656 Retrafpelt of Domeffic Literature.—Fine Arts, Poetry. 
mined to profecute the work, and etch his 
own plates. The prefent volume feems 
to have refulted from this determination. 
It is dedicated to that engaging poet, Mr. 
Bidlake, and contains twenty-two etched 
views of various fcenes in the weltern 
and northern parts of Devon, accompanied 
by fhort defcriptions, written in the form 
of atour. The etchings are extremely 
fpirited and charaéteriltic. 
Rarely does a more lively and ftimu- 
lating book come before us, than Colonel 
THoRNTON’s “ Sporting Tour.” 
. Eafy and unaffected, he defcribes the 
fcenes he witnefled and the incidents 
which occurred, in a clear, diftinét, and 
engaging manner. The Colonel is not a 
mere {portfman ; he is a very penetrating 
obierver of men and manners, and pour- 
trays them with great {piric. The work 
is embellifhed with feveral pleafing and 
very accurate Views from the pencil of Mr. 
Garrard, and an etching of the Heath, or 
Black Cock and Hen. 
; FINE ARTS. 
&¢ Sele Views of London and its En- 
wirons,” &c. &c. vol. 1. 
This volume contains forty plates, exe- 
cuted by Mefirs. STORER and GREIG ; 
about a fourrh part of them delineate in- 
tereiling cbjeéts ina good ftyle. Concern- 
ing thesother portion, the lefs faid the 
better. 
“© The Coftume of China ;” illuftrated 
in forty-eight coloured Engravings, by 
WittiaM ALEXANDER. 
Mr. Alexander attended Lord Macart- 
ney, in the capacity of .draftfman co the 
Embaffy ; and the prefent very fplendid 
volume evinces how admirably qualified 
he was for the fituetion. He has repre- 
fented the drefics, fhips, houles, temples, 
and public monuments of the Chinefe, 
many groupes of occupations, ceromonies, 
punifmenis, diverfions, &c. &c. In 
fhort, he has given the charaéter of the 
Chinefe, with great fpirit and apparent 
truth; the drawings are coloured with 
much brilliancy. ; 
“< Olfervaticns on the Formation and 
Management of Ufeful and Ornamental 
Plantations ; on the Theory and Praéiice of 
Landfcape Gardening,’ &c. Tilufirated 
with Piates; by J]. LoubDon. 
This gentleman, is by profeffion a land- 
fcape gardener, of the fchool of Price: 
he feems to have entered into the fpirit of 
his mafier, and therefore he has our beft 
wifhes tor fuccels. 
Mr. BarTELL has put together fome 
yery good “ Hints for Pidfurefque In- 
provement in Ornamented Cottages and 
their Scenery; and has. illuftrated his 
Principle by a few Sketches, the produc~ 
tion of his own Pencil. Cy.” ne 
They do credit to his tafte; and the 
third Effay in partioular; io which the 
cottages of the Poor are confidered, indi= 
cates a benevolence of difpofition and 
warmth of humanity which entitle him to 
far higher praife. . 
Mr. Gartsipe’s Effay on “ Light 
and Shade, or Colour, and en Compofition 
in general; is principally addrefled to 
his Pupils, who may poflibly derive fome 
benefit by attending to its inftructions. 
The title page of the following work 
wil amply recommend it: *' Tawo Effayss 
one on the Author’s Mode of executing 
Rough Sketches, the other on the Principles 
on which they are Compofed.” To thele 
are added, three Plates of Figures; by 
Sawrey GiLpin, Efq. R, A. 
Thefe effays are imiroduced by an ac- 
count of the parith-{chool, at Boldree, near 
Lymington, for the endowment of which, 
the efflays and drawings are fold, by Wil- 
liam Gidpin, M.A. i 
<‘Duppas’ Heads, from Michael Angele 
and Raffaello.” 
This work is of fuperlative excellence, — 
the engravings from thefe immortal maf- 
ters being of the fineft execution. Our 
artifts have now an opportunity to exa- 
mine at their leifure fome of the beauties 
of thefe celebrated produ€tions. Mr. 
Duppas’ remarks upon the ftyle and merits 
of thefe illuftrious painters, fhew a correét 
and difcriminating tafte: this gentleman 
is well known to the. public by his ac- 
count of the fubverfion of the Papal Go- 
vernment: when that event took place, 
he was buried in ftudying thofe frefco 
pistures, the charaéteriftic merits of which. 
are here elucidated. he 
The next divifion of our Retrofpeé is 
POETRY. thy ee 
‘© Madoc.” .A Poem, by ROBERT 
SOUTHEY. Wagk 
The heroic epopea juftly _paffes for the 
moft difficult achievement of poetic art : 
the claffical works of this kind are fill 
rare, not in our language only, but even 
in the collective mafs of literary production. 
The fable of Madoc has much peculi- 
arity. It is the conqueft of Mexico by 
Cortes, antedated. It has two parts.. 
Inthe former, Madoc narrates to his bro. 
ther, the Welfh King, both the motives 
and confequences of his voyage of difco- 
very, and collects a frefh fupply of colo- 
niits to fettle the country he had found. 
Fis departure from Wales terminates this _ 
divifion of the poem, which has ecighteea 
coks. 
ee 
