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George Street, Edinburgh,. where, as everywhere else, Smith made numerous friends, among them the future Edinburgh Reviewers. It was towards the end of his five years' residence in Edinburgh, in the eighth or ninth See also:

STOREY (equivalents are Fr. etage, Ital. piano, Ger. Stock)

storey or See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat in a See also:

house in See also:

BUCCLEUCH, DUKES OF

Buccleuch Place, the elevated residence of the then Mr See also:

JEFFREY, FRANCIS JEFFREY

Jeffrey, that Sydney Smith proposed the setting up of a See also:

REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

review as an See also:

ORGAN

organ for the See also:

young 'malcontents with things as they were. " I was appointed editor," he says in the See also:

PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface to the collection of his contributions, and remained See also:

long enough in Edinburgh to edit the first number (See also:

OCTOBER

October 18o2) of the Edinburgh Review. The See also:

MOTTO (an Italian word, from Late Lat. muttum, a low sound, a mutter or murmur, cf. mutere, to mutter; the Latin word also gives Fr. mot, word)

motto I proposed for the Review was ` Tenui musam meditamur avena.'—` We cultivate literature on a little oatmeal.' But this was too near the truth to be admitted, and so we took our See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

GRAVE

grave motto' from Publius Syrus, of. whom, none of us, I am sure, had ever read a single See also:

LINE

line." He continued to write for the Review for the next See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter of a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and his brilliant articles were a See also:

main See also:

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element in its success. He See also:

LEFT

left Edinburgh for See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good in 1803, when the education of his pupils was completed, and settled in See also:

LONDON

London, where he rapidly became known as a preacher, a lecturer and a social See also:

lion. His success as a preacher, although so marked that there was often not See also:

STANDING

standing-See also:

ROOM

room in See also:

Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair, where he was See also:

MORNING

morning preacher, was not gained by any See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice of dignity. He was also" alternate evening preacher " at the Foundling See also:

HOSPITAL (Lat. haspitalis, the adjective of hospes, host or guest)

Hospital, and preached at the Berkeley Chapel and the See also:

Fitzroy Chapel, now St Saviour's See also:

Church, Fitzroy Square. He lectured on moral philosophy at the Royal Institution for three seasons, from 1804 to 18o6: and treated his subject with such vigour, freshness and liveliness of See also:

ILLUSTRATION

illustration that the London See also:

WORLD

world crowded to See also:

ALBEMARLE, EARLS AND DUKES OF

Albemarle Street to hear him. He followed in the main Dugald Stewart, whose lectures he had attended in Edinburgh; but there is more originality as well as good sense in his lectures, especially on such topics as See also:

IMAGINATION

imagination and wit and See also:

HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour, than in many more pretentious systems of philosophy.

He himself had no high See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of these entertaining performances, and threw them in the See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire when they had served their purpose—providing the See also:

MONEY

money for furnishing his house. But his wife rescued the charred See also:

MSS. and published them in 185o as Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy. With the brilliant reputation that Sydney Smith had acquired in the course of a few seasons in London, he would probably have obtained some good preferment had he been on the powerful See also:

side in politics. Sydney Smith's See also:

elder brother " Bobus " had married See also:

Caroline See also:

Vernon, aunt of the 3rd See also:

Lord See also:

Holland, and he was always a welcome visitor at Holland House. His Whig friends came into See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office for a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short time in 1806, and presented him with the living of Foston-le-See also:

Clay in See also:

YORKSHIRE

Yorkshire. He shrank from this banishment for a time, and discharged his parish duties through a curate; but See also:

Spencer See also:

Perceval's Residence See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

Act was 'Judea damnatur cum nocens absolvitur. passed in 1So8, and after trying in vain to negotiate an See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange, had just thrown out the Reform See also:

BILL

Bill, with Mrs Partington of he quitted London in r8o9, and moved his See also:

HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household to See also:

York- See also:

SHIRE

shire. The See also:

MINISTRY

Ministry of " All the Talents " was driven out of office in 1807 in favour of a " no popery " party, and in that year appeared the first See also:

INSTALMENT (for earlier stallment or estallment, from Fr. estaler, to fix, arrange; the change is probably due to the influence of the verb " install ")

instalment of Sydney Smith's most famous See also:

PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production, See also:

Peter Plymley's Letters, on the subject of See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic emancipation, ridiculing the opposition of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country See also:

clergy. It was published as A See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

Letter on the Subject of the Catholics to my brother See also:

ABRAHAM, or ABRAM (Hebrew for " father is high ")

Abraham who lives in the Country, by Peter Plymley. Nine other letters followed before the end of ,8o8, when they appeared in collected See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form. Peter Plymley's identity was a See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret, but rumours got abroad of the real authorship. Lord Holland wrote to him expressing his own See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion and See also:

Grenville's, that there had been nothing like it since the days of See also:

Swift (Memoir, i.

