a gentleman of Greek extraction. After this duel he got into bad repute, became a gambler, a duellist, and a confirmed roué, and was some time a member of the secret police of France. On the other hand, he is described as a man possessed of many accomplishments. He spoke several languages, and his English letters, in spite of an occasional incorrectness, show a great familiarity with the English language. He was known for his taste in the fine arts, was an excellent draughtsman, rode, fenced, boxed, and intrigued, and was universally looked upon as a specious, agreeable rascal. Early in 1838 he eloped from Florence with his wife's maid, and the former, an Englishwoman, died broken-hearted in childbirth. This transaction threw De Bourbelle into such very bad repute that he was obliged to leave Florence, and he accordingly retired with his family to Villa Micali, a country house near Leghorn, on the Florence road. There, however, he did not remain in solitude, for he was often visited by Cunningham Graham, a man scarcely less remarkable than himself in his own way. will endeavour to pursue, the same honourable path to fame which has been successfully trodden by the Times. The meed of your approbation, gentlemen, will exert itself beyond the present race; and, while you thought only of conferring a favour upon us, you will be found to have benefited your country, and excited the love of an honest and independent course in the hearts of men yet unborn.' In consequence of the refusal of the Times to accept of any compensation, the subscription which was raised was devoted to an object not certainly so profitable to the conductors of that journal, but inconceivably more honourable; and, in fact, constituting in itself an event in the history of the press. Of the subscription itself, we may mention that it arose from contributions from all parts of the world. The contributors may be described as follows:-thirty-eight public companies; sixty-four magistrates and officers of the corporation of London; fifty-eight London bankers and joint-stock banks; one hundred and twenty-nine London merchants, manufacturers, and traders; one hundred and sixteen country bankers, manufacturers, and traders; twenty- Graham was of really good family, and had been of one foreign bankers, merchants, and public companies; good estate. He had disgraced the one, and had lost the and one hundred and twenty-nine from individuals or other. He had left Scotland in 1828, to escape from anonymous sources. The subscriptions from foreign his creditors, and after residing for some time at Brussels, bankers, merchants, and public companies, were from he at length, in 1832 or 3, settled in Florence, where he Alexandria, Antwerp, Cadiz, Calcutta, Cologne, Dantzig, met Bourbelle, who came to that town a year afterwards. Florence, Geneva, Hamburgh, Laguayra in South Ame- Graham was described as a singularly remarkable man ; rica, Macao, Malta, Messina, Naples, Newfoundland, he did not yield to De Bourbelle in taste for the fine Ostend, Paris, Vendée, Veray, and Wiesbaden. The arts; he was possessed of much reading and a vigorous contributions were limited to ten guineas in the case of mind, which had been improved by cultivation. More firms, and to five in the case of individuals, and the cool than De Bourbelle, he was, however, like him, whole subscriptions amounted to 2,7007. Of this sum crafty, designing, and thoroughly unprincipled. His nearly 1,800l. was invested in the purchase of 2,000l. chief excellence was in the imitative and mechanical | three per cent. Consols. in the names of the Lord Mayor, arts. He was a first-rate turner and mechanician. He the Bishop of London, the Governor of the Bank of formed and fashioned his own tools with surpassing inEngland, and the Chamberlain of the City of London, genuity, and had invented a contrivance by which he all for the time being; the dividends to be applied to was able to trace copies of not only the rarest engravings the support of two Scholarships, to be called The of Raphael Morghen, but the choicest masterpieces of Times Scholarships,' in connexion with Christ's Hos- Domenichino and Guido Reni. He soon discovered, pital and the City of London School, for the benefit of however, that this contrivance might answer a more propupils proceeding from those institutions to the Univer-fitable purpose, that of counterfeiting, with astonishing sity of Oxford or Cambridge; and one hundred and exactness, the signature of bankers. fifty guineas were expended in the erection of a commemorative tablet in the New Exchange, and a similar one at the Times printing establishment, and tablets commemorative of the Times Scholarships' were placed in the grammar school of Christ's Hospital, and on the principal staircase of the City of London School. Such were the steps which the commercial community considered it right to take in this matter, and on the 2nd of September, as we have said, they wound up the proceedings by a sumptuous entertainment to the