felves; and these may be read with as much facility as a te dious compilation of this nature. If an expofition of the catechism is really wanted, we would rather put it into the hands of young and ignorant perfons' fuch a little manual, as that which was published fome years fince by Mr. Lewis, than one which is fix or eight times larger in fize, and fraught with a great number of positions and doctrines, which, if not erroneous, are certainly above the capacities of children. 51. A Letter to the Rev. Mr. T—y. Being an Enquiry into bis Conduct, refpecting his late unchriftian Treatment of the Author of a Pamphlet entitled, "The Notion of Eternal Juftification refuted," Sc. on two fucceffive Sundays at the L-k Chapel. 8vo. Pr. 3d. Dilly. The author of this letter complains, that Mr. T--y, in fome of his difcourfes at the L-k, where this gentleman likewife attends, had treated him and his pamphlet on justification (because it did not coincide with his own opinion) in a very illiberal manner; reprefenting the writer under the ludicrous image of a child, of about four years old, with a straw in his hand, running after a man, and striking him with it upon the back; as a lucklefs boy coming hopping in, mounted upon printed filts; and as a little cur, running after a man on horseback, and barking at the horse's heels.'-Language of this kind was undoubtedly unbecoming a divine in the pulpit; and if Mr. T――y actually expreffed himself in these terms, this gentleman has a right to complain. If we had not his authority for believing that this was really fact, we could not have imagined that fuch expreffions fhould have ever been heard in a congregation of faints; or that 52. "So much dudgeon dwells in beav'nly minds!" The Bleedness attending the Memory of the Juft reprefented; in a Sermon preached at Hackney, in Middlesex, Nov. 12, 1769, upon occafion of the much-lamented Death of the Rev. Mr. Timothy Laugher. By Andrew Kippis, D. D. 8vo. Pr. 15. Buckland. This is a pious and useful difcourfe; and is written with that accuracy and elegance which appear in all the compofitions of Dr. Kippis. 53. G' To the Authors of the Critical Review. IVE me leave to inform you of a mistake, into which you have been led, indeed almost unavoidably, in the account which you have given, in your Review for July laft, of the very learned learned and ingenious Mr, Michaelis's differtation On the Influence of Opinions on Language, and of Language on Opinions. You tell us, that the tranflation, which is now prefented to the public, was revised by Mr. Michaelis himself, and was enriched by him with fome confiderable fupplements.' No doubt you thought you had good authority for faying this, as you took it very exactly from the preface prefixed to the tranflation: and no one, uninformed, as I fuppofe you were, of the true hiftory of this publication, could have understood this preface otherwise than you have done. Yet the whole of your account above tranfcribed is a mistake. I can affure you, that Mr. Michaelis never faw one word of this translation, till several months after it was published; he knows not who the English tranflator is; he never had any correfpondence with him; nor did he ever communicate to him, either directly or indirectly, any fupplement to his own work. The truth of the matter is this: the tranflation lately prefented to the public is a tranflation at fecond hand; it is tranflated from the French translation; the preface is the preface of the French translators, tranflated into English. Of these very material circumstances not the least notice is given. The reader therefore will of courfe fuppofe, that the tranflation was made from the original German, and that the preface is the preface of the English tranflator. By this difingenuous concealment of the truth, not only the purchafers of this tranflation are impofed upon, and the public deceived; but great injuftice is done to the author of the differtation, who thus becomes refponsible, in the opinion of the English reader, for all the imperfections, whatever they may be, of the tranflation. I fpeak only on fuppofition, not having had leifure or opportunity to enter minutely into an examination of this matter but if the tranflator fhould perchance have fallen into mistakes, inaccuracies, obfcurities; it will all be imputed to Mr. Michaelis himself, the supposed revisor of this tranflation; the fuppofed approver of it, as conveying accurately and correctly his own sense. But further, there is another circumstance, which I must beg leave to explain to you, refpecting the style and compofition; in regard to which, the author may probably think, that his differtation cannot appear to any advantage in this new English drefs. The differtation was written in the German language. The French tranflation of it was undertaken voluntarily by two eminent writers, in all refpects capable of performing the task with accuracy and elegance; Monf. de Merian, and Monf. de Premontval: and they fubmitted their tranflation in MS. to the author for his revifal. The French language differs very greatly from the idiom of the German: and not only fo, but it is tied up up to fuch strict rules, it has fo many niceties and delicacies with regard to the turn of the expreffion, and the form of the period, that it is extremely difficult, if not impoffible, to give a very close, and at the fame time an elegant translation, from almost any language into French. The tranflators themselves complained to the author of the very great constraint (la gêné exceffive, to ufe their own expreffion) which they lay under in this refpect. They were therefore obliged to take confiderable Jiberties