And bid the critic Reason find, All hail! whom Honour calls his child! "Alluding to the very timely and productive fubfcription, fo nobly propofed and aided by Lady Camden, for the purpose of providing comfortable raiment fer fuch of the foldiery as fhould be called into active duty." Nos Nor priz'd but there, where ev'n the poor, Where Truth in Glory's lap is laid ?" P. 48. We have taken a paffage which happens to run in one meafure only; but we ought to inform our readers, that the mea fure is often varied in the courfe of the compofition. As impartial critics, we must not conceal that the author is fometimes too bold in the use of unauthorized terms; as "painture" for painting; to "fubferve," as a verb, &c. and (in his profe particularly) rather too fond of long and obfcure words, more than Johnfonic. But his merits, as will be feen, very far outweigh thefe trivial defects. ART. XVIII. A complete View of the Chinefe Empire, exhi bited in a Geographical Defcription of that Country, a Differtation on its Antiquity, and a genuine and copious Account of Earl Macartney's Embally from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China. 8vo. 456 pp. 75. Cawthorne. 1798. HE attention of the public having been greatly excited by the Embaffy to China, fome information upon the condition and extent of this country itfelf was naturally fought with avidity. The manner in which the undertaking terminated, however it may have caufed curiofity in great measure to fubfide, does not deftroy that intereft which the project infpired. The Embaffy will remain upon the face of hiftory, as an event of fome importance in the magnitude of its object; and every thing which tends to throw light upon it will be found ufeful in the hands of future hiftorians. The account here given of the Embaffy is full and circumftantial; and the compiler appears to have performed his duty with much correctnefs and attention. The Defcription of China, and the Effay upon its Antiquity prefixed to the account, render the publication particularly valuable. The The Effay upon the Antiquity is manifeftly the production of no ordinary mind. The obfervations it contains are ingenious, folid, and enlightened. We fhall prefent our readers with an extract from the close of this Effay, which, in our judgment at leaft, is equally curious and important. "A curious difcovery, made by the Miffionaries of late years in China, well deferves notice in this place, though it cannot be brought forward as an evidence of the principal points advanced in this difcourse. This is the discovery of a fynagogue and a Jewith colony, who appeared in China under the dynalty of Han, whofe reign began in the year 206 before Chrift. This colony now confifts only of a few families, who refide at Cai-fong, the metropolis of Ho-nan. "The Jefuit who vifited them accurately defcribes their fynagogue, which agrees exactly with what the Jews have elsewhere. He adds, moreover, That these Chinese Jews, who are here called Tiao-kinkiao, have preferved feveral of the ceremonies in the Old Teftament; as circumcifion, which they fay they had from Abraham; the feeft of unleavened bread, the pajchal lamb, the fabbath, and other Mofaical feftivals. "Thefe people at prefent confift of feven families, called Thao, Kin, Che, The-man, Li, Ngai, who intermarry only with themselves. "There is but one fynagogue in the whole province. It has no altar, nor any other furniture except the chair of Mofes, with a cenfer, a table, and chandeliers. This building is divided into three aifles, the middle one occupied by the table of incenfe, the chair of Mofes, a painting intcribed with the name of the Emperor, and thirteen tabernacles, containing as many copies of the Pentateuch. "In answer to the enquiry, whether they did homage to Confucius, they replied that they paid him the fame honour as the reft of the learned men did, and that they affifted in the folemn ceremonies which are performed to great men. But they obferved, that though they practifed certain rites twice a year to the honour of their ancestors, after the Chinese manner, yet they never prefented them with fwine's flesh.' "Thefe Jews call their law the law of Ifrael, felals-kiao, which they allo term Kou-kiao, the antient law, Tien-kiau, the law of God, and Tinkien-kian, fignifying that they abftain from blood. They faid that their ancettors came from a kingdom of the weft, called Judah, which was conquered by Jofhua, after their departure from Egypt and their paffage over the Red Sea, through the Wilderness. They mentioned alfo the molt eminent perfons fpoken of in the Old Teftament fcriptures, fuch as David, Solomon, and Ezekiel, who raised up dry bones; and Jonas, who was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, &c. from which it is evident that they are in poffeffion of the historical and prophetical fcriptures. They informed the Miffionary that their alphabet now confifts only of twenty-two letters, though it had originally twenty-feven, They neither kindle a fire nor drefs any victuals on the feventh day, but prepare all that is neceffary on the day preceding. In reading their fcriptures in the fynagogue, they cover their faces with a tranfparent vail, vail, in commemoration of Mofes, who covered his face when he defcended from the mountain with the holy tables. "When the Miffionary spoke to them of the Meffiah predicted in the facred writings, they expreffed their aftonishment; but when he added that this Meffiah was called Jefus, they replied that a holy perfon of that name was mentioned in their bible, but that he was called the fon of Sirach. "This afcertains the time when the Jewish colony firft emigrated, which must have been after the second captivity. "It is greatly to be regretted that more accurate enquiries into the hiftory or traditions of this people have not been made. So remarkable a circumftance as this ought not to have been fuffered to lie dormant after the difcovery was published. For, though the Chinese hiftory may not be elucidated by the refearch, yet that of a people equally interefting cannot but be greatly illuminated by a particular examination of this wonderful fragment of antient Ifrael.” Upon the whole, this publication is refpectable, and may be fafely recommended to those who wish to poffefs, upon moderate terms, a complete memorial of the late Embaffy, together with fome valuable information upon the affairs of China. BRITISH CATALOGUE. ART. 19. POETRY. Naucratia: or, Naval Dominion. A Poem. By Henry James Pye. Second Editions, with Additions. 4to. gs. 6d. Nicol. 1798. We have before noticed with the praife it deferved, this truly fpirited Poem. The additions to be found in this edition, are principally an animated apoftrophe in honour of Lord Nelfon, and his immortal triumph. We infert part of this with pleasure. "And lo! where Nile, from Egypt's fruitful shores, Britannia's Britannia's fons the threat with horror hear, The fight furveying from furrounding lands, Till the dread heft perform'd, the almighty breath ART. 20. Malvern, a descriptive and hiftorical Poem. By Luke Booker, LL. D. dedicated to the Right Hon. Julia, Viscountess Dudley and Ward. 4to. 124 pp. 35. 6d. Dudley printed, for Brooke and Co. Cheapfide. 1798. Malvern Hills were lately celebrated by another poet, and in blank verfe alfo. (See Brit. Crit. September, p. 303.) There was, we think, more fire and animation in that poem; but in this is the greater thare of inftruction; and the poetry is above mediocrity. The following celebration of fome perfonages in that neighbourhood is marked with judgment, and the general wish for our fenators is poetical as well as conftitutional : Faft by these mountains, in a fhelter'd glade, Long |