proprietors of the Times. We shall now give some particulars of that conspiracy which called forth the exertions of the Times. Cunningham Graham had married a Mrs. Bogle, and he was not long in Florence before he was joined by her son, Allan George Bogle, who became afterwards so well known by his action against the Times. Bogle was a native of Glasgow, and the son of a West Indian merchant of some eminence. He had entered life in the navy, and risen to the rank of lieutenant, and was at the time of which we speak on half-pay. At Florence, he became, in 1834, and probably at the suggestion of Cunningham Graham, clerk to Mr. Johnstone, a banker in that city, and on the failure of the latter in 1837, Bogle set up as a banker on his own account. He was not, however, very long in this isolated position, for in the November of the same year he entered into partnership with Messrs. Kerrick and Maccarthy as principal partner. Whether Bogle was an original member of the conspiracy in which he and Graham and Bourbelle afterwards took so signal a part, it is not easy to ascertain. It is more probable that he was at first made an unconscious tool by the other two, who disclosed their plans to him only when they were ripe for execution. In the strange mixture of the gay society of Florence, there were, between the years 1832 and 1840, two individuals who formed in their own characters a kind of link between the aristocratic refinements of the fashionable people gathered together in that city, and between the rogues who generally follow in their train. The one was the Marquess de Bourbelle, a Frenchman, and the other Cunningham Graham, of Gartmore in Scotland, and formerly member of Parliament for Stirling. The characteristics of these individuals belong more to the To Bourbelle and Cunningham Graham it appears very rogues of fiction than to what would have been conceived soon to have occurred that the mechanical instrument of to be reality. The Marquis de Bourbelle was, according which we have spoken could be turned to some advan to his own account, of excellent family. His family was tage; for they spent much of their time together, prinlike that of Barras, as old as the rocks of Provence.' cipally in Graham's turning-room, as is to be presumed, It is said, however, that he was a member of the small concocting and perfecting their plans. In such medi gentry of Normandy, and that his father filled a subor- tations they appear to have come to the conclusion that dinate situation in the suite of the Marquis of Hastings, a fraud unparalleled in its magnitude might be success when that nobleman was govenor-general of India. fully perpetrated upon the bankers of the Continent, by When young, Bourbelle was attached to the French which the conspirators might clear about a million stermission at Florence, and afterwards to that of Copen-ling. Once possessed of this sum, they proposed to hagen. Subsequently he killed in a duel a Mr. Haidé, escape to America, India, and other parts of the world. T The means which they proposed to use were circular | the conspirators not been early disturbed, as we shall letters of credit. Circular letters of credit, with which most continental tourists must be familiarly acquainted, may be described as orders for a certain sum of money to be received wholly or in part at one or at several of the continental bankers, correspondents of the London banker, who gives | the letter of credit, in consideration of a certain sum ledged with him. The firm, whose letters of credit the present conspirators selected, on account of the magnitude of its transactions, was that of Glyn, Halifax, Mills, and Co., London bankers. The letters of credit of this firm are like those of other west-end bankers. Stamped on them are the initials of the firm; beneath is a blank space for the payments, which are marked off as they are made on the Continent, until the sum for which the letter of credit is given is entirely exhausted. Annexed to and forming a part of the letters, are the names of the principal towns of Europe, beginning with Abbeville and ending with Zante, and opposite to each town the correspondent of Glyn and Co. in each respective place. And thus, with a letter of credit for a thousand pounds, one may obtain the whole sum at any of these places, or portions of the sum at each of them. Bourbelle and Graham, having settled on the object which they had in view, had two things to do in order to effect it. It was necessary for Graham to obtain, in Florence, a circular letter of Glyn and Co., from which he might copy, by the means of his machine, the signatare, which stands out in alto relievo, thus: G., H., M., and Co. This could alone be effected by Graham's machine. On the other hand, it was necessary to obtain a circular letter also, from which to print off fac-similes of the engraved portion of them, and in no place on the Continent could the printing be safely done; London was therefore fixed upon as the proper locality for that operation. For