PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS. 81 



the hour of her utmost need. Kecently Miss Contaxaki, after a visit 

 to Constantinople, where she was received with distinction, has re- 

 turned to her native island, which is under the government of the 

 Pacha of Egypt, and, hy her learning and ability, has succeeded in 

 recovering, through the Moslem tribunal, a portion of her paternal 

 estate. 



The volume now presented to the Smithsonian Institution was sent 

 to the great Paris Exhibition of 1855, where it excited much admira- 

 tion, and gained a diploma fur its accomplished author. She has 

 now transmitted it for permanent deposit among the treasures of the 

 Smithsonian Institution in the United States. 



The Regents of the Institution accept the gift with great pleasure, 

 not only on account of its rare beauty, its intrinsic value, and the 

 many interesting associations it suggests with that famous city, 

 called by Milton "the eye of Greece, mother of art and arms," but 

 also as an expressive symbol of the hearty good will for the American 

 republic, cherished by the enlightened spirit of a nation which has so 

 honorably vindicated its right to the glories of an illustrious descent 

 by re-establishing the institutions of freedom and learning on the soil 

 where, in ancient times, they earliest flourished, and with unex- 

 ampled splendor. 



The committee recommends the adoption of the following resolu- 

 tions by the Board : 



Resolved, That the regents of the Smithsonian Institution ac- 

 cept, with gratitude, the splendid memorial volume presented by Miss 

 Elizabeth B. Contaxaki, and that they recognize, in the beauty, taste, 

 and art displayed in its general execution and style of its embellish- 

 ment, a pleasing indication that the genius which placed the ancient 

 Greeks at the head of the civilization of the world still survives in 

 their descendants. 



Resolved^ That a copy of the above report, and of these resolutions, be 

 transmitted, with a letter of acknowledgment from the Smithsonian 

 Institution, to Miss Contaxaki, the accomplished donor. 



On motion, the report was accepted and the resolutions adopted. 



The Board then adjourned. 



WEDNESDAY, Mat 19, 1858. 



The Board met this day in the Vice President's room. United States 

 Capitol, at 9^ o'clock. 



Present : The Chancellor, Hon. Roger B. Taney, Hon. John C. 

 Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States, Hon. J. M. Mason, 

 6s 



