Christopher Smart

Christopher Smart (11 April 1722 – 21 May 1771), also known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart", was an English poet.

He was a major contributor to two popular magazines and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Smart, a high church Anglican, was widely known throughout London.

Smart was infamous as the pseudonymous midwife "Mrs. Mary Midnight" and widespread accounts of his father-in-law, John Newbery, locking him away in a mental asylum for many years over Smart's supposed religious "mania". Even after Smart's eventual release, a negative reputation continued to pursue him as he was known for incurring more debt than he could repay; this ultimately led to his confinement in debtors' prison until his death.

Smart's two most widely known works are A Song to David and Jubilate Agno, both at least partly written during his confinement in asylum. However, Jubilate Agno was not published until 1939 and A Song to David received mixed reviews until the 19th century. To his contemporaries, Smart was known mainly for his many contributions in the journals The Midwife and The Student, along with his famous Seaton Prize poems and his mock epic The Hilliad. Although he is primarily recognised as a religious poet, his poetry includes various other themes, such as his theories on nature and his promotion of English nationalism.

Early life

Christopher Smart was born in Shipbourne in Kent, England on the Fairlawn estate of William, Viscount Vane, younger son of Lord Barnard of Barnard Castle. He was, according to his nephew, "of a delicate constitution having been born earlier than the natural period". He was baptised in Wrotham parish on 11 May 1722. Smart's father was Peter Smart, steward or bailiff of Fairlawne. His mother was Winifred Smart of the Griffiths family of Radnorshire, Wales.

Winifred was born c 1691, given that when she died in 1766 she was 75 years of age: "15 May 1766 Forename: Winefred, Widow Surname: Smart Age: 75 Place: St John in Thanet (Margate), St John the Baptist County: Kent Archive Reference: U3/140/1/3" This was near Margate where she had been living "Dr. John Hawkesworth visited him (Christopher Smart) in October 1764, and found him silently hostile towards his mother, Winifred Smart, and his sister, Margaret Hunter, at Margate" (The Poetry of Christopher Smart by Moira Dearnley).

Winifred's parentage "Of the Griffiths family of Radnorshire" has not been unequivocally established before. However, she now appears to have been the daughter of a Resse Griffiths and the sister of Jeremiah Griffith c1692-c1759; qv Inner Temple admission records; "First Name: Jeremiah Last Name: Griffith Occupation Given: gentleman Admission Date: 12/02/1713 Call Date: 18/06/1716 Father's Details Name: Resse Griffith Occupation: gentleman Father/Son Relationship: son and heir apparent Address: Diserth Radnorshire Notes: Referred to as Jeremy Griffith in the Bar Book. Father's address described as in "Parish of Dissearth Wales".

She was also of the Inner Temple at her marriage, where she presumably had lodged with her brother before he was called to the Bar."Winifred Griffith of The Inner Temple, London, Spinster, Spouse: Peter Smart of Fair Lawne, Kent, Batchelor; source Parish Register St Benet Paul´s Wharf City of London Marriage Date: 7 Apr 1716

Jeremiah Griffith, Christopher Smart's uncle, is recorded as having married twice. First Marriage:19 May 1715 Jeremiah Griffith of the Inner Temple, London, Bach., and Sarah Twells of St Andrew, Holborn, Midx., S(pinster). St Benet Pauls Wharf. His second marriage; Jeremiah Griffith Marriage Date: 17 Jan 1746 Place: St James, Piccadilly, Middlesex Spouse's Name: Charlotte Walker (widow and executrix of John Walker DD deceased, she was natural daughter of Sheffield Duke of Buckingham and Francis Lambert, wife of Hon Oliver Lambert (2nd son of Charles [Lambert], 3rd Earl of Cavan). Jeremy died c1759 Copy of the will of Jeremiah Griffiths of Downton, New Radnor Esq., 12 Sep 1747 probate 17 May 1759 is held at Powys archives. ref RX/11/400.

Before giving birth to Christopher, Winifred had two daughters, Margaret and Mary Anne.

