Sessional papers online

and that his Lordship wiU take measures that they
should reach his Bavarian Majesty's hands.
** I have the honour to be. Sir,

" Your most obedient humble servant,




" Attached to H. M. Legation.'*

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A CASE CONTAINING 120 BRONZCO MEDALS
or GREAT AND LEARNED MEN.



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443

(Copy.) 1880.

** Le Ministre d'Etat, Comte d'Armansperg, a
rhonneur de prevenir Sa Seigneurie Lord Erskine, En-
Yoye Extraordinaire et Ministre Plenipotentiaire de S.
M. Britannique que Sa Majeste le Roi a agr^e la de-
mande que lui a exprim^e M. Edouard Thomason, de
Birmingham, et recevra done, avee plaisir, la collection
de medailles dont il veut lui faire hommage.

" Le Comte d' Armansperg, en priant Sa Seigneurie de
youloir bien en informer Mons. Thomason, a Thonneur
de lui r^ster^r les assurances de sa haute consideration.

** Munich, le 23 Novembre, 1830/*



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REMARKS UPON THE BIBLE,



THE SERIES OF MEDALS.



1830. Mt artists in die engraving had, during the two years of
1827 stnd 1828, been employed in sinking or engraving
thiriy-two large size medal dies, each three inches in
diameter, containing a condensed history of most of the
sciences, as already noticed; during which period I
observed that they had perfected the difficult art of
sinking words, sentences, and letters and figures — an
art never before properly attained, and attended with
success solely by the positive necessity of the thirty-two
dies being covered with lengthened tables and calcula-
tions, essential to the explanation of the work ; for it is
weU known that medals rarely contain more letters and
numerical figures than what are put in the legend and
the exergue.

The study of these sciences, or philosophical truths,
led my mind to deductions both moral and religious, and
awakened in me those devotional feelings which com-
bine pious sentiments with enlightened views. Science
affords the means to interpret and unfold the works of
Nature, to illustrate the wisdom and glory of the Cre-
ator, and to inspire us with the most exalted sentiments.
The dif^ion of general science attaches the mind to
thoughts divine, and to the principles which lead to



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THE MOLTEN SEA OF SOLOMON, WiTH A COPY QF AARONS ROD
MADE SUBSERVIENT FOR THE INKSTAND,
DURING THE PERIOD OF WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE.



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445

salvation, which is ultimately drawn from the Bible 1830.
itself because the most important intention of the Bible
is — to make men ** wise unto scUvaiionJ*

Miles Coverdale, in the year 1535, first printed a
complete translation of the Holy Scriptures in the Eng-
lish language, and dedicated his work to Henry the
Eighth. This was a happy present to Great Britain,
for it strengthened people in their faith on the blessed
promises of the Gospel : it inspired them with zeal in
the fulfilment of their relative duties, with integrity in
their dealings, and with a spirit of kindness to all
mankind.

It appeared to me, in 1827> that I might, through
God's assistance, become a humble instrument to efiect
a unique and novel medallic work to further and pro-
mote the glpry of God, by impressing the Word of God
upon gold, silver, and other indestructible metab, with
emblematical and symbolical designs, and with a short
condensed explanation on the reverses of the medals,
and thereby be the first author of a Medallic Bible.

In this feeling my heart rejoiced : my soul was wil-
ling, but my flesh was weak, and I prayed unto the Lord
to give me grace and strength of mind to accomplish
so arduous an undertaking, in the following morning
prayer.

<* Almighty God, the giver of all good things, with-
out whose help all labour is ineffectual, and without
whose grace wisdom is folly, grant, I beseech Thee,
that, in this undertaking. Thy Holy Spirit may not be
withheld from me, but that I may promote Thy glory,
and the salvation of myself and others. Grant this, O
Lord, for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our blessed
Saviour and Redeemer. Amen."



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446

1830. I first applied myself in reading over the sacred
Tolome of the Bible, the authority of which is received
by inspiration from God, and universally admitted. I
found, after taking down copious notes, that I should be
unable, by the most condensed arrangements, to produce
a tolerably continuous, or even contracted, development
under a less number than sixty of the largest size
medals, each being three inches in diameter; the
obverses of which to contain the historical devices, and
the reverses filled with lettered explanation ; and it was
also essential for my purpose that the historical pieces
should be obtained from the pictures of the Ancient
Masters. I did not despair in accomplishing this appa-
rent difficulty in obtaining copies for my artists to work
from, because I held at this period the appointment of
eight consulships from foreign governments, which gave
me facility to procure copies of such pictures from the
Continent which I might not conveniently find in Eng-
land.

