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GENEALOGICAL
NOTES AND ANECDOTES
á la
recherche du temps perdu
JOHN CALDWELL
CALHOUN
and
JEFFERSON FINIS DAVIS:
PORTRAITS
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
(18 March 1782, near Calhoun Mills
[now Mount McCormick], Abbeville District [now McCormick
County], South Carolina
- 31 March 1850, Washington, District of Columbia)
As United States Secretary of War (8 October 1817 - 7
March 1825)
Portrait by John Wesley
Jarvis (1780 - 1840)
Oil on canvas, 29½" x 24½"
Secretaries Collection of the United
States Army, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
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JEFFERSON FINIS DAVIS
(3 June 1808, Fairview, Christian
[later Todd] County, Kentucky - 5 December 1889, New
Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana)
As United States Senator
from Mississippi, 1860
Portrait photograph by
Mathew B. Brady (1823 - 1896)
National Archives and Records Administration, Washington,
D. C.
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THE GREAT SEAL
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
THE
GREAT SEAL
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
[Impression
on wax]
Deo vindice
maiores ĉmulamur
"Defended by God, we
emulate [our] forefathers"
The Great
Seal of the Confederate States of America was
engraved in 1864, by the late Joseph S. Wyon, of
London, England, predecessor of Messrs J. S. and A.
B. Wyon, chief engravers of Her British Majesty's
seals, etc., and reached Richmond not long before the
evacuation of the city, April 3, 1865. It was of
silver, and in diameter measured nearly four inches.
At the evacuation it was overlooked by the
Confederate authorities, and subsequently fell into
the possession of the late genial and accomplished
Colonel John T. Pickett, of Washington, D.C., who,
after having a number of electrotype copies in
copper, silver and gold plating made from it,
presented the original to Colonel William E. Earle,
of Washington, D. C. This last gentleman, on December
27th, 1888, formally presented it to the State of
South Carolina. The announcement of the gift elicited
from the Picayune, in its issue of January
6, 1889, the interesting report of an interview, by
one of its representatives, held with Hon. Thomas J.
Semmes, of New Orleans, which follows:
"Mr. Semmes said it always afforded
him pleasure to converse on the events of the
war, particularly the transactions of the
Confederate Senate. He was attorney-general of
Louisiana in 1861. When it became necessary to
elect to the Confederate Senate, organized under
the new constitution, Mr. Semmes and General
Edward T. Sparrow were chosen senators from this
State. In drawing for terms he drew that for four
years, while General Sparrow drew that for six
years. This was at Richmond, Va., in February,
1862.
"In speaking of his services in the Senate,
Mr. Semmes said he was appointed a member of the
finance committee in conjunction with Hon. R. M.
T. Hunter, of Virginia, and Hon. Robert Barnwell,
of South Carolina and a member of the judiciary
committee, of which Hon. B. H. Hill was chairman.
He was also chairman of the joint committee on
the flag and seal of the Confederate States. He
drafted, under the direction of Hon. R. M. T.
Hunter, the 'tax in kind' bill, which practically
supported the Confederacy during the last two
years of the war.
"As member of the finance committee, he
advocated the sealing and calling in of the
outstanding Confederate currency, on the ground
that the purchasing power of the new currency to
be issued in exchange would be greater than the
total amount of the outstanding currency in its
then depreciated condition. He made a report from
the judiciary committee adverse to martial law.
"Upon being questioned as to the seal which
he had designed, Mr. Semmes said it was a device
representing an equestrian portrait of Washington
(after the statue which surmounts his monument in
the capitol square at Richmond), surrounded with
a wreath, composed of the principal agricultural
products of the Confederacy, and having around
its margin the words: 'Confederate States of
America, 22d February, 1862,' with the motto, 'Deo
vindice.'
"In the latter
part of April, 1864, quite an interesting debate
was had on the adoption of the motto. The House
resolutions fixing the motto as 'Deo Duce
Vincemus' being considered, Mr. Semmes moved to
substitute ' Deo vindice majores aemulamur.' The
motto had been suggested by Professor Alexander
Dimitry. Mr. Semmes thought 'Deo vindice'
sufficient and preferred it. He was finally
triumphant."
