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FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
LIFE AND TIMES
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The Life of Thomas Johnson
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BIOGRAPHY PRESS
38 Halsey Street, Brooklyn
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Copyright, 1937
PREFACE
fiy T H E BIOGRAPHY PRESS
FIRST EDITION
•'• i
Certain it is that the fame of Francis Scott Key flowed
almost entirely from the fact that he wrote The Star-Spangled
Banner. Yet his life is significant for many other reasons.
For many years, from the time when he first appeared before
Chief Justice Marshall to plead for the release of Aaron
Burr's messengers, Key was one of the leaders of the American Bar. He defended Sam Houston in his dramatic trial
in the House of Representatives; he figured in Peggy Eaton's
quarrel; he opposed Nullification and the United States Bank;
and he was Andrew Jackson's conciliator in Alabama in one
of the most stirring episodes in the history of the State.
I believe the story of Key's attitude on the burning
issues of his day will shed some light upon the times in which
he lived. In this volume I have brought together, for the
first time, all the important utterances of his known public
speeches. Some of these, like his Fourth of July Oration in
the rotunda of the Capitol, proclaim his convictions on the
(A
3
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O T 1 1 1937
C
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fell
I\
M O R E THAN TWO centuries ago Andrew Fletcher remarked in a letter to the Marquis of Montrose: " I knew a
very wise man that believed that if a man were permitted to
make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the
laws of a nation."
- v
T H I S BOOK HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY A. H . CARASSO
AND PRINTED AT T H E POLYGON PRESS I N BROOKLYN, N . Y .
BINDING BY T H E ART BINDERY OF NEW YORK
�fundamental principles of the American Government. His
Washington's Birthday Address in Alexandria radiates his
sturdy Americanism. In his discourse to the alumni of St.
John's College in Annapolis, he gave his views on public
education. His eloquent pleas for colonization of the Negro
explained America's duty in reference to the throbbing issue
of slavery.
All of this vivid panorama, however, is but the background for the portrait of an unusual character — a lawyer,
orator, churchman, statesman, and poet, who was deeply
patriotic and deeply religious.
The American people have always held Francis Scott
Key in high veneration. After the World War, with monuments already erected to his memory in Baltimore, in San
Francisco, at his birthplace, and at his grave, the Congress
of the United States made an appropriation for a memorial
at Fort McHenry. I attended the dedication of the towering
monument on June 14, 1922, and heard the exquisite address
delivered there by President Warren G. Harding.
I completed my manuscript of The Life of Thomas
Johnson in 1927; and I think it was within a year after the
publication of that biography that I began collecting fragmentary data on the life of Francis Scott Key. It seemed
strange to me that, with all the admiration of the American
people from coast to coast for The Star-Spangled Banner, no
definitive biography of its author had ever been written.
Most of his poems had been collected and published several
years before the outbreak of the Civil War; but very little
VI
had been preserved concerning his career at the Bar, his role
in National politics, or his achievements as a public speaker.
The story of Key's life is fascinating, and it was unusually so to me since the collection of data was contemporaneous
with the restoration of the Roger Brooke Taney Home in
Frederick, Maryland —for a Key museum was to be established in the Home, inasmuch as Mrs. Taney was Key's
sister. The articles of incorporation, which I drafted to prepare for the acquisition of the historic property, were signed
in the Govenor's office in the Maryland State House in Annapolis on September 9, 1929, Governor Albert C. Ritchie
serving as one of the incorporators. The old dwelling and
its slave quarters were purchased, restored, and equipped
during the seven months that followed; and on April 15, 1930
the patriotic shrine was opened to the public.
Many valuable relics from the Taney and Key families
were presented to the Home for exhibition. A number of
Key's letters and documents were given by Colonel Francis
S. Key-Smith, a great-grandson of Key. A reproduction of
the painting of Key's Georgetown Heme, autographed by
John Ross Key, the artist, was given by the artist's widow.
A law book from Key's library, and bearing his bookplate,
was received from State Senator Alpheus H. Favour of
Arizona. Mr. Henry Walters, the famous collector, then
far advanced in years, sent a photograph of the original
manuscript of The Star-Spangled Banner, a facsimile of
which is included in this volume. Mr. Walters died shortly
afterwards; and on January 5, 1934, the manuscript was
VII
�offered for sale at an auction in New York, and it was
bought by an agent for the Walters Art Gallery of Baltimore
for $24,000.
At the time of the opening of the Taney Home, patriotic citizens from the Atlantic to the Pacific were signing
petitions urging Congress to adopt The Star-Spangled Banner as our National Anthem. I learned that John Philip
Sousa, the composer of The Stars and Stripes Forever and
many other famous marches, was opposed to the scheme of
offering prizes to select another song to supplant The StarSpangled Banner. I asked Sousa if he would sign a statement containing his ideas on the subject. He cheerfully
agreed to do so; and the autographed opinion of the great
composer has been preserved in the Key room of the Taney
Home. The statement concludes with these words: " I t wolild
be as easy to make a stream run uphill as to secure a new
National Anthem as the result of a prize contest. The only
possible chance that we might have a new National Anthem
would be when the eyes of all Americans are directed toward
some particular cause and another genius captures the spirit
of the moment in a thrilling song of patriotism. Until that
time I do not believe the veneration for Francis Scott Key's
anthem will ever be displaced."
Finally, after many years of effort, the advocates of
The Star-Spangled Banner, led by Congressman J. Charles
Linthicum of Maryland, succeeded in securing the passage
of an Act declaring "the composition consisting of the words
and music known as The Star-Spangled Banner is designated
Vlll
the national anthem of the United States of America."
The Act was signed by President Herbert Hoover on March
3, 1931.
Public interest in Francis Scott Key has never diminished, but has grown, with the passing of the years. Patriotic groups continue to unveil tablets of bronze and other
memorials in his honor. From time to time I received invitations to speak at public ceremonies on various aspects
of Key's life and character. My last address on this theme
was delivered on August 7, 1934, before the Maryland
State Camp, Patriotic Order Sons of America, on the lawn
of Key's birthplace, Terra Rubra. On that occasion I took
as my subject, " I f Key Were Here." I had culled the gems
from Key's public speeches, and I told how I believed Key
would stand on the problems of the present age, if he were
alive today.
The publication by Victor Weybright of his Spangled
Banner in 1935 brought new interest in the life of Key.
This book not only narrated in detail the story of the writing of the National Anthem, but presented much new material regarding the patriot poet.
I would be unable to name all of the many friends who
assisted me in the collection of data for this biography. But
I shall always have pleasant recollections of the active interest and encouragement of Mr. Sewall Key, o f the Department of Justice; the late Dr. Ezra Z. Derr, Captain, United
States Navy, retired, and Dr. and Mrs. John S. Derr, of
ix
�3:
5'
Frederick County; and the late Dr. Arthur B. Bibbins, of
Baltimore, for some years President of the Star-Spangled
Banner Flag House Association.
I extend my thanks to Mr. V. Valta Parma, Curator of
the Rare Book Collection, Mr. J. Franklin Jameson, Chief
of the Manuscripts Division, and Mr. Hugh A. Morrison
and Mr. George H. Milne, of the Representatives' Reading
Room of the Library of Congress, who have courteously
aided me with the resources of that library. I also appreciate the help afforded by the Maryland Historical Society,
and I particularly thank Miss Florence J. Kennedy, one of
the librarians of the Society, for her gracious cooperation.
In affording me all the sources at their command, I
express my appreciation to Mr. Charles Elmore Cropley,
Clerk, and Mr. Frank Key Green, Marshal of the Supreme
Court of the United States; the officers and their assistants
in the Public Library of Washington; the United States
National Museum; the office of the Register of Wills of the
District of Columbia; the office of the Adjutant General,
United States Army; the office of Naval Records and Library of the Navy Department; the Enoch Pratt Free Library
of Baltimore; the Peabody Institute of Baltimore; the Maryland Diocesan Library; the St. John's College of Annapolis;
the Boston Public Library; and the Department of Archives
and History of the State of Alabama.
I am indebted to Mrs. Emily Wilkins Stryker, of Pasadena, California, for the miniature of Roger Brooke Taney,
which is reproduced in this volume, and for Anne Key
Taney's poetry album. The miniature and the album are
among the exhibits in the Stryker Collection at the Taney
Home. I am also grateful to Mr. Charles McHenry Howard,
of Baltimore, great-grandson of Francis Scott Key, for the
picture of Key, the reproduction of which appears as the
frontispiece of this volume; and to Mrs. Arthur T. Brice, of
Washington, granddaughter of Key, for permission to reproduce the miniature of her grandmother, Mary Tayloe
Lloyd Key.
Among the others who aided me were Dr. Carl B.
Swisher, until recently a member of the faculty of Columbia
University, and now of the Johns Hopkins University; Mrs.
Robert L. Annan, and Mr. Preston B. Englar, of Taneytown,
Maryland; Chief Judge Carroll T. Bond, of the Court of Appeals of Maryland; Mrs. Thomas J. Fickling, of Columbia,
South Carolina; Mr. Claude G. Bowers, now Ambassador to
Spain; Mr. W. B. T. Belt, of Omaha, Nebraska; Rev. Edward
D. Johnson, rector of St. Anne's Church, of Annapolis; Rev.
F. Bland Tucker, rector of St. John's Church, of Georgetown;
Mr. Peter Baumgardner, owner of the Terra Rubra farm,
near Keysville, Maryland; Miss Eleanor Murdoch Johnson
and Mrs. Francis H. Markell, of Frederick; Miss Maud
Burr Morris, Colonel Francis S. Key-Smith, Mr. C. B. Riddle,
Mr. Monroe Johnson, Mr. William H . Ramsey, Miss Anne
B. Cushman, Dr. Daniel W. Fetterolf, and Mrs. R. Woodland Gates, of Washington; and Mr. Walter W. Beers, Dr.
Jesse W. Downey, Jr., and Mr. Francis B. Culver, of Baltimore.
xi
�r
I wish to acknowledge with sincere gratitude the generous aid of Alexander H. Carasso, Ph.D., of Brooklyn, New
York, in editing the manuscript of this book and arranging
for its publication.
ii:.:
Hi!!
Contents
CHAPTER-
I
II
T H E BOY AT PIPE CREEK
SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
Frederick, Maryland
July 3, 1937
III
LAW STUDENT.
IV
EDWARD S. DELAPLAINE
DELIA
PROFESSIONAL AND MARRIED L I F E
V
FIRST YEAR I N GEORGE TOWN
VI
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
FRUITS
OF
CHARACTER
CLAMOR FOR
WAR
I F THIS B E TREASON
.
.