I experienced much difficulty to satisfy myself, to
determine and bring my mind for the adoption of an
allegorical subject to constitute the obverse side of the
first medal of the series. Cosmogony, or knowledge of
the original formation of the earth, and the materials
of which it was composed, appeared to me to be beyond
the reach of human sagacity. I searched into the opi-
nions of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Newton, and
Hutton, and I own it an assumption in me to state that
I could not concur with the ideas of these learned men,
that the earth was originally a chaos, and I do affirm
and hereby declare that I cannot comprehend their logic
on this important point.



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447

Their notion that the earth was primarily a chaos 1B30.
appeared to me to have no foundation in reason, and
quite at variance with the Mosaic account of the Crea-
tion; for it is surely inconsistent with the wisdom
ascribed to the Deity, to think that he would create this
visible system in confusion^ and then to employ it to put
itself in order,

The sacred historians simply tell us that God created
the heavens, that the heavens gave no light, and that
earth was covered with water.

He first commanded the light to shine ; then the air 4ooo

yeftn

to take up what quantity of water he thought proper, for ^^
the purposes of vegetation. Afterwards the dry land
was made to appear, and the {)owers of vegetation given
to it. Then the sun, moon, and stars were created as
subordinate agents, to divide the light from the dark-
ness ; and then followed the formation of fishes and
birds, and land animals, and then man.

Moses everywhere expresses himself as if the sun, the
moon, and the other heavenly bodies were only made to
minister to our wants. (Moses, however, did not write
to instruct man in astronomy.)

This arrangement corresponds with the six days.

The first day, God created the light.

The second day, God created the firmament.

The third day, God created the sea, water, plants,
and trees.

The fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and
stars.

The fifth day, God created the fishes and the birds.

The sixth day, God created the land animals and
man.

The seventh dav, God rested from his labours.



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448

1830. ** These are the generations of the heavens and of
the earth when they were created, and every plant of
the field before it was in the earth, and every herb
of the field before it grew ; for the Lord God had not
caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a
man to till the ground.'' *^And God said. Let us
make man after our own image, and let man have do-
minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth/'
''And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, and man became a living soul ;** and the first exer-
cise of Adam's power and intelligence was his giving
names to the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air,
which the Lord God brought before him for that
purpose.

I felt convinced that I should fail in any attempt to
describe on a medal what philosophers are pleased to
call the chaotic or original appearance of the earth : I
omitted such an assumption, and I decided that the
First Medal of the series should be the naming of the
animals, and fowls of the air, by Adam.



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449




FInt Medal.

AcUm gtTM
names to the
beasto of the
field end the
fowla of the
air.

Prom thepio-
tore of Fwi
Veroneie^ of
YeroDa.



And the Lord God planted a garden Eastward in
Eden, and there he put the man whom he had
formed. And the Lord God said, I will make him
a helpmate meet for him, but the Lord God gave
the following injunction : " Of the tree of know-
ledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat, for in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die/'
And God created woman out of the side of the
man, and gave her to Adam for his wife, and
brought them into Paradise. And God said, there-
fore shall a man leave his father and mother, and
cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh,
for the purpose of instituting the holy state of ma-
trimonv.



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450



1830.



Second M«d«l.

AdunandElTe
in the Qarden
of Eden.

From the pic-
ture of Domir'
niMnOf of Bo-
logna.




There are many conflicting opinions about the ab-
solute site of Paradise, or Garden of Eden. It is
generally believed and inferred from the sacred
historian, that it was situate in Armenia, between
the sources of the four rivers, Euphrates, Tigris,
Pison, and Gihon, which places Eden in Armenia.

