(F.)

PORTRAIT OF SEBASTIAN CABOT BY HOLBEIN.

REFERENCE has already been made (page 181) to the Portrait of Sebastian Cabot in considering the singular misconception as to the meaning of the epithet "Militis aurati." The statement of Purchas (vol. iv. p. 1812) is as follows:

"Sir Seb. Cabota; his Picture in the Privie Gallerie at White-Hall hath these words, Effigies Seb. Caboti Angli, filii Joannis Caboti Veneti militis aurati, &c.; he was born at Venice, and serving Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI. was accounted English-Galpano saith he was borne at Bristol."

This Picture now belongs to the Representatives of the late Charles Joseph Harford, Esq. of Bristol. The inscription which Purchas curtails by an" &c." is this:

"Effigies Seb. Caboti Angli, filii Johannis Caboti Veneti Militis Aurati, Primi Inventoris Terra Nova sub Henrico VII. Angliæ Rege."

The manner in which the Portrait came to the knowledge of Mr. Harford, and finally into his possession, is very minutely stated in a Memoir prepared by him and left with his family. Without needlessly introducing names it may suffice to state that whilst travelling in Scotland, in 1792, he saw it for the first time at the seat of a nobleman; and, many years afterwards, his friend the late Sir Frederick Eden was enabled to gratify his anxious wishes by procuring it for him.

The work of Purchas was published in 1625, at the close of the reign of James I. That the picture was not in the Gallery in the time of Charles II., would appear from the following circumstances:— There is a tract by Evelyn, the celebrated author of Sylva, &c., entitled " Navigation and Commerce, their Original and Progress, containg a succinct account of traffic in general, its benefits and improvements; of discoveries, wars, and conflicts at sea, from the original of Navigation to this day; with special regard to the English nation; their several voyages and Expeditions to the beginning of our late differences with Holland; in which his Majesty's Title to the Dominion

of the Sea is asserted against the novel and later pretenders, by J. Evelyn, Esq. S.R.S. London, 1674." It is dedicated to Charles II., to whom the author expresses his gratitude for an appointment to the Council of Commerce and Plantations. The object of it, as may be inferred from the title, is to shew the early and diffusive influence of England at sea. Referring to the triumphant conflicts with France in the time of Henry VIII. he says, (p. 73,) 66 see also that rare piece of Holbein's in his Majesty's Gallery at White-Hall." He adverts (p. 57) to Sebastian Cabot, "born with us at Bristol," and hazards a conjecture as to his having, with his father, "discovered Florida and the shoars of Virginia with that whole tract as far as Newfoundland before the bold Genoese." Had the portrait in question been in the Gallery at White-Hall in Evelyn's time, he would not have omitted to notice the remarkable assertion which its inscription conveys.

The disappearance of the picture, therefore, from White-Hall, and its getting into private hands, may be referred to the intermediate period. It was, probably, bought at the Sales which took place after the death of Charles I., and of which the following account is found in Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting in England :—

"Immediately after the death of the King, several votes were passed for sale of his goods, pictures, statues, &c.

"Feb. 20, 1648. It was referred to the Committee of the Navy to raise money by sale of the crown jewels, hangings, and other goods of the late King.

"In the ensuing month, the House proceeded to vote, that the personal estate of the late King, Queen, and Prince should be inventoried, appraised, and sold. This vote, in which they seem to have acted honestly, not allowing their own members to be concerned in the sale, was the cause that the collections fell into a variety of low hands, and were dispersed among the painters and officers of the late King's household; where many of them remained on sale with low prices affixed.

"All other furniture from all the King's Palaces was brought up and exposed to sale; there are specified, particularly, Denmark or Somerset-house, Greenwich, Whitehall, Nonsuch, Oatlands, Windsor, Wimbleton-house, St. James's, Hamptoncourt, Richmond, Theobalds, Ludlow, Carisbrook, and Kenilworth Castles; Bewdleyhouse, Holdenby-house, Royston, Newmarket, and Woodstock manor-house. One may easily imagine that such a collection of pictures, with the remains of jewels and plate, and the furniture of nineteen palaces, ought to have amounted to a far greater sum than one hundred and eighteen thousand pounds.

