stantinople. In 1816, this collection was | top of the lamps, for the purpose of packed up in eleven great chests, only one throwing down a plentiful and equally of which, containing an Egyptian mummy diffused light." And he calculates the exhas been saved from the general destruc- pence to be from 1d. to 2d. for each retion. About 800 volumes, being a collec- Hector, "These," he remarks, "may be tion of several classic authors in the ancivery conveniently fixed within the cover ent and modern languages, together with of the lamp, so as to remove with it, by a considerable number of Coptic and Ara-three or four bits of tin or wire soldered to 'bian manuscripts, which M. Lidman had obtained in course of his travels in the East, were likewise lost. M. Lidman has now arrived at Constantinople from Messina: and instead of fiuding his treasures in sufety, he has to deplore their irreparable loss. National Register: BRITISH. Street Illumination. it, and bent over the edge of the reflector.” Monument to Dr Burney. The monument to the memory of the late Dr. Charles Burney, which has been executed at the expense of the parishioners of Deptford, was, lately, placed in the parish church in that town. The monument has been executed by Goblet, whose mind and band have been improved by many years' study in the school of the inimitable Nollekens. It is a pyramid, the base of which rests on the entablature of a square pedestal, between the two side pilasters of which, is placed the inscription, which we give below. Around the base of the pyramid are scattered books, papers, &c. and in its centre is a medallion of Dr. Burney. This is in bold relief, and is not less remarkable for the beauty of its execution, than for its strong resemblance to the amiable, ac complished, and lamented man to whose memory the monument is erected. Rector of this Parish, and of Cliff in this County Charles Burney, D. D. F. R. S. F. S. A. Prebendary of Lincoln, An article on this subject by John Millington, Esq. has appeared in several recent scientific publications; and it will not, we trust, escape the attention of police commissioners. It is of importance both as it effects the comfort and the pecuniary interest of the inhabitants of every large place, that the bestmode of lighting the streets should be adopted. Great difference exists in the quantity of light emitted by the gas lamps when the flame is united in one whole, and when separated into portions. Count Rumford ascertained long ago, that if 221 grains of oil produced 100 degrees of light, the consumption of 560 grains in the same time produced 900 degrees; or, in other words, that a six-fold light was produced by less than a quantity of oil; understanding always that the whole oil in the latter case was consumed by one light. The accuracy of Rumford's principles was fully confirmed by experiments made in the parish of St. John's, London, with Lord Cochrane's lamp. It is thus a great error to have two or more lights in any one lamp; and it is an error of the same sort to divide the gas lights into several small of branches. A great deal of heat is thus lost, and, in consequence, the number of Juminous particles are greatly lessened. The whole gas, or oil, to be consumed in one burner should be consumed in one one. flame, by which means the power of illuminating is increased, when two lights only are united, in a proportion of six to In St. John's parish, in which lamps are used on the new construction, there is produced from one-half of the former number of lamps, at least three times the former quantity of light.-Mr. Millington also, after making a variety of experiments, recommends the use of common glazed white earthen ware, as reflectors, at the and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty, Born Dec. 3, 1759; died Dec. 28, 1917. In him were united the highest attainments in learning, with manners at once dignified and attractive: peculiar promptitude and accuaracy of judgment as a record their affection for their Rev. Pastor, Monitor, and Friend, of their gratitude for his services, and of their unspeakable regret for his loss. Kentish Inscription. The following lines were lately found among the ruins of the Friary at Guildford, in Surrey, upon a stone on which they are supposed to have been inscribed prior to the Reformation : Si sapines fore vis, sex serva quæ tibi mando, Nune lege, nunc ora, nunc cum fervore labora, 'If you are willing to be wise, Both what you speak and how take care, Of and to whom and when and where, At proper hours, read, work, and play, Time then will fly, and work be play. The first two (as well as the other two lines) of the foregoing inscription evidently form a distinct distich. They have but little to recommend them, perhaps, in a poetical point of view, beyond the interest which is sure to be excited by any specimen of early literature, and more particularly of the literature of that period which historians have so justly and universally denominated the dark ages, and of which the inscription alluded to may not improperly be terined a curious relic. Stage Coach Regulations. The numerous impositious daily practis ed by stage coachmen, and the unpleasant and dangerous accidents which occur, render an attention to the following abstract particularly important. Extracts from the Act 50 Geo.3.c. 48. for Regulating Stage-Coaches.--Carriages drawn by four or more horses, allowed ten outside passengers, besides, the coachman, three on the front, and the remaining six behind; except where no parcels or luggage are carried on the roof, and then, if licensed, they may carry 12. Carriage drawn by two or three horses, allowed five outside passengers, besides the coachman. Ten pounds penalty for each passenger beyond the number, and 201. if the driver is owner, or part owner, of the coach. No passenger to ride on the outside, if the top shall be more than 8 feet 9 inches from the ground.