Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-06-11


the state department in Washington
in a wooden case which is kept al
most consta ntiy locked. Is the Grea
Seal of the United States. II is call
ed the Great Seal. hut 1t is in fac
the only seal OF the United States a
a nation among other nations.
The history Of the Great Seal /:
older than that of the constitution II
self. il begins on the very day thai
the Declaration of Independence wa;
read and adopted by the Continental
| Congress II was = o'clock on the ar
ttrnoon OF July 4. l77G. when that
event took place, and the hellman In
/ the old Philadelphia State House was
still jangling The Liberty Bell as hard
as he could when the delegates to the
! Congress passed the following resolu
! ton:
| Resolved. That DR.. Franklin. Mr.. J
Adams and Mr.. Jefferson be a com
mittee to prepare a device for seal
| Of the United States of America.
| ThSre really was no United States
| of America then. but the patriots in
tended that there should be. and they
proposed to be ready with the proper
| appurenances. The constitution was
not adopted until eleven years later
but In the m, antime the seal was de-
cided on and was used by the Con
gross which ran the government dur
! ing the incubation.
The vcissitudes undergone tv the
Great Seal have been many and in
teresting. In the first place il seems
| as If design could never be found
which would satisfy everybody's ideas.
The first committee, named while
the peals of the Liberty Bell were
still ringing in their ears. reported
about a month later. on August 10.
They had a perfectly gorgeous design.
Two. in fact: one for the diverse and
one for the reverse of the seal.
At that time a seal was two sided
affair. II was made of wax and hung
by cords. which, after passing through
the parchment OF d treaty or other
document, were passed also through
the wax, which was then deeply
| stamped with the double imprs ss'"n
| of the seal
This wax was easily maxred. Sc It
was the custom. to enclose the seal
hanging from a document In metal
! case. generally Of gold or silver. Now
adays even our government seals are
| affixed in quite a different manner
What is called a wafer Of special
! paper. very often pinked around the
1 edges. is placed over the paper OF the
document itself. This adheres to ahe
| official paper and the impression OF
| the seal is made through them both
The design submitted by Messrs
! Franklin Adams and Jefferson was
| extremely interesting. but seems to
dav rather queer. In the center was
ITO b. 1.-THE arms of the United States.
That was all right. The arms OF the
| United States. our familiar shield
| with the red and white bars and the
blue above. appear in the center oil
| the present seal
But as we had no arms in 1776-a,
least none of the heraldic variety
! the committee had to design some
/ for us. This was their idfa of what
would he appropriate: A shield hav
! ing six Qnarterings, one to contain
| rose which should refer to England
| one a thistle for Scotland, one a harI
| for Ireland. one an Imperial eagle fol
| Germany. one a Bslgic lion for hot
land and one a fieur de lis for France
These We're not intended as delicate
tributes to these countries. but as In
debating the origin Of. the colonist!
who had formed the new nation.
This shield vas to te supported OF
one side by Goddess Of Liberty, ~
the other by a Goddess Of Justice
EAbove was to be. the eye 81 Prov
/ dence in a triangle surrounded by
glory: that is to say rays shooting
out IN all directions.
The MOTTO IF. Pluribus Unum" wa
the one feature Of this design Wh'ci
appears on the present seal. Arouna
the border was circle Of sinai
shields. thirteen OF them. each beaI
| ing the initiaIsI Of one Of the thirtee'
horjginal colonies. But m. b. re
fferred to Massachusetts, Bay Colon!
and ID. c." TO Delaware Colony.
On the reverse Of this original dc
sign there was quite an elaborate
picture representing Pharaoh in hi
chariot. with n crown on his head an
a sword in his hand. going through
the pillows Of the Red Sea. The b''
lows. however were about to ove'
wheIm him in obedience to a gesfur
from Moses. standing on the shor
under a pillar tcallsd INFLOW" by To-
committee) Of fire in a large cloud
The motto for this side was "Rebel
lion tn Tyrants Is Obedience TO God.
| The report submitting this e'aboI
ate and stirring design was neverths
Hess landed on the table by the Cor
eress. and nothing further was don
until March -. 1873. when anothe
committee was appointed. The men
bers Of this committee did not repof
for over a year. and when th"y ~
hand in iheiE design IL certainly wa
n a n