The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-01-02
THE CONFEDERATE SEAL.
The Gift oc Col. William E. Earle to the
State OF South Carolina.
(Fron the Columbia Uu,iy Meeord-,

State OF South Carolina.
(Frop the Columbia UuIly Iieeord-,
The following letter was received today
by Secretary of State Marshall:
To Hon. Quitman Marshal, Secretary Of
State. South Carolina.
DEAR SIR: I congratulate you upon
your election to your high Office, and l am
sure that you will fill it with honor and
credit. As a mark of my appreciation for
your reinstatement I desire to present the
Office, through its present incumbent, with
fac-simile of the great seal of the Con-
federa,e States
The great seal which was finally adopted
by the Confederate States of America was
received from England where it was made,
not very long before the termination Of
the tremendous struggle for a separate and
independent government. 1t was designed
by Hon. Thos. j. Semmes then Confede-
rate Senator from Louisiana, and the
equestrian statue is copied from that of
Washington, in the State House grounds
at Richmond
At the time of the evacuation Of Rich
mond when our army was trudglng
through the mud and fighting its way to
Appomattox. the seal was overlooked in
the hurry of packing, and the one who
found it gave it to Col. John T. Pickett,
late OF this city, a true and devoted Con-
federate, and soon after the war he sent it
to England, had some copies made and
gave ME three of them. The great seal
used prior to this one was simple affair,
and there is legend concerning it to the
effect that when the train was crossing the
Savannah at Lowndesville, rum"r spread
that hostile cavalry was near by on the
Georgia side, and the party who had charge
of the seal declared his purpose that it
should never fall into inimical hands, aud,
| walking to the end of the ferry, dropped
it as near to the centre of the river as his
eye could measure.
This representation of the seal is me-
mento of a great and heroic struggle Of
brave men and brave women for the sue
cess Of cause then freighted with all their
hopes, aud dearest to their hearts. No
soldier who acted well his part in the work
which protracted the unequal contest so
long has cause to blush for the result No
man possessed of power and discrimlna-
ton and sourd Judgment of the motives
which impel the actions Of men will ques-
tion the devotion of an American to his
re united country because Of his loyalty to
the duty before him during that terrible
| period. However men may differ as to the
policy and principles upon which our
| country is or should be governed, those
| who passed through that ordeal of danger
| and p-ivatipn, who fought and lost, will
cherish with pride the memory of the
heroic endurance and manhood with which
the struggle was upheld and maintained.
With best wishes for your success IN ali
| undertakings of life,
am, yours truly,
VIM E. EARLE.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. 22ad, 1888.
The copy of the seal sert 10 the Secreta-
" of State is of polished bronze, and Ill
leather case lined with green velvet, with
glass to protect the seal.
1t is about three inches in diameter and
| in It's centre, surrounded by wreath, 1t Is
the equestrian statue OF Washington. On
its outer edge there is the inscription, The
| Confederate States OF America, END Feb
ruary 1862, Dec Vindirece.
1t will be kept in the Secretary OF States
office as the property OF the State.
A little Chicago gil recently defined
"snllage" as the ar, of making pills.
4 Columbia man is so modest that be
never changes his boarding place until
after dark.
1t is easy to be noble among the noble
! The difficult; thing is to keep the nobility
Of ones nature unperverted among the pet
ty and ignoble.
When the roads are icy be sure that your
horses are sharply shod, if you have load