ft, That a peculiar breed of fheeph poffeffing qualities of the moft valuablę fort, actually fubfifts in the Shetland ifles at prefent. sylty

2d, That that breed is of a hardy nature, and easily reared, and never would have been in danger of being loft, even from neglect alone, had not artificial means been employed to debase it.

month; and, for aged fheep, in the end of Auguft or beginning of September, And they fhould be fo contrived as to fucced each other regularly, fo that either buyer or feller beginning at the North may try his market on his way home to the South.,, Gentlemen ought to be fettled with, who will undertake to give the market ground free from duty on, fheep or wool, and fatisfy themfelves with fuch dues as may be had from other commodities. It would not be amifs like wife to eftablh in the fame places, an annual market for butter and cheefe for, as fe are produced in fheep farms, every means ought to be employed to facilitate the file of the articles produced by, a new fpecies of farming ora leaft one which at renumber. The natives are so fond of fent languifies, and deferves to be nourished by every poffit le means.

1

no

3d, That the inhabitants are at this day active in trying to debase it, by felecting for rams only the very wort of the breed they have; and altho in confequence of the hardiness of the original breed they have not been able to effect an entire extirpation of it, they have already fucceeded in greatly debafing it, and reducing the

the fine wool, that they are very loath to lose any of it; and, as they find I would likewife be of 10 fmall that rams are apt to ftray from the m. ment to the breeders of Theep, that fuck during the rutting feafon, fos as means were fallen on to extirpate the to he often entirely loft, they take race of foxes, eagles, and carrion care to cut every ram lamb that car Crows or corbics, all of which are ex-ries a fine fleece; for, as wedeers neceedingly burt'ul to a breeding fteck, yer wander, they are fure of thes and abound very much in nagy pas keeping the flecce 1p, this manner, of the Highlands. The wife policy they debafe, the quality of their wool of our ancestors has noft happily fuc- imgener, for the fake of preferving ceeded in total y destroying the ace a particular fleece and realife the of wolves in our I and; and there is fable of the goofe with the golden certainly very little dithculty in the eggs.This fact the writer of this attempt to extirpare the fox, eagle, abftrach had from the beft authority. and corbe, or which imilar meays

0

4th, hat, therefore, nothing more fems to be wanting to recover the fine breed, bet to flect the beftiewes and the beft rms that remain, and keep them apart, for breeding from.

5. That before any proper or extenfive ule can be made of this wool in mnul diures, which alone can make it a prottable anicle to the reaper, the practice of fhearing ibé theep muft be introduced among then....

6th, That, a premium be given to the perfon who thal prefent a certain number of thoin fleeces at a certain time, neatly dore up, das is ufuat in wool countrics

Revicau

837

Abridged Review of New Publications.

which, by the by, the very judicions effay of D'Alembert, in his Melange de Literature, is fpoken of more flightingly than it feems to deferve, the author defcribes a good tranflation as follows: "That in which the merit

Efay on the Principles of Tranflation, 8vo, pp. 260. 4s. Caddel and Creech. TF the art of fpeech may be allowed to hold the firft rank among the arts of human invention, as by enabling mankind to communicate their dilcoveries, it puts every individual" of the original work is fo com

"pletely transfufed into another language, as to be as diftinctly apprehenced and as frongly felt by a

language belongs, as it is by thofe who fpeak the language of the ori"ginal work." From this defcription or definition, which appears to be extremely just and accurate, the three following Laws of Tranflation are deduced.

