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tious of the self-styled Knights were Whig (at that period the party in opposition to the Democrats or loco-focos"), or were favorable to a movement then beginning to make itself known, which later formed the Native American party, or whether as is not impossible, the Society had private ends, we are unable to say. We shall be glad of any information on the history of

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In a Catalogue recently sent me by an English correspondent, and published by Messrs. W. S. Lincoln & Son, of London, is the following:

Fort William College. Obv. Curious Indian buildings, boat and palm trees. Legend, REDIT. A. NOBIS. AURORA. DIEMQUE. REDUCIT. IV. MAY. MDCCC. Rev. Within a wreath the inscription, HONORARY. MEDAL. COLLEGE. OF. FORT. WILLIAM. FEBY. VI. MDCCCXI. Size 13. [Mionnet, or about 30, American scale.] Gold. Rare. From the "Indian" allusion I am led to ask what this piece is. Can you inform me? It is too late a date to appear in Hawkins, Franks and Grueber's Medallic Illustrations.

J. C. L.

Fort William is, or was, one of the largest and strongest fortresses in British India, and was constructed by Lord Clive in 1757, for the defence of Calcutta. Fort William College was founded at that place by the Honorable East India Company, for the benefit of the members of the Company's civil service, and took its name from the fort, which in turn was perhaps named for William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, who was Secretary of State, having supreme direction of the war at this period, when his fame was raised to the highest pitch by a succession of victories in Canada, India and Europe. To what the dates refer we have not ascertained, but very likely the earlier one is that of the foundation of the College, and the other may be that of an award of the medal. The obverse legend is from the Georgics of Vergil (1249). — Eds.

OBITUARY.

NICOLAS JOSEPH JULES ROUYER.

Ir is with great regret that we find in the last number of the Revue Belge de Numismatique a notice of the death of M. Rouyer, a distinguished Numismatist of France, which occurred at Thiaucourt, on the 10th of February last. He was born at Carvin, Pas-de-Calais, December 17, 1820, and in early manhood devoted himself to the study of the science, among the leading spirits of which he at once took a prominent place. His first publication appeared in 1844, and he gave special attention to the monetary history and coins of Tournai and of the Low Countries. The interesting series of medieval jetons and the quaint mereaux of these and neighboring countries were discussed by him in a number of essays, and his History of the Jetons. of the Middle Ages, published with the aid of M. Hucher, in 1858, of which only the first volume was printed, remains to this day as one of the leading authorities on this subject. An interesting article from his pen on one of the curious pieces of the Bishops of the Innocents, which bears a singular rebus, appeared in the Journal for October last, translated especially for us, and it has excited so much interest that another translation from an article on "The Name of Jesus, and the Sacred Monogram on Pieces of the Fifteenth Century," which he contributed not long ago to the Revue Belge, is in preparation for our next volume. Another and more extended paper, which appeared in that magazine in 1893-94-95, on the works of Nicholas

Briot and more particularly his jetons, has received high commendation. He held at one time the office of Directeur departmental des Postes; he was a Knight of the Order of Leopold of Belgium, and a member of many of the leading numismatic and antiquarian societies abroad. Only a few days before his lamented death he presented to the Bibliothèque Nationale of France, a splendid collection of nearly 5,000 historical and medieval jetons, dating from the thirteenth century; this is probably the most complete cabinet of these pieces ever assembled. The announcement of this legacy was made to the Academy of Inscriptions at their meeting on the week following his death, by M. Ernest Babelon, who paid a eulogistic tribute to his memory, which is printed in the Chronique of the current number of the Revue Numismatique of Paris. His death inflicts an irreparable loss upon the science.

ALFRED VON SALLET.

