se contenter alors des déclarations qu'elles firent, n'en garda moins un tres vif ressentiment, et ce meurtre fut compté entre les motifs de la guerre que la Suède déclara à la Russie au mois de Juillet, 1741." (La Martinière, Continuation of Pufendorff's Univ. Hist. iv. 428-432.) The murder took place near Naumburg. The Biog. Univ. Classique cautiously adds, "Ce crime parait avoir été l'œuvre de la cour de Russie, qui avait intérêt à enlever les dépêches dont Sinclair etait chargé." And further, "La relation de cet assassinat a été publié par un Français nommé Couturier qui accompagnait le major, et n'échappa qu'avec peine aux meurtriers. Elle se trouve également dans l'Histoire de la Guerre entre la Russie et la Turquie, par Keralio."

Another of the name was Charles-Gideon Baron de Sinclair, who, according to the last authority," servit dans sa jeunesse en France, en Prusse, et en Saxe, fit presque toutes les guerres du 18e siècle, et mourut le premier Septembre, 1803, à l'âge de 73 ans." It should be added that his death took place near Westeros. "On a de lui plusieurs écrits estimés sur l'art militaire; nous citerons, entre autres, les suivants : un Réglement pour l'Infanterie, que est en vigeur en Suéde; Institutions Militaires, ou Traite élementaire de Tactique, Deux-Ponts, 1773, 3 vols. in-8."

"His Majesty afterwards observed (continues the biographer of Sir John) that Dunall (or McDowall), whom at the last diet he had appointed Landt Marechal, was of Scotch extraction. The King might have mentioned that Baron Fersen (properly McPherson) held the same office at the two preceding diets." (p. 138.) Of this family the French Biography says: "FERSEN (AXEL Comte de), feld-maréchal et sénateur Suédois, mourut vers la fin du 18e siècle, servit d'abord en France avec distinction pendant plusieurs années, et à son retour dans sa patrie se signala par ses talens militaires en Poméranie, et par ses talens politiques aux états de 1756 et de 1772, aux diètes de 1778, de 1786, et de 1789. Son éloquence, son désintéressement, et son dévouement à sa patrie lui donnèrent une grande influence dans toutes ces assemblées; mais ses efforts ne purent empêcher la révolution opérée dans le gouvernement par Gustave III."

The next article relates to his more celebrated but unfortunate son, whose share in the flight of Louis XVI. from Paris is well described in the History of the Girondists by Lamartine. "FERSEN (AXEL), fils du précédent, grandmaître de la maison du Roi de Suède, chancelier de l'univer

sité d'Upsal, né à Stockholm vers 1750, fit les campagnes d'Amérique,* vint ensuite en France, s'y trouvait lors des premiers troubles de la révolution, et montra un noble dévouement à la famille royale. Il périt à Stockholm en 1810, victime d'une émeute populaire." The sudden death of the Prince of Augustenberg, heir to the crown of Sweden, in 1810, was the cause of this catastrophe. "The populace, who had been too much accustomed to conspiracies, suspected poison; and among the individuals singled out as the authors of this alleged crime was Count Axel Fersen, high marshal of the realm. .. Nothing could allay the suspicions of the people; and such was their extreme fury, that when the funeral procession, headed by the count in a chariot with six horses, entered the capital (June 20), they assailed him with stones and other missiles, and shortly afterwards he was murdered on the spot, notwithstanding the assurance of General Adlesparre that he should be arrested and brought to trial." (Crichton's Scandinavia, vol. ii. p. 265.)

2. Having quoted the Life of Sir John Sinclair on the foregoing subject, I have now to produce his testimony on another point of Swedish history which belongs to the class of historical difficulties, the death of Charles XII. "At the new arsenal Sir John saw the bloody garments of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII., and convinced himself, after much inquiry, that the latter was not killed by a pistol-shot from one of his own soldiers, but by a cannon ball of the enemy. The mask taken from the face after death shows that all the bones in front of the head were shattered; and in a golden box at the treasury the fatal ball was still preserved, which produced so great a change in the politics of Europe." (Vol. i. p. 142.) The late historian of Sweden, M. BeaumontVassy, author of "Les Suédois depuis Charles XII." (ed. Bruxelles, 1842), has included the closing scene of the hero's life, but without adding anything to the common materials. In his argument he reverses that of Voltaire, by quoting the frantic exclamations of Siquier as proofs of his being the assassin. He adds, "Le chapeau de Charles XII. religieusement conservé à Stockholm, est percé d'un balle de pistolet." (c. i. p. 15.)

