Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/316

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SMOLLETT. 270 SMUGGLING. speetable Scotch family having a seat called Bonhill in the beautiful valley of the Leven, near Dumbarton, Scotland. His grandfather, Sir James Smollett, often sat in the Scottish Parlia- ment, was a judge of the commissary court in Edinburgh, and helped frame the articles of union (1707)." Tobias wished to enter the army, but was thwarted by his grandfather, who appears in Roderick- Random as the unamiable Old Judge. After attending the Dumbarton grammar school, Tobias was sent to the University of Glasgow to qualify for medicine, and was apprenticed (1736) for five years to Dr. John Ciordon, of Glasgow. Much later (1750) he obtained the degree of M.D. from Marisehal College, Aberdeen, In 1730 Smollett went to London with a tragedy called The Regicide. Kndnttered by his fruitless at- tempts to get it |)erformed, he accepted the post of surgeon's mate on board the Cumberland, which sailed in 1740 to join Admiral Vernon's fleet, then in the West Indies, on the unfortunate expedition to Cartagena. On the return voyage he met in Jamaica a beautiful Creole, whom he brought to London and afterwards married (1747). He left the navy for good in 1744, and settled in London as surgeon. As hia profession did not prove remunerative, he turned to literature. After some parodies, satirical verse, and his vigorous poem, The Tears of I'icotland (1746), anent the manner of crushing tlie Highland rebellion, he published his first novel, Roderick Random (1748), which met with instant success. For it he drew largely on family history, his journey from Glasgow to London, his troubles over The Regicide, and his experiences in the navy. Here first appear in iiction the real English tars. As a result of a visit to I'aris (17.'iO) he produced Peregrine Pickle ( 1751 ) , containing the brilliant but brutal satire on Mark Akcnside and the notorious "Me- moirs of a Lady of (,liality" (Frances Hawes, Lady Vane). For the insertion of these memoirs written by Lady Vane herself Smollett is said to have received a handsome fee. After practicing medicine for a short time at Bath. Smollett re- turned to London, and settled at Chelsea, where he wrote Ferdinand, Count Fathom (1753), more ideal in motives than his other novels. For some years he was engaged in hack work, translat- ing Don Qiii.rotf (1755) and writing, among many other things, a history of England (1757- 65), On the founding of the Critical Revietc, a Tory organ (Fcbruarj', 1756). Smollett became editor. He wrote many abusive articles, one of which — an attack on Admiral Knowles — led to a fine of £100 and imprisonment for three months (1759), In the meantime, his farce Reprisal, or the Tars of Old England (1757) was performed at Drury Lane, under the direction of Ciarriek, Resuming the novel, Smollett contributed to the British Magazine (1760-61) The Adventures of Sir havncelot (Ireares. an adaptation of Don Quixote. It is of bibliographical interest as the first English novel to appear in a serial. In 1762 he edited the Briton, a weekly paper started to defend the Tory policy of Lord Bute. Broken in health and sorely grieved by the death of his daughter (1763), Smollett now spent two years on the Continent, where be wrote his Travels Through France and Italy (1766), The next few years were passed in a visit to Scot- land, at Bath, and in London, The most note- worthy production of this time is the fierce politi- cal satire. The .Idcentures of an Atom (1769). Now utterly unnerved, he left England never to return (Dc'cem)jer, 1769). At a villa near Leg- horn in Italy he wrote Humphrey Clinker (1771), an amusing novel in letter form, based upon his own vain search for health at Bath and in the North. He died September 17, 1771, and was buried in the English cemetery at Leghorn. For fifty years after his death Smollett was ranked high as a novelist; but during the latter half of the nineteenth century his fame unduly sank. Thackeray was the last of the great novelists to praise him. Smollett's art is indeed crude when compared with recent craftsmanship. His novels, constructed after the type of Gil Bias and other picturesque adventurers, possess no organic unity. On the other hand, he wrote vigorous English, and created many admirable characters, as Cap- tain Bowling, Commodore Trunnion, Tabitha Bramble, and Lismahago. Consult: Chambers, Life and Selections from Writings (London, 1867) ; Life, by D. Hannay (ib., 1867) and by O. Smeaton (Edinburgh, 1897) : the Memoirs, by W. Scott, containing a famous comparison be- tween Fielding and Smollett, prefixed to Smol- lett's novels in the Novelists' Lihrarg (London. 1821); the Quarterlg Review (vol. c'iii,, 1858); Works, ed. with excellent memoir by Saintsbury (12 vols,, London, 1895); and Topography of Humphrey Clinker, in Dobson's Eighteenth Cen- tury Vigneltes (second series, London, 1894). SMOLT. A British term for a young sal- mon (q,v,) two or three years old, which has graduated from the 'parr,' or banded, state and become silvery. SMRITI, smre'te (Skt., remembrance). In Sanskrit literature the technical term for those works, esjiecially the Sutras (q,v, ) which deal with civil and religious usage, regarded as based on tradition received from ancient sages, and not on divine revelation, Smriti is therefore con- trasted with .iruti, or revelation. See Sruti. SMUGGLING (from smuggle, LGer. smug- geln, to smuggle; connected with Icel, snijfiga, to creep through a hole, AS. smeogan, smugan. to creep, Ger. .schmiegen. to cling to, bend, get into, OChurch Slav, sntykati. to crawl. Lith. smukti, to glide). The act of importing or export- ing goods from a comitry in violation of law. Such infringement of the laws is defined by the LTnited States statutes substantially as fol- lows; To "knowingl_y and willfully, with intent to defraud the revenue of the United States, smuggle or introduce into the United States any goods, wares, or merchandise subject to duty, and which should have been invoiced, without paying or accounting for the duty," or to "make out or pass, or attempt to pass, through the custom- house any false, forged, or fraudulent invoice." A person convicted of either of above acts is "guilty of a misdemeanor and . . . shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five thousand dollars, or imprisoned for any length of time not ex- ceeding two years, or both." It is necessary to prove intent and knowledge of the wrongful act in order to convict a person under the statute, and the defense of innocent intention is often successfiil in preventing prosecution. Conceal- ment of dutiable articles in baggage is punish- able bv the forfeiture of such articles and the