1. That the tranflation fhould give give a complete tranfcript of the ideas of the original work.

7

2. That the file and manner of writing should be of the fame character with that of the original. 43 That the tranflation fhould have all the cafe of original compo fition."

in a fruation to profit by the difcove ries of his fellows, inflead of being lest to his folitary experience; and if the art of writing holds the fecondenative of the country to which that rank, asip perpetuates discoveries, and enables every age to profit by the difcoveries of all that preeeded it; we may, in one view, allign the third place to the Art of Tranflation, the fubject of this treatifean art which communicates to one nation the difcoveries and improvements of ano, ther, and extends the bounds of lite, rature and science, by exhibiting their actual progrefs in every corner of the -world!' dans!'mer (15) jun 02 978en So far, however, as regards objects of Science alone, the Art of Tra fla, tions however important and useful, yer is one of fo fimple a nature, as to require very little inveftigation. Ac. To thefe three judicious rules we curacy and fidelity in rendering the apprehend noting can bol jected, words and phrates of one language except that the art does not extend into another are all the requifites for far tough to fecure the com, letion carrying it into practice; other qua of what is faid in the definition to 1 fications, if at all laken into view, are echittufe a god tranflation--the of very inferior esrfideration. Bat tranfcript of the ideas of the original in what regards the objects of tale werk Pught not only to be con lete, and ponte literature, the Art of Tranf Branfo; equally removed from exlation, while it retains its moitance, cefs on the one Band, and deficiency becomes more complicated in itsma- on the other; a bad tramater may ture, and demands many tuperior re? mangle an author as effectually ty quifites for its fuccefstul exercife. If making additions of his own, af er ail is to this laft fpecies of translation the ideas of the on work are that the author of the treatife before completely trin cried, as he can do us has alu oft exclufively directed his by topping fhort" be ore the fenle of attention, with a view to unfold its his author is fully y exhibited. principles and establin it's rules and 1629 molidot precepts. After an introduction mentioning the want of any treatifenis fub ject, fufficiently full and explicit, in

0

In illuftrating the fill or thefe rules, the author of the effy begins with fonie very jud Cous remarks on the neceffi yra perfect-knowledge of the original language, and a cometent

acquaintance

acquaintance with the fubject treated of. "tical tranflator never to fuffer his o These be illuftrates by a number of "riginal to fall. He must maintain well chofen examples from Folard," with him a perpetual conteft of geMelmoth, and particularly D'Alem "nius; he must attend him in his bert, in one or two of which laft, how "highest flights, and foar, if he can, ever, we apprehend he blames the "beyond him; and when he pertranflator unjustly, D'Alembert hav-ceives at any time a diminution of ing, in fome of the paffages condemned, come nearer the fenfe of the original than the author of the effay:-we allude in particular to the tranulation of the fentence "diciaturæ ad tempus funebantur,—where, from the context, we think it plain that the phrase ad tempus means" occafionally," and not "for a limited time;" the former being the only circumftance in which Tacitus meant to specify the diftinc tion betwixt Dictatorships and the co ther offices mentioned in the fentence; in which view, D'Alembert's verfion, “On creoit au besoin des dictateus paffagers" is faultys only in the addie tion of the fuperfluous word paflagers," which does not convey a different fenfe from the au befoin," but ferves as an unneceffary) amplification of that idea.

The author next enters upon the difcuffion of the queftion, Whether it is allowable for a tranflator to add to er retrench the ideas of the original. He gives his opinion that it is, more peculiarly in poetical translations. To a certain degree we fhould not greatly object to this liberry, abo's in every cafe, it ought to be afed with a very fparing band; but the effay has, in cur opinion, given it an extension altogether unwarrantable in good tafte and found criticifm. Rofcommon, in bis effay on tranflated verfe, had preforibed as a general rule,

Your auther always will the bell advife,
Fall when he falls, and when he giles,

Ji rife.

