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Edward S. Evans, "The Seals of Virginia," Seventh Annual Report of the Library Board of the Virginia State Library (1909-1910), 7-47.^[1]

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Seals of Virginia.

Part II.

Period of Statehood.

As the various quarterings on the arms of private families often depict by heraldic symbol~ great deeds performed, so the great seal of a commonwealth should not only be the symbol of sovereignty, but should be a faithful reflection of the great principles which are the foundation of the state's very existence, and an expositor of the science, literature, history and art of its period. It should be a great picture of the noble impulses and truths of the commonwealth's life reduced to a miniature, yet clear and precise in detail. In other words, it should be the multum in parvo. Such is the seal of Virginia. The importance of the great seal of the Commonwealth, as an emblem of sovereignty and an evidence of high political functions, was appreciated by the Convention of 1776, and it appointed a committee composed of some of the greatest minds of the day to prepare the design for the seal. The committee consisted of Richard Henry Lee, George Mason, Mr. Treasurer [Robert Carter Nicholas] and George Wythe. The following is an abstract from the minutes of the Virginia convention of Friday, July 5, 1 1776:

. . . "Mr. George Mason, from the committee appointed to devise a proper seal for this Commonwealth, reported that the committee had accordingly prepared the following device thereof; which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the clerk's table, where the same was again twice read and agreed to.

TO BE ENGRAVED ON THE GREAT SEAL.

VIRTUS, the genius of the Commonwealth, dressed like an Amazon, resting on a spear with one hand, and holding a sword in the other, and treading on TYRANNY, represented by a man prostrate, a crown fallen from his head, a broken chain in his left hand, and a scourge in his right. In the exergon, the word VIRGINIA over the head of VIRTUS: and underneath the words Sic Semper Tyrannis. On the reverse, a groupe. LIBERTAS, with her wand and pileus. On one side of her CERES, with the cornucopia in one hand, and an ear of wheat in the other. On the other side AETERNITAS, with the globe and phoenix. In the exergon, these words:

DEUS NOBIS HAEC OTIA FECIT.

Resolved, that George Wytbe, and John Page, Esquires, be desired to superintend the engraving the said seal, and to take care that the same be properly executed. . . ." The authorship of the design has been a disputed point among historians for many years. Col. Sherwin McRae, in his report to the Governor on the State Seal, made Fell. 25, 1884, gives the credit to George Mason, emphasizing particu-

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larly the fact that the description could have been written by no other •hand than that which wrote the Declaration of Rights. I can find no grounds whatever for this view except the fact that George Mason made the report of the Committee to the Convention.

The description which thus excited Col. McRae's admiration was so lacking in clearness, and such confusion took place thereby in the designing of the seal at later times that the General Assembly passed an Act in 1873 and again in 1903 describing the seal with greater minuteness in order to overcome this difficulty.

On the other hand, the facts as stated in Geo. W. Munford’s note in the Code of Virginia, 1873, p. 122, seems to offer a stronger claim for the authorship by George Wythe than any that has ever been advanced for Mason. He says: "The late Wm. Munford, who was a pupil of Chancellor Wythe and lived in his house for several years, studied law under his guidance and direction, was in habits of great intimacy with him to the day of his death and delivered the eulogy at his funeral in 1806, stated repeatedly and implicitly to the editor that Mr. Wythe always claimed the paternity of the Seal, and the Convention, who knew to whom the honor belonged, appointed Mr. Wythe, and Mr. Jno. Page, the first as the man who designed it, to superintend the' engraving and take care that it should be properly executed."

The Committee received suggestions and help from such distinguished men as Benj. Franklin, Thos. Jefferson, Benj. West, the famous artist, and the then well-known engraver de Cimetiere. The following is the idea offered by Dr. Franklin as a design for the seal of'. Virginia:

MOSES-standing on the shore and extending his hand over the sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharoah, who is sitting on an open chariot, a crown on his head, and a sword in his hand. Rays, frame a pillow of fire in the clouds, reaching to Moses, to express that he acts by the command of the Deity.

Motto-Rebellion to Tyrants, in obedience to God.

Dr. Franklin, who was on July 4, 1776, appointed by the Continental Congress to serve on a committee with Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson "to prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of North America" offered the same scheme for the reverse of the U.S. seal and the Committee reported favorably on it, but it did not meet with the approval of Congress and was not adopted. The coat of arms for Virginia as devised by M. de Cimetiere of Philadelphia, was as follows: Field-a cross of St. George (as a remnant of the ancient Coat of Arms, showing the origin of the Virginians to be English) haying in the center a sharp pointed knife, in pale, blade argent, handle or, alluding to the name the Indians have given to that state.

