3. An Alphabetical Index to the Old and New Testa ment. It is said that Mr. Belsham is preparing a Life of Dr. Priestley, from materials chiefly written by the Doctor himself. thirst of uncontrouled power and an overweening 2. A Comparison of the Principles of the Grecian Phiopinion of his own talents. He imagined that what-losophy with those of Revelation. ever materials he put together, his own vast genius would be sufficient to give them animation and energy. He soon, however, found that his ill-sorted materials (so pleasantly described by Mr. Burke) were utterly incapable of being formed into a manageable machine; and he at last abandoned the fruitless task in disgust and despair. The chagrin at his baffled ambition and tarnished reputation never left his mind; we have yet to learn whether the abilities of his son will be able to stem the torrent which proved too powerful for the father. It would be unjust to close this account of the change of ministry, without noticing the disinterested conduct of Mr. Addington in quitting his station. No man has had greater difficulties to struggle with; no man has encountered greater opposition; yet no minister ever retired from office with a more unquestioned integrity. It is said that he has refused a title and an establishment for himself and his family. It is certain he retains no other mark of royal favour, than the gift of the house in Richmond-park. If he was unequal to the station he held, we know that it was forced upon him and not of his seeking; nor did he attempt to retain it any longer than he was supported by a large majority of the parliament. Our new prime-minister may excel him in talents: we shall be content if he equal him in integrity. THE KING'S RECOVERY.-For some days past his Majesty has begun to appear in public; not indeed at the levee, nor the privy-council, nor any of the public places of amusement; but in his carriage in the most public and crowded streets of London, through which he has been able to take an airing in spite of all the obstructions which must necessarily occur. There is no one can feel more sincere pleasure at these proofs of his Majesty's recovery than we do. That he will immediately appear at the levee, and those public places where his presence gives so much joy to his subjects, cannot be doubted; as the fatigue of these must be even less than riding through the crowded streets of London. Some flying reports have been circulated, that his Majesty intends to visit Weymouth before the birth-day but these rumours must be false, as they would argue the very reverse of our beloved sovereign's complete recovery. NOTICES. LITERARY. : Mr. T. F. Dibdin, A. B. late of St. John's College, Oxford, has just published his second edition, (greatly enlarged and corrected) of an "Introduction to the Knowledge of the most rare and valuable editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, with some account of Polyglot Bibles, and the best editions of the Greek Septuagint and Testament; comprehending also the Scriptores De Re Rusticâ, Greek romances, Lexicons and Grammars, and complete lists of the Delphin, Variorum, (in quarto and octavo,) Elzevir, and Aldine Classics; to which is added a complete Index Analyticus." The following works left in a finished state by the late Dr. Priestley are now in the press. 1. Notes on all the books of Scripture. Dr. Turner has in the press a work, in one volume, octavo, entitled the Principles of the Newtonian Philosophy; or, a Mathematical Demonstration of the Properties of Matter; of the air, heat, cold, light, and its effects; of the properties of the Ocean; rivers, mountains, &c. The Rev. James Playfair has a work ready for the press, on the Care and Knowledge of Bees, their Management and Natural History; illustrated by eighteen plates. The first part is of a practical nature, treating of the management of bees; the second contains dissections and descriptions of the body of the bee, and queen, and drone, with drawings of the same. last volume of his History of the Revenue. Sir John Sinclair is preparing for the press the third and cal Essays, towards promoting the chemical knowledge of The translation of Klaproth's second volume of Analytimineral substances, will be speedily published. The Rev. J. Palmer, B. D. and Classical Tutor of St. John's College, is elected Professor of Arabic, in the University of Cambridge, in the room of the late Rev. D. Carlyle. THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, when an author cannot receive from the booksellers a sum sufficient for their works, makes them a present of what is necessary to defray the expence of the publication. Frequently authors present to him their manuscripts, and if he judges them useful to be published, he has them printed at his own expence, and the works