In 1808 Peter Plymley’s Letters were collected and published in a pamphlet, and the pamphlet ran through sixteen editions.  “The government of that day,” wrote Sydney Smith in 1839, “took great pains to find out the author; all that they could find out was that they were brought to Mr. Budd, the publisher, by the Earl of Lauderdale.[39] Somehow or another it came to be conjectured that I was the author.[40]...  They had an immense circulation at the time, and I think above twenty thousand copies were sold.”  Some little space must be bestowed upon these masterpieces of humour and wisdom.

[19] “Yet mark one caution, ere thy next Review
      Spread its light wings of Saffron and of Blue,
      Beware lest blundering Brougham spoil the sale,
      Turn Beef to Bannocks, Cauliflowers to Kail.”

    BYRON, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.

[20] Barrister, and writer of political pamphlets between 1791 and 1807.

[21] George Ticknor (1791-1871), American traveller and man of letters.

[22] Jeffrey’s house near Edinburgh.

[23] (1778-1817.) Barrister and M.P.  On his death, Sydney Smith wrote—–­“I
    say nothing of the great and miserable loss we have all sustained.  He
    will always live in our recollection; and it will be useful to us all,
    in the great occasions of life, to reflect how Horner would act and
    think in them, if God had prolonged his life.”

[24] Sydney Smith used to say, “Bobus and I have inverted the laws of
    nature.  He rose by his gravity; I sank by my levity.”

[25] Henry Richard (1773-1840), 3rd Lord Holland.

[26] Macaulay, “Lord Holland.”

[27] The Lady Holland who figures so frequently in Sydney Smith’s
    correspondence was Elizabeth Vassall (1770-1845), wife of the 3rd Lord
    Holland.  Sydney Smith’s daughter, Saba, did not become Lady Holland
    till 1853, when her husband, Dr. Holland, was made a baronet.

[28] (1750-1818).

[29] William Whewell (1794-1866), Master of Trinity College, Cambridge,
    author of Elements of Morality, 1845.

[30] Sydney Smith wrote his friend Sir George Philips in 1836—­“Thomas
    Brown was an intimate friend of mine, and used to dine with me
    regularly every Sunday in Edinburgh.  He was a Lake poet, a profound
    metaphysician, and one of the most virtuous men that ever lived.  As a
    metaphysician, Dugald Stewart was a humbug to him.  Brown had real
    talents for the thing.  You must recognize, in reading Brown, many of
    those arguments with which I have so often reduced you to silence in
    metaphysical discussions.  Your discovery of Brown is amusing.  Go on! 
    You will detect Dryden if you persevere; bring to light John Milton,
    and drag William Shakspeare from his ill-deserved obscurity!”