jections which have been made to this practice. The following illuftration of his argument has much elegance as well as truth. "We never reproach the painter for affembling, in one, the beauties of several different landscapes, nor the sculptor for drawing finer forms than were ever moulded by the hand of nature. The mere copying of real objects is obviously an inferior department of thefe arts; while the other is that which has been always occupied by the great mafters. But if external forms may thus be embellished at pleasure, fhall the painter of mind alone be reduced to the rank of a mere imitator? One ftriking difference which exists between them, is completely in favour of the latter. The former are merely objects of tafte, and have obviously no tendency to produce any improvement on the form of the fpectator. But in the cafe of moral painting, a man both poffeffes à power, and naturally feels an impulfe to form himself to fome refemblance of the object which he admires." P. 22. We agree with Mr. M., that it is chiefly the want of skill in the exhibition of fuch models, that has tended to difgrace the practice. We fee nothing in this book throughout that does not tend to the improvement of taste and moral fentiment; and, therefore, with great pleasure recommend it to our readers. ART. 41. The Painter and Varnishers Guide; or, a Treatife, both in Theory and Practice, on the Art of making and applying Varnishes; on the different Kinds of Painting; and on the Method of preparing Colours both Simple and Compound: with new Obfervations and Experiments on Copal; on the Nature of the Subftances employed in the Compofition of Varnishes and of Colours; and on various Processes used in the Art. Dedicated to the Society at Geneva for the Encouragement of the Arts, Agriculture, and Commerce. By P. F. Tingry, Profeffor of Chemiftry, Natural Hiftory, and Mineralogy in the Academy of Geneva, Illuftrated with Engravings. 8vo. Kearflcy. 1804. This will be found an exceedingly useful book to all those for whofe ufe it is intended, and what may be generally expected from it will beft appear from the following defcription of his work by the author himself. "The Society established at Geneva for the encouragement of the Arts, Agriculture, and Commerce, charged its committee of Chemistry to take into confideration those arts of which no methodical defcriptions had been given by the Aca demy of Sciences at Paris. It was, indeed, intended by the Academy that the art of varnishing should form a part of their collection; and de Machy, one of the members, had, I believe, prepared fome materials for that purpose, but on the publication of Watin's work in 1772 he seems to have abandoned his de fign, "This art, which is of modern date in Europe, notwithtanding the affiftance thus given to it by Watin, ftill required that the principles on which it is founded, and by which it can be carried to perfection, fhould be more fully explained and ilJuftrated. Every thing that relates to the hiftory of the colouring parts, and to the operations which make them appear with their true properties, has in that publication been either omitted or neglected. The committee of Chemistry, in confequence of fome obfervations which I had made on the arts in my public or private lectures, were of opinion that a new work on this fubject would form a valuable and even neceffary addition to that of Watin: they conceived alfo, that as this art is one of those which are entirely founded on chemistry, it ought to be treated according to the modern fyftem. I engaged to undertake this labour; and I now prefent the refult of it to the pub lic, with the approbation of the Society to whom I have dedicated it." . Some very decent engravings effential to the illuftration of the work are added, and the whole forms a valuable compendium of fuch parts of Chemistry, as are important in the making and application of Varnishes. ART. 42. Tangible Arithmetic; or, the Art of Numbering made eafy, by Means of an Arithmetical Toy, which will express any Number up to 16,666,665, and with which, by moving a few Balls, a great variety of Operations in Arithmetic may be performed: intended to affift Mothers and Teachers in the Inftruction of Children. By William Frend, Efq. Author of Evening Amufements, Efay on Patriotijm, &c. 12mo. 206 pp. 75. bd. Mawman. 1805. Mr. Frend continues to exert his talents for the laudable purpofe of giving inftruction to youth. As we lately found him facilitating the way to a knowledge of aftronomy*, (which plan we hope he continues) fo now we find him, in the fame familiar manner, inculcating arithmetic. The arithmetical toy accompanying this book, and principally defcribed in it, is a contrivance fimilar to the Roman abacus, or Chinese fwanpan, and well illuftrates the nature of decimal arithmetic. But the teacher is not contented with this fpecies of illuftration. He defcribes alfo the mode of numeration by counters, by Roman figures, &c. When, in p. 17, he laments the neglect of figures in the great public fchools, we fear he is in fome meafure right; but if any perfons grow up in *Brit. Crit. Vol. xxiv. 337, and xxv. 451. grofs That grofs ignorance of that branch of knowledge, it is certainly their own fault, confidering how very eafy the acquirement is. fome, who have been fo negligent, undertake offices of ftate requiring that knowledge, feems more like a conjecture than a wellafcertained fact. ART. 43. Travels in Trinidad during the Months of February, March, and April, 1803. In a Series of Letters, addreffed to a Member of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain. Illuftrated with a Map of the Ifland. By Pierre F. M'Cullum. 8vo. 8s. 6d. The Bookfellers of London and Edinburgh. 1806. When we confider the very ferious and folemn process in which General Picton is at the prefent moment involved, affecting his life, fame, and fortune, we may reafonably question the prudence of fuch a publication as this, full of the bittereft accufation and invective. We fhall only therefore remark that it contains fome fevere animadverfions, and moft heavy charges, which it well becomes the individual above alluded to, to refute and reel. What is faid in this volume of the Ifland of Trinidad is of very trifling importance, and feems only to have been made the vehicle of the author's feelings, who reprefents himself as most crucily and unjustly perfecuted and oppreffed. A flight map of Trinidad is prefixed. ART. 44. An Apology for Flim-Flams. By Mr. Bobtail, Commentator. 