Now the serpent was more cunning and deceit-
ful than any other beast of the field, and tempted
Eve to gather the fruit from the Tree of Know-
ledge, although the woman told the serpent that
she might eat the fruit of all the trees in the
Garden, except that in the midst of the Garden,
called the Tree of Knowledge, for God had said,
ye shall not eat or touch it lest ye die. The ser-
pent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die,
for in the day that thou shalt eat thereof, your eyes



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451



shaU be opened, and ye shall be as gods» knowing
good from eviL And the woman, seemg that the
fruit was good for food, and likely to make them
wise, took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave it to her husband, and he did eat of it. This
act produced man's shameful fall ; for God said.
Because thou hast done this, cursed is the ground
for thy sake. In the sweat of thy face thou shalt
eat bread, until thou return unto the ground, for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
And God said. Behold the man is become one of us
to know good from evil, and, lest he should put
forth his hand, and take also the fruit of the Tree
of Life, and eat and live for ever, I will therefore
drive them out of the Garden of Eden, and place
Cherubims with a flaming sword to protect the Tree
of Life.



B.C.




Third MedaL

The ezpnl-
sion of Adam
and Eve from
Paradiae.
Ouido.



D D



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452



Eve conceived, and bare a son, first Cain, and
then Abel ; but Cain, in a fit of jealousy, slew his
brother Abel. And God said. Now art thou cursed
from the earth ; and when thou tillest, the ground
shall not yield unto thee her strength. And Cain
went out from the presence of the Lord in the land
of Nod. This Nod is supposed to be in the deserts
of Arabia.



Fourth MedaL

Cain lUjiii^
his brother
Ab«l.
Domenickino,




8871 B.a Cain's wife bore unto him sons and daughters,

from whose descendants Jubal was bom, who ex-
celled on the harp and the organ, and was called
the father of all such as could handle the harp and
organ, and supposed to be the first inventor of
instruments of music. And of the descendants of
Cain was also TubalCain, who first taught the
separating of metals from their ores, and an instruc-
tor of everv artificer in brass and iron.



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453



Adam's wife again bare a son ; and she said,
God has appointed me another seed instead of
Abel, whom Cain had slain.

The scriptures here mention the genealogy, age,
and death of the Patriarchs fi-om Adam to Noah.

Cain bom, son of Adam and Eve.

Abel bom, ditto

Seth bom, ditto

£nos bom, son of Seth

Cainan bom, son of Enos.

Mahalaleel bom son of Cainan.

Jared bom, son of Mahalaleel.

Enoch bom, son of Jared.

Methuselah bom, son of Enoch.

Lamech bom, son of Methuselah.

Adam dies, aged 930 years.

In this year Enoch was translated up into heaven.

Seth dies, aged 958.

Noah bom, son of Lamech.

Enos dies, aged 905 years.

Cainan dies, aged 914 years.

Mahalaleel dies, aged 895 years.

Jared dies, aged 962 years.

Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, and
was the chief of the children of God who preserved
the true religion and piety, which the descendants
of Cain had abandoned ; and it will be seen that
the progeny of Seth is followed through nine genera-
tions, until the arrival of the time of Noah, the son
of Lamech ; but of the actions of these patriarchs
or people of this long period little is said. It
appears that the children of wicked Cain lived
apart from those of Seth, but immediately that the



Before Christ.



8870
87e6
8675
8605
8540
8878
8818
8126
8070
8018
2958
2944
2860
2765

2no

2578



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454

descendaDts of Seth saw the females of the tribe
of Cain, they began to intermarry with them, when
impiety and vice gained the ascendancy, and over-
3018 B.C. spread the world. In consequence of this pro&nc;-
ness, God withdrew his presence from among them,
and began to exhort them, through the medium of
preachers of righteousness, to repent; of these
preachers, Enoch was one, and God so highly
approved of his actions^ that he removed him from
earth to heaven, without tasting of death, at the
age of 365 years.



FifihMedaL

Enoch cftr*
riad ap into
HoftTOn.
Paul Veronm.




2460 B.C.



The Babylonians acknowledged Enoch as the
inventor of astrology, and that he received all his
uncommon knowledge by the ministry of an angel :
he was also the Atlas of the Greeks.

And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is



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455

come before me, for the earth is filled with violence
through them ; and, behold, I will destroy them
with the earth.

