“Upon the recent arrival of the
‘Great Western,’ in the list of
passengers published, was Sydney
Smith! The next morning the newspapers trumpeted throughout
the land that ‘the founder of the Edinburgh Review,’ ‘the
distinguished Prebendary of St. Paul’s,’ ‘the man of
a thousand of the happiest sayings of the age,’ and, above all,
‘the scourge of repudiating Pennsylvania,’ had actually arrived in this remote hemisphere! What was to
be done? Should he be tarred and feathered, or lynched? Quite the contrary! He
was to be fêted, rejoiced in, and even Pennsylvania was
to meet him with cordial salutations. A hundred dinners were arranged at the
moment, and the guests selected. When, lo! he who had caused this great
excitement turned out to be some humble New York trader, of whom nobody had
ever heard before! Now he might have signed himself S.
Smith, and all would have been well; it would have passed for
Samuel, Simeon, or
Shearjashub. But in an evil hour he had the vanity or
presumption to
| 304 | MEMOIR OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. |
“Among the disappointed were numbers of my congregation, who, seeing a very dignified clerical-looking stranger in my pew at St. John’s, the day after the ‘Western’ arrived, jumped at the conclusion, and stared a worthy ecclesiastic almost out of countenance as he went out of church; and his only consolation is, that he came nearer to passing for a wit than he ever did before, or ever will again. But the most disappointed person was your old schoolmate, and my excellent friend, Moore; who, being confined to the house, and hearing the Sunday report from his family, was momentarily expecting, for three hours after service, to take his Winchester friend by the hand.
“Now, would it be possible for you to give us the only solace for these disappointments? The ships and steamers are admirable, the passage in summer and autumn by no means arduous, the greeting awaiting you the heartiest possible, and the country and people—you will judge of them when you come. In New York you will find a home prepared in my house; and to show you that you will not want others in other places, I send you a letter which I received from the Bishop of New Jersey, from his beautiful place, Riverside.
