1823. "Gentlemen, "Being appointed one of a committee of the Royal Humane Society to adjudge as to a prize medal, to be given under the will of the late Dr. Fothergill, as by the enclosed paper, I invite you to send in to me plans or designs for the said medal, apprising you that if your plan or design be approved, you will have to execute the same, and that the same will be given every three years. "I reman, gentlemen, "Sir, "Birmingham, Nov. 21st, 1823. "In compliance with your esteemed request, I have the honour to transmit you a design for the medal which the Committee of the Royal Humane Society require- On the Prevention of Shipwreck, and the the Preservation of Shipwrecked Mariners.' "The allegory of the design represents a vessel in distress discharging an anchor from a cannon (Captain Manby's invention), and Britannia in the attitude of receiving it. "A light-house is seen as a beacon, and a life-boat puts off from the shore. Offering you at all times my best services, I have the honour to be, "Sir, "Yours obediently, "EDWARD THOMASON. "To James Bandinel, Esq." This Horn of the India Bull. called the Kettee Bull, an animal rarely seen, was presented to the Author by the Honorable Baber, one of the Judges of Hindoostan, The other Horn he presented to the Asiatic Society, the Length of the Horn is 2 feet 7 inches, The Girt, 1foot Inches, The Color and Polish most beautiful. "Dear Sir, "Cheltenham, 6th Dec., 1823. "I beg to acknowledge the receipt of the dollar, &c. I did intend paying you a visit prior to my leaving for Columbia. Since my return here, I have been so much occupied that I must return to London, and expect to embark on or about the 27th or 28th. I wish some further and more full explanation on the following: "Price of dollar, you say, at 4s. 6d. If you have calculated them at that price, and dollars should be remitted, they will not bring more than about 4s. 2d. "What difference of price will there be between the dollar, half-dollar, and quarter dollar? or what quantity of each have you calculated at the price named? I suppose the smaller ones worth more than the larger in proportion? "Have you calculated the expense of packing? Say what that expense would be, including carriage to the port of shipping. They will have to be packed in ironbound boxes of 1000 dollars each, or in weight not to exceed 125 lbs. I must be prepared for all those necessary statements, as I shall be bound down close, Give me any information that may suggest itself to you. "You omitted giving me your idea as to the probable cost of a mint, or what a mint would perform to cost about £5,000 fixed in that country. "I wish at least one die of a dollar had been made, I would have paid the expense myself; I think it would have saved trouble. The drawings I sent you were not quite correct, I could not procure a dollar anywhere in London. I send you a small gold coin of the province of Popayan. This has the proper cornucopia, and 1823. 1823 instead of the word Popayan, should be La Libertrador. "Suppose you were to make me an exact drawing, or, at least, two of each of the dollar, half dollar, and quarter dollar, with the head and reverse the exact size the coin would be from that I could get the order. Those you sent will do for a sample as to size and weight, I suppose; but I should like to have two of each, as I shall, most likely, have to leave one with Piaz, who has sole command in Venezuela, and has power to coin if he likes. An early reply will oblige, "Dear Sir, yours, &c., 7. Thom porn "Address me, 15, King's Arms Yard, Coleman Street, London." "Dear Sir, "I have the pleasure, Sir, to send you, by order of his Majesty the King, a letter of his Majesty, and a golden medal, to testify you his Majesty's satisfaction of the present of the Elgin Medals that I had the honour to present him in your name. "You will allow me, Sir, the use of this occasion to show you how indebted I am to your kind reception at Birmingham. "I am, Sir, "Your most obedient humble servant, Beut "Berlin, the 17th Nov., 1823." Received Jan. 3d, 1824. |