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Title: The history of the seal of the United States
Author: Gaillard Hunt
Release date: June 16, 2024 [eBook #73844]
Language: English
Original publication: Washington D. C: U.S. Department of State, 1909
Credits: Richard Tonsing, deaurider, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES ***
[Illustration:
E PLURIBUS UNUM
]
THE HISTORY
OF
THE SEAL
OF
THE UNITED STATES
[Illustration: [Fleuron]]
WASHINGTON, D. C.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
1909
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1909
CONTENTS
PAGE.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 5
I. THE FIRST DEVICE 7
II. THE LOVELL COMMITTEE 18
III. WILLIAM BARTON’S DESIGNS 23
IV. THE SECRETARY’S DEVICE 33
V. THE ARMS ADOPTED 41
VI. THE ILLEGAL SEAL 48
VII. THE THIRD SEAL 53
VIII. THE FOURTH SEAL 63
IX. USES OF THE SEAL 65
GLOSSARY OF HERALDIC TERMS 69
INDEX 71
_To the Honorable PHILANDER C. KNOX,
Secretary of State._
_Sir: In 1892, when I was serving in your Department, by direction of
Secretary James G. Blaine I prepared an historical sketch of the seal of
the United States, entitled “The Seal of the United States: How It was
Developed and Adopted,” which the Department printed. It was prepared in
a given time and was meager; and since it appeared I have gathered
additional information concerning the history of the seal, which I now
have the honor to offer the Department, the edition of the monograph of
1892 being exhausted._
_In 1897 Mr. Charles A. L. Totten published his two-volume work in New
Haven, “Our Inheritance in the Great Seal of Manasseh, the United States
of America: Its History and Heraldry; and Its Signification unto the
‘Great People’ thus Sealed;” and I take pleasure in acknowledging my
indebtedness to Mr. Totten’s book for much valuable information
concerning the seal._
_I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant_,
_GAILLARD HUNT,
Chief, Division of Manuscripts._
_LIBRARY OF CONGRESS,
April 30, 1909._
THE SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES
I
THE FIRST DEVICE
Late in the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress
“_Resolved_, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson be a
committee to prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of
America,”[1] this being the same committee, except for the omission from
it of Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman, which had drawn up the
Declaration of Independence. The Declaration had been signed about 2
o’clock in the afternoon, and the members of the Congress assembling
after dinner[2] desired to complete the evidences of the independence of
the United States by formally adopting an official sign of sovereignty
and a national coat of arms. It was intended that the device for the
seal should be the device for the national arms, and the first and each
succeeding committee having the business in charge construed its duty to
be to devise the arms by devising the seal. In making the two identical
the prevailing custom was observed, for seals are deemed proof of the
coats of arms of the states or individuals using them. The great seal of
France at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed contained
as the obverse the arms of France, and upon the silver box containing
the great seal of England when it was attached to a treaty was engraved
the arms of England.[3] The great seal of England was itself, however,
an exception to the general rule, as it did not at that time, nor for
many years later, contain the arms of the Kingdom; but on the obverse
the figure of the King on horseback and on the reverse of the King
seated on the throne.[4]
The committee to design the arms of the new nation had no national
precedent to follow, for the arms of a kingdom are nearly always those
of the sovereign or his family, and the new Republic could accept no
individual’s arms. The several colonies, however, each had a seal, and
these, as they were generally significant and simple, would have been a
fair guide to the exigencies of a national seal. The members of the
committee, however, had an idea that an allegorical picture significant
of the fortunes and destiny of the United States would be more
appropriate; but as none of them could draw they called into
consultation Eugène Pierre Du Simitière, a West Indian Frenchman who
lived in Philadelphia and had a reputation as an artist and author. John
Adams, in a letter to his wife, August 14, 1776, told the story of the
committee’s efforts to make the seal:
[Du Simitière is] a painter by profession, whose designs are very
ingenious, and his drawings well executed. He has been applied to for
his advice. I waited on him yesterday, and saw his sketches. * * * For
the seal he proposes the arms of the several nations from whence
America has been peopled, as English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, German,
etc., each in a shield. On one side of them, Liberty with her pileus,
on the other, a rifler in his uniform, with his rifle-gun in one hand
and his tomahawk in the other; this dress and these troops with this
kind of armor being peculiar to America, unless the dress was known to
the Romans. * * * Dr. F. proposes a device for a seal: Moses lifting
up his wand and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh in his chariot
overwhelmed with the waters. This motto, “Rebellion to tyrants is
obedience to God.”
Mr. Jefferson proposed the children of Israel in the wilderness, led
by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; on the other side,
Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of
being descended, and whose political principles and form of government
we have assumed. I proposed the choice of Hercules, as engraved by
Gribelin, in some editions of Lord Shaftesbury’s works. The hero
resting on his club. Virtue pointing to her rugged mountain on one
hand, and persuading him to ascend. Sloth, glancing at her flowery
paths of pleasure, wantonly reclining on the ground, displaying the
charms both of her eloquence and person, to seduce him into vice. But
this is too complicated a group for a seal or a medal, and it is not
original.[5]
Adams’s statement is corroborated by the notes preserved by Jefferson
and now among his papers in the Library of Congress. Franklin’s note
reads:
Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea,
thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharoah who is sitting in an
open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a
Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses to express that he acts
by Command of the Deity.
Motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.
Jefferson’s note says:
Pharoah sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in
his hand passing thro’ the divided waters of the Red Sea in pursuit of
the Israelites: rays from a pillar of fire in the cloud, expressive of
the divine presence and command, reaching to Moses who stands on the
shore and, extending his hand over the sea, causes it to over whelm
Pharoah.
Motto Rebellion to tyrants is obed^{ce}. to god.[6]
Adams’s own design was, as he says, that of the engraving by Gribelin,
Paulo de Mathæis, artist, which appeared as frontispiece to the Earl of
Shaftesbury’s Treatise VII, Vol. III, edition of 1773, on the
Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times.[7] It is a fine
allegorical picture and Adams gives a good description of it in his
letter, but it is wholly unsuited to a coat of arms. In this respect,
however, the pictures suggested by Franklin and Jefferson were no
better. In Du Simitière’s final design, which was the best of the four,
the Goddess of Justice was substituted for the American rifleman as the
sinister supporter, and Franklin’s suggestion was accepted for the
reverse.
The committee reported August 20:[8]
The great Seal should on one side have the Arms of the United States
of America which arms should be as follows: The Shield has six
Quarters,[9] parti one, coupé two. The 1^{st}. Or, a Rose enamelled
gules & argent for England: the 2^d. Argent, a Thistle proper for
Scotland: the 3^d. Verd, a Harp Or, for Ireland: the 4^{th}. Azure a
Flower de Luce Or for France: the 5^{th}. Or the Imperial Eagle Sable
for Germany: and the 6^{th}. Or the Belgic Lion Gules for Holland,
pointing out the Countries from which these States have been peopled.
The Shield within a Border Gules entoire of thirteen Scutcheons Argent
linked together by a Chain Or, each charged with initial Letters Sable
as follows: 1^{st}. N. H. 2^d. M. B. 3^d. R. I. 4^{th}. C. 5^{th}. N.
Y. 6^{th}. N. J. 7^{th}. P. 8^{th}. D. C.[10] 9^{th}. M. 10^{th}. V.
11^{th}. N. C. 12^{th}. S. C. 13^{th}. G. for each of the thirteen
independent States of America.
Supporters, dexter the Goddess Liberty in a corselet of armour
alluding to the present Times, holding in her right Hand the Spear and
Cap and with her left supporting the Shield of the States; sinister,
the Goddess Justice bearing a Sword in her right hand, and in her left
a Balance.
Crest The Eye of Providence in a radiant Triangle whose Glory extends
over the Shield and beyond the Figures.
Motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Legend, round the whole atchievement. Seal of the United States of
America MDCCLXXVI.
On the other side of the said Great Seal should be the following
Device. Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a
Sword in his hand passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in
pursuit of the Israelites; Rays from a pillar of Fire in the Cloud,
expressive of the divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who
stands on the Shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to
overwhelm Pharaoh.
Motto Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.[11]
This is endorsed, “Copy of a Report made Aug. 10, 1776,” and is in the
handwriting of no member of the committee, but of James Lovell.
The description of the arms by Du Simitière is among the Jefferson
Papers in the Library of Congress, and shows a design identical with
that approved by the committee, except as to the supporters, Du
Simitière’s description being:
Supporters, dexter, the Goddess Liberty, in a corslet of armour,
(alluding to the present times) holding in her right hand the Spear
and Cap, resting with her left on an anchor, emblem of Hope. Senester,
an american Soldier, compleatly accoutred in his hunting shirt and
trousers, with his tomahawk, powder horn, pouch &c. holding with his
left hand his rifle gun rested, and the Shield of the States with his
right.
[Illustration:
Reverse
[Drawing by Benson J. Lossing from the description]
]
[Illustration:
Obverse
[The pencil sketch by Du Simitière, found in the Jefferson Papers]
THE FIRST DESIGN
Face p. 12
]
A note following the report says: “The figure of Liberty standing on a
Column, on which are the emblems of commerce, agriculture and arms.”
Two features alone of the designs of this committee were preserved in
the final seal, the eye of Providence, which figured in the final
reverse, and the motto “E pluribus unum,” which appeared in the final
obverse. The eye was an adoption of a very ancient symbol of the
overseeing God. It was probably suggested by Du Simitière himself, since
Adams does not mention it as having been proposed by any member of the
committee.
The motto formed a part of Du Simitière’s design, but has been generally
attributed to Jefferson.[12] Adams’s letter shows nothing to suggest the
possibility that he himself chose the motto; on the contrary, his mind
was full of a moral rather than a political allegory for the arms.
Jefferson’s mind had, on the other hand, already been engaged on the
subject of a suitable device for a seal to express the idea of weakness
in separation of the States and power in their combination. In 1774 he
made this note in his almanac:
A proper device (instead of arms) for the American states united would
be the Father presenting the bundle of rods to his sons.
