Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-05-03
NOTICES OF STATES.
HOW MANY OF THEM, WITH THEIR
MEANINGS, DO you KNOW?

1
The Great Seal of the United States
Was Designed by an EnsIishmnn.
Who Also Suggested the Motto
Adopted, '.E Pluribus Unum."
If you desire TO have fun with a
| learned acquaintance, ask him simple
questions about his country. its histo-
ry, financial condition, political divi-
sions, geographical lines. climatology,
topography, etc. Questions that any
| schoolboy can answer Or. Knowall will
| stumble clumsily over. often getting a
bad fall. There is one question that L
have never heard any one answer
namely, What are the notices of the
several states of the Union and their
meaning" \ clever man may name
that of his own state and guess at
those of three or four of the more i'm
portant sister states, but he is unlikely
TO know the meanings of any that are
in the original Latin. Try some able
professor in a crowd and see him floun-
der
Ask the professor if he knows that
The great seal of the United States was
designed by an Englishman, Sir John
Prestwich. who also suggested the mot
TO, &c Pluribus Unum?' Our ablest
men had failed to propose anything ac-
ceptable, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams,
Lowell, Scott, Houston and others vast
ing nearly four years on the task.
Franklin proposed Moses dividing the
Red sea with this motto, Rebellion to
Tyrants Is Obedience to God" Adams
proposed the choice of Hercules and
jefferson the children of Israel in the
wilderness. Doesn't it seem funny?
Some of the suggested notices were
''Bello vel Pace" QFor War or Peace,
''Semper" FOrever), "Deo Favente"
with Gods Favor, ''Virtus Sofa In
Yicta" Virtue Alone Invincible), etc.
After six years the Englishman'S de-
vice was adopted, and it vet remains
the arms of the United States.
If the professor is familiar with the
diverse of the great seal, ask him
what he has to say of the reverse, and
the chances are 100 to l that he can
not recollect the unfinished pyramid,
the eye in the triangle. the glory prop
er, the motto over the eye, "Annuit
CRptis' God Has Favored the Under
taking, and that under all. "Novus
Ordo Seculorum" a New Series of
Ages. The diverse of the great seal.
with its splendid eagle, the bundle of
arrows, the olive branch. the Is stripes,
the Is stars. the glory breaking from
the clouds and the ''E Pluribus Unum,"
is magnifcently American, but the
pyramid. the desert, the forbidding
Egyptian sky and the eye in the tri-
angle on the reverse are simply bar
barous.
81 a oil ,gsr-
by a strange arbitrament of fate was
never used. 1t was made in England
and reached Richmond about the time
of its evacuation by the armies OF the
lost cause and the Confederate gov
ernment. Its motto was Dec Vindice"
God Maintains). The seal is Il hand
some silver die about three inches in
diameter bearing an equestrian pOr-
trait of Washington latter the statue
in Richmond, surrounded with n
wreath composed of cotton. tobacco
sugar cane. corn. wheat and rice-the
principal products of the Confederate
states 1t cost in England about 5000,
with press, waters. seal papers. wax,
silk cords. etc. II was presented to the
state Of South Carolina about 1887 and
is kept in the Office of the secretary of
state.
Ask the professor if he remembers
that Minnesota. founded by Americans.
is the only state in the Union that has
a French motto. The one originally Sc
Iected and ordered engraved was Latin.
but the die was spoiled and the French
substitute was adopted. "L'EtOile du
Nord" CThe Star of the North. Does
the professor recall that Montana is the
only state with a Spanish motto?
Strange that fur traders should have
adopted ''Oro Plata" Gold and Sill
ver). If you say that one state has a
Greek motto, he probably will do some
pretty hard thinking before answering
that it is California. Eureka" is be-
lieved to be Greek for Il have found"
The only Italian motto belongs to Ma
Iyland, and it originally belonged to the
Calvert family. "Fatti Maschi, Parole
Femme" Deeds Are Males, Words
Females). To be n trifie palmer, MAN
~ Deeds, Womanly Words" Ask the
professor if he knows that Washington
is the only state with an Indian motto.
"AI-Kf' is pure Chinook for by and by,
in the future or MISUNDERSTANDING