Far from adepting," fays the author, the former part of this maxim, I *conceive it to be the duty of a pocs

"his powers, when he fees a droop"ing wing, he must aife him on his "own pinions."In contradiction to this direction we must observe, that if tranflators were to adopt the author's views, we might have imitations or paraphrases, but we certainly would · not have tranflations. In a tranflation, we expect to find the original author prefented to us as he is, not as the tranflator may fuppofe he ought to be ; otherwife many of those allufions, to circumstances and manners, which, to readers that enter into their spirit, often for the chief beauty, and to readers who study the character and genius of other times and other nations, form the moft instuctive part of the original work, will probably be altogether loft; it will become impoffible to apprctiate in any meafure, from the tranflation, the real merits of the author, these being concealed under the labours of the translator; and, after all, there is the greatest probability, be the talents of the tranilator what they may, that where he fancies hilf improving, he may appear to others only deforming the original work These remarks nightt be illuftrated even by thofe paffuges, from Pope's averfion of the bad, which are produced in whe ellay as proofs of his fuperior excellence, as many of the trap flator's fuppofed improvements would, we apprehend, be justly called in queftion by one competent to decide on, the merits of the original and the rantation; in particular we doubt if the night-piece, in the 8th Book of the Iliad, be raifed and improved" by Pope; he has indeed added fome embellishments, but he has allo enfeebled

enfeebled the impreffion by feveral fuperfluous additions *. We mean not to infinuate that no liberty is to be allowed; no doubt, elegance requires that freedoms fhould be taken with the original ; but we must add, the fewer the better, and far from directing a tranflator to maintain a conteft of genius with his original, would advise him to keep as clofe to it as the nature of his language and the wifhed for cafe in compofition will ad

mit.

Upon the fecond General Rule for Tranflation the author obferves, that next in importance to a faithful tranf"fufion of the fenfe and meaning of "an author, is an affimilation of the **file and manner of writing in the "translation to that of the original.→→→ "A tranflator, therefore, muit apply "his attention to difcover the true "character of his author's ftyle. He "muft afcertain with precifion to what "class it belongs; whether to that of "the grave, the elevated, the cafy, "the lively, the florid and ornamented, For the fimple and unaffected grand thefe characteriflic qualities must be "equally confpicuous in the tranflas tion as in the original. If a tranf lator wants this difcernment, let him "be ever fo thoroughly mafter of the "fenfe of this author, he will prefent "him through a diftorting medium, " or exhibit him often in a garb that "is unfuitable to his character

chofen examples, both of its obferv-
ance and failure, are given. This
rule, however, it is juftly remarked,
demands the following limitations
1 The imitation must be regulated
"by the sinature or genius of the lan-
" "guages of the original and of the
"tranflation." 2. "The Latin and
Greek languages admit of inverfions
"which are inconfittent with the
ge-
"mos of the English."3.
“The Eng-
"ith language is not incapable of an
"elliptical mode of expreffion, but it'
"does not admit of is to the fame de-

The Third General Rule that the translation should, have all the "cafe of original compofitioa," comes' nextae be confidered. This, it is evident, is the molt difficult of all the three. "When we confider," fays. the author, thofe reftraints within "which a tranflator finds himfelt ne

ceflarily confined, with regard to the fentiments and manner of his o-friginal, it will foon appear that this "laft requifite includes the most difñcult par of his talk. To one who walks in trammels, it is not cafyto exhibit an air of grace and freedom."

This obfervation is very happily il luftrated in the 5th and 6th chap-5 ters of the work, where many will

༥

It

*The profe tranflation of this paffage in the effy is feebly and inadequately exceuted; the expreffive epithets of pay and age are altogether omitted, "othesayn is weakly rendered by opening to the fight," and sTICA quatch-tonvers” is unaccount

ably tranflated by "every valley," by which a very picturefque circunftance in the original is quite loft. A fimilar remark may be made on the tranflation of Jupiter's fpeech to the Affembly of the Gods, in which the author feems in feveral places purpostly to have made ufe of mean and vulgar terms, with a view to debafe the original below Mr Pope's tranflation.

+ In the courfe of thefe illuftrations we could not help fmiling at the author's calling McPherson's tranflation of Homer a "valuable work, as containing a most perfect tranf"fufion of the fenfe of his author," an eulogium that we doubt few will confirm who have compared it with the original.