MURILLO was born at Magdalena, near Seville, on the first day of January, 1618, and died on the third of April, 1682. He was buried in the church of Santa Cruz at Seville. The immediate cause of his death, although he had long been worn out by the anguish of his infirmities, was a fall from a scaffold while he was painting the Marriage of Saint Catharine for the Convent of Capuchins at Cadiz. Notwithstanding the many pictures which he painted, he died possessed of only a few rials, and some property which he had acquired by his wife.
GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.--We would respectfully ask the reader's attention to the advertisement of the '_Knickerbocker Library_,' on the second page of the cover of the present number. 'Our best exertions shall not be wanting' to make the series all that the publishers hope for it. That the _matériel_ is good, our readers, we think, need not be informed. The plan has been cordially welcomed by the press, with a single exception; and in that, the _quo animo_ was so apparent as to neutralize the slur intended by the writer. We shall be enabled to secure the earliest literary rarities on both sides of the water for the 'Knickerbocker Library,' and the style in which they will be presented will be unsurpassed. · · · WE lament in the recent death of WILLIS GAYLORD, the loss of a beloved relative, who was our elder companion in childhood and youth, and our faithful friend and correspondent, to the close of his useful and honored life. Mr. GAYLORD died at his beautiful residence of Limerock Farm, Onondaga county, on the 27th ultimo, after a brief illness. 'Few men,' says the _Albany Argus_, 'were better known throughout the agricultural community than Mr. GAYLORD. He was for many years one of the editors of 'The Genesee Farmer,' and since the death of Judge Buel, has been the senior editor of 'The Cultivator.' As an agricultural writer, it is not too much to say, that his equal is not left to mourn his loss. He was also favorably known by his contributions to our literary and scientific journals. He was distinguished as a warm-hearted philanthropist, and few men have more largely benefitted the community by their labors. His social virtues endeared him warmly to all by whom he was known. In the pathetic language of one by whom the intelligence of his death is communicated, he was truly 'the friend of the farmer--the friend of humanity.' We have the proceedings of a meeting of the New-York Agricultural Society, held in the State-House at Albany, on receiving the intelligence of the death of Mr. GAYLORD. The President, JOHN P. BEEKMAN, Esq., of Columbia county, passed a high and deserved eulogium upon the character of the deceased. 'The judgment of every intelligent farmer in the State,' he observed, 'will respond to the assertion that to no man whatever, excepting perhaps Judge BUEL, is the agriculture of the State more indebted than to Mr. GAYLORD. For myself, I can declare in all sincerity that there is no man whose writings caused within me a greater desire to be honored with a personal acquaintance. The character of WILLIS GAYLORD was in all respects what might be expected from his writings; benevolent, enlightened, elevated; yet plain, practical, unassuming. Every day of his useful life was marked, not merely by the exercise of his versatile talents on the multifarious subjects embraced by agriculture and the domestic arts, but by the acquisition and promulgation of knowledge in the wide range of science.' He was cordially esteemed by all who knew him; he had not an enemy in the world. Hon. CALVIN HUBBARD, of the Legislature, offered resolutions in testimony of the deep regret which the death of Mr. GAYLORD had created in the public mind, copies of which were ordered to be transmitted to the relatives of the deceased; after which, as a token of respect to his memory, the meeting was adjourned. 'A scholar, a gentleman, a christian, a friend of man, Mr. GAYLORD lived universally beloved, and died universally lamented.' · · · IT has been assumed lately by certain of the political and financial enemies of the late NICHOLAS BIDDLE, Esq.,--an accomplished gentleman and scholar, whose pen has often entertained and instructed the readers of this Magazine--that he had little power of style, and that his intellectual rôle was a limited one. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That point however we are not now to discuss. We merely wish to ask the reader's attention to the subjoined remarks of Mr. BIDDLE upon the besetting sin of our American style, oral as well as written: 'A crude abundance is the disease of our American style. On the commonest topic of business, a speech swells into a declamation--an official statement grows to a dissertation.