early childhood I have cherished a warm affection for my native county—her people, and her very soil. I have sought to rescue from oblivion and hand down to posterity, at least the names of many citizens, who, although not great in the ordinary sense, lived well in their day and are worthy of commemoration.
A representation of the seal of the County Court of Augusta, commonly called the County Seal, is given on the title page. When and by whom the seal was designed is not known. Possibly it was by a member of the faculty of William and Mary College, at the request of one of our colonial governors, who were required by law to provide seals for courts.
The motto is an accommodation of a passage in Horace, Book IV, Ode 2. This Ode expresses delight in the peace and prosperity which came after the long civil wars of Rome. Referring to Augustus, the poet says the heavenly powers ne'er gave the earth a nobler son—
"Nor e'er will give, though backward time should run
To its first golden hours."
The Latin words are: Nec dabunt quamvis redeant in aurum Tempora priscum.
The motto maybe translated thus: "Let the ages return to the first golden period." The allusion is, of course, to the fabulous "Golden Age" of primal simplicity and enjoyment; and the Roman poets held out the hope that this happy state of things would one day return.
It would seem that the seal was devised during the fearful Indian wars, when every one was longing for the safety and rest of former times. Full of such aspirations, the designer, in addition to the motto, delineated in the centre of the seal a tranquil pastoral scene, as emblematic of the wished for times. Such a scene would not ordinarily have been depicted in a time of peace, but during, or immediately after, the havoc of war. In peace, the minds of men gloat over the achievements of war, and in war they dwell upon "the piping times of peace."
The name of the county, however, was suggestive of the motto and emblem, as the poet Virgil celebrated the Emperor Augustus as
"Restorer of the age of gold."
Staunton, November 1, 1886.
