The Sun.
London, England, 1818-04-02 00:00:00

LITERARY REVIEW.-

The sti47;fcof vri: nu.. Translated hy CitAtit.F.s c*.s?t,stuNs
D.P. of .lesn,s Conec, Oxfurd.—.T. Niuua.sy, .111;cmitrie.
strut; and R. Hu N rEn, Si. Paul's Church-yard.

tinder the pressine of business ‘vhieli exacted
nor more innnediate attention, we have 3119ellded
our ►eotices of this Poem (luring a considerable

period: but eve now return to it with that pe-
tudiar pleasure which a man experiences whien,
esc4ping from the tumult and the pollutions Of
a crowded city, he breathes the pure atmos-
phere of ,the country, and reposes amid the
stillness and the beauties of a •ern al landscape.—
Our Readers will recollect, that our original in-

tention was not to present them with a regular
critique on.the last Translation of the great Au-
gustan Epic : but, by confronting extracts from it
frith their correspondents from the page 01
DRYDEN, to leave the question, on the relative
merit of these two Poets as the Translators ot
'VIRGIL, to the unbiased decision of the hiritish
Public. On this plan:we have regularlyproceed-
ed through !lie fourth, the seventh, and the ninth
hanks ot the Poem ; and it is our , design to
pursue it, witliequ,i; uniformity through the tenth,
the eleventh, Minh) the twelfth. After what we
have already said upon the subjt•et, it will he tin-
treecisary fot us in this place to suggest that the!t•
,b9uKs have heel, selected by us in con2;equeuce of
their forming the most splendid parts of Daynz:e,
pcutorinanue:—our object being the ascertainment
c.t truth
.; and our wish not UP steal a victory

:Which we couee:ive that we can oP,culy achieve.
Another motive, which strongly tempts us to

renew our notice of a new trans!a•ion of the gieat
Itoman Poet, arises Trent the increased circulation
of our Paper in ,Paiis anti in other
parts of France ;:for, es the French have often
boasted of the learning, taste, and genius, which
.:their conntrymen have displayed in versions of
.classic. Authors, we feel no slight degeet !la-
tional pride in the opportunity of shewing that in
this respect they have no reason to boast of snpe-
ri,oity, and may he fully contented it .they
piace•themselves on an eva!ity with us hi point
of learning, taste, and poetical energy. The
erudite Translator of the Work before has dis-
played the I,nowledge of a profound scholar,
united with the imagination and spirit of a,true
Poet in.many other prodirtion., wltich are highly
honourable to his character. But it is titne to
refill") to the work itself.

Flom the tenth book, tvhich tee cof,Htitr,
the to he the le:ist finished :inn the least
c.ptivating seetinn of the Poem, ow citations
mill begin them. with the
celehrnied speech of in the Council of the
1-)rter ! 0 lwiteittunt Di' Inique trlerna
puttshs! ' I. 17.

A' 0 TiO,Ner 101111CUSC 9. eternal energy!
(For to what else irr.4ol,,ii at we; tly ?)
Seest thou the proud Rut nlians, how the y dare

111 fichis, I!;ip.mish.d, and my cart ?
.1 !ow 14ty.TuttN.usva:liiti amidst his ttaiti,

Iu shining- anus triumphant on the plain?
Es tit.in tlis.ir lilies and trendies the i• con:end;
4lnt3'scarce their wails the 'Trojan troop: defend.
'The town is fi.t'd with slaughter. and n'elfl,,ats,
IVitli a red deluge, their increasing moats.
ignorant, and far.ft um thence,
'Ll:isleft a e:unp eKposed without defyikce
endless outrage shall they still sustain ?
Troy re:ieW'd iiC forced and fired ?