In
this connection it is appropriate and interesting
to reproduce the speech made by Mr. Semmes on
that occasion. It was as follows:
"MR. PRESIDENT-- I am instructed by the
committee to move to strike out the words
"duce vincemus" in the motto and insert
in lieu thereof the words "Vindice majores
aemulamur," "Under the guidance and
protection of God we endeavor to equal and even
excel our ancestors." Before discussing the
proposed change in the motto, I will submit to
the Senate a few remarks as to the device on the
seal.
"The committee has been greatly exercised on
this subject, and it has been extremely difficult
to come to any satisfactory conclusion. This is a
difficulty, however, incident to the subject, and
all that we have to do is to avoid what Visconti
calls 'an absurdity in bronze.'
"The equestrian statue of Washington has
been selected in deference to the current popular
sentiment. The equestrian figure impressed on our
seal will be regarded by those skilled in
glyptics as to a certain extent indicative of our
origin. It is a most remarkable fact that an
equestrian figure constituted the seal of Great
Britain from the time of Edward the Confessor
down to the reign of George III, except during
the short interval of the protectorate of
Cromwell, when the trial of the King was
substituted for the man on horseback. Even
Cromwell retained the equestrian figure on the
seal of Scotland, but he characteristically
mounted himself on the horse. In the reign of
William and Mary the seal bore the impress of the
king and queen both mounted on horseback.
"Washington has been selected as the emblem
for our shield, as a type of our ancestors, in
his character of princeps majorum. In
addition to this, the equestrian figure is
consecrated in the hearts of our own people by
the local circumstance that on the gloomy and
stormy 22d of February, 1862, our permanent
government was set in motion by the inauguration
of President Davis under the shadow of the statue
of Washington.
"The committee are dissatisfied with the
motto on the seal proposed by the House
resolution. The motto proposed is as follows: 'Deo
Duce Vincemus'--(Under the leadership of God
we will conquer).
"The word ' duce' is too pagan in
its signification, and is degrading to God,
because it reduces him to the leader of an army;
for scarcely does the word 'duce' escape
the lips before the imagination suggests 'exercitus,'
an army for a leader to command. It degrades
the Christian God to the level of pagan gods,
goddesses and heroes, as is manifest from the
following quotation; 'Nil desperandum Tenero
duce.' This word duce is
particularly objectionable because of its
connection with the word 'vincemus'--(we
will conquer). This connection makes God the
leader of a physical army, by means of which we
will conquer, or must conquer. If God be our
leader we must conquer, or he would not be the
God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, nor
the God of the Christian. This very doubt implied
in the word 'vincemus' so qualifies the
omnipotence of the God who is to be our 'leader,'
that it imparts a degrading signification to the
word 'duce' in its relations to the
attributes of the Deity.
"The word 'vincemus' is equally
objectionable because it implies that war is to
be our normal state; besides, it is in the future
tense --' we will conquer.' The future is always
uncertain, and ,therefore, it implies doubt. What
becomes of our motto when we shall have conquered?
The future becomes an accomplished fact, and our
motto thus loses its significance.
"In addition to this there are only two
languages in which the words will and shall are
to be found--the English and the German--and in
those they are used to qualify a positive
condition of the mind and render it uncertain;
they are repugnant to repose, quiet, absolute and
positive existence.
"As to the motto proposed by us, we concur
with the House in accepting the word 'Deo'--God.
We do so in conformity to the expressed wishes of
the framers of our Constitution, and the
sentiments of the people and of the army.
"The preamble of the Provisional
Constitution declares that 'We, the deputies of
the sovereign and independent States of South
Carolina, etc., invoking the favor and guidance
of Almighty God, do ordain,' etc.
"In this respect both our Constitutions have
deviated in the most emphatic manner from the
spirit that presided over the construction of
the Constitution of the United States, which is
silent on the subject of the Deity.