-Penalty 51. Four-horse carriages may carry luggage two feet high, and two or three horse ditto 18 inches high on the roof.- Penalty 51. an inch for every inch over, and 101. if owner of the coach; but no passenger is to sit on the luggage.-Penalty 50s. to be paid by the passenger. But luggage more than two feet high is allowed, provided it is not greater height from the ground, including the height of the coach, then ten feet nine inches. sonable occasion, or for longer time than occasion requires, forfeit 101. Drivers using abusive language to pasforfeit 40s. sengers, or exacting more than their fare, Turnpike-keepers refusing to count the number of passenger, or measure the height of the luggage, being properly required by that purpose, forfeit 51. a passenger, and drivers refusing to stop for Penalties recoverable before one Justice Information to be laid in 14 days. correction, if penalties not immediately Imprisonment in the gaol, or house of paid. PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY. April 27.-Sir R. Peel moved that the Cotton Manufactorics Regulation Bill should be committed. Lord Stanley objected to the measure, as unnecessarily interfering with the freedom of labour, and depriving the working classes of a portion of the wages now earned by their children. He moved that the Bill should be committed this day six months. Lord Lascelles called upon the House not to proceed on ex parte evidence, but to appoint a Committee to inquire into the truth of the statements on which the Bill was pretended to be founded. He believed that it principally originated with a man who was well known from the public prints (Mr. Owen,) who had wished to establish a new system of morals. Mr. Peel supported the Bill at considerable length. In one manufactory, he said, 374 children were employed for 12, 18,14 and 15 hours. In all Manchester, the num ber of children employed in cotton manufactories were, according to Mr. Sandford, 11,600. He implored the House to contemplate for a moment, such a number of children occupied at the uniform toil of cotton-spinning for 15 hours out of every 24 hours of their existence, and to say whether such a system was to be longer endured. Every natural instinet was counteracted, every feeling and inclination natural to a child was thwarted and Number of licensed passengers, inside and out, and names of owners to be paint-suppressed. ed on a conspicuous part of the carriage; penalty, 101. for each extra passenger, and 201. if owner, or part owner. Owners liable to penalties, if driver cannot be found. Summons served on the bookkeeper sufficient in all cases. Driver not to leave his box, or quit the horses, until he has some person to hoid them; penalty 51. Driver endangering the safety of passengers, or driving furiously, or allowing others to drive, or quitting the box without rea After some further discussion, the amendment was negatived by 91 to 26, and the Bill was committed. April 28.-Colonel Patten Bold moved for a Select Committee to consider of the duties on printed cottons, on which so many petitious had been received, and to report their opinions thereon; which was agreed to, and the Committee appointed. Mr. Lyttleton, at considerable length, pointed out the hardship and injustice of the recent regulation respecting the pensions to the widows of military officers, and concluded with moving an address to the Prince Regent, entreating him to cancel the late warrant for the regulations alluded to. Colonel Dalrymple and Mr. I. Smith supported the motion. was sure he might answer, on the part of the Ministers of the Crown, that they would be willing to do every thing in their power towards the object. He hoped, therefore, the motion would be withdrawn, as the concession had better come spon My Lyttleton, in compliance with this suggestion, withdrew his motion. HOUSE OF LORDS. Mr. F. Lewis said the measure complain-taneously from the Crown, ed of had not originated with the Committee of Finance; but their inquiries had led them to a knowledge of the extreme dissatisfaction which prevailed in the Navy, and the perpetual complaints which were made by the officers in that service on the score of their not being so much favoured on the subject in question as the officers of the army. It appeared advisable to remove the ground of difference between the two services, and to cut off a source of so much jealousy and heart-burning. April 29.-Lord Lauderdale moved for an estimate of the expense of the gold coinage for the year 1818, and an account of the loss arising out of the old silver, and the issue of the new. The motion was agreed to. HOUSE OF COMMONS. April 29.-Mr. Vansittart moved the order of the day for going into a Committee on the Loan Bill. Lord Palmerston said, that the regulation was not to apply to the widow of any off- Mr. P. Grant arraigned the plan of cer now married, so that there was no borrowing in time of peace as ruinous to breach of faith. But the Executive Go- the country. He could not conceive what vernment were not to blame for any hard-was the use of keeping up a fund of reships that were supposed to exist with respect to these regulations. These were all regulations for which the House must❘ be responsible. They were regulations which had been forced on the Government by the language that had been held on the opposite side with regard to economy, and under these circumstances, he could not agree to the motion. Mr. Calcraft called upon a Noble Lord (Palmerston) to point out the instance in which those who sat on his side of the House recommended a niggardly provision for wounded soldiers or officers' widows. He was truly surprised to hear, that the country could not support the charge of these allowances. But who were the persons that made that assertion? They were those-and the country would not fail to notice