MASONIC MEDALS.

[Continued from Vol. XXIII. p. 67.]

DCCLXXVI. Obverse, A radiant triangle with the sun in the centre; on the sides are AMITIE FRATERNITE BIENFAISANCE [Friendship, Fraternity, Benevolence]. The field is filled with rays; above is a cable-tow tied in seven love knots. In exergue, 5837. Reverse, Two branches of laurel crossed at the bottom, leaving a blank field above, for engraving a name; at the top of which, in two lines, RECOMPENSE | ACCORDEE AU F.. [Recompense awarded to Bro.] Legend around the whole, L.. CH.. EC.. DES AMIS BIENF.'. ET DES IMITA. D'OSIRIS REUNIS 1828. » [Chapitrale Scottish Lodge of Beneficent Friends and of the Imitators of Osiris united, 1828.] Bronze, octagonal, a loop at the top point. Size 23.

DCCLXXVII. Obverse, The All-seeing eye within the square and compasses which surmount formal rays filling the field. Legend, L'ALLIANCE FONDEE L'AN 5840. [The Lodge Alliance, founded in 1840. At the bottom, in small letters, F.. DEBLOND F. Reverse, A wreath formed by two branches of acacia, open at the top and tied at the bottom by a ribbon and bow, from which depend two small rings forming a figure 8; between the ends of the branches at the top, a blazing star of five points on which is the letter G. Within the wreath is the inscription in three lines, a space for engraving name between the first and second lines, the third curving upwards, AU F..] LA RECONNAISANTE [To Bro. the Lodge recognizing him as a member.] At the top of the planchet a small plate with knob and ring is attached. Silver. Size 19.

DCCLXXVIII. Obverse, A cross of Calvary with a crown of thorns hung upon the upper bar, and rays proceeding from the intersections of the arms below, at the right, a star formed by three triangles interlaced, enclosing a globe on which are three anchors and T. L. E. [which I take to signify Loge or La Triple Esperance]; on the left a radiant delta, on which is a radiant sun and the letters G. o. F. [Grand Orient of France] in a cypher; over the cross, curving, GLOIRE on the left and A DIEU on the right [Glory to God]; below, curving to conform to the circle which encloses the field, s. a. LE PC L. MURAT G.. M.. DE L'O.. [His Highness Prince Lucien Murat, Grand Master of the Order.] Legend above, GRAND ORIENT DE F.. TRIPLE ESPERANCE and below, FOI, ESPERANCE, CHARITE [Grand Orient of France, Threefold Hope : Faith, Hope, Charity.] Reverse, Inscription in twenty-one lines: A.'. L.'. G.'. | D.'. G.'. A.'. D.'. L.'. U.'. | PAR L'INITIATIVE ET LE DEVOUMENT (sic) | DU R.'. F.. DESCOMBES (No ANE MTARI AME) TRESORIER DU SENAT A PARIS | S.'. P.'. R.'. S.'. 32o delegue deS 4 AT.. DE | LA TRIPLE ESPERANCE, O.'. DU PORT

I As stated in note 142, the Lodge Amis Bienfaisance was chartered March 29, 1829. The Masonic year 1828 extended from April, A. D. 1828, to April, 1829, which explains the date on the reverse. There was a Lodge of the same name which dated from April 7, 1814, which seems to have become extinct. The Lodge Imitateurs d'Osiris was founded June 13, 1819. (See LXXVII.) I have not ascertained when the two Lodges united; the date 1837 like that of 1840, on CCXXX, may have some reference to the "reward" alluded to on

TAEL

the medal. Brethren who attended a certain number of meetings during the year received, in many of the French Lodges, "a medal of recompense." See note 402 and DCXVIII in my volume.

2 This Lodge is in Paris, and is numbered 70 under the Grand Council, A. and A. Rite of France, in Rebold's History. For an opportunity of examining this and several others heretofore undescribed, I am indebted to Mr. Ed. Frossard, of New York. I have never seen another impression.