the first of these operations, it would appear, that Graham had obtained from Bogle an old circular letter, belonging to a gentleman of the name of Robert Nicholson; and it is improbable that, without this copy first to try his skill upon, they would have proceeded to the printing. It was, however, quite sufficient to afford Graham the signature of Glyn and Co.; and this obtained, the only part wanting in the operation was, to have the copper-plates of the printed portion of the letters engraved. There was also something else wanting, that is to say, instruments to put the fraud into execution; for the principal conspirators were anxious not ostensibly to take a part in the transaction. With both these ends in view, Bourbelle came to London. In London, Bourbelle soon fell in with an old friend of his, a person of the name and title of Baron D'Arguson. At the time, the Baron lived by gambling; he was, however, the son of Count D'Arguson, a peer of France, President of the College of Electors of the department of Eure, and First Chamberlain of Hortense, wife of Louis Buonaparte. To the Baron, Bourbelle, on the 7th of January 1840, gave 1501.; and the Baron, having lodged that money with Glyn and Co., obtained from them a circular letter of credit for the amount. Thus Was the object answered of obtaining a copy from which to strike off the copper-plates; for it was impossible to remove from Florence the letter of credit belonging to Mr. Nicholson, from which, as we have seen, Graham had copied the signatures. It appears, however, that the conspirators were singularly economical in their proceedings; for, before putting the letter of credit to the use for which they intended it, they sent it over to the Continent, and obtained the whole of the sum for which it had been given, with the exception of five pounds. It was afterwards remarked, as a coincidence, that the same partner who signed the letter of Nicholson, signed the present one, that is to say, Mr. Halifax, jun., whose exclusive province it by no means was to sign the letters of credit. From this circumstance, it would have been not at all improbable that, even had presently see, in the execution of their scheme, some suspicion might have been excited by their letters of credit invariably bearing the same signature. Matters having so far proceeded, a sufficient quantity of the peculiar paper upon which Glyn and Co. print their circular letters was obtained, with some difficulty, from a paper manufacturer; and Bourbelle, and his friend D'Arguson, set about the matter in earnest. A printer was engaged. At first he worked in his own office, near the Haymarket; but subsequently, Bourbelle, who objected to the intrusion of strangers, induced him to come and work at his own lodgings, at 184, Regent-street, where he resided on the top floor. The circular letter was given to the printer, bit by bit; and he was never allowed to have two portions of it at the same time, until the copper-plate was completed, when he could not but suspect, as he acknowledged at the trial, that there was some fraudulent purpose in the affair; being well paid, however, he held his tongue. When the copies had been struck off, they were forwarded by Bourbelle, with great care, to Cunningham Graham, at Florence, and the latter traced upon them the signature of Glyn, Halifax, Mills, and Co. They were afterwards distributed among the members of the conspiracy, according to the directions of Bourbelle, and according to the amount which it was arranged that each member should levy upon the bankers of the Continent. Thus far Bourbelle's measures had been successful; and upon them he appears to have spent considerable sums of money; but there was still one difficulty remaining,-it was the want of proper instruments to put the whole scheme into play. As we have said, it was no part of the plan that the principal concoctors of the plot should be actors in it; it was therefore necessary to find some individuals who, for a per centage on the profits of the chief worthies, would consent to present the circular letters in the various towns of the Continent. This was no trifling difficulty; and we shall see that it was owing to the ill-judged selection of one individual that this nefarious plan was brought to so early a close. The parties whom Bourbelle selected were the following 10. D'Arguson, who was to travel under the name of Castel. 20. Marie Rosalie Desjardins, the mistress of D'Arguson, who was to travel under the name of the Countess De Vaudec. 30. A person of the name of Frederick Pipe, who was to travel under the name of Dr. Coulson. This man is said to have practised originally as a veterinary surgeon, but to have been, at the time that Bourbelle fell in with him, connected with one of the gambling-houses in the Quadrant. Another account makes him out to have been formerly in the service of a Dr. Coulson, whose name he now assumed. Be his early education what it might, we shall presently see that he certainly was one of the most accomplished swindlers of the party. 