N. B. The above Table contains the highest and lowest prices, taken from the Course of the Exchange, &c. originally published by John Castaign, in the year 1712, and now published, every Tuesday and Friday, under the authority of the Committee of the Stock Exchange, by

No. 17.]

[VOL. III.

NR. EDITOR,

AT an era like the present, when almost the whole of the courts of Eu rope have been so recently ransacked and plundered by those modern Vandals the French, and the innumerable treasures and master-pieces in the different arts (prized throughout long ages of antiquity by their several royal possessors) have been carried off to adorn the metropolis of the French, and which robberies have been so unaccountably sanctioned by the too liberal treaty of Paris, it becomes of course a matter of no small gratification, when we reflect that our own national objects of admiration remain in a state of perfect security from the Corsican's insatiable grasp. This sensation I felt most keenly a short time since, whilst viewing the different galleries of plunder in the Louvre; and as I conceive the Cartoons of Raphael, in Hampton Court Palace, form the most prominent feature in our collection of the arts, any anecdote concerning them must be interesting to your readers.

Having received a great portion of my education under the same roof where they are now deposited, I had frequent opportunities of hearing traditionary accounts of these celebrated paintings from the numerous visitors constantly arriving to view them, and amongst many others the following, which was the occasion of their being brought to light.

It is necessary to premise, however, what I make no doubt is known to most of your readers, that Raphael painted them for the adornment of the Vatican, under the protection of Julius.II. and Leo X.. and sent them to be copied in tapestry in Flanders, at that time excelling in this species of manufactory; but, from a variety of circumstances, great delay occurred in the completion of this process, and they were not finished till considerably after Raphael's death, and the sacking of the city of Rome in 1527. NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 17.

The originals remained neglected in the work-rooms of the manufactory, owing to the revolution that followed soon after in the Low Countries, which put an end to all encouragement of the fine arts. The seven cartoons in question, however, escaped the wreck of others, which were considerably mutilated, and parts only of which are preserved in different collections abroad. Rabens bought the seven and only perfect ones for Charles I. and Cromwell afterwardspawned them to the Dutch. Then it was that they fell into the hands of the Spanish Court, when being on their passage, the galleon was captured by an English vessel, and the chests or packages in which the cartoons were deposited (containing, we must sup¬ pose for the sake of concealment, muskets and other military instruments) were carried to Hampton Court, and placed in one of the anti-chambers, or scenerooms, of the Great Hall of Audience, at that time fitted up as a theatre for the entertainment of King William's court, Sir Godfrey Kneller, the great painter of crowned heads, having occasion for specimens of foreign military weapons, to illustrate his warlike trophies in the adornment of the palace, had recourse to these Spanish chests, as likely to afford patterns of weapons used by that nation in combat, and in his search, at the bottom of the packages, he found some painted strips, which, on examination, his penetrating eye discovered to be these matchless master-picces of the immortal Raphael. From that moment they bave continued to be the pride and boast of the English nation; and but for this accidental circumstance, they might have lain in concealment till entirely destroyed by time.

Mr. HOLLOWAY, our celebrated engraver, is at this moment doing them most ample justice-sacrificing his whole time and talent in the arduous undertaking and affording the fuest specie VOL. III. 3G

398

"Philip Noland, a native of Ireland, a man of an active intrepid spirit, conceived the bold project of visiting the north-western parts of the kingdom of New Mexico, in search of the wild mules and horses that roam in those vast uncultivated regions. He proposed, when he had collected a sufficient number, to conduct them in droves to the United States for sale. For this purpose he associated 23 adventurers-7 Spaniards and 16 Americans, among whom was the undersigned; who with their gallant leader set out on the expedition from Natchez.

"On our route we suffered every sort of privation; among the rest, all our provisions were consumed in a few days, and we were driven to sustain life by eating horse-flesh, and even the raw hides attached to our saddles and baggage. After 90 days' travel, we reached the settlements of the Paunie and Chormandas Indians, about 50 leagues to the north of St. Antoine.

"Having selected a convenient spot for our operations, we constructed a fort of logs for defence, and the necessary works for the taking of our prey. We had already proceeded far in our enterprise, and taken a great number of mules and horses, and began to meditate on the result and fruits of our labours, when we were attacked suddenly at night by a party of 150 Spaniards and Indians, with small arms and one piece of artillery. They pursued their attack until the afternoon of the succeeding day, when our gallant leader being slain by a ball through the head, and two others severely wounded, we surrendered, on condition that we should be permitted to return to the United States. But no sooner had we laid down our arms, than our insulting victors seized on our per

sons, and conducted us prisoners to Nacogdoches, where the governor refused to sanction the condition of our surrender, and ordered us to be shut up in close confinement. After remaining many months in this situation, R. Ashby, John House, Michael Moore, and a Negroman, effected their escape over the pri son walls, eluded their pursuers, and arrived safe at Natchez.

"To prevent a similar recurrence as it respected us who remained in pri son, we were conducted to Chiwawa, 300 leagues in the interior of the king dom, where we were accused and tried before the governor of that place, but no crime being established upon us, we were suffered to disperse ourselves at will in the neighbouring villages, until the pleasure of the court of Spain could be known, before whom our case had been laid. After five years of dreadful suspense, the long-looked-for sentence arrived. It condemned every fifth man, to be selected by a cast of the die, to be hanged, and the remainder to suffer tes years' imprisonment! From this sentence the Spaniards were exempted; which, together with the death of J Pearse, reduced our number to nine: bat one, therefore, was destined to suffer. We were blindfolded, and each in his turn with a throw of dice, on the head of a drum, decided the awful question of life and death! The lot fell on Blackburn, and he was executed the following day.

Before the arrival of this sentence from Spain, we made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. By our industry we acquired both money and mules, and having got every thing in a state of preparation for flight, I wrote to one of my companions to repair, at a given hour of the night, to the place whence we should take our departure. The letter was entrusted to Jonah Waters, who broke the seal, and exposed its contents to the governor. Thus was our project defeated, and Waters rewarded with an unconditional pardon for his treachery.

"After the execution of Blackburn, David Pharaoh, J. Reed, Talman Gooley, William Danley, L. Gorcier, and myself, were sent to Acapulco, and thrown into a deep narrow dungeon. We continued in this abode of misery for the long space of three years, until the present revolution broke out in Mexico, when the royalists threw open our prison doors, and gave us our liberty, at the price of espousing their cause. We did not, however, fight more than 15 days