LOUIS, MAURICE, S'INSPIRANT DES SENTIMENTS DES FF.. DE CES | AT.. REUNIS, UN SERVICE SOLENNEL A ETE CELEBRE | A NOTRE DAME DE PARIS, LE 20 JUILLET 1858, | a.'. D.'. AVEC L'APPROBATION DE S.. E.. LE CARD.'. MORLOT, | ARCH.'. DE PARIS POUR LE REPOS DES AMES DES RR.'. FF.". | LECHELLE (L2 Ma Ja BTE), CHENAUX (C), DUVERGER (L), | PENARD JS PRE) & CHEPAULT BERICHON (R GEL), DE LA TRIPLE ESPERANCE & LA FONTAN & | CESERI, DE LA PAIX, O.'. DE MAURICE DECEDES AU PORT LOUIS ET AUXQUELS | L'EVEQUE CATHOLIQUE DE CET O.. AVAIT | REFUSE LES PRIERES FUNEBRES | A CAUSE DE LEUR QUALITE DE | F.. M.'. | L.`. E.'. T.'. [To the glory of the Grand Master of the Universe. By the suggestion and devotion of Res. Bro. Descombes (Jean Antoine Martial Aime), Treasurer of the Senate, Paris, Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret, 32d degree, delegate of the four bodies of Threefold Hope, Orient of Port Louis, Isle of Mauritius, inspired with the sentiments of these united bodies, a solemn service was celebrated at Notre Dame, Paris, on the 20th July, A. D. 1858, with the approbation of his Eminence, Cardinal Morlot, Archbishop of Paris, for the repose of the souls of Res. Bros. Lechelle, (Louis Marie Jean Baptiste), Chenaux (Ce.), Duverger (Louis), Penard (Jacques Pierre), and Chepault Berichon (Re. Gel.), of The Threefold Hope, and La Fontan and Ceseri, of the Lodge Peace, Órient of the Isle of Mauritius, who died at Port Louis, and to whom the Roman Catholic Bishop of that Orient had refused funeral prayers because of their being Freemasons] Bronze. Size 30.

DCCLXXIX. Obverse, The obverse of the Medal of "Recompense" of the Grand Orient of France - the serpent ring enclosing a radiant delta, etc., as described under DLXXXVII. Reverse, A close wreath of acacia and oak as on the reverse of the same Medal. (See cut, Plate XVII, but the leaves are much thinner than as drawn for the engraving, which was reproduced from Ephemerides). The wreath encloses the inscription, (which was struck,) in eleven lines, MEDAILLE D'HONNEUR | DECERNEE | AU R.'. F.'. DESCOMBES JN ANTE MARAL AIME | TRESORIER DU SENAT A PARIS | S.'. P.'. R.'. S.'. 32 DELEGUE DES RR.'. Atel.. | DE LA TRIPLE ESPERANCE | O.. DE PORT-LOUIS (ILE MAURICE) LE 31 MAI | 1860. [Medal of Honor decreed to Worshipful Brother Jean Antoine Martial Aime Descombes, Treasurer of the Senate, Paris, Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret, 32d degree, delegate from the bodies of the Regular Lodge of Threefold Hope, Orient of Port-Louis, (Isle of Mauritius,) May 31, 1860.] Legend, outside the wreath, S. A. LE PRINCE LUCIEN MURAT, G.. M.. DE L'ORDRE [His Highness Prince Lucien Murat, Grand Master of the Order. A five-pointed star at the bottom between the stems of the wreath. Bronze. Size 28.

DCCLXXX. The square and compasses enclosing a gavel and trowel crossed, all surrounded by a circle of dots, outside of which the legend, above,

I I am obliged to omit the accents in the French inscription. Rebold, in his History of the Grand Orient of France (1864), p. 303, says that a circular letter was issued by order of Prince Murat, on the 16th of July, 1858, calling on all the Lodges of the Grand Orient of France in Paris and its immediate neighborhood, to attend a Funeral service in the Church of Notre Dame, on the Sunday following, for the repose of the souls of ten brethren who had died in the Isle of Mauritius, and been refused Christian burial by their Bishop because they were Freemasons; the medal seems to name but seven; and it is very likely that the names abbreviated

HEROS.. DE.. L'HUMANITE, and below, LOG.. 147..Reverse, A circle of dots surrounds the inscription in three lines, JETON | DE | PRESENCE. Legend, above, O TRAVAIL O and below, PERSEVERANCE [Labor and Perseverance.]' Brass, octagonal. Size 16.

[To be continued.]

W. T. R. MARVIN.

RECENT ACCESSIONS TO THE MINT CABINET.

