sons of such habits, than on those whose feelings are regulated. An overstrained and premature exercise of the intellectual powers, is likewise a fault of education which predisposes to insanity, as it does also to other diseases of the brain. These are two considerations which are of the greatest importance, with respect to the welfare of families to which an hereditary constitution may belong, rendering them more liable than others to cerebral diseases. They are distinct in themselves, and each might furnish a theme for an extensive treatise, most valuable in a practical point of view. Under the first head, it would be necessary to consider the efficacy of those plans of education, of which the professed object is to form a character remarkable for sedateness, for the strict discipline of the feelings, and, as far as this is attainable, of strong passions and emotions. Such, undoubtedly, would be the kind of moral education best adapted for those who are constitutionally liable to insanity. The second remark, on the regulation of mental exercise in young persons, whose nervous systems are feebly constituted, has a more extensive bearing than on the subject of insanity. It brings forward a suggestion which is of very general interest in these times, in which mental exertion is stimulated to the utmost, and too great sacrifices are often made to the cultivation of the intellect, or even to the mere acquisition of knowledge, while the education of the moral affections is considered as a matter of secondary importance."

These observations are deserving of very serious consideration, though they are but hints on subjects that ought to be treated at much greater length.

In conclusion, we hope there is a class of people in this country, and an increasing class, one destined to be the most numerous, who seek enjoyment in the tranquil occupations of life, in such pursuits as those of agriculture, and the study of natural history; who are not ashamed to labor with their own hands, and unite, in due proportion, exercise of body and mind; who, contented with their stations in society, and with a competency, are not perpetually striving for office or wealth. To this course we advise others, for we know not how life can be better spent, or more happiness realized. We hope to see, to be sure, a love of literature and of science increase with this class. All labor of body is not proper; the mind requires exercise also; but it does not require constant excitement, any more than the body does alcoholic drinks. The agriculturist, with a good farm and well-selected library,

(and books are now so cheap that most persons can afford such,) is supplied with the essential materials for rational enjoyment. A part of his time judiciously devoted to labor, makes him as independent of others as is desirable; while a portion of his leisure passed with books, elevates, purifies, and improves his intellect, and thus he secures to himself health of body and mind.

ART. VII. 1. My Prisons; Memoirs of SILVIO PELLICO of Saluzzo. Cambridge: Printed by Charles Folsom. 1836. 16mo. pp. 368.

2. Additions to "My Prisons; Memoirs of Silvio Pellico," with a Biographical Notice of Pellico. By PIERO MARONCELLI of Forli. Translated from the Italian, under the Superintendence of the Author. Cambridge: Printed by Charles Folsom. 1836. 16mo. pp. 276.

THE writer of an excellent article on Pellico, in the twenty-second Number of the "Foreign Quarterly Review," remarks, that if the work had been "an ordinary invective against Austrian oppression, conceived and executed in the usual perfervid manner of Italian partisanship, it would have been forgotten in a fortnight; but this calm, classical, and moving picture of suffering, insinuates itself irresistibly into the heart, and will long maintain its hold on the memory. The work before us is a proof of the truth of this remark; it is a new translation of Pellico's account of his imprison

ment.

It is four years since this sad story was first told in Europe, in accents of such deep and touching pathos, that we seemed to be listening to the voice of one who had passed through the dark valley of the shadow of death; and now, his words are echoed again in America, and,

"Like to a harp-string stricken by the wind,
The sound of his lament shall

sweep over our land, and be heard with deep and thrilling

We rejoice that this new translation has been made and published; for, although an English version was prepared in 1833, there still seemed to be sufficient reason for doing the work again. Without intending any disparagement to the London translator's abilities, we may say that his work was fitted rather to satisfy the immediate and urgent demand of English readers, than to do full justice to the style and sentiments of the original. The public were not willing to wait for an elaborate and carefully revised version of a book so full of thrilling interest, and which was addressed not merely to Italy or France, but to the world. But, now that the work has become a classic in the literature of every civilized nation, it seems very desirable that it should be rendered into English with great care and accuracy, and in such a manner as to convey, as far as possible, an idea of the remarkably chaste and elegant style of the original. These objects have been very successfully accomplished in the American translation. It is literal, without being stiff; and while it conveys the thoughts of Pellico, it speaks in the same natural and unaffected style. The work has been executed with great care and fidelity; every word has been weighed and selected, every sentence revised, and the whole discussed and examined by able scholars; so that we know not where a more complete version of any work could be found.

To give our readers, however, an opportunity of judging of the necessity of a new translation, we will lay before then some of the inaccuracies in the English work.