God informed Noah of the future intended deluge,
and which was to take place in one hundred and
twenty years time, and commissioned him to preach
repentance. Noah was the great grandson of
Enoch, and had three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, whom God informs Noah shall be saved
from the flood, with himself, his wife, and his
sons' wives ; and for the preservation of whom
God instructed Noah to build or construct an ark,
or large vessel, and said unto Noah, The ark thou
shalt make of gopher wood, and thou shalt pitch it
inside and outside, and the length of the ark shall
be three hundred cubits, which, according to the
Hebrew standard, is 525 feet; the breadth 50
cubits, or about 88 feet ; the height 30 cubits, or
52 feet, calculating the cubit at 21 inches. The
patriarch Noah, in conformity to God's commands,
began his task in the sight of all men, and although
he assured the people that he made the ark by
divine command, his words were only mocked, and
treated with contempt. Noah was also instructed
by the Lord God to bring into the ark two of
every living thing of all flesh, both male and female,
and fowls, and every creeping thing after its kind ;
and Noah did as God commanded, and Noah was
just six hundred years old at this period.

Lamech, the father of Noah, and son of Methup
selah, dies at this time, aged 777 ; and Methuselah
also died in the year of the Deluge, at the age of
969) the greatest age ever attained by man.



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4^

2S44 B.C. On the 10th day of November, 2344 years before

Christ, God commanded Noah to prepare to enter
the ark ; and on the 17th day of November, the
pious Noah entered the ark, with his wife, his three
sons, and their three wives.



Sixth Medftl.

TheArkfloAt-
ing apon the
Waters.

BandineUi, of
Flor«noe.




There was rain upon the earth for forty days,
and the water continued upon the earth during one
hundred and fi% days ; and on the seventeenth
day of the seventh month (April), the ark rested on
the mountain of Ararat, in Armenia, in Asia ; and
it is supposed that the city of Nekgivan, nine miles
from Ararat, is the most ancient city in the world,
and that Noah settled here when he quitted the
ark. Forty days after this, Noah sent out a raven,
which went to and fro, and returned to the ark.
Seven days after this, Noah sent out a dove, and it



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457

returned to the ark with an olive branch in its
mouth ; by this Noah knew that the waters had
abated from off the earth ; and Noah being now
601 years old, he unroofed the ark, and on the
27th day of November, he quitted the ark with all
his family, and the face of the ground was dry I
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto
unto them. Be fruitful and multiply ; and God for-
bade blood and murder. And God said unto them.
Flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood there-
of, shall ye not eat And God spake unto Noah,
and unto his sons, saying. Behold, I establish my
covenant (signified by the rainbow) with you, and
your seed after you, that all flesh shall not be cut
away any more by the waters of the floods And
Noah and his family offered sacrifice unto God, and
whilst they were offering sacrifice, the first rainbow
appeared!




Seyenth Medal

Noah and his
Familr offering
Sacrifice.
Poumn.



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458

Noah planted a yineyard, and drank of the wine
to excess. In this state, his son Ham mocked him
in his nakedness ; and God cursed Ham, and also
Ham's son Canaan. Thus the sins oi the father
are visited upon his children.

And Noah lived after the flood 350 years, which
made his age at his death 950 years.

The descendants of the sons of Noah were name*
rous after the flood; among them was Nimrod, sup-
posed to he the flrst king that ever wore a crown.
Nimrod was the son of Cush, the eldest son of
Ham ; and the Cushites are supposed to have peo-
pled Ethiopia, the south part of Egypt, And these
people became the patriarchs of nations,^dispersing
themselves over the world. It is supposed that
Nimrod built the city of Nineveh, the capital of
Assyria.
2280 B.C. At this period the world was of one language and

one speech, and they journeyed into the land of
Shinar, a land laying between the rivers Euphrates
and the Tigris, in Babylon ; when they said to each
other that they would bum bricks, and use slime
for mortar, and then build a tower which may reach
up into heaven. Having made great progress in
the erection of it as far and high as himian skill
would admit, God, for their presumption, confounded
their language, so that they could not understand
one another, and dispersed them, and scattered
them abroad; and the building was called the
Tower of Babel, which application denotes con-
fusion.



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459




Eighth MedaL

The Tower of
Bebel.



