GREAT SEAL OF THE CONFED ERACY, The. It is not generally known that the Confederate States of America possessed a symbol of sovereignty in the form of a great seal, and its evolution, history and significance is of interest to all citizens of the reunited na tion. When the Confederate government was founded at Montgomery, Ala., it was early sug gested that a seal be devised, but it took months of fruitless attempts to enact a law establishing a great seal. Several times during the first years of the fratricidal struggle the representa tives in the Confederate congress introduced hills looking to the creation of a symbol of na tionality, but the senators, who were less hope ful of ultimate triumph over the Union or Fed eral powers, discouraged and voted down these legislative attempts. But in 1863 the Confed eracy gained new hopes, since foreign powers gave evidence of concern and sympathy for the Southern cause, and as a result the follow ing bill passed the senate: Resolved, by the Senators of the Confederate States of America: That the seal of the Confederate States shall be: In foreground, a confederate soldier in position to charge bayonet; in the middle distance, a woman with a child in front of a church, both with hands uplifted in the attitude of praying: for a background, a homestead in the plains. with mountains in the distance, beneath the meridian sun; the whole surrounded by a wreath composed of the stalks of sugar bts Moe, the cotton and the tobacco plant the Secrased with the words: " Seal of the Con federate st..tei of America (above) and " Our Homes and Constitution " (btmeath).
The bill failed to receive the required support in the House, and in a few months the follow ing bill had its origin in the upper branch of the gOvernment : Resolved, by the Senators of the Confederate States of America, That the seal of the Confederate States shall con sist of : An armed youth in classic costume, standing; beneath • woman is clinging. The whole surrounded by a margin of rice, cotton, tobacco and sugar cane. Motto " Pro Aria et Focis." The design surrounded by these . " Seal of the Confederate States of America." • The bill met a like fate, since the represen tatives disapproved of the senatorial proposi tion.
Prior to the spring of 1862 the Congress of the Confederacy was provincial; the permanent government was not established until 22 Feb. (Washington's birthday) 1862; and it was at the third session of the permanent congress that a bill passed both branches and received the signature of President Jefferson .Davis. The act reads as follows: " No. 4. Joint resolution to establish a seal for the Con federate States: That the seal of the Confederate States shall consist of a device representing an equestrian statue of Washington (after the statue which surmounts his monu ment in the Capitol square at Richmond), surrounded with a wreath composed of the principal agricultural products of the confederacy; tobacco, sugar cane, corn, wheat and rice — and having around its margin the words: The Confederate States of America; Twenty-second February, Eighteen Hundred and ffixty-two,' with the following motto: •Deo Vinclice.'
The design for a seal was the result of Confederate originality and imagination; it was free from heraldic devices and possessed none of the elements of armorial language. The meaning of the symbols is clear: Washing ton, a southerner, owned slaves — and God favors our cause.
The Savannah News of 1 May 1863, says editorially: "The confederate congress has at length adopted a great seal which we think is both appropriate and in good taste. This device and motto will be approved by the good taste and moral sentiment of our people, and now it only remains for congress to adopt an appropriate flag for the confederacy, at order that we may present to the world a symbol as well as the power and substance of a great and glorious nation ality." On 20 May 1863, J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State of the Confederacy, sent a dispatch to James M. Mason, Commissioner of the Confed eracy to the government of Great Britain, ex pressing the will of Congress with regard to the proposed seal. Part of the message reads! 'Sir:— Congress has passed a law establishing a seal for the confederate states, I have con cluded to have the work executed in England, and request that you will do me the favor to supervise it. You will xeceive a dopy of the act, and a photograph of Washington's statue. The photograph represents the horse as stand mg on a summit of an obelisk, but in the seal the base ought to be the earth. . .. It is not de sired that the work be executed by any but the best artists that can he found, and the difference of expense between poor and fine specimen art in engraving is too small a matter to be taken into consideration in a work that we fondly hope will be required for generations yet un born.° Mason's reply says: "Mr. Wyon (her majesty's engraver) is to engrave the seal, and he informs me that it will require six weeks or two months to finish it, as he is very anxious to bestow upon it all the pains so important a work demands. He is executing it in silver, which offers the advantage of proof against rust, so often destructive to seals executed in steel. The cost of engraving the seal including the press for working it, will be 80 guineas. The seal, when completed was brought to Amer ica by Lieutenant Chapman and delivered to Hon. J. P. Benjamin who, finding it satisfac torily executed, officially accepted the work. It has been thought that the great seal of the Confederacy was never officially used; this proves to be a mistake since the seal was af fixed as a symbol of sovereignty on a large number of documents which went abroad, and a few were on appointments of govern ment officials of high rank.