ART. IV. A Syftem of the Law of Marine Infurances; with Three Chapters on Bottomry; on Infurances on Lives; and on Infurances against Fire. By James Allan Park, Efq. of Lincoln's-Inn, Barrister at Law. Royal 8vo. 10s. 6d. boards. Whieldon. London, 1787. IT may feem ftrange to affirm, notwithstanding the number of cafes which have of late years been determined in the English courts of juftice upon the law of infurance, and the uniformity of principle which pervades them all, that the doctrine of infurance is not fully understood; yet the fact is undeniable; and a clear and connected fyftem of this important part of jurifprudence has hitherto been a great defideratum amongst the ftudents and practitioners in the higher tribunals in this country. Several caufes have contributed to this effect. The decifions upon the fubject are fcattered in the various books of reports, according to the order of time in which they were determined, and without any regard to connection. Few perfons are inclined to take the trouble of collecting the different cafes into one point of view, or, if they would fubmit to the tafk, they are prevented from carrying it into execution by other avocations. The public is therefore highly indebted to Mr. Park for having completed a work fo effential towards afcertaining the ruling principle of decifion through the various laws of infurance. For this purpofe it was indifpenfably neceffary that the materials fhould be methodically arranged; but of fuch a mode of arrangement the author could be furnished with no example. Proceeding, however, by the dictates of his own judgment, the firft object he had in view was to fix upon certain heads which would be fufficient to comprehend all the law upon infurances. He thus ftates, in the preface, the reafons that influenced him in the mode he has adopted : As the policy is the foundation upon which the whole contract depends, I have begun with that, and endeavoured to fhew its nature, and its various kinds; and I have alfo pointed out the requifites which a policy muft contain, their reafon and origin, as they are to be collected from decided cafes, or the ufage of merchants. When we have ascertained the nature of a policy, the next object is to difcover by what general rules courts of juftice have guided themselves in their conftruction of this fpecies of contract. It is then neceffary to defcend to a more particular view of the fubject, and to fix with accuracy and precifion thofe accidents which fhall be deemed loffes within certain words used in the policy. Thus loffes by perils of the fea; by capture; by detention; and by barratry; will be a material M 2 ground ground of confideration. When a lofs happens, it must either be a partial or a total lofs; and hence it becomes neceffary to afcertain in what inftances a lofs fhall only be deemed partial, in what cafes it fhall be confidered as total; and how the amount of a partial loss is to be fettled: hence alfo arifes the doctrine of average, falvage, and abandonment. Thefe points, therefore, will be the next object of attention. Having confidered the various inftances in which the underwriter will be liable upon his policy, either for a part, or for the whole amount, of his fubfcription, we feem to be naturally led to the confideration of those cafes in which the underwriter is released from his reíponfibility. This may happen in feveral ways; for fometimes the policy is void from the beginning, on account of fraud; of the fhip not being fea worthy; or of the voyage infured being prohibited. There are alfo cafes in which the insurer is discharged because the infured has failed in the performance of thofe conditions which he had undertaken to fulfil; fuch as the non-compliance with warranties; and deviating from the voyage infured: thefe, and many other points of the fame nature, occupy feveral chapters. When the underwriter has never run any risk, it would be unconscionable that he fhould retain the premium; therefore, after confidering those instances in which this is the cafe, it is natural next to ascertain in what cafes the underwriter should retain, and in what cafes he should return the premium. It would be in vain to tell a man that he was entitled to the affiftance of the law, and that his cafe was equitable and right, without pointing out in what forum, and by what mode of proceeding, he Thould feek a remedy. I have endeavoured to point out the proper tribunal to which a perfon injured is to apply; the mode of proceeding which he is to adopt; and the nature of the evidence he muft adduce to fubftantiate his claim with refpect to this contract: after the difcuffion of marine infurances, I have added three chapters upon fubjects, which, though they do not form a part of the plan, are fo materially connected with it in the rules and principles of decifion, that it feemed to me the work would be deficient without them; these are, bottomry and refpondentia, infurances upon lives, and insurances against fire. • When I planned this work I intended to prefix an introduction, containing a fhort historical account of the rife and progrefs of infurances in this country; but, upon the fuggeftion of one, to whose opinion I bow with deference, and whofe judgment will always com, mand obedience, I was induced to enlarge my defign. The reader will now find a short account of fuch of the ancient maritime states as have promulgated any fyftem of naval jurisprudence; and also of the progrefs of marine law among the various ftates of Europe. I have endeavoured to trace the origin of infurance to its fource; to point out those countries in which it has flourished; and the progrefs and improvement of it in our own. Such is the arrangement which I have adopted; and on the propriety of which the world and the profeffion are to decide. As As to the mode of treating the fubject, it will be proper to obferve, that, at the head of each chapter, I have ftated the principles upon which the cafes on that point depend; and then have quoted the cafes themselves, to fhew that they are agreeable