T H E VOICE OF WASHINGTON
A T THE CROSSROADS
"THE
STAR-SPANGLED
BANNER
XIII
SOLDIER OF THE CROSS
XIV
CRUSADER FOR COLONIZATION
XV
SUNSHINE AND SHADOW
XVI
A PLEA FOR ST. JOHN'S
XVII
XVIII
XIX
PEGGY
JACKSON
EATON'S
QUARREL
AND LIBERTY
DEFENDER OF SAM HOUSTON
XX
MEDIATOR I N ALABAMA
XXI
T H E MONEYED MONSTER
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
JACKSON'S PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE
TANEY SUCCEEDS MARSHALL
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL L I F E
XXV
T H E CRY FOR ABOLITION
XXVI
FAITH I N IMMORTALITY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
xn
xm
1
9
23
33
43
51
65
73
83
101
117
129
175
191
219
253
277
297
323
345
365
387
403
421
441
459
481
489
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
L I F E AND TIMES
Illustrations
FACING
PAGE
portrait by C. W. Peale . Frontispiece
F. S. KEY, AT THE AGE OF 14
.
9
MARY TAYLOE LLOYD KEY, miniature by Robert Field
33
THE GEORGETOWN HOME OF F. S. KEY, painting by
J. R. Key
:
43
F. S. KEY, AT THE AGE OF 38
83
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY,
T H E FORT MCHENRY BATTLE FLAG
.
.
SILHOUETTES OF JOHN ROSS AND MRS. KEY
.
SILHOUETTE OF FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
.
.129
.
219
.
.
.
.
253
.
.
.
.
365
FACSIMILE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF THE
"STAR - SPANGLED BANNER"
from a miniature
.
.
.
403
FOUR MONUMENTS TO FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
.
.
.
459
ROGER BROOKE TANEY,
xiv
�CHAPTER I
The Boy at Pipe Creek
I think of thee — of those bright hours,
Rich in life's first and fairest flow'rs,
When childhood's gay delightsjvere ours, •
My sister!
The mountain top — the wood, the plain,
The winding creek — the shaded lane
Shall shine in both our eyes again,
My sister 1
T H U S DID Francis Scott Key, after fifty years, look back
upon the golden hours of childhood. He and his sister Anne
had been bom under favoring circumstances. Their birthplace was a spacious mansion owned by their father, John
Ross Key, in the fertile, well watered Monocacy Valley of
Western Maryland not far below the Pennsylvania line. The
Key estate was situated west of the stage road that led from
Frederick Town to York and Philadelphia. About five miles
up this road lay Taneytown with its tavern for accommodation of travelers. A short distance to the south ran Big Pipe
Creek and Little Pipe Creek. A few miles to the west the Monocacy flowed in its meandering course toward the Potomac.
And still further beyond lay the hills of Catoctin, a range of
the Blue Ridge.
1
�1
2
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
The broad acres that stretched about the mansion had
belonged to the Key family for several generations. A tract
of 1,865 acres had been patented under the name of Terra
Rubra (Red Land) to Philip Key, progenitor of the Key
family in America. This gentleman, who received a splendid
education in London, came of proud lineage. Members of
his family had held important civil and military positions
for a hundred years in England. Their crest —a griffin's
head, holding in its beak a key —tells the history of their
name. He began the practice of law; sat in the Provincial
Assembly; served for a time as High Sheriff; was later the
Presiding Justice of the County; and, during his last years,
occupied a seat in the Council of Governor Sharpe. He was
an active member of Christ Episcopal Church at Chaptico.
When he died in 1764, one of the newspapers described him
as "a truly pious and devout Christian, an affectionate and
tender husband, an indulgent and fond parent, a humane
master, a warm friend, a friendly neighbor, and a most agreeable and chearful companion."
1
2
Philip Key had six sons and a daughter, all of whom inherited splendid intellects. One of the sons, Edmund, after
studying law in London, became Attorney General of Maryland. Following the passage of the Stamp Act, Edmund Key
served on a committee in the Assembly at Annapolis — Thomas Johnson, who later became the first Governor of the State,
1.—Philip Key, son of Richard and Mary Key, was born in the parish of
St. Paul, Covent Garden, London, in 1696, and came to America in his.
early twenties. He settled in St. Mary's County, Maryland, where he
built a mansion, called Bushwood Lodge, overlooking the Potomac.
2. —Maryland Gazette, August 30, 1764. Original will in the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Md.
BOY AT PIPE CREEK
3
was also on this committee —to draft a paper setting forth
"the constitutional rights and privileges of the freemen of
the province."
Another son, Francis, married Ann Arnold Ross, daughter of John Ross, Register of the Land Office of Maryland.
Mr. Ross lived in a fine mansion on the Severn, named Belvoir, about seven miles from Annapolis. When Francis Key
and Miss Ross were married, one of the papers referred to
the bride as "a well accomplished and deserving young lady,
with a pretty fortune." Francis Key was appointed Clerk of
the Cecil County Court in 1765. He added largely to the real
estate holdings of the family, for in 1767, a tract of 3,677
acres of land in Frederick County was patented under the
name of Runnymeade to him and Dr. Upton Scott, a physician
at Annapolis.
Francis Key had three children. The eldest was John
Ross Key, born on September 19, 1754. The next child was
Philip Barton, born on April 12, 1757. The youngest was
Elizabeth, born in 1759. When the father died in 1770 without a will, Terra Rubra at Pipe Creek became the property of
John Ross Key under the British law of primogeniture.
John Ross Key was only sixteen when his father died.
Already the people of the Province were rising against the
oppressive measures of the Government. When Governor Eden
fixed the fees of proprietary officials without the approval of
the Assembly, the scion of the Key family had his first appearance in public affairs when he attended a meeting at
Taneytown to protest against the Governor's Proclamation.
In 1775, when not yet twenty-one the stalwart young man
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
BOY AT PIPE CREEK
from Pipe Creek was one of the freemen who met at the Court
House in Frederick Town to discuss the resolutions of the
Continental Congress. John Hanson — later first President of
the United States in Congress Assembled — presided. Key
was appointed on the Frederick County Committee of Observation to carry out the resolutions of Congress and to provide
for the defense of the Colony. A few months later came stirring news from the North. Congress asked Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia to send recruits to Boston. On June
21, 1775, Mr. Hanson read the appeal to the Committee of
Observation; and the Committee decided to raise two companies of riflemen without delay.
tractive in appearance and manner, but he owned a spacious
mansion, thousands of acres of productive land, and a number of loyal Negro slaves. The wedding ceremony was solemnized on October 19, 1775.
4
5
The mansion to which Key brought his bride was the
largest within a radius of many miles. Across its entire front,
measuring nearly a hundred feet, was a two-story portico
with columns two feet in diameter. Extending from the main
building were wings, in one of which lived the tenant and his
family, and in the other the Negro slaves. The main dwelling was a plastered frame structure, while the wings were
brick. The wings were connected with a double porch and a
brick-paved court.
1
In one of the companies John Ross Key was named
second lieutenant. Within three weeks the volunteers were
ready to march to Boston. The length of Key's military service is not exactly known. Certain it is that a few months later
he was back in Frederick Town on an entirely different mission — this time to procure a marriage license. On one of his
visits in the county seat the young patriot from Pipe Creek
had met a very attractive 19-year-old girl with a very long
name — Anne Phoebe Penn Dagworthy Charlton. The Charltons, like the Keys, were of English descent and had been living in America for several generations. Edward Charlton of
Prince George's County had a son, Thomas, whose widow kept
a tavern in Frederick Town. Arthur Charlton, a son of Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas Charlton, married Eleanor Harrison, and
their daughter was the girl with the very long name. John
Hoss Key's proposal met with favor. For not only was he at1
i.—Born February 6, 1756.
On December 28, 1776, John Ross Key was commissioned a captain in Col. Normand Bruce's battalion of militia.
But the demands of the plantation prevented his military service from being of long duration. The wheat he grew, ground
into flour at nearby grist mills, was a necessity in the years
when Governor Johnson was doing all in his power to send
supplies to the troops of General Washington. In 1778, and
again in 1779, and 1780, he was appointed justice of the
peace. In 1781, before the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, he was commissioned lieutenant in Captain Philip
Thomas's troop of horse.
The first child of John and Anne Key was a daughter,
Anne Charlton, born on July 19, 1777. The little girl died
soon after birth. The next child was a son, bom August 1,
i-—In 1838 a part of the house was blown away by a stonn. In 1859 it was
torn down to make way for a new structure.
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
BOY AT PIPE CREEK
1779. The parents decided to call him Francis Scott Key.
The first name was given for his grandfather; the middle
name was a tribute to Dr. Upton Scott, the husband of the
infant's great aunt. The Annapolis physician was a man of
prominence in Maryland. So great was his influence that after
a lapse of eighty years, when Congressman Daniel E. Sickles
of New York was tried for the murder of Francis Scott Key's
son, Philip, Dr. Scott was recalled as a "wily Scotchman" and
was charged with having obtained a commission for Philip
Barton Key in the British Army at the time of the Revolution,
when his brother, John Ross Key, took a commission in the
American Army.
for the Muse, for there was poetic talent in the family. Instilled in him, too, were courtesy and hospitality.
6
After the outbreak of the Revolution, the Established
Church of England met with disfavor in the Colonies. No
permanent rector resided at Frederick Town during these exciting days. So the Keys from Pipe Creek called upon Rev.
Frederick L. Henop, pastor of the Reformed Church, to baptize the infant and christen him Francis Scott Key.
The boy at Pipe Creek was only four years old when
General Washington surrendered his sword at Annapolis, but
the lad heard from his father's lips some of the thrilling
stories of the Revolution. Thus by his own fireside were instilled in him the first lessons in American patriotism. From
his mother the youngster inherited a sublime faith. His soul
was keyed to spiritual influences. He was taught to have absolute reliance in God. The saintly mother used to call the
slaves on the plantation at sundown and conduct them in
prayer. And here the growing farm boy learned to treat the
black man with kindness. From her he also inherited a love
7
Key's ancestors were hardy pioneers who had developed
those sterling qualities which nerved them to make their living on the frontier and to assert their rights against King,
Parliament, and Colonial Governor. Such ancestry laid the
foundation upon which could be built a character of strength.
;
r
Another child was bom to the Keys on December 15,
1781. It was a girl, and they named her Catherine Charlton,
but she died on August 10, 1782.
Mrs. Key gave birth to another daughter on June 13,
1783, and she was christened Anne Phoebe Charlton Key.
This little girl grew up and became a devoted playmate to her
brother. She, too, was bright and talented. Together they
often heard the old melodies at their mother's knee. Little
Anne was so talented in music that, when she was only twelve,
her father ordered for her a handsome pianoforte from England at a cost of more than twenty-two pounds.
Francis and his little sister were fond of Nature. In
Summer the shady lawn and the "terraced garden adorned
with shrubbery and flowers" was a fine playground for the
slender boy with dreamy blue eyes and for winsome little
Anne. From the piazza and the front lawn, on a sunny day,
they could gaze out across the fields and see the foothills that
formed the horizon in the West — blue and green tints of the
Blue Ridge which at sunset were "curtained in clouds of
crimson and gold."
