Gray's Elegy

In answer to your correspondent, J.F.M. (p. 101.), who asks for information respecting the competition for the best translation of Gray's Elegy, in which Dr. Sparke was a candidate, I would beg to refer him to the satirical poem attributed to Mr. T.J. Matthias, formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, entitled The Pursuits of Literature, in which a ludicrous account is given of the affair. It does not appear who offered the prize, but Mr. Nares, the editor of The British Critic, was the judge, and the place of meeting "The Musical Room in Hanover Square," which was decorated for the occa…