Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/345

 opportunity of assailing Disraeli's race. The 'tribal' character of the Jews and their unfitness for civic responsibilities in Christian states was a constant theme of his pen in middle life. On such grounds he went near justifying the persecution of the Jews in Russia and other countries of Eastern Europe.

In the autumn of 1870 Tom Hughes, Prof. A. V. Dicey, and Mr. James Bryce visited Smith at Cornell and saw him at his work. In the same year he made a tour in Canada, going as far as what was then the village of Winnipeg. This experience combing with a certain dis-illusionment in his views of American politics led him to alter his plans. Several cousins were settled at Toronto, and early in 1871 he left his comfortless quarters at Ithaca for the residence at Toronto of his relatives Mr. and Mrs. Colley Foster. It was thus that Toronto became his home for life, and his professorial labours at Cornell came gradually to an end. He paid frequent visits to the university till the end of 1872, when he formally resigned his resident professorship. He was thereupon appointed non-resident professor, and in 1875 he was also made lecturer in English history, but thenceforth he gave only occasional lectures. He ceased to be professor in 1881, but retained the lectureship till 1894, when he received the title of emeritus professor. He never ceased to speak with satisfaction of the part he played in the inauguration of Cornell University. Till his death he deeply interested himself in its welfare.

On 3 Sept. 1875 he married at St. Peter's, Toronto, a lady of wealth, Harriet, daughter of Thomas Dixon and widow of Henry Boulton of The Grange, Toronto. That old-fashioned house had been built by Boulton's father in 1817. There Smith lived in affluence from his marriage till his death. His wife, who was born at Boston in 1825, was his junior by two years. He spent many vacations in Europe, travelling in Italy on his latest visit in 1889 ; he also twice crossed Canada to the Pacific coast, and was always a frequent visitor to the United States. But he grew attached to The Grange, and disliked the notion of living elsewhere.

As soon as he settled in Toronto Smith zealously studied colonial life, and sought his main occupation in journalism. Although he wrote much on current literature, on religious speculation, and on the public affairs of the European continent, he applied his pen chiefly to the politics of Canada, England, and the United States. He adhered with tenacity and independence to the principles which he had upheld in England, and maintained warfare with undiminished vehemence on militarism, imperialism, and clericalism. In Canadian politics he always described himself as an onlooker or a disinterested critic. His favourite signature in the Canadian press was that of 'A Bystander,' a fit title he declared for 'a Canadian standing outside Canadian parties.' But his genuine ambition was to moved public opinion ; he contemplated in 1874 finding a seat in the Ontario legislature and never shrank from close quarters with the political conflict. On arriving in Toronto in 1871 he became a regular contributor to the 'Toronto Globe,' an advanced radical organ owned and edited by Greorge Brown [q. v. Suppl. I]. A laudatory review by Smith of George Eliot's 'Middlemarch,' which offended the religious and moral susceptibilities of many readers, led to his withdrawal from the paper. The consequent quarrel with Brown moved Smith to aid others in the establishment of the 'Toronto Evening Telegram,' of which he was a staunch supporter, and to start a series of short-lived weekly or monthly journals of his own, in which he expounded his political and religious creed without restriction. His first venture, 'The Nation,' ran for two years (1874-6). 'The Bystander,' the whole of which came from his own pen, was a miscellany notable for its variety of topic and lucidity of expression ; it was first a monthly and then a quarterly (1880-3). The 'Leader' and the 'Liberal' enjoyed briefer careers. The 'Week,' to which he contributed a weekly article signed 'A Bystander,' lasted from 1883 to 1886. At the same time his pen was active in a newly founded magazine, at first called 'The Canadian Monthly,' and afterwards 'The Canadian Magazine' ; there he regularly wrote both literary and political essays from 1872 to 1897. He was subsequently the contributor of a weekly article on current events, again signed 'A Bystander,' to a weekly paper known at first as 'The Fanners' Sun' and afterwards as 'The Weekly Sun.' There was indeed scarcely any newspaper in Canada to which he failed to address plainly worded letters, and the lucid force of his style did much, despite the unpopularity of his opinions, to raise the standard of writing in Canadian journalism. At the same time in the United States he found in the New York 'Nation' and in the 'New York Sun' further outlets