40. Charlotte Anne Pipe, said to be the wife of the last, and who was to travel under the name of Lenoy. 50. Alexander Graham, the son of Cunningham Graham, and who was to travel under the name of Mr. Robert Nicholson. This young man appears to have been one of the most worthless of the whole gang, so much so that he excited the utmost solicitude in the bosom of his worthy parent, whose letters, reminding him of honour,' and exhorting him not to act in an unprincipled manner,' are not unworthy of notice. Even Bourbelle appears to have distrusted young Graham completely. However, their misgivings were not entirely borne out, for he appears never to have exerted himself, for good or for ill, more than to obtain 150, with which to live pleasantly at Aix-la-Chapelle, whilst his companions were acting more industriously in other parts. Before the trial of Bogle v. Lawson came on, young Graham had died of a loathsome disease, in a maison de santé, near Paris, in want and misery. 60. The sixth individual whom Bourbelle selected | was a man styling himself Charles Gerard, Count de Paindry, but from what source he had obtained this title of nobility it would not be very easy to ascertain. 70. The seventh was T. W. Perry, alias Ireland, who did not speak French. Every thing being in readiness, it was agreed that proceedings should commence on the 21st of April, simultaneously, in Italy, in Belgium, and on the Rhine. Alexander Graham, who had been residing at Florence with his father, left that city for Aix-la-Chapelle, whither the other conspirators, with the exception of Bourbelle and Pipe, (alias Dr. Coulson,) starting from London on the 1st of April, repaired to join him. In the mean while Bourbelle and Dr. Coulson proceeded, vid Paris, to Italy. At Nice, these latter were met by old Graham, who, it would appear from the letters intercepted by the French police, declared the letters of credit to be perfection, and that it would be impossible to refuse them. The following letter, from Bourbelle to D'Arguson, will give an idea of their plans at that moment, as well as of the character of the man: otherwise the whole affair might be blown upon at the very outset. Be this as it may, De Paindry returned to the bank the next day, and mentioning the suspicion of the shop-keeper, insisted on returning the money, adding that lorsque l'honneur est blessé mortellement, on ne doit point songer à garder aucune mesure." Having thus succeeded in destroying all chance of an alarm being created at Florence, De Paindry proceeded to Venice, and on the 24th obtained 3741. on the same letter of credit, on which Bogle, Kerrick, and Co., had marked the cancelment of their payment, at the request of De Paindry, and on the 25th 407. more from the bro thers Dubois. From Venice he proceeded to Trieste, and on the 29th obtained 16121. 68. from Mr. Richard Routh, who was so delighted by his agreeable manners and conversation, that he invited him to dinner, and gave him the use of his opera-box in the evening. In the mean while, at Genoa, on the 21st, Frederick Pipe (alias Dr. Coulson) presented to Gibbs and Co. a letter of credit for 2000l., requesting 15007. on it in gold, in order to purchase works of art. Next day he presented at Turin another letter of credit to Nigra and Son, and obtained 6007. on it. Proceeding to Milan, he obtained on the 23rd, in that city, 8007. from Pas teur Girod and Co. on another letter of credit. On the 24th he obtained again 8007. from Louis Laurent and Co., at Parma. Thence Graham and Pipe (for it is observable that the minor, or rather acting conspirators, were for the most part accompanied by one of the ori ginal projectors, who are supposed to have received the greater part of the spoils) proceeded to Rome, and passing at Villa Micali, met Bourbelle, who had allowed De Paindry to proceed by himself. It is supposed that at Villa Micali they divided their spoils, and that Bourbelle received a considerable share; for it was ascer tained by the register of the Police, that he was in Florence on the 28th, and the banker Treppa acknow I' Iledged to having received from him 1700 Napoleons on that day. 'Here at Nice, April 13th. Neither Coulson, Graham, nor myself have received anything from you; no letters, from which I conclude that all is tranquil with you at Aix-la-Chapelle. May God preserve you in peace up to the 21st. I leave them here to-morrow, but with orders to act, if they receive from you a letter telling them to do so, sooner than the period fixed upon; but I hope that they will not receive any letter from you, and that all will go on quietly. Do not commence, without having given them notice, before the 21st, otherwise you would cause them to be taken in the middle of Italy; but you are aware of that, and you are incapable of baseness. Adieu, dear. You will find at the post-office of Milan a letter for you from me, under your name D'Arguson. It will tell you where I advise you to go when you have done at Milan. think I shall tell you: go to Venice and Trieste, in order thence to reach Egypt and India; and until you have been able to reach India, drop there all trace of you; abandon your passport, and embark there for America, without any other name than that of Castel, and to return quietly do not stop. You could go from Trieste to Corfu, and there cast your skin, and do not enter Ancona; but I advise the grand flight. Adieu again: I embrace you. In your misfortune I have been a brother to you; be mine now. My fortune, my happiness, my ruin is in your hands. 