The motto “Insuperabiles si inseperabiles” an answer given in
parl[iament] to the H[ouse] of Lds, & comm[ons].[13]
Jefferson’s preference for a “device” rather than a coat of arms was due
to the fact that he thought more allegorical meaning could be obtained
by using the former. The idea he wished to convey was from one of Æsop’s
fables. A father called his family of discordant sons about him, and
taking a bundle of rods bound compactly together bade each one try to
break it, which none could do. He then gave each one a single rod from
the bundle and they were broken easily.
The motto “E pluribus unum”[14] was in familiar use in the United States
and naturally suggested itself as a fitting description of the union of
the States depicted in Du Simitière’s design.
Franklin suggested the motto “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,”
which, as we have seen, was incorporated in the proposed reverse of the
seal. It so much pleased Jefferson that he took it as his own motto, and
had it cut upon his private seal. It was current in the colonies as part
of a fictitious epitaph over the body of John Bradshaw, president of the
court which condemned Charles I to death.
Thomas Hollis, of England, born in London in 1720, and one of the early
patrons of Harvard College, in his memoirs, states:[15]
The following Epitaph is often seen pasted up in the houses in North
America. It throws some light upon the principles of the people, and
may in some measure account for the asperity of the war carrying on
against them. The original is engraved upon a cannon at the summit of
a steep hill near Martha Bray [Bay] in Jamaica:
STRANGER
Ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon,
Nor regardless be told
That near its base lies deposited the dust
Of JOHN BRADSHAW;
Who, nobly superior to selfish regards,
Despising alike the pageantry of courtly splendor,
The blast of calumny,
And the terrors of royal vengeance,
Presided in the illustrious band of Heroes and Patriots,
Who fairly and openly adjudged
CHARLES STUARD
Tyrant of England
To a public and exemplary death;
Thereby presenting to the amazed world,
And transmitting down through applauding ages,
The most glorious example
Of unshaken virtue,
Love of Freedom,
And impartial justice,
Ever exhibited on the blood-stained theater
Of human actions.
Oh, Reader,
Pass not on, till thou hast blest his memory!
And never, never forget,
That REBELLION TO TYRANTS
IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
A copy of this supposititious epitaph, in Jefferson’s handwriting, was
given to his young friend, De Lyon, one of the Frenchmen who was with
Lafayette on his tour of America in 1824. The manuscript was dated 1776,
and stated that the inscription had been found three years earlier on
the cannon at Martha Bay, Jamaica. A note, evidently by Mr. Jefferson
himself, his biographer states, says:
From many circumstances there is reason to believe there does not
exist any such inscription as the above, and that it was written by
Dr. Franklin, in whose hands it was first seen.[16]
Although Du Simitière, as it would appear from John Adams’s letter, drew
his designs for the committee, they were not preserved among the papers
of Congress, a very slight pencil sketch of his proposed obverse found
among Jefferson’s papers being all that remains. The committee’s report
was laid upon the table, and for nearly four years the United States
existed without a coat of arms and Congress did business without an
official seal.
II
THE LOVELL COMMITTEE
On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the national flag of thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars
upon a blue field, “representing,” as the law said, “a new
constellation.” The flag had actually come into use in the army some
months before it received legal sanction, its chief features probably
suggested by the Dutch standard. The red denoted daring, the white
purity, and the stars the States in union.[17]
[Illustration:
Reverse
]
[Illustration:
Arms
DESIGNS OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE
[Reduced one-half]
Face p. 19
]
The American minister to France, Silas Deane, complained of the
informality and impropriety of the representatives of the sovereignty of
a nation being without a seal with which to authenticate their official
acts, but the subject was treated with indifference. On January 23,
1777, a committee appointed to examine the files of Congress, William
Ellery of Rhode Island, chairman, selected certain papers which it
thought required the consideration of Congress—among them the “Report on
a Device for a public seal”[18]—but it was not until March 25, 1780,
that the report was taken up again, when James Lovell of Massachusetts,
John Morin Scott of Virginia, and William Churchill Houston of New
Jersey were appointed a committee to report a design for a great seal,
and to them was referred the report of the first committee. The chairman
of the committee and the most important member was Lovell. He was a
Boston school-teacher and a graduate of Harvard College. Being
imprisoned by the British after the battle of Bunker Hill, he was later
exchanged and entered Congress in December, 1776, where he served till
1782, being for a long time on the Committee of Foreign Affairs. While
serving on this committee he must have received Deane’s complaint that
Congress had no seal. Lovell was regarded as a man of great learning,
but was extremely eccentric in his manners and speech.[19] The committee
reported May 10:
The Com̃ittee to whom was referred on the 25^{th} of March last the
report of a former Com̃ittee on the Device of a Great Seal for the
United States in Congress assembled, beg Leave to report the following
Description.
The Seal to be 3 Inches in Diametre
On one Side the Arms of the United States, as follows; The Shield
charged on the Field Azure with 13 diagonal Stripes alternate rouge
and argent—Supporters; dexter, a warriour holding a Sword; sinister, a
Figure, representing Peace bearing an Olive Branch—The Crest—a radiant
constellation of 13 Stars—The motto _Bello vel Paci_; The Legend round
the Atchievement—The great _Seal of the United States of America_
On the reverse, The Figure of Liberty seated in a Chair holding the
Staff and Cap—The motto _virtute perennis_—underneath, MDCCLXXVI.
A Drawing of the Seal is annexed—
May 10^{th} 1780—
A Miniature of the Face of the great Seal to be prepared of Half the
Diametre, to be affixed as the less Seal of the United States.
The report is endorsed, “Report of the Come^{ee}. on the device of a
great Seal—Delivered May 10, 1780 read—May 17, 1780 Recommitted. N. B.
The within report has been altered since the Recommitment of May 17,
1780,” the endorsement being in the handwriting of Charles Thomson, the
Secretary of Congress, except the note, which is in the same hand as the
report, apparently,[20] that of Houston; but the motto _virtute
perennis_ in the report is in Thomson’s hand. The committee submitted
designs of both obverse and reverse. The more finished of those for an
obverse has the stripes alternate white and red, whereas the report
called for red and white. A second and rougher design shows a slightly
different arrangement of the constellation, a helmet as a crest, which
is struck out as unsatisfactory, and a shield with alternate _red_ and
_white_ stripes. For dexter supporter there is a naked Indian carrying
in his right hand a bow and arrow.
Two drawings were made for the reverse, the differences between them not
being great. In one the figure carries in her left hand a sword instead
of an olive branch, and at the bottom is the date MDCCLXXX, while at the
top the motto, “Aut haec aut nullus,” has a line drawn through it;
another has over the top outside the circle the words “Libertas virtute
perennis,” a line having been drawn through the word “Libertas;” within
the circle is the word Semper struck out and the date is MDCCLXXVI.
Underneath is this fragment of a note: “a rough Sketch of the Design &
Decorations by the ——.”
The report of this committee is important, because it shows for the
first time the use of the constellation of thirteen stars, the shield,
and the white and red and red and white stripes. The stripes and stars
had undoubtedly been adopted from the flag. In these designs appears for
the first time the olive branch as an emblem of peace.
III
WILLIAM BARTON’S DESIGNS
The report of the Lovell committee met with the same fate as the report
of the first committee. It was recommitted, and nothing further was done
until May, 1782, when Arthur Middleton of South Carolina, Elias Boudinot
of New Jersey, and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina were appointed a
committee to design a seal. The two South Carolinians were men of
foreign education, and a cultivated gentleman in those days usually had
some knowledge of heraldry. Boudinot had an interest in coins and
medals, it is presumed, as he was appointed Director of the Mint at
Philadelphia in 1795. This committee did no independent labor of a
serious character, but called into consultation William Barton, A. M., a
private citizen of Philadelphia. He was the son of Rev. Thomas Barton,
rector of St. James Episcopal Church, his mother being a sister of the
famous David Rittenhouse,[21] and in 1813 he published a memoir of
Rittenhouse. He was also the author of a monograph on the nature and use
of Paper Credit, etc. (Philadelphia, 1781). The reasons which prompted
the committee to go to him are not known. It is evident, however, that
he had studied heraldry, and his drawings show that he was ingenious in
the use of his pencil. From the time he first appears in connection with
the seal he is the central figure, until he divides the honors with the
Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson.
Rutledge’s connection with the committee was never active, and Arthur
Lee, who had recently returned from France, acted with it, although
never formally assigned as a member.
Barton’s first design for the seal was as follows:
A Device for an _Armorial Atchievement_, for the Great Seal of the
United States of America, in Congress assembled; agreeable to the
Rules of Heraldry:—proposed by William Barton, A. M.
Arms.
Barry of thirteen pieces, Argent & Gules; on a Canton, Azure, as many
Stars disposed in a Circle, of the first: a Pale, Or, surmounted of
another, of the third; charged, in Chief, with an Eye surrounded with
a Glory, proper; and, in the Fess-point, an Eagle displayed, on the
Summit of a Doric Column which rests on the Base of the Escutcheon,
both as the Stars.
Crest.
On an Helmet of burnished Gold damasked, grated with six Bars, and
surmounted of a Cap of Dignity, Gules, turned up Ermine, a Cock armed
with Gaffs, proper:
Supporters
On the dexter Side: the Genius of America (represented by a Maiden
with loose Auburn Tresses, having on her Head a radiated Crown, of
Gold, encircled with a Sky-blue Fillet Spangled with Silver Stars; and
clothed in a long, loose, white garment, bordered with Green: from her
right Shoulder to her left Side, a Scarf semé of Stars, the Tinctures
thereof the same as in the Canton; and round her Waist a purple Girdle
fringed or; embroidered, Argent, with the Word “Virtue”:)—resting her
interior Hand on the Escutcheon; and holding in the other the proper
_Standard of the United States_, having a Dove, argent, perched on the
Top of it.