are then sold for the profit of the authors. In this manner Lebedew received 10,000 rubles for printing his travels of thirty years in Europe and Asia. Professor Strachow, the translator of the Travels of Anacharsis, was offered only 1500 rubles for his manuscript by the booksellers of Moscow: he received a present of 6000 rubles from the Emperor, which enabled him to become the publisher himself. Poliathowski, who translated Smith's Wealth of Nations, received 5000 rubles for the same purpose. In the single year 1802, the government expended 100,000 rubles for the publication of new books. Europe, for the purpose of collecting useful knowledge. This prince employs several travellers in different parts of To each of these a particular department is assigned; establishments for the poor; for the promotion of industry; for the encouragement of the arts, &c. RUSSIAN THEATRES.-The theatres at Moscow have lately had their number encreased by the addition of a Polish theatre, so that plays will now be acted there in more languages than perhaps ever happened at one place. At present there are open at Moscow four theatres, at each of which the representation is in a different language; Russian, Polish, French, Italian; and a German theatre is soon expected to be added to the number.-An Italian theatre has been erected at Odessa, and the Emperor has granted for its support the yearly sum of 20,000 rubles (about £2,500 sterling.) PETERSBURG SOCIETY.-A new Russian Society has lately been formed under the title of The free Society of the Lovers of Literature, Arts, and Sciences. It owes its origin to the strong ardour for the cultivation of the sciences which has begun to manifest itself in that empire. In the year 1801, six students of the Academy of Petersburg associated together for the sake of prosecuting their studies in common, and soon afterwards they formed a resolution. to unite their labours in translating some valuable foreign USE OF GARLIC AGAINST MOLES.-Moles are such enemies to the smell of garlic, that, in order to get rid of these troublesome guests, it is sufficient to introduce a few heads of garlic into their subterraneous walks. It is likewise employed with success against grubs and snails. works into the Russian language. Since then the Society has increased to thirty members, besides correspondents at Kasan, Tobolsk, Tscherhask, Teflis, and Dorpat. As several artists, pupils of the Imperial Academy of arts, are among its members, it is probable that this Society will also in a high degree contribute to the advancement of the fine arts. Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments has been translated by this Society, and printed at the Emperor's expence. Montesquieu and several other works are ready for the press. The Society has lately been confirmed by a charter from the Emperor. UNIVERSITY OF DORPAT.-An account of the state of this Russian seminary has been published. If we can suppose that the salaries of the different professors afford a proper standard for judging of the degree of estimation in which each branch of education is held there, it is a curious document. The professors of theology, medicine, jurisprudence, and philosophy, amounting in all to three and twenty, have each* 2000 rubles per annum: six teachers of languages, 500 rubles each; a fencing-master 900; a drawing master 200; a music-master 400; a dancing-master 400; a swimming-master 100. The whole expence of the University amounts yearly to 126,000 rubles.-The same University has received from the Emperor Alexander 118,000 rubles for the erection of schools, and extending the benefits of education in the German provinces of the Russian empire. The same urdour for the encouragement of learning appears to animate all ranks in the Russian empire. The nobles of the province of Jekaterinoslaw have made a present of 100,000 rubles to the university of Charkow. COLLEGE AT TOBOLSK IN SIBERIA.-Public schools and a college have been established in this remote and frozen part of the great empire of Russia, and are already in full activity. On the 28th of January last there was a public exhibition in the principal school, before the archbishop of Tobolsk, the Governor-general, and a great many persons of distinction. After the examination of the four principal classes was finished; the examination of the class of the Tartar language was begun. A young man, called Nikanow, delivered a discourse in that language, the object of which was to demonstrate the advantage of using that tongue through all the eastern part of the Russian empire. COPENHAGEN COLLEGE OF HEALTH.