There are no medals which indicate the early contest between Charles I. and the Parliament, those which are issued before 1640 referring for the most part to the royal family and to eminent persons, with the exception of the Scottish coronation medals of 1633 and those commemorating the settlement of the Dutch Fishery question in 1636. After the Declaration of Parliament in 1642, when the country was divided into two parties, a new era in its medallic history begins, and medals are struck in extraordinary numbers. This continues during the period of the Civil War, and, besides medals which record the successes of both parties, there is a large number of Royalist and Parliamentarian badges, with portraits of the generals and statesmen on both sides. Fortunately, England at this time produced several artists, whose works are fitted to take the first rank in the national series. These artists were Thomas and Abraham Simon, who worked for the Parliament, and Thomas Rawlins, who was in the service of the King. The series of this reign ends with several examples of the badges worn by those who sympathised with the royal cause and with a few medals recording the King's death. With the period of the Commonwealth the issue of royalist badges ceases, and for the next ten years the medals are of the parliamentarian class. These consist of portrait medals of the Protector, of his family, and of the leading statesmen and generals, and also of military and naval rewards, for the most part executed by the two Simons. The Dunbar medal (Nos. [149]—150), which was issued for distribution among those engaged in that battle, is the first authorized military decoration known. It was struck by order of the Parliament immediately after the engagement. Naval medals were also issued on several occasions, the most important being those for Blake's victories over the Dutch in 1653 (Nos. [155]—158). The Commonwealth series closes with several medals, English and Dutch, commemorating the death of the Protector, and also with a few personal medals, chiefly by the Simons.
The Restoration of Charles II. was an occasion not to be passed by unnoticed by medallists, and of no event are there more medals, except perhaps of the accession of William III. and Mary. Some anticipate the restoration of the King, and others trace step by step his return from Holland, his landing at Dover, the joy expressed by the people at his return, and his coronation at Westminster. The unpopular cession of Dunkirk is only recorded on medals issued in France by Louis XIV. or on Dutch satirical medalets; but the well-contested engagements of the subsequent struggle between England and Holland for the dominion of the sea, and the close of the war by the Peace of Breda, are numerously illustrated. Those which refer to the Peace of Breda were for the most part executed in Holland, and are remarkable examples of the Dutch medallic style of that time. Of the next war with Holland from 1672—1674, there are no English medals, and those relating to it which are exhibited are French and Dutch. The alarm created by the growing strength of the Catholic party and the discovery of the pretended Popish Plot, with the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey and also the Rye House Plot, form the subjects of the next group of medals (Nos. [233]—238, [240]). Of those of the 'Popish Plot' there is a remarkable medal, which appears to be Dutch, and which gives in detail the supposed circumstances connected with the murder of Godfrey. Many of the portraits of the illustrious men who flourished during this reign are the work of the two Simons, and were mostly executed soon after the Restoration. The important events of the short reign of James II. give much scope to engravers. Medals are shown recording the rebellion of Monmouth and Argyll and its suppression, the attempt of James to re-establish the Roman Catholic religion by the repeal of the Test Act, the imprisonment of the Seven Bishops, and lastly the invitation to William of Orange, with the abdication and flight of James, his queen and son. On these latter medals frequent allusions are made to the supposed illegitimacy of the young Prince. The series of plots and rebellions which followed the flight of James are for the most part recorded by medals struck by the Stuarts abroad (Nos. [292]—319): these were issued for distribution among those who sympathised with the exiled house. The medals which bear the portraits of James II. and his son are supposed to have been presented to those who visited them in their exile. No. [311], on which the rule of the House of Hanover is satirized, is one of the medals struck for the purpose of rousing the adherents of the House of Stuart into action; whilst No. [315] refers to the rebellion of 1745, and the next medal to the secret visit of the Younger Pretender to London in 1752, when he was again planning an invasion. The series ends with a medal setting forth the claims of Henry Duke of York as Henry IX. to the throne of his grandfather.
