1822.) 
stituted in 1614 one of the judges of 
the French Arms, in which place he 
was succeeded by the learned Peter 
Hozier. This Francis de Chevrier, 
who died in 1641, must not be con- 
founded with another, bearing the 
same name, who married Claudine de 
Paranges, and who was eulogised in 
Latin by Papire Masson. 
NO. VII. 
The Metamorphosis of Ovid. Folio. | 
The manuscript at Lyons is esteem- 
ed the most ancient translation extant 
in French of this universally esteemed 
Latin poet, being written in verses of 
eight syllables. The volume contain- 
ing this laborious undertaking is of 
vellum, comprising 546 pages, beauti- 
fully written, and in fine preservation ; 
it is decorated by enluminated majus- 
cules, and vignettes descriptive of the 
principal metamorphoses. The de- 
signs are not very correct, but the 
selection of the subjects, and the man- 
ner in which they are treated, render 
them peculiarly interesting. With 
regard to the style of the translator, 
the following quotation will prove am- 
ply illustrative ; herein Jupiter is made 
to address himself to Lo :— 
En cestui bois ou en celui, 
Se tu me crois t’ombroieras 
Et c’est grant chant eschiveras, 
De ruidi se tu nose mie, 
Seule entrer en bois, mon amie, 
Compaignie je ti porterai, 
Et par le boi te conduirai. 
Si n’aras pas por conductour 
Ou li vilain ou li pastour, 
Ains auras riche compaignie 
Da Dieu qui a la seigneurie 
De tout le monde mestrier, 
Je fais tonner et foudroier. 
All the books of Ovid are thus tran- 
slated, being a work of incalculable 
. labour. 
The most ancient translations of 
Ovid in print are, those of Walley, 
published at Bruges by Celard Ran- 
Sien in 1484, reprinted at Paris in 
1493, folio; mentioned by Maittaire. 
The Great Olympus, printed at Paris 
in Gothic characters in 1539, octavo. 
The first and second books were 
translated by Marot, in lines of ten 
syllables, which he read to Francis 
the First, in the Castle of Amboise. 
Bartholomew Aneau, head of the Col- 
lege of Lyons, added the third book, 
and caused the whole to be printed in 
this city by Macé Bonhomme, in 1556, 
in 12mo. The translation of L'rancis 
_ Montuiy Mac. No, 372. 
Bibliothceal Curiosities of Lyons. 
121 
Habert, of Issoudun, in Berry, ap- 
peared at Paris in 1573, which was 
presented by the author to Henry the 
Third ; that of Christopher Deffrans, of 
Niort, equally, in verse, appeared in 
Paris in 1595; in which edition the 
writer inserted musical notes, in order 
that his lines might be sung; while 
Raymond and Massac’s edition ap- 
peared in 1617, which, though loudly 
extolled by the writers of the time, is 
now scarcely known. 
In the two succeeding centuries the 
Metamorphoses were translated into 
prose by Nicholas Renouard, Peter du 
Ryer, la Barre de Beaumarchais, and 
Abbé Banier ; and in verse by Thomas 
Corneille, who produced the first four 
books; by Isaac Benserade, who gave 
the whole in rondeaus; by the Abbé 
Marolles, who reduced each fable into 
four verses; by La Fontaine, who imi- 
tated some; and lastly, by M. Saint 
Auge, who had courage and talent 
sufficient to issue a complete trans- 
lation. 
The manuscript at Lyons now un- 
der review is of 1450 to 1480, and 
was the property of Octavius Mey, a 
Lyonese merchant, famous alike for 
his knowledge, his inventions, and his 
great fortune, which he placed to an 
excellent use, by storing a cabinet 
with medals and the rarest antiques ; 
and it was from this valuable collec- 
tion that his heir, William Pilata, 
selected the weil-known beautiful 
shield representing the continence of 
Scipio, which he gave to Louis the 
Fourteenth. 
eee, Sie 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
On the LANGUAGE of PHILOSOPHY. 
. CENTURY and a half ago, Sue- 
iS tian was a recognised principle 
among philosophers. A pump was 
believed to act upon the principle of 
suction, by a capability which it had 
of sucking up water; and the leather 
was believed to adhere to a cobler’s 
lapstone owing to the stone sucking 
the leather. As soon, however, as it 
was discovered that the pressure of 
the atmosphere was the cause of both 
these phenomena, and that no such 
principle as Suction was necessary, 
various writers exposed the unphilo- 
sophical use of a term expressive of a 
power which did not exist, and it was 
generally abandoned. A few writers, 
however, upheld it) as descriptive 
merely of the ultimate phenomena ; 
sR, but 
