Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/65

Rh and prompt command of a copious and variegated phraseology, qualified him for the performance of so arduous a task. And whether we consider the state of British literature at that era, or the rapidity with which he completed the work, he will be found entitled to a high degree of admiration. In either of the sister languages, few translations of classical authors had hitherto been attempted; and the rules of the art were consequently little understood. It has been remarked, that even in English, no metrical version of a classic had yet appeared; except of Boethius, who scarcely merits that appellation. On the destruction of Troy, Caxton had published a kind of prose romance, which he professes to have translated from the French: and the English reader was taught to consider this motley composition as a version of the Æneid. Douglas bestows severe castigation on Caxton, for his presumptuous deviation from the classical story, and affirms that his work no more resembles Virgil, than the devil is like St Austin. He has, however, fallen into one error, which he exposes in his predecessor ; proper names are often so transfigured in his translation, that they are not, without much difficulty, recognised. In many instances, he has been guilty of modernizing the notions of his original. The sybil, for example, is converted into a nun, and admonishes JEneas, the Trojan baron, to persist in counting his beads. This plan of reducing every ancient notion to a classical standard, has been adopted by much later writers : many preposterous instances occur in the learned Dr Blackwell's memoirs of the court of Augustus.

"Of the general principles of translation, however, Douglas appears to have formed no inaccurate notion. For the most part, his version is neither rashly licentious, nor tamely literal. * * * Though the merit- of such a performance cannot be ascertained by the inspection of a few detached passages, it may be proper to exhibit a brief specimen:

Mr Warton pronounces for judgment upon Douglas' Æneid, that it "is executed with equal spirit and fidelity, and is a proof that the Lowland Scotch and