At the foot of the hill, scarcely more than a stone's throw
away, was a spring. To this spot the children of the neighbor-
�8
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
hood often came on hot Summer days to rest under the oaks
and to get cooling drinks of the sparkling water.
In the distance were Big and Little Pipe Creeks, murmuring through woods and meadows on their way to the Monocacy. These streams received their names, says an old legend, from the "pipe clay" in the vicinity, for in this country
were beds of red clay from which the Indians used to make
their pipes. Often the barefoot boy was lured to the "winding
creek," which lingered in his memory through a span of fifty
years. The great outdoors was his playground, and the fields
and the swimming hole gave him tough sinews and bounding
blood.
A few miles to the east of the Key mansion stood Col.
Normand Bruce's flour mill, where the stage road crossed
Pipe Creek. Here Frank spent many of his boyhood hours.
Col. Bruce was a Scotchman who claimed descent from royalty. Espousing the patriot cause against the tyranny of George
I I I , he had accompanied the Flying Camp, which had been
led by Thomas Johnson to the Headquarters of General Wash,
ington in New Jersey. The quaint old aristocrat had many
stories of daring and romance to tell, as the pensive boy
listened to him with rapt attention.
Key never seemed to mind rough roads, the inclement
weather, and the inconveniences of the country. A half century later he remembered only "life's first and fairest flow'rs"
— the flaming dawn, the daisy-dotted meadows, the shaded
lane, the rippling creeks, the melody of the pines, the blue
mountains, the flaming sunset, and the starlit night.
�CHAPTER I I
Seven Years at St. John's
T H E FIRST teacher Francis and Anne had was their mother.
There were no schools in the vicinity of the Key home before
the Eighteenth Century.
In 1789, when Francis was ten years old, his parents
decided to send him to St. John's College, then preparing to
open its doors in Annapolis. Charles Carroll of Carrollton,
Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, and William Pace, Maryland's
four signers of the Declaration of Independence, were among
the founders of the college.
Annapolis, at this time, was a town of three hundred
houses, with upwards of two thousand inhabitants. It ranked
as an aristocratic place, and was therefore a favorable college
location. The institution was to be maintained by annual
appropriations from the State, private contributions and tuition fees. A contemporary newspaper announcement supplies
the details: " I t is expected that the rooms will be ready in a
few weeks for the different professors, by whom youth will be
instructed in all the sciences usually taught in colleges. The
tuition is fixed at five pounds per annum, and good board,
lodging and washing may be had, as the public is already
informed, in respectable families, at the rate of £ 3 0 current
money, per annum."
9
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
The student from Frederick County, however, did not
need to search for "good board, lodging and washing" in
Annapolis; for he had been invited to make his home with
his great-aunt, Elizabeth Ross Scott, and her husband, Dr.
Upton Scott. They lived less than a mile from the college and
they were eager to have Francis stay with them.
Accordingly, on the opening day, November 11, 1789,
the boy from Pipe Creek enrolled in the grammar school.
His matriculation was recorded on the college register:
"Name of student — Francis S. Key. Age at admission —10.
Father —John Key, Planter, Frederick County." On this day
the students, the professors, the members of the Board of
Visitors and Governors, members of the Legislature, Judges
of the General Court, members of the Bar, and other officials
gathered at the State House, formed in line, and marched in
procession to the College, where dedicatory exercises were
held. Dr. William Smith, who had been asked to serve as
principal pro tern, delivered a sermon; and Rev. Ralph Higginbotham, rector of St. Anne's Church of Annapolis, spoke
on "The Advantages of a Classical Education." Rev. Higginbotham, the former head master of King William's School,
had agreed to teach Latin and Greek in the College. In order
to give a thorough knowledge of grammar to the younger
children, daily exercises were given "with critical exactness." Strict attention was to be directed towards Latin and
Greek, for an acquaintance with "the learned languages" was
thought to be the surest foundation for other branches of
literature.
Efforts to obtain a principal from England having failed,
Prof. John McDowell, a Pennsylvanian, nineteen years old,
who had been teaching mathematics at St. John's, was elected
in May, 1790, as the first principal of the College. He had
graduated at eighteen from the University of Pennsylvania.
10
11
The institution progressed; and at the end of the first
year the Visitors and Governors advertised for a vice principal to assist the principal in teaching Latin and Greek
classics, mathematics, and natural and moral philosophy. A
master of the French language and an usher for the grammar
school were also sought.
At the Scott home, Francis found life very pleasant. Dr.
Scott, now advanced in years and retired from the active
practice of medicine, used to tell about his school days in
Ireland, his experiences with General Wolfe in Scotland, and
his early years as physician for Governor Sharpe in the days
of British rule. Long before the Revolution Dr. Scott had
built the mansion where he still lived. As a former officer in
the British Army and physician and friend of Governor
Sharpe, Dr. Scott took the side of the Mother Country at the
outbreak of the Revolution; hence he returned to Ireland and
remained there until peace was restored. Much of his time
now he used in looking after the lovely flower garden which
stretched back of his home down to the water front. Aunt
Elizabeth gave the little guest her love and spiritual guidance.
Each night she led the young student in prayer for the protection of the "providential arm"; and many a guest at the
house, it is said, used to catch a glimpse of the small white1
i—The house is located on Shipwright Street. It is one of the scenes in
Winston Churchill's novel, Richard Carvel.
�12
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
robed figure at the head of the Colonial stairway as he was
Congress a few years before. These scenes instilled in the
growing boy a spirit of patriotism.
getting ready for bed.
Before noon on Saturdays, after delivering their weekly
declamations, the boys were released from the class room.
Sometimes they went on long walks along the Severn. A l l
through life Key used to look back with fond recollections on
the rambles he used to take around Anne Arundel County
with some of his college chums. One of the places he frequently visited was the home of his grandmother, Mrs. Ann
Arnold Key, on the Severn. His grandmother was totally
blind. Many years before, in trying to rescue the servants
who had rushed into her father's burning home on the Eastern
Shore, she had been trapped by the flames and the contact
with fire and smoke had brought on her affliction. She now
lived at Belvoir with her daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Col.
Henry Maynadier. The soul of the young student was
strengthened by contact with the kindly old grandmother.
All around Annapolis colorful scenes associated with
Colonial and Revolutionary history made indelible impressions upon the adolescent boy. On the college green was a
giant tulip poplar, hundreds of years old, under which the
settlers had signed a treaty with the Indians. Here Continental
soldiers had encamped during the Revolution; here Governor
Johnson drew up a regiment of recruits, on the verge of mutiny, and ordered them to march to the Headquarters of General Washington. A few hundred yards away, in plain view,
was the State House, where the sessions of the Legislature
were held, and where Washington resigned his commission to
13
One of the most notable occasions in Annapolis, at the
time Key was attending the grammar school, was the visit of
George Washington. About 10 o'clock on the morning of
March 25, 1791, the President, accompanied by Governor
Plater of Maryland, made his appearance at the college. It
was inspiring to come into the presence of the Father of his
Country. The President enjoyed his trip of inspection; and
when Prof. McDowell, the principal, wrote him a letter of
appreciation, he replied that he had derived satisfaction from
his visit to the "infant seminary" and that "the very promising appearance of its infancy must flatter all its friends (with
whom I entreat you to class me) with the hope of an early
and at the same time mature manhood." In closing his letter,
Washington said: " I sincerely hope the excellence of your
seminary will be manifested in the morals and science of the
youth who are favored with your care." Francis Scott Key,
now in his twelfth year, was one of the students destined to
fulfill George Washington's hope that they would reflect
credit upon the promising institution. A few months later
Washington passed through Frederick County on his way to
Philadelphia. He stayed over night in Frederick Town, and
on July 1, crossed Little Pipe Creek and Big Pipe Creek on
his way north. He found that the land in this locality was
"remarkably fine." While he is said to have visited Terra
Rubra, he made no mention of such a visit in his diary.
Francis was promoted to the French School, or intermediate department, on January 7, 1793. The requirements
�SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
14
15
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
for admission to college were not so comprehensive in those
days; and on May 5, 1794, when only fourteen, he was allowed to matriculate as a member of the novitiate class of
the college.
In 1794 there were eight members of the faculty, including
Prof. McDowell, the principal, and Rev. Higginbotham, the
vice principal. Key studied under McDowell and Higginbotham during all three of his collegiate years.
During his novitiate year he was instructed by Prof,
McDowell in algebra, logarithmal arithmetic, Euclid's elements, and plain and spherical trigonometry. Under Rev.
Higginbotham he had the higher classics — Livy, Xenophon,
Plato, and Demosthenes, and logic and metaphysics.
In the junior year the studies under McDowell were geometric principles, surveying, navigation, mensuration, fortification, conic sections, fluxions and gunnery. Under Rev.
Higginbotham came geography, Well's Dionysius, Horace's
Art of Poetry, Longinus, Aristotle Poetics, and Quintilian.
In the senior year, McDowell taught astronomy, use of
the celestial globe, projections of the sphere, natural philosophy, and chronology and a sketch of natural history. Under
Rev. Higginbotham in the final year were Epictetus, Tully's
Offices, Xenophon's Memorabilia, moral philosophy, and introduction to civil history.
The other members of the faculty in 1794, in addition
to Prof. McDowell and Rev. Higginbotham, were Patrick
McGrath, professor of languages; Dominick Blake, assistant
master of languages; Hugh H. McKearne, professor of English and grammar; John J. Tschudy, assistant in English and
grammar; Richard Owen, master of writing and arithmetic;
and Nyel de L'Allie, master of French.
The student body was small; hence the boys came to
know each other intimately, sometimes forming life-long
friendships. Three boys received the Bachelor of Arts degree
at the first Commencement in 1793. There were only nine
novitiates in 1794. President Washington mentioned in his
diary that there were about eighty pupils "of every description" at St. John's College, but this number included the
grammar school. In the College itself there was an average
of about twenty-five in all.
One of the most intimate friends that Key had at St.
John's was Daniel Murray of Annapolis. Key and Murray
became intimate when they entered the grammar school. Key
was then ten and Murray nine. They were brought up together, as Key expressed it, "almost in the same family."
They were both spiritual souls. "From my earliest recollections of him," said Key in a glowing tribute to Murray, "his
character and conduct were so remarkable, that he seemed to
me without a fault. No temptations ever seemed to surprise
him. No allurement or persuasion led him from his course.
I remember well how strong his influence was over me, and
how it was always used for my good. But I ascribed to natural causes altogether the peculiarity and excellence of his
character, and did not see how religion could change him,
who seemed already as perfect as a human being could be.
This was not only my thought; all who knew him well thus
estimated him."
1
z.—Daniel Murray, from a letter of Francis Scott Key, Maryland Historical
Magazine, XX, joo, 201.
