Background
Smith was eldest son of Robert Smith, and brother of the writer and clergyman Sydney Smith.
Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Smith was eldest son of Robert Smith, and brother of the writer and clergyman Sydney Smith.
In the same year he entered King"s College, Cambridge, and graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1794 and Master of Arts
He entered Eton College in 1782, and became very intimate with John Hookham Frere, George Canning, and Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland. With them in 1786 he started the school magazine entitled "The Microcosm", which ran for forty volumes, and procured for Smith an introduction to Queen Charlotte. In 1788 he became a scholar on Doctor Battie"s foundation, and in 1791 obtained Sir William Browne"s medal for the best Latin ode. in 1797.
On 4 July of the same year he was called to the bar of Lincoln"s Inn.
In 1803, through the influence of William Petty, first Marquess of Lansdowne, and Sir Francis Baring, he obtained the appointment of Judge Advocate General of Bengal. In seven years he returned to England with a fortune, and settled in London.
In 1812 Smith entered House of Commons as member for Grantham, but made no reputation as a speaker. He was a man of great originality, a profound thinker, and of wide grasp of mind.
His wit was proverbial, and his conversation provoked the admiration of Madame de Staël.
His language was characterised by Canning as "the essence of English," and Landor declared that his Latin hexameters would not have discredited Lucretius.
5th United Kingdom Parliament. 7th United Kingdom Parliament.