are faid to be scarce a foot in height. This ceremony is intended to imprefs every individual with hatred of the Christian doctrine, and the Portugueze, who attempted to introduce it there; and alfo to difcover whether there is any remnant of it left among the Japanese. It is performed in the places where the Chriftians chiefly refided. In Nogafaki it lafts four days; then the images are conveyed to the circumjacent places, and afterwards are laid afide against the next year. Every perfon, except the Japanese governor and his attendants, even the fmalleft child, must be prefent; but it is not true, as fome have pretended, that the Dutch are alfo obliged to trample on the image. Overfeers are appointed in every place, which asfemble the people in companies, in certain houses, call over the name of every one in his turn, and take care that every thing goes on properly. The children, not yet able to walk, have their feet placed upon it; older perfons pafs over it from one fide of the room to the other. [To be concluded in our next. ] MONTHLY CATALOGUE. [For APRIL, 1786. ] POETRY. ART. 14. Johnson's Laurel: or Conteft of the Poets. A Poem. 4to. 1s. Hooper. 1785. London. F follies. We honour the petulant man who declaims against ill▲ humour; the covetous, when he exposes the folly of avarice; and above" all the hackney fcribbler, who ridicules fuch as are ever on the watch for temporary fubjects. The manner in which our author characterifes his poets is curious. Next Tickel came, whofe elegiac flow Melts every heart to pleasure and to woe Pray, how came our author acquainted with Tickel's elegiac flor? Has he not unluckily mistaken the author of Anticipation and the friend of Addison for the fame perfon? Next Coleman comes. He mounts on Pegasus and fly afar, Like man when riding furious to the war.' Coleman is however rejected. Apollo pleas'd, exclaim'd, You've gain'd a name, The fame cogent reply recurs in bar to the claims of Mr. Sheridan, To gain the wreath, who ne'er shall want a name ?” If we were to form our judgment from Johnfon's Laurel, and fome other rhyming productions which have lately paffed under our examination, we fhould fay, that an indifpenfable requifite in a good poet was to violate the most known rules of grammar in every page. ART. 15. Lubin, a Poem. Founded on a true Story. 4to. Is. Debrett, 1785. London. This is a very melancholy ftory indeed. A young fhepherd tells his tale of love to a fhepherdefs with many ftrokes of the pathetic. For instance, His ruddy cheeks fwell'd up to bear The tender, fympathetic tear.' Phillis is however deaf to his entreaties. Nor is he more fuccefsful in moving the general compaffion. For thofe too old to dance regale With oaten cakes and nut-brown ale.' For a moment, however, he imagines himself cured. His heart's divorc'd, unknit love's tie.' He travels. He comes home again; and his eye is struck with the fight of a funeral proceffion. With flow-pac'd fteps the fhepherds tread, Phillis I thought the only one. Yes Lubin, but alas fhe's gone!' The confequences are fatal. Slow beating pulfe, faft flowing heart, All, all declare the moment nigh That wafts him 'yond th' etherial sky.' The poem it seems was written at Brighthelmftone: and if we might venture a conjecture at its author, we fhould give it to the tender and celebrated taylor, who, as it appears by the advertisements in the papers, is a veteran brother of the quill. ART. 16. A Poem on the Happiness of America, addressed to the Citizens of the United States. By David Humphreys, Efquire, 4to. 2s. Newbury. Had this performance, which contains near 1 zoo lines, been in profe, it might have induced us to have gone through it; for the subject is 'not a bad one; but fuch is the misfortune of the age, that every man who can write in rhyme and make verfes conceives himself a poet; whereas true poetry is a gift, and poffeffes a glow of imagination which the poetafters of the present time have not an idea of. After this cenfure, it would be unpardonable not to give the reader a fpecimen of 'fquire Humphreys' poetical abilities. The following then is part of General Washington's farewell, on quitting the army. Farewell to public life, to public care, If aught which proves thy rights to me are dear, POLITICAL ART. 17. A Political Sermon; preached before a Rt H—ble H-fe on the firft Day of the prefent Meeting of Pt. By the reviving Shade of Patriotism and Public Virtue. 4to. 1s. Hookham. London, 1786. It is very remarkable that men of infinite dullness should so often attempt to diftinguish themselves by jeux d'efprits, and to illustrate truth, not in the fober paths of plain reason, best fuited to the flownefs of their capacities, but by the playful fallies of imagination. If there be a fubject which, more than any other, requires genuine wit and humour, it is that of making religious indifference and fcepticism, which is the aim of this fermon, an object of ridicule. We shall only add, that our author does not inherit the talents of Swift. MISCELLANEOUS. ART. 18. Letters from Monf. Racine, the elder, to his Son M. Racine, the younger, when a Youth, &c. Stockdale, 1785. These letters breathe a fpirit of parental tenderness and piety, and tend to improve the heart by touching it nearly. They are calculated for the perufal of children, and as fuch we are not to expect them to display genius or originality. There are a few particulars in them relative to the death of M. Racine, the elder, not generally known. ART. 19. Bibliotheca Univerfalis Selecta. A Catalogue of Books, aucient and modern, in various Languages aud Faculties, and upon almost every Branch of Science and Polite Literature; including an extenfive Collection of Claffical, Critical, and Philological Learning; collected for the moft Part, in Germany and the Netherlands: Methodically di gefted, with a View to render it useful to Students, Collectors, and Librarians: To which is added, an Index of Authers, Interpreters, and Editors. Which will be fold by Auction, by Samuel Paterfon, at his Great Room, in King-Street, Covent-Garden, London, on Monday, May 8, 1786, and the Thirty-five following Days. 8vo. 5s. 6d. bound and lettered. Sold by the Author. A catalogue of the kind with that before us has been