In the first quarter, a tobacco plant fleury, proper.
In the second argent, two wheat sheafs in saltoir, proper.
In the third argent, a stalk of Indian corn, full ripe, proper.
In the fourth vert, four fasces waved argent, alluding to the 4 great rivers of Virginia.

N. B. The pieces contained in the above, may very well admit of a different disposition, if thought necessary, any more emblematical or heraldical.

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SUPPORTERS—Dexter, a figure dressed as in the time of Queen Elizabeth, representing Sir Walter Rawleigh, planting with his right hand the standard of Liberty, with the words of Magna Charta written on it, and with his left supporting the escutcheon.

SINISTER—A Virginian rifleman of the present times, completely accoutered.

CREST—The crest of the ancient arms of Virginia—the breast of a Virgin naked, and crowned with an antique crown, alluding to Queen Elizabeth, in whose reign the country was discovered.

Motto—Rebellion to Tyrants in obedience to God; or Rex est qui regem non habet. (Suggested by Mr. Jefferson.)

Another interesting design which there is no reason to suppose ever came before the Committee is that which appeared as heading for the Virginia Gazette during the months of May and June, 1776. It consisted of the heading “Thirteen Colonies—United we stand, Divided we fall,” below which was the following coat of arms:

On a shield a coiled rattle snake with head in dexter chief and tail in sinister base.

SUPPORTERS: Dexter—a bear rampant, with collar around neck and loose flowing rope attached to the collar;

SINISTER, a dear rampant.

Back of the bear is a stalk of growing corn, and back of the deer is growing plant of tobacco.

The CREST consists of a knight’s helmet surmounted by a wreath upon which is a demi virgin queen crowned with an ancient crown. Underneath is the motto: “Don’t tread on me.”

On July 20th, Mr. John Page wrote thus to Mr. Thomas Jefferson:

“We are very much at a loss here, for an engraver to make our seal. Mr. Wythe and myself have, therefore, thought of it proper to apply to you to assist in this business. Can you get the work done in Philadelphia? If you can, we must get the favor of you to have it done immediately. The enclosed will be all the direction you will require. The engraver may want to know the size. This you may determine; unless Mr. Wythe should direct the dimensions. He may also be at a loss for a Virtus and Libertas; but you may refer him to Spence’s Polymetis, which must be in some Library in Philadelphia.” . . .

Spence’s Polymetis referred to above was and is one of the best authorities describing Greek and Roman characters. It was published many years before this period, and the wood cuts used, though accurate in general and engraved with classical simplicity, were some of them poorly executed and as compared with our present standards of engraving.

The accompanying illustration (No. 12) is from a photograph of the cut representing “Virtus” or “Fortitudo” appearing in Spence’s Polymetis.

“Virtus is a Roman goddess, dressed either in a flowing white robe, or like an Amazon, holding in the left hand a peculiar sword, called a parazonium, sheathed and inverted, or point upward and not pendant, worn as a badge of honor, and not as a weapon of attack or defence. The right hand resting on a spear point downward and touching the earth; her head erect and face upturned; her foot on the globe—the world at her feet; posture indicating proud

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consciousness of victory—conquest completed. Such is the Roman Virtus and such the Virtus of the seal, substituting Tyranny for the globe, and especially prescribing the dress of the Amazons for Virtus.”

The significance of the entire seal depends on the significance of Virtus: fortitude, courage, and even more—virtue and abstinence, as opposed to the goddess Voluptas, but, above all, courage, that chief of Roman virtues, the foundation of the Roman Empire. “Rome, ever sustained by Virtus, the type of courage, commanded victory by not admitting the possibility of defeat.” “As by the theory of Rome, it was her destiny to accomplish everything which she undertook, she is represented not in progression, but at the time of completion ; not in action, but as having finished her work.” this is the significance of Virtus as understood by Wythe, himself a classical scholar, and by the committee who reported the device to the Convention of 1776. This fact is further emphasized by the motto on the reverse side of the seal: “Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit,” God has given us this ease.

The desire of the Committee to use the Polymetis as a standard, as voiced in John Page’s letter to Mr. Jefferson quoted above, was not followed, as is only too evident from the seal itself, which was made in Philadelphia and forwarded to Virginia in 1778. The figure of Virtus resembles that of a Turk with a drawn sword in her right hand and a spear, point upward, in her left. The tyrant, bearing a resemblance to George III, seems to be struggling to rise, and the whole beauty of the classical idea is destroyed. Virtus, the calm, the unconquerable, gives place to a belligerent Amazon or Turk, with victory still in the balance.

