Sydney Smith | Page 7

was
translated to Durham in 1791) had strongly urged on the Diocese of
Sarum.[12] Boys and girls were taught together. The master and
mistress were paid the modest salary of two shillings a Sunday. The
children were taught spelling and reading, and, as soon as they had
mastered those arts, were made to read the Bible, the Prayer Book, and
Mrs. More's tracts. The children attended church, sitting together in a
big pew, and, in hot weather, had their lessons in the church, before and
after the service. As soon as the Sunday-school had proved itself
popular and successful, an Industrial School was arranged for three
nights in the week, so that the girls of the village might be taught
domestic arts. Both institutions prospered, and ninety years later Mr.
Stuart Reid, visiting the cottages of Netheravon in order to collect
material for his book, caught the lingering tradition that Sydney Smith
"was fond of children and young people, and took pains to teach them."
This tradition bears out what Sydney Smith said in his Farewell
Sermon to the people of Netheravon. Preaching from Proverbs iv. 13,

"Take fast hold of instruction," he said:--
"The Sunday-school which, with some trouble and expense, has been
brought to the state in which you see it, will afford to the poorest
people an opportunity of giving to their children some share of
education, and I will not suppose that anybody can be so indolent, and
so unprincipled, as not to exact from their children a regular attendance
upon it. I sincerely exhort you, and beg of you now, for the last time,
that after this institution has been got into some kind of order, you will
not suffer it to fall to ruin by your own negligence. I have lived among
your children, and have taught them myself, and have seen them
improve, and I know it will make them better and happier men."
And now a change was at hand. The curate of Netheravon had never
intended to stay there longer than he was obliged, and the "happy
resurrection" for which he had hoped came in an unexpected fashion.
Here is his own account of his translation, written in 1839:--
"The squire of the parish took a fancy to me, and requested me to go
with his son to reside at the University of Weimar; before we could get
there, Germany became the seat of war, and in stress of politics we put
into Edinburgh, where I remained five years. The principles of the
French Revolution were then fully afloat, and it is impossible to
conceive a more violent and agitated state of society."
Sydney Smith and his pupil, Michael Beach,[13] arrived at Edinburgh
in June 1798. They lodged successively at 38 South Hanover Street, 19
Ann Street, and 46 George Street. The University of Edinburgh was
then in its days of glory. Dugald Stewart was Professor of Moral
Philosophy; John Playfair, of Mathematics; John Hill, of Humanity.
The teaching was at once interesting and systematic, the intellectual
atmosphere liberal and enterprising. English parents who cared
seriously for mental and moral freedom, such as the Duke of Somerset,
the Duke of Bedford, and Lord Lansdowne, sent their sons to
Edinburgh instead of Oxford or Cambridge. The University was in
close relations with the Bar, then adorned by the great names of Francis
Jeffrey, Francis Homer, Henry Brougham, and Walter Scott. While
Michael Beach was duly attending the professorial lectures, his tutor

was not idle. From Dugald Stewart, and Thomas Brown, he acquired
the elements of Moral Philosophy. He gratified a lifelong fancy by
attending the Clinical Lectures given by Dr. Gregory[14] in the
hospitals of Edinburgh, and studied Chemistry under Dr. Black.[15] He
amused himself with chemical experiments.--
"I mix'd 4 of Holland gin with 8 of olive oil, and stirr'd them well
together. I then added 4 of nitric acid. A violent ebullition ensued.
Nitrous oether, as I suppos'd, was generated, and in about four hours
the oil became perfectly concrete, white and hard as tallow."
To these scientific pastimes were soon added some more professional
activities. The Episcopalians of Edinburgh at this time worshipped in
Charlotte Chapel, Rose Street, which was sold in 1818 to the Baptists.
The incumbent was the Rev. Archibald Alison,[16] who wrote a
treatise on "Taste" and ministered in one of the ugliest buildings in the
world. The arrival in Edinburgh of a clever young man in English
Orders was an opportunity not to be neglected, and Sydney Smith was
often invited to preach in Charlotte Chapel. Writing to Mr.
Hicks-Beach, he says:--
"I have the pleasure of seeing my audience nod approbation while they
sleep."
And again:--
"The people of Edinburgh gape at my sermons. In the middle of an
exquisite address to Virtue, beginning 'O Virtue!'