'BARON LOUIS D'ARGUSON, Poste restante, Paris.' From Nice also Bourbelle wrote to Alexander Graham on the 14th that all was right, and ‘a proof that all is right is, that Bogle lets old Graham come and embark in the affair. Bogle and your papa are convinced that all will turn out well, and that the letters of credit must be paid.' This paragraph formed a portion of the evidence against Bogle on the part of the Times at the trial, and though insufficient as a complete proof of the criminality of the former, it was, with the other evidence, quite enough to satisfy the public of his criminality. On the 28th, the self-styled Dr. Coulson and his friend Graham were in Rome. The former called upon M. le Mesurier, and obtained 2007. on a letter of credit for 2000. Shortly afterwards he returned again and demanded 13007. more. M. le Mesurier, as it was the first time that he had honoured any of Glyn and Co.'s letters of credit, hesitated to make this second adVance. Upon this Coulson flew into a furious rage, told his father, and that if the money was not immediately him that he had come over to execute a commission for paid, he should return the 2007. he had already received, go back to England, and that his father would bring an action against Glyn and Co., not only for the expenses of the journey, but for damages besides. On consideration, therefore, and after consulting the English consul and another gentleman, M. le Mesurier paid the money. The conspirators, who had assembled at Aix-laChapelle, had all, with the exception of Alexander Graham, left it before the 19th, some of them, as we have seen, to proceed to Italy. Alexander Graham contented himself with obtaining 150/. from a banker in Aix-la-Chapelle, and after that remained inactive. The Countess de Vaudec (alias Rosalie Desjardins) on leaving Aix-la-Chapelle, proceeded in style up the Rhine, in an elegant carriage, with a courier. Her only companion was a little girl. At Cologne she presented, on the 22nd, a letter of credit for S00l. to Oppenheim, jun. and Co., and demanded and received 500, upon it. At Coblentz, on the 23rd, she obtained from another banker, and on a fresh letter of credit, 500. more. On the 24th she presented another to Gogel, Koch, and Co., and obtained 5204. upon it. At Mayence she presented another to Human and Mappes fils, and having obtained 5001. more, she proceeded leisurely to Paris. At length the 21st of April arrived. By this time De Paindry had arrived in Florence, and on his side also so had Bourbelle. On the morning of that day De Paindry presented himself at the bank of Bogle, Kerrick, and Maccarthy, and presented a letter of credit, upon which he asked and received 2007. It would appear that later in the day De Paindry attempted to get à further advance on the same letter, from an English shopkeeper in Florence, who expressed, remarkably enough, some doubts as to the genuineness of the letter; for, in the course of that day, Bourbelle came to the bank, and had a long interview with Bogle, in the private room of the latter, and with locked doors. In this interview it is presumed that they decided that it would But whilst the master-spirits of the party were carry. be wiser that De Paindry should return the money, asing on the scheme with such eminent success in Italy and on the Rhine, the stupidity of one of their confederates was ruining De Bourbelle's hopes of an El Dorado in Belgium. On the 20th of April, D'Arguson, who passed under the name of Baron de Castel, started with Perry (alias Ireland) from Aix-la-Chapelle for Liege. Once there, the Baron, who does not seem to have had a very great confidence in his companion, took the latter towards the bank of Nagelmaker and Cerfontaine, and in the very street in which those bankers lived, handed him a letter of credit for 8007. and directed him to ask for 55. Upon this demand being made by Perry, it was refused, owing to his passport not being regular. Next day, however, he returned, and induced them to give him 100. upon it. Out of this sum D'Arguson took 80l. and gave him the remainder. They thence proceeded to Brussels, and presented to Engler and Co. a letter of credit for 14001, on which they asked and obtained 7501.; out of this sum D'Arguson took 500l. At Ghent, on the 23rd, they presented a letter to Menlemerte and Son, but without success; these bankers objecting that they had not received a letter of advice. Later, on the same