At eleven o’clock in the morning, some years ago, the
Archbishop of Canterbury called upon
a friend of mine (my informant) and said, “I am going to the King
(George III.) to meet Perceval, who wants to make Mansell Bishop of Bristol. I have advised
the King not to assent to it, and he is thoroughly determined it shall not
be. I will call in an hour or two, and tell you what has passed.”
Canterbury did not return till eleven at night. “Quite in
vain,” he said; “Perceval has beaten us
all; he tendered his imme-
| MEMOIR OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. | 399 |
Such a conflict, carried on once, and ending with victory, never need be repeated.
I know not, by alluding to the chess-board, whether you mean the charges which —— might make against me, or against liberal men in general. I defy —— to quote a single passage of my writing contrary to the doctrines of the Church of England; for I have always avoided speculative, and preached practical, religion. I defy him to mention a single action in my life which he can call immoral. The only thing he could charge me with, would be high spirits, and much innocent nonsense. I am distinguished as a preacher, and sedulous as a parochial clergyman. His real charge is, that I am a high-spirited, honest, uncompromising man, whom all the bench of Bishops could not turn, and who would set them all at defiance upon great and vital questions. This is the reason why (as far as depends upon others) I am not a bishop; but I am thoroughly sincere in saying I would not take any bishopric whatever, and to this I pledge my honour and character as a gentleman. But, had I been a bishop, you would have seen me, on a late occasion, charging —— and —— with a gallantry which would have warmed your heart’s blood, and made Melbourne rub the skin off his hands.
| 400 | MEMOIR OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. |
P.S.—Make Edward Stanley and Caldwell, a friend of Lord Lansdowne’s and mine, bishops; both unexceptionable men.
