sician was sent for, from Astrachan; who, on seeing the patient, declared that his assistance had been called in too late. The prince breathed his last in the night between the 10th and 11th of June, old style. Up to that moment, an incessant uproar had been kept up in the idol tem ples. Vociferous prayers and drumming indicated the anxiety of the people for the recovery of their prince; but now an universal stillness ensued. All mourned the loss of the deceased; for though he was severe in punishing crimes, he knew how to make allowance for faults and mistakes; and was consequently at the same time both beloved and feared by his subjects. Gladly would we have visited him during his last illness, but one of his attendants had advised us against the attempt, assu ring us, that we should not be admitted. By occasion of the visits which we had previously made to him, we had remarked a continual desire on his part, to connect the Gospel history with the fables of his own religion; but as soon as we endeavoured to bring the fundamental truths of Scripture home to his conscience, he was seized with a kind of agitation, which in. duced him to turn the conversation upon other subjects, or to break it off altogether. "On the second day after his decease, the interment took place. At a small distance from the place of encampment, a number of Gellongs constructed the tomb, in which the body was to be deposited. This was built of brick, of an oblong form, with a hole in each of the four sides. A large iron three-legged chair was then placed in the middle of the inclosure, and above it, an iron ring secured by long poles driven into the wall. A sufficient quantity of wood, and several kettles filled with melted butter were likewise provided for the occasion. After these preparations had been completed, the funeral procession set out in the following order: First, the Lama, seated in a covered car with two wheels, drawn by ten Gellongs and Go zuls; after him came the corpse, sitting upright on a litter, and borne by twelve of the principal servants of his household; the body was kept in an upright posture by some persons, who walked on each side. The deceased was attired in a light blue gown, the head being bound with a yellow silk handkerchief, and covered with a Calmuck cap. Next to the corpse walked two sons of the prince, the one twenty, and the other seventeen years of age, the heir to the throne and another son being absent. A guard of honour, composed of fifteen young Saisangs or nobles, armed with spears and muskets, followed; and the rear of the procession was brought up by

Gellongs with music, if indeed the noise of their drum and long copper horns inay be distinguished by that name. The proces sion having reached the place of burial, the corpse was conveyed into the tomb already described, by some Gellongs, who, as well as the corpse, were hid from view during this operation, by a large white cloth thrown over them. The body being placed on the three-legged stool, the ring was passed round the neck, and the interstices being filled with wood, the Gellongs began to wall up the tomb, narrowing it as they advanced. At the top, instead of a key-stone, an iron kettle was placed, in the bottom of which was an aperture, and the whole building daubed over with melted butter and chalk. While the work was thus proceeding, the Lama and the other Gellongs were busy in performing their devotions in a kibitka appointed for the purpose; the monotony of their prayers was relieved by the tinkling of little bells, of which each person held one in his band. The sons of the prince stood mourning near the grave, behind them the Saisangs, and a great concourse of the laity. Soon after, the Gellongs formed a circle round the tomb, set fire to the wood which it contained, by means of the four apertures al. ready described, and poured repeated liba tions of butter through the upper opening, to increase the strength of the flames. The whole of the contents being consumed, the company dispersed; the Gellongs however first drank tea together, and some of them remained three days to watch the tomb. To beguile the time, they amused them selves by playing at cards, a practice in which no one durst indulge during the lifetime of the prince. The prince was now, according to the idea prevalent among this people, translated to the company of the gods; from whom indeed his soul, like that of every other chief, had originally proceeded. All that remained of his bones, was on the above-mentioned day collected, and brought to another place for preservation. The tomb, however, containing his ashes, which had been damaged by the fire, was repaired, to serve as a place of prayer.

Thus ended the government of this good-natured and respectable prince. He had laid no absolute impediment in the way of the Gospel, but yet, owing to a par tiality for his own religion, had beheld with concern the attempts to introduce it among his people. The distribution of the Gospel of St. Matthew, particularly, caused him uneasiness; and he considered all those who accepted copies of it, as persons of a light and wavering character. On this account it was, that many, who had re

against him. This story gave us the most desirable opportunity of first making known to her the nature of sin, according to the word of God; and then, of bearing witness of Jesus as the Saviour of sinners, who is ordained to be the judge of the quick and the dead; and whose precious blood alone can satisfy the demands of divine justice against every guilty transgressor. In consequence of this conversation, she fell into great uneasiness of mind, but it seemed as if she was kept away from us by some in visible hand. On another occasion, she appeared to be affected by our conversation with her, but we were sorry to be able to trace no abiding impression made on her heart.

On the 5th of September, Serbedshab, the eldest son of the deceased prince, and his successor in the govern ment, arrived from Petersburgh. Upon our calling to bid him welcome, he behaved to us with much courtesy, and related much of the magnificence of the capital, and of his short visit at Sarepta, on his way hither. One of the first duties to which he attended was, to offer a sacrifice in memory of his deceased father. This was accompanied with many religious ceremonies, and occupied the priesthood completely for several days, for which they received an ample recompense. Already, previous to the arrival of the prince, a contribution of ten roubles had been exacted from each kibit ka, without distinction of rank or property. An uncommon spirit of willingness is, however, generally manifested by the people on these occasions, their prospect of future felicity being estimated by the liberality with which they bring in their contributions. The priests, of course, strengthen the people in this opinion. Their efforts are to lerably successful, which is particularly evident at the celebration of a festival, called the Festival of Good Works. A short description of this singular solemnity will not be deemed inappropriate, and will, it is hoped, excite the reader to sympathize with the unhappy state of this poor people, in respect to religion.

