Sydney Smith was made a canon of St. Paul's in London in 1831, but this
elevation did not seem to curb one of the keenist wits of the day. Not only
could he be droll but also delightfully malicious. Lika a professional
comedian, his timing and phrasing were perfect. Once he called the
writer/historian Macaulay "a book in breeches," a man who laid society waste
"with his waterspouts of talk."

Speaking of the excessive heat of an English summer, Smith remarked, "Heat!
It was so dreadful that I found there was nothing for me to do but take off
my flesh and sit in my bones."

Asked to give a name to a lady's dog, Canon Smith said it should be called
"Spot," preferably with the rest of the Shakespearan quotation, "Out, damned
Spot."

Describing the little monkey-like sloth, Smith said this lazy little beast
"moves suspended, rests suspended, and passes his life in suspense--like a
young clergyman distantly related to a bishop."