During Smart's younger years, Fairlawne was the residence of Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard and Lady Barnard, who bequeathed £200 to Smart. He is supposed to have received so much money due to his father's closeness to the Vane family, his being named after Christopher Vane, and the young boy was considered "the pride of Fairlawn". However, there is some controversy over the exact nature of this inheritance; while some cynically disagree with the reasons for his inheritance, no other explanation has been specified. In 1726, three years after Christopher Vane died, Peter Smart purchased Hall-Place in East Barming, which included a mansion house, fields, orchards, gardens, and woodland, a property that was influential throughout Smart's later life. From the age of four until eleven, he spent much time around the farms, but did not participate, leading to speculations that he suffered from asthma attacks. However, not all scholars agree that he was a "sickly youth". The only written record of events during his childhood comes from his writing of a short poem, at the age of four, in which he challenges a rival to the affections of a twelve-year-old girl.

While at Hall-Place, Smart was sent to the local Maidstone Grammar School where he was taught by Charles Walwyn, a scholar from Eton College who had received an MA from King's College, Cambridge in 1696. It was here that Smart received an intensive education in Latin and Greek. He did not complete his education at Maidstone however, as his father died on 3 February 1733, and his mother took Smart and his siblings to live near relatives in Durham after selling off a large portion of the estate to pay off Peter Smart's debts.

Smart then attended Durham School, where the Reverend Mr. Richard Dongworth was headmaster; it is not known whether he lived with his uncle, John Smart, or with a school master. He spent vacations at Raby Castle, which was owned by Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, the grandson of Christopher Vane. Henry Vane and his wife Grace, sister to William and Henrietta Fitzroy the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland, had four children, Henry, Frederick, Anne, and Mary. They were only a few years younger than Smart and became playmates, with Anne and Henry "pairing off" with Christopher and his sister Margaret respectively. Although nothing resulted from the match, Anne has been traditionally described as being his "first love". During his time with the Vane family, Smart dedicated many poems to Henrietta, the Duchess of Cleveland. It was his closeness with the Vane family along with his skill for learning that encouraged Henrietta to allow him a pension of 40 pounds yearly, continued by her husband after her death in 1742. This allowed Smart to attend Pembroke College, Cambridge.

College

Smart was admitted to Pembroke College on 20 October 1739 as a sizar under Leonard Addison. Although it is unclear why he chose Pembroke College, Addison was named in Peter Smart's trust deed (1729). As a sizar, he occasionally had to wait on the "Fellows' table" and perform other menial tasks. On 12 July 1740, he was awarded the "Dr. Watt's Foundation scholarship", which granted him six pounds a year until he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree. In addition to this income, he was also granted four pounds a year for scholarship. Although he was successful academically, he began to run up debt in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle while at the college.

During his time at Pembroke, Smart borrowed numerous books spanning the fields of literature, religion, and science. These works helped when he wrote the three "Tripos Verse" at the end of each year. These poems were written in Latin and they, along with his other Latin poems like his translation of Alexander Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, led to him being awarded the "Craven scholarship for classics" on 10 June 1742, which paid ₤25 a year for 14 years. These scholarships, combined with his becoming a fellow in 1743, justified Smart calling himself "Scholar of the University".

In 1743, Smart pushed his translation of Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day as Carmen Cl. Alexandri Pope in S. Caeciliam Latine Redditum and paid for the publication himself. With this translation, he wanted to win Pope's favour and translate Pope's Essay on Man, but Pope rejected the idea and, after a lettered response and a possible meeting between the two, Smart translated Pope's An Essay on Criticism (De Arte Critica) instead. The initial letter sent from Pope recommending the future translation was prized by Smart. In response to this letter and his budding relationship with Pope, the Pembroke Fellows honoured him with a portrait showing him holding the letter from Pope and allowed him to write a poem in celebration of Jubilee of Pembroke's 400th year in 1744.