it-that thought 50,000l. or 100,000l. a year, if given to the Princes, was not more than the resources of the nation could provide ; but nothing could be given to those brave and gallant heroes who had fought for our protection, and whose valour, as Ministers themselves had frequently boasted, had secured the independence and tranquillity of Europe. Mr. Wilberforce could not help encouraging the hope, that the Noble Lord (Palmerston) would find himself compelled to accede to the motion. He thought that the Noble Lord, in referring to oeconomy, had made a most unjust, unwise, and uncandid application. Mr. Vansittart said the grant had been entirely of an eleemosynary nature; but if it should be the disposition of Parliament to adopt a more liberal line of conduct, he demption, when a larger sum was annually reduced by its operation. If an individual were thus to act in the management of his private affairs, his conduet would be considered as little less than insane. The Chancellor of the Exchequer observed, that during the last three years there had been an increase of the unfunded debt to the amouut of 15,000,000l. and a reduction of no less than 50,000,000 or 40,000,000l. sterling. In the case of a private gentlemen, therefore, who added 10,000l. a year to his debts, for three years successively, and in the same period redeemed 60,000l. he did not think it could be said that there was any unprosperous course of proceeding. At the end of the year he calculated that the result of the accounts would show a reduction of the funded debt to the extent of 15,000,000Z. and of the unfunded, to that of all the addition which it was now receiving. The House having gone into a Committee, Mr. Grenfell moved to omit the clause respecting the allowance to the Bank for management, which would amount to 13,000l. He held in his hand a statement of the amount of fees received by them, upon the different loans contracted for during the last 17 years of the war; and the Committee would be astonished to learn that it was no less than 324,000Z paid out of the national purse for this trifling surface. Mr. Vansittart opposed the amendment; and, after some farther conversation, it was negatived by 46 to 31. Mr. S. Bourne addressed the House on the subject of the Poor Laws, so far as re 1713] Parliamentary History. M. W. Ridley, and other Members, on the After some observations from Lord Cas- HOUSE OF LORDS. garded the questions of Settlements. He, pointed out the inconveniencies of the alterations that had taken place since 1795, and recommended a return to the old system, with some modifications. He should propose that a residence of three years should give a settlement, to be decided by the parish officers, and the evidence of the pauper's neighbours. This would prevent much litigation at the Quarter Sessions. But this was to be with the limitations that the pauper should not have been absent from his parish more than 60 days in each year; and never have been convicted of any crime or misdemeanor. It was also proposed that no person should be able to gain a settlement before the age of 16; and to stay the order of removal of a pauper until his appeal should be decided. The The Earl of Oxford moved an amend60 days absence should not be consecutive days; and to provide for servants who ment, to refer the said orders to a Commight reside with masters some months inmittee. On this a division took place. For the year in different parts of the country, it was proposed to make their settlement in the parish in which they might have resided the last three months. Sir S. Romilly considered this measure as likely to be productive of much good, by decreasing litigation. He had known, by the present law, a printer removed to a place where there was not a printing press, and a fisherman carried to an inland part; thus neither of them could obtain a living. Leave was then granted to bring in the Bill. On the motion for going into a Committee on the Churches Bill, Sir F. Flood objected to Ireland bearing a part of this burthen beyond her power, without receiving any benefit from it. Mr. Vausittart said, Parliament had not been guilty of the injustice to Ireland alluded to by the Hon. Baronet. He had no doubt the House would concur in a grant to extend the Protestant churches in Ireland. The House then went into the Committee on the Bill. Sir W. Scott objected to the clause giving a power to any twelve substantial householders, with the assistance of welldisposed persons, and with the consent of the Bishop, to build a church. Mr. Vansittart defended the clause, and considered that all parts of this Bill must rise or fall together. Mr. Wrottesley opposed the clause, and unless it was withdrawn, he would oppose the Bill in every stage. Mr. Bathurst thought the Bill, as far as this clause was concerned, should be divided into two Bills. Considerable discussion ensued with respect to this clause, which was opposed principally by Mr. Peel, Sir May 1.-Earl Beauchamp moved that certain standing orders relative to private Bills be taken into consideration, with a view of suspending the same, previous to the third reading of the Eau-brink Drainage Bill. the amendment, 2.-Against it, 24. The original motion was of course carried. Lord Holland presented a petition from two persons, named Doubleday and Dawson, complaining of certain grievances which they had sustained in some cause which was in Chancery for 10 years, and not yet concluded, and praying relief. The Lord Chancellor said, the subject of complaint should be inquired into; and the petition was laid on the table. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Then May 2.