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
16
Another classmate was John Shaw, who was about a
year older than Key. Shaw was quite different from Key in
appearance and nature. Key was slight of build, active, and
agile, "throwing himself headlong into any plan for amusement that had aught of adventure, risk, or difficulty of any
description." Shaw was a large, heavy-set boy, usually quiet
and reserved. He did not care much for the out-door games,
such as shinney-stick; but was often alone, his favorite amusements being skating in Winter and swimming in Summer. The
boy from Pipe Creek bubbled over with humor and enthusiasm. So happy and gay was he that sometimes he fell into
mischief. Years later one of his college mates said: "Key
was engaged in devising tricks against unpopular ushers, ever
and anon getting into scrapes by writing pasquinades on odd
characters in the town, his impudences sometimes rising to
the height of sending his shafts among the prim and starch
ladies of Annapolis of a certain age. But — shall I tell it? —
his highest point of glee was to take a gallop round the college green mounted on an unfortunate cow."
1
While Key and Shaw were quite unlike, they became
intimate friends. One bond between them was their love of
the Muse. The "glow of poetry" began to thrill Shaw, accord,
ing to one of his classmates, when he was about ten or twelve;
and it must have taken hold of Key about the same time. One
of Shaw's favorite poems was Gray's Bard, and often he recited it to the other boys "in his pensive moods, with a tone
of melancholy wildness that was irresistibly touching." Hear
ing some of the terrifying stories of the French Revolution,
i . — Philip I . Thomas, one of Key's college mates, in a letter written on
July 25, 1856.
SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
17
Shaw wrote an ode, patterned after Gray's Bard, which he
called The Voice of Freedom. The ode began with these lines:
Whither tyrants do ye haste?
Whither press your murd'rous bands?
Why, with hostile fury, waste
Peaceful unoffending lands?
But the young poet looked hopefully into the future:
Rhine! thou again shalt hear the roar
Of battle bursting on thy shore,
Again shall blood thy crystal stain,
And corpses strew thy shores again.
France shall the vollied thunder deal,
Oppressors shall her lightnings feel.
Shaw then penned a terrible denunciation of the man who
was trying to enslave the Nations of the world:
Ruin on that miscreant fall
Who would Nations dare enslave!
Freedom Nature gave to all;
All an equal share should have.
Sons of Freedom, snatch the sword!
Quick! revenge your country's woes!
Soon shall heav'n your toils reward:
Soon the bloody scene shall close.
Out of the Reign of Terror came one of the classics of
the literature of the world. For nearly a year Thomas Paine
languished in prison, hourly expecting to be led to the guillotine. With an unconquerable spirit he employed his time in
prison writing a book advocating "the religion of humanity"
— turning the light of reason on the Devil, the demons, the
�18
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
witches, and all manner of superstitions and bigotry that had
crept into Christianity. Thomas Paine believed in God. He
was not an atheist. But, believing in a God of mercy, not a
God of vengeance, he took issue with the threats of hell fire,
which the clergy had been using to intimidate their congregations. "To do good," he declared, "is my religion." He
judged a man, not by his creed, but by the way he treated his
fellow men. James Monroe, the American Ambassador to
France, succeeded in securing Paine's release from prison;
and the final pages of The Age of Reason were written in
Monroe's home in Paris. In 1794 and 1795 one of the epoch,
making books of the world came from the press in Paris and
London. Because of it Thomas Paine was branded as an
atheist. Many church members shrank from it in horror,
and many of the preachers tried to suppress it. But The Age 1
of Reason soon found its way to America; and before long |
a copy of it reached the campus of St. John's.
Key did not read The Age of Reason, for he had heard
the terrible criticism that it was atheistic. The boys handled
it as if it were dynamite. Some years later Key graphically
described the way in which the book was received by the
students:
"While we were yet boys, a pupil of the William and
Mary College in Virginia came to St. John's. He possessed
talents and sprightliness, and a great fondness and facility
for disputation. His mind unhappily had been poisoned by
the doctrines of Godwin and other infidel writers, and he had
no little zeal and a considerable dexterity in making converts.
After his examination, he was placed in Shaw's class, and he
SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
19
immediately began to teach his accomplishments, particularly
those of chewing tobacco and vending Paine's Age of Reason
to his new companions. They were certainly in some danger
and would have been utterly unable to answer the objections
of a much less formidable opponent; as they knew little of
Christianity but what they had imbibed in the nursery: its
peculiar doctrines and the evidences of its truth formed no
part of our system of education. My alma mater will excuse
this reproach.
"In the disputes which arose, Shaw always took a distinguished part and stood forward as the advocate of sound
principles. He had, manifestly, on every occasion, the best
of the engagement, and induced, perhaps, a little by our
prejudices, we unanimously sided with him and voted down
Godwin and Tom Paine. We did not, to be sure, give either
side a fair hearing; not feeling a sufficient interest in the
question. We were repeatedly challenged to read these books
but we had something more engaging for our leisure hours,
and felt also, probably, some apprehensions as to the imprestions which they might make.
"Shaw, however, offered to read Paine, and there was
something like a general consent that he should do so, and
decide upon it. I remember very well feeling an anxiety to
know how he would determine, and I do believe that he
would have made infidels of most of us, i f he had determined
in favour of the book. But he pronounced against it and
avowed his conviction in the truth of the Bible to be unshaken.
"In a conversation afterwards with him on the subject,
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
SEVEN YEARS AT ST. JOHN'S
he told me that some of the objections had given him some
trouble to investigate and refute, that the work was plausibly
written, and he thought I might as well not read i t . "
Thus Francis Scott Key looked upon Tom Paine as a
man of "inquity and cunning" and his works as "subtle snares
and artful sophisms". It was not long before a rebuttal of
Paine's religious views appeared. This was Bishop Watson's
Apology for the Bible. The boy from Pipe Creek was thrilled
with Bishop Watson's stirring defense of orthodox doctrines.
"Never shall I forget," said one of his college mates many
years afterwards, "the animated manner in which, while lying
on his back under the shade of the old poplar on the college
green he would read what he considered its eloquent passages. Even now, in my mind's eye, I can see the flush on
the youthful cheek, and the bright beaming of his clear blue
eyes, as he read from it the following brush of the good
Bishop's honest indignation against the reviler of the Holy
Book: 'You say (addressing himself to Paine) you have gone
through the Bible like a man with an axe through a wood,
cutting down the trees; and the priests, if they can, may
replant them. Vain and preposterous boaster! You have,
indeed, gone through the Bible with the best intention to
destroy its fair trees of life; but the lofty cedars of Lebanon
have derided your vain attempts, and laughed, unhurt, at
the feebleness of your stroke. The Bible, sir, has withstood
the learning of Porphery, the wit of Voltaire, and the satire
of Bolingbroke, and it will not fall by your hands!' "
botham, a native of Ireland and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, used to call the class, in which Shaw and Key
were members, the Tenth Legion, to remind the boys of
Caesar's Tenth Legion, those famous Roman battalions that
were always receiving fresh recruits, and whose valiant soldiers kept advancing over the dead bodies of their comrades.
Whenever guests arrived at the college, Rev. Higginbotham
was glad to "order out the Tenth Legion for parade." At the
head of the Tenth Legion stood John Shaw.
20
1
In the class room John Shaw was the outstanding student. In Latin he was a wizard. The teacher, Rev. Higgini.—John Hall, Poems by Shaw, published 1810, introduction, g.
21
Among the Latin poets with whom Key became familiar
was Marcus Valerius Martialis, known commonly as Martial.
From 66 A.D. to 100 A.D. Martial flourished in Rome as a
master of epigram. From his writings the young Latin scholars at St. John's received some valuable advice. One of
Key's translations dealt with Martial's warning against procrastination:
Translation from Martial
To-morrow he will live, Lorenzo swears,
Quite a new life; and hath so sworn for years.
"Tell me, Lorenzo, when will come this day
Thou call'st to-morrow? Is it still distant? Say,
Where is it, and how is't to be got?
What is the price at which it may be bought?
Will it by Parry at the pole be found?
Or brought to light by Semnes from under ground ?
To-morrow, dids't thou say, Lorenzo? Why,
Is that a day that hath not yet gone by?
'Twas known before the flood; its years outweigh
E'en those of Nestor, or Methuselah.
To-morrow thou wilt live! To-day is quite
Too late; he who lived yesterday, did right."
�22
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
CHAPTER I I I
In the month of July, 1796, Prof. McDowell, in the
presence of several members of the Board of Visitors and
Governors, examined the applicants for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Key was one of the six successful applicants
for the degree. The other five were John Shaw, Daniel Murray, and William Cooke, of Annapolis; Robert H. Goldsborough, of the Eastern Shore; and Carlysle F. Whiting, of
Virginia.
Law Student. Delia
K E Y DECIDED to study law, as soon as he received his
degree from St. John's College. It was a natural course: he
had come of a family of lawyers. His father who, since the
adoption of the Federal Constitution, had risen from the
ranks of justice of the peace to a seat on the bench as
Associate Justice of his Judicial District, encouraged the
idea. Besides, young Key was fond of books and had a quick
mind and a good memory. His uncle, Philip Barton Key, a
leading member of the Maryland Bar, and now located in
Annapolis, invited the young man to begin the study of law
in his office. Uncle Philip had an exciting career. Captain
of the Maryland Loyalist Regiment, and prisoner in Florida,
then Spanish territory, his Maryland property had been confiscated because of his allegiance to King George I I I . He
practiced law for several years in St. Mary's County, and in
1790, at the age of thirty-three, married Ann Plater, sixteenyear-old daughter of George Plater, who was Governor of
Maryland from 1791 until his death in 1792. Philip Barton
Key settled in Annapolis soon after his marriage. His ability
and pleasing personality helped to allay the ill feeling which
many had for him because he took the side of the King during the Revolution.
Key left the College on August 11, 1796, and arrangements were made to confer the degrees in October. Shaw
was chosen to deliver the salutatory oration in Latin. Key
was selected as the valedictory orator of the class. He took
"Eloquence" as his subject.
1
Thus Key was graduated with honors at seventeen. In
seven years he had been transformed from a rustic farmer
boy with virtually no education into a baccalaureate.
It is true, he had written to his sister:
Sad was the parting — sad the days,
And dull the school — and dull the plays,
but seven years of discipline were also years of character
unfoldment, and in these years of hard study he found many
hours of happiness. During all the rest of his life the boy
from Pipe Creek remained one of the most appreciative and
loyal alumni of St. John's.
:
i.—John Ross Key was appointed in 1791 as Associate Justice of the Fifthi
Judicial District, comprising Allegany, Washington and Frederick Counties.
23
�24
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Because the leading lawyers of Maryland congregated
in Annapolis to argue their cases before the General Court,
Annapolis was the best place in the State for a young man to
study law. Francis was quite glad to remain a few more
years in Annapolis. There was a very happy social life here;
and with the restrictions of college discipline removed, he
was able to enjoy some of the gayety of the State Capital.