A second siege my banished issue fears :
And a new Thom nor- in arias appears.
.00e more audacious mortal.willi. be found ;
And I, thy daughter, wait another wonnd.
Yet, if .with fates averse,, without shy leave,
- The Latian lands toy progeny !'feel
. Dear they the pains of violated law ; ,
Ats4:l thy protection from their aid withdraw.
ritftif be. Gods their sure success •foret ;
-If thovenordiaven consent with those of hell
r To premise Italy,--,who dare debate
The posootneif inrt, or fix ain't Iter fate ?
What 00144 tel tempests on the main ?
cisurping Ntxru'Ne.'s
.reign ?
•Istrs -sent, with, 11(;( !sing
inspire the matrons and destroy the fleet ?
Now JUNO to the Stygian shy descend;;
.Solicits hell for arid, and arms the fiends.
What nest/ example wanted yet above;
An. •
ict.that will hceame tin; wife of Joys: !
A txyro, raised by. her, wit h. rags inflames
The peaceful bosoms of the Latiatadames.
Ins-penal sway no ulore. exalts my tni,nd :
;(Such holies I hadiinderd, WhilerHeaven.was Lind :
••Now let toy happier fises possess my place,
-Whom .love prefers before the Trojan trace;
'And conquer they, whom you with conquest grace.
• Since you cats spare-, from all-your-wide command,
No -pot of earth, no hospitable land,
Which may my wandering fugitives receive, •
hang:sty Ju Nu will nobsive yin/ ?core),
Then, roller (if I 'still may list,' that name) •
rta'n'tl,Trov, yet smol:iog front-the (lone,
1 beg you let Asca tin us he my care;
11c ft evil front danger, and dismiss'd the war;
logloriotti let him live withoat a Crtftvll.
'The. father may be cast core...oasts unknown, '••
Struggling with fate; hut let me save the. son.: •
is (;vetoes.; mine the Cyr! inn towers;
It those recesses, and those sacred bowers
- 'Obscurely let hint rest, hiS right resign
To promised Empite, and his JULIA% line.
Then Carthage may the Ansonia!' towers destroy;
Nor fear the race of a rejected boy,
What 141.441 i, s it My son to %cape the fire,
A r;atil with Isis go.d. and battled with his sire;
T1)11)0 ire ills of the seas and wind ;
Evade thr cri•oss and leave the war behind
To reach the IN.lian shores, if, after all, •
:off sicounl Pr.sti:.%3l doons'd to fall !
':finch 1)4.11,9 had he coiled his high desires;
lioece!,l o'cr'his iihreXtingnisli'd tires.
Stmots. hatths't he fugitives restore:
And give.thent haili to wari and all the woes before."
DRY pet/.

.Ou►. Maps, which require no e;%pla.nat•ian,

muly of .our phjections to this
Trliislo, 'tout. But we are noti4OrPAis of t-keillot
minutely on its taults. To the scholar they taus

all be apparent ; and enntigh nir them w 1i
.be dis-
coverable by the English reader, without the as-
si•tance of our stiggeition. ‘Ve will now then
produce the sAine piece Of Vt*RG ILIA N
am if is given to its by Dr. S. and we will leave it
10 our readers of all denominations to Le eiAmiti-
rd, either in it 3 rrferenre to the generiVeliaracter
of the oriional, r,r sittiply as .t piece of English
cominoi•

" 0 Sire! the eternal might which all confess!
Whose pow,:•r alum: eon sriccour our distress;
Seem- flow how rtgt' the foes! how Ta RN us: steed
Insults tht• held, and how'tht
Evert Troy.'s strung moonsls arid' not now to lave;
/Icr loarnitig trenches roll a crinison,wave.
Even in her inotosfcanip'she feidS he'sword ;
Arid ni t a groan can reach tier absent lord.
But bast thou wili'd eternal siege her 4..0ni;
With foes'still hovering ri'cr her seem.) bloom ?
While no reserve' of power her hope supplies ;
And if she fall, she falls no more to rise.
See too! from Arpi sill:mimed to destroy,
TvornEs ritSliet notice again on Troy:
A jut I again may bleed; yet doolu'd to feel,
Though Spilling from thee, a mortal's Impious steel.
If not beneath tby price, brit braying thee,
My Trojans toird t.SLxignt throngh 111.. sea;
Let their wiliallow'd deed thy vengeance prove ;
I ask not favour for the toes of JIVE.
Rift if, Ofiedi'ent to thy aWlia woad,
By !leaven alike, arid bit the Manes stirr'd,
Thither they street!, %civet power. cola rotting thine,
('an change thy law„ and other: I:11-e; ?
Why •11.)10.11 name Stcrt.tA's flainiog sccurt ;
Anini hats, will.d with whidwilidstry her citieen ?
il'hy sprat: the tempests tvarring unk the Omit),
When their 'bribed king rdesed thein froth the chain ?
And now, Qihice this Moue rearaiii'd nuttiest,
She summons hell to combat on her sr.le : •
And dire sl. c ro; bursting on the Tight,
Hares, and throng!' Latinin Scatter.; black affright.
The loftyl.ope of
,Einpire I resign ;
'lll4j.ghe.ast, d bolo.; while forinae :yet was mine.
Let those, retort, loved by thee, prerril and reign !
Boit if for wretched Troy no land remain;
Aiid ink Thy 6nierci,iis-0.1..,1,in
By 'frov's prdc ashes and her length of woes,
Sarel iMplore thy'pity, 'let On.
Safe from the storm of war, her blooming' heir!
AscANtt's yet he mine !" The sport of seas,
Still Irt ..ENEAS nice as chance dec. ers.
But let my lore lit gullies offspring !Odd ;
And draw my grandson front the death:ell field.
To rue Env and 10..11.1.% how :
PAPII9S anul AMATtlinni toy fov,iy
There let hiln elia,e, in soft inglo, lints rest,
Arms and renown for ever from his breast.
And let fierce Carthage o'er Ansonia ride;
No city there to check the- Tyrian pride.
What Runts it now that 'datiotlesS'and entire,
Nly hostS have Picrci:d I hi; heat of Grecia•l 'fire ;
And, striding Litittni to rebuild their state,
flare borne and baffled all the storms of Fate?
Were it'snit betterlhai,'lnncross'd the flood,
They yet had' the fields where Ilion stood ?
(iive them, 0 Sire ! therr Simois againt. -
With their labours on the Phrygian plain!
For Troy's poor soils their Troy We now implore,
To fight anti perish on their native shore."