On the sinister side: a Man in complete Armour; his Sword-belt, Azure,
fringed with Gold; his Helmet encircled with a Wreath of Laurel, and
crested with one white & two blue Plumes: supporting with his dexter
Hand the Escutcheon, and holding, in the exterior, a Lance with the
point sanguinated; and upon it a Banner displayed, Vert,—in the
Fess-point an Harp, or, stringed with Silver, between a Star in Chief,
two Fleurs-de-lis in Fess, and a pair of Swords in Saltier, in Base,
all Argent. The Tenants of the Escutcheon stand on a Scroll, on which
the following Motto—
“Deo favente”—
which alludes to the _Eye_ in the Arms, meant for the Eye of
Providence.
Over the Crest, in a Scroll, this Motto—
“Virtus sola invicta”—
which requires no comment.
The thirteen pieces, barways, which fill up the Field of the Arms, may
represent the several States; and the same Number of Stars upon a blue
Canton, disposed in a Circle, represent a new Constellation, which
alludes to the new Empire, formed in the World by the Confœderation of
those States—Their Disposition, in the form of a circle, denotes the
Perpetuity of its Continuance, the Ring being the Symbol of Eternity.
The Eagle displayed is the Symbol of Supreme Power & Authority, and
signifies the Congress; the Pillar, upon which it rests, is used as
the Hieroglyphic of Fortitude & Constancy; and, it’s being of the
Doric Order, (which is the best proportioned & most agreeable to
Nature,) & composed of several Members or parts, all, taken together,
forming a beautiful Composition of Strength, Congruity & Usefulness,
it may with great propriety signify a well planned Government. The
Eagle, being placed on the Summit of the Column, is emblematical of
the Sovereignty of the Government of the United States; and, as
further expressive of that Idea, those two Charges or Figures are
borne on a Pale, which extends across the thirteen pieces into which
the Escutcheon is divided. The Signification of the Eye has been
already explained.
The Helmet is such as appertains to Sovereignty; and the Cap is used
as the Token of Freedom & Excellency: It was formerly worn by Dukes
“because,” says Guillim, “_they Had a more worthy Government than
other Subjects_.”—The Cock is distinguished for two most excellent
Qualities, Necessary in a free Country, viz. _Vigilance & Fortitude_.
The Genius of the American confœderated Republic is denoted by her
blue Scarf & Fillet, glittering with Stars, and by the Flag of
Congress which she displays. Her Dress is white edged with green;
Colours emblematical of Innocence and Youth. Her _purple_ Girdle &
radiated _Crown_ indicate her Sovereignty: the Word “_Virtue_” on the
former is to show, that _that_ should be her principal Ornament; and
the _radiated_ Crown, that no _Earthly_ Crown shall rule her. The Dove
on the Top of the American Standard denotes the Mildness & Lenity of
her Government.
The Knight in Armour with his bloody Lance represents the Military
Genius of the American Empire, armed in Defence of its just Rights.
His _blue_ Belt & _blue_ Feathers indicate his Country, & the _white_
Plume is in Compliment to our gallant Ally. The Wreath of Laurel round
his Helmet is expressive of his Success. The _Green_ Field of the
Banner denotes Youth and Vigor; the Harp is emblematical of the
several States acting in Harmony & Concert; the Star, _in Chief_, has
reference to America, _as principal_ in the Contest; the two
Fleurs-de-lis are borne as a grateful[22] Testimonial of the _Support_
given to her by France; and the two Swords, crossing each other,
signify a State of War. This Tenant & his Flag relate, totally, to
America at the Time of her _Revolution_.
WILLIAM BARTON.
This, the first device of Barton, was not illustrated, and his second
device, of which he offered a colored drawing, differed from it in that
he transferred the eye to the reverse and the eagle from the summit of
the column to the crest, thereby eliminating the cock. He put at the
summit of the column a phœnix rising from the flames, left out the
American flag from the dexter supporter’s hand, and changed the sinister
supporter from a warrior in armor to one in continental uniform, holding
in his hand a baton instead of a lance. He also left out the harp and
the fleur-de-lis and transferred the motto to the reverse. The
fleur-de-lis was proposed to commemorate the alliance with France, this
being the only report in which the alliance figured. The design is
important, because it establishes the fact that the idea had become
fixed of having in the seal the thirteen stars, the blue field, and
thirteen stripes of red and white or white and red. In this design
appears for the first time the eagle.
Barton’s second design was addressed to “The Hon^{ble}. Elias Boudinot,
Esq^r. & Arthur Lee Es^q. In Congress.”
Device for an Armorial Atchievement & Reverse of a Great Seal, for the
United States of North America: proposed by William Barton, Esq^r. A.
M.—
Blazoned according to the Laws of Heraldry—
Arms.
Barry of thirteen pieces, Argent & Gules; on a pale, Or, a Pillar of
the Doric Order, Vert, reaching from the Base of the Escutcheon to the
Honor point; and from the Summit thereof, a Phœnix in Flames with
Wings expanded, proper; the whole within a Border, Azure, charged with
as many Stars as pieces barways, of the first.
[Illustration:
WILLIAM BARTON’S SECOND DESIGN
[Traced from the original and reduced one-half]
Face p. 28
]
Crest.
On a Helmet of Burnished Gold, damasked, grated with six Bars, a Cap
of Liberty, Vert; with an Eagle displayed, Argent, thereon: holding in
his dexter Talon a Sword, Or, having a Wreath of Laurel suspended from
the point; and, in the sinister, the Ensign of the United States,
proper.
Supporters.
On the dexter side, the Genius of the American Confederated Republic:
represented by a Maiden, with flowing Auburn Tresses; clad in a long,
loose, white Garment, bordered with Green; having a Sky-blue Scarf,
charged with Stars as in the Arms, reaching across her Waist from her
right Shoulder to her left Side; and, on her Head, a _radiated_ Crown
of Gold, encircled with an Azure Fillet spangled with Silver Stars;
round her Waist a purple Girdle, embroidered with the Word “Virtus”,
in Silver:—a Dove, proper, perched on her dexter Hand.
On the sinister side, an American Warrior; clad in an uniform Coat, of
blue faced with Buff, and in his Hat a Cockade of black & white
Ribbons; in his left Hand, a Baton Azure, semé of Stars Argent.
Motto, over the Crest—
“_In Vindiciam Libertatis_”
Motto, under the Arms—
“_Virtus sola invicta_”
Reverse of the Seal.
A Pyramid of thirteen Strata, (or Steps) Or. In the Zenith; an Eye,
surrounded with a Glory, proper.
In a Scroll, above—or in the Margin
“_Deo favente_”
The Exergue
“_Perennis_”
Remarks.
The Imperial Eagle of Germany (which is sable, and with two Heads) is
represented with a Sword in one Talon, and a Sceptre in the other.
The Phœnix is emblematical of the expiring Liberty of Britain, revived
by her Descendants in America.
The Dove (perched on the right Hand of the Genius of America) is
Emblematical of Innocence and Virtue.
The Sword (held by the Eagle) is the Symbol of Courage, Authority &
Power. The Flag or Ensign denotes the United States of America, of the
sovereignty of which the Eagle is expressive.
The Pillar is the Hieroglyphic of Constancy & Fortitude; and is
likewise emblematical of Beauty, Strength & Order.
The Pyramid signifies Strength & Duration.
The other parts have been explained.
The Armorial Atchievements of Sovereign Princes & States are usually
blazoned by the planets, to represent the Colours; but that mode is
purposely deviated from, being condemned by the best Heralds.
The committee adopted this complicated design and reported it to
Congress May 9, 1782, but Congress was not satisfied with it, and on
June 13 it was referred to the Secretary of Congress.
The endorsement on Barton’s design is in Thomson’s hand, except the last
sentence, “Passed,” etc.:
N^o. 26—Report of M^r. Middleton M^r. Boudinot M^r. Rutledge. Device
of a Seal Ent^d. May 9, 1782 June 13–1782 Referred to the Sec^y of the
United States in Congress Assembled to take order. Passed June 20
1782.
The number on the report had reference to the arrangement of papers in
the Secretary’s office. The words “Passed June 20 1782,” had reference
to the later design.
It should be noticed that Barton termed the description of his device a
“blazon”—that is, a verbal description so precise that a person
understanding heraldry would be able to draw and color the arms
correctly. All of the other reports on the seal were blazons also, thus
showing the purpose of making an illuminated arms.
Barton’s design for the obverse, as he drew it for the committee, was 9½
inches by 8 inches large, and the reverse 2½ inches in diameter, and
both were in colors, the coloring following the description correctly,
and the lettering and scroll work being in black and white. The
circumstances under which Barton was called upon to submit his final
design were noted by him in a memorandum which he left among his papers:
In June, 1782 [he says] when Congress was about to form an armorial
device for a Great Seal for the United States, Charles Thomson, Esq.,
then Secretary of Congress, with Hon. Arthur Lee and Elias Boudinot,
member of Congress, called on me and consulted me on the occasion. The
Great Seal, for which I furnished these gentlemen with devices (as
certified by Charles Thomson, Esq.), was adopted by Congress on the
20th of June, 1782. Mr. Thomson informed me, four days after, that
they met with general approbation.
W. BARTON.[23]
IV
THE SECRETARY’S DEVICE
Barton’s elaborate design fixed the reverse, but that part of the seal
does not appear to have caused much discussion. For the obverse it
produced the displayed eagle, but Barton’s eagle was crested and not the
American or bald-headed eagle.
The whole matter now having by order of Congress come into the hands of
Charles Thomson, he took a radical departure from all previous designs.
Putting the eagle as the central figure of his design, he specified that
it be an American eagle, rising, not displayed. As emblematic of the war
power he put in the sinister talon a bundle of arrows, where Barton had
put the American flag, introducing the arrows into the seal for the
first time. To picture peace he put in the eagle’s dexter talon an olive
branch which had figured in the device of the second committee, instead
of Barton’s sword and wreath of laurel. For the crest he used the
constellation of thirteen stars surrounded by clouds, as in the second
committee’s report, and arranged the red and white stripes, which the
second committee had made diagonal and Barton horizontal, in chevrons,
one side of red and white, the other of white and red. From the report
of the first committee he took the motto “E pluribus unum.” He made or
had made a rough drawing of his device, which was colored. It was almost
4 inches in diameter. For the reverse he adopted Barton’s device,
changing only the mottoes. These were from Virgil, “Audacibus annue
cœptis” (favor my daring undertaking), being found in the Æneid, book 9,
verse 625 (also in the Georgics, 1, 40), and “Magnus ab integro seclorum
nascitur ordo” (the great series of ages begins anew), coming from the
fourth eclogue, fifth verse. Although the form “seclorum” was adopted,
the more approved spelling is “sæclorum.”[24]
The report which follows is entirely in Thomson’s handwriting and is
endorsed by him “The Secretary’s device:”
Device for an Armorial Atchievement and Reverse of a great Seal for
the United States in Congress Assembled.
