That every thing contains within itself But Envy, of all evil things the worst, The fame to-day, to-morrow, and for ever, "Ne'er trust me, Phanias, but I thought till now, The following pathetic comparison is from Philemon, a cotemporary poet, who often carried away the prize from Menander, and whofe compofitions feem in general to be more laboured, and his reflections more refined. "Tis not on them alone, who empt the fea, That the storm breaks, it whelms e'en us, O Laches, Or to the inmoft shelter of our house Shrink from its rage. The failor for a day, A night perhaps, is bandied up and down, And then anon repofes, when the wind Veers to the wifh'd-for point, and wafts him home: But I know no repofe; not one day only, But every day to the laft hour of life Deeper and deeper I am plung'd in woe." We can find room but for one quotation more: it is from Apollodorus Gelous, and is admirably defcriptive. "There is a certain hofpitable air In a friend's houfe, that tells me I am welcome: The yard dog wags his tail, the fervant runs, Mr. Cumberland defends himself against an accufation in which he thinks he has been misunderstood. He never, he tells us, attacked the moral doctrines of Socrates. He only ⚫ referred to fome anecdotes unfavourable to his private character,' and till thefe are fhown to be frivolous or falfe, he cannot retract his opinion. The first part of the Clouds' of Aristophanes Aristophanes is afterwards tranflated; and if we are not to expect a complete verfion of this poet's works from the gentleman who fo excellently tranflated the Frogs,' we could wish to fee this task executed by Mr. Cumberland. The conclufion, for though we have long deferred it, we must come to the conclufion as laft, we shall give in the words of our author: we can add no others, except to thank him for the elegant entertainment, for the pleafing inftruction, we have received from thefe interefting volumes. I am now approaching to the conclufion of this my fifth volume, and according to my prefent purpofe fhall difiifs the Obfervers from any further duty: the reader and I are here to part. A few words, therefore, on fuch an occafion I may be permitted to fubjoin; I have done my best to merit his protection, and as I have been favourably heard whilt yet talking with him, I hope I fhall not be unkindly remembered when I can speak no more: I have paffed a life of many labours, and now being near its end have little to boast of but an inherent good-will towards mankind, which difappointments, injuries, and age itfelf have not been able to diminish. It has been the chief aim of all my attempts to reconcile and endear man to man: I love my country and contemporaries to a degree of enthusiasm that I am not fure is perfectly defenfible; though to do them justice, each in their turns have taken fome pains to cure me of my partiality. It is, however, one of those flubborn habits which people are apt to excufe in themfelves, by calling it a fecond nature. There is a certain amiable lady in the world, in whole interefts I have the tendereft concern, and whofe virtues I contemplate with paternal pride; to her I have always wifhed to dedicate thefe volumes; but when I confider that fuch a tribute cannot add an atom to her reputation, and that no form of words which I can invent for the occafion, would do juftice to what paffes in my heart, I drop the undertaking and am filent.' The Adventures of Theagenes and Chariclea. A Romance. 12mo. 65. TH HE appearance of a new tranflation of the Ethiopics of Heliodorus, at a period when the general attention is directed to Abyffinia and the neighbouring nations, led us again to attend to the youthful work of the good bishop of Tricca, a work fo highly esteemed by him, that he refigned his bishoprick rather than accede to the alternative, decreed by the provincial fynod, deftroying his work. This story so often. repeated, and probably true, we have had the curiofity to trace, and we find it occurs in the 12th book of the Ecclefiaf 3 tical tical Hiftory of Nicephorus Calliftus (cap. 34). There is a little variation in the account of another hiftorian of the same period (Socrates); but independent of the editions of Socrates differing in this refpect, there are many circumstances which fupport the narrative of Nicephorus. Heliodorus ftyles himfelf a Phoenician of Emefa, the fon of Theodofius, of the race or family of the fun. It is greatly doubted whether our author was the fame with the fophift mentioned by Philoftratus, who wrote about the year 230, for Philoftratus ftyles him an Arabian; but Emefa is not far diftant, and we should rather truft to the internal evidence, in oppofition to Philoftratus, than this little geographical error. We know not that Heliodorus wrote any thing elfe; but we must certainly accuse the elders of the provincial fynod of too great feverity; for, if we except the foundation, in which Chariclea is reprefented as trufting too fecurely to Theagenes' promife of marriage, and the ludicrous interpretation of one part of Thyamis' dream, we find nothing that the moft fcrupulous ecclefiaftic could blame in an ecclefiaftic. Theagenes, by his prudence, caution, and honourable conduct, fhows that the lady's confidence was not ill founded, and the example is a very falutary one: the interpretation is a flight, trifling, fault, though it is perhaps too often brought forward. In every other respect the moral is exemplary: the wicked are punished in the fnares: which they themselves laid, and numerous inftances of virtue, chaftity, and benevolence are rewarded. The various moral leffons, fcattered in almoft every page, the BwQeksi, yvwμái, as they are called by Cruftus, more than compenfate for the little errors of youth. Heliodorus is faid to have lived in the reigns of Theodofius and Arcadius; but Dr. Priestley refers him to the time of Julian, and feems to think that this was one of the works compofed for the inftruction of youth, when Julian for bad the Chriftians to read the Greek claffics in their fchools. There is fo little certain information refpecting the history of our author, that either account may