Mr. Coxe, who has devoted a chapter to the investigation of this controverted subject (b. vii. c. 3.), says, "The hat bears the appearance of having been slightly grazed by the ball in that part which immediately covers the temple. I was informed by a person who had frequent op

4 H

portunities of observing it, that the original mark was at first very indistinct, but from being handled and rent by those who have continually examined it, has been continually enlarged. As the shot therefore did not pierce through, but only grazed the hat, the size of the ball cannot be ascertained from this circumstance." (iv. 73.) Mr. Coxe also learned, that not only Siquier, but two other persons, Cronstadt and Fabricius, were said to have accused themselves, in a state of delirium, of having assasinated the king. Such stories therefore serve chiefly to refute each other. A love of the obscure and the marvellous, which influences both writers and readers, has doubtless inclined many to believe that he was assassinated. Mr. Coxe was so fortunate as to meet with a Norwegian gunner who had served in the Danish garrison during the siege of Fredericstein. His opinion was that Charles was shot from the ramparts; that all sorts of shot were fired that night, particularly small shot in cartouches from cannon; that he might easily have been reached by it, even at twice the distance; and that several soldiers were killed near him. He also stated that not a shot was fired from Overburg that night; whence La Mottraye says the king was struck. So many questions however have been raised, and some of them are so hard to solve, that the desponding language of Schubart, a patient explorer of ancient history, may be applied: "Harum rerum studiosi experientia edocti sciunt, quam sit difficile, ne dicam quidem quam sit desperatum, has questiones ad probabilitatem quandam perducere." (Quæstiones Genealogica Historica, Marburgi. 8vo. 1832, p. 79.) How truly has Johnson said that the fall of Charles "was destined... to a dubious hand." (For the

arguments in favour of his having been assassinated, see Dr. E. D. Clarke's Travels, vol. vi. c. 7, p. 276.)

Those who are familiar with the portraits of Charles XII. will be surprised at Mr. Coxe's account of his youthful one in the palace of Stroemsholm. It is a wholelength, painted in the ninth year of his age, leaning on a lion's head; the painter is the Swedish Ehrensahl.* "Charles is here represented as a most beautiful boy : both his physiognomy and appearance are soft and effeminate, and, except in the lustre of his eye, by no means indicative of his subsequent character." (v. 58.)

3. In your Magazine for December, 1839, p. 576, is an account of the detection of the assassin of Don Bernardo Monteagudo, at Lima in 1824, by the active police of that city. I now refer to it for its curious coincidence in circumstances with the detection of Ankarstroem, the murderer of Gastavus III. of Sweden. "Son assassin avoit eu la precaution de laisser tomber dans la foule un second pistolet et un couteau dont il étoit armé. On ramassa ces armes : le couteau avoit une pointe recourbée; il fut reconnu par un coutelier qui déclara l'avoir vendu au capitaine Ankarstroom." (Chaudon, Dict. Hist. Ant. Ankarstroom.) Monteagudo, who had been employed as Commissioner in a treaty with Colombia, was stabbed, and from the nature of the wound it must have been inflicted by a very sharp poniard. This caused an examination of all the cutlers in Lima, through which the weapon was traced to a black, who confessed himself an agent of the Spanish interest. Such is a summary of the incident, which your readers will find more fully related as above. Yours, &c.

MR. URBAN,-The title of the Warden of the Fleet to the rents and profits of these temporary erections (mentioned in your last Number, p. 480) was doubtless owing to the same person being also Warden of the Palace of Westminster. Why the two offices went together, was,

J. T. M.

at a much later period (Mr. Devon's Extracts, James I. p. 146) that the Warden of the Fleet then held a similar office at Westminster. On the 19th Feb. 1611, 50/. 17s. were paid to John Wilkinson, esq. Warden of the Fleet, "for the charges of repairing the glass windows in Westminster Hall, for gravelling (about) the Palace, and flooring the Hall."

