LONDON:
Printed for John Hooke, at the Flower-
de-luce over-against St. Dunstan’s Church in
Fleet-street. Mdccxxv.
PREFACE.
THE following Papers, which I now commit to the Public, have lain by me unregarded these many Years. They were first undertaken at the Request of a Person, who at present shall be nameless. Since that Time I have been wholly diverted from Studies of this Nature, and my Thoughts have been employed about Subjects of a much greater Consequence, and more agreeable to my Profession: Insomuch, that I had nothing in my Mind less than the Publication of these Papers; but some Friends, who had perus’d them, were of Opinion, that they deserv’d to be publish’d, and that they might afford an agreeable Entertainment not without some Profit to the Reader. These Motives prevailed upon me to give them a second Care, and to bestow upon them so much Pains, as was necessary to put them in that State, in which they now appear.
The first Piece that the Reader will meet with is, A Critical Essay on Characteristic-Writings: It treats of the Origin of those Writings: It points out the general Laws to be observ’d in such Compositions, and it contains some Reflexions on Theophrastus’s and Mr. de la Bruyere’s Performances in this Way. The Design of this at least is, I think, new. Mr. Fabricius mentions a [A]Book, which, by its Title, shou’d bear some Relation to this Essay, but tho’ I have enquir’d after it pretty strictly, yet I never cou’d get a Sight of it, nor have I conversed with any Person that had perus’d it.
The next Piece is a Translation of the Moral Characters of Theophrastus from the Greek. This is not the first Time that Theophrastus has appeared in a modern Dress. Mr. de la Bruyere translated him into French: And this was the Foundation of those Characters, which he himself compos’d, and which gave Rise to those many Performances, that were afterwards attempted in the same Way. [B]Mr. Menage has highly extoll’d this Translation. Elle est, says he, bien belle, & bien françoise, & montre que son Auteur entend parfaitement le Grec. Je puis dire que j’y ay vu des Choses, que, peut etre, Faute d’Attention, je n’avois pas vues dans le Grec. This is great; and it must be own’d that Mr. Menage was a Man of very extensive Learning, and a great Master of the Greek Tongue; but that his Judgment was always equal to his Knowledg of Words, will not be so readily allow’d. Besides, the Credit of the Books ending in ana runs very low, and in particular the Menagiana have been disown’d by Mr. Menage’s own [C]Relations, as being injurious to the Merit and Memory of that great Man. And therefore it must still be left to the inquisitive and judicious Reader to determine, whether those Faults, which I have observ’d in Mr. de la Bruyere’s Translation are justly censur’d or not.
The Characters of Theophrastus have been twice translated into English. The former Translation is anonymous, and the latter was done by the ingenious Mr. Eustace Budgell. It will be expected that I shou’d say something of these two Translations. And I shall be the more ready to do this, because I shall hereby insensibly lead the Reader to the Reasons which induc’d me to undertake a third.
The anonymous English Translation is said to have been done upon the Greek. But this is only a Pretence, and a low Artifice of the ignorant Translator: For in reality ’tis no more than a mean and insipid Translation of the French of Mr. de la Bruyere, revis’d upon the Latin of Casaubon, which answers almost verbally to the Original Greek. If this were a Matter of Importance, I wou’d here fully demonstrate it: For the Fact is so glaring, that tho’ the Translator is wholly unknown to me, yet I can aver what I have asserted to be Truth, almost as certainly, as if I had been an Eye Witness to the doing of it.
Mr. Budgell’s Translation must be own’d to be polite: But politeness is not the only Qualification that is required in such a Translation. The learn’d Reader, who understands the Original, will consider it in a different View. And to judg of it according to those Rules which Translators ought to observe, it must be condemned. In general, it is not exact and accurate enough; but what is far worse, Mr. Budgell gives, in too many Instances, his own Thoughts instead of representing the true Sense of Theophrastus. This is perverting the Humour of the Original, and, in Effect, making a new Work, instead of giving only a Translation. Mr. Budgell ingenuously confesses, that he has taken a great deal of Liberty; but when a Translator confesses thus much, it does but give the Reader good Reason to suspect that instead of taking a great deal, he has in reality taken too much.