ble objection operated against their reelection. Although he had received a number of sharp, and, he would add, undeserved rubs, in that place, he never when he went to vote considered whether any of the candidates had injured him; his only inquiry was, whether they had served the Company?(Hear! hear!) In one instauce, where the gentleman afterwards retired from the direction, and but in that one instance, had he opposed the re-election of an ex-director. For those three points which he had noticed, amongst many others, the proprietors must feel deeply obliged to the committee. But those who knew what feelings and passions they had to contend with, could not but admire the firmness and impartiality with which they proceeded-the main proof of this was to be gathered from this circumstance, that no allegation, no complaint, had been uttered against their conduct, although they had to discuss many points of the most delicate and difficult nature. The learned gentleman concluded by moving

"That the thanks of this court be given to Humprey Howorth, Esq. M. P. the chairman, and the rest of the members of the by-laws committee, for their arduous and enlightened exertions in revising and improving the by-laws of the East-India Company, and for the firm, honorable, and strictly impartial manner in which they have discharged the important trust so repeatedly confided to them by the unanimous vote of the general court."

"If (continued Mr. Jackson) I am fortunate enough to succeed in this resolution, I shall then move

"That this resolution be fairly transcribed, and sent to the different members of the by-laws committee."

Mr. Rigby after observing that the court were considerably indebted to the committee of by-laws for their ability, honour, and integrity, seconded the motion.

Mr. Hume said, he could not suffer this opportunity to pass without making one or two observations upon the very honorable and creditable conduct of the committee of by-laws, in the discharge of those important duties of which they had just acquitted themselves. Considering the sedulous attention which they had paid to the affairs submitted to them, and the number of important questions brought under their consideration, and considering the temperate, moderate and firm manner in which they had persevered in altering such laws as were found illegal and injurious to the Company, he could not but consider them as entitled to the sincere thanks of this court: they had acted in such a manner as to reflect honor upon themselves, and confer a lasting obligation upon the Company. They had

proved clearly that the choice of the court of proprietors was judiciously made, and he had only to express a confident hope that they would continue their useful labours in promoting such measures as should be found beneficial to the Company, because he was quite persuaded that under the moderate and enlightened auspices of such men, the work of amendment must be successful in the result, and satisfactory to all parties.

The question was then put and carried unanimously.

Mr. Hume said, that there being no business now before the court, he begged leave to call the attention of the members present, to the propriety of taking into consideration some regulation with a view to further independence and impartiality in the mode of electing directors. His object was to prevent members of this court from being influenced in giving their votes by any pecuniary or other improper consideration, which though received un-der some other colour, was in fact, the price of their vote. It had occurred to him at first, that this subject ought to be brought under the consideration of the court of proprietors in the shape of a substantive resolution. He had acceded to this idea in conformity to the sentiments of the hon. and learned gentleman (Mr. Twiss) who had first introduced the motion upon that subject: but, upon con. sideration, he now thought it would be better to refer it to the committee of bylaws, with a request that they should take it under their notice. He should therefore propose the following motion :"That it be referred to the committee of by-laws to take into their consideration the propriety of passing a by-law, prohibiting any member of this Company from receiving any fee, pension, or reward, for his vote or votes in this house." Of the propriety of this motion, there could be no doubt; and therefore, without any further observation, he should only express a hope that there would be no objection to his motion.

Mr. Twiss said, he knew nothing of the facts, of his own knowledge, that induced him originally to come forward on this subject; but he had understood, from the hon. gentleman, that there were a great number of instances, the existence of which could not be doubted, which would justify some law to the effect proposed.

Mr. Pattison said, that as the subject was to be referred to the committee of by-laws, it would not be necessary to go into any detail of circumstances now; but he hoped that the law would embrace the plan proposed by the hon. proprietor: and he would himself suggest the propriety of making a further regulation, that no gentleman should receive, under

the pretence of travelling expenses, any sum of money for his vote given at an election.