The accompanying illustration (No. 13), taken from a document in the Virginia State Library, is that of the first, or emergency, seal, engraved in Philadelphia.

In the office of the President of the University of Virginia there hangs framed a commission to John Alexander (and others) as Justices of the Peace for the County of Loudon, signed by Thos. Jefferson, dated Mar. 13, 1781, bearing a good specimen of this seal. There are other specimens on the credentials of Virginia senators on tile in the United States Senate document room.

Judging from the following extract fromm Zieber’s Heraldry in America 1895, pages 159-160, the work on the first seal was done by Pierre Eugene de Crimitiere:

“In the office of the Honorable Henry C. Kelsey, Secretary of the State, at Trenton, is the silver seal designed by [Pierre Eugene] Du Simitiere, and with it the carefully preserved report of the 6th of September, 1776. Upon a comparison of the two it will be seen at a glance that the artist deviated from the wording of the report. From his notebook it is learned that he drew the design in India ink during October, 1776, having finished the Great Seal of Virginia in August and preparing for the artistic execution of the seals of Georgia and Delaware, which he finished in November, 1776, and January, 1777, respectively. . . . ”

The date of the completion of the seal for Virginia as given in the above abstract is evidently incorrect, for we find that Mr. Page complaining of the delay in the following letter to the Speaker of the House:

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“Palace, Oct’r. 7th, 1776

“Hon’ble Sir: As Mr. Wythe and myself who were appointed by the late hon’ble convention to superintend the engraving of the Seal of the Commonwealth and to take care that the same should be properly executed, finding it impracticable to procure an Engraver in this State, those who were in any manner qualified for such an undertaking being engaged in engraving Plates for the paper Money, have been under the necessity of employing proper Persons to executed this Business in Philadelphia. I have been informed by Mr. Jefferson whom I applied to, to engage Artists qualified for the work, that he employ’d such as were excellent and that the work must in great Forwardness but, that from the Nature of it, it will be sometime before it can be completed. I expect to have a particular account of the State of this Business from Mr. Wythe by the next Post. I thought it my Duty Sir, to lay this short account of the unavoidable Delay of this important Business before you that the House may take such steps to remedy the Inconvenience arising from the want of the Seal, as they may judge proper. I have the honor to be Sir,

Your Mo. Obed’t. h’ble. Serv’t.,

John Page.

The Hon’bl

The Speaker of the

House of Delegates.”

In accordance with the suggestions in the above letter the General Assembly enacted the following:

"I. WHEREAS, by an ordinance of convention, it is declared that all commissions shall run in the name of the commonwealth of Virginia, and bear teste by the Governour with the seal of the commonwealth annexed,and certain persons were directed to provide the said seal, hut, from unavoidable delays, they have not been able to execute the same; and whereas, in some instances, of great and pressing necessity, the governor, with advice of the council, hath already granted commissions, the validity of which may be drawn into question, to remedy which inconveniences, it is necessary that some provision should now be made.

"II. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Virginia, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the Governour, with the advice of council, shall have full power and authority henceforth to issue commissions under his signature, without any seal, until the seal of this commonwealth shall be provided, as by the said ordinance is directed; and that all commissions heretofore granted, or which may be hereafter so granted, shall be as efficacious and valid, to all intents and purposes, as if the same had issued according to the above recited ordinance."

In 1777, Gov. Patrick Henry appointed William Lee (brother of Richard Henry Lee and Arthur Lee) an agent of Virginia to France, to obtain arms and ammunition, or a loan of 2,000,000 livres to purchase the same. There was no seal to authenticate his credentials, and the delay in obtaining the seal ordered

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in Philadelphia was the source of considerable annoyance. In 1778, however, the seal was delivered, and Gov. Henry forwarded William Lee his commission under the new seal on April 10th, the receipt of which was acknowledged by Arthur Lee in a letter to Gov. Henry dated Paris, June 15, 1778.

The following is an extract from a letter from William Lee to Gov. Jefferson, dated Frankfort, Sept. 24:

"Sir:

"His Excellency Gov. Henry, was pleased in 1777, with the advice of the Council, to appoint me Agent to France, for the State of Virginia. and in 1778, by the same authority, he sent me a power under the State Seal, to obtain Arms;, Artillery, Ammunition etc. of his most X-tian majesty, ministers, 'or any other persons to the amount of 2,000,000 of livres--or to borrow money to that amount to purchase these articles with. . . "

This seal, which had been procured for use in this emergency, was the obverse of the great seal, and was small, being about the size of our present lesser seal. As before mentioned, it was incorrect in design and not at' all in accordance with the idea as set out in the Polymetis. This small seal was of course not sufficient for permanent use, and John Page proceeded to take steps to obtain a proper great seal. When he discovered that it was impossible to have the great seal satisfactorily engraved in America, he persuaded Arthur Lee, who was then in Paris on business of state, to employ a competent engraver in Europe to do the work. Arthur Lee made a few initial inquiries and wrote John Page as follows:

"Paris, May 27, 1 1778.