Arms.
On a field Chevrons composed of seven pieces on one side & six on the
other, joined together at the top in such wise that each of the six
bears against or is supported by & supports two of the opposite side
the pieces of the chevrons on each side alternate red & white. The
shield born on the breast of an American Eagle on the Wing & rising
proper. In the dexter talon of the Eagle an Olive branch & in the
sinister a bundle of arrows. Over the head of the Eagle a
constellation of Stars surrounded with bright rays and at a little
distance clouds.
[Illustration:
CHARLES THOMSON’S DESIGN
[Traced from the original]
Face p. 34
]
In the bill of the Eagle a scroll with the words E pluribus unum.—
Reverse
A pyramid unfinished
In the Zenith an Eye in a triangle surrounded with a glory, proper.
Over the eye these words
Annuit cœptis
On the base of the pyramid the numerical letters
MDCCLXXVI
and underneath these words
Novus ordo seclorum.
N. B. the Head & tail of the American bald Eagle are white the body &
wings of a lead or dove colour.
This design of Thomson’s was returned to Barton, who changed it by
inserting pales for the chevrons, the colors alternating white and red,
with a blue chief. He restored the displayed eagle as in his own design
and specified that the bundle of arrows should contain thirteen. He also
recommended that in the exergue should be the date of American
independence and in the margin a Latin legend, “Sigul. Mag. Reipub.
Confœd.,” but in the final design this was left out. The report was
written by Barton and is endorsed by Thomson, “M^r. Barton’s improvement
on the Secretary’s device.”
Device for an Armorial Atchievement for the United States of North
America, blazoned agreeably to the Laws of Heraldry—proposed by Wm.
Barton, A. M.
Arms.
Paleways of [25]thirteen pieces, Argent & Gules; a Chief Azure:—The
Escutcheon placed on the Breast of an American (the bald-headed)
Eagle, displayed, proper; holding in his Beak a Scroll, inscribed with
this Motto, viz.
“E pluribus Unum”—
And in his dexter Talon a Palm or an Olive Branch—in the other a
Bundle of 13 Arrows; all proper.
For the Crest.
Over the Head of the Eagle, which appears above the Escutcheon, a
Glory, Or; breaking through a Cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen
Stars forming a Constellation, Argent, on an Azure Field.
In the Exergue of the Great Seal—
“Jul. iv. MDCCLXXVI”—
In the Margin of the same—
“Sigil. Mag. Reipub.
“Confœd. Americ.”
Remarks.
The Escutcheon is composed of the Chief & Pale, the two most honorable
ordinaries: the latter represent the several States; all joined in one
solid, compact Entire, supporting a Chief, which unites the whole &
represents Congress—The Motto alludes to this Union.—The Colours or
Tinctures of the Pales are those used in the Flag of the United
States—White signifies Purity & Innocence; Red, Hardiness & Valour.
The Chief denotes Congress—Blue is the Ground of the American uniform,
and this Colour signifies Vigilance, Perseverance & Justice.
The Meaning of the Crest is obvious, as is likewise that of the Olive
Branch & Arrows.
The Escutcheon being placed on the Breast of the Eagle displayed is a
very antient Mode of bearing, & is truly imperial. The Eagle
_displayed_ is an Heraldical Figure; and, being borne in the Manner
here described, supplies the Place of Supporters & Crest. The American
States need no Supporters but their own Virtue, and the Preservation
of their Union through Congress.—The Pales in the Arms are kept
closely united by the Chief, which last likewise depends on that Union
& the Strength resulting from it, for its own Support—the Inference is
plain.
W. B.
June 19^{th}. 1782
This report originated from two sources, Thomson and Barton, and the
agency of each is clearly defined. The distinction of producing the arms
of the United States can not justly be accorded wholly to either, but
belongs wholly to both, with the larger share of distinction to the
Secretary, Charles Thomson.
On June 24, four days after the seal had been adopted, Thomson wrote to
Barton:
I enclose you a copy of the device by which you have displayed your
skill in heraldic science, and which meets with general approbation.
The chief change made by Barton in Thomson’s design was in the
substitution for the chevrons of thirteen pales, alternate white and
red, with a blue chief, and this has been often attributed, without
adequate warrant, to an outside source, which deserves to be noticed.
Sir John Prestwich was a distinguished English antiquary and a friend of
the American Revolution. He enjoyed an acquaintance with John Adams when
the latter was on his foreign mission in 1779, and they conversed on the
subject of the seal, in which Adams, of course, took an interest, as he
had been on the first committee to design it. It appears that Sir John
made certain suggestions for a design which were afterwards enlarged
into a claim by others that he had made the design of the arms which was
finally adopted. Sifting from the question the conjecture and inference
surrounding it one fact is important. It is set forth by the historian
Benson J. Lossing in the Field Book of the American Revolution and War
of 1812:[26]
In the manuscript letter before me [he says], written in 1818 by
Thomas Barritt, Esq., an eminent antiquary of Manchester, England,
addressed to his son in this country, is the following statement: “My
friend, Sir John Prestwich, Bart., told me he was the person who
suggested the idea of a coat of arms for the American States to an
embassador [John Adams] from thence, which they have seen fit to put
on their moneys. It is this, he told me—party per pale of thirteen
stripes, white and red, the chief of the escutcheon, blue, signifying
the protection of Heaven over the States.—He says it was soon after
adopted, as the arms of the States, and to give it more prominence was
placed upon the breast of a displayed eagle.”
There is no claim here that Sir John Prestwich suggested the eagle as an
emblem, or the placing of the shield upon the eagle’s breast, but simply
the pales and the chief. The theory is that Adams communicated this
suggestion to Charles Thomson, who engrafted it upon his own and
Barton’s designs. But it must be remembered that two shields were
already on the files of Congress, with alternate red and white, or white
and red, stripes, and Barton’s first design had bars of the same colors.
Prestwich’s suggestion was, therefore, no more than that they be
perpendicular instead of diagonal or parallel, and that the chief be
blue; but in the device submitted by the committee of 1780 the diagonal
stripes were charged upon a _field azure_. Sir John Prestwich, of
course, knew nothing of these designs, and his statement after the seal
was adopted was made in ignorance of the fact that the essentials of his
suggestion were already before Congress.[27] That his suggestion
influenced the final result even in the slight degree possible, seems
improbable. Why did Thomson, with the Prestwich suggestion before him,
make his first shield of chevrons, which Barton, it appears, changed to
pales? Thomson may have told Barton of the Prestwich design, but what is
more natural than that Barton should try of his own initiative the only
new arrangement of the stripes that was left to try? Diagonal stripes,
bars, chevrons, had all figured in designs and had not given
satisfaction. Pales were then drawn and proved acceptable.
V
THE ARMS ADOPTED
On June 20, 1782, the seal was finally decided upon.
On report of the secretary, to whom were referred the several reports
on the device for a great seal, to take order:
The device for an armorial achievement and reverse of the great seal
for the United States in Congress assembled, is as follows:
ARMS. Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure;
the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper,
holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a
bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll,
inscribed with this motto, “_E pluribus Unum_.”
For the CREST. Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the
escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and
surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation, argent, on an
azure field.
REVERSE. A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a triangle,
surrounded with a glory proper. Over the eye these words, “_Annuit
Cœptis_.” On the base of the pyramid the numerical letters MDCCLXXVI.
And underneath the following motto, “_Novus Ordo Seclorum_.”[28]
REMARKS AND EXPLANATION
The Escutcheon is composed of the chief & pale, the two most honorable
ordinaries. The pieces, paly, represent the Several States all joined
in one solid compact entire, supporting a Chief, which unites the
whole & represents Congress. The Motto alludes to this union. The
pales in the arms are kept closely united by the chief and the chief
depends on that Union & the strength resulting from it for its
support, to denote the Confederacy of the United States of America &
the preservation of their Union through Congress. The colours of the
pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America;
White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and
Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance perseverance &
justice. The Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace & war
which is exclusively vested in Congress. The Constellation denotes a
new State taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers. The
Escutcheon is born on the breast of an American Eagle without any
other supporters, to denote that the United States of America ought to
rely on their own Virtue.
Reverse. The pyramid signifies Strength and Duration: The Eye over it
& the Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in
favour of the American cause. The date underneath is that of the
Declaration of Independence and the words under it signify the
beginning of the new American Æra, which commences from that date.
[Illustration:
THE FIRST SEAL (1782)
]
[Illustration:
THE SECOND SEAL (1841)
Face p. 43
]
This entire report is in Thomson’s handwriting and is endorsed by him:
“Device for a Great Seal for the United States in Congress Assembled.
Passed June 20, 1782.” In the journals of Congress the “Remarks and
explanation” are left out, but they constitute an essential part of the
fundamental law as Congress adopted it.
The different features of the seal had all been in common use in
America. In the North Carolina paper currency of 1775 appears a bundle
of thirteen arrows; in the Maryland currency of the same year a hand
grasping an olive branch with thirteen leaves; on a fifty-dollar bill
issued in 1778 is an unfinished pyramid, with the motto “Perennis;” in
the Massachusetts copper penny of 1776 are thirteen stars, surrounding
an _eagle_; the flag had the thirteen stripes, and so had the seal of
the Board of Admiralty, adopted May 4, 1780.