Mr. Hume said, he did not wish to prescribe any particular course of proceeding to the committee of by-laws, as their experience would enable them to judge what was proper to be done.

Mr. Pattison suggested the propriety of amending the hon. gentleman's motion in all events, by adding these words, 66 or under pretence of paying travelling expenses, or any other pretence whatsoever."

Mr. Hume said, he certainly had no objection to adopt those words; but he thought the committee ought to be left to their own discretion on the subject. He verily believed, with the hon. Deputy Chairman, that there were considerable sums of money given to persous under the plea of travelling charges. It would be

as well to adopt the suggestion of the hou. Deputy Chairman; and therefore he should propose his motion in the following terms, "That it be referred to the committee of by-laws to take into consideration the propriety of passing a bylaw to guard against any member of this Company receiving any fee, present, reward, or gratuity, for his vote or votes in this house, or under the pretence of travelling charges, or any other pretence whatsoever."

Mr. Rigby said, that having heard such practices existed, and which he could not have supposed to be possible if he had not heard it stated on good authority, he should feel great pleasure in seconding this motion.

The question was then put and carried in the affirmative. Adjourned.

VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY.

Our readers will be able to form some idea of the difficulties which the preparing voyages of discovery may expect to encounter, from the following report, which Ysbrants Ides makes of the navigation on those coasts.-"A great deal has been said concerning the Weygats by English, Danes and Hollanders, who, with ships, have endeavoured to bore through this Icy channel, which hath been done once or twice, but then those who did it, were repulsed and forced to return to their own country, by the vehement current of ice in the South or Icy sea; of which, Mr. Nicholas Witsen, Burger-Master of Amsterdam treats at large, that gentleman having obtained an exact account of whatever is remarkable, from several persons who have been there; all which observations have been incomparably well digested in his chart of Weygats*, and the sea coasts to the river Oby, by which it plainly appears, that from Weygats to the Icy or Holy Cape, the sea is utterly unnaviga ble for ships, and should a second Christopher Columbus appear and point out the course of the heavens, yet he could not Idrive away those mountains of ice for God and nature have so invincibly fenced the sea-side of Siberia with ice, that no ship can come to the river Janizea, much less can they proceed further northward into the sca. Not to mention the voyage from the Icy or Holy Cape round Japan

*Written Vygatch in modern charts,

and Jedzo, I shall only mention the method pursued by the Russians in their visits through Weygats straits to the Oby.

"They go with their Kotskis (a sort of barks) to the Straits to fish for sea calves. If the wind blows from the sea the whole coast is covered with ice, and they are obliged to put into some of the creeks or rivulets which run inland, and withal not to venture too far, but stay there till the wind turns about and blows from the shore, upon which all the ice soon drives several niiles out of sight at sea. When they make use of the opportunity and sail along the coast till another change of wind again forces them to search for a creek to shelter their bark, which, if they fail, is shattered to pieces by the ice. The cold is so intense, that Ides says, 'I myself have seen rooks and magpies about Samojeda fall dead in their flight, killed by the piercing frost.'

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We are much pleased to learn that the scientific arrangements for the Voyages of Discovery to the North Pole are conducted by a Select Committee of the Royal Society there is, therefore, every reason to expect, that even under a failure in the main objects of the expedition, important additions will be made to our present information on many topics of interest and curiosity. The naval arrange ments are all finally fixed; and the officers and ships are thus disposed:

Isabella, three hundred and eighty-six tons, Captain John Ross, Lieut. Robertson, with a crew of forty-five other per

sons; her tender, the Alexander, commanded, by Lieutenant Parry and assisted by Lieutenant Hopner-Mr. Hooper, Purser, with a crew of thirty other persons for Davis's Straits, to endeavour to get into the Pacific Ocean round the north-end of the American continent.

