Nam certo si sis sanus, aut sapias satis, Quam tu impudicam esse arbitrare, & praedicas, Cum ea tu sermonem nec joco, nec serio Tibi habeas, nisi sis stultior stultissimo.

Which I have translated, perhaps, too closely thus; I'm sure, had ye either Wit, or Discretion, or weren't the greatest Fool in Nature, you'd ne'er hold Discourse, either in Mirth or Earnest, with the Woman you believe and declare a Strumpet. I'm confident many other Translators wou'd not have been so scrupulously nice, but have made shorter work of it. But I have not only been so scrupulous in this Case, but I have likewise imitated all his Faults and Imperfections, whenever I cou'd do it without extream Injury to the Translation; I speak of his Puns, Quibbles, Rhimes, Gingles, and his several ways of playing upon words; which indeed were the Faults of his Age, as it was of ours in Shakespear's and Johnson's days, and of which Terence, as correct as he is, is not perfectly clear. Our Author's playing upon words are of that various nature, and so frequent too, I need not go far for a single Instance, which shall be in the fore part of the Prologue to Amphitryon:

Justam rem & facilem esse oratum a vobis volo. Nam juste ab justis sum orator datus. Nam injusta ab justis impetrare non decet: Justa autem ab injustis petere, insipientia 'st: Quippe illi iniqui jus ignorant, neque tenent.

Which I have translated thus: I desire nothing but what's reasonable, and feasible; for 'tis a reasonable God requires Reason from a reasonable People; but to require Roguery from reasonable People, is base; and to expect Reason from Rascals, is nonsence; since such People neither know Reason nor observe it. Our Author's Wit did many times consist in his playing upon Words; a great pity indeed, for a person who was so well able to writ after a more substantial way, of which we have many remarkable Instances. Besides his Quibbling, partly from his Carelesness and Necessities, he hath sometimes a vein of Trifling, which was but very indifferent; and on those places the Reader must make some allowance for the translation, and not expect more than the Matter will well bear. As for our Author's Jests and Repartees, for what we know of 'em, I took a particular care in preserving their Force; and for the most part, I presume, I have done it in a great measure, sometimes by a lucky hit; or a peculiar happiness of our Tongue, other times by a little Liberty taken, and when all have fail'd, the Remarks have generally supply'd the Defect, a way I was forc'd to content my self withal in many places; the worse they were, they were frequently more difficult to preserve, therefore I thought it as well to slur over some few of the meaner sort. Several of his Jests and bits of Satyr are undoubtedly lost to us, not only in respect of our Language, but also our Knowledge, and this sometimes makes his Sence a little obscure. And as the Sence of an Author ought to be his Translator's chiefest Care, so it has been mine; and tho' I cannot affirm, that I have kept to it in every passage, yet I believe I have often done it where a common Reader will think I have not; and I think it no commendation to my self to say I have hit it on many places where the Common Interpreters have missed.

After all, I dare not pretend to say, that this Translation equals the Original, for there is such a peculiar Air in this Author as well as Terence, that our Tongue seems uncapable of, or at least it does so to me. Yet still if 'twere always read with the Original, it wou'd make far more for me than otherwise. In short, the Reader ought to look upon this as a Translation of an Author who had several Faults, and such places, as the English must of necessity appear mean, being little better in the Original; and likewise as an Author of Antiquity, some of whose Customs and Manners will appear a little uncouth and unsightly, in spight of all a Translator's Care. I endeavour'd to be as like my Author as I cou'd, especially in that which I reckon his distinguishing Character, to wit, the natural and unaffected easiness of his Stile, and as this seems the most capable of imitation, so I believe I have been more successful in this Particular than in any other: and that is the main Reason I have had so many Abbreviations, to make it appear still more like common Discourse, and the usual way of speaking. Perhaps I may be thought to have been too bold in that point, because I have had some that are not usual in Prose; therefore I don't set this way as a Copy for any one to follow me in, nor shall I use it myself in any other Piece. I have all the way divided the Acts and Scenes according to the true Rules of the Stage, which are extreamly false in all the Editions of this Author, especially the Scenes.

