I chose the phrase excessive Smart, because it did not make sense that Gulliver would feel smart when he is getting shot by arrows. This phrase is taken from page 98 when Gulliver is trying to take out the entire fleet of ships.
Starting in the OED, during this time period "smart" has the meaning of "Sharp physical pain, esp. such as is caused by a stroke, sting, or wound. After reading this definition I felt pretty satisfied that I had found the translation I was looking for, but I continued to ECCO for confirmation. In ECCO I searched for "excessive smart" and sorted by a similar date to Swift's novel. Sure enough I found a collection of hymns written during this time period, and one hymn told the story of Jesus Christ on the cross and also uses excessive smart. "deep sighs and groans he fends to God in his excessive smart". Thanks to the OED and ECCO, I now know that unlike today's use of smart, which represents intelligence, during the time period of Jonathan Swift it represents a sharp pain.
That is really interesting, maybe the usage is a way to show in the novel that the more intelligent you are the more painful it is for yourself and society. Throughout the novel the more intelligent a society is the more problematic or less "human" they seem to be. The Houyhnhnm by their very nature in the book are the only truly rational race in this world and their horses. The people of Laputa and Lilliput are human-like but their vices keep them from truly enjoying a fulfilling life. So the idea of smart meaning both intelligent and pain is an effective way of showing the parallels between intelligence and a painful or unfulfilled life.
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