A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith
Letters 1834
Sydney Smith to Lady Grey, 19 November 1834
London, November 19th, 1834.
My dear Lady Grey,
Nothing can exceed the fury of the Whigs! They mean not
only to change everything upon the earth, but to alter the tides, to suspend
the principles of gravitation and vegetation, and to tear down the solar
system. The Duke’s success, as it
appears to me, will entirely depend on his imitation of the Whig measures. I am
heartily glad Lord Grey is in port. I am
(thanks to him) in port too, and have no intentions of resigning St.
Paul’s. I have not resigned. Still the King has used them ill. If he always intended
| MEMOIR OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. | 353 |
to turn them out as soon as Lord
Spencer died, he should have told Lord
Melbourne so, and not have placed him in so awkward a position;
at least, as far as circumstances over which he has no control can place an
able and high-minded man.
I am better in health, avoiding all fermented liquors, and
drinking nothing but London water, with a million insects in every drop. He who
drinks a tumbler of London water has literally in his stomach more animated
beings than there are men, women, and children on the face of the globe. London
is very empty, but by no means disagreeable: I find plenty of friends. Pray be
in London early in January. I shall practise as I preach, and be there from
January till Easter.
It is supposed that the messenger who is gone to fetch
Sir Robert Peel, will not catch him
before he is at Pæstum; in the meantime, the Duke of
Wellington holds all offices, civil, military, and
ecclesiastical, and is to be Bishop of Ely (if Ely dies), till Peel arrives.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
William Lamb, second viscount Melbourne (1779-1848)
English statesman, the son of Lady Melbourne (possibly by the third earl of Egremont) and
husband of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was a Whig MP, prime minister (1834-41), and counsellor
to Queen Victoria.
Bowyer Edward Sparke, bishop of Ely (1759 c.-1836)
Educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was tutor to the Duke of Rutland; he
was dean of Bristol (1803), bishop of Chester (1809), and Bishop of Ely (1812).
George John Spencer, second earl Spencer (1758-1834)
Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a Whig MP aligned with Edmund
Burke, first lord of the Admiralty (1794-1801) and home secretary (1806-07). He was a book
collector and patron of the poets John Clare and Herbert Knowles.