In October 1745, Smart was elected Praelector of Philosophy, which paid one pound a year, and made one of three Keepers of the Common Chest. The next year, on 11 February 1746, he became a Master of Arts and was later elected on 10 October 1746, to Praelector of Philosophy, Praelector of Rhetoric, and Keeper of the Common Chest. However, he had run up more debt of over twice his annual income, and he was not re-elected in 1747 to the Praelectorship and was denied his control over the Common Chest accounts. However, he was made a "Preacher before the Mayor of Cambridge" at the college under the title "Concionatori Coram Praetore oppidano", and his modest living during this year allowed him to regain Praelectorship in Philosophy along with being made a catechist, which suggests that he was ordained in the Anglican church.

In 1746, Smart became tutor to John Blake Delaval, but this was abruptly cancelled and Delaval eventually removed from Pembroke over various broken rules and mischief. After recovering from this, Smart returned to studying. In April 1747, a comedy he wrote just months before, A Trip to Cambridge, or The Grateful Fair, was performed in Pembroke College Hall, with many parts, including female roles, played by Smart himself. The prologue was printed in The Cambridge Journal Weekly Flying-Post, which claimed that the play received "Universal Applause".

During his final years at Pembroke, Smart was writing and publishing many poems. On 9 January 1748, there were three proposals for "A Collection of Original Poems, By Christopher Smart, M.A., Fellow of Pembroke Hall, in the University of Cambridge" that would include "The Hop Garden", "The Judgment of Midas, a Masque", his odes, his translations into Latin, and some original Latin poems. Thomas Gray, on 17 March 1747, referred to this work as Smart's "Collection of Odes". This collection was not printed in 1748 but was delayed until 1752, and was re-titled Poems on Several Occasions.

Between 1740 and 1746, he was introduced to Harriot Pratt, and he began to write poetry about her. By 1749, he was in love with her and wrote to his friend Charles Burney (father of Fanny Burney), "I am situated within a mile of my Harriote & Love has robd Friendship of her just dues ... There was a great musical crash at Cambridge, which was greatly admired, but I was not there, being much better pleased with hearing my Harriote on her spinnet & organ at her ancient mansion", suggesting that he was living permanently in Market Downham, London. Although he wrote many poems dedicated to Harriot, his poem "The Lass with the Golden Locks" (1752) claims that he was done with both Harriot, Polly, and other women. The "lass with the golden locks" who replaced Smart's previous fancies was Anna Maria Carnan. Anna would be Smart's future wife and she was the stepdaughter of John Newbery, Smart's future publisher.

London

Although Smart seemed to turn his life around at Pembroke, he slowly abandoned the college for London. During 1749, Smart listed himself on Pembroke's "Liber Absentiae" and would occasionally return to Pembroke throughout 1749 and 1750. Because of his relationship with those at Pembroke, he was allowed to keep his name in the college's records, which allowed him to participate and be charged as a member of the college. By 1750 he was living near St. James's Park and was busy familiarising himself with Grub Street. It was this year that Smart developed a business relationship with John Newbery. It is unknown how Smart and Newbery met, but Smart's daughter claimed Charles Burney introduced the two. Newbery was looking for a contributory to his The Midwife and The Student magazines, and it is possible that Smart's winning of Cambridge's "Seatonian Prize" on 25 March 1750 brought his poetic abilities to Newbery's attention.

The "Seatonian Prize" was a contest for one English poem each year on the topic of "the Perfections or Attributes of the Supreme Being" and the prize would be the "Rent of the [Kislingbury, Northamptonshire] estate" It was established by the will of Thomas Seaton, an "Anglican divine and hymn writer". Smart wrote in the "poetical essay" tradition using Miltonic blank verse. In 1750, the poem he won the prize with was On the Eternity of the Supreme Being. The prize was only worth 17 pounds each year before 7 pounds were deducted for the publication of the poem. However, after the publication of the poem, Smart became a regular contributor in The Student.

The Student, before Smart's work, was a serious magazine that included a few poems and critical essays. However, once he joined and began writing under many pseudonyms, the magazine became filled with satire, parody, and humorous essays and poems. Along with him composing 15 of the essays and the majority of the poems published in the two volumes of the magazine, he decided to append three of The Inspector, a "humorous news report", to the second of the volumes. These reports included many "puff pieces" promoting Smart's works along with various stories written by his friends and associates, including the famous writers/poets Henry Fielding, Samuel Johnson, William Collins, and Tobias Smollett. However, this was not the only important publication produced by him during this time.

