University of Virginia Library

LETTER XXIX.

Your two letters, of the 28th of February and 6th of
March, both arrived by the same post. It gives me great
pleasure, my dear son, to see you so well employed; but, at
the same time, I must point out to you some traces of negligence,
as well as some errors in your translations.

"Benifit" for "benefit;" "insilfferable" (I have tried to
imitate the character) for insufferable. "Enough resources,
or room, or of troops." Adverbs of quantity govern the genitive;
but this is awkwardly expressed. You have rendered
the difficult passage very well; although rather too
much in the Latin idiom. This fault, time will correct. I
find it in your French translations also. I would have said
"should not be refused by any," although it is in the dative,
"se vindicare in libertatem;" restore themselves to liberty,
or vindicate their liberty, is more literal, and equally elegant
with "obtain their liberty," and, therefore, better.
"Least" is not an English conjunction; it should be lest.
Consult Horne Tooke for this word. The Index in the second
volume (I believe) will refer you to the page where it
is to be found. "Marcus Anthony:" we say Mark Antho-

ny, or Marcus Antonius. "Have began" is not correct;
began is the imperfect tense—begun is the perfect.

"Il'seu faut beaucoup"—far from it, or, much is wanting.
"The Primate, who served so much to the deposing
Augustus;" it should be of Augustus: but, moreover, this
English smells of French too strongly: who contributed so
much, would have been better. Also, "the expedition
against (rather than of) Copenhagen." "The instructions
upon which I have worked, French idiom again: Information—have
written or built. "It is not a history, far from
it, but they are excellent materials." Here is a false concord.
The handwriting is very illegible. For want of the original,
I have not been able to correct as well as I could have wished;
but, by looking over it yourself, you will see where my remarks
apply. And now, my dear Theodore, let me thank
you, which I do most sincerely, for your letters, and request
a regular continuance of them. In a short time, my dear boy,
I hope you will be in a more eligible situation for prosecuting
your studies. You might be in a much worse, in any school
now within your reach, unless your old one has (as I hope)
changed materially for the better.

I am sorry to hear that you had not received your linen,
&c., by the wagon. Quasha could not have called at Ellis'
and Allan's. By this time, however, I hope you have obtained
them.

Farewell. Let me know how our neighbours are. Today,
for the first time since my accident, I rode out on horseback.