At the time Key was studying under his uncle's guidance, there were in Annapolis between twenty and thirty other
law students from different parts of the State. Among them
was a very slender youth, about six feet tall, from Calvert County, who had graduated from Dickinson College in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had keen blue eyes, thick black
hair, and a solemn demeanor. This young man was Roger
Brooke Taney, and he was studying in the office of Jeremiah
Townley Chase, Judge of the General Court. Here, in the
Maryland Capital, began the life-long friendship of the graduate of St. John's and the graduate of Dickinson. Of the two
LAW. STUDENT.
DELIA
better for him i f he had occasionally "mixed in the society of
ladies and gentlemen older than the students."
Quite different in temperament from Taney was young
Key. Although a farmer's son like Taney, he sprang from an
aristocratic family, a cavalier family that enjoyed the amenities of life. While a good student, and a boy of high ideals,
he was gayer by nature than the dignified young man from
the Patuxent. A good mixer, and rather fond of the drawingroom, Francis did not plunge into the Common Law as
eagerly as Roger. He found relaxation and pleasure in
Annapolis society.
Often his thoughts went back to Pipe Creek, not only for
mother and father and sister, but also for a girl named Delia
with whom he had fallen in love. One biographer of Key
says: "Who she was we do not know, a near neighbor, perhaps a guest of his sister. She was certainly his first sweetheart." Key's first poems were those written to Delia. The
few quoted stanzas tell how he imparted his vow of love to
Delia on the trunk of a beech tree:
1
young men, Taney, who was several years older than the
other, was the more studious. He kept aloof from everything
except his law books. He determined not to go into society
until he had completed his legal studies and he adhered to that
determination. Practically no one did he associate with, except law students, and for weeks together read law twelve
hours in the twenty-four. In the midst of the highly polished
and educated society of Annapolis he never visited any family but, instead, declined the kind and hospitable invitations
that he received. Many years later he said it would have been
25
For Fortune's fickle smiles let others pine;
Delia, thy smile, thy witching smile, be mine.
Content, though poor, each easy idle day,
Cheered by that smile, steals unperceived away.
With thy fond arm in mine, when Spring's soft power
First bursts the bud of every blushing flower,
Then let me guide thy light steps o'er the green,
And show thee all the beauties of the scene;
Or when the sultry suns of Summer pour
A warmer ray, then many a rapturous hour
Awaits us, where the beech-tree's arching shade
Has formed a secret bower for lovers made:
i.—Victor Weybright, Spangled Banner, 32
�FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
26
LAW STUDENT.
That beech, whose tender rind didst first impart
To Delia the soft secret of my heart —
Carved on whose trunk the faithful vows appear
Which Delia heard not with disdainful ear.
1
In another poem the young student makes a pun on the
word "key" — hoping he would be the "happy Key" to guard
the treasures of his Delia's heart:
To A Golden Key
Long had a golden key concealed
The treasures of my Delia's breast;
Treasures one half so sweet and rich
Sure never key before possessed.
******
But ah! that little golden key,
Could I but dare unlock its store,
And with the trembling hand of Love
Those treasures, long concealed, explore.
In this poem Key refers to Delia as a slowly-budding
rose:
To A Rosebud
Ah! why so tardy, timid Rose,
Thy opening beauties to display?
Ah ! why within their mossy cell
So long thy shrinking petals stay?
Full many a morn, and many an eve,
Thy gently swelling bud I've seen,
And fondly strove, with many a kiss,
To wake thee from thy bed of green.
i — Key's Poems, 83.
DELIA
27
But, as Victor Weybright says of Key's Delia, "She,
unfortunately, must have been a redlands girl who did not
winter along fashionable tidewater. Love at Terra Rubra, on
a care-free summer holiday, was very different from the practical, well-directed love that prevailed in Annapolis."
The home that attracted Key the most in Annapolis was
the mansion of Mrs. Edward Lloyd, 4th. Mrs. Lloyd was the
widow of one of the Lloyds of Wye House, and Wye House
was one of the show-places of Maryland. The masters of this
estate, in Talbot County, had lived in each successive generation in utmost luxury, with hundreds of Negro slaves to do
their bidding. Edward Lloyd, 3rd, had served as Governor
of Maryland. His son Edward, 4th, was educated in England. He traveled down to Tidewater, Virginia; spent many
hours at Mount Airy, the fashionable home of John Tayloe,
on the Rappahannock, and brought home with him in 1767
Tayloe's daughter, Elizabeth, as his bride. From London he
ordered blue liveries for his servants, and the "best colored
and most approved prints" for his walls. Having a stylish
pleasure-boat of 60-ton burden, he ordered from London six
brass guns to rest on swivels, andfittedto fire with locks, and
engraved with his initials; and he also ordered 200 balls,
200 cartridges filled with powder, and a supply of powderhoms and powder; also a flag with his "arms painted theron,
the field azure, the lion gold." He also ordered a phaeton to
be built by the best maker in London, a fashionable fourhorse carriage, not too high, he "being a Gouty man." It
was this Eastern Shoreman who, when he entered the Assembly in 1771, bought the uncompleted dwelling which
�29
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
LAW. STUDENT. DELIA
Samuel Chase had started to erect in Annapolis on the corner
when he was seventeen, she was only in her thirteenth year.
He was captivated by her winsome loveliness. Indeed, it was
she who gave an impetus to his talent as a lyric poet. According to the accepted story, he wrote in verse the feelings of his
heart but the rhymes did not meet with the response that he
expected. Instead of being appreciated, his love ballads made
her burst into laughter. She thought the missives were a huge
joke. This was not unusual for the youngest daughter of
the aristocratic house of Lloyd, reared in the lap of luxury,
and surfeited with attentions. The story has been handed
down through the years that the unresponsive Miss Lloyd,
to taunt the romantic young Key, took mischievous delight
in making the rhyming messages into curl papers. Tradition
says that when the faithful swain was seen from her window,
she would wave to him and point to her curls, and Frank
would understand, much to his chagrin, that she had made
good her threats and used his sonnets for curl papers.
28
of Maryland Avenue and King George street. Lloyd completed it; and when it was finished it was the only three-story
house and one of the most imposing mansions in the town.
It was a great square Georgian structure, with severe exterior,
and lofty chimneys. Broad steps in front led to a pretty fanlighted doorway. This was the "town house" of Col. Edward
Lloyd, 4th, who helped to draft the State Constitution, sat in
the Council of Governor Johnson, occupied a chair in Congress at the time Washington resigned his commission, and
served as a member of the Convention which ratified the
Federal Constitution.
At the time Key was working for his degree at St. John's,
Lloyd was a member of the State Senate. A short time before Key's graduation. Senator Lloyd died. The lavish entertainment for the ladies and gentlemen of official circles in
the Capital gave way to mourning; but Mrs. Lloyd continued
to live in the "town house," and her daughters continued to
attract the young men of Annapolis. The youngest was the
chief attraction for young Key. Her name was Mary Tayloe
Lloyd. Mary was beautiful and charming and had a number
of admirers. One of her suitors was Daniel Murray, Key's
intimate friend, who later entered the Naval Academy. John
Shaw, the head of Rev. Higginbotham's Tenth Legion, alsp
cast his eyes longingly at the lovely girl.
Even when he was a student at St. John's, young Key
had often talked to Mary; but at the time of his graduation,
Miss Lloyd's harsh reaction to Key's love songs brought
deep remorse to the lovesick law student, for he was a romantic youth. And in her jesting she robbed posterity of the very
first outbursts from the heart of the future poet lawyer. I f it
be true, however, that she did destroy all of the love ballads
which she received, there survives a poem which Key dedicated "to Mary," which reveals the faithful and dauntless
soul. Should he be downcast, he said, merely because his
offers of love were not appreciated at the start? No. While
"colder lovers" might shrink from the "gloom of clouds and
storms," and "calmly wait for peaceful skies," he swore that
he would keep striving to win his way to the idol of his heart:
�30
LAW
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
To Mary
Frown on, ye dark and angry clouds;
And, Winter, blow that blast again,
That calls thy wrathful host to pour
Their fury on the wasted plain.
'Tis thus I choose my way to win
To her whose love my bosom warms;
And brighter seems the prize I seek
Seen through the gloom of clouds and storms.
Let colder lovers shrink from these,
And calmly wait for peaceful skies ;
Be mine, through toil and pain to win
The beam of Mary's gladdened eyes.
Perhaps she'll value more my love,
Perhaps give more of hers to me,
Perhaps may greet me with a smile
More sweet, if smile more sweet can be.
O! Mary, could'st thou know this heart,
Could words or deeds its truth declare,
'T would higher raise love's flame in thine,
Or light it, if it be not there.
Francis Scott Key completed his law studies in Annapolis
as the Eighteenth Century was drawing to a close. Since there
STUDENT.
DELIA
31
There was no moot court f o r the law students in Annapolis in Key's day. Some of the students organized a debating
society, but even in this group the questions that were discussed were rarely legal questions.
Nevertheless, before he was twenty-one, Key had acquired a sound foundation in the law. Not only had he received valuable training in Uncle Philip's office, but he had
also acquired considerable experience by attending the sessions of the General' Court. Here Key and Taney saw the
three judges, in their scarlet cloaks, presiding on an elevated
platform. The rough, often intoxicated, but powerful Luther
Martin was "the acknowledged and undisputed head of the
profession in Maryland" and nobody disputed this rank with
him until William Pinkney returned from Europe. In addition to Mr. Martin, among the leading lawyers who appeared
before the General Court were Key's Uncle Philip and his
Cousin Arthur Shaaff. Enthused by hearing the array of
legal talent, Key and Taney looked forward to the day when
they, too, might occupy a commanding position at the bar.
were few American law books, the study of pleading at that
It was about the dawn of the Nineteenth Century when
time was confined almost entirely to the English digests.
the scion of the Key family was ready to commence the
"Chitty," as it was pointed out by Taney many years later,
practice of law. He left Annapolis with a heavy heart, for
"had not made his appearance, and you were obliged to look
he left behind him the sixteeri-year-old girl who had won
for the rule in Comyn's Digest, or Bacon's Abridgment, or
his heart.
Viner's Abridgment, and the cases to which they referred."
Some of them were ponderous tomes; one of the volumes of
Viner's Abridgment, weighing five pounds, and bearing Key's
bookplate, is one of the exhibits in the Francis Scott Key room
in the Taney home in Frederick.
�CHAPTER IV
Professional and Married Life
MARY TAYLOE LLOYD KEY
From the miniature by Robert Field
f K E Y DECIDED to begin his professional life in Frederick
Town. His father, still an Associate Judge, was now living
If- there. This enabled the young lawyer to settle under the
parental roof. It seemed to be the wise thing to do. Judge
Key had grown in popular esteem with the passing of the
years, his prestige arising largely from his readiness to respond at all times to appeals for help both in military and
civil life. When President Washington called for troops at
the time of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, Judge Key
offered his service as lieutenant colonel in the Frederick
County Militia; and in 1798, when a movement was on foot
to remedy effects in the Militia Law of the State, he was
chosen as one of the officers of his brigade to attend a statewide conference in Annapolis. So popular had he become,
that when Dr. John D. Carey in 1798 started a little periodical, he called it The Key, in honor of the Judge.