with the original; in regard to the expreffion and compofition, in order to make the difcourfe appear graceful and agreeable in their own language: and this they might very confidently and fafely do, as they wrote under the eye of the author, who would be fure to note and to rectify every the leaft deviation from his true fenfe. This advantage the English translation has not enjoyed: and moreover it labours under a peculiar disadvantage. A clofe tranflation, made at fecond hand from a free one, muft carry with it a strong tincture of the medium through which it has paffed; at the same time that it has no chance of recovering any thing that may have been loft of the native and genuine colour of the first compofition in this cafe efpecially, where the French language, equally difcordant from the German and the English, ftands in the way between both, and intercepts the natural communication of those two sister languages; which would have run immediately one into the other, with great facility and exactness, and with very little alteration of the form, or diminution of the fpirit, of the original. In fact, I have been informed by a learned foreigner, (than whom no one can be supposed to be a better judge in this matter, or to enter more readily and intimately into the meaning of the author) that, in reading this tranflation, he met with many paffages which he could not understand, without having recourfe to the French translation ; and that those very paffages, which appeared to him hard and obfcure, and that merely from being literally rendered from the French, would have appeared easy and graceful in English, had they been literally rendered from the German. By publishing this in your next Review, you will do justice to Mr. Michaelis, to yourselves, and to the public; and oblige, Jan. 12, 1770 Gentlemen, Your humble fervant, THE CRITICAL REVIEW. For the Month of February, 1770. ARTICLE Ì. The Prefent State of Europe: exhibiting a View of the Natural and Civil Hiftory of the feveral Countries and Kingdoms: their Prefent Conftitution and Form of Government; their Customs, Manners, Laws, and Religion; their Arts, Sciences, Manufac tares, and Commerce; their Military Eftablishments, Public Treaties, and Political Interefts and Connexions. To which is prefixed, an Introductory Difcourfe on the Principles of Polity and Government. By M. E. Totze, late Secretary to the Univerfity of Gottingen, and now Profeffor of Hiftory in the Univerfity of Butzow, and Duchy of Mecklenburg. Tranflated from the German by Thomas Nugent, LL.D. and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. 3 Vols. 8vo. Pr. 18. Nourfe. THE HIS tranflation appears to be a tribute of friendship paid to the author, Mr. Edward Totze, who is, it seems, profeffor of history in the univerfity of Butzow, founded by his ferene highnefs the duke of Mecklenburgh Schwerin, in 1760. The original work is not yet entirely. finished; it does not contain the present state of Germany, nor that of the Auftrian Netherlands, Italy, the Helvetic body, and the European Turkey, which is now become fo capital an object in the affairs of Europe.-The author feems to be fenfible of this deficiency; for he fays that, to com plete it, if this effay is approved, he purpofes to publish the VOL. XXIX. February. ftate ftate of Germany, with the addition of a brief account of the temporal and fpiritual monarchy of the fee of Rome; which, in its prefent ftate, is, we think, of no great importance to the Prefent State of Europe. In order to complete the work, we could with the author would take into his plan an account of the kingdoms of Hungary, Sardinia, and Naples, the Milanefe, Florence, Parma, Venice, Genoa, and other omitted ftates, in Italy and elsewhere. This work is ufhered in by Introductory Principles of Polity and Government, in which we find nothing particular; and after giving a definition of monarchy, ariftocracy, democracy, fimple and mixed governments, he agrees with Mr. Pope, that For forms of government let fools conteft; In this Introduction, with regard to all local obfervations, and natural history, Bufching is Mr. Totze's leading authority, The civil and political obfervations of Mr Totze are, in general, very pertinent, chiefly grounded upon Montefquieu, and Sufmilch, in his Difplay of the Divine Economy. He defcribes the establishments of literature in the following manner. The advancement of fciences requires fchools of higher and lower ranks. In the former, called Universities, are taught all the fciences, both the liberal and the higher *; in the latter, youth are only inftructed in the liberal fciences, or go no farther than writing, cafting accompts, Latin and Greck, and the rudiments of religion. Befides the universities and lower fchools, there are some of an intermediate class, known by the name of Academies; where young gentlemen learn the exercifes, languages, fciences, and arts becoming their station. Though mufic be reckoned among the fine arts, yet it is very feldom taught by appointed profeffors: this, however, obtained antiently, and even in fome meafure ftill fubfifts. Alphonfo X. king of Caftile, in the year 1254, founded in the unive: fity of Salamanca a profefforfhip of mufic, with a falary of fifty maravedis a year. See Ferrera's Hiftory of Spain, book IV. § 461. p. 477. Mufic has likewife a profefforship at Coimbra. Noticias de Portugal por Manoel Saverin de Faria, Difcurfo V. § iii. p. 207. There is likewife a profeffor of Mufic at Oxford; and at the English univerfities, even Do&ors of Mufic are created. See Alberti's Letters on the State of Religion and Learning in Great Britain, Letter XLVIII, and L. • The |
