158 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
exhibited a fac-simile of a map of an ancient perambulation 
of the Moor, dated 1240 (Henry III.), which he had taken 
from the original in the possession of Mr. Atkins, of N'ewton 
Bushel, by that gentleman's kind permission. 
AN EXPERIMENT IN TRANSLATION. 
ABSTRACT OP REV. S. THELWALl's PAPER. 
(Oommunicated by Rev. F. E. Anthony. Read October 19th, 1871.) 
This paper was not originally written for the above Institution, 
but was read before the members at the suggestion of the Rev. F. 
E. Anthony, m.a., London, one of the Secretaries. The question 
with which the paper started was this : Need a literal translation 
be bald and graceless? The answer to this question involved 
another : What are the constituent elements of literal translation ? 
In endeavouring to reply to this latter enquiry, the lecturer pointed 
out that to translate" is to "transfer" or "carry over" the 
sense and spirit of an author writing in one language into another 
language. To do this "literally" is, in strictness, to take care 
that no "letter" even of the author be overlooked. Hence it 
would seem to follow that a " literal translation," so far from being 
what is so commonly understood by this title, a spiritless, slovenly 
production, of which any real scholar would be ashamed, is in 
truth a production which can only be the offspring of ripe scholar- 
ship, joined to some degree of taste and skill. In carrying out 
these views, the author had occasion to go, with some degree of 
minuteness, into the difficulties which are involved in translation ; 
and while carefully guarding himself against sanctioning the details 
of what is called the Hamiltonian system, he pleaded that that 
system appears to contain an element of truth, and therefore of 
utility. That element is the principle that every word contains 
some fundamental idea, which can only be found in some one cor- 
responding word in the language into which the translation is to 
be made. Even this principle, he showed, implies the existence of 
correspondent ideas and words in the two languages, which exist- 
ence is not always to be found. At the same time for practical 
purposes we may assume that principle as generally, though not 
quite universally true ; and having found our corresponding words, 
must stick to them uniformly, unless sufficient reason compel us to 
