Page:Essay on the Principles of Translation - Tytler (1791, 1st ed).djvu/22

 less translations which every day appear, both of the works of the ancients and moderns, there should be so few that are possessed of real merit. The utility of translations is universally felt, and therefore there is a continual demand for them. But this very circumstance has thrown the practice of translation into mean and mercenary hands. It is a profession. which, it is generally believed, may be exercised with a very small portion of genius or abilities. "It seems to me," says Dryden, "that the true reason why we have so few versions that are tolerable, is, because there are so few who have all the talents requisite for translation, and that there is so little praise and small encouragement for so considerable a part of learning." Pref. to Ovid's Epistles.