4783 
gentleman, at page 403 of number 108, 
fays, that ‘¢ of the Greek language he 
was probably ignorant.” 
The only tranflation ef Homer’s Hymn 
to Venus, which I have feen, or of which 
I have heard, was the produdtion of a 
very learned and ingenious quaker, whofe 
pame was I{aac Rition, and who, from the 
moment he underftood the Greek lan- 
wage, was a warm admirer of the great 
father of poetry. Befides the tranflation 
of this Hymn, which was well received by 
the public, and printed in quarto, he alfo 
tranflated, in a very matierly manner, 
Hefiod’s Theogony, which, it is much to 
be regretted, was never publifhed, and is 
now entirely loi. 
Ifaac Ritfon was a native of Emont 
Bridge, near Penrith, and was born in 
3761. At the age of fixteen, he began to 
teach fehool with credit to himfelt, and 
advantage to his pupils. After fuperin- 
tending a fchool tor about four years, he 
relinguifhed the ill-requited office of a 
fchoosmafter, and repaired to Edinburgh, 
where he ftudied medicine, and where he 
maintained himfelf by writing themes for 
fuch of his fellow: ftudents as were too in- 
dolent, or too illiterate, to write for them- 
felves. From Edinburgh he went to 
Londen, where he attended on the hofpi- 
tals, and on leétures, and where he alfo 
fapported himfelf by his literary exertions. 
In Loncon he tcok a few private pupils, 
and was engaged for fome time in writing 
the medical articles in the Monthly Re- 
view. Like Chatteiton, however, whom 
in’ many particulars Ritfon greatly re- 
fembled, he had to lament the negleé of 
the world, and the chill peaury which 
froxe the genial current of the foul. After 
a fhort and irregular lite in London, he 
died of a few weeks’ illnefs, at Iflington, in 
1789, and in the twenty-feventh year of 
his age. 
Betides the works which have deen al- 
ready mentioned, I{aac Ritfon wrote allo 
Effays on Moral and Philofophical Sub- 
jecis, which were never publifhed ; the 
preface tu Clarke’s Survey of the Lakes, 
which is faid to have been ably executed ; 
and feveral other pieces. He was a warm 
admirer of Shakelpeare, and he frequently 
talked of producing a dramatic work on 
the Grecian model, and fimilar in its kind 
to Mafen’s Elfrida and Caraétacus*. 
* For a more detailed account of Ifaac 
Ritfon, fee Hutchinfon’s. History of Cum- 
berland, to which lam indebted for most of 
theie particulars of his life. - 
Account of Ifaac Ritfin.—On Pronunciation. 
{[ Jan. 3, 
‘© No farther feek his merits to difclofe, 
Or draw his fraiities from their dread 
abode, 
There they alike in trembling hope repofe, 
The boiom of his father and his God.’’ 
Tf then the tranflation of Homer’s 
Hymn te Venus was the produétion of the 
Jate Mr. Ifaac Ritfon, and not of Mr. 
Jofeph Ritfon as is affirmed by the au- 
thor of the above Literary Memoirs, I 
truft you will not think it improper to in- 
fert in your Milceliany thefe remarks, 
which are intended only to afcribe to de- 
parted worth that which belongs to it. 
Iam, &c. 
Ravenftonedale. J. ROBINSON. 
— ea 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
EVERAL of your readers will be 
obtiged by the inlertion, in -your va- 
luable Mifcellany, of the following query, © 
which fome ingenious correfpondent may, 
probably, be able to anfwer to their fatis- 
faétion. 
Are the roots of poplar-trees capable 
of infinuating themfelves under buildings, 
near which they are planted, with fo much 
force as to endanger their foundations ? 
As the planting of poplars is become fo 
common, perhaps this matter may not be 
dcemed too trivial tur your notice. 
Worcefler, 
Dec. 6th, 1804. : 
= ES 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
HOUGH W. B. in No, 122, 
the Monthly Magazine, has offered 
forme judicious remarks on certain pronun- 
ciations objected to by a correfpondent, 
P 1g2, he does not appear to have rendered 
further information on the fubjeét unnecef- 
fary. 
The pronouncing of duke, dyuke,; kind 
kynd is ceemed faulty by ©. on the fuppo- 
htion, that no authority, except that of 
analogy, can be advanced in its fupport. 
This objeGtion, in the firf inftance, feems © 
to have arifen from-not rightly Seer 
the nature of the letter z in the above an 
fimilar words ; where, being Jozg, it is not 
a pure vowel, but partakes of the nature 
ot aconfonant ; and when uttered, has 
exatly the found of the pronoun you. If, 
then, we analyze the woid in difpute, we 
ra 
fhall find it compofed of two diiting&® — 
fourds, viz. de and youke, which, coa- 
lefcing in the rapidity of utterance, muft 
neceflarily be pronounced as if written 
: se” attached 
= 
a 4 