day, Perry, in company with the woman Lenoy, (alias Pipe,) went to Antwerp, and presented to Mr. Agie the same letter on which Mr. Engler of Brussels had advanced 7501. The appearance of Perry excited some suspicion in the mind of Mr. Agié, and, when the former stated that he was about to return to England, the wonder was still greater, that such a man, after the receipt of so large a sum in Brussels, should require more money, and that when on the point of starting for England, from which the letter of credit was supposed to come. Mr. Agié refused, therefore, to make any advance, on the plea that he had received no advice. No sooner had Perry left him, however, than he wrote to Mr. Engler, suggesting that there was something wrong, and Mr. Engler sent immediate directions to have Perry arrested. Perry was accord ingly arrested, with the woman Pipe, on board the Ostend steamer, when on the point of starting for London. Biographical Sketches of Eminent Painters. RUBENS. PETER PAUL RUBENS was born in the year 1577, at Cologne, whither his parents had retired from Antwerp in order to avoid the calamities attendant on the civil wars, by which, at that time, the Low Countries were disturbed. His father, John Rubens, was a doctor of laws, and was much respected in Antwerp, where he repeatedly filled important public situations in the most honourable manner. Peter Paul gave signs of great natural talent from his earliest years. His father gave him a superior education after his return to Antwerp; and so apt was he in attaining knowledge, that when very young he could converse fluently in the Latin tongue. He was a handsome boy, and was, for a short time, page to the Countess Lalain; but he soon became weary of that effeminate mode of life, and returned home. After his father's death, which took place at about that period, his inclination for painting became so marked, that his mother engaged Tobias Verhaecht, a painter of landscapes and architectural subjects, to give him instruction in that art. He afterwards became a disciple of Adam Van Oort, a painter of but ordinary merit, and of so morose a temper, and of such incorrect morals, that young Rubens soon resolved to cease to be his pupil, and went to study under Octavio Van Veen, more generally known as Otho Venius, a painter who was as much admired for his talent in his art, as he was respected for his learning and excellent moral character. Rubens profited by the advantages he possessed, and pursued his studies under the guidance of this superior man with en At the age of twenty-three he determined to visit Italy; and the Archduke Albert, Governor of the Netherlands, gave him the strongest letters of introduction to the Duke of Mantua, in order that he might have every facility for studying the admirable paintings and antique statues in his collection. The Duke received him with every mark of distinction, and soon became much attached to him; so much so, that he sent him on a mission to Philip the Third, King of Spain, which Rubens fulfilled in so satisfactory a manner, that both the Spanish monarch and the duke bestowed on him the most marked testimonials of their regard. The depositions of Perry before the Belgian authori-thusiasm. ties exposed the whole matter, as far as he was connected with it. But, in the mean while, a premature announce ment of the fraud made in the Brussels paper gave the alarm to the confederates, and they all succeeded in making their escape. It is true, that De Paindry was overtaken in Moldavia, obliged to disgorge a portion of his plunder, delivered up by the summary police of Constantinople, sent to Genoa, and thence to Aix-laChapelle, but there the court declared its incompetence to take cognizance of the matter, and he was dismissed. Graham the elder, D'Arguson and his mistress, or Pipe, do not seem to have been in any way molested. Bourbelle retreated to Spain, but it is asserted that he came expressly to London to support Bogle against the Times with his money and his advice, and that he was in London at the time of the trial. Pipe, after escaping to Malta, and remaining there four days, started for Bona in a Maltese bombarde, and having there made friends with the English consul, and with the governor, changed his passport, and proceeded to France via Algiers. On the 9th of May the depositions of Perry at Ostend reached Florence, and Bogle withdrew of his own accord from the firm of Bogle, Kerrick, and Maccarthy. Not making an attempt, however, to clear his reputation, he was, by a decree of the Tuscan government, expelled from Tuscany-a stigma from which the cirenmstances elicited in his action against the Times did not certainly in any way relieve him. Such is a brief account of the facts connected with the famous conspiracy, by its elucidation of which the Times has rendered all similar conspiracies utterly impracticable." After his return to Mantua, he visited Rome, Venice, Genoa, and other Italian cities, where he studied the works of the great masters, and improved