-Mr. Tierney addressed the We had a funded House at great length on the subject of the currency of the realm. debt, to speak in round numbers, of 800,000,000l. and 40,000,000l. of unfunded, in this the third year of peace. The total amount of debt was therefore 840,000,000/.; as he apprehended, rather an appalling consideration: but we were not, it was said, without some comfort in this unpromising state of affairs; we had a sinking fund of 14,000,000l. and this brought us round to the side of prosperity. again it occurred, that it was necessary to borrow the whole of 14,000,000l. or amount of the sinking fund, which recollection replaced us in a situation of adversity. But another piece of comfort was discovered in the advantageous terms on which this 14,000,000l. had been borrowed. next question, therefore, which presented itself was, ought a system of finance, under such circumstances, to be bottomed upon a paper currency, not convertible into money? The original justification of the suspension of cash payments had been abandoned twelve years ago; and surely some extraordinary grounds ought now to be laid for containing it. Two years ago The lection of Greek literature that bad perhaps ever been in the possession of any indivi dual. It was not necessary for him to en such a collection to be dissipated-a collection which it might require many centuries again to accumulate. This part of the late Dr. Burney's library was enriched with manuscript remarks by himself, Porson, and other eminent and distinguished scholars. an Act was passed, continuing it for the express purpose of enabling the Bank to be ready to resume cash payments on the 5th of July next. Now a Bill was intro-large on the expediency of not permitting duced with precisely the same preamble, though it had been solemnly stated that the Bank was perfectly prepared. This surely demanded inquiry. Mr. T. then combated the arguments that had been urged for the measure from the foreign loans, the rise in the price of gold, the state of the exchange, the drain of specie for British travellers on the Continent, &c. and condemned the plan which had been in contemplation with regard to country bankers, as ultimately leading to the issuing of a Government paper currency, which, in the event of another war, would prove ruinous to the country. He concluded with moving that a Committee should be appointed to take into consideration the circulation of the country, and to inquire whether any and what restriction was necessary on the Bank's payment of their promissory notes in specie. Mr. Vansittart opposed the motion, as leading to no practical result. The measure of suspending cash payments for one year longer was grounded upon the obvious extraordinary circumstances of the present moment, when large loans were wanting for France and other countries. The preamble of the Bill had originated in a mistake, and would be corrected. He proceeded to justify his views with regard to country bankers, and disavowed any idea of issuing stock debentures. He then adverted to the increasing prosperity of the country; and returning to the question of the restriction, observed that, on the one side, there were great dangers and certain inconveniencies; on the other, no inconvenience and fanciful apprehensions. On these grounds he should oppose the motion to appoint a Committee. After some further discussion, the motion was negatived, on a division, by 164 to 99. May 4.-On the motion for committing the Land Tax Assessment Bill, Sir J. Graham objected to it, as likely to create great confusion, being now on the eve of a general election. He moved that the Bill be committed this day three mouths, which amendment was carried, after some discussion, by 90 to 54. The House having gone into a Com mittee of Supply, Mr. Bankes moved the resolution for granting 13,5001. for the purchase of the late Dr. Burney's library, to be placed in the British Museum. The library of the late Dr. Burney was of the most valuable description. Among other things it contained the most complete col Mr. Curwen, considering the pecuniary embarrassments under which the country laboured, felt himself bound to oppose the grant. Mr. Douglas stated, that 3,5001. of the money required would be supplied by the sale of books now in the British Museum, which the acquisition of Dr. Burney's library would render superfluous, and that the remaining 10,000l. should be furnished by suspending the usual annual grant to the British Museum, until the advance of that sum had been paid. Mr. Lockhart said, the cases in which the State should interfere to make purchases of the kind now proposed, should be when the things to be purchased were at once of extreme rarity and of extreme utility. In the case of the Elgin Marbles it had been alleged that the possession of those rare examples would inspire our sculptors with the genius of Grecian art. If any thing was to be found in this collection not elsewhere to be obtained, either fragments of history, or treaties of morals, or examples of oratory, he should be willing to pay money for its preservation; but as for the varieties of verbal criticism, it might well be left to the enthusiasm of virtuosos, while the interference of the State was confined to that which was really useful to mankind. Sir J. Mackintosh rose to enter his protest against the sentiments of the hon, member for the City of Oxford (Mr. Lockhart) -it was well he was not a member for the University, who had expressed such contempt for classical learning, which was the foundation of education in this as well as every other polished nation of Europe.What would the inmates of that University which was seated in the city which the honourable gentleman represented, say, when they heard that they, and all others who studied classical learning, were trained in frivolous questions respecting minute and unimportant distinctions? Was not the honourable member aware, that in that classical education to which so many superficial objections might be made, was comprised a course of indirect, but not the less forcible moral and political instruction, |