Page:Essay on the Principles of Translation - Tytler (1791, 1st ed).djvu/252

tend to say; but we may at least affirm, that he has not conveyed a just one *.

But what has prevented the translator, who professes that he wished to give a just idea of the merits of his original, from accomplishing what he wished? Not ignorance of the language; for Voltaire, though no great critic in the English tongue, had yet a competent knowledge of it; and the change he has put upon the reader was not involuntary, or the effect of ignorance. Neither was it the want of genius, or of poetical talents; for Voltaire is certainly one of

^[1]

1. Other ideas superadded by the translator, are,
   Que suis-je———Qui m'arrête?—
   On nous menace, on dit que cette courte vie, &c.
   ———Affreuse éternité,
   Tout cœur à ton seul nom se glace epouvanté
   ———A des amis ingrats qui detournent la vue———
   
   

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