American Coats-of-arms

An interesting subject - one that has not vet recoivcd the attcntion to which it is entitled - is that of the recognition of industry in what might bo callecl American heraldry. Tlie coatsof-arnis and ollicial erubleuis of oldworld nations, M might bo oxpoctod, are monopolizad bv ideas of prido and waflike power. With popular rights and peaceful industries tlio founders of European dynasties and kingdouis had 10 svmpathj'. No loss was it to bc expected, on the other hand, that selfgoverning eomiuunities of fraga] and industrious folk, set in a land whcrc cverything was to bc won by arduous eflbrt, should embrace cvcry opportunity to laud the labor wliich was tlio corner-stonc of iho fabric of tlieir prosperity - of thoir vory existence. A glauco llirongh such Vork as Prof. Hough's "American Constitutions," or Admiral Preblo's "Hislory of iho Flag of üic Unitoil States of America," will not fail lo rovoal an aimost universal rccognition of iudustry and commcrce. Tlio most notable omission is in the case of the seal and arms. In not ono of the designa suggested by or to the commiUeo appointcd July 4, 177G, to prepare n devico for the great soal of tho United States - a committce whosc nierabors were Franklin, Adams, and Jefforeon - was there any recognition of the peaceful arts. Adams' design was tho "Choico of Hercules" - what a pity tliat upon our passports and commissions wo do not bchold delineated "the hero resting on a club; Virtue pointing to her rugged mountain on ouo hand and persuading him to ascend; and Sloth gluucing at her flowery paths of pleasure, wanlonly reclining on the ground, displaying tlie charras both of her cloquenco and person, to seduce him into vico!" Frauklin was for a design presenting the whelmiug of Pharaoh; Jefferson for the "Chilürcn of Israel in tho Wildernoss, plus Hongist and Horsa." Among tho supporters in the various designs aftcrward reported are to bc found American Indians, Roman soldiers, "maidens with loosc auburn tresses," "knightsinarms, with bloody lances," but nowherea husbandman or an artisan, and on the great seal finally adopted Juno 20, 1782. nothlng typilies labor, unless it be tho unfinishcd pyramid which scoflers have insisted upon regardiug as prophetic of the Washington monument. Very different, howevcr, is it with the arms of tho different statcs; thcre the omission to recognizs trado or industry is tho coniparatively rare exception. filaino lias as her supporters a husbandniau leaning on hls scythe and a sailor resting on an anchor. New Ilampshiro shows a ship on tho stocks with American bacners displayed, and a group of busy shipwrights. Vormont places beucath her towering pine-tree throe erect sheavcs and a red cow- r noiiicr beast than any of tho Hons.'griflius, boars, and bears that ramp and roar through tho forests of European hcraldry. Massachusetis has a decidedly warlike coat-of-arrns, with her beited and moceasincd ludían, and lier "dexter arm clbthed aiid graspiug i broadsword," and Bhodo Isla ad s "ancker" has no i'cfeiencc to maritimc int cresta. Nor do Connecticiit'a threc vines, supported and truiled, relate to viticulture, bnt, nstoad, lo the threc original plantations of Hartford, Windaor, and WeatheriioUl. New York's arma have no recogniÜon of labor or trade, if wc except the two vessels npproaching ench other on the Hudson. New Jersey, however, displays three piows in an cseiucheon, makes Cere3 one of the supporters, and takes as crost a horso's head. Ponnsylvania's supportiug horac3 aro of the rampanl "old war-horsi-' reed, but her shicld is chargcd uv i-aceful emblems - a plow; on a .::; uavy procer, a ship under full sail; and a staïk of maize. This coat-of-arms was taken chiefly from tho old seal of tho city of Philadolphia, adopted in 1701, which had in three of it quarters a balance, a wheat shcaf, and a ship sailing upon an ocean. Delaware shows in one división of her azuro shield a cow, and in tho other a sheaf of wheat and a bundlo of leaf tobáceo. The crest is a ship uuder full sail, and the supporters aro a mariner and a hunter. Maryland, in adopting the arms of Lord Baltimore, was so fortúnate as to Vbtain as supporters a fishermau and plowman. Virginia, on the reverse of her great seal, which is nothing if not classical, shows Cores, with her cornucopia in one hand and an car of wheat in tho other. West Virginia has an encyclopedie coit-of-arms. On the dexter side of her ivy-twincd rock is a farmer, clothcd in tho traditional hunting shirt of the mountain ïogiou, his right arm resting on the plow-handles, and his left supportiiiij a woodman's ax, with, at lila reet, a sheaf of wheat and a corn-stalk. On tho sinister is a miuer with a piekcral at his feet, while