The Midwife

he Midwife, first published on 16 October 1751 and lasting until April 1753, was produced primarily by Smart while he worked on The Student. This magazine was popular enough to be published in four editions. To hide his identity for practical and humorous reasons, he adopted the persona of a midwife, also known as a "Mrs. Midwife" in slang, and called this persona "Mrs. Mary Midnight".

When his poem "Night Piece" was attacked by William Kenrick in Kapelion, or Poetical Ordinary, possibly out of a prearranged publicity stunt, Smart used The Midwife in December, 1750, to attack back at Kenrick and promised an Old Woman's Dunciad to be written against the other poet. However, Kenrick beat Smart to the use of the title and printed his own in January, 1751. This feud lasted as attacks published in a few issues of The Midwife, but it soon died out when Smart focused his attention to writing a prologue and epilogue for a production of Othello and using the magazine to promote it.

His attention slowly shifted away from The Midwife when he wrote for, and won, the "Seatonian Prize" for his On the Immensity of the Supreme Being and when he began working with Newbery's children's magazine, The Lilliputian Magazine. However, Smart returned to this character full force when he established The Old Woman's Oratory; or Henley in Petticoats in December 1751. The Oratory included Smart playing as Mrs. Midnight, various songs and dances, animal acts, and "miscellany" acts. The Oratory was successful, and was completely redone on 21 January 1752. However, not everyone enjoyed the show, and Horace Walpole described the performance as "the lowest buffoonery in the world even to me who am used to my uncle Horace." Late in 1752, Smart finished and published a collection of his works as Poems on Several Occasions, which resulted in the end of the Oratory and The Midwife.

Later career

In 1752, Christopher Smart was slowly dragged into a large "paper war" that involved many of London's writers. After the publication of Poems on Several Occasions, including The Hop-Garden, in June 1752, John Hill launched a major attack upon Smart's poetry. Smart responded with his mock-epic, The Hilliad. Before the release of Smart's poem, Hill was engaged in a large literary battle between various members of Grub Street's and London's writing community, especially Henry Fielding. This battle may have been for publicity only and lasted over many months before Smart involved himself. However, even with such a late entry, his Hilliad was the "loudest broadside" of the war.

Smart was incurring many debts, and started publishing as much as possible during this time to support his family; he was married to Anna Maria Carnan around mid-1752, and in 1754 already had two daughters, Marianne (3 May 1753) and Elizabeth Anne (27 October 1754). As a married man, he could no longer stay enrolled at Pembroke and collect his scholarship money when his marriage and children were made apparent to the heads of the college. Newbery allowed Smart, along with his wife and their children, to live at Canonbury House, Islington. Although Newbery had a strong reputation for charity, he was determined to have complete control over his writers. It is likely that such an attitude combined with monetary problems led to a rift forming between the two in 1753.

Between 1753 and 1755, Smart published or republished at least 79 works. However, even if he received money from each of these publications, these publications were unable to provide enough of an income to support a family, especially to his standard of living. While he was producing a poem each year for the Seatonian Prize, this amounted to very little of his writing; he was forced into a life of "hack work", which was described by his contemporary, Arthur Murphy, as "a bookseller is his only friend, but for that bookseller, however liberal, he must toil and drudge." In December of 1755, he finished The Works of Horace, Translated Literally into English Prose, a translation of Horace, which was widely used but brought him little profit.

He signed a 99-year contract in November 1755 to produce a weekly paper entitled The Universal Visitor or Monthly Memorialist for Thomas Gardner and Edmund Allen. However, the strain of publishing caused Smart to suffer from a fit, and he was unable to keep up with the publishing of the paper. Allen was a friend of Samuel Johnson, and it was Samuel Johnson, along with many other friends of Smart, who contributed to the magazine in order to help Smart keep up with his contract. In March 1756, Newbery published without Smart's authority Smart's final "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Goodness of the Supreme Being, and later, on 5 June, Newbery published without Smart's authority Smart's Hymn to the Supreme Being, a poem which thanked God for recovery over an illness of some kind, possibly a "disturbed mental state". The Hymn to the Supreme Being marks the time in Smart's life after the mysterious "fit" was resolved and the beginning of Smart's obsession with religion and his praying "without ceasing".

