“I am old and tired,—­thank me for ending; but one word more before I sit down.  I am old, but I thank God I have lived to see more than my observations on human nature taught me I had any right to expect.  I have lived to see an honest King, in whose word his ministers could trust, I have lived to see a King with a good heart, who, surrounded by nobles, thinks of common men; who loves the great mass of English people, and wishes to be loved by them; and who, in spite of clamour, interest, prejudice, and fear, has the manliness to carry these wise changes into immediate execution.  Gentlemen, farewell!  Shout for the King!"[102]

Having done his best for the good cause in the country, Sydney Smith returned to London to watch the results.  On the 6th of June Macaulay met him at dinner, and writes thus next day:—­

     “Sydney Smith leaves London on the 20th—­the day before Parliament
    meets for business, I advised him to stay and see something of his
    friends, who would be coming up to London.  ‘My flock!’ said this good
    shepherd, ’my dear sir, remember my flock!

      “The hungry sheep look up and are not fed,"’

    “...He begged me to come and see him at Combe Florey.  ’There I am,
    sir, in a delightful parsonage, about which I care a great deal, and a
    delightful country, about which I do not care a straw.’”

When the new House of Commons assembled, it was found to contain a great majority of Reformers.  A fresh Bill was introduced, and passed the Second Reading, by a majority of 136, on the 8th of July.  While it was ploughing its way through Committee, the Coronation of William IV. took place on the 8th of September.  The solemnity was made an occasion for public rejoicings in the country, and loyalty was judiciously reinforced by the suggestion that the King was, in this great controversy, on the same side as his people.  At a meeting at Taunton, Sydney Smith spoke as follows:—­

“I am particularly happy to assist on this occasion, because I think that the accession of the present King is a marked and important era in English history.  Another coronation has taken place since I have been in the world, but I never assisted at its celebration.  I saw in it a change of masters, not a change of system.  I did not understand the joy which it occasioned.  I did not feel it, and I did not counterfeit what I did not feel.

“I think very differently of the accession of his present Majesty.  I believe I see in that accession a great probability of serious improvement, and a great increase of public happiness.  The evils which have been long complained of by bold and intelligent men are now universally admitted.  The public feeling, which has been so often appealed to, is now intensely excited.  The remedies which have so often been called for are now, at last, vigorously, wisely, and faithfully applied, I