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The Dorothea, three hundred and eighty tons, Capt. David Buchan, Lieut. A. Morrell-Mr. Jermain, Purser, with a crew of forty-four other persons: her tender, the Trent, commanded by Lieut. Franklin, assisted by Lieut. Beechy.-Mr. Barrett, Purser, and a complement of thirty other persons. These ships are to make for the North Pole, and thence, rounding the north-end of Europe, to enter the Pacific Ocean, through Bheering's Straits. The two Captains are to be allowed £46 per month; the two commanding Lieutenants, £23; the assistant Lieutenants, £18. 8s. per mouth; the Warrant Officers have also an increase of salary; and the men have each sixty shillings per month. Both expeditions will sail together, and will proceed in about three weeks hence.

Letters from Mr. Boog to his father, the Rev. Dr. Boog of Paisley, give an account of the recent discoveries respecting the Sphinx and the principal pyramid of Egypt, which have been made by Captain C. and Mr. Salt. By very laborious excavations, which were made in vain by the French savans, these gentlemen have discovered that the Sphinx is cut out of the solid rock on which it was supposed merely to rest. They found that the short descending passage at the entrance to the Pyramid, which afterwards ascends to the two chambers, was continued in a straight line through the base of the Pyramid into the rock upon which the Pyramid stands. This new passage, after joining what was formerly called the well, is continued forward in a horizontal line, and terminates in a well ten feet deep, exactly beneath the apex of the Pyramid, and at the depth of a hundred feet below its base. Captain C. has likewise discovered an apartment immediately above the King's chamber, and exactly of the same size and the same fine workmanship, but only four feet in height.

A late Frankfort journal contains the following report of the death of Mr. Burchardt, the African traveller, it is stated in the words of a letter dated Basle, January 17.

We have received from Cairo the melancholy intelligence that Mr. Louis Burchardt, the youngest son of Col. Gedeon Burchardt, had died there of a dysentery, under his assumed name of Sheik Ibrahim. Mr. Louis Burchardt, who was ardent, enterprising, and animated with the desire of acquiring knowledge, being in

England, offered his services to the English association for making discoveries in the interior of Africa. After having learned the languages, and acquired the knowledge necessary for a journey of the kind, he set off some years ago, and repaired to Cairo to join the caravan which comes every year from Tombuctoo, and to penetrate into that country, which has hitherto been inaccessible to Europeans; but some troubles, which broke out in that part of the world, hindered the arrival of the caravan for a whole year. Aided by his Musulman costume, and his perfect knowledge of the Arabic and Turkish languages, Mr. Burchardt had made a great number of new and important discoveries, which the English association will probably publish. At length this caravan, which had been so long and impatiently expected, arrived; but before he could depart with it, Mr. Burchardt sunk under the disorder, and his death has destroyed the most flattering hopes. His distance from his own country had not lessened his attachment to it: in the course of last winter he sent a bill of exchange for a considerable sum for the relief of the poor.

Mr. Burchardt was a Swiss, and is described as having resided so many years in Arabia and northern Africa, and had so familiarized himself with the dialects and manners of the natives, as to be enabled with facility to assume, as circumstances arose, the character most likely to secure his success.

The following extract from an ancient manuscript of mercantile journies in Hindostan, contains a curious account of the manner in which the mensuration of geographical distances was effected in the days of Akbar.

"After much consideration and experience, I take the vulgar kros* (coss) to be about a mile and half. Another coss is used by the king, who when he travels is attended, among his multitudes of pointment is to measure the way before servants, by two men whose special aphim. The following is the method in which it is done; a line is composed of twenty-five cords of Agra joined to each other in length, the two ends of this line are fastened over two men's shoulders. As soon as they commence their duty, the line is stretched at full length; the foremost then makes a stroke with his staff on the ground and passes on, the other following, and taking care to keep the line extended. When the hindermost arrives at the mark of the staff he calls out, and that portion of distance is numbered ; at the same instant the other

makes another mark, being at the distance of the line; and when the latter comes up, he again calls out, and the second space is numbered. In this manner they go on until two hundred lines are measured, without stopping, and continually keeping a smart pace. The reckoning is kept by beads. The ancient or royal coss is then 200 lines, at 25 cords each is 5000, and each cord reckoned at 4-5ths of an English yard is 4000 yards, or 12,000 feet so that this coss may be reckoned somewhat to exceed 2 English miles.