In the first place, there occur through the book numerous additions or interpolations, which destroy the effect of that simplicity for which the original is so remarkable. For instance, on page 86, chapter 35, (we use the London edition of 1833,) the following sentence appears; "And rest satisfied with the acquaintance we had formed, the mutual pleasure we had already derived, and the unalterable good-will we felt toward each other, which resulted from it." Our readers will be surprised to find in the Italian, only the following words; "E ci contentassimo d'esserci conosciuti collo scambio di poche parole, ma indelebili e mallevadrici di alta amicizia; which are thus rendered in the American translation; "and content ourselves with being known to each other by the exchange of a few words, indelible pledges of strong attachment." Again, chapter 52, page 125, Pellico', describing

his meeting with Maroncelli, is made to say, "We mutually described our prison walks and adventures, complimenting each other on our peripatetic philosophy." The latter clause of the sentence which we have marked with italics, is entirely an addition by the translator. The sentence in the original, is "Ci confidammo parecchie carcerarie peripezie," and is well translated; "We confided to each other various incidents of our imprisonment." In chapter 59, page 143, the Italian, "Io sono cattivo, o signore," is translated, "No, Sir, I am bad-rank bad." In chapter 79, page 191, we read; "And last not least the innocent badinage of a young Hungarian fruiteress, the corporal's wife, who flirted with my companions." This purports to be a translation of the following sentence; "E per ultimo un innocente amore, un amore non mio, nè del mio compagno, ma d' una buona caporalina Ungherese, venditrice di frutta. The American translation has it; "And in the last place an innocent attachment, — not on my part, nor on the part of my companion, but on that of a good, simple girl, the daughter of an Hungarian corporal, a fruit-seller."

Many instances occur also of hasty and incorrect translation. In the very first line, there is a mistake in the date. Pellico was arrested on the 13th of October; not the 15th, as we read in the London translation. In chapter 55, page 132, we are told that arriving at Fusina, from Venice, they found two boats waiting for them, and that their guards were some of them at hand in the boats; others in the box of the vetturino." This account presents a very confused idea of their mode of travelling. Why they should have boats ready at Fusina, where persons arriving from Venice usually change the gondola for a land carriage, and why part of the guards should ride on the box of a vetturino, or coach, while the remaining part went in boats with the prisoners, is extremely difficult to be comprehended; especially when we find, a few lines afterwards, that their journey lay over the Alps, which Hannibal himself would never have thought of crossing in a boat. Upon referring to the original, we find that the English translator has rendered "legni, "boats"; when any one who is at all familiar with colloquial Italian, knows that legno is a general term for land carriage.

In chapter 59, page 143, old Schiller, the jailer of Spielberg, says; "Captain as I am," &c. &c. Though we did

not doubt that the whole Austrian army were subject to do service as jailers and executioners, we were still somewhat surprised to perceive that the Emperor should actually use his captains for turnkeys; but on looking into the original, we found the words, "Caporale qual sono," "Corporal as I

am."

Towards the end of chapter 68, in giving an account of an interview with Schiller, Pellico says that each of them joined his hands and prayed in silence. He then adds; "Ei capiva ch' io facea voti per esso, com' io capiva ch' ei ne facea per me." This is very well rendered in the American version; "He understood that I was praying for him, and I that he was praying for me." But the English translator has it; "He saw it and took my hand with a look of grateful respect." (p. 165.)

66

In the 71st chapter, Pellico, in giving an account of the daily routine, says; "Un breve intervallo, e ci portavano la colezione. Questa era un mezzo pentolino di broda rossiccia, con tre sottilissime fettine di pane; io mangiava quel pane e non bevea la broda." One would think that a pot of red broth, with three very thin slices of bread, was hard fare enough; but the English translator, refining upon Austrian cruelty, tells us, (page 172,) that the breakfast consisted of coarse bread and swill." In the same chapter, "A certi discorsi non rispondevamo se non pregandoli di tacere," is rendered in the London translation, (page 178,) "Touching upon some topics, they entreated of us to be silent, refusing to give any answer." Pellico has just said that their guards. sometimes conversed with them, and then adds the words we have here cited, the meaning of which is, obviously, exactly the contrary of the English translation. They are rendered properly in the new version; "To certain remarks we did not reply, except by begging them to be silent." makes the next sentence intelligible, in which Pellico adds; "It was natural that we should doubt, whether what they said were entirely the overflowing of simple hearts, or whether there were not some artifice in it for the purpose of discovering our thoughts."

This

Another remarkable error in translation occurs in the 77th chapter, where Pellico, speaking of the ill health of Maroncelli, says; L'unica idea che mi spaventasse era la possibilità che questo infelice, di salute già assai rovinata, sebbene