Soon after the seal was adopted the obverse was cut in brass; but the
identity of the engraver is unknown. It was intended to be impressed in
wax over a paper wafer, and is found on a commission dated September 16,
1782, granting full power and authority to General Washington to arrange
with the British for exchange of prisoners of war. The commission is
signed by John Hanson, President of Congress, and countersigned by
Charles Thomson, Secretary, the seal being affixed in the upper
left-hand corner, instead of the lower left-hand corner as is now the
custom. This, the first great seal to be made, continued in use for
fifty-nine years, and having been cut almost as soon as the design was
adopted may fairly be assumed to represent correctly the intentions of
the makers of the seal.
The second or Lovell committee recommended a “less seal of the United
States” of the same design as the great seal but of smaller diameter,
but no other committee took cognizance of the custom which still
prevails in many countries of having two principal seals of state. The
idea had not, however, wholly disappeared when the Constitution was
adopted, for in the first Congress John Vining of Delaware proposed
(June, 1789) that a Home Department be provided for and that the
Secretary be required to “keep the great seal, and affix the same to all
public papers, when it is necessary; to keep the lesser seal, and affix
it to commissions &c.”
In the debate which preceded the defeat of the bill, Alexander White of
Virginia said the great seal might be kept by the Secretary of Foreign
Affairs, and the lesser seal also.[29] No direct proposition was made,
however, to create a lesser seal.
When the Congress under the Articles of Confederation ceased to exist
and the new Government went into operation Charles Thomson continued in
charge of the great seal and of the records of the old Government, until
provision for their custody should be made. On July 24, 1789, Washington
as President wrote to him:
You will be pleased, Sir, to deliver the Books, Records and Papers of
the late Congress—the Great Seal of the federal Union—and the Seal of
the Admiralty, to Mr. Roger Alden, the late Deputy Secretary of
Congress, who is requested to take charge of them until further
directions shall be given.
Thus terminated Thomson’s connection with the seal which he had done so
much to design and have adopted. Alden afterwards described his own
appointment as that of keeper of the seals and papers of the old
Congress.
On June 27 the bill creating the Department of Foreign Affairs became a
law, this being the first executive department provided for under the
Constitution, but the Secretary was not made the keeper of the seal and
it remained in Alden’s hands until the Department of State was created.
The act creating this Department was entitled, “An act to provide for
the safe keeping of the acts, records, and seal of the United States and
for other purposes.” It enlarged the Department of Foreign Affairs into
the Department of State, and named as the principal officer the
Secretary of State. The third section of the act read:
_And be it further enacted_, That the seal heretofore used by the
United States in Congress assembled, shall be, and hereby is declared
to be, the Seal of the United States.
The fourth section read:
That the said secretary shall keep the said seal, and shall make out
and record, and shall affix the said seal to all civil commissions to
officers of the United States to be appointed by the president, by and
with the advice and consent of the senate, or by the president alone.
Provided, That the said seal shall not be affixed to any commission,
before the same shall have been signed by the president of the United
States, nor to any other instrument or act, without the special
warrant of the president therefor.
It will be observed that the act described the “Seal of the United
States” and not the “Great Seal of the United States,” although in all
the preliminary reports and in the adopting act the term “Great Seal”
was used. As no lesser seal of state was contemplated there was really
no object in designating the only seal as the “Great Seal,” although for
ordinary purposes it has never ceased to be called the “Great Seal,” and
is so denominated in the decision of the Supreme Court where its uses
are set forth. Before the seal was adopted the commissions of Congress
read simply “By order of Congress,” being signed by the President. The
countersigning was, “Attest Charles Thomson, Secretary.” When the seal
came into use the form was, as it appears on Washington’s commission to
exchange prisoners: “In testimony whereof we have caused these Letters
to be made patent and the Great Seal of the United States of America to
be thereunto affixed. Witness His Excellency John Hanson President of
the United States in Congress assembled the Sixteenth day of September
and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty two,
and of our Sovereignty & Independence the seventh.” After the adoption
of the Constitution and before any custodian of the seal was provided by
Congress, the wording ran: “In testimony whereof I have caused these
letters to be made patent and the Seal of the United States to be
hereunto affixed. Given under my hand the —— day of —— in the year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine,” this being signed
by the President and not countersigned. This form continued in use after
the Secretary of State became by law the keeper of the seal, and was not
changed till August 3, 1790, when the recital was made to include the
year of independence and was countersigned by Thomas Jefferson as
Secretary of State. Thus, singularly enough, the abandonment of the term
“Great Seal of the United States” began with the Executive some months
before it received legal sanction.
VI
THE ILLEGAL SEAL
In ancient times a seal to authenticate a document was always impressed
upon wax, or metal, or even upon clay; but this gave place to the more
convenient method of impressing the seal directly upon the paper by the
use of two faces of a die. It was, presumably, a desire to introduce
this improvement which prompted the Department of State in 1841 to
discard the seal of 1782 and have a new die cut. The work was ordered
without any specific appropriation being made for the purpose by
Congress, and was entrusted to Edward Stabler, of Sandy Spring, Md.,
where he was postmaster from 1828 to 1883, who cut many government
seals, and had a reputation as a seal engraver. He was doubtless
permitted to design the seal in his own way, and it was accepted without
notice being taken of its palpable deficiencies from an artistic and
heraldic point of view and its failure to satisfy the plain requirements
of the law in the important particular of the number of arrows in the
eagle’s sinister talon.
In reply to a letter from John D. Champlin, jr., in 1877, the Department
of State said of the seal:
This change [from the design of the seal of 1782] does not appear to
have been authorized by law, and the cause of it is unknown.[30]
The inaccuracies of the design of the arms on this seal were the subject
of grave criticism from time to time. In the Galaxy Magazine for May,
1877, Mr. Champlin pointed out the improper arrangement of the pales,
the red being twice as wide as the white, and the fatal disregard of the
law requiring thirteen arrows in the eagle’s sinister talon. “Is it
possible,” he said, “that an arbitrary alteration can be made in the
great seal of the United States by the officials temporarily in charge
of it? And if so, what is to prevent some future Secretary of State,
with notions of his own in regard to heraldic bearings, from discarding
the old seal altogether, in favor of some creation of his own?”
This seal was cut when Daniel Webster was Secretary of State, and a fair
explanation of its deficiencies is that he knew nothing about the
details of the prescribed design, and entrusted the business of securing
a new seal to his subordinates, who were equally ignorant; and they in
turn entrusted it to the engraver. Unquestionably, the Secretary of
State has no authority to change the device of the arms, as it is
prescribed by law, in the slightest degree, nor could the President
himself properly authorize such a change. As the seal was created by
Congress it would require an act of Congress to alter it. In this
respect it is different from the arms of a monarchy. The arms of Great
Britain, for example, being formed from those of different monarchs,
have, in fact, undergone three changes since American independence—in
1801, when the arms of France were excluded and the arms of Hanover
placed “over all on an escutcheon of pretense,” “ensigned with the
electoral bonnet;” in 1816, when the bonnet was changed for the
Hanoverian crown; and upon the death of William IV, when the present
arrangement was made. How far the Secretary of State, as the custodian
of the seal, may deviate from the original design in having a new one
cut, provided he adheres to the terms of the creating law, is another
question, which, as we shall see presently, was finally decided in favor
of the conservative side.
The centennial anniversary of the adoption of the seal was marked by a
revival in interest concerning it, and C. A. L. Totten, then a first
lieutenant in the Army, called the attention of the Treasury Department
to the fact that the reverse had never been cut, suggesting that the
time was appropriate for placing it upon a medal or coin. This met with
the approval of the Department, so far as a medal was concerned, and
under the supervision of Hon. A. Louden Snowden, then Director of the
Mint at Philadelphia, a medal was struck in commemoration of the
centennial anniversary of the adoption of the seal. The obverse closely
resembled the first important illustration of the seal made after its
adoption. This appeared in the Columbian Magazine for September, 1786,
and was a spirited engraving. It differed from the official
interpretation in the distribution of the stars, which were put about
the eagle’s neck and head, instead of in a circle above the head. The
olive branch had sixteen leaves and no fruits, and the rays of the sun
extended through the clouds. The reverse of the medal contained the
dates 1782 and 1882, to indicate its purpose, beside the mottoes.[31]
Notice has already been taken of Mr. Champlin’s article in which he
criticised the seal of 1841, which the Department had been using for so
many years, notwithstanding its glaring errors. His criticism, Mr.
Totten’s agitation of the question of cutting the reverse, and the
striking of the great seal medal were the moving causes of the important
action of the Secretary of State, Theodore F. Frelinghuysen, in 1883.
The first committee on the seal recommended a reverse, and so did
succeeding committees, and a reverse was provided for in the creating
act. From this it would appear certain that the original idea was to use
a pendant seal of wax with an impression on either side of it. Pendant
seals were then common and are still used in many cases. In affixing
such a seal to a treaty it is so large that the wax would inevitably
break if it were unprotected, so it is enclosed in a metal box, usually
of gold or silver, highly ornamented. After the United States secured a
great seal it affixed the same one to all its acts, and did not have a
separate pendant treaty seal until about 1856, when one was made at the
State Department’s instance, or upon an understanding with the
Department, by Samuel Lewis, a jeweler in Washington. It was cut in
iron, weighing about 20 pounds, and was 6 to 8 inches in diameter. The
design followed the law accurately, but the treatment was realistic
rather than heraldic. This seal was kept by Mr. Lewis, being, as it
appears, his property, and whenever a seal for a treaty was required he
furnished an imprint in wax with the silver or gold box in which it was
to be placed, the box having upon the cover the arms stamped in relief.
The cords or ribbons passing through the treaty were adjusted through
the wax at the Department of State. The seal as thus attached to the
treaties made by this Government with foreign powers for thirteen years
compared favorably with the treaty seals used by other governments. In
1869 the use of the separate seal for treaties was abandoned, and the
practice of fixing the regular seal to the paper itself was reverted to,
and now maintains.
[Illustration: [Seal]]
VII
THE THIRD SEAL
January 10, 1883, the Secretary of State, Theodore F. Frelinghuysen,
addressed the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives, Samuel J. Randall, asking for an appropriation of
$1,000 to pay for having a new seal of the United States made. “Since
the year 1782,” his letter said, “when the device was adopted, there
have been, it is believed, but two dies of the obverse of the seal, the
only side which has been employed up to this time for sealing documents.
