much in others. His stories had always a philosophical object. Many of them had the form of apologues, which he had himself imagined, or which when invented by others, he had applied with wonderful skill.'

In 1788, the Abbé Morellet succeeded to an excellent benefice, the priory of Thimer, of about fifteen thousand livres income. He soon established himself and family there. But at this time the revolution began to appear, and the assembly of the notables took place. Morellet wrote one or two tracts on the form to be given to the states general, and was, at this time, like Necker and many others, in favor of doubling the Tiers Etat, from the fear that the people would not obtain their rights against the joint influence of the nobility and clergy. His opinion was soon changed, and in the year following he speaks of the same class thus: 'I then knew that the people was about to become the tyrant of every one, who had any thing to lose, of all authority, of all discipline, of the troops, the assembly and the king, and that we were to expect the horrors that have always accompanied a similar domination. I confess that from that moment I was seized with fear at the sight of this immense power, till then disarmed, but which was beginning to feel its strength, and preparing to put it forth to the utmost.' In 1790 he lost his residence at Thimer, which was sold by the national assembly, with the other goods of the church. This was followed by the equally unpleasant occurrence of the rupture of his friendship with Madame Helvétius, which had lasted thirty years. The other inmates of her house were democrats; the Abbé had lost every thing by the revolution, and they could no longer live in harmony. He continued to publish from time to time short political works adapted to the occasions which presented themselves. The academy was soon after suppressed, and Morellet, who had just been chosen director, employed himself in secreting the portraits and removing the papers of the institution. He had been allowed a liquidation of his claims, by the national assembly. To obtain payment of this, it was however necessary to procure a certificate of civisme. These certificates were granted by the committee of public safety in each section, to be subject to examination for approval at the hotel de ville by the general council. He did not know at the time of his application to his section, that they were confirmed with some difficulty, and that their rejection was usually followed by an immediate ar

rest. He attended several times without success at the hotel de ville. Descriptions of the proceedings in this body and the national convention are common. On one occasion when Morellet was there, the proces-verbal of the last meeting was read. One article was a resolution of the joy of the patriots at the arrest of Bailly, who was denominated an enemy of the people,' and whose execution was ordered in anticipation of his trial. Another article decreed that thereafter no pretty women should be allowed to present requests at the mayor's office to obtain the liberty of aristocrats. One of the clerks, interested perhaps in the abuse, undertook to represent the impracticability of executing the resolution, that the office was necessarily open to all women, old or young, ugly or pretty, for the payment of taxes, the sale of the domains, &c. But his representation had no effect, and it was concluded that no pretty woman was afterwards to present herself at the mayor's office, which would evidently operate as an universal prohibition. Then entered five sections, who came to present their contingent of young recruits from eighteen to twenty-five. These passed through the saloon always to the beat of drums, and sometimes with full martial music. After they had each sworn to exterminate tyrants and cement the edifice of liberty with their blood; the president in the bonnet rouge gave out the Marseilles hymn, with ça ira, which were both sung after each troop passed. This manner of performing the public business was in general very agreeable to the spectators, though occasionally it drew forth the remark, mais c'est dróle de passer comme ça tout le tems de leur assemblée à chanter; est-ce qu'ils sont là pour ça?' The form of obtaining the certificate, was for the president, on the name of the applicant's being called out, to inquire, is there any one who knows the citizen and answers for his civisme? If no person answered, his request was passed over; if any of the members said, I know the citizen, and answer for him,' it was granted. On Morellet's coming forward, no one answered for him, and the president said, 'I hear it whispered to me, that the citizen is suspected of incivisme.' As soon as the president had uttered these words, a member arose and opposed granting the certificate to Morellet, on the ground that he had defended the cause of despotism fifteen or sixteen years before. This accusation being strenuously denied by our author, a committee was nominated to examine his works and decide on their civisme. On repairing at New Series, No. 12.

43

ART. XVI.-A translation of the first book of Ovid's T in heroic English verse, with the original text. Arden, Counsellor at Law. New York, 1821.

By F

WHATAVER may be thought of the merits of this au poetry, the candor of his preface should certainly secur from illnatured criticism. The following exposition c object to which his efforts were principally directed, wil terially assist the reader in forming an impartial and tho judgment of his success.

The present essay claims to be no more than an experim effort, in which the translator has so markedly preferred the v and order of his text to less restrained attempts at imitative gance, that in no instance has he dropped expressive terms o original, or presumed to vary from its manner, unless the g of our language, or some metrical obstacle, seemed to requir liberty. He is not conscious, however, of needing much in gence either for what he has omitted, or may in any way ventured to change.

