The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-09 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE COMEDIES OF ARISTOPHANES.
Bailey, London, 1836.

In running our eyes over the translation of the
comedy of the " Acharnians," which stands the first
iii this volume, we were not a little surprised to find
one of the characters, a " Megarian pig-jobber,"
speaking in the broad Lowland dialect ; and, on re-
ferring to the notes for an explanation of this pheno-
menon, we found the following :
" In the original play, the Megarian, as well as the
Boeotian, who is afterwards introduced, talks in a very broad
provincial dialect. I have ventured to make use of guid
braid Lallans' in my translation, to supply its place, be-
cause that is the only dialect of the English language which
has assumed a permanent literary existence. While the
poetry of Burns, and the prose of the Scotch novels, and the
Noctes Ambrosianm exist, an Englishman who has not mas-
tered the peculiarities of the northern idiom must be either
very ignorant, or very indolent—or both."
This is a bold and ingenious notion, and such as
would never have presented itself to the mind of a mere
dull, plodding scholar. Such a man would have shud-
dered at the idea of so daring an innovation on con-
ventional propriety. He would merely have taken into
consideration that a Megarian could not by any possi-
bility be a Scotchman ; but Mr. Walsh knows well
—a fact which justifies his innovation—that there was
as much difference between the old dialects of Grece, as
there is, at the present day, between those of England and
Scotland. Reasoning therefore, from analogy, he
feels that he is authorized in maintaining these diffe-
rences of dialect, which, besides, add greatly to the
life and humour of the dialogue. The adoption of
the Lowland Scotch, however, must have greatly added
to the difficulties of his task ; for it is plain to see that
he is an Englishman ; and such being the case, we are
surprised at the accuracy with which he has mastered
the Lowland vernacular. A timid, or an indolent,
translator would never have ventured to grapple with
the difficulty ; but Mr. Walsh appears to have had
no misgivings on the subject, knowing well that resolu-
tion and perseverance, like faith, can remove moun-
tains. The explanatory notes to each play are brief,
and supply much useful information ; and the prefatory
remarks give us a curious insight into the domestic
habits of the Greeks. Our fair readers will, no doubt,
thank us for this entertaining extract :

" The treatment of the female sex throughout Attica
was very similar to that which prevails at the present day
in almost all parts of the East. Every house, except those
of the very meanest artisans, was divided into two distinct
portions, the men's apartments or andron, and the gynceco-
nitis or harem, which was appropriated to the use of the
women. In this last the unmarried girls of the family were
rigorously secluded, and scarcely ever permitted to go
abroad, except to officiate in certain solemn religious pro-
cessions. Married women were allowed greater liberty, as
is still the case in the Levant. Their husbands, unless
particularly severe, generally gave them full leave to visit
their female friends at their houses, and to go abroad occa-
sionally for other purposes. Still it was reckoned highly
disreputable for them to be seen often in public, and there
were officers appointed at Athens for the express purpose
of watching their conduct while absent from home. Such
being the condition of the sex, it was not of course to be
expected that they should be admitted into general society.
There were none of those delightful entertainments to be
met with in Attica in which the young of both sexes are
intermixed. There were no conversaziones—no pic-nic
parties--and, worst of all—no balls."

Mr. Walsh then proceeds to describe the mode in
which the Greek drama was represented at Athens, in
which the reader will find much useful and agreeable
reading. In his endeavours clearly to elucidate
this branch of his subject, he has spared no research ;
but entered upon it in an earnest spirit, with a firm
determination to leave nothing unsaid that could pos-
sibly be said on it. Yet, though full of curious and
recondite knowledge, this introductory essay is by no
means heavy, or clogged with pedantic allusions ; the
style is remarkable for its clearness and simplicity ; and
here and there occur sly touches of humour which serve
greatly to enliven it. The most naive and amusing por-
tions of it are the opening paragraphs, wherein Mr. Walsh
observes, " What a great pity it is that there were no
active volcanoes, like Vesuvius, in the heart of ancient
Greece ! Had it so happened, we might have had
a chance of digging up a fossil Greek city, at the ex-
piration of a couple of thousand years, in as perfect a
state of preservation as Pompeii or Herculaneum."
Certes it is much to be regretted that some ten or twelve
thousand inoffensive Greek citizens were never buried
alive by the action of earthquake or volcano ; for by
the absence of such wholesale sacrifice of life, though
humanity has been the gainer, scholarship has been the
loser I Volcanoes cannot be better employed than in
destroying cities for the interests of literature ; and,
viewed in this light, Vesuvius is a public benefactor,
to whom classical scholars cannot be sufficiently grate-
ful. Doubtless, ages hence, when this Imperial metro-
polis, like the old Greek cities, shall have perished by
the gradual operation of time, some erudite American
antiquary, inspired by the enthusiasm of a Walsh, may
regret, with him, that it was nod buried at once beneath
a Primrose-hill volcano, and its, inhabitants put to the
most torturing of deaths, in or* that he might make
fossil discoveries beneath the lava, for the benefit of
the existing generation I Our author's:regret is a most
amusing, not to say original, one, and would have en-
deared him to a Bentley, a Porson, or a Parr. Salva-
tor Rosa, too, who stuck a man, in order to see how
he looked when dying, and pourtray his agonies on
canvas, would have understood and sympathised with
Mr. Walsh's lament. We have said that this gentle-
man is a scholar, and of a high order : we may say, in
addition, that he possesses both fancy and humour :
and that, in his translation of the " Acharnians," he
gives not merely the literal meaning, but the entire fun
and spirit of the text. Even MitOell has not exceeded
him in conveying a vivid idea of the flash lyrics of the
" black-pudding seller"—a surprising genius, half prig,
half area-sneak, worthy to vie in self-conceit and felo-
nious capability of fingers, with that " snapper up of
unconsidered trifles," the " Autolycus" of Shakspeare.
In a word, Mr. Walsh is a free, lively translator, who
has caught much of the Aristophanic manner. His
rhymes dash along in a frolicsome, heedless style, as
utterly regardless of mere tinkling melody, as Sir
Charles Wetherell's old black coat of shape and sym-
metry. The work, we perceive, is to be extended to
three volumes. We are glad of it, for it is one much
wanted.

LADIES' CABINET LAWYER.

Van Voorst, London, 183 G.

" The design of this work"—says the author, a bar-
rister of the Middle Temple—" is to supply females
exclusively with such particulars of their legal rights
and liabilities, both as regards person and property, as
it is desirable they should be made acquainted with."
This design is a highly useful one, and has been
executed in a lucid and intelligent manner. The lan-
guage is not over technical, but is uniformly fami-
liar, and easy to be apprehended. On running
over the book, we accidentally pounced upon a
chapter entitled, " on the Personal Chastisement of
Wives," wherein we.find Judge 'Buller's famous deci-
sion, that a husband may legally thump his spouse
with a stick of the thickness of his thumb, completely
overturned ; the law of the day holding that all matri-
monial thrashings are in the highest degree unlawful.
Nevertheless, husbands have still the privilege of " con-
fining their wives," though " such confinement must
not amount to imprisonment —a nice distinction
which we do not profess to understand. We should
strenuously exhort all married ladies to purchase this
edifying little duodecimo, for then they will have the
satisfaction of knowing that they have got the law in
their own hands.

Viscount St. Vincent and the Hon. Mr. and Miss
Jervis have arrived at Paris, where they intend to pass the
winter months.