and natural. Then we addrefs the Supreme Being with propriety, when we have viewed the exigency of our affairs. • We feldom need to court objects of pain. They are known to intrude themselves too often, with a fort of eagerness. But in the prefent circumftance they are called for, and the atten⚫tion of the mind to them is, as it were, demanded. Wherefore our Lord could not but be confcious of the perception he had ⚫of the evils before him. And that confciousness muft increase ⚫ in proportion to the number and weight they bore. It is agreeable to the natural order of things that it should be fo. So that it is no wonder, if a round of mifery was the only perception he was for a time confcious of. Now, here, was he to be betrayed by one of his own Difciples,-feized, and bound like a thief,-abandoned by his friends,-led away, and treated with cruel and indignant ufage. And the confequences hereof, replete with evils, found eafy accefs, we may fuppofe, to a mind like his. The language of the best human heart on fuch an occafion would be, O! what will become of my country, and of the men I love! What an agi⚫tation would a man feel in his animal fpirits, and how acute and powerful the operation between his paffions and their objects, in fuch a flate and crifis as this! It is evident, the perception of mifery now, is right, and as it fhould be: and the commotion that enfues is natural, and what will be. With refpect to the latter, reafon is too fublime, or comes too flow, to have any thing presently to do in the cafe. The violence of the commotion must cease, before the understanding can • attend to the dictates of reason. After this manner, probably, was Jefus exercised at this juncture.' A few objections, which might be raised against the Author's account of the matter, are next confidered, and fully obviated; after which the Enquiry is concluded with fhewing, what ends this pertiffion of Divine Providence, that Jefus Chrift fhould be fo oppreffed and afflicted in the Garden, might be defigned to answer. Before we quit the performance before us, it may not be im proper to advertife our Readers, that tho' this is a pofthumous work, yet we are affured, in the preface*, that upon exa⚫mination it was found, that the whole was compleated; fair wrote, and paged throughout, with the Contents alfo at the beginning. So that nothing remained to be done by an Edi6 tor, but revifing the impreffion. * This Preface is dated Oct. 25, 1757; and figned, NATHANIEL LARDNER.' The Principles of Negotiations: or, an Introduction to the Public Law of Europe founded on Treaties, &c*. 8vo, 4 s. Riving ton and Fletcher. I T is unlucky for the public, that tranflations are often attempted by writers who are utter ftrangers to the fubject; and who have neither difcernment to difcover their author's meaning, or a competent knowledge of any language to expreís themselves with a tolerable degree of elegance and propriety. How far this is the case with the translator now under view, the reader will judge from the following animadverfions. In page 2, is the following fentence: • Since the decline of the houfe of Charlemagne, to the time. ' when Charles VIII. king of France, marched into Italy, the • different nations of Europe had fcarce any correfpondence with ' each other.' Here the use of the word fince feems to be contrary to the idiom of the English language. Since is ufed to denote the space between past time and the prefent; but, when we mean to ascertain the space between two periods which are both paft, we fay, from fuch a time to fuch a time: and depuis, in the French, not only fignifies fince, but from, and after. A literal school-boy's verfion likewife appears in the following extraordinary paragraph : The fovereignty which each lord enjoyed in his own estate, by virtue of the feudal laws, the private wars of the nobility, ⚫ the privileges of the commons, which made every city, in some degree, an independent republic, permitted them not to unite the divided forces of a state into one body, and to have, con fequently, fyftematical and followed ideas abroad.' We can easily conceive, what it is to have a train of ideas following each other; but we fhould never have difcovered what was meant by followed ideas, had not the original cleared up the obfcurity of the tranflation. Mably fays, Ni d'avoir par confe 'quent des idées fyftematiques & fuivies au dehors.' Which, This etcetera feems here intended to fupply the place of more than it ought to ftand for. What Reader, unacquainted with the writings of the Abbé Mably, would imagine, from fo imperfect a title page, that we are indebted to that very ingenious Frenchman, for the performance now before us? From this fuppreffion of the Author's name, one might almoft fufpect a defign to pafs this tran flation upon us for an original work: but candour may fuppofe inadvertency in this cafe, rather than defign. D 3 taking taking the whole fentence together, means no more, 2 Again - the tranflator tells us, When chance or intrigue raife men to places, chance or intrigue fhould govern them." But this nonfenfe is not to be found in the original, which fays, Quand le hazard ou l'intrigue placent les hommes, le hazard ou l'intrigue doivent les governer.' The verb devoir, in the French, is often ufed to exprefs what will neceffarily or probably - that when men are happen; therefore the fenfe of Mably is advanced by chance or intrigue, they will probably be governed by chance or intrigue. But the words fhould and would, fhall and will, appear to have greatly puzzled the tranflator; who often unluckily uses one for the other. The enfuing fentence will be a fufficient inftance of fuch kind of errors. C I fhall not here enlarge on the reciprocal duties which found policy requires between neighbours; I will only repeat what I mentioned in the foregoing chapters, or draw confequences from them, which cannot efcape the penetration of my readers.' Je ne But Mably fays---Je ne m'étendrai point ici, &c. --ferois que repeter, &c. -- that is -- I will not here enlarge, &c. I fould only repeat, &c. 6 This pleafant miftake of the tranflator brings to mind the ftory of a poor Frenchman, who was guilty of a like idiomatical blunder, upon a very