Epictetus, by Carter*; Plutarch, by Langhorne; Longinus, by Smith; Polybius, by Hampton; Isocrates, by Gillies; Isaus, by Jones; Hesiod, by Cooke; Theocritus, by Polwhele; Pindar, by West; Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus, by Fawkes; Eschylus, by Potter; Sophocles, by Potter and Franklin; Euripides, by Potter and Woodhull; Anacreon, by Moore; and Callimachus, by Tytler.

The translations of Roman classics, during the same period, were still more numerous. Of a very long list the following may be considered as a specimen. The Eneid of Virgil was presented in an English dress by Pitt and Beresford, and the Eclogues and Georgics of the same illustrious Roman, by Martin and Wharton; the works of Horace, by Smart, Creech, Francis, and Boscawen; Juvenal, by Madan; Persius, by Brewster, Madan, and Drummond; Livy, by Haye and Baker; Tacitus, by Gordon and Murphy; Lucan, by Rowe t; the Metamorphoses of Ovid, by Garth, Davidson, and Clarke; the Orations of Cicero, by Guthrie and selections from the same, by Duncan; Sallust, by Gordon; the Commentaries of Cresar, by Bladen; the Epistles of Pliny, by Orrery and Melmoth; the Epistles of Cicero, by Melmoth; the Epistles of Seneca, by Morrell, Terence, by Cooke and Colman; Tibullus, by Grainger; Aulus Gel

* Mrs. Elizabeth Carter is another instance of great classical erudition and taste in a female of the eighteenth century.

+ "The version of Lucan," says Dr. Johnson, " is one of the greatest productions of English poetry; for there is perhaps none that so completely exhibits the genius and spirit of the original. It deserves more notice than it obtains; and as it is more read will be more esteemed."

lius, by Beloe; and Plautus, by Warner and Thornton.

The translations made into several of the lan

*

guages of the continent of Europe, during the period under consideration, are numerous and respectable. But of these too little is known to attempt any thing like a discriminating selection. The Hiad and Odyssey of Homer were ably translated into French, by Madame Dacier and M. Rochefort; into German, by Voss; into Italian, by Cæsarotti and Ceruti; and into Spanish, by Malo. The Cyropædia of Xenophon was translated into French, by Dacier and Gail; and into German, by Wieland; Thucydides, into French, by Levesque; and Herodotus, into the same language, by Larcher; the works of Plutarch, into French, by Amiot and Riccard; the Politics of Aristotle, into French, by Champagne; Theocritus, into the same language, by Gail; Demosthenes, also into French, by Tourreil; Hesiod, into German, by Schutze; and Plutarch, also into German, by

Penzel.

Versions of Virgil were made, in the period of this retrospect, into Italian, by Bendi; and into German, by Voss and Spitzenbergen; of Horace, into French, by Sanadon and Darcu; of Sallust, into German, by Schluter; and of Tacitus, into French, by Guerrin, Bletterie, and Dotterville. The translation of the Bucolics and Georgics of Virgil, into Greek hexameters, by Eugenius, a

Several of the translations abovementioned, made on the con tinent of Europe, are said to possess first-rate excellence. In particular those of Voss and Cæsarotti, both poetical, are represented as having merit of a superior kind.

Russian archbishop, is a singular specimen of literary labour. This work was splendidly printed,

towards the close of the eighteenth century, under the patronage, and at the expense, of prince Po

temkin.

But notwithstanding all the labours of learned men to promote the knowledge of the Greek and Latin classics, the study of them was almost uniformly declining from the beginning to the end of the century. And in the course of little more than two centuries this kind of knowledge, from being considered the most interesting and important that could occupy the attention of man, came to be regarded by a large portion of the literary world as among the most useless objects of pursuit.

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CHAPTER XIV.

ORIENTAL LITERATURE.

THE literature of Asia, the birth-place and cradle of our species, where Philosophy first reared her head, and whence Greece and Rome borrowed a large portion of their knowledge, cannot be otherwise than highly interesting to the enlightened and inquisitive mind.. At the beginning of the eighteenth century much had been written, but comparatively little was really known, concerning that important part of the globe. The works of Pococke and Hyde, of Great Britain; of Erpenius and Golius, of Holland; and of d'Herbelot, Bochart, Bouchet, and others, of France, toward the close of the preceding century, had all communicated to the public much curious and valuable information respecting various eastern countries, particularly Arabia, Persia, and some parts of India. But these works had so limited a circulation, and the intercourse between Europe and the east was so small, that few were excited to pay much attention to this branch of literature. In Great Britain especially, during the first half of the century, oriental learning was at a low ebb, insomuch that, during the reign of George I, a great orientalist was a rare phenomenon.

But in the latter half of the century under consideration more encouraging prospects began to open. Indeed, within the last forty years, some

departments of oriental literature have been cultivated with a fervour of zeal, and with a brilliancy of success, highly interesting and honourable to the age. And even in those departments which have been less diligently and successfully cultivated, some events and characters have adorned this period, which are worthy of notice in the present sketch.

SECTION I.

HEBREW LITERATURE.

The first place in this chapter is due to that language in which it pleased infinite Wisdom to record and convey the divine will to man. A language which, if it be not the most ancient in the world, will doubtless be considered among those which have the best claims to this honour. With regard to this language, though it has been less studied through the learned world in general, during the last age, than in some preceding periods; yet several events took place, and a number of important publications appeared respecting it, which it would be improper to omit in the most rapid survey of oriental learning*.

* For a number of the facts and names mentioned in these pa ragraphs on Hebrew literature the author is indebted to his venerable friend the reverend Dr. Kunze, senior of the Lutheran clergy in the state of New York, and late professor of oriental languages in Columbia college. The various acquirements of this gentleman, and particularly his oriental learning, have long rendered him an ornament of the American republic of letters. He has proba