and confonant to the principles advanced. If there are any cafes which feem to differ from the others, I endeavour to prove, either that they depend upon different principles, or that there are circumftances in them which make them exceptions to the general rules. In quoting cafes, I have been careful minutely to ftate all the circumstances, and alfo the opinion of the court, without any alteration or comments of my own; convinced that the utility of a work of this kind confifts in the true and accurate account of what the law is, not in idle speculations of a private man as to what the law ought to be. Befides, one main purpose of fuch a compofition is, to fave the profeffors of the law the trouble of turning over valt volumes of reports, by collecting into one book all the cafes upon a particular subject.' With respect to the materials which the learned author has ufed in the execution of this work, he has always followed the moft approved authorities, and never advanced any position without referring to the book in which it was found; unless it be upon fome unfettled point, where he has ftated the arguments that may be adduced on both fides, and left it to the reader to form his own conclufions. We believe he has not omitted a fingle cafe that has appeared in print relative to the decifions of the English courts of justice on this fubject. Befides thefe, the collec-tion contains a great number of manufcript cafes, of which fome have been determined at nifi prius only; and many have been the subject of deliberation in court upon cafest referved, or upon motions for new trials. To the abovementioned fources of information we may add, that Mr. Park feems to have confulted every foreign author that he could poffibly obtain; and has made as much ufe of their labours as the nature of the plan would admit. On the whole, this work is executed with great ability, and will prove a valuable acquifition to the funds of juridical knowledge. ART. V. The Idyllia, Epigrams, and Fragments, of Theocri FROM the revival of letters to the beginning of this century the tranflation of the Greek and Roman claffics was a valuable and refpectable part of literature. The ancient mafters of compofition were models to the moderns; and a transcription of their beauties into the vernacular tongues was of infinite importance to those who were unacquainted with the languages of the original authors. The translation of Virgil by Dryden, and of Homer by Pope, however liable to objections, would have given them a rank in the literary world, although they had produced no other fpecimens of poetical merit. The time, however, when tranflation elevates to fame, is now past. We have models in our own tongue of fine writing in all its forms; the moderns have imitated, have equalled, and, in fome things, furpaffed the ancients; there is no occafion to import from abroad what may be found in as great or greater excellence at home; and henceforth tranflation can only rank among the humble and menial offices of litera Of all authors whatever, Homer not excepted, Theocritus is the most difficult to tranflate. That mixture of elegant, rude, and even grofs nature, which prevails in his works, however protected by our reverence for antiquity, and the beauty of the Greek tongue, is inadmiffible into modern languages. Befides, his principal beauties have been tranfcribed by Virgil, Fontenelle, Phillips, and Pope; and have been fo much adopted into the paftoral poetry of European nations, that the original, in a modern dress, will, to moft readers, appear an imitation. By thefe reflections we mean no difparagement to the tranflation before us, which poffeffes very confiderable merit, but to fhew, from the nature of things, the difficulty of the task, and the improbability of fuccefs. Our author's reafon for engaging in this tranflation, after the public had been in poffeffion of one, much above mediocrity, by Fawkes, is given in the preface. "In my opi "nion A "nion the chief requifite in a poetical translator is that of a good ear. It was this which rendered Pope fo emi"nently happy in his tranflation of the Iliad. Dryden was "unqueftionably fuperior to him in ftrength and brilliancy "of imagination; could expand a fine thought with equal "advantage, and give a nervous fentiment the fame dignity and force; yet the effect of his Virgil is much infe"rior to that of Pope's Homer. And what occafions this "partiality to Pope? Nothing but the perfuafive charm of "his verfification; that fpecies of fyllabic mufic, which, "like the harmony of colouring, gives diction its true "proportion, fo that the found of one fyllable in a line "fhall not predominate over the found of another." That the charm of his verfification was one caufe of the fuccefs of Pope's tranflation of the Iliad, no reader will deny; that it was the fole caufe, no found critic will affirm. Pope's poem is uniformly diftinguished by an elegance, a fpirit, and the happiest combinations of poetic diction, and wants nothing but the Homeric fimplicity, and the Homeric fublimity, to render it the best tranflation that ever was given of any au thor. The firft Idyllium of Theocritus has ever been held one of his happieft effufions; and has been imitated in the third and tenth paftorals of Virgil. The tranflation is elegant and harmonious, but is deficient in paftoral fimplicity. "Sweeter thy warblings than the ftreams that glide This fupplemental reflection is not to be found in the original, την απο τας πετρας καταλείβεται υψσθεν ύδωρ, is at once fimple, harmonious, and picturesque. The addrefs of Thyrfis to the nymphs has been often imitated by the paftoral poets. "Where ftray'd ye, nymphs, when Daphnis pin'd with love, Thro' Peneus' vale, or Pindus' steepy grove? For not Anapus' flood your steps delay'd, Or Acis' facred wave, or Elna's fhade." The imitation by Virgil, Quæ nemora, aut qui vos faltus, &c. is too literal; that by Pope is tame and infipid; Milton's is in the true spirit of an original. "Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorfeless deep M 4 For |