The reverse of the seal has never been engraved by the Government. The
original die of the obverse, after being in use for about sixty years,
was replaced by the present die, which has become very much worn and no
longer gives clear impressions. It is also to be observed with respect
to the latter that it does not strictly conform to the device
established by law. It seems to me, therefore, to be eminently important
that a new and correct die be made without delay.” He also advised that
the reverse be cut as a compliance with the law and “a proper respect to
pay to the founders of this Government, at this time, to carry out the
purpose so clearly expressed by them in Congress, June 20, 1782.”
Falling in with this recommendation Congress appropriated, July 7, 1884
(23 Stat., 394), $1,000 “to enable the Secretary of State to obtain dies
of the obverse and reverse of the seal of the United States, and
appliances necessary for making impressions of the same.”
Mr. Theodore F. Dwight, Chief of the Bureau of Rolls and Library of the
Department of State, supervised the work of designing the new seal. He
called into consultation the eminent historical scholar, Justin Winsor,
and Prof. Charles Eliot Norton, of Harvard; William H. Whitmore, the
genealogist, author of Elements of Heraldry (New York, 1866), at that
time the only work on heraldry by an American; John Denison Chaplin,
jr., an authority on engraving, associate editor of the American
Cyclopædia and later of Scribner’s art cyclopædias; and James Horton
Whitehouse, chief designer of Messrs. Tiffany & Co., New York. The
subject was thus considered from the three points of view of history,
heraldry, and art. Professor Norton wrote:
A. It is greatly to be regretted that the device adopted by congress
in 1782 is of so elaborate and allegorical a character. The most
skilful treatment of it could hardly make it satisfactory as the
design for the seal of a great nation. * * *
B. But as this is now the established device, the best way, I believe,
to deal with it, would be to treat it as conventionally as
possible,—giving it a strictly heraldic character. * * *
As to the reverse, the device adopted by Congress is practically
incapable of effective treatment; it can hardly (however artistically
treated by the designer) look otherwise than as a dull emblem of a
masonic fraternity. * * *
Mr. Winsor commented upon Professor Norton’s notes. He agreed that the
seal was not a good coat of arms. He thought, however, that it had not
been the purpose of Congress “to show an heraldic bird”—that “the
American eagle displayed proper” could not be an heraldic eagle.
“Whether present authorities,” he continued, “can venture to correct
their [the Congress’] bad taste, may be a question.” Of the reverse, he
declared it was “both unintelligent and commonplace. If it can be kept
in the dark as it seems to have been kept, why not keep it so?” On
January 2, 1884, he wrote to Mr. Dwight:
When you say “It might be best to reproduce the original die,”—you
suggest what is really my opinion. There is a certain naïvely Archaic
look about it which is honest and covers a multitude of artistic sins,
in a way that will not be easy to do by a modernization of it. I like
to preserve such original devices.
Mr. Whitmore did not agree with Mr. Winsor. He wrote December 30, 1884:
I feel assured that the treatment should be heraldic. An eagle
_displayed_ must be an heraldic one. The term American eagle, I infer,
means a bald-headed eagle, not the European type which shows in
heraldry a tuft or crest on his head. This is allowable, just as a
double-headed eagle is.
The best examples give the wings raised to the shoulder and then
dropping, which is more graceful and natural.
As to the reverse he said: “It is a thankless task to arrange it, as
Prof. Norton says; use it as little as possible.” Mr. Whitmore submitted
designs which were intended to be an improvement heraldically on those
under consideration, which he criticised, especially with reference to
the arrows, the form of which had been changed under Mr. Dwight’s
direction so as to represent a distinctively American Indian arrow. Mr.
Dwight conformed to Mr. Whitmore’s suggestion, and “the technical form
of barb” arrow was restored. Of the die of 1782 Mr. Dwight wrote to Mr.
Whitmore January 6, 1885: “Is not that die to be regarded as in some
sense sanctioned by long use, in view of its origin, as entitled to the
same authority as a law?” In regard to the crest Mr. Dwight said: “On
referring to the order of 1782 on this point, it seems that we have no
liberty to depart from that form, as it reads: ‘A glory, or, breaking
through a cloud proper, and surrounding thirteen stars.’ It has been
advised that an appearance of more splendor would be gained by allowing
the rays of the glory to extend beyond the clouds, as though piercing
them; but to that advice I do not feel warranted in agreeing, as the old
die gave no authority therefor.” Of the reverse he said: “For the
present purposes we shall not order the reverse; as Mr. Winsor remarks,
it has been so long kept in the dark, a few months more of shade will do
it no harm. I would like to have your opinion if adverse to the cutting
of that side. The law distinctly specifies it and it was not cut
presumably at the same time as the obverse, because the latter was
urgently needed, even as to day. The subject was probably lost sight of
at that time, when all the thoughts of the fathers were engaged in the
foundation of the Republic. I do not expect that the reverse can be
conveniently used for the purpose of sealing documents, but it is not in
my opinion improper that the device should be determined and cut.”
December 13, 1884, Messrs. Tiffany & Co. submitted the designs.
After having studied carefully the description of the devices as
adopted by Congress in 1782, and considered also the suggestions and
remarks that we have of late seen and received regarding the same, we
have carried them out strictly according to the rules of
heraldry. * * *
The eagle is the American bald eagle and has been drawn after careful
studies and made as natural as the rules of heraldry will permit. We
have decided that the third feather shall be the one extending to the
end of the wing. The escutcheon on the eagle’s breast is drawn as
described, the direction of the lines indicating the colors. As no
stars are mentioned in the chief, they have not been introduced here.
The suggestion to suspend the shield from the neck of the eagle by a
ribbon or cord, we have not carried out, as it would not be proper and
would rob the whole arms of its dignity.
The rays are purposely not extended beyond the clouds. All that is
desirable in that direction has been done, but to allow them to
project in the manner spoken of and as we often see them cut, would be
to convey a wrong and very weak idea of the original intention. We
have used the classical olive and have decided not to introduce the
flowers; the fruit (13) and the 13 leaves speak for themselves in a
very clear and positive manner, but the flowers, while they suggest a
growing and fruitful future, would as no special number could be used,
give an uncertainty not desirable, as it would always be supposed that
the particular number of flowers used must have a meaning while that
meaning is not there.
Indications of color should not be given in the olive branch, fruit,
arrows, scroll, etc.; they should be represented as termed in heraldry
‘proper’.
Regarding the reverse the pyramid is drawn to the scale of the great
pyramid; the side seen in perspective to the right means East, this
view being desired. The eye and the date on the foot of the pyramid
should not be incised; on ancient monumental work and work of that
character the die is sunk, or the impression it of course would be in
relief.
The letters used in the Latin are the simple and particular Roman
letters used, and in fact is the best letter used for the purpose.
Regarding the scroll containing the “E pluribus unum” we consider the
present form altogether the best to use as the sheet scroll mentioned
would interfere with the eagle, while the old form of scroll falls in
well with the general design. The dies will be cut in steel.
This letter may be said to be the argument for the Whitehouse designs.
They were submitted to Mr. Champlin, who wrote, January 7, 1885:
It seems to me useless to regret that Congress did not adopt in 1782 a
different device for the great seal of the United States. The present
device was legally adopted and all we can do is to follow the
provisions of the act, having an eye, of course, to general heraldic
propriety; but even if the laws of heraldry are transgressed in some
minor particulars, I think we still are bound to follow the letter of
the law, despite the rules of heraldry. If we must have a strictly
heraldic seal, let us go to work ab initio and change the law.
If this be, as I believe it to be, the true way of dealing with the
question, let us see whether the designs furnished by Tiffany & Co.
fulfill the provisions of the law.
1. The law reads “Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules, a
chief, azure”. The drawing marked A is correct in this particular.
This differs from the order of the stripes on the national
ensign. * * * The pales should all be of the same width.
2. “The escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed
proper.” In Mr. Barton’s device of June 13, 1782, of which that
adopted by the committee is a modification, the American Eagle is
expressly called “the bald-headed eagle”, so there can be no question
on that point. The eagle must be an American eagle and not the
ordinary heraldic eagle. It must be displayed, not with _wings
displayed_ (in which case it would be represented perched), but
displayed—that is, with both wings and talons extended. In my opinion
the drawing is correct, though I would suggest that the treatment,
especially the wings, might be a little less realistic, and still
comply with the law.
3. “Holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a
bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak” etc. The olive
branch and arrows should, of course, be of the conventional form as no
other is specified.
4. Crest—“A glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and
surrounding thirteen stars forming a constellation, argent, on an
azure field.” This is bad, very bad, heraldically, but I see no way
out but to reproduce the original, which I think is done in the
drawing.
Reverse. “A pyramid unfinished.” The law does not call for a pyramid
of thirteen courses of stone. * * *
Mr. Champlin did not give an opinion on the propriety of cutting the
reverse, but so general was the criticism of it, and so palpable were
its shortcomings, that it was determined not to cut it, and Mr.
Whitehouse’s design of it was not accepted. Its fate has been singular.
It was prescribed as part of the seal by the act of 1782, but went
unnoticed. The act of September 15, 1789, continued the seal as
prescribed in 1782, but no effort was then made to design or cut the
reverse. When the seal of 1841 was made it was still ignored, and in
1883 it was definitely determined, after designs had been drawn, to
abandon it.
The act of July 7, 1884, made appropriation “to obtain dies of the
obverse and reverse” of the seal, the act following the State
Department’s request, and it had undoubtedly been the intention of the
Department, when the appropriation was asked for, to cut the reverse;
but its purpose was changed after fuller consideration, and it felt at
liberty to leave this part of the new law unexecuted, as the law of 1782
had remained in part unexecuted for a hundred years. It may be added
that when the exhibit of the State Department was prepared for the
Chicago Exposition in 1892, large emblazonments of the obverse and
reverse of the seal were painted, but the appearance presented by the
reverse was so spiritless, prosaic, heavy, and inappropriate that it was
never hung.
