PREFACE.

Two generations have left the busy scenes of mortal toil since the author inscribed his work to the Queen of France and the French. Following his proper example, my rendering of it is dedicated to the President and Sovereign people of the American Union. Heaven forefend that the coming fifty years shall involve this fair fabric of western statesmanship in like evils and distracted councils to those which, within the past half century, have so often revolutionized that mercurial people.

The writings of Florian are universally admired by all who have read them. Their style is that of graceful simplicity, with elegance, delicacy of sentiment, and purity of language. They are often poetical in spirit, and in sentiment present a reflection of his own pure heart.

Numa was written to show to Louis and the French nation a pattern monarch; to illustrate

the relative duties of prince and people, of protection and subjection, with some of the leading motives of action which ought to govern the conduct of a king and his subjects.

In its design and execution, it resembles more nearly the Telemachus of Fenelon than any other work; and yet there is no such pursuance of identity in the plot or machinery as to carry a semblance of plagiarism. Florian, in the modesty of his retiring disposition, only pretended to "follow at a distance in the footsteps" of the immortal Fenelon; still, in comparing the merits of Telemachus and Numa, there are numerous scenes and trials of difficulty, of magnanimity and selfsacrifice, where the son of Pompilius is not eclipsed by the son of Ulysses.

It seems to be the law of nature, as well as of grace, that no perfection can come except through labor and suffering; and the proofs and sacrifices of Numa are such as to make him a bright exemplar of human excellence.*

But, if the Telemachus of Fenelon can take

"The soul of man

Createth its own destiny of power;

And, as the trial is intenser here,

His being hath a nobler strength in heaven."

Willis.

no higher rank than that of romance, we must be content that Numa remain in such company. They each want some of the distinguishing marks to elevate them to the dignity of an epic; but they approximate so nearly to this character, that they are ranked in that order by some classical scholars.

Real excellence, however first made known, is almost sure to be lasting; it appeals to natural beauty and truth, the taste for which is the same in every age, and depends not upon the caprice of fashion. It sinks deeply into the hearts of those that are able to feel it, and who are not very likely to allow it to be altogether forgotten.

Imitation does not necessarily hinder invention. Ideas are common plunder in the literary world; it is the change of dress in which each author presents such ideas, that stamps his work with originality. The immortal poets, Homer and Virgil, are so filled with gems, that we are uncertain which is more entitled to our applause and admiration. Yet Homer was evidently Virgil's model; and it is doubtful whether the bard of Mantua would have laid posterity under such lasting obligations of gratitude to his memory, if the Grecian poet had never sung.

While the reading public is so crowded with ephemeral works, it may be a pleasing variety to digress a little from the beaten path, and season the mass with a spice of classic literature. If a work of taste be fraught with historical facts ingeniously interwoven, its interest is doubled; so, in proportion as known truths become the basis of any work of imagination, in that degree does the essay seize upon the attention and respect of the reading community. The characters which the author has introduced are well sustained, and true to their originals.

It is not supposed that every reader of this work will be familiar with Roman antiquities, characters, customs, or heathen mythology. For the benefit of such, a few sketches of some of the most distinguished personages which figure in the work are appended to the book, which will be found convenient to some as a reference, and to others for the information given, on subjects which they have never examined. And here I would remark, that the translation is for the million; the savans have read the original.

There is no good reason why a work of such interest as Numa should longer remain a sealed book to three fourths of our population. It can

hardly fail to please them, and will soon be found to contain "much wheat with little chaff."

Novelty is sought with eagerness by the mass of men; but to each successive generation, the actions and events of past ages and cycles are novelties of thrilling interest, when first presented to the understanding in an intelligible form. It will be remembered that the scenes of our author's fancy are laid about seven centuries before the Christian era; hence we are not to look for any examples of character different from such as existed at that early period. We are to take men as they then lived, and make them act such parts as are consistent with their views of the nature and relations of themselves to the immortals. Every one is sensible that the invisible powers, in the Christian creed, make a much worse figure as actors in a modern poem, than the invisible powers in the heathen creed did in ancient poems; the cause of which is not far to seek. The heathen deities, in the opinion of their votaries, were beings elevated one step only above mankind, subject to the same passions, and directed by the same motives; therefore not altogether improper to mix with men in an important action. In our creed, superior beings are placed at such a mighty