12mo. PP. 31. Is. Murray. 1806. Whether to announce the fecond edition of Flim-Flams, or this Apology, which is now inferted in it, was a matter of fome little doubt. We prefer the latter, as bringing fewer duties with it. Mr. Commentator Bobtail announces, that his author is dead; but he dies, like the little dog in a favourite infantine hiftory, to converfe and afford some subject for biography after his deceafe. As the author dies without being dead, fo the Apoingy does not apologize; but fome further banter is not ill-humouredly attempted against Critics and others. We must confefs that till we read this Apology we mistook the fenfe in which the author or authors meant to ufe the very name of t'e work. A flim flam, we always thought, meant a humbug, a tale made to im pofe upon credulity, a flight of fancy; whereas it is intended. here, it feems, to denote cenfure or fatire. Thus it is faid, "Mr. Fufeli fim-flams Falconet, and very diftinctly defcribes him as a coxcomb, a fool, and finally an afs. Mr. Repton flim-flams Price; Knight flim-flams Burke! Sir John Hill, a very zealous * Which is right, we pretend not to say. naturalift naturalift himself, flim-flammed the Royal Society in his Lucina fine Concubitu." P. 17. This paffage is wound up by a double miftake. Hill flim-flammed, if that means fatirized, the Royal Society; but it was in his book, entitled, "A Review of the Works of the R. S." whereas Lucina fine Concubitu, a perfectly good humoured piece of raillery, has never been fufpected to come from that fource. ART. 45. The Young Ladies' and Gentlemens' Chronology; containing Rules for determining the Leap Year, Golden Number, Dominical Letter, Epact, Moon's Age, Time of High Water, &c. To which is annexed, a Tide Table for the Coafts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and an Appendix, relative to the Chronology of the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans &c. By T. Drummond, Ormesby, near Yarmouth, Norfolk. 12mo. 96 pp. Price 25. Longman and Co. 1805. Among the various publications for the benefit and inftruction of young perfons, we recollect to have feen very few on the fubject of Chronology, certainly no unimportant branch of edu cation. This before us is a very neat and well drawn manual on the fubject, and in all refpects fuited to the purpose. The Appendix to the Chronology of the Hebrews, Greeks, and Ro mans, will be found very pertinent and useful. ART. 46. Geographical Delineations; or, a Compendious View of the Natural and Political State of all Parts of the Globe. By J. Aikin, M. D. In 2 vols. Vol. I. 8vo. Johnson. 1806. There are few writers of the prefent day to whom the public is more indebted than to Dr. Aikin, whether we confider the variety, the importance, or the agreeableness of his performances. The prefent is one of the neateft pnblications of the kind that has yet appeared in our language: not intended to fuperfede the common elementary books on the fubject of geography, but to com, prehend, in a moderate compafs, every thing most important rela tive to the natural and political state of the world. The writer thus defcribes what he has in view. "It is by no means the intention of this work to fuperfede either the common elementary books on geography, or the more complete fyftems of branch of knowledge. On the contrary, the reader's acquaintance with the firft is all along fuppofed, as effential to the understanding of the terms employed in defcription; and the utility of the second for the purpose of exact and particular information can never be fupplied by a compendium of any kind. "The precife object aimed at in these volumes is to afford, in a moderate compafs, and under an agreeable form, fuch a view of every thing moft important relative to the natural and political ftate of the world which we inhabit, as may dwell upon the mind in vivid colours, and durably imprefs it with juft and inftructive notions. "In the profecution of this defign I have been guided by the two leading confiderations refpecting each country-what nature has made it, and what man has made it. Of thefe, the first has taken the precedence, as pointing to circumftances which can never fail to exert a certain effect; which furvive all temporary changes, and stamp an indelible character. The fecond, however, is frequently of greater intereft, and inculcates leffons of more practical importance; it has, therefore, in the more civilized states, occupied the largeft fhare of the defcription. Both together have as much as poffible been brought to confpire in forming the cha racteristic strokes of the sketch. "As the first requifite in defcribing a country is to identify it, the boundaries of each have been traced with fome minutenefs; and it has efpecially been confidered as an object of confe quence, to fhew how far the great portions or males into which nature feems to have divided the land upon this globe, coincide with the territorial diftributions made by human policy. Thofe grand features of country, mountains, and rivers, have likewife been laid down with a degree of precifion correfpondent to their geographical importance. Thefe details may, perhaps, to a curfory reader appear dry and tedious; but it is always fuppofed by the writer that they are illuftrated by a good map; for, without fuch a kind of pictared reprefentation, words muit be very inadequate to convey the images required. Travelling in this manner with the eye and understanding conjointly, is an agreeable occu pation, as well as the only fure method of fixing ideas of locality in the memory." P. iii. The author's own remarks, occafionally introduced on the political ftate of the places defcribed, are remarkable for their mode ration and found fenfe; in proof of which, we cruple not to refer the reader to what is faid on the subject of Great Britain, p. 179, and of France, p. 236, &c. We are greatly pleafed with the work altogether, which we doubt not will be received with very extenâve circulation. ART. 47. The History of the Aylum for the Deaf and Dumb. This Pamphlet defcribes one of the numerous charitable inftitations which are the glory of this country, and one too, not the leaft |