but the preceding year) building her nest at least a fortnight before the time of depositing her eggs, and the subsequent incubation? To what other cause can we attribute the migration of birds, and numberless instances of instinctive know ledge, far exceeding the limited powers of intuition? Assuredly, from no other source than that of an universal emana tion from the Supreme Being, can such spontaneous intellect be derived; and this supposition merely verifies the opinion of those ancient philosophers who, in explaining to their disciples the nature of the Deity, taught, that in him we. live, move, and have our being;" and of one of our own most sublime poets, that the divinity "lives through all life," and "extends through all extent." Woburn. E. T. PILGRIM. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. I SIR, WAS much surprised, on reading Sir Henry Halford's account of what appeared on opening the coffin of King Charles the first, in the vault of King Henry the eighth, in St. George's chapel, at Windsor, that no notice should have been taken of the circumstantial, and well authenticated facts recorded in Pote's History of Windsor. By compar ing the two accounts, your readers will decide how far the following relation has been confirmed. "King Charles I. was buried also in this choir, in the same vanlt with King Henry VIII. and his queen; and as some insinuations have been spread abroad, as if the royal corps had not been buried here, or was afterwards removed, it will, I hope, be excusable to insert, that I remem ber to have seen, a few years since, a maBuscript memorandum of Mr. Sewel, a man of probity, and above forty years chapter cleik of Windsor College, to this purpose: that, upon the opening this vault, for the interment of a still-born child of the Princess of Denmark, afterwards Queen Anne, he went into the vault, and there saw the coffin of King Charles I. covered with velvet, with a label on the cover, whereon was marked King Charles, 1648, that the velvet of the coffin and pall was sound, and no ways rent; and that the pall laid over the coffin, as at first flung in at the burial; that the vault was small, and the new-born child was laid upon the coffin of King Charles I. This has been again ascertained, this 8th of March, 1748-9, by a relation of Mr. Sewel's, who lived many years with him, often heard him declare the same, and bemg his executrix, had this paper among others, for some time in her possession. recess. The proposed Bill is nothing but a repetition of the existing Act, with the which by no means go to cure those raexception of a very few additional clauses, dical defects in that statute, in the prevention of fraudulent bankruptcies, or checking the rapacity of trading trustees. These are men who, though not creditors, nevertheless act as assignees in England, with this difference, that the emoluments of the office of trading or professional trustees are so enormous, that an election seldom occurs without a very keen canvass for office, by unfair means, sometimes by threatening, and sometimes by cajoling the creditors. In consequence of which, the largest creditor who wishes to act for his own and the general interest, by saving expence and making the estate productive, is often ousted, and the management acquired by men whose sole view is their own emolument, and who have an interest to keep the creditors out of their money as long as possible, they not being creditors themselves. These general observations will enable you to understand more clearly the tendency of the following clause in this Bill, on which we have never heard that the opinion of any mercantile man has been asked, previous to its being brought into the House. It is on folio 47. p. 14, of the printed copy, viz. "And be it enacted, that in case any dispute or competition shall happen, either in the election of the interim factor or the trustee, the same shall be reported to the Court of Session; and it shall be competent either to the Court in time of Session, or to the Lord Ordinary on the Bills in time of vacation, to decide in the most summary manner on the merits of such election, and to settle by act of sederent in what form 4814.] Manuscript History of the Church of Japan. this shall be done, with power to the Court or the Lord Ordinary, in their or his discretion, to lay aside the competing candidates altogether, and to resort to the Sheriff Depute of the county to sug gest such other person or persons as he may think most fit for such office, to the number of two or three, out of whom the Court or the Lord Ordinary shall name one to be appointed thereto." As, under the existing Act, there is seldom an election of trustee without a competition, so by the above clause, competitions will be greatly encouraged and fomented among creditors, especially by trading trustees, who know, that by setting up a petty creditor against the largest, who may have 99 out of 100 votes, this very competition will occasion the election, however fair or proper, to be reported to the Court. This, in the first place, will occasion expence, and inflame lawyers' bills; but this is nothing to what follows-for, by fomenting this competition, the election is taken out of the creditors' hands entirely, and the Court, overwhelmed with multitudes of reports, will resort to the sheriff, who is to return a list of no less a number than two or three persons. These two or three may be the sheriff's own particular friends, and most likely some of those who fomented the competition at first, to get himself put on the list by the sheriff, who, for any thing that can be known, may himself be in partnership with some of these trading trustees, seeing that trustee companies are now quite fashionable in Scotland, and hold out a strong temptation to lawyers of the first eminence to be members of them, the