himself in colouring by his accurate observation of the style of Titian and Paul Veronese. It has been said that he did not sufficiently refine his taste by the study of the antique, as most of the celebrated artists had done; nevertheless, the fame of Rubens spread in a few years throughout Europe, and no painter's works were ever more universally coveted and admired than those of Rubens. His great talents were eagerly demanded for the adornment of churches, the palaces of sovereigns, and the mansions of the noble and wealthy of all nations; whilst by his learning, his courteous manners, and amiable disposition, he obtained the friendship and patronage of the kings of England and Spain, and other monarchs. He was even com missioned by the King of Spain to proceed to England to make overtures to Charles the First for a treaty of peace-a mission which he fulfilled in the most satisfactory manner. The King of England bestowed every mark of consideration on Rubens ; and having engaged him to decorate some of the apartments at Whitehall with his paintings, his Majesty conferred on him the honour of knighthood, as a public acknowledgment of his merit. The talent of Rubens for allegorical compositions is displayed in a remarkable manner in his paintings in the palace of the Luxembourg at Paris: they are emblematical of the life of Mary de Medicis, Queen Consort of Henry IV. King of France. His landscapes are painted in the happiest style, and he possessed equal talent for painting animals. As his works were so eagerly sought after, he instructed a number of young men of genius, who assisted him in the execution of his designs. Vandyck and Snyders were among the number of his pupils. In his house at Antwerp this princely artist had for his studio a circular apartment, with a domea miniature of the rotunda of the Pantheon at Rome -where the light, descending from an aperture or window at the top, produced a uniform and pleasing effect on the objects beneath. In this favourite studio or museum Rubens had collected a vast number of books, marbles, statues, cameos, intaglios, or engraved stones, and a variety of the riches of art which he had collected in Rome. The walls were covered with pictures either of his own composition, or copies, by his own hand, made at Venice and Madrid, of the works of Titian and Paul Veronese. All foreigners, literary men, or lovers of the arts, and even princes who might be passing through Antwerp, visited Rubens, and inspected his valuable studio. He eventually disposed of his collection to the Duke of Buckingham for a hundred thousand florins; but he stipulated that he should be permitted to take casts of the statues, &c., which were deposited in the places where the originals had stood. Rubens was twice married; and he had several sons. The eldest filled a high office in Antwerp; and the others were still young, when their father died, at the age of sixty-three, in the month of May, 1640, at Antwerp. He was an admirable artist, an accomplished scholar, and a most amiable and excellent man. His body was interred in the parish church of St. James, of Antwerp, where his epitaph may be seen. In the church of St. Peter, at Cologne, is the celebrated picture, by Rubens, of the martyrdom of St. Peter. It was a present from this great painter, who was baptized in that church. This picture was taken to France during the empire of Napoleon, and was sent back to Cologne after the restoration of the Bourbons. The "Descent from the Cross," in the cathedral of Antwerp, has been considered superior to the above-mentioned picture. The "Incredulity of St. Thomas" is a very fine picture. The subject will be found in the twentieth chapter of St. John. The figures are of the natural size. Poetry. [In Original Poetry, the Name, real or assumed, of the Author, is printed in Small Capitals under the title; in Selections, it is printed in Italics at the end.] THE LANDLADY'S DAUGHTER.' THERE came three students over the Rhine- My beer and my wine is fresh and clear-My daughter is lying cold on her bier." They stept within the chamber of rest, Where shrined lay the maiden, in black robes drest. The second, he covered the face anew, Thee loved I ever, still love I thee, THE BLIND GIRL. BY ANNE A. TREMONT. DARKNESS where'er I go! From Uhland. Nor earth, nor sky, nor blessed light for me,- For the bright things I never more may see, To think that it can only darkly dream, And what lost treasure it gives back again; My girlhood's happy time The forms and faces so familiar then; And, shining like a star through my dark night, Is one, who was as dear to me as sight. It is before me now, Wearing the looks I lov'd so to behold; And loving smile, that ne'er for me was cold: And one which even blindness withers not. But oh! to feel how vain The hopes which came around us like sweet flow'rs! It almost sears my brain, To think through life such will no more be ours; Yet is it but the wreck of earth's frail bark! Father of Light! let not my soul be dark! |