Much frequented as the Hall and Royal Palace must have been by suitors and their friends in early times, we can easily imagine that the concourse of persons was taken advantage of by fugitive traders of all kinds for the disposal of their wares. When this circumstance amounted to positive inconvenience, some forcible attempts would be probably made to remove the obstruction, but we may conjecture that it was soon found more profitable and equally convenient to effect that object to a certain extent by the means of a tax in the shape of a rent or toll. That this was the early original of the shops in Westminster Hall appears to be shown by passages in the Inquisitions upon Edmund Cheyne in 13 Edw. III. and John Shenche in 24 Edw. III.* where those persons who held the two offices of Wardens of the Fleet and Palace, are said to have been in possession of certain profits, "percipiendo de quolibet mercatore habente stallum sive stabellum infra aulam predicti palacii viijd per annum, et de quolibet mercatore non habente stabellum sed portante mercandisam iiijd per annum." To assist in continuing the history of this custom over the very long interval between the date of the last-mentioned Inquisition and the period referred to in the "Handbook," I send you a transcript of an account of the sums paid for the liberty of keeping stalls and otherwise vending articles in the Hall and its neighbourhood for Hilary Term 38 Henry VI. (A. D. 1460.) There is nothing to shew to whom those profits then belonged; and by the language used by Strype (the reference should be B. 111. p. 753), And as a further perquisite to the Warden, besides his fees from the prisoners, &c. he hath the rents and profits of the shops in Westminster Hall," some re-grant of those profits would seem to be referred to; unless indeed it expresses the extent of Strype's information upon the subject. The rate of charge will be seen to be very much higher than that mentioned in the Inquisitions, showing, as it seems to me, that they were not fixed originally, but regulated by demand or other circumstances. They had increased considerably in advance of the general rise in value, two shillings being charged for one

term only in 1460, where eight pence was charged for a year's rent in 1350; an advance of twelve times in 110 years, whereas that proportion is considered to have been about the rate of increase for 500 years.

The localities named in the roll will be identified without any difficulty. The variations in the charges may be owing to the extent of space occupied by the persons named as paying, in some cases, double what was usual. But this will not account for all the variations, as among the "Goers in the Halle" it will be noticed that "Robynet ffrenshwoman" paid 50 per cent. more than the other adults. It does not seem quite clear what the sum against Folton's name means; the total given is correct without reference to that. The occupations of the stall-keepers are not mentioned, though some may be inferred from the names. The hawkers in the Hall were perhaps entirely vendors of small articles of dress or ornament as in later times.

iijs iiijd

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, the one-hundredth session of the Society of Arts was opened, when Mr. H. Chester gave a review of the history of the Society and its principal objects. He stated that the public spirit of William Shipley, a drawing master, and brother to the Bishop of St. Asaph, gave rise to the Society, in 1753. Mr. Shipley obtained the approval and concurrence of Jacob Viscount Folkstone, of Robert Lord Romney, and of Dr. Isaac Maddox, Lord Bishop of Worcester. The first meeting was held on the 29th March, 1754, at Rawthmell's Coffee-house, but it was not until 1847 that it was incorporated by royal charter. He also noticed that the Royal Academy had sprung from this Society. Of late years they had been enabled to take the lead in several questions of national interest and importance. The successful project of the Great Exhibition was only a development of the arrangements already commenced on a smaller scale by the Society, the officebearers of which, including their distinguished President, H.R.H. Prince Albert, assumed naturally the direction of the more extended national undertaking in 1851. The Society has recently devoted its attention to the subject of international postage, and also to the relations of capital and labour, with a view to terminate, if possible, the disastrous system of strikes. The educational exertions of the Society are also active and successful. These great projects have not interfered with the ordinary objects and business of the Society. A list of subjects for premiums is just issued, to the number of no less than a hundred and thirty-five objects, in raw products, machinery, manufactures,

and fine arts. The mere perusal of this list attests the importance and variety of topics to which the attention of the Society is directed.

The Royal Institute of British Architects held their opening meeting for the session on Monday, Nov. 14. Earl de Grey, the President, took the chair, and a large number of members and visitors were present. Mr. Donaldson read an account of a collection of original draw. ings in the Museum of the Hotel de Ville, at Lille, in France, presented to that establishment by the Chevalier Wicar, director of the Academy at Naples. They are about 1,200 in number, and include specimens by Rafaelle, Leonardo da Vinci, Annibal Caracci, Carlo Dolci, Francia, Tintoretto, Giulio Romano, and many other of the great masters; and more especially a series of about 190 plans, elevations, sections, &c. of ancient and modern buildings, ascribed to Michelangelo. To this latter series Mr. Donaldson chiefly confined his attention, giving an interesting description of them, illustrated by copies of the principal drawings. After careful consideration, he had arrived at the conclusion that these drawings were the work of Vasari, and not, as alleged, of Michelangelo. Mr. Donald. son also stated, in reply to an observation of Mr. Tite, that M. Benvignat, the keeper of the Museum at Lille, had informed him that the publication of the drawings was contemplated. Some large specimens of serpentine from the Lizard, Cornwall, of superior quality to that heretofore employed, were exhibited; and various opinions were expressed as to its applicability to interior architectural decoration.

