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have no means of discovering. But while our enemies are every thing that is bad, and Bonaparte is the "wilful king," Dan. xi. "the scarlet-coloured Beast," Rev. xvii. and the the personal antichrist,' (p. 99) we are every thing which is good and the special favourites of heaven, glorifying God for his judgements upon the Papacy. p. 27. Is not this either palpable delusion, or gross flattery? and if any, especially of those who have the destinies of the nation in their hands, can be found to believe it, is it not calculated to lull into national security, and to delude and betray the country into criminal and dangerous proceedings?

We must glance at a few more of Mr. Frere's applications of prophecy, that we may be able to make a just estimate of his judgement; and at one, particularly, from which the reader may form a tolerable notion of the strain of bis piety.

According to Mr. Frere, the prophet Daniel, chap. xi. verse 20, bounds at once over nearly two thousand years, viz. from what concerned Antiochus the Great, King of Syria, 190 A. C. to Louis XVI. King of France, 1788, A. D.

'Then shall stand up in his (Antiochus's) estate a raiser of taxes, in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle. As in the symbolical prophecies the symbols are peculiarly appropriate to the objects they represent; so in this historical narrative we shall find a similar perfection in the terms applied to individuals, and in the manner in which they are designated. The principal event in the reign of Louis XVI. was the French revolution, and he must be supposed to be here called a Raiser of Taxes, because it was the embarrassment of the French finances, and the strong opposition made by the Parliament to the Edicts of the King for raising certain taxes, that was the immediate cause of all his misfortunes.'

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◄ Ver. 21. “And in his estate shall stand vile person, they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." This tile person is Napoleon, morally worthless, indeed: but it is the vileness of his origin" which forms a distinctive peculiarity in the history of the Emperor Napoleon. That this epithet refers to his origin is also pointed out by the words with which it is immediately connected, "to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries."" From ver. 22d to the 28th, we have, it seems, a brief but comprehensive history of the campaign of Bonaparte in Italy in the year 1793. To illustrate this part of the prophecy, the history of this compaign is compressed into thirty-five pages, and it appears to the Author,

That a more bold and comprehensive view of the actions of this campaign could not be given, than that which is contained in thesc

few verses of the prophet Daniel.' p. 377. At the end of the history of the war, a nation is spoken of, called the holy covenant. It is said, before his return from Italy into his own land, laden with spoil, that his heart shall be against the Holy Covenant." The Holy Covenant primarily means the Jews.' But now, since the time of the reformation from popery, Great Britain stands in the place formerly filled by the Jewish nation as the chosen people of God; and against this nation, Buonaparte and infidel France have maintained a constant and deep-rooted enmity.'- Soon after Buonaparte's return into France, it is also to be observed that he took the command of an army destined for the invasion of England. But the particular proof that he gave during his stay in Italy, that his heart was set against Great Britain (the Holy Covenant) and which must therefore be considered to be the event referred to in the prophecy, was this, that he suddenly and unexpectedly took possession of the port and opulent city of Leghorn, belonging to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, with whom he had concluded a treaty, and seized all the British merchandize found in it.' pp. 379-380.

Ver. 29 and 30, are interpreted as descriptive of Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt in 1798, the destruction of the French fleet by Nelson, and finally of the defeat of the French army, and the return of the enemy to France, August 1799. And grieved for his defeat by the ships of Chittim," he had "indignation against the Holy Covenant, or the favoured "people of God, who had been the cause of his disappointment."

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Ver. 31, is made to predict Bonaparte's reconquest of Italy, after his return from Egypt, and his re-establishment of the Papacy.

The reader, it is probable, has smiled at most of the above interpretations, but we think if he be a man of enlightened piety, he will feel a very different sensation, when he reads Mr. F.'s illustration of ver. 32d.

"And such as do wickedly against the covenant, shall he corrupt by flatteries; but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits."'" The people here spoken of are designated by the term The Covenant, and are likewise spoken of as those that do know their God, by which it is evident (to whom? besides Mr. F.) that the British nation is meant, as in the former part of the prophecy it is called The Holy Covenant. The whole of the verse refers to the northern confederacy produced by the intrigues of Buonaparte in the year 1801, when the kingdoms of Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Prussia, united together to maintain principles subversive of the maritime rights, and of the naval superiority of Great Britain."

We cannot prevail upon ourselves to spare room for the whole of the nine pages occupied in this repulsive illustration of the inspired oracles of God; a short extract from the conclusion will sufficiently manifest its spirit.

"But they that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits." A fleet, consisting of eighteen sail of the line, four frigates, and a number of bomb and gun boats, amounting in all to fifty-two sail, and having on board several regiments of marines and of riflemen, sailed from Yarmouth on the 12th of March, 1801, for the Baltic, under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. On the 30th of this month the British fleet passed the Sound, and it being resolved to attack the Danes, the Vice-Admiral Nelson offered his services to conduct it. On the morning of April the 2d, Lord Nelson made the signal to weigh and to engage the Danish line. The van of the British was led by Captain George Murray, of the Edgar, who set a noble example of intrepidity, which was followed by every captain, officer, and man in the navy. The loss in such a battle was naturally very heavy the total amount of the killed and wounded was stated at 943. Among the killed were the gallant Capt. Riow and Capt. Moss of the Monarch. The carnage on board the Danish ships was excessive; it was calculated by the commander in chief of the Danes, at 1,800 !-This was a memorable and most bloody engagement: the Danes fought with inconceivable intrepidity. Lord Nelson told the Crown Prince's aid-de-camp, who waited upon him respecting the proffered flag of truce, that the French fought bravely, but that they could not have stood an hour the fight which the Danes maintained for four. I have been in one hundred and five engagements, said he, in the course of my life, but that of to-day was the most terrible of all. Thus the confederacy was broken, and the Danes were detached from it by the arms of Britain, whose seamen have always shewn themselves strong and valiant in her cause, and whose gallant Admiral Lord Nelson, was ever ready to acknowledge the hand of God, who, in mercy to Great Britain, strengthened him to do exploits." pp. 410-412.

