The Sun.
London, England, 1817-11-26 00:00:00

A POETICAL MANIFESTO.

" The mirthful muse, which spurns at lies,
" May sketch a truth in sportive guise?!
•
AT a town in the West, where Drat h•hunters repair,
And take different courses to calch.hitu when there,
Ly having recourse, when there's no sort of needing, .
To sousing and sweating, and purging and bleeding;
While others at real disease seldom shock 'd ate, •
'Till Deat I; draws the curtain in shape of a doctor;
Prescribing pukes, blisters, and potions and pills,
'Either one way or other, to cure all their ills.
At this modern GoLuoyaa, croWded so full ' •
0f Death's spoils, You may call it" he PlaCe of a Skull
1, TtitnittY TOTTIM, is man of someaneans,' •
And perhaps somewhat rich r in bullion than brains,
Had hinplaboned under a vile complication,
And pui'd three physicians about its causation: •
Who trinnel y' agreed, that till Tit aT was explor'd,
Their patient could never to health be reatoed ;
Anil THIS the wise trio bad long traced in vast,
Thro' the nerves, lungs and liver, the head aid the hraln;
fill, at last, their poor patient, impatient of quacking,
Threw their drugs mt the sink, and the goet ors sent packing.
Put, lo ! a few se'nnights bad scalcely pme by,
After cach, in his tnrii, had pronouired I must •
Whrn from sickness's bed hale and hist). I sprung,
Like the folk front the mill which grinds old pelvic ruing,
An meeting my three quondam ft iends in the Crescent,
' Who thought me laid low, quit of cares rind quiescent,
Dan't wonder, •sand I, that you see the vet over'd,
, Since by SoLomoN'S Wtsuom in case is rliscover'd 1
And that wisdoin which flows from a fountain so pure,
Has 4 once trac',l the,cause, and t"ifecied the cure.
Von could tied out no Balm for my deep •,ounded health,
Tho' -put' worships' deep skill suck'attny brains and my wealth
Ilut to she w what Irv; smich'd me front death past denial,
Read the words " 11:st.m tur tiftd:an" on this little phial !
This is truth, let ineredency say what it will.
Witne'ks---Timontr TorrEtt, ofTotterdown
P.S.—lf you think sty right name is conceal'd front your view,
Ask at Nu. 13, and they'll tell you, .Who's Wbu. • -

COLONIAL

Tthiucarrs ON THE: •ikiivA.NT\t;E;• or A bLAssf.

'CAL Elicc,ATloN.

(Front. the. Free Press, pallis4efrat kali/4' 4in Nova Scotia)
. . (Continued frtiiu our iiipe'r of IN 0v.i7.)
As the tideas of the 'mind are vastly quire nu-
merous' thab The words at any Vangungr, those
echo speak and write are obliged to extend the
original irgnication of terms, and to use theni
in a iiiqaphorical and .figurative sense. Hence
a ltutgnage becomes rich, copious, and elegant,
as it conveys
,ottr ideas through that endless Va •
riety of similitudes and reseinhlances, which sur-
rounding objects suggest, when ca nparcd with.
each Other, and wit cit the itn:tgination fashions
and combines, according as it may be more or less
fertile and lively. This accounts tor the seV., rat
meaniuga attached. to words, which, in their lA-
arCeplation, must have been as lidlited and:
definite in Significatiau, • as the quantities repre,
seated by the arithmetical figures, 1,2, 3, &c.
`ow, Ito* shill! a ye-ring Man justly merit the ap-
pellation of Scholar, who cannot trace the wordt•
he employs as symbols of thought, to their primi-
tive fOrmation iind source And what an immense

