17. Wait for the calm that was to fucceed in tranquillity." i. e. Wait in calmnefs for calmnefs.

18. His dearest connexions were either dead, or declared themselves fufpicious.' Another vile abuse of metonymy.

But we are tired of animadverfions which, though fometimes neceffary, are never agreeable to us; and have only further to add, that this life of Bolingbroke feems to have been patched up, by the mere aid of amplification, from that account given in the Biographia Britannica: but we must obferve, that the character of his Lordship, with which the pamphlet concludes, appears to us to be written by a different hand; it being as much fuperior to the reft of the compofition, as the ftyle and manner of Johnfon are to those of his equally pompous but feeble imitators.

ART. III. Plutarch's Lives. Tranflated from the original Greek, with Notes critical and hiftorical, and a new life of Plutarch, by John Langhorne, D.D. and William Langhorne, M. A. Concluded. See our laft.

TH

HE admiration of a favourite Author frequently induces a Tranflator to adopt the forms of conftruction which are peculiar to him. Attached, likewife, to a language, in the acquifition of which he has paffed many years, he has, perhaps, bad little leifure to ftudy the genius and ftructure of his own, or has contracted a contempt of it. The tranflations, accordingly, of the works of antiquity, while they are generally executed without tafte or fpirit, are frequently unintelligible to the unlearned reader. Even to thofe who are acquainted with ancient literature, they carry, fometimes, an obfcurity; and in order to understand them, it is neceffary, on many occafions, to have recourse to the original authors.

The cenfure which has been thrown on the Greek of Plutarch, would have preferved his tranflator, it may be thought, from copying too clofely his peculiarities; but very learned men want frequently the tafte which is neceffary to judge of the beauties and defects of compofition; and to give an equality to the style of this Author, which is elevated or mean, according to the works from which he has tranfcribed, will be allowed to be no eafy undertaking. Hence, till the publication before us, we could not boast of a verfion of his lives, that deserved to be encouraged, from the fkill or the merit which it difcovered. Better informed, and with more liberal views than are ufually to be found in the interpreters of the ancients, our Tranflators engaged in a tafk for which they were fully qualified. They poffeffed the tafte, the penetration, and the ability which were requifite to unfold to them the difficulties they had to encounter, and to overcome them. They have divided the

involved

involved and embarraffed periods of their Greek original; and, while they have expreffed the conceptions of their Author with fidelity, they have been attentive to render him with elegance.

Senfible, fay they, that the great art of a tranflator is to prevent the peculiarities of his Author's language from stealing into his own, they have been particularly attentive to this point, and have generally endeavoured to keep their English unmixed with Greek. At the fame time it must be observed, that there is frequently a great fimilarity in the ftructure of the two lanluages; yet that refemblance, in fome inftances, makes it the more neceffary to guard againft it on the whole. This care is of the greater confequence, because Plutarch's lives generally pafs through the hands of young people, who ought to read their own language in its native purity, unmixed and untainted with the idioms of different tongues. For their fakes too, as well as for the fake of readers of a different clafs, we have omitted fome paffages in the text, and have only fignified the omiffion by afterifms. Some, perhaps, may cenfure us for taking too great a liberty with our Author in this circumstance: however, we must beg leave in that inftance to abide by our own opinion; and fure we are, we should have cenfured no tranflator for the fame. Could every thing of that kind have been omitted, we fhould have been ftill lefs diffatisfied; but fometimes the chain of the narrative would not admit of it, and' the disagreeable parts were to be got over with as much decency as poffible.

In the defcriptions, they obferve, of battles, camps, and fieges, it is more than probable that we may fometimes be mistaken in the military terms. We have endeavoured, however, to be as accurate in this refpect as poffible, and to acquaint ourselves with this kind of knowledge as well as our fituations would permit; but we will not promise the Reader that we have always fucceeded. Where fomething feemed to have fallen out of the text, or where the ellipfis was too violent for the forms of our language, we have not fcrupled to maintain the tenor of the narrative, or the chain of reafon, by fuch little infertions as appeared to be neceffary for the purpose.'