This language may be very gallant, but surely it is not quite in the style of Christian piety. To make Lord Nelson and his seamen the people of the Holy Covenant, that know their

God,' and are made strong by him to do exploits'-exploits which, according to the opinion of many, have left an indelible stain on our country, is, surely, something beyond puerility, and cannot fail to excite the astonishment and just reprobation of every Christian who can feel for the honour of God, and who deprecates every thing like contempt of his holy word.

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Mr. Frere explains the fortieth verse, as a prophecy of Napoleon's late invasion of Russia, when The mighty Emperor of the north came against him from far, with chariots, that is, with all the immense train of his army; and with horsemen, for he was attended by an overwhelming multi'tude of Cossacks; and with many ships, or with a nume< rous artillery!!' But enough of this. We have no wish to excite laughter after the serious, we may say awful reflections which the preceding sentiments have awaked. Who, after reading such interpretations and illustrations of the prophecies

uttered by holy men, under the guiding inspiration of the Spirit of God, can possibly place any confidence in Mr. Frere's judgement as an expositor; or expect to derive that instruction from any part of his biblical labours, which might compensate for the pain to which he is exposed by reading such wild interpretations, and unsanctified effusions?

Art. X. Le Ministre de Wakefield, d'Oliver Goldsmith, en Anglois & en François. Par Madame Despourrin. 2 Tomes. Leigh,

London. 1816.

W E can hardly imagine a more difficult undertaking, than

the translation of the Vicar of Wakefield, except it be the denutionalization of Don Quixote. Goldsmith's story is perfectly inartificial and common-place, and the management of it is in some parts coarse, and in others absurd; but the language is so fascinating in its simplicity, the descriptions are so delightful in their truth and freshness, and the characters so admirable in their consistency, and so attractive in their fidelity to nature, that the defects of construction are every where covered by the beauties of detail. All this, however, requires only care and skill, to be fully expressed in a translation. The main difficulty arises from the native dress in which Goldsmith has clothed every part of his tale. Every thing in it is English; the characters, the colouring, the expression, the sentiments, all are purely and intransfusibly English. No one can read a page, without encountering several of our peculiar idioms; and it would be just as possible to change Dr. Primrose, with his quaint learning, his warm heart, his conjugal and parental pride and tenderness, into a selfish and solitary monk, as to put his story into any other language than his own. For the same reasons, a residence in Spain, and a perfect acquaintance with the Spanish idiom, are necessary for the complete understanding of the inimitable' Cervantes, who is, if possible, still more national, than Goldsmith; while at the same time he is far his superior in wit and genius.

Hudibras, it is true, has been admirably translated, and it may be thought far more difficult to give a foreign garb to that strange and brilliant compound of wit and profaneness. We confess that we are of a different opinion. Butler's poem is a satire, and satirical points will often bear considerable accommodation without losing their sharpness. Much of its humour arises from the peculiarities and quaintnesses of the dialect and the rhymes; and though these are obviously incapable of a literal rendering, yet the sportive drolleries which excite mirth in one language, may be very fairly represented in another, by turns and phrases which are equivalent, though they are not identical. The translation to which we allude, was, moreover,

effected under very peculiar circumstances. The translator was an Englishman, domiciliated in France, intimately versed in the idioms and proverbialisms of the French tongue, and consequently enabled to take successful liberties where others must have been totally at fault.

The same remarks will in a great measure, apply to Rabelais. With all his singularities, his works are by no means difficult to be translated by a person well versed in the manners, customs, and literary habits of the time in which that acute but impious and filthy satirist lived. The difficulty lies, not in the absence or scarcity of equivalent expressions, but in the necessity of analyzing the contents of that immense dunghill (no other term will apply) of learning of all kinds and qualities, heaped up by this extraordinary man in his strange and hardly intelligible satire.

We have lightly touched on these points, for the purpose of discriminating the difficulties to be surmounted by a translator of Goldsmith, and which Madame Despourrin has overcome only in part. She has done as much, perhaps, as may fairly be expected; she has given a faithful and elegant transcript of the original, taken apart from its peculiarities; but with respect to these, she has too often failed. Her knowledge of the English language is accurate and extensive; but she has been unhappy in her selection of a work which it requires English habits and English feelings, both mental and physical, thoroughly to relish and comprehend. In illustration of our preceding remarks, we shall point out a few instances in which Madame D. appears to have failed to seize the peculiar Anglicisms of her author.

In the first place, we object to the title. The word Ministre is not applicable in the present case. In France, the resident clergy of the Establishment are called Curés, and the Protestant or Dissenting clergy, Ministres. We read continually of the Ministre Claude, the Ministre Dubosc. Their names are seldom quoted by the Papists, without this addition; and something not very much unlike this distinction, exists in England. The proper title would have been, Curé de Wakefield. Serra la main tendrement is a very different thing from shook him heartily by the hand.' 'Little rubs' is very literally, but very tamely rendered by legeres epreuves; and the following sentence with its translation, will at once exemplify all that we have said.

To do her justice, she was a good natured notable woman, and as for breeding, there were few country ladies who, at that time, could shew more.'

Pour lui rendre la justice qu'elle mérite, je dirai qu'elle joignoit à un excellent naturel les vertus les plus recommandables; peu de

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