_Satirical Medal._--I possess a medal whose history I should be glad to
know. It is apparently of silver, though not ringing as such, and about an
inch and a quarter in diameter. On the obverse are two figures in the
long-waisted, full-skirted coats, cavalier hats, and full-bottomed wigs of,
I presume, Louis XIV.'s time. Both wear swords; one, exhibiting the most
developed wig of the two, offers a snuff-box, from which the other has
accepted a pinch, and fillips it into his companion's eyes. The legend is
"Faites-vous cela pour m'affronter?"
The mitigated heroism of this _query_ seems to be _noted_ on the reverse,
which presents a man digging in the ground, an operation in which he must
be somewhat hampered by a lantern in his left hand; superfluous one would
deem (but for the authority of Diogenes), as the sun is shining above his
head in full splendour. The digger's opinion, that the two combined are not
more than the case requires, is conveyed in the legend,--
"Je cherche du courage pour mon maistre."
The finding was curious. On cutting down an ash-tree in the neighbourhood
of Linton, Cambridgeshire, in 1818, a knob on its trunk was lopped off, and
this medal discovered in its core! It was probably the cause of the
excrescence, having been, perhaps, thrust under the bark to escape the
danger of its apparently political allusion. The Linton carrier purchased
it for half-a-crown, and from him it passed in 1820 into hands whence it
devolved to me.
Is anything known of this medal, or are any other specimens of it extant? I
pretend to no numismatic skill, but to an unlearned mind it would seem to
contain allusion to the insult which Charles II. and his government were
supposed to submit to from Louis XIV.; to be, in fact, a sort of metallic
HB.
Some friend, I forget who, pronounced the workmanship Dutch, which would, I
think, favour the above theory. The figures are in bold and prominent
relief, but to a certain degree rounded by wear, having been evidently
carried in the pocket for a considerable time.