It was in The Key that the first history of Frederick
Town appeared. It was a brief history, telling that the first
house in Frederick was built by John Thomas Schley, the
leader of a band of immigrants from Germany. At the time
of the publication of The Key, Frederick numbered 449
dwellings, "built principally of brick and stone, and mostly
on one broad street." The population had grown to more than
2,600. One reason for its growth, in addition to the fertility
33
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
PROFESSIONAL AND MARRIED LIFE
of Monocacy Valley, was the town's location. It was built
tion of the county at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century
was between 31,000 and 32,000, but about 4,500 of these
were Negro slaves.
34
on the intersection of the roads running from Baltimore and
Georgetown to the West and the North. The days were enlivened by the stagecoaches and Conestoga wagons that lumbered up and down the rough highways.
It was in 1800 that Judge Key's son, now twenty-one,
was admitted to the Frederick County Bar. The Court House
was small but attractive; nearby was the Academy built in
1796. The people also boasted of a "spacious and handsome
Poor House," and " a stone jail with a large yard surrounded
by a stone wall." On Market Street, which rivalled Patrick
Street as the main street of the town, was the Market House,
erected in 1769. In the upper part of it was the official town
office, and atop the building was a belfry.
All things considered, Frederick Town presented an
attractive opening for the young lawyer. To be sure, it was
no rival of Baltimore with its 26,000 inhabitants; but, with
this single exception, it was the largest town in the State. Not
only was it a fine flourishing inland town, but it was the seat
of a rich smiling county. The fertile valley yielded abundant
crops. It was estimated in The Key that upwards of eighty
grist mills along the streams of the county were engaged in
grinding wheat into flour. Then, too, there were two iron
furnaces, two forges, two paper mills, and two glass works.
There was another industry which flourished in Maryland —
the distilling of rye whiskey. A single distillery sometimes
produced more than 10,000 gallons a year. And Frederick
County boasted of between 300 and 400 stills! The popula-
35
In Frederick Town the guttural German was spoken by
a large part of the population; but young Key had an opportunity to form the acquaintance of a number of people of
English blood. One of these was Thomas Johnson, Revolutionary War Governor and former Associate Justice of the
United States Supreme Court, who was now enjoying the sunset years. It was he who delivered the panegyric on George
Washington at the great mock funeral on February 22, 1800,
when the patriotic Keys bowed their heads in tribute to the
memory of the Father of his Country.
Life at Frederick Town promised to be pleasant for
young Key; but his thoughts kept reverting to the scenes of
his college days in Annapolis. Occasionally he heard from
his friend, Daniel Murray, who became a midshipman. John
Shaw, the Latin wizard, studied medicine and accepted a position as surgeon with a squadron that set sail from Philadelphia for the Mediterranean. When the fleet reached Tunis,
Dr. Shaw's duties took a sudden turn. The Bey of Tunis
threatened to declare war against the United States unless
certain provisions arrived within a limited time; and Shaw
was sent by the American Consul to our representative at
the Court of St. James to take the instructions from the American Minister at Lisbon. The Marylander set sail from Tunis
in September, 1799; but his little vessel, driven by wind and
wave from one port to another, did not reach Gibraltar until
March, 1800. It was while at Gibraltar that Dr. Shaw re-
�37
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
PROFESSIONAL AND MARRIED LIFE
ceived a letter from his classmate at Frederick. Key said that
he regretted he was not along with Shaw on his ramble to
foreign lands. He would have especially enjoyed, he said,
"a moonlight walk among the ruins of Gibraltar." In his
reply, Shaw said he wanted to leave the ruins of Carthage
behind him, and return to Annapolis to take "an evening's
walk around the college green." He had his wish gratified;
for he found his way back to the campus some months later.
lus own age who now lived in Frederick Town, and he felt
he would not be "as lonely and without friends" on his arrival
here as he would be in Baltimore.
36
Key, too, was always anxious to return to Annapolis —
for he could never forget Mary. He made frequent trips to
the college town; and, whenever he went back, he called at
the Lloyd home. It was soon after he began the practice of
law that his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of
Master of Arts. The award was made at the Commencement
held on November 12, 1800. Shaw and Murray and the other
members of the Class of 1796 were also among the alumni
honored with the Master's degree at the final exercises in
St. John's Hall.
In the month of March, 1801, the young lawyer gave an
enthusiastic welcome to one of his chums who had decided
to locate in Frederick Town for the practice of law. It was
Taney. This earnest young man from Calvert County had
already won the distinction of serving in the House of Delegates, but he had been defeated for reelection in 1800. Soon
afterwards he made up his mind to settle in Frederick, for
this appeared to be the most• profitable point of practice in.
the State, with the exception of Baltimore and Annapolis.
Another reason for his selection was the fact that he had
formed friendships in Annapolis with some young men near
Taney frequently visited the Key home in Frederick
Town as well as the plantation at Pipe Creek, and he was
much interested in Key's sister Anne. One of Key's contemporaries recalled that Anne had the most cheerful face and
the most pleasant smile that he had ever seen. About three
miles south of town was Arcadia, the handsome estate of
Arthur Shaaff, Key's bachelor cousin. Mr. Shaaff gladly
lent a helping hand to the young lawyers: indeed, it was he
who gave to Taney his first opportunity of appearing before
the Frederick County Court. Before long the two young men
were journeying together in legal business to adjoining
counties. Together they were admitted to the Montgomery
County Bar at Rockville on November 5, 1801.
In the meantime Attorney Key's principal suit had been
to win the heart of Mary Tayloe Lloyd. He had been persistent in his courtship; and, at last, the promise of marriage
was given. The announcement of the engagement was received with favor by both the Key and the Lloyd families,
for the members of these two families had long been on terms
of intimate friendship.
Mary wanted to have the wedding in her own home —
the very house in which she had once made Frank's love sonnets into curl papers. It was decided to call on the rector of
St. Anne's Episcopal Church to perform the ceremony. This
was none other than Rev. Ralph Higginbotham, the jovial
vice principal of St. John's College, under whom Frank had
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
PROFESSIONAL AND MARRIED LIFE
studied the ancient classics. The wedding was planned fori
and the society of Annapolis and the Wye House. "There
was no fire," says the church history. "People carried their
foot warmers — wooden boxes lined with tin, some with an
iron drawer which held about a tin cup of hot coals; these
to keep the feet warm." It was a cheerless place even to those
who came warmly bundled up.
38
the evening of January 19, 1802.
The town was aflutter as the hour of the marriage ap-|
proached. William Faris, the Annapolis diarist, penned m\
his diary: "To night Miss Polly Lloyd to be married to Mr.
Fk. Key."
When the wedding guests had assembled, the bride and
groom marched into the great drawing room which gleamed
with crystal and silver. Here the bride, not yet eighteen, tall J
and lovely, and the groom, twenty-two, slight of build, with
heavy brown hair and blue dreamy eyes, exchanged their :
wedding vows.
It was on a bleak winter day that Frank and Polly
arrived in Frederick Town. The groom had been living with
his father and mother and Anne, and he had no home of his
own; but the newlyweds "went to housekeeping" in a little
house on Market Street.
Polly found life here in sharp contrast to that of
Annapolis. The church, which was to be their house of wor- |
ship, was a sample of the contrast. It was a plain brick build- ^
ing that had been put up about fifty years before for the
frontier parish of the Colony — A l l Saints. Standing on a J
hill in the southern part of town, and surrounded by low j
marshy land, it was particularly uninviting in bad weather.
The parish had neither vestry nor rector; but it managed to
survive, with services conducted every other Sunday by Rev. J
George Bower, a gay and light-hearted preacher from Hager's 1
Town. The hill church in the dead of winter was a barren
place for a dainty bride accustomed to fashionable St. Anne's
39
In the Fall of 1801, the pillar of the church, William
M. Beall, started an enrollment of members, looking to a
reorganization of the parish and an election of a vestry. One
of the men who was approached on the subject of church
membership was Francis Scott Key, then twenty-two years
old. There were six other churches in Frederick Town —
German Reformed, German Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic,
Baptist, and Methodist. Perhaps the strongest congregation
was the German Reformed, one of whose pastors had baptized Key during the Revolution. Their church had one of
the handsomest steeples this side of the Atlantic, and in the
steeple were two bells that had been brought from London
and installed at a cost of more than six hundred dollars. But
Key was an Episcopalian; his relatives were Episcopalians;
he was fond of the church's ritual; and he included his name
as one of the active members of the struggling parish.
Key was a Federalist at this time. But the only record
of his Federalism came in 1804, when he volunteered to
assist in the defense of a man, whose prosecution was being
engineered, so it was believed, by Roger Nelson, one of the
anti-Federalist leaders. Others who offered to aid the defense were Shaaff and Taney and John Hanson Thomas, all
Federalists.
�FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
PROFESSIONAL AND MARRIED L I F E
While Key, strangely enough, was not ambitious for a
political career, he was quite interested in public affairs. He
was deeply patriotic. His patriotism was stirred when he
heard of the preparations for the war against the Barbary
powers — Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco. These countries had been demanding large sums of money from the
United States and other nations before they would allow the
merchant vessels of those nations to enter the Mediterranean;
and, whenever the tributes were not paid, the corsairs resorted to plunder and cruelty. Key had heard John Shaw tell
about some of the outrages along the African coast. The
American Government had been compelled to pay twenty
thousand dollars a year to enable our merchant vessels to
sail the Mediterranean. But even this did not satisfy the:
pirates, who captured our sailors, held them in slavery, and
treated them like beasts of burden under the lash. In 1801
the Pascha of Tripoli declared war on the United States; the,
insolent ruler cut down the Stars and Stripes, demanded that
the American tributes be increased, and started on a campaign of rapine and cruelty. President Jefferson determined -i
that no further tributes should be paid to the Barbary powers.
sailors and exulted because the "Star Spangled flag" had
eclipsed the Crescent.
The following poem bears the germs of the immortal
anthem which he later composed:
40
Key was thrilled in 1804 when he heard the news of
the daring exploit of Stephen Decatur in the harbor of Tripoli. The young lawyer rejoiced not only because his country
was victorious but more especially because Christians had
triumphed over Mohammedans.
Later, when Decatur and his gallant comrades returned
from the Mediterranean, they were greeted with wild ovations. Key sent up his paean of praise for the bravery of the
The Warrior's Return
When the warrior returns, from the battle afar,
To the home and the country he nobly defended,
01 warm be the welcome to gladden his ear,
And loud be the joy that his perils are ended;
In the full tide of song let his fame roll along,
To the feast-flowing board let us gratefully throng.
Where, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of-the brave.