office of trustee being so lucrative. For it is now understood, that besides all the other expences of management, their charge for commission is five per cent. on the funds, over and above the use of the money, on paying a penalty of 7 per cent. which is never exacted; and which, though it were, they can well afford to pay from a 20, a 30, or a 50 per cent. business, carried on with the creditors' money, and at their risk. Such is one of the tendencies of the above clause, to deprive creditors of their right to appoint their own servants to manage their own affairs; but this is not the only tendency of it, for debtors, who chuse to cheat their creditors, have nothing to do but to stop payment, and, by a private agreement with some of the two or three of the sheriff's friends, to throw the management of their affairs 123 into these friends' hands, by a mock competition for the office of trustee. It has been reported that the Court of Session approve of this Bill; and it is readily granted that it will do no harm to professional men, both in and out of that Court. But if the report be true, is it not high time for the mercantile interest to awake at so critical a juncture, when such a Bill has actually been brought into the House? It may be only further observed, that there are eighty-one new provisions in another Bill, which many mercantile bodies have approved of and found necessary for radically curing the existing evils in Scotch bankruptcy, both with respect to trading trustees and fraudulent bankrupts, which provisions are wholly omitted in the Lord Advocate's Bill, though this other Bill was transmitted to his lordship above two years ago. A. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, THE HERE is a great deal of inedited manuscript literature, relative to the missions of the Catholic priesthood, still extant in the libraries of France and Italy. Take an instance. In the public li brary at Lyons is deposited, No. 737, A History of the Church and Martyrs of Japan, by Father John de Bussieres, a Jesuit. This work consists of two folio volumes, containing an abridged history of Japan, a minute account of the religious opinions and ceremonies of the Japanese, and many particulars of the missionary travels of fathers Francis-Xavier, Luis Almeida, Torres, Froez, Acosta Fernandez, Villela, Monti, Valla, Cabral, Lopez, Gueseti, Velegnan, and Mezqul ta. The chronicle of Japan from 1549 to 1598 is given with peculiar minuteness. By means of some returned French emigrant in the ecclesiastic profession, our missionary societies could probably obtain leave to print, at their own expense, these and similar documents. They would supply to future missionaries important records of experience, and greatly facilitate their setting out aright. And, to literature in general, they would add a vast mass of geographic and historic science. Y. R. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, ERMIT me to correct a mistake which your correspondent, Mr. 1. b. Fosbrooke, Fosbrooke, appears to have made relative to the splendid edition of the great Duke of Marlborough's Campaigns, which that gentleman ascribes to Bonaparte. The fact is, that Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, caused a few impressions on vellum, very richly embellished, to be printed, for the purpose of being present ed to the reigning sovereigns of Europe; and the volume sent by the head of the French government to the present Duke of Marlborough, during the short interval of peace with this country, was found in the library of the unfortunate Louis XVI. It is not for the purpose of depriving Bonaparte of the honour of being an admirer of the military character of Marlborough, that I am induced to make this statement, but for the sake of truth, which even on so trivial an occasion ought not to be violated (and I am confident would not be violated but through mistake or misinformation) in your useful miscellany. Dec. 3, 1813. VERAX. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, per N Dr. Aikin's Critical Essay, preIN fixed to his edition of Pope's Essay on Man, I met with the following sen timent:- "If Pope's title to the honours of a poet of the very first order be disputed, it can only be by those who have framed an artificial classification of poetic merits," &c. I am not one of those sons who denominate Pope a poet of this 66 very first order." The standard by which I form my decision of the poet, is the more or less power which he exercises over the heart. Is he sublime? Does he elevate and swell the soul? Can he raise a tumult there? Can he sweep the stronger chords of passion, with the vehemence and rapidity of a master's hand? Can he set the heart on fire? But more than all this, is he pathetic? This is the touchstone of the inspired; the strong and irresistible evidence of genuine poetic capacity. He must be judged by his power to melt and dissolve beyond measure; to agitate and distress; to agonize and cleave the heart in twain; to command a flood of tears; to pour grief, pity, affection, melancholy, into the receptacle of feeling. When we read, do we exult, tremble, rage? Do our hurried feelings clash? Does feardoes horror-shake our nerves? Does anger or revenge fire our eyes? Are we disturbed, delighted, rapt, inspired, by the poet's skill? This then is the poet of nature, and not one who belongs to an artificial classification." How much of all this, will justly apply to Pope? Not enough to denominate him a poet of the very first order." But these wondrous powers will apply to Shakespeare, Milton, and Chatterton-the three greatest poets the world can produce. Though the last did not write so much as the other two, yet he wrote enough to prove that he possessed the true inspiration. Let Pope be called the poet of good sense of poetical propriety-the poet of "poetical prudence;" the poet of exquisite harmony-of smooth, elegant, and splendid versification." Pope's page is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe, and levelled by the roller." He must also be called the poet of nervous brevity. Swift, a concise writer himself, "selects this faculty as his distinguishing excellence:" When Pope can in one couplet fix More sense than I can do in six. But good sense, propriety, harmony, nervous brevity, splendid diction, vivid colouring, nor even sound judgment, and rich invention, will not alone constitute the poet, the emphatic poet, the poet of the highest order. There must be added, "the pearl of great price," the feeling heart. Pope is not the poet of the heart; and, therefore, he is not the Quod poet of "the very first order." erat demonstrandum. Feb. 1, 1811. HENRY ENFIELD. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. A SIR, S the grand topic of Catholic emancipation must shortly again engage the attention of Parliament and the public at large, a clear and impartial statement of the question may not, perhaps, be unacceptable to many of the readers of your valuable miscellany. For though many eloquent tracts, and speeches relative to it, have appeared from time to time, yet, as it is of the essence of oratory to amplify, and of abstract reason to condense, a safer judgment may be formed in this, as in other cases, by viewing the argument in un adorned simplicity. It has been repeatedly asked, what is the extent of the Catholic claims? And what the securities offered against the political perils of unlimited compliance? Let the Catholics answer for themselves. In the petition presented to Parliament, in the course of the last session (1813), they say, "We approach with confidence an enlightened legislature. In the name 1814.] Remarks on Catholic Emancipation. of Nature we ask our rights as men; in the name of the Constitution we ask our privileges as subjects; in the name of God we ask the sacred charter of unper secuted piety as Christians. Are securities demanded of us? We offer themthe best securities a throne can have, the affections of a people. We abjure all temporal authority except that of our sovereign. We acknowledge no civil tie save that of our Constitution. In behalf of five millions of a brave and united people, we call on the legislature to annihilate the odious bondage which bows down the mental, physical, and moral, energies of Ireland." To this impressive petition, the legis lature appeared to hearken with dignified and beneficent attention; but from the concurrent influence of various causes, the object of it was not found attainable. From a laudable disposition to conciliate as far as possible the favour, or to soften the enmity of its opponents, the Bill of relief was so framed, as in some of its provisions to appear equally incompatible with the feelings and principles of the Catholics, although the former opposition continued with unabated violence; till, the clause authorizing the admission of Catholics to seats in Parliament being negatived, the whole was withdrawn, with the hope and prospect, nevertheless, of revival under maturer modifications, and happier auspices. About this period, ths prelates of the Roman Catholic church, assembled in Dublin (May 26), published an address to the general body of Catholics, stating in respectful, yet decided, language, their disapprobation of the Bill. Ac. knowledging "the gracious condescension of the legislature," they declare "their distress of mind in being compelled, by a sense of duty, to dissent in some points, from the opinions of those virtuous and enlightened statesmen, who have so long and so ably advocated the cause of Catholic freedom. Probably from a want of sufficient information, but unquestionably from the most upright motives, they have proposed to the legislature, the adoption of certain arrangements respect. ing our ecclesiastical discipline, and particularly respecting the exercise of episcopal functions, to which it would be impossible for us to assent, without in curring the guilt of schism." In adverting to securities, they say, "Should any other oath not adverse to our religious principles, be yet devised, which could remove even the unfounded apprehensions of any part of our counMONTHLY MAG. No. 252. 125 trymen, we would willingly take it. We owe it to our God to be free from disloyalty, we owe it to our country to endeavour at least to be free from suspicion. We would with the utmost willingness swear, should the legislature require us so to do, that we never will concur in the appointment or consecration of any bishop, whom we do not conscientiously believe to be of unim peachable loyalty and peaceable conduct. And, further, that we have not, and that we will not have any correspondence or communication with the chief pastor of our church, or with any person authorised to act in his name, for the purpose of overthrowing or disturbing the Protestant government, or Protestant church, of Great Britain and Ireland." Such are the ingenuous offers and avowals of the Irish Catholic prelacy; and a dispassionate inspection of the Bill in question, must convince us that the allegations urged against it, are not founded in caprice, much less in disaffection. I. As according to a fundamental law of the realm, the sovereign of the British empire must be a Protestant, it cannot justly be deemed a hardship that his immediate representative, the chief governor of Ireland, should be a Protestant also; but what political necessity exists, that the Chancellor of Ireland, as enacted by this Bill, should be of that communion? The appointment of a Catholic chancellor is, indeed, a very remote and improbable contingency; but to exclude the Catholics, by an express law, from the possibility of attaining to this dignity, must operate as a stigma upon the whole