Melbourne bot Garden,
25/9/72
Sir
I have the honor to thank you for your kind communication of the 21. inst.,1 and beg to assure the trustees of the Publ. Library and Museum and Gallery, that I have offered with unrestricted feelings of pleasure my medals to the institution under the trustees charge, in accordance with a desire expressed in the Legislative Assembly.2 I trust therefore, that the donation will be kindly accepted, more particularly as I have no family and hardly ever an opportunity of showing these tokens of appreciations of my scientific and industrial researches to any one in my office building. As stated already in my letter to the Hon. Mr Vale, I am not free to offer the insignia of orders, graciously conferred on me, also to the Museum, because after my death most of these decorations have to be returned to the thrones, from which I received them. Moreover at any moment the opportunity may arise for using the orders, when representatives of the Sovereigns, who honored me, may be visitors in this colony. Will you kindly express to the Museum Committee my recognition of the tender and graceful manner in which the Gentlemen desire me not to deprive myself of these gifts, but as I still retain my Decorations, I would be glad, if the trustees would allow through their institution the medals to be rendered accessible to the general public, and it will give me pleasure to add early a medal awarded at the Neapel Exhibition,3 though in this as in many other instances the award was bestowed on work, performed unaided by any resources of my Department.4 I have the honor to be your obedient
Ferd. von Mueller.
Marcus Clarke Esq,5
Secret Industr. Museum.
Please cite as “FVM-72-09-25,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/72-09-25