, and
tenaciously retained what he had read. It may here be mentioned, that in
this particular, viz. reading law at college, Mr. Smith resembled Sir
William Follett, who also devoted himself with ardour to the study of
the law when at Cambridge, but did _not_, like Mr. Smith, also gain the
highest college honours; for Sir William never competed, or at all
events never obtained college honours of any kind. Mr. Smith commenced
keeping terms at the beginning, I believe, of 1830; and it was at the
mess-table of the Inner Temple Hall that I, who had also shortly before
come up from Edinburgh University for the same purpose, first had the
happiness and the honour of becoming acquainted with my late
distinguished friend. He was then in about his twenty-first year. I
distinctly recollect the first time of our meeting, which was at the
aforesaid mess-table; and that his appearance struck me as that of a
bashful and awkward person dull and taciturn, with a formal precise way
of speaking, and a slight abruptness of manner. If Lord Bacon's saying
be correct, that a good face is a _letter of recommendation_--poor John
William Smith may be said to have come without a character! How little
did I dream of the bright jewel hid in so plain and frail a casket: how
often have I felt ashamed of my own want of discernment: what a lesson
has it been never again to contract any sort of prejudice against a man
from personal appearance! It was not till I had known him for nearly a
year, owing partly to our unfrequent meetings, and his absence, that I
began to be sensible of his superior talents and acquirements. His
personal appearance was, it must be candidly owned, certainly
insignificant and unprepossessing. He was of slight make, a trifle under
the middle height, his hair was rather light, and his complexion pale.
He wore spectacles, being excessively near-sighted, and had a very
slight cast in his eyes, which were somewhat full and prominent. The
expression of his features, at all events when in repose, was neither
intellectual nor engaging, but they improved when he was animated or
excited in conversation. His forehead, however, was, though retreating,
lofty, and I have heard it characterised as intellectual. At the time of
which I am speaking, he used to wear a white hat, placed so far back on
his head, that it gave him, to a stranger, almost a ludicrous aspect.
His utterance was slow, his demeanour very solemn; and he would sit at
dinner