xt7qjq0stw34_5071 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0stw34/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0stw34/data/1997ms474.dao.xml unknown archival material 1997ms474 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. W. Hugh Peal manuscript collection Clippings about James Smith and Horace Smith text 43.94 Cubic Feet 86 boxes, 4 oversize boxes, 22 items Poor-Good Peal accession no. 11453. Clippings about James Smith and Horace Smith 2017 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0stw34/data/1997ms474/Box_59/Folder_13/Multipage27192.pdf undated section false xt7qjq0stw34_5071 xt7qjq0stw34 51111111, James, :111 author and humorist, was
educated {or the legal profession, and became
sulle‘llur to tl11:()1'.'111111111e.1\fic1 contributing
:11111111l)c1' (11 minor 11i1 1: 1. s to the 111:1gnzn1es,he
in 1512 published, in conjunction with his bro-
lhet llt11':1ec,:t \olume entilh 1l "l'he Ixejccted
Atl1l1'css1zs,’which instantly became highly
1)0111111.1 He subsequently wrote several en-
te1_t:1in1ne11ts {01 the ClLl or Chmles Mathews.

B. i11Lond11n,1775 , D. Dec. 21, 1839.

51111111, IIo1ace, biothcr of the preceding,
“itll whom he wrote “ lhe lxejected Ad-
dt'csscs,’ ” was also the authox of about twenty
novels, the best known of which are “The
Moncyed Man ” and “ Brnnibletye House."
Like his brother, he also produced :1 number of
light pieces of a humorous Character, in prose
and verse. 13. in London, 1779; D. July 12,
I8 0.

 

  

 

A MEMORY OF
JAMES AND HORACE SMITH.

BY MR. AND MRS. S. C. HALL *"

“History may be formed from permanent monuments
and records, but lives can only be written from personal
knowledge, which is growing every day less and less, and
in a SllOl't time is lost. for ever.”—DR. JOHNSON.

“\\'e have undertaken to discourse here for a little on
Great Men, their manner of appearance in our \Vorld's
business, how they have shaped themselves in the \Vorld’s
history, what ideas men formed of them, what \Vork they
(li(l.”—C;\RLYLIC: [lcro Wars/zip.

/

brother James, to pre—

face an edition of his,

collected writings; and
although smgularly, and
perhaps blameably, abnegating him—

and dates that may aid us in re—
calling both to memory. The bro—
thers, of whom James was the eldest

by about four years, were the sons 1
of Robert Smith, Esq, an eminent legal}

practitioner of London, who long held the

/

fl-m WM

trary, he was buoyant and genial, even'
when enduring much bodily suffering;
and there was no mistaking the fact
that he loved to give pleasure rather than
pain.

Horace, on the other hand, became a
worker ; he took the pen seriously and re—

 

5 and in 1832 succeeded him.
Horace Smith, but he ‘
wrote a biography of his 3

‘ Murray, for the modest sum of £20.

Mg fifZ/jiar/ wig/990M

office of solicitor to the Ordnance—an office
in which James succeeded him. He was
also a Fellow of the Royal Society and of
the Society of Antiquarics, and in all rc-
spccts an estimable and accomplished gen—
tleman. Horace having eschcwed the legal
profession, preferred that of a stockbroker,
a business, however, hardly more to his
taste, and in which he made no “figure,”
being from his youth upwards better known
at l’arnassus than in the vicinity of the
Exchange. Both wrote early in life, some—
what to the dismay of the father, who
had paved the way to fortune through
another and very opposite path. ‘ Not-
withstanding, when Horace produced
historical novels, he not only took in—
terest in his son’s productions, but
gave him “ aid and suggestions,”
which, by his extensive reading and
profound knowledge of lilnglish his-
tory, he was well qualitied to do.
James was born on the 16th of Feb—
ruary, 177;"), and Horace in 177$), at
the house in which their father dwelt
in Basinghall Street, London. There
was also another son, Leonard, and
' there were six daughters.
The boys were educated at Chig—
well, in Essex; in after years, when
a “ sexagenarian pilgrim,” James fre-
quently recalled to memory with plea—
sure and with gratitude the years
there passed; and on revisiting the
place towards the close of life, he thus
murmured his latest thoughts 2——

" Life’s cup is nectar at the brink.
Midway a palatable drink.
And wormwood at the bottom."

