Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, BY HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. MY DEAR FRIEND,— To the Pacha. In making you the Pacha of two tales, I confess with the Syrians, that a friend is fairer than the roses of Damascus, and more costly than the pearls of Omman. You, of all men, will not be surprised by these pages, for you shared with me the fascination of novelty in those eldest lands, which interpreted to us both that pleasant story of Raphael. When his friend, Marc Antonio, discovered him engaged upon the Sistine picture and exclaimed, -"Cospetto! another Madonna ?” Raphael gravely answered, "Amico mio, my friend, were all artists to paint her portrait forever, they could never exhaust her beauty." NEW YORK, March, 1852. |