To make this Translation the most useful that I cou'd, I have made Remarks upon each Play, and those are of two sorts, tho' equally intermix'd: The first, to shew the Author's chief Excellencies as to his Contrivance and Management of his Plots and Incidents; the second, to discover several Beauties of Stile and Wit, principally such as are not very clear, or cannot well be preserv'd in our Tongue; and those are likewise to vindicate my Translation. Several of these I must own my self oblig'd to Madam Dacier for, or at least the hint, tho' some of 'em I cou'd not have miss'd of in the prosecution of those Designs I aim'd at. I have borrow'd little or nothing from any other, for her's are far the best Notes I ever met with, tho' many of 'em were done more to shew her Parts and Reading than for any real use, a thing which I shall never aim at. I have been forc'd in most of 'em to be extream nice and curious in penetrating into the bottom of the Author, for I find it far more difficult to discover a Beauty than a Fault. I might have enlarg'd upon 'em, and have made several more, with good grounds, but I thought it dangerous to say all that cou'd be said; but instead of that I was forc'd, much against my will, to dash out several of those upon Amphitryon upon the account of the Printer, but the rest are more full and compleat.

If business wou'd have permitted me, I shou'd have ventur'd upon three more of our Authors Plays; and upon that Account, I have taken somewhat less time than was necessary for the translating such an extraordinary difficult Author; for this requires more than double the time of a Historian or the like, which was as much as I cou'd allow my self. I made choice of these three Plays as well for their Modesty as Regularity, for above all things I wou'd by no means give the least Encouragement to Lewdness or Obscenity, which grow too fast of themselves; and therefore I thought I cou'd not chuse better than after a Lady. Amphitryon had the Name, and never fail'd of a general Approbation; Epidicus was our Author's Favourite, and truly there is much Art in it, tho' it is a little heavy; and Rudens is in several respects a better Play than any of Plautus's or Terence's. I'm afraid Amphitryon will bear the worse in our Tongue, upon the Account of Mr. Dryden's, whose Improvements are very extraordinary; but considering Mr. Dryden's Management is of such a different Nature, this will still be as useful and as proper for my Design, or at least to School-boys and Learners. I must do that great Man the Justice in saying, that he has not only much improved the Humour, Wit, and Design in many places, but likewise the Thoughts. I'll mention one, which just now comes into my mind. Alcmena in the Second Act complains thus: How poor and short are this Life's Pleasures, if once compar'd with the Sorrows we endure? 'Tis Man's Destiny, and Heaven's Pleasure, to mix our Joys with bitter Potions; and for some few Hours of Satisfaction, we meet with Ages of Ills and Troubles. Mr. Dryden, by the help of Blank Verse, and a little more room, has better'd it extreamly.

Ye niggard Gods! you make our Lives too long: You fill 'em with Diseases, Wants, and Woes, And only dash 'em with a little Love; Sprinkled by Fits, and with a sparing Hand. Count all our Joys, from Childhood ev'n to Age, They wou'd but make a Day of ev'ry Year:

And to carry it on further yet, and to make it appear more fine and clear, he says,

Take back your Sev'nty Years, (the stint of Life) Or else be kind, and cram the Quintessence Of Sev'nty Years into sweet Sev'nty Days: For all the rest is flat, insipid Being.

I mention this the rather, because it may serve for one Instance of what Improvements our Modern Poets have made on the Ancients, when they built upon their Foundations. For we find that many of the fine things of the Ancients are like Seeds, that, when planted on English Ground by a Skilful Poet's Hand, thrive, and produce excellent Fruit.

But I'm afraid this Preface has been too long and tedious for this small Piece; but the Press stays, and the hast I'm in will not permit me to make it shorter, or so much as review it; yet before I conclude, I must inform the Reader, that I had the Advantage of another's doing their +P+lays before me; from whose Translation I had very considerable Helps, especially in the Jests and Quibbles.



The Augustan Reprint Society

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT

[Decoration]

1948-1949

16. Henry Nevil Payne, The Fatal Jealousie (1673). [16916]

18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in The Occasional Paper, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to The Creation (1720). [15870]

1949-1950

19. Susanna Centlivre, The Busie Body (1709). [16740]

20. Lewis Theobald, Preface to the Works of Shakespeare (1734). [16346]

22. Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749), and two Rambler papers (1750). [13350]

23. John Dryden, His Majesties Declaration Defended (1681). [15074]

1950-1951

26. Charles Macklin, The Man of the World (1792). [14463]

1951-1952

31. Thomas Gray, An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard (1751), and The Eton College Manuscript. [15409]

1952-1953

41. Bernard Mandeville, A Letter to Dion (1732). [29478]

1962-1963

98. Select Hymns Taken Out of Mr. Herbert's Temple (1697).

1963-1964

104. Thomas D'Urfey, Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds (1706).

1964-1965

110. John Tutchin, Selected Poems (1685-1700). [In Preparation]

111. Anonymous, Political Justice (1736).

112. Robert Dodsley, An Essay on Fable (1764).

113. T. R., An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning (1698).

114. Two Poems Against Pope: Leonard Welsted, One Epistle to Mr. A. Pope (1730), and Anonymous, The Blatant Beast (1742). [21499]