To the Editors of the Fournal:

I promised you some time ago to "keep you posted" in relation to the additions of coins and medals to the U. S. Mint Cabinet. The Roman Medals proved too great a demand on my time and it was a thing that could not be condensed; besides, they had been in the cabinet for some months already. I send you, however, a short list of Japanese medals received some weeks ago from the Imperial Mint at Osaka, which were sent to Superintendent Fox in return for official courtesies shown Imperial Commissioner Hasegawa when he visited this mint officially in 1886; as well as in the way of exchange of courtesies for a collection of medals sent the Imperial Mint by Superintendent Fox. Without pretending to send you an artistic list of the medals, I simply enclose a copy of the titles and purposes for which they were awarded.

1. Dragon Prize Medal (1st Class), National Industrial Exhibition, Tokio 1877.

66

66

Prize Medal for Improvement,

2d
3d

3.

Flower

4.

for Merit,

for Skill,

Fishery Exhibition, Tokio, 1883.

1st Class Local Industrial Exhibition, Sendai, 1888.

The above were accompanied by four photographs of the Imperial Mint at Osaka.

U. S. Mint, Philadelphia.

Very respectfully,

A NEW WASHINGTON MEDAL.

M. F. LOBO.

THE Messrs. Chapman have just published a new Washington Medal as described below, which commemorates the Centennial of his inauguration.

Obverse, Head of Washington to left; above, GEORGE WASHINGTON, and below,
INAUGURATED APRIL 30TH, 1789.

FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Reverse, The sun surrounded by a circle of thirteen stars, enclosed in an endless chain of thirteen links, each bearing the initials of one of the original States; outside of these is the inscription, CENTENNIAL OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 30TH, 1889; around are forty-two stars representing the number of States now in the Union. Size 34.

The portrait is by the late C. C. Wright, and though never before published, it is said to be his finest work, and the best reproduction on a medal of the original bust by Houdon.

I The Lodge Les Héros de L'Humanité, number 147, was of Paris, and placed itself under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council in 1857, which numbered its bodies.

(Rebold's History of the Three Grand Lodges, etc. Paris, 1864.)

NOTES AND QUERIES.

PAPAL MEDALS. RADIATED EFFIGY OF PIUS V.

Ar the Loan Exhibition at South Kensington, London, in 1869, was exhibited a large Sixteenth Century Italian Medallion, in bronze, of Pius V, inscribed "Bea. Pius. V. P. O. M. Creatus. Die. 1. Januar. 1565," with rays, like a glory, round the head of that Pontiff. This seems to me to be a rarity in treatment, as I can recollect no other medal so radiated; and in coins I can remember only some examples of Rhodes, bearing the head of the Sun-god, with rays proceeding therefrom. I would like to be referred to other instances, and request information on the point alluded to.

MARDI GRAS MEDAL.

W. T. N.

SOME years ago I came across and examined a silver medal, of which the following is a description: Obv. Eight figures of harlequins, scaramouches, etc., four being placed on the steps of the platform. Legend, "Carouselle Comique le Mardi Gras 1722." Rev. The Place du Carousel and four rows of figures on pedestals; barriers, but no spectators. Artist's initials H. P. G. This is the only example I have seen touching Mardi Gras festivities at, I presume, Paris.

them?

MEDALS OF ROBERT FULTON.

W. T. N.

WILL any of your readers give a description of the medals of Robert Fulton, known to

Our friend, Mr. C. P. Nichols, favors us with the following reply to the above.
Two in my collection are as follows:

B. C. F.

Obv. A steamboat flying the American flag. Rev. "Sacred to the memory of Robert Fulton, one of the most illustrious benefactors of mankind." Size 34. In tin, very rare. Any matter relating to this medal will be gladly received.

Obv. Bust of Robert Fulton at three-quarters face, "Robert Fulton, Born 1765, Died 1815." Rev. View of the first steamboat on the Hudson; within a wreath of thirteen stars, "Steam Navigation was first establisd in the United States, on the Hudson River 1807." Alfred S. Robinson's Historical Series. Copper. Size 22. This medal was struck about 1860.

MEDALS DEPOSITED IN FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDINGS.

SOME little time ago, in a Note upon the building of the Church of S. Maria dei Miracoli at Venice, in the Fifteenth Century, I asked for information as to early instances of the practice mentioned in the heading. I am now able myself to furnish an example, apparently, in the case of the Basilica of Constantine at Rome, as I gather from the following:

"This Basilica was built by Maxentius (reigned 306-312 A. D.), though dedicated to Constantine, as proved by the discovery in 1828, of a silver medal within a mass of fallen masonry, the head and name of Maxentius on the face; on the reverse that emperor's temple of Rome, with the epigraph CONSERV: URB: SUO. Aurelian Victor mentions the dedication by the Senate to Constantine. The dilapidation of the Basilica commenced by the earthquake of A. D. 1349, described by Petrarch."