'A course so straightened not only diminishes opportunities ornamental display, but renders the display itself proportion. difficult; the reader is therefore cautioned against anticipat of high poetical beauties, and intreated to rest satisfied with a gree of smoothness in the composition, exceeding, perhaps, w its alleged closeness might have prepared him to expect.

app

If it be asked, why this has not been executed in greater c formity to the prevailing style of verse translation? I answ that an attempt to render a Latin Poem such as it would if originally composed in English, seems, to my apprehensi rather calculated to cover the freedoms of its translator, than su ceptible of attainment; that my intent was not to exhibit Ovid the folds of paraphrastic drapery, but to convey what he wrot and that I was particularly desirous to learn how my manner executing this intent would be received.

I will not attempt to deprecate severity of criticism, by en merating the disadvantages under which my little work was com pleted, and yet these were perhaps as great as have attended th presentation of any ancient classic in modern language; my bes excuse is in the fidelity of the version; and I have only to re quest, that the critical reader will bear in mind the goal at whic I purposed to arrive, and by comparing my lines with the original ascertain how nearly I have approached it.'

Modest as these promises are, it is a high as well as jus praise, to say that they are amply fulfilled. Of all the languages generally studied in this country or in England, the

I produced then my different memoirs against the India company in favor of free trade, and begged him to observe the strength of my civisme in the zeal with which I combatted privileges hurtful to the people, by the increase of the price of articles of consumption, which they caused. I counted on my volume in quarto as a shield, and he himself, when he took it into his hands, seemed to feel some pleasure in having as a dependant before him the author of so large a book.'

The commissary at last grew tired, as all passive pleasures must cease, of the pride of examining great books, whose author was in his power; a most serious species of reviewing indeed, where the decision is enforced by the jail and guillotine. He informed him explicitly that he ought to prove his having been in favor of the proceedings on the 10th August and 31st May. The Abbé tried to soften him by the considerations of his age and loss of fortune. The last suggestion reminded his judge of his own losses, and he communicated to Morellet that he had been himself a ladies' hairdresser before the revolution, and had presented to the academy some toupets of his own invention and structure, in consequence of having had a taste for mechanics. After trying, as the concluding argument in his own favor, the effect of urging that he had been in the bastile, Morellet submitted his works to the mercy, justice, or caprice of the hairdresser, and departed. At his twelfth visit to the hotel de ville, it was decreed that certificates had been issued with too great facility, and ordered that even those, which had been granted by the sections, should be reinspected. He took advantage of this, to cease the dangerous suit to obtain one, and contented himself without his pension. He escaped further peril, all those who had been instrumental in refusing the certificate and thus acquainted with his incivisme, real or suspected, having been executed the year after. He published at this time two tracts on the confiscation of the goods of parents or children of emigrants, which appear to have produced considerable effect. In 1797, the political arena being closed, our author undertook to live by translating the English novels and romances of the day. In this way he obtained 2000 livres for the Italian,' 100 louis for the Children of the Abbey,' &c. In the three years after, Morellet, though more than seventy, published twenty volumes of translated works. The last was Vancouver's Voyages round the World.

Here the memoirs end. A short supplement brings down.

of primary and almost of exclusive attention; that he re that every expression in the original, should be represe his version, and that not only virtually but actually. Hi on this subject differ widely from ours. We cannot but to the general opinion, that in translating an ancient cla should be our first object to express his meaning as he have done had the English language been that of his as country. Could this rule be completely obeyed, no would be requisite. Since, however, much of the m the celebrated writers of Greece and Rome is necessaril in every modern version, a translator should be not only ed but required, to repair as far as possible an injury, whi cannot prevent, by softening the faults or heightenin beauties of the original, to any extent not inconsistent general fidelity. To say that he shall expose all his au defects, especially those which are accidental and not ha and characteristic, is to require a degree of exactness like of the Chinese manufacturers, who copy with the nicest not only the shape and colour, but even the rents and of every article of dress or furniture, which is given to as a pattern.

The liberty of embellishment is now as universally ceded to translators as that of retrenchment, and though it seem more questionable, rests on similar reasons.

The

as much truth as point in the well known remark of DeL on doit être quelquefois superieur à son original, precisén parcequ'on lui est très inferieur.'-'Slaves we are and work another man's soil,' says Dryden of the whole race of tran tors, and there is no reason why they should be prohib entirely from making improvements, which redound to benefit of their masters. Indeed the comparative advant of servile and of liberal (we do not say licentious) poet translation, is a question which we consider as fully settled, the different fortunes of Pope's and of Cowper's Iliad. T Cowper has given us an exact image of the original, is inde a popular maxim, but few would be willing to qualify themsel for judging of its truth, by reading through his version. That Pope on the contrary, notwithstanding all that has been s of its unfaithfulness, by a long line of minute critics, from day to ours, is the only medium, through which the beaut of the Grecian bard are known to the generality of English an American readers. Yet though we cannot approve of t