Alfred von SALLET, Honorary Member of the Berlin Numismatic Society, died at Berlin, Germany, on the 25th of November last. He was the son of the poet Frederic von Sallet, and the last survivor of an old Lithuanian family. Born 19 July, 1842, at Reichau, Silesia, he early gave evidence of his ability and skill as a numismatist, so that when only twenty-eight years old he was appointed assistant to the distinguished Friedländer, then Director of the Medallic Department of the Royal Cabinet at Berlin. At that time the Cabinet was of comparatively small importance, but by the zealous efforts of these two eminent scholars, it was raised to its present position, ranking as one of the best in the world, and very rich not only in ancient coins but in medieval thalers and artistic medals as well. On the death of Friedländer in 1884, he succeeded him as Director. He was a frequent contributor of numismatic papers to the Zeitschrift fur Numismatik, nearly every one of the twenty volumes of that leading journal (which he founded) containing articles from his pen, a list of which will be found in the last number of the Rivista Italiana di Numismatica (pp. 132-135). His "Numismatic History of the Kings of the Cimmerian Bosphorus and Pontus," which he published in 1869, was his first work of importance and won for him his doctorate. Another was devoted to the "Princes of Palmyra under Gallienus, Claudius and Aurelian," and he subsequently prepared a descriptive catalogue of the ancient coins in the Royal Cabinet at Berlin - a work which his early death prevented him from completing. Two volumes of the latter work were issued in 1888 and 1889.

As Hermann Dannenberg says in an appreciative tribute to his memory in our contemporary the Revue Belge de Numismatique, "he was a true and worthy priest in the temple of Juno Moneta, and his memory will long be cherished by the lovers of the science," a sentiment which will be cordially echoed by those Americans who are familiar with his scholarly labors.

W. T. R. M.

During the last few months an unusual number of deaths among prominent numismatists have been recorded. In addition to those mentioned above, M. Svoronos, of Athens, Greece, has furnished to the Revue Numismatique (Paris), a tribute to the memory of his associate, M. Achille Dem. Portolaccas, whose death occurred on the 25th of August last, at the age of seventy-six. For thirty years he was connected with the National Numismatic Museum, at Athens, to which he rendered a service similar to that given by Von Sallet to the Royal Cabinet at Berlin,

raising it from a merely nominal existence to its present importance, and he published numerous articles of value, describing its acquisitions, some of which have been noticed in this Journal.

We also note with regret the death of Dr. George W. Massamore, of Baltimore, who for the last thirteen years has been a Corresponding Member of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society of New York, and whose name was well known to collectors.

EDITORIAL.

THE FIELD OF THE JOURNAL.

As the present number completes another volume of the Journal, which has now become the oldest American magazine exclusively devoted to the science, having been published without intermission for thirty-two years, the Editors take this opportunity to extend thanks to the friends who have, during the year now closing, given us so great assistance in its conduct. We have been able to illustrate the magazine more freely than ever before, and thus have given to collectors engravings of a number of rare and undescribed pieces. We have had the pleasure of welcoming a number of new contributors to its pages, among them several gentlemen whose reputation on the other side of the ocean places them in the front rank of numismatic authorities; and we have the promise that during the coming year, articles of a similar character will be furnished us.

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Opportunities for the fascinating study of ancient coins are lacking to most American students; we have in this country no such collections as those which adorn the British Museum, the Royal Cabinet at Berlin, the National Cabinet in Paris, and others of similar rank; nor have we the endowments in our municipal Museums of Art and those under the patronage of the National Government, which might enable them to secure the aid of such eminent scholars as Dr. Head and Mr. Grueber of the British Museum, the lamented Von Sallet of Berlin, of Svoronos of Athens, of Babelon and his associates of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, and others whose names have given lustre to the departments over which they preside, whose labors we would gladly emulate: for the present, therefore, it is hopeless to expect that our scholars can engage in the discussion of the origin and meaning of the types which appear on the old Greek and Roman coins that from time to time are brought to light in the old world, the origin of the coins themselves, or the interesting historical questions which are constantly arising from these and similar sources, and we can only accept with gratitude the fruits of their labors, while we congratulate them on the privileges which are denied to us. Let us hope that the increase of wealth and a higher culture will at no distant day provide us with equal privileges. American archaeologists have been quick to take advantage of their opportunities, in classic lands, and have achieved results of which we may well be proud, and in time, we believe a similar spirit will be found among our numismatists.

