THE ARMS OF THE STATE.

Although the general convention which adopted the first Constitution establishing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on the 28th of September, 1776, provided that "all commissions shall be in the name, and by the authority of, the freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, sealed with the State Seal," no provision was made what that seal should be, and yet it is here that we ought to find the first record of the Arms of the State.

On the 20th of March following, however, an Act was passed for emitting bills of credit for the defence of the State; and on the 10th of April, 1777, currency was issued upon which was engraved a shield with the Arms. These Arms consisted of the same armorial bearings now officially recognized as those of the Commonwealth, and may be described as follows:

A plough between two barrulets; in chief, a ship under full sail; and in base, three garbs.

There is, however, neither crest, motto, or supporters. We have no knowledge to whom we are indebted for this design; and yet it would seem to have been a composition made up from the Provincial seals of the three original counties; for, we find that on the crest which surmounts the Penn Coat of Arms on that of Philadelphia, in 1683, a ship under full sail; on the seal of Chester county, a plough; while on that of Bucks county, was probably a sheaf of wheat; of the latter we have no description. The seal of Sussex county (now in Delaware) of the same period, seems to have had for its crest a sheaf of wheat, while the seal of the city of Philadelphia in 1701 had upon its quartered arms, a sheaf of wheat and a ship under full sail.

In 1778 we find an engraving of the Coat of Arms in type metal printed on a broadside, in which in addition, is the motto: “Virtue, Liberty, and Independence:" the eagle as a crest, as also, the supporters, two horses rearing, caparisoned for draught, including the stock of maize and an olive branch, as additional devices. A facsimile of this publication of the Arms of the State, is given in this connection. The State Arms were first cut in printers' metal by Caleb Lownes, who was directed by the Supreme Executive Council, on the 19th of April, 1779, to be paid therefor. Various reproductions of this plate, as to size, were prepared and in use upon imprints of laws, proc14-12-93

lamations, commissions, and other public documents, down to the year 1805, when we have the first innnovation made by the engraver. One of the early plates was, in good preservation and in use occasionally, as late as 1865, when, by the burning of the Telegraph printing office in Harrisburg, it, with many other relics of the craft, was destroyed. That this was one of the original plates, there can be no doubt; because as early as 1782, there appeared upon the laws printed by F. and R. Bailey, a "battered" plate of the Coat of Arms. This is especially noticeable in the mane of the horses on the dexter side of the shield, impressions of which are in existence down to the period of its destruction, and the writer of this has knowledge thereof, having for several years used the cut in the printing office. Neither can there be any doubt, that the Arms of Pennsylvania, as engraved originally by Lownes, were those adopted by the authority of the State. No record, however, of this appears, and yet, as will be perceived by the sketch of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth, hereafter presented, that it had official recognition.

As referred to, the first innovation made upon the Arms proper, was in 1805, or thereabouts. A rude engraving of the Arms was used, omitting the stocks of maize in the rear of the supporters and also the harnessing of the horses. The olive branch is also omitted. Various changes were made from that period down to the year 1874. In all instances the engraver left off the harness, while in some cases two white horses were in proper position; again we find one black and one white horse; at another time both horses were in a semi-recumbent position; and, more frequently, each in different posture. It appeared to be impossible for any two engravers to give the same design for the Arms, from the fact that so many innovations had been made coming down for almost three quarters of a century, that scarcely any one knew what was really the authorized Arms of the Commonwealth.

The attention of the Legislature of 1874 having been called to this matter, a joint resolution, approved the 30th day of April, 1874, directed the appointment of a commission, "to correct the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth," and "to have the same recorded in the State Archives." The preamble of that resolution sets forth that,

"Whereas, There is no record of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth, to be found in any Department of the Government, and whereas, such armorial ensigns are frequently used, attached to or copied upon public documents of various kinds, as also upon banners upon State occasions, such as are very likely to arise during the ap proaching centennial celebration, and in other ways displayed or issued from the seat of government, wherein correctness and regularity are desirable; and whereas, The Arms now in use, from their style and from their approach to uniformity, are evidently founded upon and derived from the devices composing the Great Seal of the State,