an auvil, on which rests a sledgc-hammer, is partly seen. North Carolina has on her shield a Cere with tho cornucopia in one hand and in the other three wheat cars. Georgia hns always eclebrated trade and industry with elabórate enthusiasni. When George II. chartered tho colony, in 1732, one face of the seal represented a provident and laborlona colony of sük-worms, soricullnro boing tho special object of the nuw sultlemunl. Wlicn it became a crown colony, in 1751, its soal sliowed on ono sido the genius of the coiony presenting a skein of sük to the king. Tho convention of 1777 adopled a seal whcieon was shown "an elegant house and other buildings, with shecp and cattle, a river running through tho same with a ship under full sail" - a description lcavjng not a littlc doubt as to whether the river ran through the elegant house, or the shcep. Tho present soal, adopted in 1798, bears tho followiug elabórate devico: "A view üi tlio seasiiore, with a ship bearing the flag of the United States rld Ing at anchor ne:ir a wharf, recciving on board hogshcads of tobáceo and bales of cotton, emblematic of tho exports of the state; at a sniall distauce, a boat landing from the interior of tiio slato with Logsheads, ote., on board, reprosentiug her internal trafile; in the back iart, a man plowing, and at a smal] distanco a llock of sheep in different poaiuros, ahaded by a flourishing tree; liie motto, 'Agriculluro and Comuierce.' " Not a bad coat-of-arms for the thriving softlhorn commoniveallh. Florida places a siiie-wheeled steamboat on the rivor in tbc middle ground of her coat-of-arms. Arkansas crowds the shield upon the bosom of her eagle with a steamboat, a bee-hive and plow, and a sheaf of wheat. Tennesseo places iu ouo división of her coat-of-arms a plow, a whuat-shoaf, and a Stuik of cotton, with tlio word, "Agriculture. " Tho lower half occupied by a loaded bargo, with the word, "Commerce. " Ohio, which was without any legalized soal for more than half a century, places tho familiar wheat-sheaf on her shicld, and has as supporters a farmer with sheaves of wheat and implementa of agriculture, in tho distanco a locomoiive and train of cars and a sinith with anvil and hammcr, and also wator and a steamboat. 'ndiana's buffalo is boiug scared over tho prairies by the resounding ax of a lusty wood-chopper. lowa has on her arms a sheaf and I field of standing wheat, with a sickle and othur farming iinplenients. a load furnaco nnd a pilo of pir leod, n plow just left by aoitizcn soldier, and, in the rear oí 11, a stoamboat upon t ho Mississippi. Wlsconsill lias upon lier sliield aa anchor and a meclianic's arm, grasping a hamtuer, n plow, a spade and pick-ax orossed, and two stalks of grain. The supporters are a sailor and a shirt-sloeved laborer, with a pick-wc. Minnesota shows a farmer, ploifing, his gun resting on a slump, wliile an Indian recodes bofore him toward "his brififht home in the setting sun. " California blnzons upon her shieltl a liardy minor, with his piek, sceking for gold, and Iwo clipper ships upen tho bay. Oregon has at the baso of her shiel.l shoavcs of whoat, a plow, a rake, and a piek. In the upper half is a landscape with an emigrant wagon, and in the background a sea hearing a steaniship and a brig ftying American colora. Kansas displays a river and a steamboat, a settlcr's cabin and a wan piowing, and a tram of OX-Wilgons moving weslward. Nevada has a benefitling coat-ofarniï. lt show.-s a qiiarlz-mlll, a tunnel froiu which a miner is pushing a car of ore; a plow, a shcaf, and a siekle; a train of railroad cars passing a mountain gorge, aud a telegraph line. Nebraska shows a blacksmilh at work at his anvil, a sheaf of wlioat on lus right hand and a treu on his left; in the ïuiddlc-round are a wheat field, a log cabin, aud a river bearing a steauiboat, with, on tho further bank, a locomotivo and train of cars. Colorado bears on tho lovver half of her shield a miner's piek aud mallet crossed. Of the toni lories, Utah has a beohive on a stand surrounded by llowers, with bees hoverluw near it. Washington's "fcuia'-e iigure with ilowing trassos" has an anchor by lier side; to her right a city with spires and domes and a stoam vcssel; on her loft a log cabin and a pino fores!. On Dakota's shield an anvil and agricultura! implementa appear i:i dooiaedly iucongrnons faxtnposition with an ludían spearing a búllalo. Arlzona is reprosonled by a miner, drossod in shirt nnd trousers and a broad-loaved hat, resting on piek and spade. Montana sliows plow, piek, and spade in the foreground of her shield. Wyoming displays in ono coinpartment of her oscutchcou a railroad and a train of cars; in another aro agricultural implements. Tlius aro labor :unl coinniercc