The design of the obverse of the seal of 1884 was determined upon, as we
have seen, with great care. It was an enlargement with some
modifications of the seal of 1782, the modifications being in the
direction of a closer adherence to the law creating the seal. For
example, the eagle’s head bears no crest, as in the European type and as
advised against by Mr. Whitmore for the American eagle specified by the
law.
[Illustration:
THE SEAL (1902)
Face p. 63
]
VIII
THE FOURTH SEAL
In 1902, John Hay being the Secretary of State, it was determined that
the seal, which had been in constant use for eighteen years, required
recutting, and that the press and stand which held it could be improved
upon. An act was, accordingly, passed by Congress (July 1, 1902)
appropriating $1,250 “To enable the Secretary of State to have the Great
Seal of the United States recut.” Some discussion arose among the
officers of the Department as to whether the design then in use must be
adhered to strictly or could be improved upon, and, after examination of
the question, it was determined that the careful investigation which had
preceded the acceptance of the design of 1884 rendered a reconsideration
of the decision then arrived at unwise, and that the design should be
preserved with absolute accuracy. The work of recutting not having been
done before the appropriation had expired, it was renewed the following
year (act of March 3, 1903) and the act settled definitely any remaining
doubts about the design, besides making the appropriation cover the
necessary accessories for the seal. It read:
To enable the Secretary of State to have the Great Seal of the United
States recut from the original model, and to purchase a suitable press
for its use and a cover to protect the same from dust, the sum of one
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, appropriated by the deficiency
act approved July first, nineteen hundred and two, “To enable the
Secretary of State to have the Great Seal of the United States recut,”
is hereby reappropriated for the purposes above mentioned.
The words “original model” in the law precluded any change in the
device, and the new seal was accordingly cut as a precise copy of the
seal then in use, the work being done by Messrs. Bailey, Banks & Biddle,
of Philadelphia.
IX
USES OF THE SEAL
When the Continental Congress made the obverse of the great seal the
national arms it intended that the device should pass into common use
among the people, as the flag has done, and like the flag the arms at
first met with general approval, which soon gave place to an acceptance
of it as an emblem of the power and sovereignty of the United States,
which placed it above criticism.
Not all of the fathers of the Republic, however, were pleased with the
selection of the eagle as the national emblem. When the badge of the
Order of the Society of the Cincinnati was made in France in 1784 it was
objected to by some because the displayed eagle resembled a turkey.
For my part [wrote Benjamin Franklin January 26, 1784, to his
daughter], I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the
representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; he
does not get his living honestly; you may have seen him perched on
some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the
labor of the fishing-hawk; and, when that diligent bird has at length
taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his
mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from
him. With all this injustice he is never in good case; but, like those
among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and
often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward; the little _kingbird_,
not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly and drives him out of
the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the
brave and honest Cincinnati of America, who have driven all the
_kingbirds_ from our country; though exactly fit for that order of
knights, which the French call _Chevaliers d’Industrie_.
I am, on this account, not displeased that the figure is not known as
a bald eagle, but looks more like a turkey. For in truth, the turkey
is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true
original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries,
but the turkey was peculiar to ours; the first of the species seen in
Europe, being brought to France by the Jesuits from Canada, and served
up at the wedding table of Charles the Ninth. He is, besides, (though
a little vain and silly, it is true, but not the worse emblem for
that,) a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier
of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with
a _red_ coat on.[32]
The seal itself has, of course, a very limited use, which is strictly
guarded by law. The Secretary of State is its custodian, but even he has
no authority to affix it to any paper that does not bear the President’s
signature.
In 1803 Chief Justice Marshall, in delivering an opinion of the Supreme
Court, used the following language relative to the seal. It may be
considered applicable to all instruments to which the seal is affixed.
The signature [of the President] is a warrant for affixing the great
seal to the commission, and the great seal is only to be affixed to an
instrument which is complete. It attests, by an act supposed to be of
public notoriety, the verity of the presidential signature.
It is never to be affixed till the commission is signed, because the
signature which gives force and effect to the commission, is
conclusive evidence that the appointment is made.
The commission being signed, the subsequent duty of the Secretary of
State is prescribed by law, and not to be guided by the will of the
President. He is to affix the seal of the United States to the
Commission, and is to record it. (1 U. S. Reports, 374.)
As the duties of the Government have expanded, the impracticability of
having the seal of the United States attached by the Department of State
to the commissions of officers who are under some other Department has
been recognized by Congress. By the act of March 18, 1874,[33] the
commissions of postmasters were directed to be made out under the seal
of the Post-Office Department; the act of March 3, 1875,[34] placed the
commissions of officers of the Interior Department under that
Department; by act of August 8, 1888,[35] all judicial officers,
marshals, and United States attorneys were ordered to be appointed under
the seal of the Department of Justice; and by an Executive order of June
16, 1893, President Cleveland directed that all warrants of pardon and
commutations of sentence granted to offenders convicted in the courts of
the United States should thereafter be made out under the seal of the
Department of Justice.
At the present time the seal of the United States is affixed to the
commissions of all Cabinet officers and diplomatic and consular officers
who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate; all
ceremonious communications from the President to the heads of foreign
governments; all treaties, conventions, and formal agreements of the
President with foreign powers; all proclamations by the President; all
exequaturs to foreign consular officers in the United States who are
appointed by the heads of the governments which they represent; to
warrants by the President to receive persons surrendered by foreign
governments under extradition treaties; and to all miscellaneous
commissions of civil officers appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, whose appointments are not now
especially directed by law to be signed under a different seal.
[Illustration: [Fleuron]]
GLOSSARY OF HERALDIC TERMS.
Argent—silver, represented in engraving by plain surface.
Atchievement or achievement—a complete heraldic composition.
Azure—blue, represented in engraving by horizontal lines.
Barways or barwise—horizontally.
Barry—divided into bars.
Bearing—a charge on a coat of arms.
Blazonment or blazon—a correct heraldic description.
Canton—a part of the chief cut off on the left or right hand corner.
Charged—bearing a charge or figure upon the escutcheon.
Chevrons—bars, as the rafters of a roof, leaning against one another.
Chief—upper part of escutcheon.
Counter flory—flowers divided and separated by the whole width of the
bearing.
Coupé—cut off evenly.
Crest—the part of the achievement outside of and above the escutcheon.
Damasked—decorated with an ornamental pattern.
Dignity, cap of dignity—a symbol of dignity.
Displayed—with expanded wings.
Emblazon. See Blazon.
Ensigned—distinguished by mark or ornament.
Entoire—charged with bearings not living creatures.
Ermine—fur represented by black spots on a white ground.
Escutcheon—the shield.
Exergue—the part of the reverse of a medal below the main device.
Fess-point—the central point of the escutcheon.
Flory or fleury—decorated with fleur-de-lis.
Gules—red, represented in engraving by close vertical lines.
Or—gold or yellow, represented in engraving by dots on a white ground.
Ordinary—a common bearing bounded by straight lines.
Pale—a perpendicular stripe on the escutcheon.
Paleways, palewise, or paly—divided into equal parts by perpendicular
lines.
Parti (party)—divided into parts.
Proper—of natural color or colors.
Quarters—the various smaller escutcheons within the larger escutcheon.
Sable—black, represented in engraving by a network of vertical and
perpendicular lines.
Saltier—in the shape of a St. Andrew’s cross.
Sanguinated—blood stained, or blood color.
Scutcheon—escutcheon.
Semé—covered with small bearings.
Tenants—supporters.
Tinctures—the metals or colors.
Tressure—a double border within the escutcheon, and not reaching the
edge.
Vert—green, represented in engraving by diagonal lines.
INDEX
ADAMS, JOHN, on first committee, 7;
describes device, 8;
design of, 9, 10;
connection with Prestwich, 38.
ALDEN, ROGER, keeper of the seal, 45.
ARMS OF ENGLAND, changes in, 50.
BAILEY, BANKS & BIDDLE, cut fourth seal, 64.
BARTON, THOMAS, father of William Barton, 23.
BARTON, WILLIAM, called into consultation on design, 23;
first design, 24;
second design, 28;
claims paternity of arms, 32;
improves Thomson’s design, 35;
credit due to, 37.
BOUDINOT, ELIAS, on seal committee, 23.
BRADSHAW, JOHN, supposed epitaph on, 14, 15, 16.
CHAMPLIN, JOHN D., Jr., opinion of, on seal, 48, 54, 59.
CHICAGO EXPOSITION, illustrations of seal at, 61.
CINCINNATI, ORDER OF, eagle on badge of, 65.
COAT OF ARMS OF THE UNITED STATES. _See_ Seal of the United States.
DWIGHT, THEODORE F., Chief, Bureau of Rolls and Library, superintends
new seal, 54;
opinion on designs, 56.
DEANE, SILAS, complains of want of seal, 18.
E PLURIBUS UNUM, motto, first suggested, 12;
by whom, 13;
origin of, 14;
adopted, 41.
EAGLE, first suggestion of, 24, 28;
Thomson’s treatment of, 33, 34;
adopted as emblem, 41;
Franklin’s opinion of, 65.
ELLERY, WILLIAM, recommends that seal be considered, 18.
FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, on first committee, 7;
design of, 9, 10;
suggests motto, 14, 16;
criticises eagle, 65.
FRELINGHUYSEN, THEODORE F., Secretary of State, seal cut by order of,
51;
writes about seal, 53.
FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES, adopted, 18.
GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES. _See_ Seal of the United States.
GRIBELIN, engraving by, 9, 10.
HAY, JOHN, Secretary of State, fourth seal cut by direction of, 63.
HOLLIS, THOMAS, gives motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God,
14.
HOUSTON, WILLIAM CHURCHILL, on seal committee, 19;
writes report, 21.
JEFFERSON, THOMAS, on first committee, 7;
design of, 9, 10;
connection with motto, 13;
suggestion of, 13, 14;
adopts motto, 14.
LEE, ARTHUR, acts with seal committee, 24.
LEWIS, SAMUEL, jeweler, keeps seal for treaties, 52.
LOVELL COMMITTEE, appointed, 18;
reports, 19;
report recommitted, 23.
LOVELL, JAMES, on seal committee, 19.
