BOOKS.

SIR ROBERT COLLIER'S CROWN ORATION.*

ALTHOUGH the translation of the Crown Oration of Demosthenes by Sir Robert Collier was printed for private circulation only, its merits are sufficiently considerable to warrant public criticism. In a country so forensic as ours the translations of great forensic models by forensic authorities deserve the attention they are sure to command. Whether classical studies are accepted or not as a proper introduction to all other studies, they must always remain especially congenial to the study of the law, and above other studies calculated to supply the best abstract materials for the exercise of all those more general faculties and accomplishments which in this country are the traditional help- meets to high legal distinction. If Demosthenes became the greatest legal and political orator on record without the aid of any foreign literature, on the other hand, Cicero was not ashamed to confess his obligations to Demosthenes. Sir Robert Collier, in the midst of the arduous life of an English barrister, a successful barrister, and a member of parliament, has found it worth his while to follow Cicero's example. In this we cannot but think that more barristers might find it advantageous to follow in his wake. We all know how long most men who take to the Bar have to wait before they come into active practice. Of barristers, even above other men, it may be said, "He that believeth unto the end, the same shall be saved." And during the long years of expectation in which even the study of technical law can barely fill the abundance of spare time, it would be well if legal students laid the foundation of true eloquence and broader views of forensic art in the study and translation of the great models of antiquity. Not that every translation by a young barrister would deserve publica- tion, but that such studies, if generally pursued, would probably raise, certainly not depress, the character of our Bar, whose ten- dency of late years, owing to peculiar causes, has not been in the direction of that breadth, elevation, and universal culture which until recently had made the English Bar famous, and indeed acquired a place for it in civilized repute only second to the fame of ancient Greece and Rome.

Sir Robert Collier's, however, is no longer an inexperienced hand. Knowing that he brought to the task the prime of his energies, with the full knowledge and experience of a successful lawyer and practical Parliamentary debater, we confess that we opened his translation of Demosthenes' master-piece with consider- able curiosity. Not to keep the reader in suspense, our curiosity has been rewarded. Of the accuracy and scholarship of the translator we shall not speak. They may be taken for granted. It is clear, on looking through the work, that Sir Robert Collier's object was not to produce a schoolboy's exercitation, but rather to express in the exact English of the day Demosthenes' thoughts, as they would have been expressed by Demosthenes himself, supposing Demosthenes to have been speak- ing in the House of Commons. In this aspect it is curious to observe the difference between Sir Robert Collier's translation and Mr. Kennedy's. Mr. Kennedy, although he aspired to idiomatic English, was first of all desirous to meet the exact requirements of the Cambridge tripos. The consequences of this difference in the aims of the two translators are very salient. Sir Robert looked at the details through the glass of general effect. Mr. Kennedy laboured to harmonize the recalcitrant details of critical scholarship into a melodious whole. From this it might be inferred that Sir Robert Collier's would be rather a paraphrase than a translation, and Mr. Kennedy's rather a translation than a para- phrase. Neither of these propositions is true. Mr. Kennedy's work is neither properly translation nor paraphrase, but a mosaic and patchwork of critical renderings. Sir Robert, on the other hand, absolved from the fear of all examiners, puts the thought of Demosthenes in the fewest words and the most exact English, as far as he can, which he himself would have used in Parliament or the Court of Queen's Bench. Of course the subject-matter itself could never be the same, nor is

* The Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown. Translated by Sir B. P. Collier. Printed for private circulation

the gait of the thoughts that which would suggest itself to a modern orator. But making that allowance, we really think that Sir Robert Collier has succeeded very admirably in his under- taking. Compare, for instance, the well known introduction to the Crown as translated by the two men:—

" Ilpc;rov pis 3,* aybps; ' Aanycat roi; 0E04 4.col.A.co :Tao xai vadatc. . .

Sir Robert Collier translates it :—

" In the first place, Athenians, I implore all the Heavenly Powers that in this trial I may experience from you as much good-will as I have always entertained towards the State, and towards you all. In the next—and this above all things concerns yourselves, your own religion, and your own honour—that the Gods may dispose your minds not to take counsel from my adversary as to the course that ought to be pursued in hearing me, this would be indeed oppressive ; but from the laws, and from your oath, wherein, among other just precepts, this is enjoined, to hear both sides impartially. And true impartiality con- sists, not merely in prejudging nothing, not even in extending the same favour to both, but in permitting each antagonist to adopt whatever order or arrangement of his discourse he may have selected and proposed to himself."

Mr. Kennedy's translation of the same passage is very different :— " I begin, men of Athens, by praying to every god and goddess that the same good-will, which I have ever cherished towards the Common- wealth and all of you may be requited to me on the present trial. I pray, likewise,—and this specially eoncerns yourselves, your religion, and your honour,—that the Gods may put it in your minds not to take counsel of my opponent touching the manner in which I am to be heard, —that would be indeed cruel !—but of the laws and of your oath ; wherein (besides the other obligations) it is prescribed that you shall hoar both sides alike. This means, not only that you must pass no precondemna- tion, not only that you must extend your good-will to both, but also that you must allow the parties to adopt such order and course of defence as they severally choose and prefer."

