126 SMOLLETT are immense forests of excellent timber, which abound with game. The soil is generally pro- ductive. Great numbers of cattle and of the celebrated Lithuanian horses are raised. Much attention is given to raising bees, and honey and wax form important articles of export. Iron, copper, and salt are found. Linen and woollen goods are manufactured, and tine car- pets are exported. II. A city, capital of the government, on both sides of the Dnieper, 230 m. W. S. W. of Moscow ; pop. in 1867, 22,977. It is considered the key to Moscow, and is strongly walled and fortified. It is the seat of a bishop, and has a remarkable cathedral and more than 20 other Greek churches. Its manu- factures consist chiefly of linen and woollen cloths, leather, hats, and soap. It was impor- tant in the 9th century, and was long inde- pendent under its own princes. The Tartars, Lithuanians, and Russians afterward held it successively; and in the 16th and 17th centu- ries it was the scene of conflicts between the Poles and Russians, often changing masters, but finally taken by the latter in 1654. On Aug. 17, 1812, was fought the battle of Smo- lensk, between the French and the Russians. In the night the Russians abandoned the town, and on the morning of Aug. 18 it was occu- pied by the French, who next marched upon Moscow, leaving most of Smolensk in ashes. The town was subsequently rebuilt and great- ly embellished. SMOLLETT, Tobias George, a British author, born in Dalquhurn house, parish of Cardross, Dumbartonshire, in 1721, died at Monte Nero, near Leghorn, Oct. 21, 1771. He was educated at the grammar school of Dumbarton and at the university of Glasgow, and was apprenticed to a medical practitioner. When his appren- ticeship expired, in his 19th year, he set out for London, carrying with him a tragedy en- titled "The Regicide," which he vainly at- tempted to produce on the stage. Thwarted in his purpose, he accepted in 1741 the post of surgeon's mate on an 80-gun ship, and sailed on the disastrous expedition against Cartagena, which he has described in " Roderick Random," and with more detail in the " Compendium of Voyages." lie left the navy at Jamaica, and while there became acquainted with Anne Lascelles, whom he married in 1747. Return- ing to England in 1746, after the battle of Cul- loden, he produced anonymously " The Tears of Scotland," an ode lamenting the atrocities of the royal army. He also published " Ad- vice, a Satire " (1746), and " Reproof, a Satire " (1747), and wrote "Alceste, an Opera," for the Covent Garden theatre, which was with- drawn in consequence of a quarrel with the manager. In 1748 appeared the first of his novels, "The Adventures of Roderick Ran- dom." Ho made a short visit to Paris in 1750, and in 1751 published "The Adventures of ine Pickk-," which is disfigured by an epbode detailing tlu> intrigues of Lady Vane, for i&Nrting which he is said to have received a liberal reward from her. He now resumed the medical profession, settled at Bath, and published in 1752 "An Essay on the External Use of Water." Obtaining no practice, he re- moved to Chelsea, and devoted himself again to literary pursuits. In 1753 appeared his "Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom." In 1755 he published by subscription his trans- lation of " Don Quixote," more animated and elegant but less accurate than that of Jarvis, on which it was founded. Afterward he un- dertook the management of the " Critical Re- view." His irritable temper and capricious tastes involved him in numerous vexations and quarrels ; a contemptuous critique on the "Rosciad" provoked against him the spleen of Churchill ; and in 1759 an attack on Ad- miral Knowles, one of the commanders at Cartagena, caused him to be arraigned for libel and sentenced to a fine of 100 and three months' imprisonment. He had meantime produced a " Compendium of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages " (7 vols., 1757), a come- dy entitled "The Reprisals," which Garrick brought out on the stage, and a " Complete History of England" (4 vols., 1757-8), written in 14 months, which became very popular. While in prison he wrote " The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves," a sort of travesty of "Don Quixote," which appeared in the "Brit- ish Magazine " in 1760-"61. He afterward con- tributed the accounts of France, Italy, and Germany to the " Modern Universal History," and continued his " Complete History of Eng- land," bringing the narrative down from 1748 to 1764. The whole work was in 16 vols. 8vo, of which only the last 5 vols., forming a continuation to Hume, are now read. On the accession of George III. he undertook to defend the administration of Lord Bute in a weekly paper entitled " The Briton." He was effectively and abusively answered by Wilkes in his "North Briton," and his services being unpaid, and his side most unpopular, he with- drew from the contest. His health was shat- tered by this discomfiture, by his labors on a translation of the works of Voltaire and on a compilation entitled " The Present State of All Nations," and by the death of his only child; and in 1763 he went abroad for two years. In 1766 he published "Travels through France and Italy," which was ridi- culed by Sterne in his "Sentimental Jour- ney." On returning from Italy he visited Scotland, resided at Bath during the following year, and there wrote " The Adventures of an Atom," a political satire, in which he assailed Lord Bute and the earl of Chatham. His broken health obliged him again to seek a milder climate, and he went to Italy in 1770, beginning on his way to write " The Expedi- tion of Humphrey Clinker," which appeared in 1771, just before his death. His life has been written by Thomas Roscoe, Dr. Moore, and others. One of the best editions of his works appeared in 1873 (8 vols. 8vo, London).