"The great Eeal I have also enquired about. But ~hey asked here from 100 to 150 louis d'ors for making it ill steel. I have written to Londbn to know wbat would be the price, as this seems exhorbitant. As BOOn as I am satisfied it is not so, I shaH put it in hand."

lTnfortunately, the incorrect design of the first seal had its bad influence, and in sending instructions to Arthur Lee a description of Uie former seal was given. instead of a description of the design described by law. Thus the original mi,,takes were repeated and appeared• in the seals for many years to come.

The following letter from William Lee to Arthur Lee gives this incorrect description:

"Frankfort, S Oct. l7iB.

"Dear brother:

I wrote to you the 4th and yesterday I received yours of the lBt. I forgot tAl m~nt'on that directions were given to Mr. Sauvage, orf~vre a l'ainean blanc, quai des orft\vres, pont neuf, to make his estimate for a small portable vice; as wtll as the Seal for the State of Virginia; but on reflection I think the vice will be unnecessary, because they must have had something of this sort to use their former seal with; therefore all that is now wanted will be the two silver pie<'eS properly engraved to make the proper impression on eaen side of the wax.

This ca'n't cost near what you talked oi, nor can it be difficult to execut ... 1.('t me know if you ean have it done in Paris, if not I will have it done in Holland.

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Design of a Great seal for a State. On one side of the seal the impression should be Virtue, the Genius of the state, dressed as an Amazon, resting on a spear with her left hand, and holding a, drawn sworn in her right hand, with Tyranny under her feet, a crown falling from his head, holding a broken chain in his left hand and a sceptre in his right hand.

in the exergue the word 'Virginia' over the head of Virtue, and below the words

'Sic Semper Tyrannis.'

On the opposite side of the seal should be Liberty holding a spear in her right hand, with a cap at the end of the spear. On one side of Liberty should be the goddess Ceres, with her horn of plenty in her left hand and an olive branch in her right hand. On the other side of Liberty should be Eternity with a globe in her left hand and a phoenix in her right.

ln the exergue the words

'Deus Nobis, haec Otia Fecit.

The reader will note the belligerent Amazon with drawn sword in right hand and spear in left, a crown falling from head of tyrant, etc. The words in italics when compared with those given in the law will show the changes.

A year later, on Oct. 4, 1779, the General Assembly passed an act authorizing the Governor to procure a great seal for the State in accordance with the resolution of the Convention of 1776, save only that the motto on the reverse be changed to "Perseverando". By this same act the first, or emergency, seal was adopted as the lesser seal.

Thus we have the seal, which was being engraved in Paris under the instructions of Arthur Lee, supposedly legalized; yet in strict accordance with this act it was not legal, because this Paris seal did not agree in the main particulars with the descriptions as given in t~e resolution passed by the Convention of 1776 (one of the requirements of the act). On the other hand, we find the Assembly changing the the motto from "Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit" to "Perseverando"- the latter decidedly in keeping with the design of the "belligerent" Amazon who has only half conquered her tyrant and should persevere to the end.

It would seem from this change of motto that the constant use of the incorrect seal had had its influence on the General Assembly and that they had either never known or had lost the pure classical idea which inspired Wythe and the other members of the Committee. This is to be particularly regretted, inasmuch as though the design of the seal was corrected during the administration of Governor Cameron, the motto was not changed to correspond.

The following is the act of 1779:

"An act for providing a great seal for the commonwealth, and directing the lesser seal of the commonwealth to be affixed to all grants for land, and to commissioners, civil and military. Oct. 4, 1779 .

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"I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That the Governour. with the advice of the council, be empowered, and he is hereby required, to provide, at the publick charge, a: great seal for the commonwealth, and to procure the same to be engraved, either in America or Europe, with the same device as was directed by the resolution of convention, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy six; save only that the motto on the reverse be changed to the word PERSEVERANDO.

II. And be it farther enacted, That the seal which hath been already provided by virtue of the said resolution of convention. be henceforward called the lesser seal of the commonwealth, and that the said lesser seal be affixed to .u grants for lands, and to all commission, civil and military, signed by the Governour: Provided nevertheless, That all such commissions heretofore signed and issued, without affixing the seal, shall be good and valid."