MARSHALL, JOHN, Chief Justice, opinion of, on use of seal, 66.
MATHÆIS, PAULO DE, picture by, 10.
MIDDLETON, ARTHUR, on seal committee, 23.
NORTON, CHARLES ELIOT, opinion of, on seal, 54, 56.
PRESTWICH, SIR JOHN, connection of, with seal, 38.
REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD, motto proposed, 9, 10;
origin of, 14, 15, 16.
RUTLEDGE, EDWARD, on seal committee, 23.
SCOTT, JOHN MORIN, on seal committee, 19.
SEAL, GREAT, of England, 8.
SEAL, GREAT, of France, 7, 8.
SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES, first committee to design, 7;
first designs for, 8;
motto for, 13;
need of, 18;
second committee for, 19;
Barton’s designs for, 24, 28, 35;
Thomson’s designs for, 34, 37;
Sir John Prestwich’s connection with, 38;
adopted, 41;
cutting of, 43;
proposed less seal, 44;
correct name for, 46;
second seal, 48;
correction of, 49;
treaty seal, 52;
reverse of, 53, 56, 61;
seal of 1884, 53;
the fourth seal, 63;
device criticised, 65;
uses of, 66.
SECRETARY OF STATE, keeper of the seal, 45.
SHAFTESBURY, EARL OF, engraving in Treatise, 10.
SIMITIÈRE, EUGÈNE PIERRE DU, consulted by first committee, 8;
design of, 9, 11, 12, 17.
SNOWDEN, A. LOUDEN, Director of the Mint, seal medal struck by, 50.
STABLER, EDWARD, cuts second seal, 48.
THOMSON, CHARLES, consults Barton, 31;
ordered to prepare design, 33;
submits design, 34;
design improved, 35;
credit due to, 37;
has charge of seal, 44.
TIFFANY & CO., submit designs, 57.
TOTTEN, C. A. L., writes about seal, 50.
WEBSTER, DANIEL, Secretary of State, seal cut under, 49.
WHITEHOUSE, JAMES HORTON, consulted about seal, 54;
submits designs, 56;
argument for, 59.
WHITE, ALEXANDER, proposes less seal, 44.
WHITMORE, WILLIAM H., consulted relative to seal, 54;
opinion on design, 55;
submits designs, 56.
WINSOR, JUSTIN, consulted concerning seal, 54;
gives opinion, 55.
-----
Footnote 1:
Journals of Congress (W. C. Ford, editor), 1906, V, 517.
Footnote 2:
Benson J. Lossing, in Harper’s Magazine, 1856, vol. 13, p. 178 _et
seq._
Footnote 3:
It so appears attached to the exchange copy of the treaty of peace
with the United States.
Footnote 4:
The Great Seals of England, by Alfred Benjamin and Allen Wyon, London,
1888. Review in The Spectator, 61, 173.
Footnote 5:
Familiar Letters of John Adams and his Wife, 210.
Footnote 6:
Journals of the Continental Congress (W. C. Ford, editor), 1906, V,
690 _n._
Footnote 7:
Our Great Seal, by C. A. L. Totten, 1, 25, gives a reproduction of the
frontispiece.
Footnote 8:
Reports of Committees relating to Congress, vol. 23, Continental
Congress MSS. All the committee reports bearing on the seal are in
this volume.
Footnote 9:
See note at the end for a glossary of heraldic terms used.
Footnote 10:
Delaware counties.
Footnote 11:
Journals of Congress (W. C. Ford, editor), 1906, V, 689.
Footnote 12:
See, however, Historic Side-lights, by Howard Payson Arnold, p. 284.
Footnote 13:
Writings of Jefferson (P. L. Ford), edition of 1892, I, p. 420.
Footnote 14:
The first use of the motto is traced in Preble’s History of the
American Flag, p. 694.
Footnote 15:
Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, Esq., F. R. and A. S. S.; London: MDCCLXXX;
vol. 2, p. 789.
Footnote 16:
Randall’s Life of Jefferson, 3, 585.
This would seem to be conclusive, but since the writer prepared his
brochure on the great seal in 1892 several people whose opinions are
entitled to consideration have expressed a doubt whether the
inscription does not, or at any rate did not, exist. Bradshaw died
during the closing years of the Commonwealth and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. Upon the Restoration his body was disinterred and
hanged, when several other regicides were executed, after which the
trunk was thrown into a hole at the foot of the gallows and the head
publicly displayed, as the custom was in those times. Some members of
the court of which he was president are said to have gone to Jamaica,
and it was declared by some that Bradshaw spread the report of his
death and retired secretly to that island. There is even a surviving
rumor that he and his colleagues were in this country, and a
well-known landmark near New Haven is the “Regicides’ Cave.” In all of
this we see merely an example of one of those myths which so often
surround the death of one whose life was peculiarly conspicuous. In
Bradshaw’s case his double burial in England would still not render
impossible a third burial in Jamaica, and even if he was not buried
there an inscription upon a cannon in his commemoration might possibly
have once existed. But the whole story was investigated in the
beginning of the last century by Bryan Edwards, the historian of the
West Indies, whose work is an authority. In the fifth edition (London,
1819) of his History of the West Indies (vol. 1, p. 213) he says:
“Some of these men who sat as judges at the trial of Charles I are
said to have become peaceable settlers here, and to have remained
after the restoration. * * * It is reported also, that the remains of
President Bradshaw were interred in Jamaica; and I observe in a
splendid book, entitled ‘Memoirs of Thomas Hollis,’ an epitaph which
is said to have been inscribed on the president’s grave; but it is to
my own knowledge a modern production.”
It may be added that the author made inquiry of Louis A. Dent, esq.,
lately Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, when he was
United States consul at Kingston, concerning traditions of this
epitaph, and he declared he knew of none. As his knowledge of Jamaica
was thorough such traditions would hardly have escaped him if
existent.
That anyone should seize upon the rumors surrounding Bradshaw’s death
and make them the basis of a fictitious epitaph is a cause of wonder,
until we remember that the author was Benjamin Franklin, whose unique
imagination was amused by constructing epitaphs and kindred
compositions. His object in this case may easily have been the very
effect of inflaming public opinion which Hollis noticed had resulted.
The statement that the epitaph was on a cannon at Martha Bay was
presumably attached to the copies Hollis saw and accepted by him in
good faith.
Footnote 17:
Preble’s History of the Flag, 259 _et seq._
Footnote 18:
Journals of Congress (W. C. Ford, editor), 1907, VII, 59.
Footnote 19:
Austin’s Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. 1, p. 336.
Footnote 20:
When the committee was appointed from which emanated in 1782 the seal
finally accepted, a memorandum, endorsed “proceedings respect^g. a
seal of the United States Mr. Middleton Mr. Boudinot Mr. Lee,” was
made by Lovell for the committee’s use, showing from the papers in the
office of the Secretary of Congress what had already been done in the
matter of the seal. After setting forth the action of 1776 it states
that the Lovell committee was appointed March 25, _1779_, and the
report is given as follows:
“Original Report of May 10 1779
the Seal to be 4 inches Diametre On one Side The arms of the United
States as follows The Shield charged on the Field with 13 diagonal
Stripes alternate red & white—Supporters, dexter, a Warriour holding a
Sword; Sinister a Figure representing Peace bearing an Olive
Branch—The Crest a radiant Constellation of 13 Stars—The motto Bello
vel Paci—The legend round the Atchievement Seal of the United States
“On the Reverse—The Figure of Liberty seated in a Chair holding the
Staff & cap. The motto Semper—Underneath MDCCLXXVI”
The memorandum also says that on May 17 “The Report of the Com^{tee}.
on the Device of a great Seal was taken into Consideration and after
Debate Ordered, That it be recommitted.”
Evidently an error was made in the dates by Lovell when he transcribed
the memorandum. A committee appointed in _1779_, if its report had
been submitted May 10, _1779_, and recommitted May 17, _1779_, could
hardly have made a second report May 10, _1780_, to have it
recommitted May 17, _1780_. The MS. journal for March 25, 1780, says:
“_Ordered_, That the report of the committee on the device of a great
Seal for the United States in Congress assembled, be referred to a
committee of three:
“The members chosen, Mr. Lovell, Mr. Scott and Mr. Houston.”
The MS. journal for May 17, 1780, says:
“The report of the committee on the device of a seal was taken into
consideration; and after debate,
“_Ordered_, That it be recommitted.”
Footnote 21:
Pennsylvania Magazine, X, 414.
Footnote 22:
Note by Barton: “In the Arms of Scotland, as marshalled in the Royal
Atchievement, the double Tressure which surrounds the Lion is borne
_flory_ and _counter flory_ (with Fleurs-de-lis); which is in
Consequence of a Treaty that was entered into, between Charlemagne,
then Emperor & King of France, and Achaius King of Scotland; to denote
that the French Lillies should guard & defend the Scottish Lion.”
Footnote 23:
Totten, I, 104, 108; Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1866–1867, p. 351.
Footnote 24:
Note by Henry Livingston Thomas, late Translator, Department of State.
Footnote 25:
Note by Barton: “As the Pales or Pallets consist of an uneven Number,
they ought, in strictness, to be blazoned—Arg^t. 6 Pallets gules: but
as the 13 pieces allude to the thirteen States, they are blazoned
according to the Number of _pieces paleways_.”
Footnote 26:
Vol. II, p. 656.
Footnote 27:
For discussion of the Prestwich claim, see Totten, I, 63 _et seq._
Footnote 28:
Journals of Congress, vol. 4 (ed. 1823), p. 39.
Footnote 29:
The Department of State of the United States; Its History and
Functions (Hunt), 50, 51.
Footnote 30:
See Totten, I, 212.
Footnote 31:
Totten, I, 171 _et seq._
Footnote 32:
Life of Franklin (Bigelow), III, p. 252.
Footnote 33:
18 Stat., 23.
Footnote 34:
18 Stat., 420.
Footnote 35:
25 Stat., 387.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Page Changed from Changed to
12 the Israelites; Rays from a the Israelites; Rays from a
pillow of Fire in the Cloud pillar of Fire in the Cloud
● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.
● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last
chapter.
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