The National Gallery was reopened to

the public on Nov. 7, after a longer recess than usual. A praiseworthy attempt has been made to arrange the pictures in Schools as far as possible. This, how ever, has not been obtained without some sacrifice in the less advantageous position of some of the best pictures. The walls have also been hung with a paper of a dull violet tint, which certainly forms a better back-ground than the former pale slate.

Mr. Brown, a merchant of Liverpool, has given 6,000l. to the Free Library in that town, and the corporation has voted the addition of 10,000l. to the same fund. A Free Library has also been founded at Bolton, for which a sum of 3,1857. has been raised by voluntary subscriptions.

The five Academies composing the Institute of France held their annual public meeting on Oct. 25 in Paris. M. Jomard presided, and each academy was repre sented by special delegates, as well as by several of its members. M. Jomard delivered a speech, in which he briefly traced the history of the Institute, and dwelt on the success with which it has braved the political storms that, within the last fifty years, have swept over France. He also passed a warm eulogium on the late M. Arago. Some prizes were then distributed. Papers were afterwards read by M. Rossignol, of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, combating the tradition which ascribes to Demaratus, father of Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, the honour of having civilized Etruria; M. Franck, of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, on Paracelsus and Alchemy; M. Babinet, of the Academy of Sciences, on Comets; M. Halley, of the Academy of the Fine Arts, a biographical and critical notice of the German organist Frohberger; and, finally, one by M. Briffault, entitled "Le monde à refaire."

The opening of the new Pinakothek at Munich took place on the 26th October, by King Ludwig. This new building is destined, like the Vernon Gallery in London, and the Luxembourg at Paris, for the exhibition of the works of painters of the present century. But, while these establishments are only devoted to national artists, the Munich Pinakothek is open to the artists of the whole world. The following is a brief description of the building, whose architect is Ober- Baurath Voit. The upper story contains six large halls, which occupy the middle of the building, five minor ones on the south side (both lighted from above), and fourteen cabinets on the north side, the latter with side windows. A smaller double staircase on the outside of the building leads to a high entrance-hall, and thence one of larger dimensions leads to the first saloon, which

contains four large vases, three of porphyry and one of malachite, and but one picture, the life-size portrait of King Ludwig, painted by Kaulbach. The succeeding four saloons are remarkable for some great pictures; the first, The Flood, by Professor Schorn (left incomplete at his death); the second, The Destruction of Jerusalem, by Kaulbach; the third, The Entrance of King Otho into Nemplin, by Peter Hess; the fourth, an Altar-piece, by Henry Hess. Besides these, each hall contains a variety of other pictures, amongst which we specify the large architectural pieces of Ainmüller, Bayes, and others. Many of them are pictures of great size; still there is no overcrowding which could mar the quiet contemplation.-Builder.

The site of Ancient Verulam, which was bought some months ago by the National Freehold Land Society, was re-sold in August last, at the Auction Mart, for 6,300l. It is said that the intention of the purchasers is to build upon the ground, so that it is possible that a new town may arise on the foundations of the Roman city. It is to be hoped that care will be taken to preserve the interesting remains of the ancient walls. Indeed, at no great expense, these ruins, which are now in many places covered with earth, might be restored to the light of day, and made to possess additional attractions for the locality. The ground where once stood Verulam offers tempting opportunities for exploration. Not many years since the amphitheatre was discovered, but is now filled up, and there is no doubt that a search prosecuted with care and diligence would be amply repaid. Aubrey states of Lord Bacon, "This magnanimous Lord Chancellor had a great mind to have made it (Verulam) a city again, and he had designed it to be built with great uniformity." We do not look for the prosecution at the present time of any so ambitious a scheme, but we trust the new possessors will in any case consider it their duty to protect the relics of the ancient city from injury.

Our readers will remember that in a recent number of the Gentleman's Magazine we gave an account of the calamity which had befallen the ancient church of St. Hilary Cornwall, which was destroyed by fire on the night of Good Friday last. We have now the pleasure to state that, although the full amount necessary to rebuild the church is not yet subscribed, so large a sum has been raised as to make its commencement a duty not to be questioned; and on Wednesday, Nov. 23rd, the first stone was laid by the Rev. Thomas Pascoe, the Vicar (who for forty years had ministered in the now dilapidated edifice), in the presence of a large number of the