James was articlcd to his father in
1792, became ultimately his partner,
He had tried
his “’prentice ban in various short-
lived periodicals, especially the JIUthljl
fl/z'rror, edited by Tom Hillxt At the
close of 1812 the brothers “woke and
found themselves famous.” “ One of the
luckiest hits in literature” (thus Horace

777

lmodestly speaks of the work) “appeared
self, we thence gather a few facts3

on the re—opening of Drury Lane Theatre
in October of that year. The idea was
suggested just six weeks before that event,
and the “ iejected Addresses” occupied
the writers no longer time. The copy-
right was otfered to, and declined by, Mr.
He

solutely in hand, and although not at any 5

 

reluctantly undertook to publish it, and
share the profits—{f (my; and it is not a
little singular that the worthy publisher
did actually purchase the book, in 1819,
after it had gone through fifteen editions,
for the sum of £131. May such results
often follow transactions between publishers
and authors 3

James wrote the imitations of \Yords—
worth, Southey, Coleridge, Crabbe, and
Cobbett; Horace those of Byron, Scott,
Moore, Monk Lewis, and Fitzgerald. The
sarcasms were so genuine, the humour so
ample, and the imitations so true, that no
one of the poets took oll'cnce ; on the con-
trary. they were all gratified. It has been
rightly said by Mr. Hayward, “that the
only discontented persons were those who
were left out.”

The brothers became “lions” at once;
but they had no notion of revelling in
notoriety ; of literary vanity they had none,
and they shrank from, rather than courted,
the stare of “ admirers,” to whom any cele—
brity of the hour was—and is—a thing
coveted and desired.

This story has been often told: when the
venerable has him, Lady Cork, invited them
to her soiréc, James Smith wrote his regret
that they could not possibly accept the in—
vitation, for that his brother Horace was
engaged to grin through a horse—collar at
a country fair, and he himself had to dance
a hornpipe at Sadler’s \Vells upon that
very night.“

James reposed on his laurels; as his
brother says, “he was fond of his case,”
and unsolicitous of further celebrity, never
again wooing a proverbially capricious
public, contenting himself with flinging
scraps of humour here and there, heedless
of their value or their fate—while Horace
became a laborious man of letters. Of
James, Mathews used to say, “he is the
only man who can write clever nonsense.”
He lived among wits—~dramatic wits more
especially and from him some of them
derived much that constituted their stock
in trade. His motto was “ Vice Ia bega—
Mic!” his maxim, “ Begone, dull care!”
His sparkle was that of champagne. But,
as one of his friends wrote, “he ever pre-
served the dignity of the English gentle-
man from merging in the professional
gaiety of the jester,” there was never
aught 0f sneering or sarcasm in his humour
—his wit was never a stab. On the con-

»571, M5“ fléa amaze.
:1; 447/»ch m j 41

9,.
W

Z?

'

time dependent on literature, became an

 

* The earliest anecdote recorded of Horace is this :—in
a letter to Mathews, he relates that when at school beingr
asked the Latin for the word cowardice, and having for-
gotten it, he replied that the Romans had none; which
being fortunately deemed a ban mot, he got praise and a

. laugh for not knowing his lesson.

1‘ Southey writes in one of his letters in 1813,——“ ‘ Horace

 

in London’ was printed some years ago in the Month/y
Mirror. I remarked it. at. the time, and wondered that it
did not. attract more notice.” James wrote the first of the
"At. Homes” (in 1808) for Mathews; it was entitled
“Mail Coach Adventures.”

* Horace says that though such a letter may have been
written, it was never sent.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

author by profession, joining the immortal
band who
“ live for aye
In Faine‘s eternal volume.”

James died on the 21th of December,
1830, in the sixty—fifth year of his a go, and
was buried under the vaults of St. Martin’s
Church. Horace died on the 12th Of July,
1849, aged sixty-nine, and was buried in
the churchyard of Trinity Church, Tun—
bridge \Vclls.

James “ seldom. wrote, except as an
amusement and relief from graver occu—
pation. ’.l_‘hough he may be described as
a wit by profession, his nature was kindly,
genial, and generous.” One who knew
him intimately, avers that it was “ dif-
ficult to pass an evening in his company
without feeling in better humour with the
world ;” and many of his friends have
testified to his inexhaustible fund of amuse—
ment and information, and his “ lightness,
liveliness, and good sense.

