‘What eye will fail to glow, what eye to brighten,
When Britain’s wrath aroused begins to lighten,
Her thunders roll—her fearless sons advance,
And her red ensigns wave o’er the pale flowers of France;
Her ancient splendour England shall maintain,
O’er distant realms extend her genial reign,
And rise the unrivall’d empress of the main.’
The Reprisal was performed at Drury Lane with great success, and Garrick’s conduct on the occasion was generous in the extreme. It laid the foundations of a lifelong friendship between the two. The piece was afterwards published, and for some time held the stage as a ‘curtain–raiser’ or ‘curtain–dropper,’ but is now entirely forgotten.
At this period Smollet was on terms of intimate friendship with the famous John Wilkes, who has been often called ‘the first Radical.’ With Samuel Johnson also he had some friendly intercourse, though they were too alike to desire a great deal of intimate association with each other. Smollett, however, through his influence with Wilkes, was able to obtain the release of Dr. Johnson’s black servant, Francis Barber, who had been impressed and put on board the Stag frigate. On the occasion Smollett wrote to Wilkes in the following terms:—
‘Chelsea, March 16, 1759.
‘I am again your petitioner in behalf of that Great Cham of literature, Samuel Johnson. His black servant, whose name is Francis Barber, has been pressed on board the Stag frigate, Captain Angel, and our lexicographer is in great distress. He says the boy is a sickly lad of a delicate frame, and particularly subject to a malady in the throat, which renders him very unfit for His Majesty’s service. You know what manner of animosity the said Johnson has against you, and I daresay you desire no other opportunity of resenting it than that of laying him under an obligation.’
The application was successful, and Francis Barber returned to the lexicographer’s service. Dr. Johnson always spoke of Dr. Smollett thereafter with great respect:—‘A scholarly man, sir, although a Scot.’
CHAPTER VIII
HISTORY OF ENGLAND—SIR LAUNCELOT GREAVES—THE NORTH BRITON—HACK HISTORICAL WORK—THE BEGINNING OF THE END.