180 
merchants there will take no smaller coins than dollars. We saw 
also a collection of medals stamped here, some of which, particu¬ 
larly those which were struck after naval victories, are very well 
finished. One side represents the bust of the naval her‘j in whose 
honour the medal was struck, and the reverse represents the ac¬ 
tion itself. A golden medal was struck after the victory of General 
Jackson at New Orleans, one side exhibiting the bust of the gene¬ 
ral, and the reverse a figure representing the United States point¬ 
ing to the Muse of History, writing on a shield the name of New 
Orleans. The medal which the Agricultural Society bestows at 
the annual cattle show, is also handsome. It is to be regretted, 
that all the medals, which were struck before president Monroe’s 
administration, are missing in this collection. The mint itself is 
very small, anc^ its boundaries are still more limited by a twelve 
horse-power steam-engine. No application, however, is made to 
congress for a larger and better building, as it is feared that con¬ 
gress might then propose to remove the whole establishment of 
the mint to Washington. 
We visited the Episcopalian church yard, in which lies Dr. 
Franklin’s grave, who died in the same year, and rests in the 
same grave with his wife. It is near the wall, and covered with 
a large white marble slab, with the following inscription:— 
Benjamin } p ranklin 
Deborah ) 179 °- 
I confess these simple words appear to me more eloquent and 
noble, and spoke to me in a more affecting manner, than any en¬ 
comiastic epitaph could have done. The celebrated Professor 
Rush, father of the present secretary of the treasury, is also bu¬ 
ried here. This grave-yard, like the rest in Philadelphia, is in 
the midst of the city, an evil of which much is said, but which 
it would be difficult to remedy. 
Another visit was made to Peale’s Museum. I found, how¬ 
ever, nothing new, except a terrible rattlesnake, which was alive, 
and with two smaller harmless snakes, formed an extremely ugly 
ball in a glass case. Its rattles could not be exactly seen, as they 
were covered by its flat and broad body. The body is full of 
scales, and the head uncommonly broad, in comparison with the 
head of other snakes. It was almost stiff, and only moved the 
head when any one approached too closely. It had handsome 
bright black eyes, and there was a quite small triangular aperture 
in the upper lip, through which its long, black, forked tongue 
was projected, when irritated. I could not make it open its 
mouth to see its teeth. They told me that it was fed with mice, 
which it first bit, and after they had died in convulsions, swal- 
