4 |. Mr. Lofft on an Edition of Pope’s Fiomer. 
of gratitude with which their friendthip, 
their eafy and courteous manners, have 
imprefled me. 
On the 7th of each decade, Mr. Millin 
(Confervateur de la Bibliotheque Na- 
tionale) receives at his apartments in the 
public library the gens de letires, and the 
frrangers they may wifh to intreduce. 
The company chat from eight till ten, and 
are provided with almoft all the journals 
anid new publications of the continent. In 
mechanics, chemiftry, and natural niftory, 
I believe few narions will difpute the 
palm with France:—In claffical, but 
more efpecially in Greek literature, they 
lament (Ido not fay with what reafon) 
their inferiority. The names, however, 
ef Villoifon; La Porte du Thiel, Char- 
don La Rochette, Coray, S:. Croix, and 
Clavier, will ftill encourage one to hope 
for the fpeedy revival of thofe. ftudies 
which may have been fufpended by the 
double fhock of war and revolution. In 
the fir fitting of the National Inftitute 
which I attended, a memoir was read 
upon the means of reftoring the cultiva- 
tion of Greek literature. 
I fhould appear to have profited but 
little by a trip to Paris if I had forgotten 
the fex, in touching upon the general fub- 
jet of Parifian fociety. I know many 
who believe that the manners of women 
have become licentious, and that as the 
revolution, in its moft violent paroxy{m, 
flackened the bonds of matrimonial life, 
they had verificd the ungallant remark 
of our Englith fatyrift—that 
*¢ Every woman is at heart a rake.” 
"This is a calumny to which nothing but 
our total ignorance of the country could 
give even a momentary credit. 
I was feveral times afked by my friends 
at Paris, if I were not furprized to find 
that they walked upon their feet, ard fed 
with their mouths, like other men. I 
hope my vindication of \the Parifian fair 
will rot appear te fome too cold, nor to 
others too warm, when I fay, that for 
gaiety,; accomplifhments, grace, and 70- 
defy, they are inferior to none. Their 
dreig may, by fome, be confidered as an 
exception to this remark—by me it is not. 
I coniider it as an affair of the sarchande 
es modes, who, in her capricious Jucu- 
brations, may by chance have recollected 
Thompion’s— 
€ When unadorned is then adorned the moft.”” 
sis, 9% 
 Kenfington, J. C. Banks, 
‘Fate 10, 18016 
(To be concluded in our next.} — 
[Feb. 15 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
T having pleafed the bookfellers con- 
cerned in a NEW ED! TION of PoPE’s 
Homer, (to which I was folicited by 
Mr. Hoop, of the Poultry, in the name 
of all the partners, to give my aid) fud- 
dealy to impofe terms upon which I 
could not go on with accuracy and fatis- 
faétion, after I had completed, with much 
care and trouble, and with difficulty of 
making this undertaking compatible with 
my other engagements, the laft ten books 
of the Opyssey and the Poffcript, all of 
which have been printed from my addi- 
ticnal notes (beginning with the 15th 
book they having printed off fo far be- 
fore application was made tome) ;—it will 
be right to ftate what I have done, and 
what I was determined and ready to do. 
What I have done, has been to revife 
the text of the TRANSLATION and Notes, 
to add or correct references to paflages 
quoted, which are almoit every where 
wanting, or, where injerted, erroneous 
fometimes, and that materially : to com- 
pare the tranflation all along with the oR1- 
GINAL: to quote the or7gimal where there 
‘are ftriking deviations trom it in the tranf- 
lation, or extraordinary beauties or cha- 
racteriftic peculiarities: to compare the 
tranflation with other tranflations, parti- 
cularly CowPeER’s: to avail myfelf of 
what has appeared beft in W«KEFLELD’S 
excellent notes to his edition: and where 
I think the true fenfe, or beit mode of 
poetic rendering, has efcaped that admir- 
able f{cholar and critic, to offer occafional- 
ly a rendering of my own: noticing 
alfo, when they occurred, peculiar excel- 
lencies of the HomER of Pope and his ~ 
coadjutors. 
I meant, and had been requefted by the 
bookfeliers, to proceed in the fame man- 
ner with the IL1ap as had been propofed 
to me. I ftipulated for no determinate 
benefit, and i have not yet been reim- 
burfed even my expences. 
But the iaferruption of the undertaking 
is much more unealy to me than I am 
affected by any thought of thofe pecuniary 
confiderations. 
I think it a duty to myfelf, and to TRE 
LITERARY WORLD, to (tate this: and I 
hope that you will infert this letter in your 
Magazine. ; 
] would add, that I meditate to carry 
on and complete my correétions and other 
notes according to the original defign ; 
not only through the tranflation of the 
Opysséy, but of the ILrap-alfo, and to 
publifh them in a feparate form: and that 
I I alfo 