Catholic body; and has a tendency to damp all intellectual and professional exertion. What ardent adven turer in the state lottery of the law, but would feel the injustice of being deprived of his chance of the highest prize? And, supposing a future L'Hopital, or Montesquieu, to arise in Ireland, who would dare to pronounce him unworthy of it? The clause likewise which restrains the Catholic patron from presenting a Protestant to any preferment in the United Church of England and Ireland, lay or ecclesiastical, is equally invidious. II. The 6th clause prohibits to the Catholic clergy all correspondence with any foreign or ecclesiastical authority, on any matter or thing not purely spiritual or ecclesiastical. This clause is worded with such jealous strictness, that the Catholics either individually or collec tively, the College of Maynooth for instance, seem debarred from all literary ន correspondence correspondence with foreign universities, or other scientific institutions; while Protestants are allowed, even in time of war, to hold French academical honours. The 7th clause makes it a misdemeanor for any Catholic clergyman to exercise his spiritual functions, without taking an oath to the above effect. And the 8th enacts, that the said oath shall be subscribed in court, by the persons taking and making the same, with his name at length, if such person can write, or other wise with his mark. Does the Bill then mean to insinuate that there are Catholic clergymen who cannot write their names? And, is this clause intended to guard the empire against the danger resulting from the correspondence of such persons, with the Catholic literati and divines of the continent? Surely this must extort a smile amid the most angry debate! III. The 10th clause most arbitrarily enacts, "that no person professing the Roman Catholic religion shall be capable of exercising the functions of bishop or dean, within the United Kingdom, unless he shall have been resident within the same for five years next preceding his first exercising such duty or functions; and any person acting in contravention of this clause, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to be sent out of the kingdom." How must such a sentence as this tingle in the ears of the Catholics? Has it been usual, in times past, to select as dignitaries of the Irish Catholic church, individuals who have previously resided abroad? Then why restrain this liberty of choice at present ? Has it, on the contrary, been the practice to promote the resident in preference to the non-resident clergy? Why make a law to compel the Catholics to persevere in their own policy? IV. Some of the particulars here enumerated would doubtless admit of nodification; others might be submitted to in silence; but the 11th and following clauses present a more menacing aspect, and are, unquestionably, what the prelates, in their address, had chiefly in view. After a declaration of the expediency of taking further precautions, in respect to persons in holy orders, professing the Roman Catholic religion, who may hereafter be appointed to the functions of . bishop or dean, the 11th clanse enacts that it may be lawful for his Majesty to appoint two several commissioners, one for Great Britain and the other for Ireland, to consist of such Catholic prelates, lay peers, and commoners, and such members of the Privy Council, a princi pal Secretary of State for England, or the Chief Secretary for Ireland being one, as his Majesty shall from time to time think fit to appoint. By the following clauses it is provided, that five of these commissioners shall form a Board, of which the Secretary of State, or Chief Secretary shall be president, and which must include one ecclesiastical and one lay Catholic commissioner; the commissions to be revocable at the royal pleasure. And the 23d clause enacts that, from and after the passing of this Act, no person in holy orders, professing the Roman Catholic religion, shall assume the functions of bishop or dean within the United Kingdom, unless the name of such person shall previously have been notified in writing to the presi dent of the Board of Commissioners, and the said person shall have received his Majesty's approbation. And, by the next clause, the Board are required "within six weeks subsequent to such notification, to report to his Majesty, under their hands and seals, whether they know or believe any thing which tends to impeach the loyalty, or peaceable conduct, of the said person; and in case the royal disapproval, authentically attested and enrolled in the Court of Chancery, should ensue on this report, any such person presuming to exercise the sacred functions above mentioned, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to be sent out of the kingdom." Upon a view of these provisions, must not any impartial person, ignorant of the state of the controversy, presume that a lamentable necessity for such odious precautions existed, in the frequent promotion of individuals noted for turbulence and disloyalty, to the highest ecclesiastical stations in the Irish Catholic church? Yet the undenied and undeniable fact is, that, from the era of the Revolution to the present day, not a single appointment obnoxious to the government has taken place. The danger is merely that the Catholic prelacy of Ireland may begin to act disloyally, when every mo tive to disaffection is annihilated. The grand object of this Bill, according to the preamble, is to put an end to all religious jealousies and animosities, whereas in the opinion of the parties im mediately interested, "its tendency is to cause more jealousy, animosity, and confusion, than any religious innovation since the revolution. By the tenure of this Bill," it is alleged, "the Roman Catholic bishops and clergy are left entirely to the judgment, discretion, and mercy, |