VIRGINIA
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T H E T R U E I S S U E
Richmond
Enquirer (Richmond, VA), Aug. 01,
1837, Volume XXXIV, Issue 25,
Page 3. "At no time,
since the independence of this
country, have patriotism and
devotion to principles been so
rare as public virtues, and so
much exigency, as in the present
condition of our Federal
concerns. General
principles are abandoned, which
heretofore were entertained,
merely to gratify ambition and
sinister designs. Men who
heretofore were steadfast to a
literal construction of the
Federal Constitution, and most
zealous against implied powers,
are now exerting their talents
and influence, to prove that
almost any power can be assumed
by the Federal Government by
implication. Men of
distinguished abilities have
unblushingly changed their
opinions and principles, to suit
circumstances and political
movements. When these
things happen, we consider the
fundamental principles upon which
our public institutions are
founded, to be in extreme danger,
unless the sturdy friends of the
country and of equal rights, rise to the
rescue, and withdraw from
the changelings and political
weathercocks of the day, the
power, the influence, and the
means to effect ruin of our
Democratic principles, by
destroying the integrity of the
Federal Constitution."
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OUR
SYMBOL
OF
MORAL
COURAGE
The Great Seal of Virginia
Adopted on July 5,
1776 |
OBVERSE:
MORAL COURAGE
TRIUMPHS OVER TYRANNY
SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS
"May
our moral courage always
triumph over tyranny."
REVERSE:
THE BLESSINGS OF FREEDOM AND
PEACE
DEUS NOBIS HÆC OTIA
FECIT
"May God grant
us the blessings of
freedom and peace ... "
PERSERVANDO
" ... by our
perseverance." |
On learning that
the Declaration of Independence had been
adopted by the Continental Congress, the
Virginia convention immediately approved
a new seal for the commonwealth.
It was decided that
the seal should capture the country's
general feeling of moral
courage, and that this feeling
would be best symbolized by
incorporating the visage of Virtus (one
of the tutelary geniuses of ancient Rome;
her defining attribute was courage),
robed in the drapery of an Amazon,
resting one hand upon her lance, and
holding, in her other hand, a sword.
Tyranny was to also be
represented on the seal, symbolized by
the figure of a prostate man, lying upon
the ground, being held in check, under
the foot of Virtus. The man would
have near him a crown, fallen from his
head, and bearing in one hand a broken
chain, and in the other a scourge.
It may be
interesting to consider some of the
symbolism here, for history had certainly
taught our founding generation that, in
government, tyranny usually manifests
itself in one of three forms:
(1) An excessive executive
power,
as typified by the crown.
The crown, a sign of
absolute authority, symbolizing a form of
rule that is distinctively
authoritarian, in type.
(2) An excessive legislative
power,
as typified by the chain.
The chain, an instrument
of bondage, symbolizing a
form of law that is distinctively
oppressive, in type.
(3) An excessive judicial
power,
as typified by the scourge.
The scourge, an
instrument of punishment; symbolizing a
judicial system that is both corrupt and
domineering, in type.
This image,
therefore, seems to represent a
foreshadowing of the separation of powers
— a concept that would later be
ratified in the Federal Constitution
— where it was determined that the
power of government, which is so easily
subject to abuse, would be placed in
different hands, in such a way that the
possibilities of abuse would be placed in
check through that distribution of power.
And so, the
image that was placed upon the great
seal of Virginia reminds us of this
fundamental safeguard against tyranny,
but perhaps even more importantly, it
also calls attention to that age old
spirit of moral courage. It's a
feeling that was so very common among
those men of the old
"seventy-sixer" generation, and
it's one that we must, once again,
conjure up, by God's enabling grace.
May our moral courage always triumph
over tyranny.
May God continue to grant us
the blessings of freedom and peace,
by our perseverance.
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V i r g i n
i a L e g i s l a t
u r e
F E D E R A L R E L A T I O N S
Richmond
Enquirer (Richmond, VA), Feb. 09,
1833, Volume XXIX, Issue 88, Page
2.
An
excerpt from the speech of MR.
GILMER, of Albemarle,
delivered in Committee of the
Whole."We may breathe
for a time under the blighting
shadow of a splendid, national,
consolidated government; but,
sir, it will be to us and our
posterity the calm of despotism.
Virginia will be Virginia
no longer. She may, indeed,
retain her place on that map; her
rivers may continue to rail to
the ocean; and her mountains may
lift their eternal summits to the
skies; but her spirit will be
gone, and she will tamely crouch
under the rod of tyrants.
When we yield this principle of
State Sovereignty, let us strike
our proud motto from our arms,
for the broken chain and the
dagger, her sic semper
tyrannis, and all the
recollections of her ancient
glory, will only remain as sad
memorials of her
degradation. To live under
such a government is not the
liberty I desire. I would
rather have a crust of bread and
a cup of cold water in a
wilderness, where I was
free, than to tread the
halls of palaces, and be a
slave."
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Authorized
and paid for by Joe Glean, candidate for
Delegate.
Not Authorized by any other candidate.
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