328 Monthly Review of Literature, [^Sept. 



but, though bad is the best, the best on the whole. The editor could not do 

 better ; and in an appendix, he has given another translation of about a third of 

 the whole bj' "various hands," as the booksellers used to phrase it. The Juve- 

 nal is Badham's — why chosen in preference to Gifford's, no good reason can be 

 given, unless the bar of copyright interfered, which in this case we think did 

 not. Dr. Badham himself indeed tells us that Gifford's is not remarkable for the 

 graces of poetry, and complains that it abounds with vulgar and vernacular 

 expressions, and has more abruptness than energy, implying, of course, that he 

 has himself supplied the graces and energy, expelled the vulgar and vernacular, 

 and softened and rounded the abrupt. Nous verrons — the first eight lines — 



" That Theseid still ! what ! have they no remorse ? 

 Shall Codrus ? with diurnal ravings hoarse. 

 Shall whinine elegies, against my ivill, 

 And wretched dramas persecute me stiU ? 

 Unpunished Telephus my days consume, 

 And mar'ginless Orestes be my doom, 

 Where o'er the sheefs vast back th' extending scrawl 

 Is not yet finished, though it fills it all !" 



Can Dr. Badham suppose for a moment that he is here conveying clear ideas, or 

 giving the spirit of Juvenal, which he talks about, or expressing himself with 

 point, or with grace, or with energy, or with harmony ? No, no ; this is worse 

 in all respects than Gifford ten times over. But Gilford had ofiFended Dr. Bad- 

 ham, and revenge is sweet. 



Drummond's Persius is a miserable performance ; but nothing will ever be 

 made of Persius in English versification. Dr. Smith's Thucydides is the best 

 extant, but surely one more worthy of the Athenian might be readily obtained, 

 though of course not without cost, and that does not suit the projector's views. 



Letters to a Young Naturalist on the Study of Nature and Natural 

 Theology, by Dr. Drummond, of Belfast. 



Natural history is improving rapidly. Mere arrangement is takmg its proper 

 place in public estimation — as the means of facilitating the acquisition of know- 

 ledge, but not knowledge itself. Within these three or four years numerous 

 books have been published with as little regard to Linnceus, or any other sys- 

 tematiser, as if none of them had ever existed. The course is perfectly natural 

 — each plant and animal has now got its place, and may be examined at leisure. 

 The attention is turned to the habits of animals and their final causes — to the 

 use that may be made of them, and the advantage to the exclusive possessors of 

 reason. Dr. Drummond's book is entitled to favourable distinction among 

 recent publications on similar subjects — for the extent and idiosyncracy of his 

 observations, and also the enlightened and benevolent tendency of them. But 

 every man makes slips occasionally, and Dr. Drummond is not more than mor- 

 tal. " I hope," says he, to his young correspondent, "you will learn better to 

 appreciate the works of nature, than to destroy any thing without having a suf- 

 ficient reason for so doing. Kill nothing through mere wantonness or caprice, 

 for such practices can only belong to an unfeeling and unamiable mind. If an 

 object is to be gained worth the sacrifice, then let the animal die ; but let its 

 death be as easy as possible ; and if for the sake of science you must deprive 

 animals of their being, make it a point, otherwise, to save all you can. In your 

 evening walk avoid the snail that crosses your path ; if a beetle lies sunning 

 itself on the highway, where the next passing foot may trample on it, throw it 

 out of danger over the hedge ; if an insect is struggling in the water, save it 

 from drowning ; and perhaps you would say, if a fly is uttering its death-cry in 

 the embrace of a spider, save it from the clutches of the robber. Surely not ; 

 the spider is committing no wanton, no unnecessary murder. You might with 

 equal justice cut the fisherman's net," &c. 



Now this is surely nonsense, or rather it is system, in one of its worst forms 

 — in contempt oifeeliv(j. Why is the suffering of the fly not to be regarded as 

 well as the hunger of the spider .> If it is to be a matter of reasoning, how can 



