Medals and Medallists connected with Ireland. ^ 



medals ; but his taste lay in a different line from that of encouraging artists or 

 scientific pursuits. 



Connected with the times of George I., I am able to produce, I think, one 

 medallet, and that without any reverse. It is very small, and exhibits a three- 

 quarter bust of my celebrated predecessor in the Deanery of St. Patrick, in his 

 full wig and gown, with falling bands. It bears a strong resemblance to a por- 

 trait in my possession, which Swift is said to have given to Vanessa at the time 

 he quarrelled with her. The legend is, j-s dd d-s-p-d. (Jonathan Swift, 

 D. D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin.) The execution is tolerably good, but I 

 have not been able to ascertain either the artist or the occasion upon which it 

 was struck. 



In the succeeding reign, patronage or party feeling appears to have given 

 some stimulus to the art, for I find no fewer than five medals connected with the 

 period. As one only has been published, and that in a very incorrect and 

 slovenly form, and none hitherto described, I shall here attempt to give some 

 elucidation of them. 



The first again refers to Dr. Swift, and exhibits his portrait three-quarter 

 face to the left, with wig and gown, in a small oval frame, supported by a winged 

 child upon clouds. To the right of Swift is Minerva seated, in armour, with 

 spear and aegis, pointing with her right hand to a shield resting against her 

 knee, and bearing the arms of Ireland. To the left a female also seated, lean- 

 ing on a pile of books, and with her right hand holding a laurel crown over the 

 Doctor's bust. Above there is a winged figure of Fame, and below a scroll 

 inscribed rev. j. swift, d. s. p. d. The reverse displays Hibemia seated, in 

 her right hand an olive branch, and her left is supported by a harp. In the back 

 ground a shepherd tending his flocks, and a view of the sea covered with 

 ships. On the exergue is the date mdccxxxviii., j. b. fecit. This medal, I 

 conjecture, was intended to commemorate Swift's exertions for the advance- 

 ment of commerce, manufactures, and agriculture. He was at that period in 

 the zenith of his glory ; and it cannot surprise us that the zealous friends, of 

 whom he had many, should thus endeavour to perpetuate his fame. Of the 

 artist I know nothing, and the execution is so rude, that I am indisposed to 

 conjecture it to be the work of any artificer of eminence. The next in the 

 suite gives better hopes for the progress of improved taste in the medallic 