Asylum confinement

A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Smart, and he was admitted to St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics on 6 May 1757 as a "Curable Patient". It is possible that Smart was confined by Newbery over old debts and a poor relationship between the two; Newbery had previously mocked Smart and his immorality in his A Collection of Pretty Poems for the Amusement of Children six Foot High. Regardless of the exact reasons, there is evidence suggesting that Newbery's admittance of Smart into the mental asylum was not based on "madness". However, there is also evidence that an incident of some kind took place in St. James's Park in which Smart started to pray loudly in public until he had "routed all the company" (Jubilate Agno B89).

It is not known what exactly happened during his confinement, but Smart did work on two of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno and A Song to David. What is known is that he may have been in a private madhouse before St Luke's and that he was later moved from St Luke's to Mr. Potter's asylum until his release. At St Luke's, he transitioned from being "curable" to "incurable", and was moved to Mr. Potter's asylum for monetary reasons. During this time, Anna left and took the children with her to Ireland. His isolation led him into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote Jubilate Agno. Although it is debated as to whether his turning inward to examine himself in his poetry represents an evangelical type of Christianity, his poetry during his isolation does show a desire for "unmediated revelation". There is an "inner light" that serves as a focal point for Smart and his poems written during this time, and that inner light connects him to the Christian God.

Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffrey and the occasional gawker. It is very possible that he felt "homeless" during this time and surely felt that he was in a "limbo ... between public and private space". In London, only a few of his works were still being published. However, not everyone viewed Smart's "madness" as problematic, and Johnson defended him, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically, many times. A century later, Robert Browning later remarked that A Song to David was great because Smart was mad, and that the poem allowed him to rank alongside of Milton and Keats. It is no wonder that a few of his loyal friends did come to Mr. Potter's and free him.

Little is known as to how and why Smart was released from asylum, but Elizabeth, his daughter, claimed: "He grew better, and some misjudging friends who misconstrued Mr Newbery's great kindness in placing him under necessary & salutary restriction which might possibly have eventually wrought a cure, invited him to dinner and he returned to his confinement no more." Although this may be a misstatement of the events, Smart did leave the asylum on 30 January 1763.

Final years

A Song to David was printed on 6 April 1763 along with a proposal for a new translation of the Psalms. The poem was received harshly, which was possibly just thinly veiled personal attacks over Smart being freed from the asylum just weeks before. However, Kenrick, Smart's former rival, praised the poem in one of his own printed on 25 May 1763. Also, John Lockman followed on 21 June 1763, with his own poem in praise of Smart's and Samuel Boyce followed this on 15 July 1763 with another. Along with this support, Smart responded to his critics at the Critical Review; in regards to Smart's response, the Critical Review claimed that they would "say no more of Mr. Smart".

After A Song to David, he tried to publish a collection of his Psalms translations, and Newbery sought to ruin him by hiring James Merrick to produce his own translations. Newbery then hired Smart's new publisher, James Fletcher, which in turn forced Smart to find a new publisher, delaying the printing of his Psalms. Finally, on 12 August 1765, he printed A Translation of the Psalms of David, which included Hymns and Spiritual Songs and a second edition of A Song to David. This work was criticised by Tobias Smollett who was working with Newbery at the time, and Newbery's edition by Merrick was constantly compared with Smart's. However, modern criticism has received Smart's version in a more favourable light. While working on this project, he was also working on a translation of the Phaedrus and a verse translation of Horace. His verse Horace was published in July 1767 including a preface in which he attacked Newbery, but the attack was in vain because Newbery died soon after.