With the Stuart family are specially connected the medalets which are called touch-pieces (Nos. [320]—324). The custom of touching by the sovereigns of this country for the cure of scrofula or 'the King's evil' appears to have existed since the reign of Edward the Confessor. At first the practice was rare, but in course of time it increased to such an extent that it is said Elizabeth's 'healings,' which were at first monthly, became of daily occurrence, and many thousands were touched. The power was not claimed by Cromwell; but at the Restoration it was revived, and Charles touched during his reign over 90,000 applicants. It was also much practised by James II., but repudiated by William III. It was again revived by Anne, who was the latest sovereign to perform the ceremony, and among the last of those whom she touched was the afterwards celebrated Dr. Johnson. The Elder Pretender claimed the power, and so did his sons Charles and Henry, the former having exercised it in the name of his father at Edinburgh during the rebellion of 1745. It was during the reign of Henry VII. that the presentation to each applicant of a small piece of gold attached to a band of white ribbon was first generally introduced. The angel was the piece given, partly because it was the smallest gold coin struck and partly on account of a certain fitness of type and inscription, having on one side the archangel Michael overcoming the dragon, and on the other side a ship in the sea and the inscription 'Per crucem tuam salva nos Christe Redemptor.' The coin remained of the same type during the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I.; but the inscription in each case was changed. At the Restoration, when the angel was no longer issued as a current coin, Charles II. ordered medalets of similar type to be struck, bearing the inscription 'Soli Deo gloria.' On account of the attendance at the 'healings' having so largely increased, these medalets are much less in weight and size than the angel. James II. was the first king to strike the medalets in silver as well as in gold; which were scarcely half the size of Charles II.'s. The Elder Pretender as James III. also struck them in gold and silver. There are no pieces known of Charles Edward; but of his brother the Cardinal, as Henry IX. there are specimens in silver. The medalet given by Anne is of gold and somewhat larger than that of James II.
The medals of William and Mary and of Anne are the most numerous and historically the most complete of the English series. This may be attributed to the stirring events due to the connection of the interests of England and Holland and to the number of active medallists of Holland and Germany.
The journey of William to England, his landing at Torbay, his subsequent coronation and the flight of James, are illustrated by a number of medals of which interesting examples are described in this Guide. The rebellion in Ireland, with the battles of the Boyne and of Aghrim, and the capture of towns, next follow. The events of the war with France, concluded in 1697 by the Peace of Ryswick, produced medals, English, Dutch, and French, recording the naval battle of La Hogue, the taking of Namur by the French and the retaking of that city by William, the defeats of William at Steinkirk and Landen, for which his own countrymen held him up to ridicule (No. [390]), the unsuccessful attempt on Brest, the bombardment of Havre and Dunkirk, and the taking of Huy. The other events commemorated by the medals are the passing of the Toleration Act in 1689, the regency of Mary, the return of William to Holland, the death of Mary, the Darien expedition, and lastly the death of William.
The War of the Spanish Succession, which had begun shortly before the death of William, was even more fruitful in medals than the previous conflict with France. For the events of the campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough and of Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Netherlands and Germany, and of that in Spain, as well as for the naval victories, the reader must be referred to the descriptions given at pp. 89—104. A few other events, which happened during the reign of Anne and to which medals refer, are the establishment of the Queen Anne's Bounty, the Union of England and Scotland in 1707, the attempted invasion of Scotland by the Elder Pretender in 1708, and the trial of Sacheverell.
With the accession of the House of Hanover the medallic series of England loses much of its interest. The affairs of England and Holland being no longer so closely united, the Dutch artists ceased to execute medals for England, and at that time there were few medallists in this country. The series therefore from this period is far less complete and of very inferior style and work. The only important events recorded by the medals of George I. are the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland in 1715, the war of the Quadruple Alliance, and the siege of Gibraltar.
The first ten years of George II. are also devoid of medallic interest, and it is not until the outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession that we have a piece of any merit. The best medals of this period are those of the battle of Dettingen executed by Haesling and of the battle of Minden by Holtzhey, a native of Amsterdam. Other recorded events of this reign are the taking of Porto Bello and the attempt on Carthagena by Admiral Vernon (of these events there are more than a hundred different medalets), and the Jacobite rebellion under the Younger Pretender, 1745—6. There is also a series of medals issued by the Society for the Promotion of Arts and Commerce, commemorating the conquest of Canada and the successes of the forces of England in India. In portrait-medals the most important are the works of Dassier, of whom mention has already been made.
The medals which illustrate the long reign of George III. down to the battle of Waterloo in 1815, at which point this exhibition closes, will be found to record all that is of importance during that period. The events are so numerous and varied that the reader must be referred to the descriptions, which will be found at pp. 113—130. The greater portion of the medals relate to the struggle of England with her American colonists, and to the subsequent wars with France, Spain, and Holland, by sea and land. Following these are several pieces commemorating some of the battles of the Peninsular War, and bearing portraits of the principal generals, and a few personal medals of statesmen and others, among whom may be noted Washington and Benjamin Franklin. The series of historical medals closes with one of the finest productions of the art of modern times, the Waterloo medal, designed and executed by Pistrucci, a work of 'surpassing size and beauty,' on which the artist spent a great portion of his life.
Military and Naval Medals.