630 
The fame may be faid of Mr. WM. 
Henry’s “ General View of the Nature 
and Objeét of Chemiftry, and of its Ap- 
plication to Arts and Manufaétures.” 
It will be learned with pleafure, that 
a fecond volume has been publifhed of 
«‘ The Philofophy of Nature,” by the late 
Mr. SMrELuIEeE, The writings of this 
gentleman have not ranked him with our 
moft profound philofophers ; but the tafte, 
the knowledge, and the good fenfe which 
they difplay, have juftly given him the 
character of a very elegant and refpeétable 
author. The prefent volume, like that 
which preceded it, contains many curious 
facts: itis replete with amufement, and 
by no means deftitute of inftru€tion. 
CiassicaL LITERATURE, 
An anonymous author has tranflated 
into Englifh verfe, ‘* The Firft Book of 
Titus Carus Lucretius, on the Nature of 
Things,” as a fpecimen of his abilities to 
complete the arduous tafk he has under- 
taken, of tranflating the whole poem. This 
tafk, it feems, is already in great forwrrd- 
nefs, and the remaining books will foon be 
committed to the prefs in feparate and fuc- 
ceffive parts, fhould the tranflator receive 
that encouragement of which he is fo natu- 
rally folicitous, The public, we underftand, 
is indebted for this verfion of the great phi- 
lofophic poet, to the gentleman who fome 
time fince publifhed a tranflation of Ca- 
tullus: the fame mediocrity attends his 
prefent lasors which accompanied them on 
the former occafion. It wil! be recolle¢ted 
that in Dr. DRake’s *‘ Literary Hours” 
were inferted fome fpecimens of an in- 
tended tranflation of Lucretius, by Mr. 
Goop, in blank verfe: a comparifon of pa- 
rallel paffages by thefe two gentlemen, 
makes us ftill more impatient for the com- 
pletion of Mr.Goon’s tranflation. *¢ The 
Firft and Fourth Books of the Odes of 
Horace,” have been tranflated into Englifh 
verfe by an anonymous poet, who has in 
a,confiderable degree transfufed mto our 
own language the fpirit and elegance of 
his original. The great fault of the pre- 
fent tranflation, and indeed of every one 
from the fame poet, with which we are 
acquainted, is its expanfion of the origi- 
nal: in every other refpeét it has great 
merit; the verfification is ealy, the lan- 
guage polithed, and the metre various. 
The controverfy on the fubject of the 
war of Troy, feems not to be yet ended : 
Mr. Bryant has addrefled “ An Ex- 
pottulation” to the Britith Critic, on its 
reviews of his Difiertation, in which he 
ufes language not to be tolerated even from 
@ man of his years and his acquivements. 
‘genius, and fend in their defigns. 
Retrofpet? of Domeftic Literature—Fine Arts. 
The Britifh Critic has reviewed this bit- 
ter and acrimonious Expoftulation with 
much fpirit, much temper, and much 
learning. 
; FINE ARTs. 
Mr, KortMann’s “ Effay on Praéti- 
cal Mufical Compofition” bears a very 
high charaéter among the profeffors and 
amateurs of that delightful art. Mr. K. 
is faid,to be thorcughly mafter of his fub- 
jet, and to-have treated it in a more 
{cientific manner than any preceding au- 
thor in the Englith language. 
The Naval Atchievements of our gal- 
lant feamen, which have caft fuch a fplen- 
dor on the prefent war, are indeed moft 
worthy to be recorded by fome national 
monument of high magnificence and tafte. 
It is well known that fuch a commemo- 
ration has been contemplated, and that a 
fubfeription has been fet on foot for that 
Hani Aca private and precariots fub- 
{cription to ereé&t a public monument of 
national glorv! Under the patronage of 
his Royal Highnefs the Duke of Clarence 
a committee was appointed, who gave to 
our artifts an invitation to exercife their 
: Va-. 
rious are the opinions as to the fort of 
monument which ought to be ereéted : 
‘Mr. FLAXMAN, in a * Letter to the 
Committee,” &c. objeéts againft an obe 
lifk or column, and indeed againft any 
arclnitectural ereétion, and recommends a 
colaffal ftatue, 230 feet high, to be placed 
on Greenwich hill, near the Obfervatory, 
to be feen from the river and from the 
Kent road. He has given plates to illuf- 
trate his idea; which is feverely repro- 
bated by an architect, Mr. ALEXANDER 
DurourR, who contends ‘* that a monu- 
ment of architeéture, in which the talents 
of different artifts muft neceflarily com- 
bine, 1s more durable and more proper 
than a ftatue, to tranfmit to pofterity the 
talents, the bravery, and the richnefs that 
diftinguifh the Britifh nation.” We have 
read in one of the public papers a letter 
from Mr. Orie on this fubjeét, who pro- 
pofed (if we remember right) the efta- 
blifhment of a gallery of paintings, which 
fhould exhibit a feries of our naval viéto- 
ries from former to the prefent and to fu-: 
ture times. This plan has at leaft one 
advantage over both the others, that it 
would provide a conftant fource of em- 
ploymeat and emulation not only to ar- 
tifts of the prefent day, but to-thofe of 
the vifing, and of every future generation. 
Mr. SAMUEL IRELAND (lately de- 
ceafed) has publifhed the fecond volume 
of his “ Graphic Iluftrations of Ho- 
garth,” 
