''■■■> 



Phillips ,),y - [Ocl 



his trident upright, his right is extended open pointing right. Upon the 

 seat of the car is a crown. Inscription, Mums, pr^bstat. componere. 

 Ki.i ( ii - 



Reverse. I pon a calm and stilly sea is floating a nesl in which are two 

 halcyons. On the right the setting sun is illumining by his rays the whole 

 field of the medal. Above on a band is the inscription. Halcionibus. re- 



DUCTIS. SENATl rS. A.MSTELOD. CIVIBDS. 8UIS. Hoc ANTlQtUE. VIRTUTIS 

 HPECTATJEQ. FIOEI PREMIUM. LARGITUR. 



In the exergue, mdcxcvi. (Vide Van Loon. Vol. 4, p. 221.) 

 It would be hardly credible what a tumuli could always be started in the 

 Netherlands from the most trivial causes were not history so very explicit. 

 The present medal was struck to commemorate a sedition which grew out 

 of an ordinance regulating the number ami the salaries of the criers at the 

 public funerals. Those who were excluded from this employment felt at 

 one blow their whole subsistence taken away from them; were full of dis- 

 content ami clamored loudly against the magistracy, alleging that their 

 offices had been w r rested from them in order that the underlings and para- 

 sites of their rulers might be provided for comfortably. To further aug- 

 ment the popular feeling it was given out that the bodies of the poor were 

 mutilated by branding previous to interment. The people became inflamed 

 and maltreated the new criers wherever they met them, till at last, embold- 

 ened by the usual applause and serenity of the bystanders, on the night of 

 the 30th of January, the day preceding that on which the new regula- 

 tion was to go into operation, they assembled in great numbers on the Dam, 

 a public place in front of the Hotel de Ville. The troops were called out 

 but their presence only served to increase the tumult while the populace, 

 armed with stout cudgels, formed themselves regularly into companies, ral- 

 lying under aprons of blue cloth and beating for drums upon empty beer 

 barrels. 



The mob continued to grow and traversed the streets like madmen, fol- 

 lowed by a troop of children. Arrived at the Aelmoesseniers Hitis they 

 put to flight the soldiers placed there as a guard to the syndics of the criers 

 of funerals, and fired by their exploit, in thus having overturned constituted 

 authority, they turned to pillage the houses of obnoxious officials. The 

 Burgers were called to arms, now realizing that the rioters intended to 

 sack the city if possible, using their grievance merely as a stalking horse. 

 Night fell upon the scene, but in the early morning before the citizens had 

 assembled to take arms, the rabble came together again and after pillaging 

 with renewed fury laid sieize to the house of Burgomaster De Vries. The 

 Magistracy now issued an order declaring t hat force must be resisted by force; 

 the citizens assembled and marched towards die field of battle, tired upon the 

 riotous assembly, killed two and put the others to flight. Whilst this was tak- 

 ing place a portion of the mob engaged in sacking the hou3e of a rich .lew 

 named Pinto (and could there ever he popular uprising in Europe without 

 a .lew's house being pillaged?) was fallen upon by another detachment of 

 the citizens who drove them away at the point of the -word. The brid 