"Having discarded the word 'duce,' the
committee endeavored to select in lieu of it a
word more in consonance with the attributes of
the Deity, and therefore more imposing and
significant. They think success has crowned their
efforts in the selection of the word 'vindex,'
which signifies an assenter, a defender,
protector, deliverer, liberator, a mediator and a
ruler or guardian. 'Vindex' also means an avenger
or punisher.
"No word appeared more grand, more
expressive or significant than this. Under God as
the asserter of our rights, the defender of our
liberties, our protector against danger, our
mediator, our ruler and guardian, and, as the
avenger of our wrongs and the punisher of our
crimes, we endeavor to equal or even excel our
ancestors. What word can be suggested of more
power, and so replete with sentiments and
thoughts consonant with our idea of the
omnipotence and justice of God?
"At this point the committee hesitated
whether it were necessary to add anything further
to the motto 'Deo Vindice.' These words alone
were sufficient and impressive, and, in the
spirit of the lapidary style of composition, were
elliptical and left much to the play of the
imagination. Reflection, however, induced us to
add the words 'majores aemulamur,' because
without them there would be nothing in the motto
referring to the equestrian figure of Washington.
It was thought better to insert something
elucidative or adaptive of the idea to be
conveyed by that figure. Having determined on
this point, the committee submitted to the
judgment of the Senate the words ' majores
aemulamur,' as best adapted to express the ideas
of 'our ancestors.' 'Patres' was first suggested,
but abandoned because 'majores' signifies
ancestors absolutely, and is also more suggestive
than 'patres.' The latter is a term applied to
our immediate progenitors who may be alive,
whereas ' majores' conveys the idea of a more
remote generation that has passed away.
"That being disposed of, the question arose
as to the proper signification of the word
'aemulamur.' Honorable emulation is the primary
signification of the word; in its secondary sense
it is true it includes the idea of improper
rivalry, or jealousy. But it is used in its
primary and honorable sense by the most approved
authors.
"The secondary and improper sense of the aemulari
is excluded in the proposed motto by the
relation it bears to 'Deo vindice.' This relation
excludes the idea of envy or jealousy, because
God, as the asserter of what is right, justifies
the emulation, and as a punisher of what is wrong
checks excess in case the emulation runs into
improper envy or jealousy. In adopting the
equestrian figure of Washington, the committee
desires distinctly to disavow any recognition of
the embodiment of the idea of the 'cavalier.' We
have no admiration for the character of the
cavalier of 1640 any more than for his opponent,
the Puritan. We turn with disgust from the
violent and licentious cavalier, and we abhor the
acerb, morose and fanatic Puritan, of whom Oliver
Cromwell was the type. In speaking of Cromwell
and his character, Guizot says that ' he
possessed the faculty of lying at need with an
inexhaustible and unhesitating hardihood which
struck even his enemies with surprise and
embarrassment.'
"This characteristic seems to have been
transmitted to the descendants of the pilgrims
who settled in Massachusetts Bay to enjoy the
liberty of persecution. If the cavalier is to
carry us back to days earlier than the American
Revolution, I prefer to be transported in
imagination to the field of Runnymede, when the
barons extorted Magna Charta from the unwilling
John. But I discard all reference to the cavalier
of old, because it implies a division of society
into two orders, an idea inconsistent with
confederate institutions."
Mr.
Semmes moved to amend by substituting
"vindice" for "duce," and it
was agreed to.
In
taking his leave, the reporter was informed by
Mr. Semmes that he did not know the seal was in
existence and was glad to learn that it had been
presented to the State of South Carolina, the
first State which seceded from the Union.
Source: Southern
Historical Society Papers, vol. XVI, Richmond,
Virginia, January-December. 1888.
Confederate Note, Richmond
Issue, No. 35774, Issued 17 February 1864
[Criswell Type 64]
This note was engraved and printed by
Keatinge and Ball, Columbia, South Carolina, to a
quantity of 150,428.
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GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND
ANECDOTES: TABLE OF CONTENTS
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