Of James, his brother writes 2—“ His
was not the sly sneering sarcasm that finds
most pleasure in the ban mot that gives pain
nor was it of that dry quiet character, which
gives zest to a joke by the apparent uncon—
sciousness of its author. His good sayings
were heightened by his cordial good nature,
by the beaming smile, the twinkling eye,
and the frank, hearty cachination that
showed his own enjoyment.” He had a
remarkably tenacious memory, and was
ever ready with an apt quotation from the
old poets; and he pleasantly sang some of
his own songs.

I recall to memory one of his/mm; (Z’esprz't;
I am not sure if it be published :—

“ (‘adia publishes with Murray,
Cupid’s ministry is o’er;
Lovers vanish in a hurry,
She writes—she writes, boys.
\Vard off shore! 7’

And I have another in MS, “the alpha-

bet to Madame Vestris z”—

" Though not with lace hedizcncd o‘er,
From Jaines’s and from Howell’s,
Oh don’t, despise us twenty-four
l.‘oor consonants and vowels.
Though critics may your powers discuss
Your charms, admiring, men sec,
Remember you from four of us
Derive your X L KC.”

Although I more than once visited James
Smith at his house in Craven Street, I
saw most of him—and it was the best of

him—at the “evenings” of Lady Bles—

sington, in Seamore Place. He was not
far off from his grave, and was usually full
of pain: it was often shown by that ex-
pression of countenance which accompanies
physical suffering, and his round good—
humoured face, although it was seldom
without a smile, was generally contracted,
and at times convulsed from internal. agony.

Leigh Hunt described him as “a fair,
stout, fresh—coloured man, with round
features;” and N. P. Willis as a man
“ with white hair, and avery nobly-formed
head and physiognomy; his eye alone,
small, and with lids contracted into an
habitual look of drollery, betrayed the bent
of his genius.”

He wheeled himself about the room in a
sort of invalid chair, and had generally
something pleasant, and often something
witty to say to each of the guests, his beau—
tiful and accomplished hostess coming,
naturally, in for the largest share of both.
He was tall and stout, and the merry
twinkle of his eye gave evidence that his
thoughts were redolent of humour, even
when he did not speak.

Horace Smith was of another, and cer—
tainly a higher, nature. Leigh Hunt de—

poses to “the fine nature of the man”

I‘vzr ,.

J

 

 

 

(and well he might do so, having had ex—
perience of his liberality), and pictures him
as “ of good and manly figure, inclining to
the robust; his countenance extremely
frank and cordial, sweetness without weak-
ness.” And Shelley, writing of him, ex-
claims:—“ It is odd that the only truly-
generous person I ever knew who had
money to be generous with, should be a
stockbroker.” “Gay, tender, hospitable,
and intellectual,” that is Lady Morgan’s
character of Horace Smith; and this is
Southey’s testimony to the credit of the
brothers both :-“ They are clever fellows,
with wit and humour as fluent as their ink,
and, to their praise be it spoken, with no
gall in it.”

Yes, certainly Horace was of a far higher
nature than James; perhaps it was fairly
said of them, “ One was a good man, the
other a good fellow.” But Horace was
happily married, and had loving children,
enjoyed a healthy constitution, and lived
in comparative retirement, away from the
bustle of society, in a tranquil home;
during the later years of his life he resided
at Brighton—it was not then as it is 110w,
London—at—sea, where everybody meets
everybody, and nods of recognition are
about as many as the steps one takes when
promenading the Parade.

He was twice marred, and left a daughter
by each of his wives ; his second wife was
the maternal aunt of Mr. E. M. “Yard, R.A.,
the artist, and it is from a sketch by him,
of his uncle, that I engrave the portrait at
the head of this Memory. Mr. \Vard re—

ains affectionate remembrances of Horace
Smith, of his love for children, and the de—
light that was caused in his father’s house
whenever “Uncle Horace” was expected;
his arrival was ever the signal of a merry—
making. He usually placed the children

on his knees, and regaled them with fairy
tales told in extempore verse.

