motto,
"Rebellion to Tyrants is obedience to God."

Mr. Jefferson proposed the children of _Israel_ in the wilderness,
led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; and on the
other side _Hengist_ and _Horsa_, the _Saxon_ chiefs from whom we
claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles
and form of government we have assumed.

I proposed the choice of _Hercules_, as engraved by _Gribelin_, in
some editions of Lord _Shaftesbury's_ works. The hero resting on
his club; _Virtue_ pointing to her rugged mountain on one hand and
persuading him to ascend; _Sloth_, glancing at her flowery paths of
pleasure, wantonly reclining on the ground, displaying the charms
both of her eloquence and person, to seduce him into vice. But this
is too complicated a group for a seal or medal, and it is not
original.

On August 20 the committee reported to Congress as follows:

The great seal should on one side have the arms of the United States
of America, which arms should be as follows:

The shield has six quarters, parts one coupe two. The first or, a
rose, enamelled gules and argent for England; the second argent, a
thistle proper for Scotland; the third vert, a harp or, for Ireland;
the fourth azure, a flower de luce, for France; the fifth or, the
imperial eagle, sable, for Germany, and the sixth or, the Belgic
lion, gules, for Holland; pointing out the countries from which the
States have been peopled. The shield within a border, gules,
entwined of thirteen escutcheons, argent, linked together by a chain
or, each charged with initial sable letters as follows: 1st. N.H.;
2d, Mass.; 3d, R.I.; 4th, Conn.; 5th, N.Y.; 6th, N.J.; 7th, Penn.;
8th, Del.; 9th, Md.; 10th, Va.; 11th, N.C; 12th, S.C; 13th, Geo.;
for each of the thirteen independent States of America.

Supporters, _dexter_ the Goddess of Liberty, in a corselet of
armour, alluding to the present times; holding in her right hand
the spear and cap, and with her left supporting the shield of the
States; _sinister_, the Goddess of Justice, bearing a sword in her
right hand, and in her left a balance.

Crest. The eye of Providence in a radiant triangle, whose glory
extends over the shield and beyond the figures. Motto, _E Pluribus
Unum_.

Legend round the whole achievement: Seal of the United States of
A