But the field of investigation in which we can employ ourselves must, for the present, have different boundaries; the historical and local medals struck to commemorate various events of interest, though many may be sadly lacking in artistic skill, have a peculiar value, and the day will come when our successors will turn to them as way-marks in our development; it has been our aim to garner up in the Journal, as far as may be possible, accounts of medals of this character which are constantly coming to light, and especially those relating to our early history, giving such information concerning their origin as will be valuable hereafter, when a complete medallic history of American pieces shall be compiled. To this end we shall always welcome contributions from those who may possess medals not hitherto described, that will perfect this list. If it had been possible to preserve such a record of British Medals, the

splendid Medallic Illustrations of British History, compiled by Messrs. Hawkins, Franks and Grueber, abounding in information nowhere else accessible, would no doubt have contained many more descriptions and references to events of local importance, now forgotten, with other items of historic value, which give vivacity to the story of a past, in which Americans have a hereditary share.

To quote the thought of a recent writer, we may say, that while the marvelous discoveries at Tiryns and Delphi, and the wonderful successes which have attended the various excavations in Hellas, have permitted the nations of Western Europe, not without cordial cooperation from the scholars of this country, to reveal to the Greeks the hidden treasures of their soil, and to enrich the Museum at Athens with admirable works of art, — surely one of the glories of modern science-yet we in America ought not to neglect the problems which present themselves to our numismatists, however limited our opportunities. What this Journal has already done towards supplying information, through descriptions of contemporaneous medals, concerning Colonial history, may be learned from an inspection of the volume on that subject by the late Mr. C. Wyllys Betts, with its constant references to our pages; and from the papers, more or less extended, which have been furnished us by the late Mr. Brevoort, and Mr. Parsons, by Mr. MacLachlan and others well known to our readers, on kindred topics; while its descriptive lists of medals of a more general character, its papers on Alchemical Medals by Prof. Bolton, on the Medals of Comets, by the late Mr. Walter, and others not necessary to mention here, have gained for the Journal most friendly notice abroad.

Something of what can be further done in this direction for America may be seen in the recent contributions to this magazine by Mr. Betts and the late Dr. Bastow; it is a matter of profound regret that the work the latter was doing for Mexican numismatics should have been brought to a close by his untimely death. Only a few weeks before the information of his decease reached us, he had written us concerning the satisfactory progress he was making in a monograph on that subject, of which some three hundred pages of manuscript had been completed, and expressed the hope that his sojourn in the City of Mexico would enable him to make further researches in the archives of the early mints in that city and neighboring points, where many Proclamation pieces were issued during the days of Spanish supremacy, and where so great a variety of coins were struck.

The exhaustive work done for Brazil by Julius Meili, so magnificently illustrated, shows what can be accomplished for South America, and in time no doubt, the countries of the western coast, having a numismatic history nearly or quite as old as that of Mexico, will doubtless receive similar attention.

While, therefore, the subject of American numismatics lacks the charm, we might almost say the romantic attractiveness which invests the study of ancient coins, it is still worthy of careful and patient attention, and it will be the constant aim of the conductors of the Journal to promote it, by every means in their power. May we not rely on the cordial coöperation of our friends to aid us in this, by extending our circulation, and especially by calling the atten. tion of Public Libraries to the magazine, that thereby a wider knowledge of a science which has so close a relation to our history may be diffused?

"LA FIDELE MACONNE."

MONS. POTIER, who is well versed in French Masonics, writes us that the Lodge which struck DCXLVI, described in the January issue, never worked the androgynous degrees, nor did it ever have any connection with the "Mopses," a pseudo-masonic body, which used the mops or pug-dog as its symbol. The dog on the medal is simply used as an emblem of fidelity.

THE French authorities have decided, as we learn from an English paper, to omit hereafter the inscription on their coins, which since the days of the Consulate has been Dieu protége La France.

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