151 



any other meaning, that may appear probable, rather than one, 

 which will fix the first century for the stamping of the medal. 

 The fact I allude to is, that no such memorial is, in any the re- 

 motest degree, alluded to by the early Christian writers, or by the 

 Fathers of the Church. Had it existed in their day, it could not 

 have been quite unknown ; had it been known, it could not but 

 have been very interesting. The magnificent expence of Mary, in 

 anointing our Saviour towards his burial, was thought worthy of 

 such particular remembrance, that wherever the gospel was 

 preached it should be related ; is it likely then, that this costly 

 commemoration of an event so infinitely more important, would 

 not only have passed unnoticed in the Acts, or in the Epistles, but 

 also in the works of the erudite and voluminous Fathers * of the 

 Church ? In fine, if any single passage from any one of these be 

 quoted that makes mention of any such medals, we may then be 

 reasonably induced to give to them the very great antiquity that 

 some persons contend for. 



Let us now inquire what meaning the Aleph may possess, if it be 

 not a date. 



Our learned and ingenious Vice Provost-f has suggested, that, 

 as Aleph is the initial letter of both the words Qltt, Homo, and 

 ain'?N or bn, Deus, it is meant to relate to the double nature of the 

 Redeemer ; a doctrine of primary importance to the Christian 

 faith, and which is implied by the inscription of the other side. 



s2 



* It is rightly said, in Rowland's Mona Antiq. Restaur, in speaking of the Anglesea Medal, 

 that a passage of St. Austin there quoted refers, not to any known existing resemblance of our 

 Saviour, but to our abstracted idea or mental conception of his appearance. Indeed if St. 

 Austin, in the passage alluded to, means any thing more, it proves that he had no knowledge 

 of the existence of these medals. 



t The Rev. John Barrett, D. D. 