151). He also pointed out that Swift had lost a bishopric for his wittiest performance. The See also:

SPECIAL

special and temporary nature of the topics advanced in these See also:

PAMPHLETS

pamphlets has not prevented them from taking a permanent place in literature, secured for them by the vigorous, picturesque See also:

style, the generous eloquence and clearness of exposition which Sydney Smith could always command. In his country parish of Foston, with no educated See also:

NEIGHBOUR (O. Eng. neahgebiir, from Walt, " nigh," " near ")

neighbour within 7 m., Sydney Smith accommodated himself cheerfully to his new circumstances, and won the See also:

HEARTS

hearts of his parishioners as quickly as he had conquered a wider world. There had been no See also:

RESIDENT

resident clergyman in his parish for 150 years; he had a See also:

FARM

farm of 300 acres to keep in See also:

order; a rectory had to be built. All these things were attended to beside his contributions to the Edinburgh Review. " If the chances of See also:

LIFE

life ever enable me to emerge," he nevertheless writes to See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

Lady Holland, " I will show you I have not been wholly occupied by small and sordid pursuits." He continued to serve the cause of See also:

TOLERATION (from Lat. tolerare, to endure)

toleration by ardent speeches in favour of Catholic emancipation; his eloquence being specially directed against those who maintained that a See also:

ROMAN

Roman Catholic could not be believed on his See also:

OATH (0. Eng. ddh)

oath. " I defy Dr See also:

DUIGENAN, PATRICK (1735-1816)

Duigenan,"' he pleaded, addressing a See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting of clergy in 1823, " in the full vigour of his incapacity, in the strongest See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access of that Protestant See also:

EPILEPSY (Gr. &L, upon, and kaµ)3avew, to seize), or FALLING

epilepsy with which he was so often convulsed, to have added a single See also:

SECURITY (Lat. securus, free from care, safe)

security to the security of that oath." At this time appeared one of his most vigorous and effective polemics, A Letter to the See also:

ELECTORS (Ger. Kurfursten, from Kilren, O.H.G. kiosan, choose, elect, and Furst, prince)

Electors upon the Catholic Question (1826). Sydney Smith, after. twenty years' service in Yorkshire, obtained preferment at last from a Tory See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister, Lord See also:

LYNDHURST, JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY, BARON (1772–1863)

Lyndhurst, who presented him with a prebend in See also:

Bristol See also:

CATHEDRAL

cathedral in 1828, and afterwards enabled him to exchange Foston for the living of See also:

Combe Florey, near See also:

Taunton, which he held conjointly with the living of Halberton attached to his prebend. From this time he discontinued See also:

writing for the Edinburgh Review on the ground that it was more becoming in a dignitary of the church to put his name to what he wrote. It was expected that when the Whigs came into See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power Sydney Smith would be made a See also:

bishop. There was nothing in his writings, as in the See also:

case of Swift, to stand in the way.

He had been most sedulous as a parochial clergyman. Doctoring his parishioners, he said, was his only rural amusement. His See also:

religion was wholly of a practical nature, and his See also:

FELLOW

fellow-clergy had reasons for their suspicion of his very limited See also:

THEOLOGY

theology, which excluded See also:

MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

mysticism of any sort. " The See also:

GOSPEL (O. Eng. godspel, i.e. good news, a translation of Lat. bona annuntiatio, or evangelium, Gr. evayyeXwv; cf. Goth. iu spillon, " to announce good news," Ulfilas' translation of the Greek, from iu, that which is good, and spellon to announce)

Gospel," he said, " has no See also:

ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm." His scorn for enthusiasts and dread of religious emotion found vent in See also:

