rules. He has not lifted lines from Greek and Latin originals, nor are his verses a cento of tags from the classics dovetailed together. Sometimes, as in his translation from Judges, chap. v, verses twelve and onwards, he has achieved a Latin poem in Glyconics-his favourite metre-which could rank with some of the poetry of the Silver Age: An example of the aged Dr Butler's long and devout art is this neat rendering of this verse of his favourite hymn: 'Lord, it is not life to live If Thy presence Thou deny. Lord, if Thou Thy presence give 'Tis no longer death to die.' * Σοῦ μὲν παρόντος οὐκέτ ̓ ἔστι κατθανεῖν, καὶ ζῶντες οὐχὶ ζῶμεν, ἀλλ ̓ ἐσμὲν νεκροί. There are numerous examples of this highly skilled form of translation, for it has always attracted scholars in spite of its difficulties. Nearly all the gems of our literature have been translated into Latin or Greek by some one or other, just for the pleasure the difficulties of the labour gave. The whole of Omar Khayyam' has been translated into Latin, so have the sonnets of Shakespeare, passages of the Bible, and even the poems of R. L. Stevenson. With regard to the latter, Mr J. Glover of Cambridge admits that he could not surmount the difficulties in translating the seemingly simple line : 'The world is full of a number of things. . . . Of course it has only been possible to treat this vast subject in skeleton form, and only the more obvious specimens have been touched upon. But I would like to finish with what is the most perfect form of the art— that is, a result which is a work of art whether considered as a poem or as a translation, and which satisfies every demand of both. Examples are not by any means few and far between, but I can offer only two which appeal to me as worthy the distinction of representing this class. The first is this of Hugh MacNaghten, selected from his recent translation of the Odes of Horace, which all achieve a high standard. It is Odes IV, VII, and begins: Diffugere nives, redeunt,' etc. 'The snows have vanished from the greening lees, Change duly follows change, and now below Now with the nymphs are dancing fearlessly Each year, each hour, each happy moment says Frosts yield to Zephyrs; Summer tramples Spring Harvest and fruits: comes Autumn: soon the drear Yet all that's lost, in heaven swift moons restore : Ancus or good Æneas, when we die, Dust and a shadow lie. We have to-day, but know not if the powers Will make to-morrow ours; But what you give to your own soul, we know High birth, nor eloquence, Torquatus, nor For Dian frees not from dark Night's control Hippolytus' white soul, Nor Theseus breaks the bonds that hold sans end Pirithous his friend.' As a second example, I am torn between two made by the Earl of Derby in Translations'-one being the 'O Fons Bandusiæ' ode, and the other the last three stanzas of Ode I, ix. I will choose the latter. 'Quid sit futurum cras, fuge quærere; et Sperne puer, neque tu choreas, 'Donec virenti canities abest 'Nunc et latentis proditor intimo 'Think for the morrow nought; enjoy And these really excellent translations are not so rare that one is obliged to look far for examples. Prof. Gilbert Murray's rendering of the plays of Euripides, FitzGerald's 'Omar Khâyyam,' A. T. Barton's translation into Latin of Shakespeare's sonnets, the Authorised Version of the Bible, are all examples of great achievement in this art. Nor will they who have attempted this task of translating agree that it is merely mechanical and imitative.' The translator above all artists needs an 'infinite capacity for taking pains.' He must also be a scholar and a poet, and when these three abilities are combined, they produce a genius who can render invaluable service to art, and incidentally to mankind. JAMES H. WELLARD. Art. 10.-THE STAFF COLLEGE. 1. The Staff and the Staff College. By Brevet-Major A. R. Godwin-Austen, with a foreword by General Sir George Milne, G.C.B. Constable, 1927. 2. General Lord Rawlinson of Trent. An Appreciation. By Major-General Sir Archibald Montgomery, K.C.B., K.C.M.G. Reprinted from the Army Quarterly.' Clowes, 1925. 3. Soldiers and Statesmen, 1914-1918. By Field-Marshal Sir William Robertson, Bart., G.C.B. Two vols. Cassell, 1926. His 4. Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, Bart., G.C.B. Life and Diaries. By Major-General Sir C. E. Callwell, K.C.B., with a preface by Marshal Foch. Cassell, 1927. And other works. THE object aimed at in this article will be to trace the influence of Staff College education upon the British Army and upon military policy up to the close of the war of 1914-1918. As Sir George Milne reminds us, in introducing Major Godwin-Austen's 'extremely readable and instructive' history of the evolution of the Army Staff College and its products (staff officers and Army Commanders), we are apt in this country to neglect our own famous soldiers in favour of the great leaders of the armies of other nations. It is only in recent years that political and public prejudice has sufficiently abated to allow such men as the Duke of Marlborough and Sir John Moore to take anything like their proper place in history, and it may well be as long before our army leaders of 1914-1918 receive proper recognition.' In a previous article in this review, I ventured to call attention to certain outstanding qualities in British leadership in the field, during these same years, which seemed to have escaped public attention in the turmoil of post-war political propaganda and detraction of all things military. Two Field-Marshals, Sir William Robertson and the late Sir Henry Wilson, have since recorded valuable historical *Haig and Foch' ('Quarterly Review,' April 1923). material, in the form of original documents and diaries, in support of the views that were expressed in that article, and we are also indebted to Sir Archibald Montgomery (now Lieut.-General Sir A. MontgomeryMassingberd) for an appreciation of the life and character of his former Chief, the late Lord Rawlinson of Trent, whose brilliant career was cut short by death when he was Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India. are thus in a position to trace the influence of education (or the lack of it) in the British Army upon public policy and upon the conduct of military operations from the end of the 18th century until the year 1918, which marked the culminating triumph in Europe, Asia, and Africa of the supreme military effort of the British Empire. Lord Rawlinson joined the Staff College at Camberley as Commandant in December 1903. He was destined to be the leader of the British Army which turned the scale on the Western Front in the Battle of Amiens on Aug. 8, 1918. Both Ludendorff and Foch have borne witness to the far-reaching effect of that battle, of which a comprehensive account is to be found in 'The Fourth Army in the Hundred Days.'* Sir Henry Wilson succeeded Lord Rawlinson as Commandant at the end of 1906 and he left in July 1910, being succeeded by Sir William Robertson who held the appointment until October 1913. As successive Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff during the most critical period of the Great War, these two officers bore the limited responsibility that was allowed to technical advisers by the political chiefs who determined questions of distributing troops and material to different theatres of operations, and thus decided the major questions of military strategy. Lord Grey of Fallodon, in his 'Twenty-five Years,' expressed his opinion that the mistakes made in that connexion could be summed up in the single word 'sideshows,' and one of the most vital points, that emerges from study of the authorities now under review, is that, whatever opinion may be formed about the utility of those diversions, their initiation was in no single case due to the advice of responsible military authority. We must, The Story of the Fourth Army in the Battle of the Hundred Days.' By Major-General Sir A. A. Montgomery. |