“The Cardinal,” says Mr. Badeley, “received me most graciously; his first question was, ‘Well, what language shall we talk?’ I said, ‘Your eminence’s English is doubtless far better than my Italian, and therefore we had better speak English.’ He accordingly spoke English to me, in the most easy and natural manner, and the conversation soon turned upon the English language, and upon English literature; and his reference to some of our principal authors, such as Milton, and others of that class, shewed me that he was well acquainted with them. We talked of translations, and I mentioned that the most extraordinary translation I had ever seen was that of Hudibras in French. He quite started with astonishment. ‘Hudibras in French! impossible—it cannot be!’ I assured him that it was so, and that I had the book. ‘But how is it possible,’ said he, ‘to translate such a book? The rhymes, the wit, the jokes, are the material points of the work—and it is impossible to translate these—you cannot give _them_ in French!’ I told him that, strange as it might seem, they were very admirably preserved in the translation, the measure and versification being the same, and the point and spirit of the original maintained with the utmost fidelity. He seemed quite lost in wonder, and almost incredulous—repeating several times, ‘Hudibras in French! Hudibras in French! Most extraordinary—I never heard of such a thing!’ During the rest of our interview, he broke out occasionally with the same exclamations; and, as I took leave, he again asked me about the book. I said that it was rather scarce, as it had been published many years ago;[522] but, that I had a copy, which I should be happy to send him, if he would do me the honour of accepting it. Unfortunately, on my return to England, before I could find anybody to take charge of it for him, he died.” The very capacity to appreciate “the rhymes, the wit, the jokes,” of Hudibras, in itself implies no common mastery of English. How few even among learned Englishmen, could similarly appreciate Berni, Pulci, Scarron, or Gresset, not to speak of the minor humourists of France or Italy!