-This College has appointed from among its members a committee to draw up a Danish pharmacopeia. It has also formed some new regulations with regard to the sale of medicines in the apothecaries' shops of Copenhagen. M. PIAZZI, has published at Palermo a very valuable work; a catalogue of nearly 7000 stars, each observed several times with excellent instruments, calculated and reduced to the year 1800. SCIENTIFIC. COUNT RUMFORD has submitted to the National Institute of France, his series of experiments, on the emanation from bodies of heat and cold, an account of which was lately read to the Royal Society of London. A ROMAN ALTAR was lately found by some labourers who were digging under Adrian's wall, at Tarraby, on the Brompton road, about a mile from Carlisle. The altar is 1 foot 6 inches in height, and seven inches in breadth. The following characters were inscribed upon it. MART COCM LEG II AUG D. SOL. SUECV. RA. ELIANIC FELIX OPTO * A ruble is about 2s. 6d. sterling. NEW PREPARATION OF VINEGAR.-Take a cask made of oak, of a size proportioned to the quantity of vinegar required; this cask must have a bung about an inch and a half from the bottom, for the purpose of drawing off the liquor, but it must be set on one end to perform the ope ration. Rain or river water only can be used for this preparation; a quantity of either must be put into the cask equal to the quantity of vinegar required. To thirteen quarts of water add half a pint of brandy, four ounces of tartar of wine, 12 ounces of sugar, and six of yeast. Reduce the tartar and sugar to powder, dis solve it in warm rain-water, adding the yeast, so as to form a thick solution, which, being mixed with the brandy, must be poured into the cask, and the latter must be placed in a warm situation for about six weeks. Before the cask is bunged up, the water, and other ingredients contained in it, should be shaken together, to mix them as much as possible. Half an hour is sufficient to render the mixture complete, after which it must be left in repose for the time specified. This vinegar, when drawn off into bottles and well-corked, will keep a long time, and is not inferior to any vinegar hitherto known. METHOD OF PURIFYING CORRUPTED WATER.-M. Deyeux lately made, at the school of Medicine, a public experiment on its filtres for clarifying and purifying waters. A vessel was brought him containing water taken out of the kennel, and another filled from a tub in which carcases had been immersed upwards of three weeks. Having poured them upon his filtres, the water ran off in a few minutes perfectly clear, lipid, without taste or smell, equally bright and inviting as if it had distilled from the rocks. The filtre used by M. Deyeux was only a large tin funnel containing at the bottom a few pieces of glass, intended merely to support and prevent the pipe of the funnel from being choked by the small pieces of charcoal with which it was about two thirds filled. The charcoal was broken into small pieces of about two lines, or five cubic millimetres; it might even be broken still smaller, provided it was not reduced to powder, which might easily be prevented by passing it through a sieve. The other third part of the funnel was intended for the reception of the water. NEW PLANET.-A letter from Germany states, that Dr. Olbers has discovered a planet, which, from its immense size, he has called Hercules. It is three times the size of Jupiter, and goes round the Sun in the space of 211 years, because it is supposed to be 3,047,000,000 of miles from the Sun; it looks to the naked eye like a star of the first magnitude, and is now in the sign Gemini. Dr. Olbers observed, on the 8th of December last, that it moved, and, on the 6th of February, that it was a planet, attended by seven satellites, one of which is twice the size of the earth. It is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic, in an angle of 30 degrees. It is in 13 degrees North amplitude; its eccentricity is 1100, and the Sun to an inhabitant of the Earth placed in it, with our powers of vision, would appear no larger than the smallest of the fixed stars. COMETS.—M. Laurent Regnier, professor of astronomy at Upsal, has published a dissertation de Mossis Cometarum. ASTRONOMER AT THE AGE OF TEN.-Hitherto, savs Lalande, in a discourse lately published, we have seen no native of Russia distinguish himself in that country by Astronomy. But I experienced an agreeable surprise, and entertain consoling hopes, when I see young Alexander Oulibisheff, at the age of ten, converse with me on astronomy in a manner I never before witnessed, even in THE DEVIATION OF FALLING BODIES.-M. de Laplace has given in the Bulletin, a theory of the deviation of falling bodies, in consequence of the experiments of Guglielmini and Henzenberg. The result is, that the deviation ought to be nul towards the south, though M. Guglielmini found it to be three lines. But these experiments are so difficult to be made, and the resistance of the air so little known, that this does not impeach the results of M. Guglielmini. CLOCK-MAKING.