594 
quired some courage to inspect it ; 
happily it was found not damaged. 
The commissaries of the Duke 
of Tuscany, having sent off the 
Venus, laid their hands on the 
Madonna della Seggia. 
This beautiful production of 
Raphael is one of the few pictures 
that have suffered from their re- 
‘sidence at Paris; though it is 
difficult to decide whether this 
picture was injured, because in 
Italy it was covered with a glass, 
and the evaporation of the oil 
could not freely circulate, or if a 
glacis has been taken off at Paris 
in cleaning the picture.. The 
seizure of the objects which made 
part of the price of the treaty of 
Tolentino, consummated the de- 
struction of the Museum, so that 
there does not remain above a 
twentieth part of the pictures. 
The Spaniards claimed their 
share in this general distribution, 
and succeeded better than they 
had done in their purpose of in- 
vasion ; of which it appears, that 
the principal motive was that of 
obtaining new clothes, since they 
had heard, with some envy, that 
almost all the troops of Europe 
had made their toilette at the ex - 
pense of France. 
In the latter times of Buona- 
parte, in the year 1814, an exhi- 
bition had been made of the sub- 
jects of the Spanish school; of 
the Italian, before the time of 
Raphael ; and of the German 
school. Some French marshals 
to please their master, had sent 
their. Morellos to swell this ex- 
hibition; which pieces had, by 
chance, been left during the 
reign of the Bourbons, the short 
invasion of Buonaparte, and so the 
present period. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1815. 
The Spanish ambassador would 
not have demanded the Morellos, 
had they remained in the houses 
of those who had taken them ; 
but as he found them collected in 
an exhibition, he took advantage 
of the negligence of their fresh 
owners, and sent them back into 
Spain. 
And lastly presented themselves 
the commissaries of the King of 
Sardinia. They came at an un- 
lucky moment. The Austrian 
guard at the Museum had been 
called away to assist in the re- 
moval of the horses at the Tuile- 
ries. The guardians of the Mu- 
seum, raised into indignation at 
the attack of these new commis- 
saries, collected their forces, con- 
sisting of numerous workmen, 
and with brush and broom swept 
the Sardinians out of the gallery. 
Extract from a Report published by 
order of the House of Commons, 
on the subject of Mendicity in the 
Metropolis. 
Mr. William Hale, called in, 
and examined. 
Where do you reside ?—I am a 
silk manufucturerin Wood street, 
Spitalfields. 
Have the goodness to state to 
the Committee, whether the pur- 
suit of those objects, in which 
you have taken a part, has led 
you to any information as to the 
state of mendicity ?—I have al- 
ways been led to consider, that 
the distressed poor I have felt it - 
my duty to attend to and relieve 
in time of distress, were of a 
very different. class from those 
who get their livelihood by beg- 
ging. Ido not believe there is 
one case in a hundred of men- 
dicity, where the object applying 