MIDDLE

middle life in his strictures on missionary enterprise, and See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter attacks on Method-ism, and later in many scoffs at the followers of See also:

PUSEY, EDWARD BOUVERIE (1800-1882)

Pusey. Still, though he was not without warm friends at headquarters, the opposition was too strong for them. One of the first things that Lord See also:

Grey said on entering See also:

DOWNING, SIR GEORGE

Downing Street was, " Now I shall be able to do something for Sydney Smith "; but he was not able to do more than appoint him in 1831 to a residentiary canonry at St See also:

Paul's in exchange for the prebendal See also:

STALL (0. Eng. steall, stael, cf. Du. stal, Ger. and Swed. Stall, a common Teutonic word for a place, station, place for standing in; the root is the Indo-European std–, to stand, seen also in Latin stabulum, Greek vraO bs, and in stallion, an entire hors

stall he held at Bristol. He was as eager a See also:

CHAMPION (Fr. champion, Late Lat. campio from campus; a field or open space, i.e. one " who takes the field " or fights; cf. Ger. Kampf, battle, and Kampfer, fighter)

champion of See also:

PARLIAMENTARY

parliamentary reform as he had been of Catholic emancipation, and one of his best fighting speeches was delivered at Taunton in October 1831 when he made nis well-known comparison of the House of Lords, who s See also:

Patrick Duigenan, M.P. for the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of See also:

ARMAGH

Armagh, a Protestant agitator. See also:

Sidmouth, setting out with See also:

mop and pattens to See also:

STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem the See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic in a See also:

storm. Some surprise must be See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt now that Sydney Smith's reputation as a humorist and wit should have caused any hesitation about elevating him to an episcopal dignity, and perhaps he was right in thinking that the real obstacle See also:

lay in his being known as " a high-spirited, honest, uncompromising man, whom all the See also:

BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Bank, Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")

bench of bishops could not turn upon vital questions." With characteristic philosophy, when he saw that the promotion was doubtful, he made his position certain by resolving not to be a bishop and definitely forbidding his friends to intercede for him. On the See also:

DEATH

death of his brother See also:

Courtenay he inherited 50,000, which put him out of the reach of poverty. His eldest daughter, Saba (1802-1866), married See also:

Sir See also:

Henry Holland. • His eldest son, See also:

Douglas, died in 1829 at the outset of what had promised to be a brilliant career.

This grief his father never forgot, but nothing could quite destroy the cheerfulness of his later life. He retained his high See also:

SPIRITS

spirits, his wit, practical See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy and See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers of argumentative ridicule to the last. His Three Letters to See also:

ARCHDEACON (Lat. archidiaconus, Gr. &oxt3tauovor)

Archdeacon Singleton on the Ecclesiastical See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

Commission (1837–38–39) and his See also:

PETITION (Lat. for " seeking " or " praying ")

Petition and Letters on the repudiation of debts by the See also:

state of See also:

Pennsylvania (1843), are as See also:

bright and trenchant as his best contributions to the Edinburgh Review. He died at his house in See also:

Green Street, London, on the 22nd of See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1845 and was buried at Kensal Green. Sydney Smith's other publications include: Sermons (2 vols., 18o9); The See also:

BALLOT (from Ital. ballotta, dim. of balla, a ball)

Ballot (1839); See also:

WORKS

Works (3 vols., 1839), including the Peter Plymley and the Singleton Letters and many articles from the Edinburgh Review; A Fragment on the Irish Roman Catholic Church (1845) Sermons at St Paul's . . . (1846) and some other pamphlets and sermons. Lady Holland says (Memoir, i. 19o) that her father left an unpublished MS., compiled from documentary See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence, to exhibit the See also:

HISTORY

history of English See also:

MISRULE, LORD OF

misrule in See also:

Ireland, but had hesitated to publish it. This was suppressed by his widow in deference to the opinion of Lord See also:

MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, BARON (1800-1859)

Macaulay. See A Memoir of the See also:

REVEREND (Lat. reverendus, gerundive of revereri, to revere, pay respect to)

Reverend Sydney Smith by his daughter, Lady Holland, with a Selection from his Letters edited by Mrs [Sarah] See also:

Austin (2 vols., 1855) ; also A See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

Sketch of the Life and Times of . . Sydney Smith (1884) by See also:

Stuart J.

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