-M. Honorè Ponz, an ingenious clock-maker of Paris, has made an important improvement by adding free-escapements, which by means of remontoirs leave no room for the inequalities of rouage to affect the motion of the pendulum. He presented a description of it to the Institute on the 12th of December. GEOMETRY. --The measure of a degree of the earth in Lapland, which has been made by order of the French government, is 57197 toises. That found by Maupertuis, &c. in 1736, was 57405, which is greater by 208 toises. This was suspected. The degree of Lapland was at variance with all theory, and with every other measurement. It gave to the earth too great a flattening; whereas the new degree gives, which is not much different from the given by the new meridian of France compared with the degree measured in Peru. The difference in the results of the two measurements are however so great, that the Institute has requested further information from Sweden on the subject. THE FINE ARTS.-The Danish Sculptor Thorwaldson, has completely finished his celebrated bas-relief of Briseis carried off from the tent of Achilles. A young German painter, of the name of Schick, has acquired considerable reputation by a picture he has finished for the Duke of Wirtemberg, representing David playing on the harp.-A sale of some very valuable paintings lately took place at Genoa. A Holy Family by Julio Romane, a mother with her three children by Guercino, a portrait of a woman with her son, by Van Dyck, were sold for 10,000 livres. Two landscapes by Titian, each ten feet wide, brought 15,000 livres, and a small picture by Franceschini 1000. conclusion. On the side towards the Capitol, the earth was dug up to the depth of eighteen French feet, until the bases of the pillars of the arch were laid open. In this pit the pavement of the Via Sacra was found in a complete state of preservation. It appears from the pedestals that the number of ornamental pillars amounted to eight. Below the first base, there is another high pedestal as a second base; and this latter rests upon two other high-raised platforms. All the three sides of the pedestals are encircled with basreliefs; most of these are in a high state of preservation, they however represent nothing else but barbarians led in chains by the conquerors to whom the arch is dedicated; all of them are but of moderate workmanship and many of them extremely indifferent. The whole is now surrounded with a wall. Among other relics of antiquity have been found various fragments of pillars and pilasters, an Ionic capital hewn out of one stone, and a statue of a female of Greek marble, and from the workmanship, evidently a production of the more flourishing age of the arts. GREEK FIRE. It is reported from Munich that Baron d'Aretin, librarian to the Elector of Bavaria, has lately discovered, in the central library of that city, an old Latin manuscript of the 13th century, containing a treatise on the Greek fire, and a receipt for making it, which was thought to be lost; as also the process for making gunpowder followed at present. M. d'Aretin intends immediately, it is said, to publish the treatise, with an historical introduction. To this intelligence we must confess we do not attach much credit. NATURAL HISTORY.-Gorochow, a merchant of Jakusk, has presented to his Imperial Majesty of Russia, a horn of a most uncommon size. This natural curiosity has been sent to the Academy of Sciences to be placed in their Museum. It deserves to be remarked, that the inhabitants of the district, where the horn was found, believe it to be the talon of a bird named Kogroskari. NEWLY DISCOVERED FISH.-A singular, and we believe hitherto undescribed fish, has been lately caught in the river Mersey. It belongs to the class of chaetodons, and seems to have escaped the observation of Linnæus, and other naturalists, though they have described 63 species of this genus. These fishes are natives of the Indian and American seas, and this is probably the first of the kind that has been caught in Europe. It is preserved in the Liverpool Museum. The last importation of works of art from Italy to France, consisted of two colossal figures of the Nile and the Tiber, and a great number of tombs, basso relievos, inscriptions, and antiques of other kinds, from the Vatican, and the particular collections of Roman Princes. These, it is SCANDINAVIAN SOCIETY.-At a meeting of the Scandistated, are to complete the antique marbles and plaisters of navian Society at Copenhagen, the Assessor Rafn, delivered the Museum Napoleon. To these are added specimens of an essay on the question, how much meal and bread a certhe productions of the modern industry of Italy, compri-tain quantity of grain will produce, and also on the comsing a most sumptuous chimney-piece and clock-case, composed of every species of fine and valuable marble, and decorated in the highest degree. This is a present from the Sovereign Pontiff to Bonaparte, and is intended to adorn the principal apartment at Malmaison. THE FINE ARTS.-A picture by Raphael has lately been brought from France to Petersburg. It is reckoned one of the very best productions of this unrivalled artist. It is above two yards in height and half as broad, and painted upon wood, but in excellent preservation. It represents the Virgin Mary sitting, and gazing earnestly with maternal fondness on the child, which reclines on her breast. This picture is accompanied by two others, in which Raphael has represented the same subject, and of which one was formerly in the cabinet of the Duke of Orleans, and the other in the Borghese palace at Rome. The owner of the picture demands for it 10,000 rubles, and has already refused 6,000. ANTIQUITIES AT ROME.-The digging under the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus has been brought to a parative state of baking at London, Paris, and Copenhagen. He maintained that when this branch of industry should be as well understood at Copenhagen as it is at London and Paris, the quantity of wheaten bread yearly consumed at Copenhagen, would be had cheaper by four and a half millions (Danish currency.) In brown bread the loss to the city, he observed, was in the same manner, half a million annually. These inferences were founded on a calculation made in the years 1762 and 1774, by a commission at Copenhagen, appointed to inquire into this subject, and on experiments made at Paris by Cadet de Vaux, and at London by the Philanthropic Society. THE PLAGUE. Professor Valli, accompanied by Dr. Pegroni, has left Constantinople on a tour to Natolia and other parts of the Turkish empiré in Asia, with a view to make further experiments with regard to the extirpation of the Plague. VETERINARY INSTITUTIONS, The Emperor of Russia has caused three veterinary colleges to be erected, at St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Lubny. The professors have been appointed, and the whole establishments completed. The expence amounts to about 70,000 rubles (about £8,750 sterling) per annum. The city contains 7124 houses, and 209,000 inhabitants. 1752 1762 1772 1782 1792 1802 2,479,656 rubles. 4,358,694 5,217,006 6,451,494 11,467,847 22,224,331 30,498,663 MINERALOGY.-Last February the young prince Sapieha, a member of the Warsaw Society of the Friends of Science, arrived at Vienna. He had already traversed the eastern side of the Carpathian mountains in search of minerals, and was from Vienna to proceed to the interior mountains of Austria, and afterwards those of Switzerland and Upper Italy; and after exploring the Alps and collecting speci- ORDER OF THE JESUITS.-This order, after having long mens of their mineralogical treasures, he is to direct his been regarded as outcasts and dangerous persons in every course to mount Caucasus for the same purpose. His in-kingdom of Europe, have at last obtained, along with defatigable zeal and profound knowledge of his subject have raised the highest expectations of the result of his researches.-The society of the friends of science at Warsaw last year, sent two of their members, M. Cortum and M. Stacie, on a tour for mineralogical and physical discoveries to the Carpathian mountains Not contented with what they have hitherto atchieved, the same gentlemen renew their researches in the same quarter this summer. whole of ancient Poland is intended to be explored and described with regard to its mineralogical and physical ap pearances. POLITICAL. The every other sect, an asylum in the dominions of Russia. - - 39 priests, 42 teachers, 24 assistants. 12 7 8 11 19 2 9 2 13 4 5 consisting of thirteen priests and a teacher, and the great mission in the government of Saratava is entrusted to the care of ten priests and two assistants. The collective number of the members of the order is 262, of which 118 are priests, 83 teachers, and 61 assistants. The General of the Order is the well-known Gabriel Gruber, who entered it in the year 1755, and in 1773 attained the highest rank. of Lithuania has received orders from his master, the emMEMNONITES.-Baron de Bemgsen, military commandant peror of Russia, to receive with every mark of civility, and friendship, the 150 families of Memnonites, which are expected from Marienbourg and Elbing, and wish to establish themselves in New Russia. That officer is commanded to go to the frontiers, in order to procure to these new inhabitants all the accommodations necessary to enable them to proceed with more convenience to the place of their destination. A sum of 15,000 rubles has even been issued for that purpose. PROJECTS OF RUSSIA TO CIVILIZE HER ASIATIC SUB-The order has besides three establishments called Domiciles, JECTS.