The festival alluded to lasted eight

A

days, during which the laity were expected to entertain the Gellongs. This required a great quantity of butcher meat and mare's milk., Early in the morning, the guests, from four to five hundred in number, assembled under a wide spreading tent. First they drank tea, and towards noon regaled themselves with tschigan or sour mare's milk, after which, tes, and a supper of flesh-meat followed. The intervals between the feasting were filled with the murmuring of long Tangutish prayers, accompanied by drums and horn music. This constituted the round of their devotions, every day, from morning till late at night. The conclusion of the festival was particularly imposing. All the orders of the priesthood assemble together in the great tent. The Lama and Gellongs were clothed in their festive habits, viz. in a vest of red satin without sleeves; about the loins, they wore a piece of dark red baize, fastened by a girdle; and over the shoulders a kind of mantle of yellow silk.. They wore no shirt, so that the arms remained nearly bare. The Lama was only distinguished from the rest of the Gellongs by a high yellow cap, pointed at the top; the large tent already mentioned, stood near his dwelling, and five kibitkas, fitted up as temples, belonged to the sacred inclosure. Around this place, an immense multitude of persons of both sexes, adults and children, kept incessantly moving, who, whenever they passed the temples, bowed down to the ground, with heads uncovered. They then seated themselves, and listened for a time to the prayers of the Gellongs. To wards the end of the ceremonies, the various orders of the priesthood performed a si milar revolution, the laity meanwhile standing round them in a close circle. The Lama was supported by two Gellongs, who held him under the armpits; for, as he ge nerally remains in a sitting posture, or is borne by others, he finds walking very difficult. The procession being concluded, the Lama was brought back into his kibitka, and the whole multitude flocked around him, to receive his blessing, which he inparted with imposition of hands.

222... between 70 and 80

228

66... between 80 and 90

65

6

4... between 90 and 100 With only 1 male in 80,000 above 100, and I female in 50,000 above 100. In particular counties the great ages much vary. Thus there are males be

tween 80 and 90, in

The N. Riding of Yorkshire

Durham

Northumberland

Hereford

Westmoreland

Berkshire

In Wales the sexes average 89 between 80 and 90), and 9 between 90 and 100. In Scotland the sexes average but 67 between 80 and 90, and only 7 between 90 and 100.

In London the average between 80 and 90 is 27, and between 90 and 100 but 24 in every 10,000.

London contains 1,225,694 resident inhabitants, besides 50,000 visitors and seamen. The females exceeding the males by 85,000. The inhabited houses were 164,681; and the number of families 287,101. 3,299 houses were building, and 8,246 were unoccupied.

Within a radius of eight miles of St. Paul's, the surface over which the population of Paris is taken, the numbers are 1,481,500, er double that of Paris, and perhaps equal to that of ancient Rome in its greatest prosperity.

In eight-ninths of the population of Great Britain, there are 34,964 males and 43,049 females between 80) and 90; 2.873 males and 4,046 females between 90 and 10 and 100 males and 191 females above 100.

In Great Britain there are 2,429,630 houses inhabited: 21,679 building; and 82,364 unoccupied.

The families employed in agriculture ure 978,656, and those in trade, manufacture, and handicraft, are 1,350,739; other families are 612,488. The total population being 11,391,631.

VOL. XXII. NO. 1.

Mr. Banks is said to have purchased in the island of Elephantiana, a roll of Papyrus, containing the latter part of the Iliad, with scholia in the margin. It is believed to be of high antiquity.

The Belfast newspaper informs us, that, in consequence of the publication of Mr. Campbell's edition of Ossian, researches have been made in that town; and in an oaken chest, found in the ruins of an ancient abbey, a copy of Ossian has been discovered of the fifteenth century, and also a theological work, written on six hundred pages of vellum, and two others. The theological work is in possession of T. Millar, Esq. of Carrickfergus, and is a fine specimen of early penmanship. The copy of Ossian confirms the doctrines of Mr. Campbell, and will throw new lights on that celebrated controversy.

American invention seems to rival that of England and Germany. The names of Fulton and Perkins are followed by that of Church. This last gentleman is now in London, and, in concert with our machinists, is constructing an apparatus, which, if successful, will improve the art of printing as much as printing itself was an improvement of copying with the pen. His improvement extends to casting as well as composing; and, by simplifying the casting process, and saving the expense of distributing, he proposes to compose always from new types, re-melting after the edition is worked off. The re-casting for every new composition is connected with the regular laying of the types; and when thus laid, it is intended to compose by means of keys like those of a piano forte, each key standing for a letter or letters. By these means errors would be avoided in the composition, and the progress would be far more rapid than at present.

Dr. Taddei has discovered that corrosive sublimate, when mixed with gelatine, is innoxious, the former to the latter being as 1 to 12 in dry, and 25 in fresh gelatine,

The present dip of the magnetic needle, according to the experiments of Captain Edward Sabine, in the Regent's Park, on the north west of London, is 70° 3'; which, compared with the experiments of Mr. Cavendish in 1776, and Mr. Nairne, in 1772, shows an annual decrease, since about 1774, of 3'.02; these latter, compared with the experiments of Mr. Whiston, in 1720, show, in this earlier period, an annual decrease of 3.05 in the dip.

K