Sydney Smith's Spiritual Character [pp. 291-304]

Sydney Smith's Spiritual Character.
ing at the man in this connexion, he assumes the dignity of moral heroism.
There is breadth, as well as power, in his
movements. There is no sudden pause
in the midst of his career to ponder over
prudential calculations, and to examine
if measures were not strained too hard
for his own advantage. Sydney Smith
never put himself in one scale and duty
in the other, but, with facts on one side
of the beam, he weighed obligations in
the other, and determined his course.
But the errors of a false system were
around him, and, viewing the circumstances about him, the associations of his
position, and the sphere of life in which
he acted, it is not surprising that he
should have been injuriously affected.
Tried by an evangelical standard,
Sydney Smith certainly does not satisfy
us. If not worldly-minded, he was too
much in an atmosphere of worldliness.
There was nothing wrong in his intimacy
at Holland House, nor is he to be blamed
for enjoying a good dinner whenever it
came in his way. His wit and humor
were God's gifts, and he generally used
them in an amiable and unobjectionable
manner. Exhilarating as his spirits were,
they never transcended the bounds of refined and cultivated taste. The effervescence was not the froth of poisonous
liquor, but the white foam of a stream,
that irrigated and refreshed the landscape
through which it flowed. Table-pleasures
were valued more for the mind than the
body, and his wonderful powers of conversation were not wasted on trifles. All
his friends represent him as most charming in his serious moods, and even fashionable women, who courted his acquaintance for the zest of his lighter talk, bear
testimony to the edifying and ennobling
qualities of the man. And yet it is sad
to think that one so richly endowed; one
so frank, cordial, truthful, exemplary;
one of so much purpose, ability, and rectitude, should have fallen short of the
measure of a thoroughly devout Christian,
and missed the mark of an humble, godly,
useful minister of Christ.
Let us not be misunderstood. Critics
are morally responsible for their reviews
of character, as well as amenable to the
laws of taste and culture for the spirit in
which they treat the sanctity of human
reputation. Far from us be the hard and
callous insensibility that would regard
the talents and virtues of great and noble
men as if they were mere contributions
to the science and surgery of the dissecting-talble. But errors of false kindness
are often as mischievous as the vices of
savage tempers. If any one, after reading these volumes, will calmly close them,
and then summon before his mind a distinct, full-formed image of Sydney Smith,
we are gre4atly mistaken if he do not feel
that something is wanting to give that
image moral and spiritual completeness.
Beautiful does that image appear in all
the gentler and tenderer relations of home
and fireside, and abroad, in the manly
pursuits of life, in the field, in the parish,
in the city, brave as the bravest; but is
it not the light of a near firmament that
illumines its features? and if, in serener
and holier hours, the beams of a more distant orb fall upon it, is it not a halo that
soon vanishes?
Sydney Smith seems never to have
sounded the depths of spiritual experience. Religion, as a moral and practical
routine; religion, as a social system to
educate and elevate mankind; religion,
as a state instrument; religion, as a revealed, Divine authority, armed with
God's omnipotence, and hallowed by
God's compassionate love; religion, as a
theory of the Thirty-nine Articles of the
Church of England, he comprehended
and taught. A step beyond and he
reaches "purity of heart," and dwells
on it as the " ark of God;" "it is God's,
and to God it will return." But, admitting gladly all this, it is very obvious that
Sydney Smith had no fellowship with the
profounder aspects of experimental religion. The agonies of repentance; the
terrible conviction that cleaves the universe, and opens heaven and hell before
the startled eyes; the strong cries and
tears, that utter a language unknown,
where the cross is unfelt; the vast interests of the soul, when God lets down the
burden of eternity on its keenest sensibilities; the reconciling sight of Jesus,
as redeemer, intercessor, friend and brother; the triumph of faith, hope, and
love, in their answering joy to Father,
Son, and Spirit; the sore conflicts of
Christian life; the alternations of fear
and confidence; the oft-repeated prayer,
"God, be merciful to me, a sinner;" the
yearning for rest in Paradise; the growth
into the full stature of Christ; all this
was beyond his grasp. To his mind, a
person showing an acute sense of God's
violated law, or an exultant feeling of
God's forgiving mercy, was a sheer enthusiast. Perhaps the enthusiast needed medical treatment; perhaps the stomach had
usurped the dominion of the brain, and
a bad liver was secreting unhealthy ideas;
at best, he was the fool of others, or the
dupe of himself. For all such cases he
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