traveller, at least that I know of,* has given the picture of Messenia, of a part of Arcadia, and of the valley of Laconia. Chandler, Wheler, Spon, Le Roy, M. de Choiseul, did not visit Sparta; M. Fauvel, and some Englishmen, have lately penetrated as far as that celebrated city, but they have not yet published the result of their travels. The pictures of Jerusalem and of the Dead Sea are equally faithful. The church of the Holy-Sepulchre, the Dolorous-Way (via dolorosa) are exactly as I have represented them. The fruit which my heroine gathers upon the shores of the Dead Sea, and the existence of which has been denied, is found in abundance about two or three leagues south of Jericho: the tree on which it grows is a species of the citron: I have in fact brought some of this fruit with me to France.†

* Coranelli, Pelegrin, Guilletiere, and several other Venetians, have spoken of Lacedæmon, but in the most vague and unsatisfactory manner. M. de Poucqueville, excellent as far as his remarks extend, appears to have been deceived respecting Mistra which is not Sparta. Mistra is built at the distance of two leagues from the Eurotas, upon a croup of the Taygetus. The ruins of Sparta are found at a village called Magaula.

This journey, undertaken with no other view than to examine and to delineate those places which I intended as the scene of the Martyrs, has necessarily furnished me with a mass of observations foreign to my present work; I have collected important facts upon the geography of Greece, upon the scite of Sparta, upon Argos, Mycena, Corinth, Athens, &c. Pergamus, in Mysia, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Carthage, the ruins of which are far more curious and interesting than is

These are the labours which I have undergone that the Martyrs might be rendered somewhat less unworthy of public attention. Happy shall I feel, if the poetic spirit which breathes amidst the ruins of Athens and of Jerusalem, shall animate my work! I have not spoken of my studies and my travels through a vain-glorious ostentation, but to evince the proper distrust that I entertain of my own talents, and the pains I have taken to supply their deficiency by every means in my power: these labours prove also my respect for the public, and the importance that I attach to every thing which intimately or remotely concerns the interests of Religion.

Nothing remains now but to notice the nature of this work. I shall not engage in a question which has been

generally believed, occupy a considerable portion of my journal. This journal, although divested of the descriptions which I have given in the Martyrs, may still possess some interest. I may perhaps one day publish it under the title of Itinerary from Paris to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Paris, proceeding by the way of Greece, and returning through Egypt, Barbary and Spain.*

* This Itinerary has since been published, and is now, through the politeness of a friend, in the possession of the translator of the Martyrs. Whatever it contains that can tend to throw any light upon the text, to improve, or more fully authenticate the descriptions, or to give the reader some idea of the present state of places which time and history have conspired to render interesting, shall occasionally be given in the notes which the translator has thought proper to attach to the present work.

so long the subject of controversy; but content myself with a statement of authorities.

It is asked whether there can be a poem in prose? The question is in fact nothing but a dispute respecting words.

Aristotle, whose opinions are laws, says positively that the epic poem may be written either in prose or in verse:

Η' δὲ Εποποιία μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς, ἢ τοις μέτροις. And it is remarkable that he gives to Homeric or simple verse, a name, μergia, which bears a strong resemblance to that which he ascribes to poetic prose, ψιλοὶ λόγος.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, whose authority is equally respectable, says:

"It is possible that a discourse in prose may resem"ble a fine poem, or mellifluous verse; a poem, and lyric verse may resemble measured prose:

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.

Πῶς γράφεται λέξις ἃ μετρος ὁμοία καλῶ ποιήματι ἢ μέλει, καὶ πως ποίημά γε ἡ μέλος πεζῃ λέξει καλῆ παραπλησιον.

The same author cites some charming verses of Simonides, upon Danae, and he adds:

"These verses are precisely similar to measured "prose."+

Strabo confounds verse and prose in the same manner.§ The age of Louis XIV, nourished by the study of antiquity, seems to have adopted the same sentiments

* Arist. Paris, 1645, 8vo. de Art. Poet. p. 2.

† Dion. Halic. vol. ii, p. 51,

+ Id. p. 60.

cap. 25.

S Strab, lib. 1, p. 12, fol. 1597.

upon the Epic poem in prose. When Telemachus appeared, the name of a poem was given to it without the smallest hesitation. It was at first known under the title of the adventures of Telemachus, or a continuation of the fourth book of the Odyssey. Now, the continuation of a poem can be no other than a poem itself. Boileau, who in other respects has criticised Telemachus with a severity which posterity has been far from sanctioning, compares it with the Odyssey, and calls Fenelon a poet.

"There is an elegance, says he, in this work, and "an imitation of the Odyssey of which I very much "approve. It is evident, from the avidity with which "it is read, that if Homer were translated into elegant prose, it would have the same effect which it ought "to produce, and which it always has produced.... ".. The Mentor of Telemachus says many excellent "things, though rather boldly, and in fine, M. de Cambray appears to me a much better poet than theolo

46

gian.”

Ramsay gives it the same name.

The Abbe de Chanterac, that intimate friend of Fenelon, writing to the Cardinal Gabrieli, expresses himself thus:

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"Our prelate has composed this work (Telemachus) upon the plan adopted by Homer in his "Iliad and Odyssey, or by Virgil in his Æneid. "This book may be considered as a poem; it wants "nothing but rhyme to make it so. The design of the

*Lettres de Boileau et de Brosette, tom. 1, p. 46.

"author was to impart to it the beauty and harmony of the poetic style.*

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In fine, let us listen to Fenelon himself:

"As for Telemachus, it is a fictitious story in the

form of an heroic poem, like those of Homer and "Virgil."+

This is explicit enough.‡

Faydits and Gueudeville T were the first critics who denied to Telemachus the title of a poem, in opposition to the authority of Aristotle and of the age in which they lived: it is singular fact. Since that period, Voltaire and La Harpe have declared that there was no such thing as a poem in prose: they were weary and disgusted with the imitations to which Telemachus had given rise. But is this just? Be

* Hist. de Fénél. par M. de Bausset, tom. 11, p. 194. † Id. pag. 196. Manuscripts of Fenelon.

To these authorities I shall here add that of Blair: it is not without appeal to those of France, but it exhibits the opinion of foreigners respecting Telemachus; it is of great weight in all that relates to ancient literature; in fine, Doctor Blair, of all the English critics, approaches nearest to our taste and literary sentiments.

In reviewing the Epic Poets, it were unjust to make no mention of the amiable author of the Adventures of Telemachus. His work, though not composed in verse, is justly entitled to be held a Poem. The measured poetical Prose, in which it is written, is remarkably harmonious; and gives the style nearly as much elevation as the French language is capable of supporting, even in regular verse.

Blairs' Lectures on Rhetoric, &c. vol. iii, p. 276.

Le Telemacomanie.

¶ Critique générale du Telemaque: