About this time he translated _Don Quixote_; and although his version is
still published, it is by no means true to the idiom of the language, nor
to the higher purpose of Cervantes.
Passing by his _Complete History of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages_,
we come to his _History of England from the Descent of Julius Caesar to the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748_. It is not a profound work; but it is
so currently written, that, in lieu of better, the latter portion was
taken to supplement Hume; as a work of less merit than either, that of
Bissett was added in the later editions to supplement Smollett and Hume.
For this history he is said to have received L2000.
In 1762 he issued _The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves_, who, with his
attendant, _Captain Crowe_, goes forth, in the style of Don Quixote and
Sancho, to _do_ the world. Smollett's forte was in the broadly humorous,
and this is all that redeems this work from utter absurdity.
HUMPHREY CLINKER.--His last work of any importance, and perhaps his best,
is _The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker_, described in a series of letters
descriptive of this amusing imaginative journey.
Pages:
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487