1965-1966

115. Daniel Defoe and others, Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal.

116. Charles Macklin, The Covent Garden Theatre (1752). [In Preparation]

117. Sir George L'Estrange, Citt and Bumpkin (1680). [In Preparation]

118. Henry More, Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1662).

119. Thomas Traherne, Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation (1717).

120. Bernard Mandeville, Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables (1704). [In Preparation]

1966-1967

122. James MacPherson, Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760). [8161]

123. Edmond Malone, Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr. Thomas Rowley (1782). [29116]

124. Anonymous, The Female Wits (1704). [In Preparation]

125. Anonymous, The Scribleriad (1742). Lord Hervey, The Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue (1742). [In Preparation]

126. Le Lutrin: an Heroick Poem, Written Originally in French by Monsieur Boileau: Made English by N. O. (1682).

Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.

Publications #1 through 90, of the first fifteen years of Augustan Reprint Society, are available in bound units at $14.00 per unit of six from:

KRAUS REPRINT CORPORATION 16 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017

Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of $5.00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request.



William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California, Los Angeles

THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

General Editors: George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles; Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles; Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Corresponding Secretary: Mrs. Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.

The Society's purpose is to publish reprints (usually facsimile reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. All income of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and mailing.

Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canada should be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron St., Los Angeles, California. Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to any of the general editors at the same address. Manuscripts of introductions should conform to the recommendations of the MLA Style Sheet. The membership fee is $5.00 a year in the United States and Canada and 30 — in Great Britain and Europe. British and European prospective members should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back issues in print may be obtained from the Corresponding Secretary.

PUBLICATIONS FOR 1967-1968

127-128. Charles Macklin, A Will and No Will, or a Bone for the Lawyers (1746). The New Play Criticiz'd, or The Plague of Envy (1747). Introduction by Jean B. Kern. [In Preparation]

129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to Terence's Comedies (1694) and Plautus's Comedies (1694). Introduction by John Barnard. [Present Text]

130. Henry More, Democritus Platonissans (1646). Introduction by P. G. Stanwood. [In Preparation]

131. John Evelyn, The History of . . . Sabatai Sevi . . . The Suppos'd Messiah of the Jews (1669). Introduction by Christopher W. Grose. [In Preparation]

132. Walter Harte, An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad (1730). Introduction by Thomas B. Gilmore. [29237]

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Next in the series of special publications by the Society will be a volume including Elkanah Settle's The Empress of Morocco (1673) with six plates; Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco (1674) by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas Shadwell; Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised (1674) by Elkanah Settle: and The Empress of Morocco. A Farce (1674) by Thomas Duffet, with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. Already published in this series are reprints of John Ogilby's The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse (1668) with an Introduction by Earl Miner and John Gay's Fables (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A. Dearing. Publication is assisted by funds from the Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles. Price to members of the Society, $2.50 for the first copy and $3.25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $4.00.

THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

2520 Cimarron Street at West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90018

Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

* * * * * * * * *

Errata (noted by transcriber)

In the Prefaces, errors were corrected only if a later edition showed the same correction.

Editor's Introduction

under the imprint of Thomas Salusbury [spelling is correct] another's doing their [i.e., "these"?] Plays before me [this and following bracketed notes are in the original]

Preface to Terence

vix de demenso suo, suum defraudans genium [demcuso ... defrudans] Eheu me miseram! [Ehen] ni unum desit [de sit] perfectly just, truly proportionably [. for,] he never fails in any one place, but [. for,] why he goes off, where he's a going [goes of] the whole cou'dn't contain above Eleven hours [about Eleven hours] for such inferior Persons, we leave to others. [. invisible] or to say very little, as 'twas agreeable to them [s in "as" invisible] In some things they are too short, in others too long [. for,] School-Masters often want time, and now and then Judgment [time. and now then and] some hints we had from the French, but [. for,] Odiosus, Tristis, &c. these we [missing ; or : after "&c.", OR error for "These"] They may possibly take 'em for Blunders [' missing or invisible] but we have better offend this way than the other [beeter]

Preface to Plautus

due Observance and Penetration [Penitration] Exit Euclio. [Eudio] And besure you secure the Door [spacing as shown] For the Reader's Satisfaction, here follows [he follows]

Augustan Reprints

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES [. for,] and 30 — in Great Britain and Europe [unchanged]

THE END