And then this youthful Monarch, profoundly but wisely
religious, disdaining hypocrisy, and far above the childish follies of
false piety, casts herself upon God, and seeks from the Gospel of His
blessed Son a path for her steps, and a comfort for her soul. Here is
a picture which warms every English heart, and would bring all this
congregation upon their bended knees before Almighty God to pray it
may be realized. What limits to the glory and happiness of our native
land, if the Creator should in His mercy have placed in the heart of
this Royal Woman the rudiments of wisdom and mercy; and if, giving
them time to expand, and to bless our children's children with her
goodness, He should grant to her a long sojourning upon earth, and
leave her to reign over us till she is well stricken in years? What
glory! what happiness! what joy! what bounty of God! I of course can
only expect to see the beginning of such a splendid period: but, when
I do see it, I shall exclaim with the pious Simeon, 'Lord, now lettest
Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation.'"
We turn now from ecclesiastical to social life. Though Sydney Smith still
retained his beautiful Rectory of Combe Florey, and lived there a good deal
in the summer, he spent more and more of his year in London, He held that
the parallelogram between Oxford Street, Piccadilly, Regent Street, and
Hyde Park, "enclosed more intelligence and ability, to say nothing of
wealth and beauty, than the world had ever collected in such a space
before.
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