On 20 April 1770, Smart was arrested for debt. On 11 January 1771, he was tried by Lord Mansfield, the gentleman who originally introduced Smart to Alexander Pope, and he was soon recommended to the King's Bench Prison. Although he was in prison, Charles Burney purchased the "Rules" (allowing him some freedom), and Smart's final weeks may have been peaceful although pathetic. In his final letter, Smart begged for money from Rev. Mr. Jackson, saying: "Being upon recovery from a fit of illness, and having nothing to eat, I beg you to send me two or three shillings which (God willing) I will return, with many thanks, in two or three days." On 20 May 1771, Smart died from either liver failure or pneumonia shortly after completing his final work, Hymns, for the Amusement of Children.

Death

In response to his uncle's death, Christopher Hunter wrote, "I trust he is now at peace; it was not his portion here." Fanny Burney, in her journal, wrote:

But now I speak of authors, let me pay the small tribute of regret and concern due to the memory of poor Mr. Smart, who died lately in the King's Bench Prison; a man by nature endowed with talents, wit, and vivacity, in an eminent degree; and whose unhappy loss of his sense was a public as well as private misfortune. I never knew him in his glory, but ever respected him in his decline, from the fine proofs he had left of his better day, and from the account I have heard of his youth from my father, who was then his intimate companion; as, of late years, he has been his most active and generous friend, having raised a kind of fund for his relief, though he was ever in distress. His intellects, so cruelly impaired, I doubt not, affected his whole conduct.

On 22 May 1771, a jury of twelve fellow inmates of the King's Bench Prison declared that Smart "upon the Twentieth day of May Instant died a Natural Death within the Rules of the Prison." He was buried on 26 May.

Literary themes and styles

Christopher Smart received occasional mentions by critics and scholars after his death, especially by Robert Browning, but analysis and commentary on his works increased dramatically with the "discovery" of Jubilate Agno in 1939. Many recent critics approach Smart from a religious perspective (Neil Curry, Harriet Guest, Clement Hawes, Chris Mounsey). However, some also favour a psychology/sexual analysis of his works (Lance Bertelsen, Clemet Hawes, Alan Liu).

Religion

Although Smart wrote the "Seatonian Prize" poems early on, there is a contrast between the mimicked Miltonic blank verse and the intense exploration of religion found in his later works. His first "Seatonian Prize" poem, On the Eternity of the Supreme Being is part of two traditional types of religious writing: "authoritative discourse of religious poetry" and "tentative and self-critical discourse of an apparently more personal devotion" In connecting the two, he redefines "the role of the religious poet." By establishing a debate between these two forms, Harriet Guest claims that Smart creates "a poetic space which allows the poet to make provisional, even questionable statements", which are important to his later works. To Guest, Smart, in his religious poems, "is not concerned to offer instruction in Christian conduct." Besides the greater theological debate, the poems also are the origins of Smart's belief that all of creation is constantly praising God, and that a poet must "give voice to mute nature's praise of God."

Jubilate Agno reflects an abandonment of traditional poetic structures in order to explore complex religious thought. His "Let" verses join creation together as he seemingly writes his own version of Biblical poetry. Smart, in Jubilate Agno, plays on words and the meaning behind words in order to participate with the divine that exists within language. Although the original manuscript divided the "Let" and "For" verses onto opposing sides of the manuscript, Karina Williams claims that "Dr W. H. Bond then discovered that some of the LET and FOR folios were numbered and dated concurrently, and that these chronologically parallel texts were further connected by verbal links." This justified her combing the two sides to follow each other. Using this as a model, Guest claims that the "For" verses explore religion with a "personal tone" and the "Let" are "unambiguous" and deal with public matters. Jeanne Walker goes further than Guest and claims that the "Let " and "For" sections are united with the Hebrew tradition and "iterate both present and future simultaneously, that is, they redeem time."

Words and language connect the poet to divine revelation, and God is the "great poet" who used language in order to create the universe. Through words and language, Smart attempted to capture the creative power of those words. By relying on the power of words, Smart is, according to Clement Hawes, subverting "Anglican control over religious functions and services." In essence, Smart's approach to religion in Jubilate Agno is comparable to John Wesley's theological dictum and to the writings of John Perro and William Bowling. He also creates his own natural philosophy and criticises science, like that established by Isaac Newton, for their ignoring "the glory of Almighty God."

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Christopher Smart, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. ( view authors).