Smart was born earlier than the usual period of gestation, which might occasion a tenderness of constitution. His taste for poetry is said to have appeared when he was only four years old, in an extempore effusion which has not been preserved, but which is said to have indicated a relish for verse, and an ear for numbers. He was educated at Maidstone until he was eleven years old, at which time his father died, and his mother was induced to send him to Durham, where he might enjoy the advantages of a good school, change of air, and, what in his circumstances became desirable, the notice and protection of his father's relations. Young Smart was cordially received at Raby Castle by Lord Barnard, and also obtained the friendship of the Hon. Mrs. Hope, and the more substantial patronage of the Duchess of Cleveland, who allowed him £40 a year until her death in 1742. It was probably owing to the liberality of Lord Barnard that, after he had acquired very considerable reputation at Durham School, he was sent to Cambridge in his seventeenth year, and admitted at Pembroke Hall October 30, 1739. At college he was much more distinguished for his poetical effort and classical taste, than for an ambition to excel in the usual routine of academical studies, and soon became a favourite with such of his contemporaries as were gay and licentious. His imprudence involved him in difficulties; and his difficulties, not being quickly removed, induced an habitual neglect of pecuniary matters, which adhered to him throughout life. His pursuit of convivial enjoyments, and frequent excess, formed the chief blot in his character. In 1743 he was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts: and July 3, 1745, was elected a fellow of Pembroke Hall. In 1747 he took the degree of Master of Arts, and became a candidate for the Seatonian prize, which was actually adjudged to him for five years, four of them in succession.[A] It is probable that he might have succeeded in the year that he failed, but his thoughts had been diverted from close attention by an important change in his situation. [Footnote A: The subjects of these poems were: "The Eternity--the Immensity--the Omniscience--the Power--and the Goodness of the Supreme Being." They were severally published from the year 1750 to 1756.] In 1753 he quitted college, on his marriage with Miss Ann Maria Carnan, the daughter, by a former husband, of Mary, wife of Mr. John Newbery, the bookseller, of St. Paul's Church-yard.