Such are the liberties, which our Tranflators have taken with Plutarch; and fuch is the very candid account which they have given of them. We shall now lay a fpecimen of their verfion before our Readers, in order that they may be enabled to form for themselves an opinion of its merit and execution. For this purpose, we fhall felect their tranflation of the account of the death of Antony, and of that of Cleopatra.

• After Antony's overthrow, fay they, Aggrippa wrote feveral letters to Cæfar to inform him that his prefence was neceffary at Rome. This put off the war for fone time; but as

foon

foon as the winter was over, Cæfar marched against Antony by the route of Syria, and fent his Lieutenants on the fame bufinefs into Africa. When Pelufium was taken, it was rumoured that Seleucus had delivered up the place with the connivance or confent of Cleopatra: whereupon, the queen, in order to juftify herfelf, gave up the wife and children of Seleucus into the hands of Antony. Cleopatra had erected near the temple of Ifis fome monuments of extraordinary fize and magnificence. To these she removed her treasure, her gold, filver, emeralds, pearls, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon, together with a large quantity of flax, and a number of torches. Cæfar was under fome apprehenfions about this immenfe wealth, left, upon fome fudden emergency, fhe fhould fet fire to the whole, For this reafon he was continually fending meffengers to her with affurances of gentle and honourable treatment, while in the mean time he haftened to the city with his army.

• When he arrived he encamped near the Hippodrome; upon which Antony made a brifk fally, routed the cavalry, drove them back into their trenches, and returned to the city with the complacency of a conqueror. As he was going to the palace he met Cleopatra, whom, armed as he was, he kiffed without ceremony, and at the fame time he recommended to her favour a brave foldier who had diftinguished himself in the engagement. She prefented the foldier with a cuirafs and helmet of gold, which he took, and the fame night went over to Cæfar. After this Antony challenged Cæfar to fight him in fingle combat, but Cæfar only answered that Anthony might think of many other ways to end his life. Antony, therefore, concluding that he could not die more honourably than in battle, determined to attack Cæfar at the fame time both by fea and land. The night preceding the execution of this defign, he ordered his fervants at fupper to render him their best services that evening, and fill the wine round plentifully; for the day following they might belong to another mafter, whilft he lay extended on the ground, no longer of confequence either to them or to himself. His friends were affected, and wept to hear him talk thus; which when he perceived, he encouraged them by affurances that his expectations of a glorious victory were at leaft equal to thofe of an honourable death. At the dead of night, when univerfal filence reigned through the city, a filence that was deepened by the aweful thought of the enfuing day, on a fudden was heard the found of mufical inftruments, and a noife which refembled the exclamations of Bacchanals. This tumultuous proceffion feemed to pafs through the whole city,

Alexandria.

Perhaps the meaning of Plutarch would have been rendered with more propriety, if our Tran lators had employed the word pride, instead of complacency.

REV. Feb. 1771.

Ι

and

and to go out at the gate which led to the enemy's camp. Those who reflected on this prodigy, concluded that Bacchus, the god whom Antony affected to imitate, had then forsaken him.

As foon as it was light, he led his infantry out of the city, and posted them on a rifing ground, from whence he saw his feet advance towards the enemy. There he ftood waiting for the event; but as foon as the two fleets met, they hailed each other with their oars in a very friendly manner, (Antony's fleet making the first advances) and failed together peaceably toward the city. This was no fooner done, than the cavalry deserted him in the fame manner, and furrendered to Cæfar. His infantry were routed; and as he retired to the city, he exclaimed that Cleopatra had betrayed him to those with whom he was fighting only for her fake.