Unfortunately I have been unable to obtain a specimen of the great seal prior to 1819. This would make no difference if it were true as stated by several former writers that no new seal was made until 1856; but this statement is incorrect, and was evidently based on the fact that no act authorizing a new seal appears until that date. The fact is, however, that new seals, both great and lesser, were made in 1809. Sufficient proof of this will be found in the Governor's letter-book of Aug. 1809, on file in the Virginia State Library, from which the following letter is copied:

"John Carter to the Governor.

"Richmond, Aug. I, 1809.

"Supposing that it will be in my power to finish the reverse of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth by the 15th inst. I take the liberty to enclose the Honorable Executive a plan for a screw press. As I suppose it would be desirable with them to have the press as early as possible after the seals are completed, I would advise that it be made at the Armory, by which means it will be more expeditiously executed, and probably in a much neater manner than by Mr. Todd, who offered to undertake its execution a short time since.

I am &c."

Some very good specimens of the lesser seal engraved by Jno. Carter will be found among the record of the United States Senate on the credentials of the senators from Virginia as follows: .

Jan. 15. 1811, credentials of Wm. B. Giles, signed by Jno. Tyler; Feb. 24, 1823, credentials of John Taylor, signed by James Pleasants.

The next two are in the Virginia State Library:

Dec. 17, 1822, on commission of William Madison as major general of the second division of the militia of the Commonwealth, signed by James Pleasants, Jr. (poor impression); June 10, 1822, on grant of land to Capt. Wm. Wash, signed by Thos. M. Randolph, Governor (good impression).

Specimens of the great seal are found on the following:

Dec. 30. 1822, credentials of Jno. Taylor, signed by James Pleasants (in the

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United States Senate record room); Apr. 7, 1819, certificate of James Rochelle, clerk of Superior Court of Southampton Co., signed by Governor Jas. P. Preston (excellent impression-in Va. State Library). (See illustration No. 14.)

For many years these seals were used, and it was not until 1856 that the steel dies had become so worn that it became necessary to make new ones. The distinguished sculptor, Alexander Galt, was employed to design the new seals. He used as a basis for his designs a set of drawings which were then among the State archives and which are now in the Virginia State Library. These drawings are folded in a paper wrapper upon which is the following notation: "Drawings for the Great seal of S~ate, said to have been made by the Celebrated Benjamin West. Aug. 23, 1856." (See illustration No. 15.) With the assistance of these drawings, Galt produced a work of art which has been unsurpassed in the whole history of seal making in Virginia. The "West" drawings are notable for their simplicity and classical beauty. They are incorrect, however, in tho following details: the "sword" is not sheathed and the "crown" is shown falling instead of fallen. In the reverse the figures do not conform to the description given by the Convention of 1776 and are not followed by Galt in his finished work.

A very excellent specimen of this great seal is in the Virginia State Library on a requisition on the Governor of Pennsylvania, dated Oct. 26, 1859, for John E. Cooke, charged with murder and robbery perpetrated at or near Harper's Ferry in the County of Jefferson, etc., signed by Gov. Henry A. Wise. This Cooke was one of Jno. Brown's men and participated in his raid. Another good specimen of this seal may be found in the U. S. Senate record room on the credentials of Senator R. M. T. Hunter, dated June 8, 1858, signed by Henry A. Wise. (See illustration No. 16.)

The seals designed by Galt were used continuously until the close of the War between the States. At the time of the evacuation of Richmond by the Confederate army the Secretary of the Commonwealth was instructed by the Governor to remove all of the State archives to Lynchburg. The seals and records were packed in boxes and shipped by the James River and Kanawha Canal. The canal had been cut in several places, and the boxes fell into the hands of the Federal troops. When Governor Peirpoint removed the State government from Alexandria to Richmond, the seals were sent to him and again placed in the custody of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Soon after the return of the seals Governor Peirpoint had new seals made-exact copies of the old, with the exception that the words "Liberty and Union" were added both to the obverse and reverse. This addition was without authority of any published ordinance of Convention, or law of the Legislature, either at Wheeling, Alexandria, or Richmond; but it is stated page 62 of the first volume of West Virginia Reports by the reporter, John Marshall Hagans, Esq., that a resolution was adopted by the Convention at Wheeling "providing for the appointment of a committee to procure a great and a lesser seal, the seals of the commonwealth being in possession of the late executive, respectively bearing, on obverse and reverse, the devices and mottoes on the seals theretofore used by the State, with the addition on each seal of the words 'liberty and union.' "

See also

• American Biographical and Historical Dictionary

References

1. ↑ Edward S. Evans, "The Seals of Virginia," Seventh Annual Report of the Library Board of the Virginia State Library (1909-1910), 7-47.

External links

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