"The sale continued to August 9, 1653. The prices were fixed, but if more was offered, the highest bidder purchased; this happened in some instances, not in many. Part of the goods were sold by inch of candle. The buyers called contractors, signing a writing for the several sums. If they disliked the bargain, they were at liberty to be discharged from the agreement on paying one-fourth of the sum stipulated. Among the purchasers of statues and pictures were several painters, as Decritz,

Wright, Baptist Van Leemput, Sir Balthazar Gerbier, &c. The Cartoons of Raphael were bought by his Highness (Cromwell) for £300."

The circumstances which refer this Portrait to Holbein seem to be conclusive. Cabot is represented as in extreme age. Now he had not been in England from 1517 until his return in 1548. The Portrait, therefore, must have been taken after the last-mentioned date. Holbein enjoyed the continued patronage of Henry VIII. after Sir Thomas More had introduced his works to the King's notice in the manner so familiarly known. He lived through the reign of Edward VI., and died at White-Hall of the plague, in 1554. It is not probable, under such circumstances, that a Portrait of Cabot, destined for the King's Gallery, would have been taken by any other hand.

Such seem to be the curious history of a Picture in itself so interesting. Painted for Edward VI., in compliment to this great seaman and national benefactor, and the property, in succession, of two Queens, and two Kings of England, its retirement to private life may probably be dated from a Sale at which Oliver Cromwell was a bidder.

Cabot was evidently, as has been said, at a very advanced age when the Portrait was taken. His stature, though somewhat lost in a slight stoop, must have been commanding. Holbein would seem to have wished to catch the habitual, unpremeditated expression which he had doubtless, from engagements about the Court, had frequent opportunities of remarking. It is that of profound, and even painful, thought; and in the deeply-marked lines, and dark hazel eye, there yet linger tokens of the force and ardour of character of this extraordinary man. The right hand exhibits an admirable specimen of the painter's minute, elaborate finish. Of the compasses which it holds one foot is placed on a great globe resting on a table on which are an hour-glass and writing materials. The rich robe, and massy gold chain, are probably badges of his office as Governor of the Society of Merchant-Adventurers. It is impossible not to gaze with deep interest on this memorial, heightened, perhaps, by a reflection on its present humble position-emblematic, indeed, of the slight on the closing years of the great original.*

* A Catalogue of the Pictures, &c., belonging to Charles I., drawn up in his lifetime, and apparently for his use, is found amongst the Harleian MSS. No. 4718. Amongst those enumerated as then in the Privy Gallery at White-Hall that of Cabot is not mentioned. This might lead to the inference that it had got into private hands sooner than is above suggested, particularly as it appears by the Catalogue that some of the Pictures had been recently obtained in the way of exchange. Again, it may have been sent, or taken, away by the King. In the MS. work of Richard Symonds,

(G.)

ERROR IN ATTRIBUTING TO CABOT THE WORK ENTITLED NAVIGATIONE NELLE

THERE has been universally referred to Sebastian Cabot a work entitled "Navigatione nelle parte settentrionale," published at Venice in 1583; and in the Catalogue of the Bodleian Library, it is actually announced under the title "Cabot." The Biographie Universelle, adverting to this circumstance, says, in seeming despair, that this work, unknown to all the bibliographers who had been consulted on the subject, is perhaps imaginary. An explanation may be given, though somewhat at the expense of the Biographie Universelle, and of the Bodleian Catalogue.

