Monsieur _Maucroix_, who translated _Cicero_ into _French_, writes thus of translating to Monsieur _Boileau_: _You have told me more than once, that Translation is not the Way to Immortality_; and he excuses his meddling with it, on Account of his Want of Application and Knowledge: As to Immortality it is to be question'd, whether that was the main Thing our Translators had in View. It will not be deny'd, but that _Dryden_'s Bookseller put him upon translating _Virgil_, by the Temptation of so much a Line. And other Undertakers pay well enough to make a mortal Life a little comfortable, it is not much Matter whether the Work be immortal or not. _Ogilby_ however is sure of Immortality; for though his Translations are as dead as his Carcass, yet he will be remember'd in good Satyr for the Badness of them. _My Author_, says Monsieur _Maucroix_, _is learned for me, the Topicks are all digested, the Inventing and Disposing are none of my Business; I have nothing to do but to utter my self_. Which Utterance is much more difficult, as Dr. _Felton_ will have it, than to study, to digest, to invent, to dispose, and to utter too. I do not suppose, that a Man ever applied himself to Translation, if he felt in himself any of the heavenly Fire which animates a great Genius, or was ambitious of Fame by the Merit of an Epick Poem. It must be own'd, that Judgement is requisite in Translation as well as Composition, not only to preserve the Spirit of the Original, but also to make Choice of such a One as the Translator may be best able to manage. Mr. _Charles Hopkins_ was Master of this Secret; and instead of attempting _Homer_ or _Virgil_, he contented himself with _Ovid_, and succeeded to Admiration. _Hopkins_ knew, that the Manners and Sentiments in _Ovid_ were natural and universal, which must please in all Ages; whereas, but a very few can relish the Quarrels and Battles, which are the main Subject of the _Ilias_. The Learned have explained to us, for what it is that our Adoration is due to _Homer_: For the Unity and Greatness of his Fable, the Variety and Dignity of his Characters, and his sublime Thought and Expression; I dare not say Diction and Sentiments, because the _Spectator_ has disgraced the Use of technical Terms, by calling it Cant; and supposing, that those who use them, do it to disguise their Ignorance, and shew their Vanity in critical Phrase.