-This task is undertaken with particular earnestness. These shepherds of the Tartar race are not any cause of fear in the way of conquest. But their predatory habits are very disagreeable to the Russians exposed to them, and prevent the establishment of a regular commerce, between Russia, and the great nations of Asia. Such particularly are the Bukarians and the Kergises, towards Siberia; and the Lesguians in Mount Caucasus. The Bukarians last year plundered a Russian caravan on its passage to China. And since Russia extended her frontiers towards Georgia, she has often been obliged to form military expeditions against the Lesguians. Gentle means are now intended to be used to civilize these wandering tribes; and reconcile them to agricultural pursuits, and a fixed habitation. Such is the tenor of the instructions given to Prince Zizianow who is sent Governor to Georgia. He is directed to enquire if they have been ill-used by the Russians, and provoked to the excesses they have committed; to redress their grievances in such a manner as to convey to them the idea of justice; to distribute land to them; and to study to soften their manners; and give them a taste for labour, and a sedentary life. Various attempts toward the same end were made by Catherine; but unsuccessfully. We may here mention the celebrated emigration of the Calmucs, who dissatisfied with the Russian government, all set out on one day, and at one hour, to escape from their bondage. There is hardly an example of secrecy so admirably preserved for not a single traitor was found in so considerable a multitude: or of a design pursued with such perseverance; for the fatigue of the horses and men who sunk under the task; the loss which many individuals sustained of all they possessed in the world by the breaking down of the carriages which contained it; this, nor any thing else retarded them in their journey to the desert, and in their return to their ancient wandering life. The Russians sent after them, could never overtake them, and found of the whole horde, only the dead bodies of those whom they had been obliged to leave behind. TRADE AND COMMERCE.-A new periodical work, has appeared at Petersburg, under the title of the Petersburg Imperial Journal of Trade. It is published both in the Russian and German languages. The first Number contains a view of the history of Petersburg, in which the author gives the following account of the present state of that capital and of its trade. INSTRUCTION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB.-Dr. Castberg has been appointed to visit, at the expence of his Danish Majesty, the most celebrated institutions throughout Europe for the instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, particularly those at Vienna, Genoa and Paris, and to acquire a knowledge of the methods employed by the teachers in these benevolent undertakings. On his arrival at Vienna, the government of Lower Austria, understanding his beneficent views, directed Joseph May, the Director of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at Vienna, to give him every possible information with regard to the plan of the Institu tion, and to make him completely acquainted with the methods employed by the teachers. Dr. Castberg also received at the same place much information from Hn. Gaheis on the plan of a similar one for the instruction of the blind. Hn. Gaheis had two years ago relinquished his public employments as a magistrate of Vienna, for the sake of applying himself to literature and to the perfecting of an institution for the instruction of the blind, which he has long had in contemplation. FRENCH MISSION TO CHINA.-The French government has resolved to re-establish the mission to China, which has no doubt political as well as scientific purposes in view. One of the ablest astronomers of France has formed the project of accompanying the mission. VOLUME III.] W LITERATURE. REVIEW OF BOOKS. Taylor's Plato. Concluded from page 461. JUNE 1, 1804. E have already delivered, at considerable length, our opinion of the view which Mr. Taylor has exhibited of the Platonic philosophy. We have next to give some account of the translation, with which he has presented us, of the writings of Plato. On this, as he does not appear to have bestowed on it great pains himself, we shall be exempted from the task of being very minute in our criticism. An English translation had been published before of some part of the writings of Plato. The books concerning the republic, or concerning government, had been translated by Dr. Spens, with considerable exactness, as far as meaning is concerned, but very defectively indeed in regard to elegance, or even purity of style. Of the remaining dialogues, nine, to wit, the first and second Alcibiades, the Greater and Lesser Hippias, the Banquet, (except the speech of Alcibiades) the Philebus, the Meno, the Io, and the Rivals had been translated by Mr. Sydenham. Of this latter gentleman's performance it is little necessary to speak, since it is well known already to every Greek scholar as one of the most successful attempts in the translation of ancient anthors which has been made in the English language. It combines, in a very uncommon degree, two properties which it is extremely difficult to unite; a very close, and almost literal adherence to the original,-with purity and even elegance of stile The merit of this translation is very great. It has perhaps rather too much the air of a translation; it is perhaps, with all its merit, English running somewhat too much like Greek. But perhaps it was altogether impossible, without this, to exhibit any thing of the manner of Plato, so unlike that of all other writers. Though it may be doubtful how far it was proper to study this object, to the detriment of the purity of English, whether in the choice or arrangement of the words. This translation, as well as that of Dr. Spens, suited Mr. Taylor's purpose; and therefore he has adopted both. He tells us indeed, that the one is elegant and the other coarse. But no matter for that. They are both entitled to a place in Mr. Taylor's production. For neither uniformity, nor elegance was any part of his study. One important matter, however, he has carefully attended to. Neither of these gentlemen understood the sullime theology of Plato; accordingly they have very often misinterpreted him. That is to say, they have not always given that turn to the words of Plato, which makes them accord with the theory of Mr. Taylor, and the latter Platonists. This shocking error he has, he tells us, been at particular pains to rectify. VOL. III. [NUMBER X. Of the difficulty of the task which Mr. Taylor had to execute in translating all the rest of Plato's works we are fully aware. Perhaps no author is more difficult to translate than Plato. The delicacy of the original composition is unrivalled, and disheartens a translator when he finds all his attempts to imitate it fruitless. We have already mentioned the insuperable difficulty which seems to attend the writing of philosophical dialogues in the modern languages. The forms too of address, the expressions of compliment, the phrases intimating assent, doubt, or dissent, are so different in English and in Greek, that there are scarcely any means of reconciling them; and you find it equally ungraceful, whether you adopt the English modes in your translation, or retain the ancient. An instance of this difficulty may be pointed out even in Latin. In the senate of Rome, when an orator rose to speak, he addressed the assembly by the title, Patres conscripti. The literal translation of this, Conscript Fathers, sounds but awkwardly in English, and to a mere English reader is hardly intelligible. To avoid this inconvenience, some translators have adopted the correspondent phrase, used in our legislative assembly of nobles, and have translated it, My Lords. This is equally exceptionable; and has something even of a ludicrous effect. There is, in the simple appellations and forms of address employed by the Greeks, something so extremely different from the affected and quaint appellations and forms which we derive from our ancient Gothic manners, that the translator of the ancient dialogues finds himself equally unsuccessful to whichever side he turns. If he adheres to the ancient appellations and forms, his translation appears not to be genuine English; it has a stiff and foreign air; and cannot be read as an English book, without a considerable abatement of pleasure. If, on the other hand, he adopts the modern appellations and forms, their want of adaptation to the characters introduced, their repugnance to what is universally known of the manners of the ancients, strikes and shocks every body. There is another thing which creates a difficulty of a very peculiar sort in translating the works of Plato. The argument in a great number of the dialogues turns upon the definition of certain general terms; and the whole delicacy and ingenuity of the reasoning very often depends upon the exact coincidence or contrast of certain words to one another. To these words very frequently there are no English words which exactly correspond. It is therefore the most difficult thing in the world to convey not only the spirit and beauty, but even the meaning, in such arguments as these. The greater number of these difficulties Mr. Taylor has never attempted to overcome. He avowedly renounces the task of exhibiting in English any specimen of the elegance which distinguishes the Greek of 20 |