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES AT OSTIA.

W. T. N.

SOME important inscribed marbles just found at Ostia prove beyond doubt that the building now being excavated was a station of the Roman vigiles. The last record of vigiles in England was found at Chester a short time ago. Prince Torlonia has undertaken fresh excavations on his property at Canino, the necropolis of ancient Vulci. The works have already brought to light several indications of an architectural character. Veii is also yielding just now a rich harvest of fictile votive records.

EIFFEL TOWER MEDAL.

THE municipality of Paris, apparently anxious to associate itself with that taste which gave birth to the Eiffel Tower, and by way of rebuking the famous artist who remonstrated against its erection, has caused to be struck a medal of large size, bearing on the obverse the effigies of that edifice, and on the reverse the arms of the metropolis to which, since the days of Louis XIV, Europe has looked as a sort of focus of artistic genius, wisdom and skill. To each of the workmen employed an impression in silver of this medal is to be given.

TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIES.

BOSTON NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.

Jan. 11, 1889. Mr. Parmelee exhibited several coins of extreme rarity; among them were several of the Confederatio and New York series, the varieties being those represented in Crosby's Early Coins of America, Plate VII, Nos. 10, 12, 13, 14, 14a, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24, the silver pattern Fugio, Plate VII, No. 1, and one in gold from the same obverse die, but the reverse differing from that of the silver piece in having WE ARE ONE in the centre, and UNITED • STATES* upon the star enclosing the central field; the set of silver Nova Constellatio patterns shown on Plate VIII, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, and also a smaller piece evidently belonging to the same set, of the same general design but about the size of a dime, and having in the centre of the reverse, U. S. over 1.00, the only known set of these pieces; three different varieties of the Non Vi Virtute Vici, two of which were of the same design as that represented on Plate VIII, No. 4, but from different dies; the third from the same obverse die as that one of the others which has the legend NON VI VIRTUTE VICI (not that shown upon the plate), but the reverse from one of the New Jersey reverse dies; also, several specimens of the copper Nova Constellatio series, and a Centennial Medal. See Journal, Vol. XII, No. 2; Holland's List of Medals, No. 81.

Feb. 8. Mr. Parmelee exhibited the two rare New Jersey pieces having the date 1786 under the beam of the plow. These pieces differ but little except in the size of the figures of the date and the punctuation of the legend, one having none, the other ending with a period. The first of these (not punctuated), No. 17, is shown on Plate VI, Early Coins, and both on Maris's plate of New Jersey Coins, Nos. 7 and 8. S. S. CROSBY, Secretarypro tem.

AMERICAN NUMISMATIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. THE regular meetings of this prosperous Society have been held as usual during the winter, with increasing numbers on its roll of members, and also with an increased interest in its proceedings and objects. The plan of "Numismatic Meetings," so happily suggested a few years ago, by some of its most active members, has been continued, and the papers read at these meetings have been carefully prepared, valuable and instructive. One of the earlier papers appeared in our last issue; another will be found in this. Those read in 1887-8 have been printed with the other proceedings in a handsome pamphlet of 56 pages, in uniform style with those of previous years, and we have read them with much pleasure. For an advance copy, as well as for former favors of the same character, we are indebted to the kindness of the Secretary, H. Russell Drowne, Esq.

ARCHAEOLOGY.

RELICS OF THE CLIFF DWELLERS.

MR. FREDERICK SCHWATKA has been visiting some of the ruined abodes of the "cliffdwellers" whose home was formerly in Northern Chihuahua, Mexico, and has written a very interesting account of his discoveries to the Transcript, in which a new theory is advanced to account for the destruction of this singular people. We make some extracts from his letter below.

One of the interesting peculiarities of the numerous ruins in Northwestern Chihuahua indicating a once dense population living off the soil, is the way that most of them met their fate. When a ruined house is dug into, all the skeletons of its occupants are found in what might be termed the combined kitchen and dining-room-for these two rooms were in one- and always near a fireplace. The postures of these skeletons are as various as it is possible for the human body to assume. They are found kneeling, stretched out, sometimes with their locked hands over their heads, on their sides, and again with their children in their arms, no two being alike, at least in the same house or series of houses where they were united into a pueblo. Now, in the whole study of sepulture it has been