It is impossible, we think, not to feel, on reading these two renderings side by side, how much more straightforward, manly, and homogeneous the first translation is than the second. It is true, that Sir Robert has greatly simplified the grammatical order of the first sentence. But in doing so he has shown the com- mon tact of the practised speaker, who knows by instinct what forms he may and may not use. Mr. Kennedy's sentence, no doubt, sits in some ways closer to the Greek ; but it is essentially awkward, and while aiming at closeness of form misses the very point and emphasis which the Greek attains by the inversion of relative and antecedents. And this is only one sample among a hundred.

Mr. Kennedy was a very distinguished scholar, and it is not to be supposed that in all cases his translation must needs stand at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, even when Sir Robert Collier's translation is apparently paraphrastic and Mr. Kennedy's closer,

it will be found that Mr. Kennedy has attained greater closeness only by the mixture of different styles of English, whereas generally speaking Sir Robert Collier's language is not only idiomatic, but perfectly homogeneous. By a mixture of styles we mean the mixing-up of forms of expression, some of which are legal, some

parliamentary, others poetical, others biblical, and others, again, archaic, or remote, or affected,—and all this for the sake of a false and forced critical accuracy.

Here, for instance, is an example taken at random. Demos- thenes describes the situation on the breaking-out of the Phocian war :-

" Tot; rip cliammoi; no'rcipro; (c;:i yc'ip 77,47 a icrairstAtinsi 5re, .rorE) Tp 3,1-4 11•EY 41.004 orai 13lb:eta& Curs 4Inexiac uiv goAtcrliat oeeBieu, mthrEp o dixata TotoDyrac Opi-orEc.

Sir Robert Collier's translation of this passage is :—

" When the Phocian war had broken out, not through my agency, for I had not then entered public life, the situation was this ; you were disposed to desire the preservation of the Phocians, although you had not approved of their conduct, and to wish all ill-success to the Thobans, against whom you were incensed, not without reason and justice, for they had borne their fortune at Leuctra with no moderation."

Mr. Kennedy's :— " When the Phocian war had broken out—not through me, for I had not then commenced public life—you were in this position ; you wished the Phocians to be saved, though you saw they were not acting right ; and would have been glad for the Thebans to suffer anything, with whom for a just reason you were angry ; for they had not borne with modera- tion their good fortune at Leuctra."

It is evident at a glance that Sir Robert Collier's translation lies nearer in general tone to ordinary Parliamentary English than Mr. Kennedy's, and yet he has only used tact in obtaining this result, without adding to the length of the sentence. There are 70 words in Mr. Kennedy's, and only 71 in Sir Robert Collier's translation, and if Sir Robert had omitted the word "agency" and adopted Mr.

Kennedy's closer rendering of o5 not through me," which is in fact better, the number of words would have been identical. (The number of words in the Greek is only 50.) Compare,, however, the following expressions :— DEMOSTHENES. 'am Owxia; Av gotfavaear xak-sp o lum:4 TOP. oil-yrag OpiZyrsi

On6aiotc b'Ortoy ay iptimrivat trat)ofi'crty

oi,x.a?.67toc olio' &U- nto; caproi; Or71COILE.. vol.

Sin R. Counts. You were disposed to desire the preservation of the Phocians,- although you had not approved of their con- duct,— and to wish all ill-suc- cess to the Thobans,— against whom you were incensed, not without reason and justice.

Mn. KENNEDY. You wished the Pho- cians to be saved,— though you saw they were not acting right, sad would have been glad for the Thebans to suffer anything,— with whom for a just reason you were angry.

Substitute " wrath" for "angry," and read "with whom for s. just reason you were wrath," and you have a New Testament style inadmissible in Parliamentary language. Nor is "angry "a word in tune with the circumstances. "And would have been glad for the Thebans to suffer anything" runs in slippers compared with the irate melody of " ethaalot; d'ortoi;Y ay ilninlijyar, Irced0cio." Sir Robert Collier's translation is clearly better. "Though you saw they were not acting right," is no doubt the literat and exact translation of the Greek ; but Sir Robert's is sufficiently close, and, at the same time, perfectly homogeneous with his style throughout. And this comparison might be carried through the oration from end to end, Mr. Kennedy being always accurate and. scholarlike, but never transcending the limits of classical-tripos. mosaic ; whereas Sir Robert Collier, without ceasing to be faith- ful, never descends below the level of the Parliamentary style which he has deliberately chosen. Lord Brougham's translation,. also Parlamentary, is rough and mouthing,—Sir Robert's particu- larly sleek. We can therefore recommend his translation not only to the student, but to the general reader.

Although we have Leland before us, we have not entered into. any further comparisons for want of space. Le'and is very homogeneous, but his style belongs to another time. With more elevation than Sir Robert Collier, he has less simplicity of power, and there is an affectation of condescension in his style and a. courtliness of effect which are nothing so little as Demoathenean.