porting from Thebes, the magnificent head of Memnon, laying open the great Sphynx, exploring the Temple at Ipsambul, beyond the second cataract, the largest excavations of that region, and which had lain buried beneath fifty feet of sand; and developing the six tombs of the kings in Thebes,-was not to be deterred by ordinary difficulties. With sixty laborers, and entirely at his own risk and expense, he began his operations on the north side of the pyramid; in a vertical section at right angles to that side of the base.

We shall not detail the numerous perils and fatigues encountered in penetrating this firmly cemented mass. At the end of the first week's labors he formed a passage; but after some days' further fatigues to explore its windings, he was at length convinced that all his exertions had been hitherto in vain, having arrived at forced excavations, which had evidently been made by former explorers to no purpose. With great perseverance he re-commenced his researches on the following day, from a point eastward of the false entrance. February 28, he discovered a block of granite inclined to the same angle as the passage of the pyramid of Cheops. Other indications of his being near the true entrance now daily appeared to animate his exertions; till at length, on the 2d of March, the grand pyramid of Cephrenes, after being closed for so many centuries, was laid open. The passage discovered is four feet high, and three and a half wide, inclining downwards to an angle of 26 degrees. It runs 104 feet. After exploring, surrounded with great difficulties, the various passages cut out of the native rock, this enterprising traveller entered the great chamber, which is 43 feet long, 16 wide, and 23 high. In the centre was found a sarcophagus of granite, containing some relics of bones, which Signor Belzoni naturally supposed to be human. A small fragment, however, brought to England by Major Fitzclarence, has been with some difficulty ascertained to have belonged to a cow-one of the forms under which Apis and Osiris were anciently worshipped. ib. Dec. 1818.

From the (London) Literary Panorama.

ACCOUNT OF THE REV. MR. LEE.

AT the Annual General Meeting of the Shropshire Auxiliary Bible Society, lately held at Shrewsbury, the following very interesting account of the extraor dinary talents and acquirements of the Rev. Samuel Lee was given from the chair by the Rev. Archdeacon Corbett:

"Before I proceed to move that the able and satisfactory report we have just heard read be printed, I cannot but advert to that part of it that records the sermons recently preached at St. Chad's church, in this town, for the benefit of this institution. You have heard that the sum then collected was greater than had been before received by us upon a y similar occasion, and that the preachers were Mr. Samuel Lee, and Mr. Langley. Of Mr. Langley it would be indecorous in me to say much at this time, for he is present; but his merits are well known to us as one of the secretaries of this society-one of those gentlemen to whose zealous affection for this cause, and to whose gratuitous labors in it we are very deeply indebted. But Mr. Lee is not present, and at the mention of his name I may well say, as the Roman historian did at the mention of the names of Cato and of Cæsar, "Quoniam res obtulerat silentio præterire non fuit consilium." But I go further: I not only think it would be wrong in me to pass over in silence the name of Mr. Lee, thus brought before us, but I gladly seize the opportunity of expressing my admiration at the rare talents with which he is endowed; and,