It was at Brighton I knew Horace Smith,
so far back as the year 1835. My knowledge
of him, though limited, enables me to en—
dorse the opinions I have quoted from

better authorities. He was tall, handsome,
with expressive yet quiet features; they
were frequently moved, however, when he
either heard or said a good thing, and it was
easy to perceive the latent humour that did
not come to the surface as often as it might
have done. ' It is saying little, if I say I
never heard him utter an injurious word of
any one of his contemporaries, although
our usual talk concerned them; for I was
at that time editor of the New illont/aly, to
which he was a frequent contributor, and
he’liked to know something of his associates
in letters, the greater number of whom, I
believe, he had never seen. He knew their
writings, however, and was certainly an
extensive reader as well as a sound thinker,
and always a generous and sympathising
critic. I copy one of his letters; it is
evidence of that which was the leading
characteristic of his mind—a total abnega-
tion of self.
“ 17th October, 1831.
“ 10, ][(moz'cr Crescent.
“I am sorry you should deem the smallest
apology necessary for returnng my MS, a duty
which every editor must occasionally exercise
towards all his contributors. From my domestic

 

* That, however, was not an “odd thing.” It is known
that on “the Stock Exchange” originate very many
charities; that, indeed, scarcely a day passes there with-
out some subscription list being handed about to relieve
want or suffering, public and private. Many thousand
pounds are there collected of which the world hears and
knows nothing, and the number of persons thus assisted
amounts to several hundreds annually. Some of the best
“ charities” of Englandhad their birth at this place of busy
traffic, where, apparently and outwardly, the mind and soul
are exclusively occupied in money—getting.

‘Ir/ .’ ""g-
. / ‘ i

 

habits and love of occupation I am always
scribbling, often without due consideration of
what I am writing, and I only wonder that so
many of my frivolitics have found their way
into print. \Vith this feeling, I am always
grateful towards those who save me from com-
mitting myself, and acquiesce very willingly in
their decisions. In proof of this, I will mention
a fact of which I am rather proud. Mr. Col-
burn had agreed to give me £500 for the first
novel I wrote, and had announced its appear—
ance, when a mutual friend, who looked over
the MS, having 'exprcssed an unfavourable
opinion of it, I threw it {a Illa/ire, and wrote
‘Branibletye Housc’ instead. Let me not
omit to mention, to the credit of Mr. C., that,
upon the unexpected success of that work, he
subsequently presented me with an additional
£100.

“ Begging your excuse for the gossip, I am,
with renewed thanks, dear Sir,

“ Yours very truly,
“ I’IOltATlO SMITH.”

His novels are still “ asked for ” at the
circulating libraries, and perhaps as his-
torical romances they even now hold their
place next to those of Scott, while among
his collected poems are many of great
beauty and of much strength. I believe,
however, that after the publication of
“ Rejected Addresses ” he preferred to con—
sider the comic vein exhausted; certainly
he never wrote in that style for the New
illollfftf‘lj. If he does not hold the highest
rank in the “republic of letters,” he has a
high place among the many who gave re-
nown to the age in which he lived. They
have had imitators and followers, but the
wits of the present day are to those of the
past but as tinsel compared with pure gold.
Yes, not only in the loftiest walks of lite—
rature, but in those that are by comparison
lowly, we miss the giants who in our
younger days were on earth. \Ve trust we
are not “bigots of the past,” when we
grieve over the contrast between the wits
of to—day and the wits of yesterday.

Horace was not rich; indeed, neither
of the brothers were so—James never
could have amassed money, notwithstand—
ing he was Solicitor to the Board of
Ordnance. He invested his whole capital,
amounting to no more than £3,000, in the
purchase of an annuity, and died three
months after it was bought. Horace be-
queathed to his widow and children an
ample sufficiency, although he was far too
generous to have become wealthy. Shelley
did not know that it was out of compa—
ratively limited means, and not a super-
fluity, that he relieved, at Shelley’s en—
treaty, the pressing wants of Leigh Hunt.
Many other instances may be recorded of
his generosity in giving—or of lending,
which means the same thing—t0 less pros—
perous brothers of the pen.

He was, indeed, emphatically a good
man; of large sympathy and charity,
generous in giving, even beyond his means ;
eminent for rectitude in all the affairs and
relations of life, and “ richly meriting ” the
praises that are inscribed on his tomb in
the graveyard at Tunbridge Wells.

Sacred to the memory of
H 0 RACE SMITH, ES Q.,

Of Brighton, Sussex.
Who departed this life July 12, 1849.
Aged 60.
Gifted with the highest qualities of head and heart,
His private virtues
Outshone even his public fame.
Ever resigningr himself with heartfelt gratitude
And reverent humility
To the will of the Almighty;
Ever overflowing with charity towards all men ;
He died as he lived,
Loving and beloved,
‘ Full of trust, joy, and hope.

-‘ Glory, and Honour, and Peace, to every man that.
worketh good.”—-ROMA:\‘S ii. 10.