advantage doe's that boy possess, who is capable of
pursuing a term, throitgla all its.inetaphorical and.
ramified wieaniogs, till he discovers its precise.and
literal import Y Or, setting out with its printary
signification, sees and Under Stands how it comes
tivrepresents a variety of collateral ideas, which,
though apparently differ:Art, are ail reducible to
one common source ?
'fake, for instance, the Greek verb daia, which
originally signifies to separate or divide. Hence,
by analogy, to bUrn, or to deStroy the cohesion
Or.combustible substances by fire—to entertain or
to distribute to each guest his peculiar portion at
a banqitet=to learn,nr to make such distinctions
in elementary principles as every one must-do, •
who pretends to learn—to kill, of to cut the hotly
in pieces by a sWut d or other weapon, &c..•. How ;
seemingly different the English words divide,
burn; 'entertain, learn, and kill, yet all of theta;
referrable to one general idea, namely., that of sc.!,
[titration ? Logo, in Latin, signifies to gather
hence, by analogy, to choose or elect--read, ga-
ther tip or furl a ship's sails, &c. These examples,
though few in number, like oihers lot tueily given,
will serve to demonstrate how aceedingly
we can -pretend to know of the 'signs of our
ideas, unless we be familiarly acquainted wills
their various meanings, simple and Compounded,
original and derived,'and are in some IlleaSore able
to diSeern and point out those pri mat y conceit.
tions' of intellect which' such signs Were inUnded
to cumin-Unit:l.y.
Many who have never felt the fascinating
chaims of ancient literature pretend
.to tell tvi,
that as there are now correct .translations of al-
most all the Greek and Roman authors of any
note, there can of course be no expediency in de-
votmg so much time to a dead langnage, when
any thing valuable in it may be whet %Vise obtain-
ed at so cheap and ConVellient a rate. To a ge.
!mine scholar, who considers Greek and Latin
classi.es as complete models 'of composition, and
wiinimiges of the excellence of other literary pet -
fotattanees in proportion to the degtee of resent.-
!dance. they bear to the miginals, it will be snffi-•
cient to say, that such reasoning is preposterous
and absurd ; for, although a translation should
furnish us most accurately with every idea con-
tained in theoriginal, it is utterly impossible that
any one language can convey the native genius •
and elegance of another, even by :he most faithful
and accurate translation that could be given.—,-
Nay, in many cases, the more literally we trans-
late, the fartLer we recede from the beauty of the.
Original. Let any person, acquainted with Eitg.
fish and Latin, read literal, or even A liberal,
translation of the most beantitul passage in Virgil
or Horace, and let him candidly declare if he is
not unite provoked and disgusted with the (paint
add significant harshness of the one language,
`when compared with the harmonious sweetness of
the other.
The grand art of a poet, and even of an elegant
prose is liter, is to make such a judicious selection
of syllables, words, and sentences, as that every
thing shall charm and delight the reader with its
musical smoothness, grace, and propriety. Rut
how shall these enchanting beauties appear in a
translation, unless the words of one language were
extt,elyof the same length, accentuation, and vo-
cal harmony with the corresponding words of as-m-
-iller, which, 1 believe, is seldom or never the
case ? The great advantage of learning to read
Latin and Greek does not cOnsist in our .being
able to exhibit the ideas which may be contained in
a livparticular portion of those 'ancient languages
(although that is certainly a matter of consi-
derable moment), but rather in being able to dis-
cern their numerous beauties and perfections, and
o transfer and infuse these (mutatis mutandis)
tito whatever we speak or write in atir own.
• cry be concluded in our next.)

RORBERY.-00 Sunday evening, between the
hours of six and eight, some thieves broke into the
house of Mr.MoLoNE, 24, Gutter-hue, Cheapside ;
and among the things stolen are, silver spoons
nutiked GM. I , a large real gal net gold brooch set
with 12 stones with babes' hair in it, Soule silt erold
can, 3 ilozen of hose, and several other articles,
which they got clear ofi with : had the) not been c&,-
turbed, their intention was to have stripped the
house. One was it tall :ban, the other short, dressed
in either blue or black coats ; the family were only
gone ont to nivine worship at CI iPplegatc
lots isg a light us a check for so short a dine.
This should be a caution to housekeepers.not to
leave their houses without a servant or other per-
Ison un.the watch.