Medallist

“ So it’s no surprise America is vying for the top of the medal count. But it’s not the medal count alone that inspires us – most of our athletes won’t claim a medal at all. It’s the character of the men and women who compete for those medals. ”

“ The workman who was to make that of General Greene brought me yesterday the medal in gold, twenty-three in copper, and the die. Mr. Short, during my absence, will avail himself of the first occasion which shall offer of forwarding the medals to you. I must beg leave, through you, to ask the pleasure of Congress as to the number they would choose to have struck. Perhaps they might be willing to deposit one of each person in every college of the United States. ”

“ The hardy courage and humanity of your action in springing overboard in a squall of violent wind and rain, at the peril of your life, and saving this stranger, cannot fail to be appreciated, and fully deserves the public recognition and esteem which the award of a medal to you, involves. In sending you this testimonial to your brave and humane conduct, I am deeply gratified that it was so well won, and by a seaman of the revenue marine. ”

“ Holding up the house-keeper's medal, she would say to the audience: "This medal I esteem the best of all; the best house-keeper is to be the most honored. To be neat, to be orderly, to show ability to keep a home, to mind the little things that make for neatness, to sweep in the corners, to be tasteful—all this is to be lovely in conduct; and, remember, that all honors of every kind bestowed by Carr-Burdette College have this meaning namely, every medal, every diploma is hedged about by conduct." ”

“ I was for giving the gold medalists, who only wanted certificates, bronze medals; and of one young girl who was in her first year and only entitled to a bronze medal, I said: "Oh, she must have the gold medal, of course!"
She was a queer-looking child, handsome, with a face suggesting all manner of possibilities. When she stood up to read the speech from "Richard II." she was nervous, but courageously stood her ground. She began slowly, and with a most "fetching" voice, to think out the words. ”

“ Satiric medals were almost unknown to the ancient mint, notwithstanding those of the Saturnalia, and a few which bear miserable puns on the unlucky names of some consuls. Medals illustrate history, and history reflects light on medals; but we should not place such unreserved confidence on medals as their advocates, who are warm in their favourite study. It has been asserted that medals are more authentic memorials than history itself; but a medal is not less susceptible of the bad passions than a pamphlet or an epigram. Ambition has its vanity, and engraves a dubious victory ”

“ First Distinguished-conduct Medal.—The first record we have of the bestowal of a medal for conspicuous conduct in the field is in the award made to an Irish commander who distinguished himself at the Battle of Edge Hill—the first battle of the Civil War, fought on October 23rd, 1642—by the recovery of a Royal [Pg 4] standard, and certain military accessories. The gallant soldier, who became Sir Robert Welch, was subsequently presented with an oval gold medal specially cut to the King's orders by the Royal "graver of seals and medals," Thomas Rawlins. ”

“ Every one wishes to have a medal; I inquired of one, who had begged for a medal at any price, if he were a Catholic. 'No,' was the answer; 'I am a Protestant but I would like to have it as a souvenir of yourself;' and he received it most gratefully.
"We observe a certain degree of piety among the soldiers, and the sick are most eager to receive the Sacraments. The Protestants show a remarkable inclination to Catholicity. Not only the private soldiers, but even persons of distinction, wishing to have medals, scapulars or a crucifix. ”

“ The description of the above coin will illustrate the historical intelligence to be derived from their perusal. A medal is an especial mode of recording tributary honour to individuals—literary, civil, or military;—they become heirlooms in family possessions, and are transmitted from sire to son, as absolute records of their ancestors' fame. They are also struck in celebration of national events, and thence become records of a people. So assured was Napoleon of this, that a series of his medals are a complete history of his victories, from his Consulate to his loss of the Empire ”

“ The Legislature has ordered a medal to be struck in honor of a boy who had defended his ensign. No man can make a public speech in Kentucky without mention of Encancion and Monterey, or of the long line of battles in which every generation of our people has fought. This is the other proof that in times of peace we do not forget. It is not much, but it is of the right kind—it is the soldier's monument, it is the soldier's medal, it is the soldier's funeral oration, it is the recognition by the people of its ideal of courage in times of peace. ”

“ I recommend that we should all have the same medal, hung to the same ribband as that now used with the medals.”
(i.e. the army gold medals and crosses) . It is also fair to point out that in his place in the House of Commons, and on the day after the duke’s letter to the commander-in-chief had been penned, William Watkins Wynn urged that medals should be given to the survivors of Waterloo, and that they should be the same for both officers and men, “so that they who had been fellows in danger might bear the same badge of honour.” ”

“ THE GRANTING OF MEDALS One illustration will suffice to show the working of this new invention by which the general-in-chief was still further removed from the commander-in-chief, whose chief military adviser he was supposed to be. An act of Congress authorized the President to confer medals of honor upon soldiers of all grades who might be most distinguished for bravery in action. It is the most highly prized of all military rewards because given to the soldier, without regard to rank, for that service which every true soldier regards as of the greatest merit. ”

“ Campaign medals considered—Waterloo—Burmah—China—Cabul—Jellalabad—Scinde—Meeanee —Sobraon—The men's Peninsular medal—Punjab—Indian General Service medals—South Africa, 1850-3; also 1877-9—Baltic—Crimea—Indian Mutiny—Abyssinia—New Zealand—Later awards
In these days when the deeds of brave men, whether they be of high or low rank, are acclaimed with equal praise, it is extremely difficult to understand the feelings which actuated the authorities a hundred or more years ago when awarding military medals. ”