long wanted. But few men are in poffeffion of abilities equal to fuch a task; and ftill fewer of the patience neceffary for completing it. Mr. Paterfon's love of literature, and his opinion of the utility of the plan, has induced him to undertake this drudgery, and to execute it; and we think fuccessfully; and the prefent work will be of important use to the diligent student and curious inquirer. The proper arrangement of letters is now before them; and, to render the prefent catalogue more more useful to ftudents, collectors, and librarians, is fubjoined an index of authors, interpreters, and editors. We could have wished that the author's labours, in this way, had met with better encouragement, than, we are informed by his fenfible preface, they have done. For the ENGLISH REVIEW. NATIONAL AFFAIR S. IT For APRIL, 1786. OPPOSITION AND ADMINISTRATION. T is remarked by ftrangers as well as natives, that, for more than a year paft, a profound filence with regard to the affairs of government, and a cool acquiefcence in the measures of the miniftry, except in one inftance (the hop-tax) has prevailed in England. What is commonly called politics, unless perfonal fatire be blended with fpeculation, has become an indifferent fubject both in converfation and in reading. Periodical pamphlets, the common vehicles of faction, are circulated with difficulty, and read with negligence; many of the moft zealous tribunes of the people have fubmitted the fafces to the fceptre; the city of London, formerly the centre and the foul of oppofition, warmly fupports the court; even the coffee-houses, once the receptacles of malecontents or the fhops of fedition, are only frequented by men of pleasure, who prefer the joys of the table and convivial hilarity, to eager and warm difputations concerning minifterialifts and the oppofition. Such political tameness, acquiefcence, or ftupor, is the more extraordinary, when we confider the warm and zealous temper of the English nation, and review the expreffions of it in the former pe riods of our hiftory. Ever fince the miniftry of Sir Robert Walpole, fome fhort intervals excepted, the tide of popularity has run against the court. The prefs, the theatre, and even the pulpit, breathed the language of difloyalty; the wit, genius, and knowledge of the nation were directed against the miniftry; and writings on the fide of liberty or faction were read with avidity, and procured applause to authors who never could have expected fame on any other fubject. Perhaps fome events have happened of late years which may serve to account for this phenomenon. The two political parties which formerly divided Great Britain, and attached all the inhabitants to one fide or another, are now completely diffolved, The effect of their struggle and collifion (though ambition was the object of both) has been the establishment of our excellent and happy conftitution. From From natural as well as accidental caufes, thefe parties continued after that fortunate event, though not with their former regular and fyftematic fpirit; they have now entirely ceafed to operate, and whig and tory are become merely nominal diftinctions. "While partydiftinctions of whig and tory,' 'faid the Hon. Mr. Greenville, high church and low church fubfifted, the nation was indeed divided, but each fide held an opinion for which they would have hazarded every thing; for both acted from principle: If there were fome who fought to alter the conftitution, there were others who would have fhed their blood to preferve it from violation: if divine hereditary right had its partifans, there were multitudes to ftand up for the fuperior fanctity of a title founded on an act of parliament, and the confent of a free people. But now all public principles, as well as the party names by which they were diftinguished, are deftroyed." In the British government at prefent we have not parties, but factions; principle has been facrificed to perfonal attachment; and inviolate fidelity to a particular combination, fubftituted as the teft of a fair public character. A bond of political or moral union, though reared on flender foundations, is refpectable, and may be useful it directs the current of paffions and purfuits to a certain point: And, by preferving an uniformity of conduct, the leaders of a nation may draw the multitude along with them. But the late American war, and the changes which have followed it, have broke this charm, and laid open the fecret of statesmen and politicians to the public eye. The frequent defertions from party to party, merely for the fake of intereft; the coalitions of the fierceft foes to divide the spoils, and plunder the commonwealth; the public avowal of fome men, fe-conded by the correfpondent practice of others, "that they would bear a part in any administration;" have led the people to believe that the honours and emoluments of office were the object of all parties, and leffened or deftroyed their wonted zeal in public affairs. The victory too acquired by the monarchical branch of the conftitution, by the diffolution of the laft, and the election of the prefent parliament; the growing posperity of the nation ever fince the peace; the popularity of a minifter, who, though not very vigorous or efficient in his measures, is well informed in his plans, and tractble in his conduct; and, above all, the rife of the flocks, that great barometer of the nation; have produced fuch a profound internal calm, that England is at prefent more free from political murmurings and machinations than the defpotic kingdom of France. Nothing, however, can be permanent in this country. Varium et mutabile femper Anglia. Though in fome periods dead to their glory, the English have been always alive to their intereft. Notwithstanding the advantages which English manufacturers and traders at prefent enjoy over foreign nations, by their being in poffeffion of greater capitals, by the minute divifions of labour, and from their being accustomed to habits of induftry; it is evident that a national debt of 280 millions muft operate in the long run, must be felt through every vein of the ftate, and preponderate over all thefe advantages. If Mr. Pitt wishes, therefore, to erect a monument to his memory, more |