SVMMONS.

•THHE EIERCULANEUNI MANUSCRIPTS.

Jr is generally lorowo that for n►,►r►y years va-
iousmekhods have been resorted to for the, I►ur-
pnses of unrolling and deciphering the ren►ains of
a►►cient literature found among the ruins oflier-
cularienni
Something has been done, Ina to-
tally disproportionate to tire immense labour and
time consntue►l in the operation. A4oot two
,years ago, Dr. SICKLER, . a respectable. Profes-
sor of 11i1(1burglra►►ser►, undertook to acconiplish
the desired object. by a more easy and expeditious

.
mode of proixeding. His overtores,,vet e im-
mediately attended to by the PRINCE, ItEGgNT,
who had fora long time shown great arotirty for
the recovery of these treasures ot. antiquity ; uuil
,after some correspondence with the. Professor, it
was agreed that he should come over to Etigiend,
and subinit practicability of his plait ti) a C.011)-
mitre, or (;eutlealCn fisiltuqfpl:lll4r iiiirp(),e. Iu
case of succ....ss, he teas to receive a stipulated te-
r ward ; in case of
.failure, liesvas to expect nothing
but the pavipent of his rxpences hack in his native
:onn.r4 y. In June, last year, the 1), ofe,ssor arrived,
tool within a Ito dayssiibinitted his scheme in all.
ifs details to a Committee, consisting of the Earl
Abi4deen, Larti (irenville, f.,ord Colchester, Sir
.Ir,e lib Ihitiktir.. Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, Sir limn-
, phrey I)avy, the late I),.tritev, and ‘Villiam
flawiltun, Esq., Under SceretatY of State tor
Atlairs. Atter trt,efflive and repeated exa-
minations of the process and .i's results, tile Coin-
mime,
~‘s Ito hail called to th'eir 11,sistance the
seien:ific knowledge and experience of Sir William
prittnniontl, S r ‘V. A'Coiirt, Sir Charles..lllag-
don; and Mr. 'l`;iylor Cionhe, cmne to an un-
animous en:it:fusion that Dr. Sickler " had
totally failed iti his endeas'out•s to satisfy
them that his method of toirolbiig the Iler-
cidanetini matiti•ciiiits is available, and, such
tvarratit them ;in recommending to. his
Nl“iesty's Government a further persevet•snce
therein." Rut the Committee trite 'o well satis-
fie.: With the ze.,41 and as.sidiiity of the Professor,
that, notwithstanding his failure, they recorn-
Mended, in addition to his travelling and the tie-
cessaty expent cs, a'rennineratioti of 2901., being
a sum about (qual to that which lie ha.( lost by
fraViiig his protessioual ditties in. C;eimaily for
four months. "The total amount of the different
items, of expetidit tire Was 1,111/. ; and,
about a fortnight it*o, this Sillt. was moved fur
in the [louse of Comoi,os in a Committee
of Supply. • Mr C. ‘V.ytin dull moved fur the
te-
Iturt of the proceediti:o of Dr. Sickler's Commit-
tee, whir li was accoidingly laid hefote the [louse,
and which we have here gives) iii substance. -For
the sake of the curious, we subjoin a brief state-
'vent Of Dr. Siclilcr's System of operation, t0..-,e-
-ther with the objections to it as detailed by the
Hrrculatttnnr (.:0;111iiit lee :

. Dr.. Sickler's systein may be classed nutlet three
hu:aos

I. As to 11: it cif the nvtchine made use of by

him.

2.- As to the liquid applied to the roll : and
a.. As tfl his mode of imenipu;ation. •
Which .tlie Committot make the following

object toils-
1. The tia.chine made use of by Dr. Sickler does not, in
the opinimi of 'the Columittee., appear to lie calculated to re-
•Move any of the difficulties which have hitherto occurrq in
the system of unrolling these manuscripts.. ,
. If. 'Use liquid, from the application of which the Committee
were itninced to hope that the separation of the layers of the
papyrus would be considerablf faellitaied,•-does•uot, in 04
pdgment of the Committee, appear toTossess any, effective
power beyond that of actifag as glue for the lining of the paq
to he detached; and-•
Tire mode-of manipulation adopted by Dr. Sickler is tog!,
violent an operation to produce ern ire consecutive efklimms,,,j-
, single layers of the papyrus;. and his method of indiseviiiii't
nately 'covering the surface of the roil with'the lining, «hicli
• being attached to the• roll by the liquid preparations brings off
with it, in the process 7of deta,ching, the part so lined,4is
imperfect; since, in raising the layers, it is scarcely po'sible
fi;iiliserve by the eye, Whet heroll.e or more layers are OtiOsit
to separate from the mass ; a part of the t, operatiusvwhiol,:a
1
Naples, is carried uts' with the greatest caution-,