Coins also present us with countries and rivers admirably personified. On the reverse of a colonial coin, rude in execution, of Augustus and Agrippa, inscribed IMP. and DIVI. F., the conquest of Egypt is represented by the apposite metaphor of the crocodile, an animal almost peculiar to that country, and at that period esteemed altogether so, which is chained to a palm tree, at once a native of the country, and symbolic of victory. Moreover, a cabinet of medals, of which Rubens is said to have possessed a very magnificent one, may be considered as forming the classic erudition of a painter. We may add, that almost all the uses which connect the science of medals with painting, render it also subservient to the art of the sculptor, who cannot less than profit by the study of the Greek coins in particular. The connexion of the study of ancient coins with architecture, consists in the views of many of the ancient edifices, which are found in perfect preservation on medals. Froelich observes, that the coins of Tarsus are very remarkable for a kind of perspective in the figures. On others are found triumphal arches, temples, fountains, aqueducts, amphitheatres, circuses, palaces, columns, obelisks, baths, sea-ports, pharoses, and the like.
The study of medals affords such a variety of amusement and of instruction, that we may naturally suppose it to be nearly as ancient as medals themselves; and yet ancient writers do not furnish us with a single hint of collections of this kind. In the days of Greece, a collection of such coins as then existed would not be regarded as an acquisition of any great value, because it must have consisted only of those that were struck by the innumerable little states which then used the Greek characters and language, and of course it would be considered as a kind of domestic coinage, precluded from extension by the narrow limits of the intercourse that subsisted between different provinces and countries. As soon as any communication was opened between the Romans and the Greeks, the Grecian coins were imitated by the Roman workmen, and preserved in the cabinets of their senators among the choicest treasures. In a more advanced period of the Roman empire, individuals must have formed collections of Roman coins; for we find that a complete series of silver was lately found in our island, containing inclusively all the emperors down to Carausius. From the decline of the Roman empire, most branches of science were enveloped in darkness, till the revival of letters towards the end of the fifteenth century. When literature began to be cultivated in Italy, the study of medals, connected with that of ancient erudition, began to engage attention. Accordingly Petrarch, who in modern times was amongst the first persons in Europe that aspired to the celebrity of learning and genius, was likewise the first to revive the study of medals. This eminent man, having been desired by the Emperor Charles V. to compose a book that should contain a history of the coins of illustrious men, and to place him in the list, is said to have returned for answer, that he would comply with his desire, whenever the Emperor’s future life and actions deserved it. Availing himself of this circumstance, he sent that monarch a collection of gold and silver coins of celebrated men. “Behold!” said he, “to what men you have succeeded! Behold whom you should imitate and admire! to whose very form and image you should compose your talents! The invaluable present I should have given to no one but yourself; it was due to you alone. I can only know or describe the deeds of these great men: your supreme office enables you to imitate them.” In the next age, Alphonso, king of Arragon, caused all the ancient coins that could be discovered throughout the provinces of Italy to be collected, which he placed in an ivory cabinet, and always carried about with him, that he might be excited to great actions by the presence, as it were, of so many illustrious men in their images.
To those who are desirous of gaining information upon this interesting branch of antiquarian research, we strongly recommend Mr. Pinkerton’s Essay on Medals.
Having been led to offer these observations on ancient medals, we may, perhaps, be allowed to make one other digression on a subject naturally suggested by a visit to the vicarage of our reverend antiquary. The reader has been told, that “around his house he had arranged several precious relics, amongst which was an ancient cross, raised upon a platform on three steps.”
There is much obscurity with regard to the origin and uses of these stone crosses. We are, however, not disposed to enter into a discussion of such difficulty; but the reader may be gratified in having presented to him, in one view, a collection of such crosses as still exist in various parts of Cornwall.
Note 7, p. [49].--Bodies revolve on the shorter axis.
Upon this subject, the reader is requested to turn to page 138, where it is stated that a body will permanently rotate only on its shortest axis. The philosophy of the fact is simply this--while a body revolves on its axis, the component particles of its mass move in circles, the centres of which are placed in the axis; a centrifugal force therefore is generated, which is resisted by the cohesion of the parts of the mass, and this tendency of each particle to fly off is expended in exciting a pressure upon the axis; and it is this strain which produces the effect in question, the axis of no pressure being alone the permanent axis.
Vis Inertiæ, p. 59.--The criticism of the vicar upon this subject is scientifically judicious; but the literary reader who has justly appreciated his character, may be inclined to ask how it could have happened that he should have overlooked the classical authority by which the expression is countenanced; we cannot answer the question, but we will supply the deficiency. The connecting two ideas, which at first sight appear opposed to each other, constituted a figure of speech much used both by the Greeks and Romans. Euripides delighted in it, which was a sufficient reason for Aristophanes to satirise it. Horace has given us several examples of it, as “Insaniens sapientia”--“Strenua inertia.”