Sydney Smith Part 21

[171] _See_ Appendix C.

[172] _Comus_.

[173] See Appendix D.

[174] Compare his attack on Hobbes, of whom he says that his "dirty recreation" of smoking did not interrupt any "immoral, irreligious, or unmathematical track of thought in which he happened to be engaged."-- _Lectures on Moral Philosophy_, xxvi.

[175] Dixit insipiens in corde suo; Non est Deus.--_Psalm_ xiv.

[176] July 14, 1833. "I have ever considered and kept the day as the start of the religious movement of 1833."--CARDINAL NEWMAN, _Apologia_.

[177] In early life he wrote from Edinburgh;--"In England, I maintain, (except among ladies in the middle rank of life) there is no religion at all. The Clergy of England have no more influence over the people at large than the Cheesemongers of England."

[178] By Mr. Stuart Reid.

[179] St. Luke ix. 62.

[180] "What can we think of the fitness of a man to address his Queen and his country in the _dogmatical_ strain of this pamphlet, who does not know the New Testament from the Old; the Psalms from the Gospel, David from Simeon; who expatiates so pompously on the duty and benefit of _prayer_, yet mistakes and miscalls a portion of the _Common Prayer_, which he is bound in law and in conscience to repeat every evening of his life."--_Quarterly Review_, July 1837.

The reference is to the Sermon on the Queen's Accession. The blunder was rectified in a later edition.

[181] He said this of Lord Grey.

NEW SERIES.

_FORTHCOMING VOLUMES_.

THOMAS MOORE. By STEPHEN GWYNN.

SYDNEY SMITH. By GEORGE W. E. RUSSELL.

ANDREW MARVELL. By AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, K.C.

MRS. GASKELL. By CLEMENT SHORTER.

CHARLES KINGSLEY. By G. K. CHESTERTON.

SHAKESPEARE. By WALTER RALEIGH.

JAMES THOMSON, By G. C. MACAULAY.

EDWARD FITZGERALD. By A. C. BENSON.

SIR THOMAS BROWNE. By EDMUND GOSSE.

WALTER PATER. By A. C. BENSON.

_VOLUMES NOW READY_.

GEORGE ELIOT. By Sir LESLIE STEPHEN, K.C.B.

Mr. HERBERT PAUL in the _NINETEENTH CENTURY_.--"The first of English living critics has been fitly chosen to inaugurate the new series of Messrs. Macmillan's 'English Men of Letters.' Mr. Leslie Stephen's 'George Eliot' is a grave, sober, and measured estimate of a great Englishwoman."

Mr. W.L. COURTNEY in the _DAILY TELEGRAPH_.--"One of the most fascinating and accomplished pieces of criticism that have appeared for some time past Mr. Stephen is a prince of contemporary critics, and any one who ventures to disagree with him incurs a very heavy responsibility."

WILLIAM HAZLITT. By AUGUSTINE BIRRELL.

_ACADEMY_.--"We have read this book through in a single sitting, delighted by its easy yet careful narrative, its sane and kindly comment, and last, not least, by its wealth of quotation."

_DAILY NEWS_.--"Mr. Birrell has made judicious use of the ma.s.s of materials at his disposal, and with the aid of his acute and thoughtful running commentary, has enabled his readers to form a tolerably accurate and complete conception of the brilliant essays and critic with no greater expenditure of time and pains than is needed for the perusal of this slender volume."

MATTHEW ARNOLD. By HERBERT PAUL.

Canon AINGER in the _PILOT_.--"A most interesting and admirably written estimate of Matthew Arnold. This estimate, so far as regards Mr, Arnold's poetry and his prose critical essays, seems to me so nearly faultless as hardly to justify any counter criticism."

_WESTMINSTER GAZETTE_.--"An exceedingly effective essay in criticism."

_SPECTATOR_.--"This monograph is valuable as a succinct statement, set out in an appreciative, interesting, skilful, and sometimes sparkling fashion, of the labours and pursuits that make up the tireless life of the great poet and essayist."

JOHN RUSKIN. By FREDERIC HARRISON.

_TIMES_.--"Mr. Harrison knew Ruskin at his best; lectured with him at the Working Men's College; visited him at Denmark Hill; and in later years often saw and corresponded with him. The result is a study of the writer marked in equal measure by discrimination and sympathy; and a picture of the man, vivid and arresting."

_GLOBE_.--"The best account of Ruskin and his work which has yet been given to the world. The writer is sure of his facts, and is able to illuminate them by means not only of a close personal acquaintance with his subject, but also of a wide and deep knowledge of many other men and things."

TENNYSON. By Sir ALFRED LYALL, K.C.B,

_TIMES_.--"The criticism is always sane, and sometimes brilliant; it never errs on the side of exuberance; and it is expressed in excellent English, moulded into dignified paragraphs."

_DAILY TELEGRAPH_.--"The memoir is admirably carried out, telling the reader precisely what he wants to know, giving an account of what the poems contain, as well as a running commentary upon their character and value, being written, in short, not for the superior person, but for the average man of the world with literary tastes."

SAMUEL RICHARDSON. By AUSTIN DOBSON.

_TIMES_.--"Mr. Austin Dobson has written what is very nearly a perfect little book of its kind.... Mr. Dobson's book is composed with infinite literary tact, with precision, and a certain smiling grace, and friendly and easy touch at once remarkable and charming. Mr.

Dobson is always accurate in his facts. He is fresh, vivacious, and interesting in his conclusions."

Mr. W.L. COURTNEY in the _DAILY TELEGRAPH_.--"Mr. Dobson's study is absolutely in the first rank, worthy to be put by the side of Sir Leslie Stephen's criticism of George Eliot."

_WESTMINSTER GAZETTE_.--"We have nothing but praise to utter of Mr. Dobson's contribution to 'English Men of Letters.'"

BROWNING. By G. K. CHESTERTON.