Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-07-10
5}listcllaurous Grading.

N(i5trllancons &rading.
THE HISTORY or THE STATE SEAL.
\ recent investigation has brought f
light some facts relating to the adoption ;nc
significance of the seal of the State Of SOutl
Carolina, which will doubtless be new Il:
we'll as interesting to most of our readers
SO soon as the Government under the CON
Stitution Of March, l77G, W;lS organized, tho
necessity of having u public seal became
evident, and the General Assembly rrS0lv'
ed "rhat His ENccllcncy, the President
and Commandcr-in-chicf,b by and with the
! advice and consent of the l'rivy Council
may, and he is hereby authorized to design
and cause to be made Il great seal OF South
Carolina, and until such Il one can be made
to fix upon 4 temporary public SEAL III
pursuance Of this resolution William Hem
nv DraytOn and some Of the Privy Council
were charged with designing the Great
Seal, and causing ii to be made, and, in the
meantime, Il temporary public seal was
adopted by the President and Privy Coun-
ell fOrpurpoScS OF state. The first Use ufthis
/ temporary seal (Which appears to have been
! the Scal-at-armS Of the prcSidcnD was for
commissioning the civil officers of the Gov
crnmcnt, and for a pardon issued by Prrsi-
dent Eutlcgc, dated the lSt of May, l1lG, in
favor of Il person who had been convicted of
manSlaughtcr before Chief Justice William
( Henry DraytOn and his associate Justices in
/ Charleston on the 23rd of April, l77G. In
the commissions it WAS Callrd "hi>' uhr
Presidents ">cal,' but in paroOnS and 9th
or instruments it was afterwards called "thr
temporary seal of the said Colony,' or "thc
! temporary public >car' and it WaS used
/ from that time throughout the year l1Ii,
/ and until about the 22nd Of May, Ia. On
( that day President Itutlcdgc issued Il par
don under "thr Seal of the said Statr,"
omitting the word temporarily, whence
there is reason to believe that the Great Seal
WAS then made, and from that time the tenn
porary seal docs not appear to have been
used.
The device for the armorial achievement
and the reverse Of the Great Seal Of the
State ofSouth Carolina is is follows: Arms
Il palmetto tree growing on the >r;l$llOrc,
erect; ut its base, Il torn up oak tree, its
branches Topped off, prostratc both proper.
Just below the branches Of the palmetto,
two Shields pendent; one of them, on the
dexter side, is inscribed .Nol~h 2G, the other,
ON the sinister side, Jmy /. Twelve spears,
proper are bound croSSWiSc to the stem of
the palmetto, their points raised, the band
uniting them together bearing the in>crip-
ton L"i< .&po,WbH. Under the PROSTATE
oak is inscribed .Mriio,rm LnpSu L0c0rH, be-
low which appears in large figures l77G.
At the summit of the rXrrguc are the words
.SDWh GurO/in0, and at the bottom of the
same .lnin'iS Opibomq"" RrM.
R"rrrSC: y woman walking ON the >ra-
shore, over swords and daggcrS; she holds
in her dexter hand laurel branch, and in
her sinister the folds of her robe; she looks
toward the sun just rising above the sea all
proper. On the upper side is the sky, azure.
At the the summit Of the cNcrguc are the
words DUm .S,iiU .SIc,W and within the field
below the figure is Inscribed the word .TV"'t<.
The seal is in the form Of Il circle, four
inches i'm diameter and fourtcntlS of an
inch thick.
1t WAS not designed until after the fort ut
SuIivan's Island had defeated the British
fleet a. all its devices will prove. The fort
was constructed of the stems of the paImrt-
to trees, trorypha pamrtto,) which grew
ahundantly on our sea i>lAnd>-Which grew
on Sullivan's Island ut the time the fort
was made, when the battle WH- fought, and
which grow there to this day.
The Arms were designed by William
Henry Drayton, and the original executed
by him with Il pen, bearing Il great >inlii-
tudc to what is represented on the Seal, W;lS
i'm the possession OF his son. 1t contains
more devices, but all of these probably were
not deemed by the President and privy
Council necessary for the Great Seal The
explanation of the diverse of the Seal is aS
follows: The palmetto tree on the >ca>horc
represents the fort on Sulivan's Island
the shields bearing March 3G and July al
ludc to the Constitution of South Carolina,
which WAS ratified ON the first of those days,
and to the Declaration Of Independence,
which WAS made by the Continental Con-
yrVSS on the last of them. The twelve
spears represent the twelve States which
first acccrdcd to the Union. The dead oak
tree represents the British fleet, is being
constructed of oak tinlbrrS, and it j. pros
tratc under the palmetto tree because the
fort constructed of that tree defeated the
British fleet; hence the inscription .Nr/io-
ran L"I,m Loc"rH, is appropriately placed
beneath it, under which lI1G is in large
figures, ;llutlinT to the year the tunStlu-
tion for South Carolina W;l> passed, to the
battle fought at Sullvan'> Island, to the
Declaration Of Independence, and to the
year when the Seal WAS ordered to be made.
The reverse OF the Arms is said to have
been designed hy Arthur Middleton, who
WIS the father Of Henry Middleton, after
wards ambassador from the United States
of America to the Court Of Russia. The
woman walking along the sra>horr StroWn
with swords and daggrrS represents Hope
overcoming dangers, which the sun rising
WAS about to disclose in the occurrences OF
the 18th June, l77G: while the laurel she
holds signifies the hunOr> which Col Moul-
trir. his officers and men, gained on that
nll~piciou- day. The sun rising in great
above the sea indicates that the
18th of June WaS Il fine day, and il also be-
speaks good fortune.
prayton in his Memoirs (N"l. > p. 3131.)
tells lis that nc ''rrmrmbrr- seeing the
mould or die Of the Great Seal brought by
the artist, who WlS engraving it, to his faith
n, William Henry DraytOn, ut his residence
annot fix what particular time il Wa~.
From some circumstances which occurred,
lr believes il WAS not i'm the Winlrr.'-
'H",I'>f'W .N"$ nisd fn",T',.
l.ETIIAEGN or Life IN THE ENST.-
'Socrty anon" the inmates of the larcm
means simply smoking" cigarettes and pipes
md the most trivial anu>rnrnt> Instead
If the sparkling conversation and pleasant
music with which tn" sexes rccipr0c;llIy Y en-
rrtain each other among Western people,
horrible screenings. the monotunouS noise
If drums, and the clang Of tambnrinr> are
lrrc the >olacr Of woman in her hours OF
A>r. The boa-tcd luxury Of the palaces
,ilir, in it> isolation no attraction 10 Il re-
inrd nature. This life makes people pre-
lElturrly uld Il man of ~ j. Wrinklrd and
uprranllatrd and Il woman Of 81 has l;l~~-
1t her meridian. No one works unless COM
'cllcd t" Ito it, a. tranquility Of mind and
'rr>On best plra>'> the Oriental taste. They
"nurc the passage OF time. which never Z;
Ii>turh> them with the cry Of bukrHh to-
n"rroW): yet people write of the ia>cima- ,
ions of Eastern life. 1t may be- the climate.
viii its * and thr ,,uirl nni !,