engaged a portion of a London vessel loading for the 1807. island. The Emperor was flattered with his speech being struck upon the medals, and accepted, with every courtesy, the 5000 medals. The supercargo was taken ill of the fever, and obliged to be put on board another vessel, and to return home ; so he abandoned the goods to the agent there. Christophé, hearing of this, was so generous as to remit the duties, and allow the captain to take back the remainder of the cargo unsold, and which, principally, was not suited to the market, therefore unsaleable. No profit was gained by this adventure, but, I believe, no loss. The Emperor, however, made me his manufacturer for any articles that he might require in the Birmingham line, which kept up a little profitable correspondence with that island.

One order which I received from the Government of St. Domingo was for a large gold snuff-box, with the gold impression from the medal die set in the centre of the lid, and surrounded with pyrites diamonds. The Haytian Chargé des Affaires, who brought over this order, presented me with an extraordinary tamarind stone, having an exact profile (as he said) of one of Christophé's former generals, who was condemned to be hanged upon a tamarind tree in the garden of the palace, near the spot where the general had committed a foul murder. He observed that the tree had ever since produced only three or four fruit, the stones of which bore the exact profile of the departed general, consequently these tamarind stones were extremely sought after. I possess this extraordinary lusus naturæ, mounted with a gold ring, as presented.

In 1807, I made 20,000 medals for the King's party, in South America, to favour the Bourbons; these were

D

1807. sent through the house of Gordon and Murphy, at a period when a considerable profit might have been expected; but the affairs of their establishment in South America were thrown into disorder, and no tidings could ever be given to whom these 20,000 medals were sold, as the store, or depôt, was plundered. I never speculated or sent goods, on my own account, to foreign markets to any extent, and when I did, three times out of four the goods sold to a loss; and I am confident that speculation, to any extent, is never adviseable.

1808.

1809.

In the year 1808, Earl Percy sent me a very extraordinary piece of thick japanned leather, and requested I would try some experiments upon this new introduction, as the Earl says, "I have great curiosity in hearing the result, and whether it would like to prove of use in manufactory; and should you have, any time, any new inventions, a line upon the subject will at all times afford great satisfaction.

"Sion, 24th Nov., 1808.”

your

"Yours, &c.,

PERCY.

M. Boulton, Esq., died this year, viz., 17th August, 1809, at the age of 82; his son, Mr. Robinson Boulton, being desirous to pay every respect to the obsequies of his father, the funeral was upon the most extensive scale. I had the honour of an invitation as one of the mourners, in consequence of my having been a Sohonian, residing there as one of Mr. Boulton's pupils from the age of sixteen years to that of twenty-one. I was flattered by this mark of kindness, and I retain the medal then struck off at Soho, and presented to me, in common with others, as commemorative of the event. As this medal was only of the description commemorative of his death and fune

ral, I requested my then esteemed friend, Mr. George 1809. Mynd, a nephew of the late Mr. Boulton, to learn, for my guidance, if Mr. Robinson Boulton purposed to make a medal of his late father, for if he did not, I would, at my own expense, engrave dies for one of the finest class, and from the wax model, by Rowe, which I had then in my possession. Mr. Mynd informed me that his cousin did not intend to make a medal of his late father.

I completed a pair of dies, which were engraved by my best die engraver at that period, viz., W. Wyon, the uncle to the die engraver, Wyon, of her Majesty's Mint. Great pains were taken to obtain a good likeness, and which was happily accomplished to my satis faction. It was the deepest cut die then extant, and upwards of four inches in diameter, supposed to be the largest medal in Europe, and of the highest relief.

On the reverse, round the legend: "Born at Birmingham, Sept. 3d, 1728. Died August 17th, 1809, aged 81." And in the centre:-"The liberal and enlightened patron of arts and manufactures."

So remarkable was this medal, that it was to be exhibited one evening at the Royal Society. The Russian Ambassador, having a knowledge of it, brought with him the great Russian medal, which he announced was the largest in the world. It certainly was of greater spread, or diameter, than mine; but a mathematician insisted that the elevations of the work of each ought to be merged, and calculated into their respective diameters. The work in the Russian medal was flat, and the work on mine half an inch higher in elevation, and, therefore, under this mode of calculation, mine had the superiority, and was, undoubtedly, the most difficult

1809. medal to execute. This triumph was highly gratifying

1810.

to me.

The Emperor of Austria ordered two of them in silver, and afterwards two medals of all the dies that I then possessed, which were very numerous. One series was for his private cabinet, the other for the public museum at Vienna; and this extraordinary medal made me known in Germany as a medallist of some celebrity.

In the beginning of January, 1810, I encreased my manufacturing rooms, to add a new trade-the plating, upon steel, of knives, forks, spoons, &c. There being an idea at this period that there was no affinity between steel and silver, and a medium must be found that would unite with or have an affinity for both. This medium was tin; a thing known before, but not acted upon so scientifically as it might have been. I succeeded, and my manufactures in this novel line were appreciated by the public, as the following letter, dated 26th Feb., 1810, Northumberland House, and signed "Percy," will prove :

"Sir,

"Northumberland House, 26th Feb., 1810.

"Having mentioned your plated steel knives and forks, spoons, and plates in imitation of silver, to a gentleman who is soon to set off for a country where there is much difficulty in procuring earthenware, he is very desirous of taking some out with him. I will be much obliged to you, therefore, to send me, as soon as possible, one dozen of each, with the bill for them, as I should hope that you have, by this time, succeeded in coining plates. Should there, however, be any shop in town to which you send your goods, it would, perhaps, be