Terah, of the generation of Shem, begat Abra-
ham and Haram, and Haram begat Lot. God
called Abram, and blessed him with a promise of
Christ, and promised to make him a great nation.
He left Haran, and departed with his nephew Lot,
for God had told him that in him should all the
families of the earth be blessed; and Abram took his
wife Sarai, and dwelt at Sechem, but she was barren.
In consequence of a famine at Sechem, he took his
wife into Egypt, and as Sarai was very handsome,
Abram said, I will call thee my step-sister — ^being
fearful that she might be taken away, and himself
put away. She was, however, in consequence of
her beauty, taken into Pharaoh's house. Pharaoh
was visited with plagues in consequence of detain-



B B



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m«B.c.



460

ing SaraL Pharaoh called Abram, and said^ What
is it that thou hast done unto me ? why didst thou
not tell me that she was thy wife ? I myself might
have taken her to wife. Behold now thy wife ;
take her, and go away.

Abram and Lot at this time agree to part, and
travel contrary roads. Abram desired Lot to choose
for himself, when it appears that Lot went to dwell
in wicked Sodom.



Ninth MtdAl.

Lot parting
frmn Abram to
dwell in the
PUint oi Jor-




Chedorlaomer, king of the Elamites, bordering
upon Persia, invades Sodom and Gomorrah, and
takes Lot captive. Abram hearing of this, goes
against Chedorlaomer, and rescues Lot.

When Abram returned from pursuing the confe-
derate kings, he came by the way of Salem (which
city is supposed to be the present Jerusalem, and



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461

which Jerusalem is called Salem by David). There
a priest, of the name of Melchisedec, called
the king of justice, and priest of the Most High
God, came to meet Abram, and he blessed Abram,
and gave him bread and wine ; when Abram offered
him tithes of all which he had taken from the enemy.

After these things, the word of the Lord came
unto Abram, saying, Fear not Abram, I am thy
shield and exceeding great reward. And Abram
said. What wilt thou give me, seeing that I go
childless ? And God said. Look towards heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.
And he said unto him. So shall thy seed be. And
Abram believed in the Lord ; and on the same day
the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying.
Unto thy seed have I given the land from the
River Nile of Egypt, to the great river, the River
Euphrates.

Sarai having no family, gave her maid Hagar for
a wife to her husband Abram ; and when Hagar
knew that she was with child, she despised her mis-
tress. Sarah, therefore, complained to Abram, who
answered Sarai, Do unto her as it pleaseth thee.
Sarai then used her harshly, when Hagar fled from
the dwelling of Abram ; but an Angel of the Lord
finding her in the wilderness, ordered her to return.
She obeyed his voice, submitted to Sarai, and was
delivered of a son, whom she named Ishmael,
according to the word of the Lord which was told
her by the angel who met her in the wilderness, and
Abram was now 86 years old.

The Lord God said to Abram (through the me-
dium of three angels), Sarai thy wife shall bear thee



1907 B.C.



1888]



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462

a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac ; and with
Isaac will I establish my everlasting covenant, and
with his seed after him. And I have heard thee
as to Ishmael, I will make him fruitful ; twelve
princes shall he beget. But for Sarai thy wife, she
shall be the mother of nations I

Now the Lord makes a covenant with Abram,
and changes his name to Abraham, and Sarai to
Sarah ; and, in connexion with the cov^iant» cir-
cumcision is instituted.

It having been revealed to Abraham that he
should destroy the city of Sodom, he prayed unto
the Lord, and said. Will the Lord destroy the
righteous with the wicked ? The Lord answered^
I will not destroy the wicked for even ten's sake.

Lot, his wife, and daughters, are suffered, at the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (overflowed by
the waters of Jordan, which formed the present
Dead Sea, or Lake of Sodom), to escape; but Lofs
wife, contrary to express commands, looked back
upon the burning city, when she was immediately
covered with brimstone, and sacred history calls her
turned, as it were, into a pillar of salt



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4^




TttithMaU.

laddMightenL
on thieir loaa
from SodooL



Abraham journeys to Gerar, to make a covenant
with Abimelechy when he imprudently calls Sarah
his sister. Abimelech has a dream that she was
AlHraham's wife, immediately restores her to Abra^
ham, and rebukes him for his foolish stratagem*
Abraham made a coyenant with Abimelech, which
is the first instance upon record of a treaty of peace.

God tries Abraham's faith and obedience by
tempting him to offer up his only son Isaac as a
sacrifice, the angel of the Lord stayed the hand of
Abraham, and presented a ram in a thicket close
by, which Abraham took, and offered up as a burnt
offering instead of his son Isaac.