier Gladstone
got along very well together says Mr.. Guedalla,
but the latest Victoria spoiled by DiSraeli, sur
veyed Gladstone with stony stare and hoped
he would act as much as possible like dear
Lord Beaconfield" Gladstone did not regard
Disraeli "as model of craftsmanship and de-
clined to "act like" him. Hence the rift, which
became wider with the Queens growing suspi-
cion of Gladstone's radicalism, UNTIL after
1886, her opinion of Mr.. Gladstone was beyond
repair" And Gladstone had once played cards
with the Queen and the Prince Consort at
Windsor and won eight pence from the Prince!
In regretting the antipathy which seemed SO
unnecessary, Mr.. Guedalla says of the Victorian
reign: For who say which of its nobler
features were Victorian and which Gladston-
ian?"
THE SMITH OF SMITHS Being the Life.
Wit and Humor of Sydney Smith. By
Hesketh Pearson. New York: Harper &
Bros.
1T WAS Lord Macaulay who called Sydney
] Smith "the Smith of Smiths" Lord Byron
called him "smug Sydney; Walter Savage
Landor, "humor's pink primate' George Nv.
"profgate parson"; Thomas Carlyle, "as coarse
as hemp Lord Lansdowne. IAN odd mixture
of Punch and Cato" Abraham Lincoln read
and quoted much from his writings and Queen
Victoria abandoned her dignity and went into
fits of merriment when his sayings were re-
peated to her by Lord Melbourne. England
has produced three satirical witty persons.
whose fame as wits and writer's has lasted
unimpaIed to this day, whatever the church
records may say about them-Swift Sterne and
Sydney Smith. OF them ALL Sydney Smith
was the most rollicking. the least mordant.
though he could be acrimonious enough on oc-
cason. "The whole of my life" he said, has
been passed like razor-in hot water a
scrape" OF this extraordinarily original per-
sonality, Hesketh Pearson has written. in just
the spirit needed, the first full biography G. K.
Chesterton has contributed an introduction
appreciative of both Sydney Smith and MIR.
Pearson's work.
Sydney Smith the son of an erratic
father, who had such urge for travel that
each of his five children was born in a different
place and all were scattered about in various
scholastic establishments while their father
and wearied mother continued their migra-
tions. Sydney chose the church, not from any
great desire to into it, but because his father
offered him as the other alternative to "go
a supercargo to China" AS a churchman he
was not remarkable and fulfilled George HIS
prophecy that he would never be bishop.
It was as founder of the Edinburgh Review
and for 25 years contributor to it that he won
his lasting reputation as wit, satirst and
bludgeoning reformer. His hammering away in
season and out of season at the two burning
questions was to a large extent responsible for
the Catholic emancipation bill and Lord John
Russells reform bill. Sydney Smith grew old
merrily, as a man of his temper was entitled to
do, and only during the last few months. of his
life did he lose his health and high spirits. IF
anything, he became more buoyant and more
S,hi1a ay,f fr,sft fIo Moth h,,kt