unable as I am to do justice either to the powers of his mind or the goodness of his disposition; incompetent as I feel myself to point out either the extent of his learning, or the piety of its application; yet, so difficult is it to act from motives entirely disinterested, that I may be suspected of speaking with some bias upon this subject, when I announce Mr. Lee as a native of the parish wherein I was born, and wherein I have continued to reside; and it might be supposed, from this circumstance, that I was early acquainted with the promise of so rich an harvest; that I was familiar with the progress of such unlooked-for erudition. But the fact is quite otherwise. The only education Mr. Lee received among us was that of a village schol, where nothing more was taught than reading. writing, and arithmetic; and he left this school at 12 years of age, to learn the trade of a carpenter and builder, under his ingenious and respectable relative, Mr. Aiderman Lee, of this town; and it was not till years after this that he conceived the idea of acquiring foreign languages; and then it was with such singleness of heart that he pursued his object, that he neither sought nor accepted opportunities of communicating it; and it was not till after an interval of six years, and then by chance, that I found out that he had in that space taught himself to read and to write in Latin, in Greek, and in Hebrew: he had taught himself the Chaldee, the Syriac, and the Samaritan languages-and all this unaided by any instructor; uncheered by any literary companion; uninfluenced by the hope either of profit or of praise. And here let me pause at this very singular feature in the portrait I am endeavoring to delineate: for where shall we meet with a devotion to letters so solitary or so pure? I know, indeed, that instances are not unfrequent where the mind has arisen superior to its original destination, or where eminence has been attained under circumstances adverse and unfavorable. But we more generally find that a foundation has been laid; and that those who have distinguished themselves as scholars, have gone through the regular routine of classical education, or have been assisted by masters of superior ability. Such was the case with Mr. James Crichton, of Clume, in Scotland, better known by the name of "the Admirable Crichton,” in the list of whose tutors we find the name even of Buchanan. And having introduced the mention of this extraordinary person, this "Phoenix of Literature," as he is designated by one of his Biographers, I would willingly run some parallel between him and Mr. Lee; for though comparisons are justly said to be odious, yet if I take my example from the 16th century, I shall scarcely be accused of sinning against the spirit of this wholesome proverb, more especially as my object is merely that of elucidation; nor is it necessary for my purpose to endeavor to depreciate the panegyrics of Sir Thomas Urquhart, or of the authorities he quotes, by the more sober criticism of Dr. Kippis; for I know not that the warmest admirers of the admirable Crichton have advanced any thing concerning him, a few hyperbolical expressions excepted, that is superior to what Mr. Lee either has done, or may well be supposed capable of doing, if he thought right and fit so to do. Mr. Crichton then was the son of a gentleman of ancient family and hereditary fortune, and therefore we may presume, that, in addition to the living assistance I have mentioned, he was amply supplied with the usual helps and incitements to learning, and that at an age when the mind is most ductile and open to such pursuits; whilst, on the other hand, we find Mr. Lee oppressed with the cares and labors of life; without any living assistant whatsoever,-without the stimulous either of hope or of fear; seeking concealment rather than the smile of approbation, and very scantily supplied with the necessary material; for Mr. Lee's earnings at this time were barely sufficient to the poorest maintenance, yet he spared from this pittance to purchase such a grammar as could be met with upon the book stalls of this town; and when he had read through a volume procured in a similar manner, he was forced to pay it away again, as part of the price of the next book he wished to purchase. Here, then, is a string of diffi culties surmounted by Mr. Lee, which Mr. Crichton had not to combat.-Again, it is said that Mr. Crichton's learning, however stupendous, was not acquired by the sacrifice of any of those pleasures in which such youth usually indulges, or by the omission of any of those accomplishments in which it becomes a gentleman to excel.-Now so far as this marks out the interruptions given to Mr. Crichton's severer studies, we shall find those of Mr. Lee, at least equally broken in upon, and that from causes much more imperative. Mr. Lee had not to balance between reading and relaxation; he had to pass from bodily fatigue to mental exertion---

for he omitted, during the six years I have mentioned, none of the hours usually appropriated to manual labor; he retired regularly to rest at ten o'clock at night; he suffered, during this time, from a complaint in his eyes; and of the inadequate leisure thus left him, part even of that was dedicated to what may be deemed accomplishment; so that it does not appear that Mr. Crichton either read or remembered with greater rapidity than Mr. Lee has done. And when Mr. Lee exchanged his trade for the superintendence of a charity school, his hours were not much more at his own disposal. It was at this time that that well-known and much respected Oriental scholar, Dr. Jonathan Scott, one while Persian Secretary to Mr. Hastings, in India, furnished Mr. Lee with an Arabic Grammar; and he had then, for the first time in his life, the pleasure of conversing upon the study in which he was engaged; and it is to this auspicious circumstance, improved, as it was, by the wonderful proficiency of Mr. Lee, on the one hand (for in a few months he was capable of reading, writing, and composing in both Arabic and Persic.) and to the unremitting kindness of Dr. Scott on the other, that we may attribute Mr. Lee's subsequent engagement with the Church Missionary Society, his admission at Queen's College, Cambridge, and his ordination as a Minister of the Established Church. But in defence of what I have ventured to assert, I must endeavor to draw this parallel somewhat closer. One of the Admirable Crichton's historians asks, Whether it does not surpass comprehension that in his 21st year he should be master of ten different languages, and perfectly well seen in Philosophy, the Mathematics, Theology, the Belles Lettres, and other sciences? Now I will endeavor to take these attributes in the order in which I have quoted them.--And, 1st, as to the languages:-If Mr. Crichton began his grammar at six years of age, a supposition by no means im probable, considering the aptness of the scholar, his station in life, and the prac tice of the times, we shall then find that the high degree of knowledge we have related was acquired in about 15 years; and it is now about 14 years, since Mr. Lee first opened a Latin grammar, and he has in that time taught himself 17 different languages. It is further said, that Mr. Crichton offered to dispute in the 12 following languages:

1. Hebrew. 2. Syriac.

3. Arabic. 4. Greek. 5. Latin. 6. Spanish. 7. French. 8. Italian. 9. English. 10 Dutch. 11. Flemish. 12. Sclavonian. Those Mr. Lee has taught himself are the following:

1. Latin. 2. Greek. 3. Hebrew. 4. Chaldee. 5. Syriac. 6. Samaritan. 7. Arabic. 8. Persic. 9. Hindostanee. 10. French. 11. German. 12. Ital ian. 13. Ethiopic. 14. Coptic. 15. Malay. 16. Sanscrit. 17. Bengalee, and to which, if we add the English, included in Mr. Crichton's list of 12, it makes 18, an excess of one third. As to Philosophy, the term when it stands by itself is of extensive, if not indefinite, meaning. The skill with which Mr. Crich ton disputed with philosophers, and upon philosophical subjects, is much insisted upon, but the only precise idea given us, is his challenge to the University of Padua, offering to prove several errors in the philosophy of Aristotle. The extent of Mr. Lee's reading upon such subjects I am unacquainted with, but I happen to know that during the six years I have mentioned, he was conversant with the works of Plato, made translations in English blank verse from those of Boethius, and went through the golden verses bearing the name of Pythagoras. The triumphant publicity with which Mr. Crichton exhibited himself as an intel lectual gladiator upon the stage of Europe, is contrary to modern manners, and the very reverse of Mr. Lee's.

In Mathematics, we are told, Mr. Crichton was perfectly "well seen," and that he offered to dispute upon mathematical subjects. Óf Mr. Lee I have something much more definite to relate; when he entered at Cambridge he was unacquainted with the mathematics; but in one fortnight he qualified himself to attend a class which had gone through several books in Euclid; and he soon after discovered an error, not, indeed, in Euclid, but in a treatise on Spherical Trig onometry, usually bound up with Simpson's Euclid, the 14th proposition of which Mr. Lee disproves. Now, as Simpson's edition of Euclid may be looked upon as a text book in either university; as it is the one usually put into the hands of students, and to which the lectures of the tutors apply, it is most wonderful that a mistake should have been pointed out in such a work, and for the first time, as it should seem, by a student of not many weeks' standing in that science. And as the highest honors are given at Cambridge to mathematical learning, Mr. Lee

must have anticipated a safe and easy road to those honors. But he considered this point, as he does all others, with that sobriety of mind with which he was so eminently gifted, and he contented himself with a competent knowledge of mathematics, lest further attention to that seducing science should interfere with those studies in which the highest interests of mankind were concerned; and this decision speaks volumes as to Mr. Lee's theological views. Mr. Crichton, no doubt, was well read in the school of divinity of his day, but I know not that any of his, polemical victories have been handed down to us; but of Mr. Lee it may be said, if he has an ambition, it is to know the Word of God himself, and to impart that Word to others, though whether he shall be honored upon earth as the instrument of the good he has done, or may do, is, I believe, a very inferior consideration with him, or rather no consideration at all. His exertions in this behalf are more than I can trust my memory with, but I have taken some pains to procure a note of them (and which the Archdeacon then read as follows:)-1. The Syriac New Testament, edited by Mr. Lee, and published, is not a continuation of that begun by Dr. Buchanan, but an entirely new work, for which Mr. Lee collated three ancient Syrian MSS. the Syrian Commentary of Sy rius, and the Texts of Ridley, Jones, and Wetstein.-2 An Edition of the Malay New Testament, from the Dutch edition of 1733; and the Old Testament is now in the press.-3. An enlarged and corrected edition of Mr. Martyn's Hindostanee Prayer Book, in conjunction with Mr. Corrie-4. A Tract, translated into Persian and Arabic, and printed, entitled "The Way of Truth and Life," for the use of Mahometans. -5. A Malay Tract for the London Missionary Society; and some Tracts in Hindoostanee, for the Society for Instructing Lascars.-6. A Tract in Arabic, on the New System of Education, written by Dr. Bell, and first translated by Michael Sebag for Baron de Sacy, Oriental interpreter to the King of France.— 7. Dr. Scott having translated the service for Christmas day from the Prayer Book of the Church of England into Persic, Mr. Lee has added to it the rest of the Liturgy.-8. Mr. Lee has under hand a new translation of the Old Testament into Persian, in conjunction with Mirza Khaleel.-9. Mr. Lee is printing an Hindoostanee New Testament.-10. He is preparing for an Ethiopic Bible and other Works. 11. Mr. Lee has moreover made a new fount of letter for Hindoostanee and Persian printing, and a new fount for an edition of the Syriac Old Testament, and for which he has collated nine ancient MSS. and one ancient Commentary. Some of these were collated for the London Polyglot; but Mr. Lee looks upon those collations both as incorrect and deficient. He hopes to restore many omissions both in London and Paris Polyglots.

