Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches — Volume 3

TRANSLATION FROM PLAUTUS. (1850.)

[The author passed a part of the summer and autumn of 1850 at Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight. He usually, when walking alone, had with him a book. On one occasion, as he was loitering in the landslip near Bonchurch, reading the Rudens of Plautus, it struck him that it might be an interesting experiment to attempt to produce something which might be supposed to resemble passages in the lost Greek drama of Diphilus, from which the Rudens appears to have been taken. He selected one passage in the Rudens, of which he then made the following version, which he afterwards copied out at the request of a friend to whom he had repeated it.]

     Act IV. Sc. vii.

     DAEMONES:      O Gripe, Gripe, in aetate hominum plurimae      Fiunt transennae, ubi decipiuntur dolis;      Atque edepol in eas plerumque esca imponitur.      Quam si quis avidus pascit escam avariter,      Decipitur in transenna avaritia sua.      Ille, qui consulte, docte, atque astute cavet,      Diutine uti bene licet partum bene.      Mi istaec videtur praeda praedatum irier:      Ut cum majore dote abeat, quam advenerit.      Egone ut, quod ad me adlatum esse alienum sciam,      Celem?  Minime istuc faciet noster Daemones.      Semper cavere hoc sapientes aequissimum est,      Ne conscii sint ipsi maleficiis suis.      Ego, mihi quum lusi, nil moror ullum lucrum.      GRIPUS:      Spectavi ego pridem Comicos ad istum modum      Sapienter dicta dicere, atque iis plaudier,      Quum illos sapientis mores monstrabant poplo;      Sed quum inde suam quisque ibant diversi domum,      Nullus erat illo pacto, ut illi jusserant.      DAIM:      O Gripe, Gripe, pleista pagidon schemata      idoi tis an pepegmen en thneton bio,      kai pleist ep autois deleath, on epithumia      oregomenos tis en kakois alisketai      ostis d apistei kai sophos phulattetai      kalos apolauei ton kalos peporismenon.      arpagma d ouch arpagm o larvax outosi,      all autos, oimai, mallon arpaxei tina.      tond andra kleptein tallotri—euphemei, talan      tauten ye me mainoito manian Daimones.      tode gar aei sophoisin eulabeteon,      me ti poth eauto tis adikema sunnoe      kerde d emoige panth osois euphrainomai,      kerdos d akerdes o toumon algunei kear.      GRIP:      kago men ede komikon akekoa      semnos legonton toiade, tous de theomenous      krotein, mataiois edomenous sophismasin      eith, os apelth ekastos oikad, oudeni      ouden paremeine ton kalos eiremenon.

PARAPHRASE OF A PASSAGE IN THE CHRONICLE OF THE MONK OF ST GALL

[In the summer of 1856, the author travelled with a friend through Lombardy. As they were on the road between Novara and Milan, they were conversing on the subject of the legends relating to that country. The author remarked to his companion that Mr Panizzi, in the Essay on the Romantic Narrative Poetry of the Italians, prefixed to his edition of Bojardo, had pointed out an instance of the conversion of ballad poetry into prose narrative which strongly confirmed the theory of Perizonius and Niebuhr, upon which "The Lays of Ancient Rome" are founded; and, after repeating an extract which Mr Panizzi has given from the chronicle of "The Monk of St Gall," he proceeded to frame a metrical paraphrase. The note in Mr Panizzi's work (volume i. page 123, note b) is here copied verbatim.]

"The monk says that Oger was with Desiderius, King of Lombardy, watching the advance of Charlemagne's army. The king often asked Oger where was Charlemagne. Quando videris, inquit, segetem campis inhorrescere, ferreum Padum et Ticinum marinis fluctibus ferro nigrantibus muros civitatis inundantes, tunc est spes Caroli venientis. His nedum expletis primum ad occasum Circino vel Borea coepit apparere, quasi nubes tenebrosa, quae diem clarissimam horrentes convertit in umbras. Sed propiante Imperatore, ex armorum splendore, dies omni nocte tenebrosior oborta est inclusis. Tunc visus est ipse ferreus Carolus ferrea galea cristatus, ferreis manicis armillatus, etc., etc. His igitur, quae ego balbus et edentulus, non ut debui circuitu tardiore diutius explicare tentavi, veridicus speculator Oggerus celerrimo visu contuitus dixit ad Desiderium: Ecce, habes quem tantopere perquisisti. Et haec dicens, pene exanimis cecidit.—"Monach. Sangal." de Reb. Bel. Caroli Magni. lib. ii. para xxvi. Is this not evidently taken from poetical effusions?"

PARAPHRASE.

     To Oggier spake King Didier:      "When cometh Charlemagne?      We looked for him in harvest:      We looked for him in rain.      Crops are reaped; and floods are past;      And still he is not here.      Some token show, that we may know      That Charlemagne is near."      Then to the King made answer      Oggier, the christened Dane:      "When stands the iron harvest,      Ripe on the Lombard plain,      That stiff harvest which is reaped      With sword of knight and peer,      Then by that sign ye may divine      That Charlemagne is near.      "When round the Lombard cities      The iron flood shall flow,      A swifter flood than Ticin,      A broader flood than Po,      Frothing white with many a plume,      Dark blue with many a spear,      Then by that sign ye may divine      That Charlemagne is near."

INSCRIPTION ON THE STATUE OF LORD WM. BENTINCK. AT CALCUTTA. (1835.)

     To      WILLIAM CAVENDISH BENTINCK,      Who, during seven years, ruled India with eminent      Prudence, Integrity, and Benevolence:      Who, placed at the head of a great      Empire, never laid aside      The simplicity and moderation of a private citizen:      Who infused into Oriental despotism the spirit of British      Freedom:      Who never forgot that the end of Government is      The happiness of the Governed:      Who abolished cruel rites:      Who effaced humiliating distinctions:      Who gave liberty to the expression of public opinion:      Whose constant study it was, to elevate the intellectual      And moral character of      The Nations committed to his charge:      This Monument      Was erected by men,      Who, differing in Race, in      Manners, in Language, and in Religion,      Cherish, with equal veneration and gratitude,      The memory of his wise, upright, and Paternal Administration.

EPITAPH ON SIR BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN. AT CALCUTTA. (1837.)

     This monument      Is sacred to the memory      of      SIR BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN, Knight,      One of the Judges of      The Supreme Court of Judicature:      A man eminently distinguished      By his literary and scientific attainments,      By his professional learning and ability,      By the clearness and accuracy of his intellect,      By diligence, by patience, by firmness, by love of truth,      By public spirit, ardent and disinterested,      Yet always under the guidance of discretion,      By rigid uprightness, by unostentatious piety,      By the serenity of his temper,      And by the benevolence of his heart.      He was born on the 29th September 1797.      He died on the 21st October 1837.

EPITAPH ON LORD METCALFE. (1847.)

     Near this stone is laid      CHARLES, LORD METCALFE,      A Statesman tried in many high offices,      And difficult conjunctures,      And found equal to all.      The three greatest Dependencies of the British Crown      Were successively entrusted to his care.      In India, his fortitude, his wisdom,      His probity, and his moderation,      Are held in honourable remembrance      By men of many races, languages, and religions.      In Jamaica, still convulsed by a social revolution,      His prudence calmed the evil passions      Which long suffering had engendered in one class      And long domination in another.      In Canada, not yet recovered from the calamities of civil war,      He reconciled contending factions to each other,      And to the Mother Country.      Costly monuments in Asiatic and American cities      Attest the gratitude of the nations which he ruled.      This tablet records the sorrow and the pride      With which his memory is cherished by his family.