be rendered probable; and the opinion of Dr. Priestley cannot be controverted by any argument drawn from the poem mentioned in our note. But this is not the whole merit of the Ethiopics (its original title, to which Chariclea was afterwards fubftitated), for it is the first example of the more familiar and profaic epic, which afterwards arose to its meridian in the hands of Fielding and Smollett, and has continued with a milder, but not lefs captivating fplendor, in thofe of Mifs Burney, Mrs. * The iambic poem on making gold, publified by Fabricius, is not, we think, the work of our author. Smith, Smith, and Mrs. Lennox, while the feeble imitations blaze (for a while, and are forgotten. Heliodorus is the general model; and he fixes our attention by an artful, well-digefted feries of adventures, by defcription of diftant countries, and manners different from our own, rather than a humorous difplay of various comic characters, of burlefque incident, or ridiculous fituation. His narrative is, in general, grave, guarded, and elegant; the fituations are various, and the changes of fortune unexpected. Perhaps, at times, the ftory. is too complicated; it fatigues the attention, and is with dif ficulty understood: fometimes the narratives are tedious, and reflections trifling; but, on the whole, it is a pleafing work; and when we reflect that the customs, the manners, the def-,. -criptions of the country, are sketched by an author who had either feen or received them from the best authorities; that the Janguage is clear, correct, and elegant; we may perhaps add that Heliodorus has been too much neglected, and Theagenes and Charielea too often claffed with Caffandra and Cleopatra. The translator feems to confider his attempt as new. He remembers, he fays, to have feen formerly an old tranflation of this work, but has not fince been able to procure it. He fufpects it to have been from the French of Amiot; and fo far as he recollects, it by no means did the author justice. In these respects, he is afficiently correct. The earliest translation, which now lies before us, is faid to have been in part executed by a perion of quality,' and the last five books by Nahum Tate. The version of the first books" is incorrect: the tranfator has raised his author on stilts,' and given a poetical caft to his danguage, which the bifhop, with purer models before his eyes, would have difdained, Many little circumstances are added, and fome are` omitted. The last books are rendered more accurately, and the poet-laureat excelled his predeceffor: as we have not the tranfiation of Amiot at hand, we cannot judge of the truth of our author's fufpicion, but we do not fee fo many Gallicifms as we should have expected, if the fufpicion were well grounded. The tranflation of Amiot was a very indifferent one, but it' procured him an abbey, though the original occafioned the lofs of a bishoprick. There is another tranflation, befides this of Mr. Tate's, published in 1686, which appeared in a work, entitled Winter Evenings' Entertainments;' pubJished, we believe, in weekly numbers. It is printed for W. Owen, Temple Bar, and R. Goadby, Sherborne, 1752, and the Ethiopics form the firit volume. They fay nothing of the tranflation or its author, though we think in the first books it is by much the most close and correct of the three, though not the most elegant. Another tranflation in English Vol. LXX. 08. 1799. hexameter, G g hexameter, by Abraham Fraunce, is mentioned by Fabricius. Our prefent tranflator feems to have paid rather an unequal fhare of attention to different parts of the work. He difplays, at times, a critical accuracy; and is, in turn, fo incorrect, that, as we cannot attribute it to a want of knowledge, it must neceffarily be ascribed to a want of attention. Let us take a fingle inftance. Mr. Tate, defcribing in the first book of his work, viz. the fixth, the journey of Calafiris, Nauficles, and Knemon, along the banks of the Nile, fays, they perceived a crocodile, labouring to fwfm from the one shore to the other, but the fwift current and wild waves ftill broke his force, and often ducked him to the bot. tom of the river.' Our laft tranflator's verfion is, they faw a crocodile coming from the right fide of the river, and fwimming swiftly down the ftream.' Heliodorus (we tranflate verbatim, and truly the paffage is not a difficult one), they fee a crococile creeping from the right fide to the left, and in the middle of the ftream plunging to the bottom with ra pidity and violence.' The tranflation, published for Owen, comes very near the original: they faw a crocodile crawling along from the right to the left, and plunging immediately, with great violence, into the water.' There are many fimilar paffages equally eafy, which are diftorted, as we have said, from inattention. There is another inadvertence of the present tranflator, which we must remark, as it added fome difficulties to our task of criticism. He has not pointed out the edition which he has employed, and we would not accufe him of faults which may have arisen from a defective copy. We cannot boaft of a variety of editions; but the various readings of Commelin and Bourdelot are before us, and from these the meaning may be often more accurately elucidated than from volumes of commentaries. Though we have accufed our tranflator of incidental errors, we have allowed him the merit of ease, freedom, and accuracy in general, fo far as we have been able to compare his verfion with the original. We fhall extract fome specimens. On the fummit of a mountain which extended nearly to' (we fufpect it should have been hung over, UTEOTIVE) the Heracleotic mouth of the Nile, a band of men, armed like pirates or robbers. (ev 2015 Anspots) looking around, faw the remains of a Thyelean feaft, where conviviality had been fucceeded by a tumultuous war and feemingly general deftruction.` An ear ier tranflation by Thomas Underwood is mentioned by Mr. Steevens (1577). One of thefe lies before us, but the title-page is wanting. It is dated 1637, and is proteffedly not exact. Yet fometinies tell I leffe and fometimes more • They |