“Good unexpected, evil unforeseen,
Appear by turns, as fortune shifts the scene;
Some, raised aloft, come tumbling down amain,
And fall so hard, they bound and rise again.”
It may be interesting at this place to recall some of the incidents connected with the Mint in the Tower.
Few persons on reading the name of John Rotier, which is placed on the commemoration brass tablet in the Chapel of St Peter’s in the Tower bearing the names of the illustrious dead there buried, would probably have an idea of his claims to distinction. So little artistic interest is connected with the old fortress that Rotier’s name deserves more than a passing mention.
John Rotier, or Roettier, belonged to a family of medallists, and was the son of an Antwerp jeweller who had been of considerable assistance to Charles II. during his exile. Rotier came over to England soon after Charles returned, and, on the recommendation of the King, was received into the Mint under Simon the chief medallist. In the year 1662, Rotier, with his two brothers, became the King’s medallist, with quarters in the Tower. Pepys often came to see the three brothers at work, and was much interested in 1667, when Rotier was engaged in making a new medal for Charles, in which the figure of Britannia was being taken from the beautiful face and form of Miss Stuart, one of Charles’s mistresses, and afterwards Duchess of Richmond; this is the same figure, with a little alteration, that appears on our copper pence at the present day. Rotier had also made a Great Seal for Charles, and on the accession of James he made that monarch’s coronation medal.
The King’s profile appears on the obverse of this medal, and on the reverse is a trophy of armour, with ships in the background, and the words “Genus Antu Antiquum” engraved above. It appears to be an excellent likeness, the determined lines of obstinacy and self-will which marked James’s face being admirably rendered. When William came to the throne of his father-in-law Rotier fell into disgrace, being supposed to be a Jacobite, a not unnatural supposition, seeing his connection with both James and Charles. But what was more alarming than any supposition of Jacobite sympathies was a rumour that the exiled King had returned, and was lying concealed in Rotier’s lodgings: he was promptly accused of stealing some dies from the Mint, and of striking coins for the service of James.
THE SOUTH-EAST PROSPECT OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF ST. PETER IN THE TOWER.