“ Civilians are frequently puzzled to identify ribbons and medals of even recent origin, and how few have any knowledge of the hundreds of awards for service and gallantry, modern and historical, which exist in connection with the two Services. By means of Mr. Johnson’s compact volume they can learn all that a reasonably well-informed reader need know about these matters.... Most people will be glad to possess the volume, and for older boys it will prove an excellent gift book.”—The Bookman.
“Altogether an invaluable vade mecum on medals.”—The Regiment. ”

“ Two new medals were struck for the war,—the Médaille Militaire and the Croix de Guerre. The Médaille is a round medal on a yellow ribbon of one class only, and is awarded to officers and soldiers alike for actual bravery on the field. The Croix de Guerre is a bronze cross on a green and red ribbon, and has three classes,—the Croix de Guerre d’Armée, which has a bronze palm on the ribbon, de Corps d’Armée, which has a bronze star on the ribbon, and de Division, which has a plain ribbon. ”

“ Supreme Commander Robert Gordon, Comrade and Friend: I now have the greatest honor that has ever been conferred upon any man,—that of presenting to you the highest medal that the United States can confer. This medal is emblematic of your great work and the duty and loyalty you have shown to your country. It is made of gold with a triple triangle in the three royal colors, purple, blue and gold. The words in the center of the triangle are 'I am God-Love.' Around the triangle are the words, Faith, Hope and Love. ”

“ Although our political history measures but a hundred years, it records so many memorable deeds, and the names of so many illustrious citizens, that our medals form, even now, an historically valuable collection, to say nothing of the great artistic merit of some of them. ”

“ If you can allay the smart of a wound by the knowledge that it brings lasting honour to the man among his fellows, then surely it should be done. Medals, too, are more freely distributed and with more public parade than in our service. ”

“ You see, then, that the chief medal of our Army and Navy reminds us that we belong to a Christian country, and one which13 ought always to fight on the side of justice and right.
It was the good Queen Victoria who gave orders for the first Victoria Crosses to be made, as the name of the medal will always remind us. She saw that there was no decoration that could be given to her soldiers and sailors who had done very brave deeds. There were many of these brave men who had fought for her and for their country in the Crimean War which was fought about sixty years before the Great War broke out. ”

“ The descriptive titles of each medal, in the following order: 1st, the legends of the obverse and of the reverse; 2d, the name of the person honored, or of the title by which the piece is known; 3d, the event commemorated.
3. A description of the medal, beginning with the obverse: 1st, the whole legend; 2d, the description of the emblems and devices; 3d, the legend of the exergue; 4th, the names of the designer and of the engraver. The same order has been followed for the reverse. The legends are copied exactly from the medals, and when in Latin, translated ”

“ This puts me in mind of a medal I have had a mind to strike since the late great event [55] you gave me an account of, representing the United States by the figure of an infant Hercules in his cradle, strangling the two serpents; and France by that of Minerva, sitting by as his nurse, with her spear and helmet, and her robe specked with a few "fleurs-de-lis". The extinguishing of two entire armies in one war is what has rarely happened, and it gives a presage of the future force of our growing empire.... ”

“ I should claim that this act alone of saving the life of a brother officer, being an act beyond his regular duty, entitled him to a Medal of Honor. His service and his honorable character as a civilian and the high position he to-day holds in the scien [Pg 106] tific world seem to point him out as a proper person to receive such high and distinguishing honor from the Government. I earnestly recommend that the Medal of Honor be conferred upon Captain and Brevet Major Henry C. Meyer of New York City. ”

“ Subsequently an order was issued from the Horse Guards, on October 7th, 1813, to the effect that amended regulations would be adopted in the grant and circulation of marks of distinction, i.e. medals. The regulations set forth that (1st) only one medal should be borne by each officer, (2nd) that for the second and third events a gold clasp attached to a ribbon, from which the medal is suspended, inscribed with the name of the battle or siege to which it relates. ”

“ Although the striking of medals to commemorate important events is a practice of considerable antiquity, yet the custom of using the medal as a decoration, and especially as a decoration to do honour to those who have rendered service to the state
in time of war, is comparatively modern. ”

“ When I speak of the greed for medals I am not talking at random. I am telling of what I know. Last spring, at some games on the Berkeley Oval, two young men who were tied for second place in a certain event sat on the turf near where I stood, talking over the commercial aspect of their prowess. They were trying to arrange a deal. One proposed to the other to surrender second place if his rival would allow him to keep the medal. ”

“ A medal snatcher is an officer who, whenever there is a rumor of war, leaves his men to the care of any one, and through influence in high places and for the sake of the campaign medal has himself attached to the expeditionary force. But Churchill never was a medal hunter. ”

“ If to these are added the Indian (p. ix) peace medals, bearing the effigies of our successive Presidents, the various elements which compose the official medals of the United States of America will have been enumerated.
As neither titles of nobility nor orders of knighthood exist in our country, Congress can bestow no higher distinction on an American citizen than to offer him the thanks of the nation, and to order that a medal be struck in his honor. ”

“ I have given military war medals preference over those awarded for naval service, not because I do not recognise the first line of defence as worthy of priority, for, as I have pointed out, the first medals of which we have any record were probably given as mementoes of, or as rewards for, the defeat of the Armada, but because the variety given for land service is considerably greater, and, in many instances, as a naval contingent also participated, it enabled me to deal with the historical aspect out of hand, a necessity which the concise nature of the book demands. ”

“ Some people, notably in the early part of the nineteenth century, adopted the practice of placing war medals below the escutcheons amongst other decorations. It is doubtful, however, how far this practice is correct, inasmuch as a medal does not technically rank as a decoration or as a matter of honour. That medals are "decorations" is not officially recognised, with the exception, perhaps, of the Jubilee medal, the Diamond Jubilee medal, and the Coronation medal, which have been given a status more of the character of a decoration than of simple medals. ”