The Correct Arms of the State of New York. 



277 



most authoritative witness to the existence of the land on the Arms 

 at the base of the shield. Engravers, who in the past years have 

 assumed to make fac similes of the seal of 1778, have overlooked this 

 none the less conspicuous and highly important portion of the pic- 

 ture which they were copying. The seal of 1777, though it did not 

 pretend to include the Arms complete, yet contained the full sun,. the 

 mountains, the river, and the land at the base. The date on the seal 

 of 1777 represents both the year of the organization of the State 

 government, and the year of adopting the seal. The seal on this par- 

 ticular point is an earlier witness than any one of the three speci- 

 mens we have employed. 



7. In the paper of 1879, the opinion was expressed by me, that the 

 State of New York was the first of all the States, and preceded the 

 United States, in placing the eagle on the insignia of the State. The 

 only State in reference to which there remained any doubt at that 

 time was Maryland. It now appears that Maryland never had the 

 eagle on its arms until 1840 ; and on this point I will read an extract 

 from a letter addressed to me by Mr. W. H. Browne, the librarian of 

 the Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, during the last year, 

 October 28, 1880. 



" The legislature, some twenty-five or thirty years ago, swept 



away the cap and crest, and put in their place an unmeaning eagle, 

 which remained until about 1873 or 1874, when the ancient device 

 was restored. I have little doubt that you are right in your supposi- 

 tion, that Xew York was first to adopt the eagle. It has no place in 

 the genuine Arms of Maryland, and its appropriation by New York 

 should have been an additional reason why our legislature should 

 have let it alone." 



8. In the paper of 1879, I suggested that it would be proper that 

 the seals of all the department offices, and of the courts, should be 

 conformed to the State Arms, and have a legend around the Arms, to 

 contain the name of the department or court using the seal. A 

 custom has grown up, which has the sanction of law in many cases, 

 that the departments do not use the Arms of the State on their seals ; 

 instead thereof in many of the public offices at the capitol, the devices 

 engraved on their seals, letter-heads and envelopes retain either no 

 part of the Arms of the State, or only the motto Excelsior, and some 

 of them do not retain even that : and the device on the seal of each 

 department and public office differs from that of almost every other 

 department. 



The State of New York has in this matter countenanced a usage 

 which has not its parallel to the same extent in any of the States of 

 the Union, and has allowed herself to be misrepresented in her State 

 symbol more than any of the States of the Union have been as re- 



