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Leader (1850-1860), 16th June 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Supplement to 273, Page 1, Critics are not the legislators, but the...

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      Supplement ^R*V To The G^ [ Jj/T After.

      _SUPPLEMENT _^ r _* V TO THE g _^ [ _Jj _/ t after .

      Vox,. Vi. No. 273.] ~ Saturday, Jtjnb 16...

      VOX ,. VI . No . 273 . ] ~ SATURDAY , JTJNB 16 , 1855 . _rG-KATis .

      Rtferahm. F

      rtferahm . f

      Critics Are Not The Legislators, But The...

      Critics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret ana try to enforce them . Edinburgh Review . i ™ , , ¦

      Memoirs Of Sydney Smith.. Tj- • J- *R. R...

      MEMOIRS OF SYDNEY SMITH . . tj- j- * _r . r > j a j o _•„* n _x _.- t _* _x _. _< - t a tt ii a _wh . A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith _y By his Daughter , Lady Holland . With a Selection from his Letters . Edited by Mrs . Austin . Longman and Co . England has many men of wit to boast of , but none of whom she can be more thoroughly proud than of Sydney Smith . His wit was of a quite peculiar flavour , and , except by Charles Lamb , quite unrivalled . It is the essence of sportive kindliness . It has the lightness and grace of the finest French wit , with the genial heartiness and sterling Saxon wisdom of English hu- mour . It has no acerbh 3 ' , no indecency , nothing to call up a blush , or a re- _vulsion of feeling follow ng the outburst of the ludicrous . It is always _.,., _^ , ., ° _c j- . ° j _.. c _* . c _* u either the smile of radiant wisdom , or the caprice of sportive fancy : the lightning of the mind , but summer lightning , which bnghtens up the sky and scathes no one . This is the conception we form of Sydney Smith's wit , as we read his writings or laugh over his reported _* _oks » _wte . The volume of Memoirs and the _voSme of letters just _polished add _nothi _^ new to the conception of the man , except to confirm all that we thought of good . A more lovely picture has seldom been presented to the world than that of this brave and bright creature , so rich in wit , humour , high animal spirits , inexhaustible kindliness , manly independence , sagacious good sense . To read this book is a moral tonic . It is a lesson-in life . It makes us happier and better . And while it does tins it presents more entertainment than any book easily named , so rich is it in wisdom , in association , m personal gossip about well-known people . A more thoroughly virtuous life we cannot remember . Yet he was the pet of London , the great wit , the diner out , and a clergyman—positions in which one does not look for the highest morality—but which his fine strong nature enabled him to assume with the most signal success and impunity . There was French blood in his veins ; and to this blood he owed , perhaps , Ins high spirits ; but even the extrava- gance of high spirits never carried him into prodigality , unscrupulosity , or insolence , fie paid his bills , and he spared the feelings of his friends . Lord Dudley once said to him , " You have been constantl y laughing at me for the last seven years , and never said anything I could wish unsaid . " What a tribute I The Memoir which his daughter has drawn up is one of attaching interest , although in biographical detail it is insignificant enough . There were few . ., _*\ o 3 _cj -. i i it _+ _~ _~> i , : _4- _~~~ _fl- u- i * k incidents m Sydney Smith s life to make an interesting biography : the interest is entirely moral ; it lies in the picture of a beautiful happy soul . Our extracts we shall endeavour to make as various as possible . We begin with a glance at his clerical position . He was purely pious , too pious to be a fanatic , too humane to make Religion a weapon of offence . As he says , ' piety , stretched beyond a certain point , is the parent of impiety . " We think it is impiety itself . But for good practical sense , flavoured with wit , on the subject of preaching , what can be better than this : — " There is a bad taste in the language of sermons evinced by a constant repetition of the same scriptural phrases , -which perhaps wore used with great judgment two him- drod years ago , but are now become so trite that thoy may , without any great detri- ment , be exchanged for others . ' Putting off the old man—and putting on the new man , " The one thing needful , ' ' Tho Lord hath sot up his candlestick , ' ' The armour of righteousness ' etc . etc . otc . etc . The sacred Scriptures are surely abundant enough to afford us the aamo idea with some novelty of language : we can never be driven , from the penury of these writings , to wear and fritter their holy language into a perfect cant , which passes through tho ear without leaving any impression . " To _thio cause of the unpopularity of sermons may bo addod the oxtremoly un- graceful manner in which they are delivered . The English , generally remarkable for 1 doing very good things in a very bad manner , scorn to have reserved tho maturity and plenitude of their awkwardness for the pulpit . A clergyman clings to his velvet cushion with either hand , _keopahis eye riveted upon his book , _HpoakB of tho ecstasies of joy and foar with a voico and a faco which _indicato _neithor _, and pinions his body « nd soul into tho same _attitudcTof limb and thought , for foar of being called theatrical and uffectcd . Tho most _inkropkKvetoran of us all dares no moro than wipe lus faco with his cambric _audarium ;\ ifyby mischanco , his hand slip from its orthodox gripo of thoi velvet , ho draws it back as from liquid brimstone , or tho caustic iron of tho law and _atonea for this indocoTum by frosh inflexibility and moro rigorous sameness . la it wonder , then , that ovory _Bomi-dolirious sectary who pours forth his animated nonsonao with the genuine look and voico of passion should gesticulate away th ., congregation of the most profound and learned divine of tho _Estnblkhcd Church , and in two Sun- days preach him bare to tho very sexton ? Why aro wo natural everywhere but in tho pulpit ? No man _oxprcasoa warm and animated feelings anywhoro elao with his ||||||

