WITTY SYDNEY SMITH.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 9779, 12 January 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

WITTY SYDNEY SMITH.

STORIES' OF HIS TABLE TAT,if. ; In a small leathorbound book; to which h(J has given the title «Sydney Smith: Hid 1 nn(l Wisdom " (Gay and Bird), Mr. J. lotterliiscoe has collected some hundreds oli : i Biories and sayings of the famous Canon ofl I St. f aul s. Though, of course, not all tho! ■ stories are now, most of them will bear r$ tolling, This, for instances:— ' " Thn oddest instance of absonce of mind happened to :md onco in forgetting my own name, I knocked at a door in London: asked Is Mr, B— at home ?' 1 Yes, sir; , pray what name shall I say? " I looked at ' the man astonishod; what name ? what njme ? - : Ay,that was tho question; what is my name ? ' l.boliovo tho mini thought me madjbut it ii ; literally true that during the space of two or three niimites l hjd no more idea, who I ; was than if I had never existed. I did not know whethor I was a Dissenter or a layman;' I folt as dull bb Sternhold and Hopkins. At Just, to my great relief, it (tolled aeross me that I was Sydney Smith," WHY HE KNEW. /" \ Extensivo, perhaps, bnt in a sense) peculiar,' was Lord—'s knowledge of thw ■ JolOlO. >7 - "Onco, when talking with Lord— on tbft subject of Biblo names, I could notremem-" - ■ ber (tlw namo of ono of Job's daughterfi " Kczia, Bald ho immediately, Surprisea I - ''' ul on b°' n g so well read'in Bible lore. 'Oh,' aaid lie,'my three greW hounds aro named after Job's daughter!,'" -j A BISHOP'S LIMITATIONS. ' Asked if tho Bishop of—wob going t(i marry, Sydney Smith rcpliod, " Perhaps hS •' may, But how can a Bishop marry ? Horn -. Qan ho flirt ? fho moot he can say 13' I will see you in the vestry aftor eervice,'" 1 ' Again:— ' s i i HE TOOK HIS TIME. !■ ' : Most people haro heard of the "sargicaJ operation" necessary to enable a joketa* : : reaoh the undort'tanding of the &cot. WitS ; the answer Ihot this was likely enough, in i the joko woie made by an Englishman, main 1 be compared Bydnoy Smith's taleofa quin? i ho mado in Yorkshire:- I t "A joko goes a great way in tho countryj . ? I hnvo known ono last pretty well for severf 5 year 3. I remerabec making a joke after 3 '' meeting of the clergy in Yorkshire, wherS I tlioro was a Rov, Mr, Bucklo, who neveri .5 spoko when I cave his health, saying thathol was a bucklo without a tongue,' M 6&6 t people within hearing laughed, but my nextij I door noighbour sat unmoved and sunk iiu . S. thought. At last, a quarter of an hour afteis ii' wo had all done, he suddenly nudged me,' $ bco now what you meant, Mr. Smith: yorf I meanta lokc. ' Yes, sir,' I said,' I balierei 1 -''i I md. Upon which he beyan langhjpg !• | heartily that I thought he woidd ohiike, an^—- : - was obliged to pat him on the back." , '"M