the execution of which I
contracted with artists at Paris, have lately arrived in America.
But, not having seen any account published of the devices and
inscriptions, I presume it will not be ungrateful to the public
to receive some authentic information respecting these memorials
of national glory. However superfluous the publication of the
correspondence[18] on this subject with the Perpetual Secretary
of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres might be
deemed, it will not, I conceive, be improper it should be known
that this learned society, to whom a reference was made, entered
on the discussion with the same alacrity as if the subject had
been designed to illustrate the actions of their compatriots, or
to immortalize some glorious events in the annals of their own
nation. You will be at liberty to insert in your _Museum_ the
result of their deliberations.

In our free republics certainly nothing should be suppressed that
can tend to awaken a noble spirit of emulation, to cherish the
fine feelings of patriotism, to exhibit alluring examples for
imitation, or to extend and perpetuate the remembrance of those
heroic achievements which have ennobled the era of the American
Revolution. Few inventions could be more happily calculated to
diffuse the knowledge and preserve the memory of illustrious
characters and splendid events than medals--whether we take into
consideration the imperishable nature of the substance whence
they are formed, the facility of multiplying copies, or the
practice of depositing them in the cabinets of the curious.
Perhaps one improvement might be made. The sage and venerable Dr.
Franklin, whose patriotic genius is active in old age, and ever
prolific in projects of public utility, once suggested,[19] in
conversation with me, as an expedient for propagating still more
extensively the knowledge of facts designed to be perpetuated in
medals, that their devices should be impressed on the current
coin of the nation.

Under influence of such ideas, I shall claim the indulgence (p. xxxv)
of my countrymen for bringing forward a communication which might
possibly have come more satisfactorily from some other quarter.
An apprehension that the subject might remain unnoticed is my
apology.

I am, Sir, yo