from motives merely selfish.

"'Oh! if women in general knew what was their real interest, if they
could guess with what a charm even the _appearance_ of modesty invests
its possessor, they would dress decorously from mere self-love, if not
from principle. The designing would assume modesty as an artifice; the
coquette would adopt it as an allurement; the pure as her appropriate
attraction; and the voluptuous as the most infallible art of
seduction.'

"If there is any truth in this passage, nudity becomes a virtue; and
no decent woman, for the future, can be seen in garments."

That is aptly said; but it is a relief to turn from Sydney Smith the
Philistine--the bigoted and rather brutal opponent of enthusiastic
religion, to Sydney Smith the Philanthropist--the passionate advocate of
humanitarian reform born at least fifty years before his time. Excellent
illustrations of this aspect of his character are to be found in "Mad
Quakers," with its study of the improved methods of treating lunacy;
"Chimney-Sweepers," "Game-Laws," "Spring-Guns," "Prisons," and "Counsel for
Prisoners." Each of these essays shows a deliriously warm sympathy with the
sufferings of the downtrodden and the friendless; and a curiously intimate
knowledge of matters which lie quite outside the scope of a clergyman's
ordinary duties. As an appreciation of character, friendly but not servile,
nothing can be better than his paper on Sir James Mackintosh,[136] with the
illustration from Curran, and the noble image (which the writer himself
admired) of the man-of-war. Writing to Sir James's son, Sydney Smith
says:--

"Curran, the Master of the Rolls, said to Mr. Grattan, 'You would be
the greatest man of your age, Grattan, if you would buy a few yards of
red tape, and tie up your bills and papers.' This was the fault or the
misfortune of your excellent father; he never knew the use of red
tape, and was utterly unfit for the common business of life. That a
guinea represented a quantity of shillings, and that it would barter
for a quantity of cloth, he was well aware; but the accurate number of
the baser coin, or the just measurement of the manufactured article,
to which he was entitled for his gold, he could never learn, and it
was impossible to teach him. Hence his life was often an example of
the ancient and melancholy struggle of genius with the difficulties of
existen