CONTENTS OF No. LXVII. Page. Art. I.-Jerusalem Delivered; an Epic Poem, in Twenty Cantos; translated into English Spenserian Verse from the 1 II.-). Histoire de l'Homme au Masque de Fer, accompagné des Pièces authentiques et de Fac-simile. Par J. Delort. 2. The True History, of the State-Prisoner commonly called · The Iron Mask ;' extracted from Documents in the French Archives. By the Hon. George Agar Ellis. 19 III. - Oronzio di Bernardi's Vollständiger Lehrbegriff der Schwimmkunst aus dem Italienischen übersezt, und 35 IV.-1. Lettres sur l’Angleterre. Par A. de Staël-Holstein. 2. Journal Hepdomadaire des Arts et Métiers, de la Fa brique et de la Méchanique pratique ; des Découvertes, domestique de l'Angleterre. de l'Amérique, communiqués par le Bureau de Commerce 45 V.-Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra in 1823, under the Direction of the Government of Prince of Wales's 99 VI.—Memoirs of Antonio Canova, with a critical Analysis of his Works, and an Historical view of Modern Sculp- 110 VII.-1. Faust, a Drama, by Goethe, with Translations from the German. By Lord Francis Leveson Gower. 2. Posthuinous Poenis. By Percy Bysshe Shelley. - 136 VIII.-1. Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society vol. i. . 2. Memoirs of the Literary and Pbilosophical Society o Manchester. 2d Series. vol. iv. 3. Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Corn wall, instituted February 11. vol. i. and ii. 4. Report of the Liverpool Royal Institution. 5. Bristol Institution. Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting, held February 10, 1825, &c. 6. Annual Report of the Council of the Yorkshire Philo sophical Society for 1824. IX.-1. A Letter to the Earl of Liverpool, proposing to finish the East Wing of Somerset House for National Galle- ries. By J. W. Croker, Esq. 2. Observations on the. Buildings, Improvements, and Extension of the Metropolis, of late Years; with some Suggestions, &c. 3. Sketch of the North Bạnk of the Thames, showing the proposed Quay, and some other Improvements, suggested by Lieutenant-Colonel Trench. Metropolitan Palace. By a Member of Parliament. on the Improvements proposed and now carrying on in the Western part of London. 17: X.-1. Memoirs of the Life of John Philip Kemble, Esquire, including a History of the Stage from the time of Gar rick to the present period. By James Boaden, Esquire. and Theatre Royal Drury Lane, including a period of 196 XI.—The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Revolution of 1688. By David Hume, • 248 List of New Publications - 299 NEW CONTENTS OF No. LXVIII. Page Art. 1.-1. Britton's Cathedral Antiquities. 2. A Brief Memoir of the Life and Writings of John · 305 11.-Lives of the Novelists. By Sir Walter Scott. - 349 III.-1. Journal of a Third Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; of the Expedition. years 1822—24. Containing an Examination of the - 378 IV.-Philippe-Auguste ; Poëme Héroïque, en Douze Chants. Par F. A. Parseval, Membre de l'Académie Française. 399 V.-1. The Subaltern. 2. The Adventures of a Young Rifleman in the French and English Armies during the War in Spain and Por tugal, from 1806 to 1816. Written by himself. paigns in Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia, &c. from 406 VI.-Mémoires de Madame la Comtesse de Genlis. - 421 VII.-Memoir of the Life and Character of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke; with Specimens of his Poetry and Letters; and an Estimate of his Genius and 'Talents, compared with those of his great Contemporaries. By James Prior, Esq. Second Edition; enlarged to two volumes by a variety of Original Letters, Anecdotes, Papers, and other Additional Matter. X.-Observations on the actual State of the English Laws of XI.-1. Correspondence with the British Commissioners, re- lating to the Slave-Trade. 1825, 1826. Class A. 2. Correspondence with Foreign Powers, relating to the Slave-Trade. 1825, 1826. Class B. Presented to 3. British and Foreign State Papers. 1824, 1825. 4. Nineteenth and Twentieth Reports of the Directors of QUARTERLY REVIEW. Art. 1.–Jerusalem Delivered ; an Epic Poem, in Twenty Cantos ; translated into English Spenserian Verse from the Italian of Tasso, &c. &c. By J. H. Wiffen. 8vo. London and Edinburgh. MUCH didactic prose and poetry has been written upon the subject of translation: the substance of which may be comp ised in an exhortation to translate rather by equivalents than by literal version of the author's words. If we try the merit of this precept, however, by its fruits, we shall find that, though its adoption may have produced good poetry, it has not often produced the thing required. With the exception of • Mittitur in disco mihi piscis ab archiepisco -Po non ponatur quia potus non mihi datur.' « I had sent me fish in a great dish by the archbish-Hop is not here for he gave me no beer' we do not know of above one good translation executed upon this system in more than a century from the time in which it was most popular. On the other hand, we have many, among the best in the language, and not despicable even as poetry, for which we are indebted to that severe style of version, which was in fashion before the doctrine of equivalents was broached. Among these, many of Ben Jonson's essays rank foremost, and Sandys Translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses may be deemed a happy specimen of the school. Yet it must be allowed, that the free. is the noble style of translation; that the only versions in our language, which rank as poems, are boldly executed; and that even the closest copyist must at times resort to equivalents, if he would give the real meaning of his original. This, however, is a daring and hazardous course; full of shoals so irregularly scattered, and often seen in such false lights, that there are few who have a sufficient perception of their dangers, or dexterity to avoid them. The most obvious of these dangers are modern and vulgar associations; of which we have spoken at large in a foriner Number: but there is another, which we do not remember to have seen laid down in any chart of criticism: this is, the resorting to some equivalent, which ap: pears to convey the exact sense of the author, without observing the effect of that equivalent upon other parts of the text, under translation; a risk almost as perilous in its ultimate, though not VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVII. in А |