Columbians! a band of your brothers behold,
Who claim the reward of your hearts' warm emotion,
When your cause, when your honour, urged onward
the bold,
In vain frowned the desert, in vain raged the ocean:
To a far distant shore, to the battle's wild roar,
They rushed, your fair fame and your rights to secure:
Then, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.
In the conflict resistless, each toil they endured,
'Till their foes fled dismayed from the war's desolation ;
And pale beamed the Crescent, its splendor obscured
By the light of the Star-Spangled flag of our nation.
Where each radiant star gleamed a meteor of war,
And the turbaned heads bowed to its terrible glare,
Now, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.
Our Fathers, who stand on the summit of fame,
Shall exultingly hear of their sons the proud story:
How their young bosoms glowed with the patriot
flame,
41
�42
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
How they fought, how they fell, in the blaze of their
glory,
How triumphant they rode o'er the wondering flood,
And stained the blue waters with infidel blood;
How, mixed with the olive, the laurel did wave,
And formed a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.
Then welcome the warrior returned from afar
To the home and the country he nobly defended;
Let the thanks due to valor now gladden his ear,
And loud be the joy that his perils are ended.
In the full tide of song let his fame roll along,
To the feast-flowing board let us gratefully throng.
Where, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.
�CHAPTER V
First Year in Georgetown
-WHILE Francis Scott Key had his office in Frederick,
bis Uncle Philip practised law at Georgetown. In 1801 Philip
named by President John Adams as Chief Judge of the
lited States Circuit Court of Maryland, but this Court was
fibolished when Congress established a new judicial system,
ig.the next few years he enjoyed a lucrative practice in
District of Columbia. Perhaps the most dramatic trial
i which he was ever engaged was the defense of Justice
|Samuel Chase. Justice Chase's lawyers before the Senate —
^regarded as "five of the most eminent Federalist lawyers" of
•the day —were Philip Barton Key, Luther Martin, Robert
*Goodloe Harper, Charles Lee, and Joseph Hopkinson. Francois Scott Key watched the development with keen interest.
)n one side was his uncle; on the other Joseph Hopper
licholson, who had married a sister of Polly. On March 1,
11805, after a month of testimony and argument. Vice President Aaron Burr announced the verdict. The acquittal of
Justice Chase was received by the Federalists with great rejoicing. Senator William Plumer called it "the greatest and
most important trial ever held in this nation." The Republicans were incensed; Henry St. George Tucker regarded the
acquittal of Chase as "a foul disgrace upon our country."
It was soon after the close of this trial that Philip Barton
43
:
THE GEORGETOWN HOME OF FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
From the painting by John Ross Key
�44
FIRST YEAR I N GEORGETOWN
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Key decided to withdraw from active practice. He was quite;
well-to-do. It occurred to him that he might tum over muct
of his practice to his nephew i f he would come to Georgetown. Frank talked the matter over with Polly, and she feltjj
happy at the prospect of moving away from Frederick Town/
She had missed the social gayeties of Annapolis for nearl;
five years. She was now the mother of two children — Eli
beth Phoebe, bom in 1803, and Maria Lloyd, bom in 1805.1
It did not take them long to accept Uncle Philip's offer. S
it was that at the close of 1805, when Key was twenty-six,|
he gave up his Frederick office, bade farewell to his parenl
Taney and Anne, and bundling up the two small child
set out for their new home in the District of Columbia.
1
Georgetown, when Key and his family arrived there,
was a flourishing community of nearly four thousand people.;
Standing at the head of tidewater on the hills that rolled backfrom the Potomac at the mouth of Rock Creek, it was one.
of the chief shipping ports in the New World; and also tho|
central depot for stages that started off with passengers foi
Baltimore, Annapolis and Frederick. Among the places of.
interest in Georgetown was Georgetown College, founded in
1795 by Bishop John Carroll, and now accommodating about
two hundred students. The town also boasted of an institution which Frederick lacked —a bank; it was the Bank of
Columbia and had a capital of a million dollars.
As soon as the Keys had established themselves in their
new home, Uncle Philip announced in the press that he was
withdrawing from active practice, but that Mr. Francis S.
Key would attend to any professional business confided to
45
fUm. A splendid opportunity awaited his twenty-six year old
nephew. His uncle's recommendation was in itself a fine inrboduction.
Then, too, Georgetown was in its heyday: it was crowded
- with lawmakers and foreign diplomats who sought the quiet
fdann of the Georgetown heights in order to escape the mud
?or the dust of the Federal City. This new seat of government
| had grown to be a place of more than four thousand people.
|The Capitol and the President's House, surrounded by woods
.and underbrush, were separated by a swamp: through this
2WM a road with deep mud holes, stagnant, malarial pools,
ihreeding places for myriads of mosquitoes in rainy seasons.
"No one, from the North or from the high country of
(he South," said Rufus King, "can pass the months of August
and September there without intermittent or bilious fever."
And a French diplomat, speaking of the city of Washing,
hton, exclaimed: "Mon Dieu! What have I done to reside in
t mch a city?"
l
One fine home in Washington was Octagon House, the
mansion of Colonel John Tayloe of Mount Airy, Virginia.
This home was famous for its entertainments for President
Jefferson and other distinguished men in the early part of
the Nineteenth Century.
Many of the Senators and Representatives crowded into
boarding houses and inns near the Capitol; but others preferred to spjoin amid more attractive surroundings on the
other side of Rock Creek, about four miles to the west. And
so the young lawyer from Frederick County came into contact
with some of the foremost political leaders of the day. Union
�46
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Tavern was a favorite rendezvous for the Nation's legislal
— among them Aaron Burr and John Randolph of Roanoke
and Philip Barton Key and his nephew often came to
tavern to chat with the distinguished visitors.
Nearby was St. John's Episcopal Church. Services
Episcopalians had been held in Georgetown as early as 17941
and in 1796 the young rector, Rev. Walter D. Addison, sta:
arteij
a movement to erect a church building; but lack of fundi!
prevented it from rising any higher than the first range
windows until 1803, when contributions were solicited ag
and President Jefferson was one of the contributors, Thei
edifice was completed in 1804; and Rev. Johannes J. Sayn},
of Port Tobacco, Maryland, was chosen rector of the parii
Rev. Sayrs was one of the first persons whom Frank and Poll!
met in Georgetown. They promptly decided to join St. Jo
ohn'il
Church.
The houses along Bridge Street (later known as
Street) commanded a fine view of the Potomac. One of
houses on the south side of this street was purchased by Franl
cis Scott Key. This home, in which he lived for many yearsj
was built by Thomas Clarke about the year 1802, just east
of the old aqueduct bridge (west of the present Francis Scott
Key Memorial Bridge). It was built of brick; and, besidei
its two main stories, had a basement and a floor under a gable
roof. The front door opened into a wide hallway. To the
right of this were two large parlors. In the basement were thei
dining room, kitchen, and cold-storage pantry. In the rears
was a sun porch, looking out upon the terraced flower garden'
FIRST YEAR I N GEORGETOWN
47
ling all the way down to the river bank. At the rear end
were the coach house and a smoke house.
Before leaving Frederick, Key understood that his sister
Jttd promised to marry his friend Taney. The wedding of
ABDC Phoebe Charlton Key and Taney was set for the evening
of January 7, 1806. They were married in the mansion at
Pipe Creek. Taney, it was recalled years after, was "a tall,
pant fellow, as lean as a Potomac herring, and as shrewd as
d» shrewdest." His marriage to bright little Anne was likened to "the union of a hawk with a skyJark."
Even after his removal to Georgetown, Key kept in close
loach with Taney, professionally and socially. Their friendjhip remained steadfast. And Key came to Annapolis from
Georgetown and Taney from Frederick to appear together in
(he Court of Appeals of Maryland.
One of these cases — Keefer vs. Young — was an action
of dower brought by Mrs. Barton Keefer, a widow, to rejwrer her interest in fifty acres of land that had belonged to
lier husband. Arthur Shaaff, counsel for Mrs. Keefer, undertook to prove by parol evidence that her husband had owned
[4e land at the time of his death. Key and Taney, representing the defendant, resisted the widow's claim by objecting to
tbe introduction of the evidence. When the Court instructed
(be jury that the evidence was insufficient to entitle the widow
lo recover, Mr. Shaaff took an appeal. The Court of Appeals
reversed the decision of the Frederick County Court and held
Aat parol evidence was admissible to show that land owned
ly the husband was the same land in which the dower was demanded.
�48
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Another case that came before the Court of Appeals-!
Sheely vs. Biggs — was an action of slander brought by Biggsj
to secure satisfaction for an accusation that he had sworn to]
a lie. Schaaff, attorney for Biggs, explained in an innuen-%
do that this meant "the plaintiff had committed perjury be-j
fore a magistrate." Key and Taney were the attorneys for thei
defendant. When a verdict for twenty-two pounds was givenl
to Biggs, Key and Taney moved for an arrest of judgment ohj
the ground that the utterance was not actionable per se
that no colloquium had been inserted in the declaration to con-|
nect the utterance with a judicial proceeding. Their motion
overruled, they took an appeal. The case was now argued in|
Annapolis before Chief Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase,!
Taney's old preceptor, and Judges Joseph Hopper Nicholson,]
John Buchanan and John Mackall Gantt. The result was al
triumph for Key and Taney, as the decision of the Frederick!
County Court was reversed. Chief Judge Chase held that thej
word foresworn did not necessarily imply perjury; and, tol
make it constitute slander, it had to be prefaced by a colloq
quium setting forth the judicial proceeding in which it wasl
uttered, the innuendo being insufficient to make the utterance'
actionable.
It was in 1806, during Key's first year in Georgetown,*
that his Uncle Philip ran for Congress. He announced his"
candidacy for Representative from the Third Maryland Dis-'j
trict, which included Montgomery and a part of Frederick '
County. Uncle Philip, while he spent much of his time at his j
mansion in the District of Columbia, also owned a farm in
Montgomery County. Representative Patrick Magruder, Jet
FIRST YEAR I N GEORGETOWN
49
* feraonianRepublican, was running for reelection. The cam•
paign was exceedingly bitter. The Jeffersonians charged that
| Key was a Tory and a refugee during the Revolution. They
|-accused him of having joined the British Army while his
| brother served as a patriot, at the instigation of their father
!»that, regardless of the outcome, his property would be safe
|from confiscation. It was also claimed that Mr. Key was a
fiesident of the District of Columbia and therefore was inelfigible to serve as Representative from Maryland. In order to
frtirup prejudice against Mr. Key, the Jeffersonians published
fa charge that the British Ambassador had visited in Frederick,
\ insinuating that he had been helping to "build the fences" of
Mr. Key for Congress. Which side would Mr. Key take, they
inquired in derision, in the event of war between the United
[States and Great Britain?
A campaign of this kind at a time when feeling ran high
[against England, would have defeated a candidate of medifocre ability; but Philip Barton Key was a man of sterling
^character and winning personality. Then, too, he had the help
fof his brother and many of Frank's friends in Frederick
County; and so, in spite of all the accusations of the Jefferfsonians, he was elected.