      mouth alone , but with his whole body ; he articulates with every limb , and talks | from head to foot with a thousand voices . Why this holoplexia on sacred occasions ¦ aione ? Why call in the aid of paralysis to piety ? Is it a rule of oratory to balance ¦ the style against the subject , and to handle the most sublime truths in the dullest ¦ language and the driest manner ? Is sin to be taken from men , as Eve was from Adam , by casting them into a deep slumber ? Or from what possible perversion of com- mon sense are _^ aU to look like field-preachers in Zembla , holy lumps of ice numbed into quiescence , and stagnation , and mumbling ? ¦ It is theatrical to use action , and it is Methodistical to use action . f ¦ But , _^ f _™ _<* e ™ h « i contempt for sectaries , and persevered in dignified tame- _, , | ¦ SI _Slflw _" * ar * f r ? 2 m _* ? mm ° n """ { or _^ ge salaries _zn stately j ¦ churches , amidst whole acres and furlongs of empty pews , the crowd are feasting : on un- < s grammatical fervour and U uterate animation in the crumbling hovels of Methodists . " _" ¦ Here is one of the touches which recal dear CIiarles Lamb He ) ¦ _artpda _? ma < rktratP- i ¦ _v , .. ° _x , ,, _^ . , , . flT J ° delm < l uents _te never could bear to commit ; but read them a severe lecture , : ¦ _Sfy _^^^^^^ f honour , pray forgive us ! " and his honour used graciously to pardon them for this time , j ¦ and delay the arrival of the private _gatiows , and seldom had occasion to repeat the I ¦ threat . if This is felicitously said _' An argument arose , in which my father observed how many of the most eminent \ men of the _world had been diminutive in person , and after naming several among the ¦ ancients , he added , "Why , look there at Jeffrey ; and there is my little friend , V ¦ who has not body enough to cover his mind decently with ; his intellect is improperly _« ; : exp 8 sed . " , ; The following loses something from being told , but lamb served up cold is still a delicate dish when the salad of wit flavours it : — At _Mn Romiiiy > s there arose a discussion on the Inferno of Dante , and the tortures he had invented . " He may be a great poet , " said my father , " but as to invention , : I consider him a mere bungler , —no imagination , no knowledge of the human heart . If I had taken it in hand , I would show you what torture really was ; for instance ( turning , merrily , to his old friend Mrs . Marcet ) , you should de doomed to listen , for a thousand years , to conversations between Caroline and Emily , where Caroline ' should always give wrong explanations' _^ che mistry , and Emily , in the end , be unable to distinguish an acid from an alkali . ' You , Macaulay , —let me consider , —oh , you _ahould bo dumb . False dates and facts of the reign of Queen Anno should for ever be shouted in your ears ; all liberal and honest opinions should be ridiculed in your nce Jd should not be able to a sin _^ lo word duri that riod in _& eir _£ efence . " u And what would you condemn me to , Mr . Sidney ? " said a young mother . « Why , you should for ever see those three sweet little girls of yours on the point of falling down stairs , and never be able to save them . There , what tortures are there in Dante equal to these ? " { " Daniel Webster struck me much like a steam-engine in trousers . " ! Here we have Charles Lamb again : — . | _« Nothing amuses mo more than to observe the utter want of perception of a joke in \\ some minds . Mrs . Jackson called the other day , and spoke of tlio oppressive heat of ' / last week . ' Heat , Ma ' am ! ' I said ; ' it was so dreadful hero , that I found there \ va 3 ) _, _, nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones . ' ' Take off your nosh and ; sit in your bones , Sir ! Oh , Mr . Smith ! how could you do _tlint ? ' she exclaimed , { with the utmost gravity . ' Nothing more easy , Ma ' am ; come and see next tune . ' But she ordered hor carriage , and evidentl y thought it a very unorthodox proceeding . i | " Miss , too , the other day , walking round the grounds at Combo * lorey , ; _, ¦ exclaimed , 'Oh , why do you chnin up that fine Newfoundland dog , Mr . Hnnth j ' ' Because it has a passion for _brenkfasting on parish boys . ' I _ansh boys I she ex- ,. claimed , ' does he really eat boys , Mr . Smith ? ' ' Yes , ho devours thorn , _Duttons and . all . ' Her face of horror made _inedio of laughing . " . , _Tliis lesson wants repeated enforcement : — ' Speaking of education- " Never toaoh false morality . How exquisitely absurd to _, toll irla thftfc boftUty is o _j no vftlll ( J ( lrosH of no ,, H 0 ! Beauty is of value ; her whole - . prospect 8 and htt , ) pino 8 S in _Hf 0 nwiy often depend upon a now gown or a becoming , boiul 0 t and if sho _j lftU five , rrau , a ( , f common sense she will find this out . Tho * grout , th - i ( J tQ toftch hor thoir j , iat vniUO i and that there must bo something bettor untlor th ( J l ) onnot than a prctty face for real happiness . But never sacrifice truth . " '; delicious _exa-irerntion of this must have been overpowering io | xllL _ocncious exa _of , iiauun ui id hear : , _, _, . ... . fl . . . ¦ ' Somo one mentioned that a young Scotchman , who had beo " 1 a _^ 7 in " _^ n 0 _^ ~ ; bourhoo _. 1 , was about to marry an Irish widow , doublo his ago and of _considerablo dimensions . " Going to marry hor ! " ho oxclauncd , bursting out laughing , _going o marry hor ! impossible ! you mean , a part of her : ho could not marry hor all _; . ;

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 16, 1855, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/sldr_16061855/page/1/