melancholy occafion. As he was fkaiting on the Canal, the ice unhappily broke under him, and he fell into the water. After ftruggling fome time, and perceiving po one move to his affiftance, he cried out in the veheI will be drown, and you shall not mence of defpair help me.' Üpon which a furly Briton made answer, If you will drown, drown and be d 111 --d.' In another place the tranflator by mifufing the word ought, has made his author ipeak nonfenfe. Mably lamenting that men are placed at the head of affairs by chance or intrigue, has the following obfervation: Un ignorant ne peut point avoir d'autre politique que la routine de fes bureaux, & un intriguant droit penfer qu'une nation fait fa fortune par les mêmes moyens qu'il a fait la fienne; & des lors c'est aux paffions, aux prejugés, & aux intérêts particuliers a gouverner le monde.' Which the tranflator has rendered thus--- An ignorant man has no policy but common pràctice, and an intriguing man ought to confider, that the fortune of a nation is railed by the means he made ufe of for his own; and then leave the world to to be governed by paffions, prejudices, and particular interefts. But Mably's meaning feems to be widely different; and we venture to exprefs it thus: An ignorant man can have no scheme of policy, beyond the common practice of his office; and it is natural for an intriguing man to fuppofe, that the welfare of a nation is to be advanced by the fame means he employed to raise his own fortune and from thefe principles the world muft neceffarily be governed by paffions, prejudices, and particular interefts. Thus we fee that this tranflator, by a prepofterous ufe of the word ought has ridiculously recommended that, as a duty, which Mably cenfures as a defect. There are other inftances, however, in which he has done injuftice to the original.-Mably, fpeaking of the war between the English and the French, for commercial intereft, fays Les torts réciproques qu'ils fe font, tournent a l'avantage des puiffances neutres, dont les commercans étendent & multipli⚫ent leurs relations. In the tranflation it is literally expretted thus the reciprocal damage they do each other, turns to the advantage of neutral powers, whofe merchants extend and multiply their relations. An English reader, who is unacquainted with the French language, would be at a loss to conceive what is meant by the merchants multiplying their relations, and might be rather inclined to think that the war would leffen the number; but they who are converfant with the original, know that the French word relations, in this place, fignifies correfpondences; which the merchants of neutral ftates muft multiply of course. It would be tirefome to collect further proofs of this tranflator's incorrectnefs and inaccuracy. He has not only mistaken the fenfe of his author in feveral paffages, but has generally followed the French idiom, which renders his ftyle puerile, affected, and in many places abfolutely unintelligible. Having given thefe fpecimens of the tranflator's abilities, we leave the difagreeable task of criticifm, and haften to the more pleafing office of recommending Mably's spirited and judicious obfervations to the attention of our readers. Expatiating on the ill confequences of war, which only ferves to interrupt commerce, drain the refources of industry, and ruin the finances of a ftate, he makes the following reflection:" I find, by examining the conduct of the Romans *, that they never engaged in a war that did not furnifh their public • treasure * We recommend to thofe who are not acquainted with the writings D 4 treasure with funds fufficient to begin a new one, which enriching even the foldiers, who had a fhare of the plunder, diftributed plenty to all the citizens. Such a people have a right to be ambitious. But, in our present fituation, war is only advantageous to commiflaries of ftores, and fome officers who think like them. Every campaign increases the debts of the ftate. The imprudence of our forefathers has left a heavy weight upon us, which we with difficulty fupport, and our ambition would* complete the ruin of our pofterity.' Speaking of the inconvenience of vast armies, he says: Great armies are a great hindrance to the propagation of mankind, and therefore weaken a state; and surely Europe is now less peopled than it was an age ago. This great number of idle foldiers kept up, thro' vanity, in time of peace, is fit only to inspire a confidence difproportioned to a kingdom's real ftrength, and makes the recruiting them more difficult in time of war. About an age ago, important enterprizes were carried on with fmall armies: then a conqueft might not be purchased too dearly at the expence of a war. Now, with our great armies, we fhould conquer kingdoms, to make amends for the expences of a war. The finances of the richeft prince are drained in two or three campaigns. How · great foever our fucceffes may be at first, they become almost ufelefs, because we have it not in our power to turn them to good account, by continuing the war with vigour. It is carried on but faintly, in hopes that neceffity may force both parties, at once, to lay down their arms. What power is now in a condition to fupport a war thirty years? With our num berlefs armies, our fhort wars are not proportioned, in a certain degree, to our paffions. We make peace whilft hatred ⚫ and vengeance fubfift in our minds, and before our ambition • could be corrected by a long feries of experience. Wherefore the peace we make is only a temporary truce; and our trea ties, inftead of terminating affairs, often produce new divi'fions.' The foregoing fentiments are juft and animated; and these which follow are not lefs worthy our attention. Whatever the power be, that is at the head of the affairs of Europe, can it be believed, after what I faid, that it can reafonably propofe to grow greater by making conquefts? Nay, if its fuperiority over its enemies feemed to authorize writings of this author, his excellent Obfervations on the Romans, of which a tranflation was published here, in the year 1751. The Reader will pleafe to obferve, that the words printed in Italics, are thus marked as further proofs of our Tranflator's incorrectness. 'fuch |