The work in question will be found in the second volume of Ramusio, (ed. of 1583 and of 1606, fol. 212.) In the Memoir of Camus on the Collection of De Bry and Thevenot, he takes occasion to furnish a list of the contents of Ramusio, and in his account (p. 10) of the second volume this tract is noticed as the 17th article. The Biographie Universelle cites this memoir, (art. Ramusio,) but of course it could not have been read attentively, or we should not have heard of the ineffectual enquiries amongst the biblicgraphers. The authenticity of the

(Harleian MSS. No. 991.) it is said, "The Committee at Somerset-house valued the King's pictures and other moveable goods at £200,000, notwithstanding that both himself and the Queen had carried away abundance." The painting in question, is not specially mentioned in a List of the Sales during the Protectorate, found in the Harleian MSS. No. 7352, though this is by no means decisive, as several of the entries are mere charges against individuals for "a picture," "two pictures," "three pictures," &c. (fol. 222, et seq.) Cabot's Portrait has recently been seen, in London, by the most eminent artists, and instantly recognised as a Holbein. However we may balance between probabilities as to its intermediate history, a doubt as to its identity with the picture referred to by Purchas, seems to involve not only the necessity of accounting for the disappearance of the latter, but also the extravagant supposition that two Portraits of Cabot, bearing the same remarkable inscription, were executed by the great Artist of his day.

* "Ce livre inconnu a tous les Bibliographes que nous avous consultés est peutetre imaginaire." (art. Cabot.)

work, wholly unknown to the bibliographers consulted by the Biographie Universelle, is discussed by Foscarini in his Literatura Veneziana, and by Tiraboschi in the Storia Della Literatura Italiana. They denounce the error of attributing it to Cabot, though not aware of its real history. Tiraboschi supposes it a translation of some work now lost.

The truth happens to be, that it is nothing more than the Journal of Stephen Burrough during his two voyages to the North-East, with an absurd introduction from some anonymous writer at Venice! The account of the incident at Gravesend which probably suggested to the Italian the name of Cabot is omitted, and the whole is disfigured, but the identity may at once be detected by comparing the closing paragraph of the article in Ramusio as to the first voyage (fol. 216) with the corresponding paragraph of the Journal of Stephen Burrough, (Hakluyt, vol, i, p. 283); and, again, the concluding paragraph of the second voyage (fol. 219) with the corresponding part in Hakluyt, vol. i. p.

295.

It is proper to remark that in the work of Ramusio, as published by himself, this tract is not to be found, but has been interpolated in the subsequent editions. The voyage, indeed, was not completed until after Ramusio's death. Yet this circumstance rather aggravates the charge against the Biographie Universelle. That work (art. Ramusio) earnestly advises the reader to consult Camus* in selecting a copy of Ramusio, and Camus, following the Books on Bibliography, specially recommends the perfidious editions. It is plain, therefore, that the remarks of the Biographie Universelle were made without consulting the guide which is recommended to the reader.

* An instance of the carelessness of this writer ought to be mentioned in justice to the Abbe Prevost. In the "Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France," by Charlevoix, (Ed. of 1744, tom. i. p. 100,) an account is given of the memorable expedition of Dominique de Gourgue to Florida, and use is made of a history of the expedition in the possession of the family of de Gourgue, drawn up by the chivalrous Commander himself. This statement is repeated by the Abbe Prevost, (Histoire Generale des Voyages, vol. xiv. p. 448, Paris Ed. in 4to.) with a reference, such as he had before given, to Charlevoix as the Historian of New France. Camus (p. 46) falls into the error of supposing that the reference of Prevost is to the old work of Lescarbot, and remarks, "Il cite pour garant de ce fait l'auteur de l'Histoire de la Nouvelle France; je n'ai pu l'y trouver au moins dans l'edition de 1609!" The document referred to by Charlevoix is yet in the possession of the Family, and the Viscount Gourgue was good enough recently, at the author's request, to permit the collation of it with a copy of the MS. Narrative in the King's Library at Paris, supposed to have been transmitted by Dominique de Gourgue to Charles IX.