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On the 31st Oct: a violent earthquake was felt at Smyrna.

Indications of the existence of a coal bed at Toula, in Russia, have lately induced the proprietor to undertake the working of mines. A Scotchman and several workmen have been engaged at Whitehaven and will commence during the spring.

Nos. III. and IV. of the New and Improved Edition of Stephens' Greek Thesaurus are published. The vacancies yet open have been occasioned by the decease of some of the subscribers. The price, to such as were not on the original list has been already raised; and the editors, according to the advertisement to No. III. mean shortly to raise it again. All Public Libraries, in particular, are recommended to subscribe before the opportunity is lost, as only a sufficient number of copies have been printed to cover the subscription. Present price £1. 3s. Large paper £2. 10s. To be completed in about twenty-five Numbers. Names may be sent to Mr. Valpy, Tooke's Court, Chancery Lane, London.

In Mr. Dibdin's most interesting and superb work, the Bibliographical Decameron, are found the following observations on the New Edition of Stephens :

"The undertaking is arduous in the extreme, and perhaps not a little perilous; yet let us admire the zeal and love of ancient lore, which could have matured and carried into execution a project so vast, so expensive, and requiring such constant, unremitting, and (I had almost said) interminable labours. I address myself to the candid, the experienced, and the liberal; not to them, who, previous to the publication of the first Number, were sharpening their critical knives, and preparing other instruments of literary torture, whereby they might inflict a severe wound, and cause premature death to the undertaking! English critics, I trust, like English soldiers and sailors, love fairer play than this. Nor can such attempts, after all, damp the ardour, or slacken the exertions of those to whose conduct this monumentum ære peren

nius' is entrusted. Let us tell an interesting and unsophisticated tale.

"A new edition of the Greek Thesaurus of H. Stephens the younger must necessarily, in any shape, be a tremendous undertaking; especially too, when one thinks of the multiplicity of lexicographical and critical knowledge which has pervaded the classical world since the first appearance of that wonderful performance. Only to give an impulse, or encouragement to the plan; only to bring the vessel to the water's edge, as it were; required spirit, strength, and no ordinary assistance. In letters, circular notes, prospectuses, &c. announcing the nature and extent of it, cost the proprietors of the work not less than £1,500. This was surely bold enough; for till seven hundred subscribers were subscribed, its progress would be uncertain, and the loss sufficiently decisive. However, the plan

grew,' and the subscribers multiplied; and the names of not fewer than nine hundred and eighty-five (1086) of them graced the covering of the first number. Such a number to such a work, is, I believe, without a precedent; and well might Lord Grenville, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, express a pleasurable pride in receiving the homage of the dedication of the new Thesaurus to himself. That nobleman's letter to the printer, upon the occasion of which we are speaking, does equal honour to his head and heart. Now comes the glory of the design. All the attempts which had been made towards a new edition of Stephens' Thesaurus in Germany, Russia, France and Denmark, have not only been rendered abortive; but the materials for it, collected in those places, have been almost voluntarily, as well as absolutely, poured into the capacious reservoir of Mr. A. J. Valpy.

"The manner in which this new edition is given to the public, need not be specifically mentioned. All the classical world are aware of it; but, for comeliness and proportion, the nicer collector will betake himself to the large paper. In the small paper, the text looks abundant and honest to excess. It was the intention of Mr. Valpy to have struck off three copies upon vellum, at 300 guineas each copy; but the poisoning influence of that recent, rash, and ruthless act of Parliament, respecting literary property, which gave one copy of the best kind to the British Museum, (the least pernicious feature in such act), diverted his intentions."

NEW LONDON PUBLICATIONS.

The Narrative of Capt. Tuckey; the Journal of Professor Smith; and Miscellaneous Observations on a Voyage of Discovery up the River Zaire or Congo, in