The Archdeacon proceeded to observe, that the next article was the Belles Lettres. Much had been said of the facility with which Mr. Crichton composed in verse and prose, of his extemporary recitations, and that he had written a Comedy, many of the characters in which he enacted in his own person. When 1 first had the pleasure of conversing with Mr. Lee upon books, I found that he had read the Latin Poets usually introduced into schools, as Ovid, Virgil, Horace, &c.; that he had read part of the Odyssey, as well as the Iliad of Homer, some of the Greek minor Poets, and some of the Plays of Sophocles. Before we parted, I lent him the Memoirs of that interesting and extraordinary young man, Mr. Kirke White, then lately printed; Mr. Lee returned it to me very shortly, with a Latin Poem in praise of Kirke White, a Dialogue in Greek, on the Christian Religion, and a Pious Effusion in Hebrew, all compiled by himself, when, as I believe, he had not any access to books, for he was during the time, if I mistake not, upon permanent duty at Ludlow, as a Member of the South Local Militia for this county; and I believe the first prose composition of any length Mr. Lee turned his attention to, was his History of the Syrian Churches in India, a memoir which would do credit to the pen of any historian. High commendations are given to Mr. Crichton's skill in fencing, dancing, singing, music, and drawing. To some of these we may have no immediate parallel to produce on the part of Mr. Lee; but it should be observed, that the skill, the neatness, and the ingenuity of Mr. Lee's mechanical performances evince the same justness of eye and the same steadiness of hand that must have been the ground work of Mr. Crichton's gayer achievements. As to music, Mr. Lee's powers are not problematical--he taught himself to play upon the flute, from an accidental circumstance, with almost intuitive readiness; and when the Shrewsbury Volun teers were raised, he qualified himself with equal readiness to be one of their mil

itary band. All this time he was a member of a Ringing Society, and gave private Lectures in Gothic Architecture. But if Mr. Lee is thus great in what he possesses, he is not less great in what he does not possess. If he appears inferior to no one in extent or variety of genius, he is without any of those eccentricities with which genius is so often concomitant.-When Mr Crichton gave a public challenge to disputation to the Literati of Paris, to one of his advertisements, stuck up on the Sorbonne, the following pasquinade was added:-'If any one wants to see this monster of perfection, let them inquire at the Tavern or the Stews.' But the whole of Mr. Lee's life has been sober, moral, and consistent. He bears his faculties most meekly. The resources of his mind are unapparent till called forth. He sought not public society, but mingled in it when invited, without effort and without embarrassment; and, without losing any of his humility, he sustains his place in it with ease and independence. Mr. Lee's learning is without any tincture of pedantry; and his religion is as far from enthusiasm on the one hand, as it is from lukewarmness on the other.

SAILING OF THE MISSIONARIES.

On the 8th of June, the Rev. Messrs. LEVI SPAULDING, MIRON WINSLOW, HENRY WOODWARD, and Dr. JOHN SCUDDER, with their wives, embarked on board the brig Indus, Capt. Wills, for Calcutta, whence they are to sail to Ceylon. On the morning of their departure, a considerable number of their friends, and others who take an interest in missions, accompanied them to the wharf, where an appropriate hymn was sung, and the devotions of the audience were led in prayer offered by the Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners.

To those acquainted with the elevated sensibilities of our nature, it cannot be necessary to prove, that such an occasion was fitted to exercise those sensibilities in a powerful manner. If any affections, claiming affinity with those of a purer region, can find admission to a mortal bosom, they are those involved in contemplating the value of the soul, the grandeur of its destiny in the economy of redemption, and which expand with unutterable emotions at the prospect of its emancipation from the slavery of sin. The consistent missionary who has solemnly devoted himself to the arduous labor of reclaiming the wretched pagan, and who, in the certain prospect of the toils to be endured and the sacrifices which he must make, cheerfully relinquishes all the endearments of his native country, for the better service of his Master, has strong claims to our regard. Instances of supreme devotedness to such a cause are worthy a lasting remembrance; and as a good degree of it is to be expected from the missionary, we naturally turn an anxious eye towards those seasons, which disclose the character of the man, and enable us to judge how far the expectations which have been raised, may probably be hereafter satisfied. Without imagining that they are to work miracles, we may be allowed to hope, that the consistency of their lives, the constancy of their zeal, and their abandonment of worldly interests, will give us cause to rejoice in the interest we may have taken in their welfare.

Judging from appearances, we think that none of those who witnessed their departure would willingly lose the recollections of that impressive moment; and that in bestowing their parting benediction and their prayers, they have given a pledge which they will redeem, in their continual and enlarged exertions for the diffusion of the Gospel among all nations.

Many thanks are due from the missionaries, from their friends, and the Christian public, to those benevolent individuals in Boston, and the neighborhood, who so cheerfully assisted them while preparing for their voyage.