The unhappy Queen, dreading the effects of his anger, fled to her monument, and having fecuring it as much as posfible with bars and bolts, fhe gave orders that Antony fhould be informed, fhe was dead. Believing the information to be true, he cried, "Antony, why doft thou delay? What is life. to thee, when it is taken from her, for whom alone thou couldst wish to live?" He then went to his chamber, and opening his coat of mail, he faid "I am not diftreffed, Cleopatra, that thou art gone before me, for I fhall foon be with thee; but I grieve to think that I who have been fo diftinguished a general, fhould be inferior in magnanimity to a woman." He was then attended by a faithful fervant, whofe name was Eros. He had engaged this fervant to kill him, whenever he should think it neceffary, and he now demanded that fervice. Eros drew his fword, as if he defigned to kill him; but fuddenly turning about, he flew himself, and fell at his master's feet. "This, Eros, was greatly done," faid Antony, "thy heart would not permit thee to kill thy mafter, but thou haft taught him what to do by thy example. He then plunged his fword into his bowels, and threw himself upon a couch that flood by. The wound, however, was not fo deep as to caufe immediate death; and the blood topping as he lay on the couch, he came to himself, and intreated thofe who ftood by to put him out of his pain. They all fled, neverthelefs, and left him to his cries and torments, till Diomedes, fecretary to Cleopatra, came with her request, that he would come to her in the monument. When Antony found that he was still living, it gave him fresh fpirits, and, he ordered his fervants to take him up. Accordingly they carried him in their arms to the door of the monument. Cleopatra would not fuffer the door to be opened, but a cord being let down from a window, Antony was faftened to it, and the with her two women, all that were admitted into the monument, drew him up. Nothing, as they who were prefent ob

ferved,

ferved, could poffibly be more affecting than that spectacle. Antony covered with blood, and in the agonies of death, hoifted up by the rope, and ftretching out his hands to Cleopatra, while he was fufpended, for a confiderable time, in the air! For it was with the greateft difficulty they drew him up, though Cleopatra herfelf exerted all her ftrength, ftraining every nerve, and diftorting every feature with the violence of the effort; while those who stood below endeavoured to animate and encourage her, and feemed to partake in all the toil, and all the emotions that the felt. When he had drawn him up, and laid him on a bed, as fhe stood over him, he rent her cloaths, beat and wounded her breaft, and wiping the blood from his disfigured countenance, fhe called him her lord, her emperor, her husband! Her whole foul was abforbed in his misfortunes; and fhe feemed totally to have forgot that she had any miferies of her own. Antony endeavoured to foothe her as well as he was able, and called for wine; either because he was thirsty, or because he thought it might fooner put him out of his pain. When he had drank, he advifed her to confult her own affairs, and her fafety, fo far as might be confiftent with honour, and to place her confidence in Proculeius rather than in the other friends of Cæfar. "As to himfelf" he faid, " that fhe ought rather to rejoice in the remembrance of his paft happinefs than to bewail his prefent misfortunes; fince in his life he had been illuftrious, and was not inglorious in his death. He had conquered like a Roman, and it was only by a Roman that he was conquered." A little before he expired, Proculcius, arrived from Cæfar: For after Antony had ftabbed himself, and was conveyed to Cleopatra, Dercetaeus, one of his guards, privately, carried off his bloody fword, and fhewed it to Cæfar. When Cæfar beheld this token of Antony's death, he retired to the inner part of his tent, and fhed fome tears in remembrance of a man who had been his relation, his collegue in government, and his affociate in fo many battles and fuch important affairs. He then called his friends together, and read the letters

• This retirement of Cæfar, fay our Tranflators, was certainly an affectation of concern. The death of Antony had been an inva riable object with him. He was too cowardly to think himself fafe while he lived; and to expofe his weaknefs by reading his letters the moment he was informed of his death, was certainly no proof that he felt even then any tenderne's for his memory.'

It is doubtless very certain, that Cafar had in view the death of Antony; but, when he fhed tears on being informed, that he had perished by his own hand, we cannot think that his concern was affected. The death of our molt inveterate enemy recals to us all the good qualities he poffeffed; we forget, for a time, the injuries