;
Accordingly, within a short time after Francis Scott Key
^located in Georgetown, his talented uncle took his seat as a
•j Federalist member of the House of Representatives. His seat
•was contested by the friends of President Jefferson; but in a
t speech denying the chiarge that he was a British sympathizer,
^Congressman Key said: " I returned to my country like a
prodigal to his father. I have felt as an American should
�50
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
feel. And f have been received and forgiven, of which thej
CHAPTER V I
most convincing proof is — my election."
Aaron Burr's Messengers
HAD BEEN living in Georgetown little more than
year when the opportunity came to him to appear before
Supreme Court of the United States. The case in which
p appeared was the habeas corpus hearing for two prisoners
»
with treason as accomplices of Aaron Burr. When,
1 the Spring of 1806, Burr received a message from General
Wilkinson, Governor of Upper Louisiana and one of
associates in the Mexican conspiracy, he decided to send
reply before setting out himself on his expedition. He seDr. Justus Erich Bollman of Philadelphia and Samuel
out of New York as his couriers.
Bollman was a Gottingen graduate, now about thirtylire years old. It was he who, with the aid of Francis K.
iger of Charleston, South Carolina, helped General LafayIctle to escape after months of planning from the dungeon at
SAmatz. Lafayette was soon caught, however, and brought
lack to solitary confinement; and Bollman was captured too
and thrown into prison. On condition that he would leave
'Austria, Bollman was released, and he sailed for America,
[With young Huger he called on President Washington and
d the horrors of Olmutz; and Washington wrote to
Ministers at London and Paris and to the Emperor of
[Germany to enlist their aid in behalf of Lafayette.
51
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
Samuel Swartwout, the other messenger of Burr, wtfl
about twenty-two. He was a brother of Colonel John SwaiK
wout, who had been removed by President Jefierson from
office of United States Marshall for the District of New Yodl
largely on acount of the Colonel's friendly relations
Burr.
— the day the message from President Jeflferson denouncing
Burr was read in the Senate —the dazed messengers were
thrown into the military prison at the Marine Barracks. Here
they were guarded day and night as desperate criminals.
52
i
While preparations were being made along the Ohio
the Cumberland for the flatboat flotilla that was to carry B;
and his men down the Mississippi, Bollman was carrying
copy of Burr's message by sea, while Swartwout carried
other copy by land. General Wilkinson, when he received
message in New Orleans, meditated over the best method
which he could save himself and brighten his own reputati
He decided to denounce his associates in the Mexican plot
traitors and assume the disguise of loyalty to the United Stal
Government. Bollman and Swartwout were arrested, denii
counsel and access to the courts, and ordered to be
under military guard to Washington.
When Jefferson received the letter of warning, he ca!
the members of his Cabinet together in alarm and issued ;
Proclamation ordering the seizure of the conspirators
their supplies. Then he informed Congress of the conspiracy;
Burr, declared the Chief Executive, was plotting an insu
tion against the National Government. The awful charge
treason was preferred. From that time on the masses
manded the life of Aaron Burr.
Bollman and Swartwout were taken on a warship to B]
timore. From Baltimore they were rushed under heavy guard
to Washington. Arriving in the Capital on January 22, 18071
53
On the day after the arrival of the prisoners, Senator
Giles, Jefferson's Senate spokesman, moved that a committee
be appointed to draft a bill to empower the President to suspend the right of habeas corpus. This extreme step was intended to throttle the counsel for Bollman and Swartwout. The
bill to suspend the writ for three months in cases of treason
was passed by the Senate, but was rejected in the House of
Representatives by an overwhelming vote. Thus was defeated
the attempt of the Jeffersonians to prevent the Judiciary from
deciding whether Bollman and Swartwout were entitled to the
benefit of "the most sacred writ known to the law."
The young prisoners were brought into the United States
Grcuit Court for the District of Columbia. The prosecutors
were Caesar A. Rodney, Jefferson's Attorney General, and
Walter Jones, Jefferson's appointee as United States Attorney
for the District. On the bench sat two Jefferson Republicans
and a Federalist. The Jeffersonians, Nicholas Fitzhugh and
Allen B. Duckett, committed the accused to prison to await
trial for treason; while the Federalist, William Cranch, dissented. For the first time in American History a National
Court found itself divided on political grounds.
Harper and Lee now decided to apply for the writ of
: habeas corpus to Chief Justice Marshall. Luther Martin, the
crimson-faced leader of the Bar, offered to enter the case.
Congressman-elect Philip Barton Key was in sympathy
�fei-
54
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
with the luckless young prisoners but he refused to enter the
case. His nephew from Western Maryland, however, was invited to participate in the proceeding before the Nation's
highest tribunal. So it was that on February 10, 1807 —the
very day that the application for habeas corpus was brought
before John Marshall — Francis Scott Key was admitted to'
the bar of the United States Supreme Court. Seated with
Marshall on the Bench were Bushrod Washington of Virginia,
William Johnson of South Carolina, and Brockholst Livingston of New York.
After listening to the arguments of the lawyers, Chief
Justice Marshall decided on February 13th that the Supreme
Court had jurisdiction to issue the writ of habeas corpus under
the provisions of the Judiciary Act in order to revise the proceedings of the Court below. The application was, in effect,
an appeal from the Circuit Court.
The next step was a motion by Mr. Lee on February 16th
that the Court order the prisoners discharged. Mr. Lee pointed out that, under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution,
warrants should not be issued except upon "probable cause
supported by oath or affirmation." He then launched his attack on the commitment of Bollman and Swartwout on the
ground that probable cause had not been shown in the Circuit
Court. Nothing had been shown except an intent to start an
expedition against Mexico in the event of war between the
United States and Spain. He accused General Wilkinson of
seizing Bollman and Swartwout in New Orleans without due
process of law and sending them two thousand miles to Washington to be disposed of by the President. The prisoners had
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
55
been committed for trial by the court of any District,
was the necessity of proceeding in such an unprecefdented manner?
j-i: Francis Scott Key now made his debut before the SuIpreme Court. He advanced the view that, under the Federal
fCoiMtitution, there was no such thing as constructive treason.
' Be admitted that the English law recognized it, but he exl plained why he believed a strict construction should be given
I lo the word treason in the United States.
"The Constitution," he said, "declares that treason
^Igunst the United States shall consist only in levying war
} igainst them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
[ n d comfort. An adherence to rebels is not an adherence to an
lenemy, within the meaning of the Constitution. Hence, if
tfte prisoners are guilty, it must be of levying war against the
. United States."
"By using the word only," he maintained, "the Constitndon meant to take away all pretense of constructive treason.
Every man is to answer for his own acts only." I f , for example, one hundred men conspired to overthrow the Government, and only fifty of them actually levied war against the
Government, only those fifty were guilty as principals of the
crime of treason.
"But why," he asked, "should not the same distinction
between principal and accessory obtain in the case of treason
as in any other crime?" He answered the question himself: "In
a republican government, whose basis is the affection of the
people, it is unnecessary to guard against offences of this
�57
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
kind with the same vigilance as in a monarchy or a despotism'
whose foundation is fear."
Key then passed on to the next step in his argument'
Even if this construction of the Constitution were not correct,
and even if the English authorities were considered to be in
full force in the United States, still two things had to be'
shown: (1) that war had been levied; and (2) that the a>]
cused were confederates in that war.
power," he said, "inconsistent with a fair trial, because the
56
Key, after objecting to the affidavits of General Wilkinson because they were not in proper form, said that even if
they were accepted by the Court, they did not show any act of
treason. "They prove no assemblage of men nor military,
array. There is not a tittle of evidence that any two men have:
been seen together with treasonable intent, whether armed or.f
not. The supposed letter from Col. Burr speaks indeed ofj
choice spirits, but he does not tell us they are invisible!
spirits."
"The Territory of Orleans, i f it was to be revolution''
ized," the young lawyer continued, "might be revolutionized
without levying war against the United States. There is no evi
dence that the prisoners knew that Col. Burr had any treason.'
able projects in view. Even i f he had such views, he might
have held out to them, as he did to others, only the Spanish
expedition."
In conclusion, Key maintained that the bench warrant]
issued for the arrest of Bollman and Swartwout was illegal
He contended that no court has authority to issue a bench
warrant except upon a presentment by a grand jury or for anl
offense committed in the presence of the court. "And it is i
court would have thereby prejudged the case, and decided
upon the guilt of the prisoner. No such practice is known in
Maryland, under whose laws the court below was acting."
Thus did Key, at the age of twenty-seven, expound the
Constitution before John Marshall. His maiden speech before
the Supreme Court was formidable. So much concern did it
give to the prosecution that on the following morning, February 17th, the Attorney General devoted most of his time in
attempting to refute the points the young attorney had made.
Mr. Rodney, the Attorney General, was followed by
Walter Jones, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, who continued the Government's reply. Mr. Jones was
a native of Virginia, and but a few years older than Key. His
fluency of speech and simple analytical style had served to
advance him rapidly in his profession. After a discussion of
technicalities Jones came to the main question: What is treason? Key had construed Article I I I , Section 3, of the Constitution—containing the word only — to mean that the framers
intended to exclude constructive treason. Jones took the view
that the framers, by writing the definition in the Constitution,
wished merely to prevent Congress from inventing definitions
of treason. What constitutes treason? Jones declared that no
special warlike array is necessary; no specific amount of
force; no specific number of men. I f soldiers are recruited,
he maintained, and i f there is intent to levy war, there is
treason, he maintained, even though none of the men are
actually armed. Therefore, he said, the only question that
�58
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
remained was whether Bollman and Swartwout had knowledge.^
of Burr's treasonable intent.
The next speaker for the prisoners was Robert Goodloe J
Harper. Mr. Harper claimed that the affidavits did not provej
that Bollman and Swartwout had participated in any crime. ^
He expressed the hope that the Supreme Court would not sane-J
tion treatment of prisoners such as that given to the two mes-J
sengers. I f a military officer were allowed to seize a man and^
send him as a prisoner two thousand miles with only an ex]
parte affidavit as the basis of his commitment, then, declared;!
Mr. Harper, the security provided by the law for the protec-"
tion of liberty is broken down!
On the third day, February 18th, the Supreme Court 1
listened to Luther Martin, the last speaker for the prisoners.
It was a wanton exercise of arbitrary power, he exclaimed, to '|
send Bollman and Swartwout from New Orleans to Washing--|
ton. A District Court had been established by act of Congress
for the territory of Orleans, he thundered, and this court was
competent to try the offense of treason committed within its
jurisdiction.
On the fourth day, Chief Justice Marshall announced
that the Court was puzzled over two questions: (1) Is General
Wilkinson's affidavit admissible in evidence in the habeas
corpus proceeding? and (2) I f it is admissible, should the
Court consider the contents of a letter when the original is in
his possession?
If, said Marshall, the counsel could find, over night, any
authorities on these points, the Court would like to hear them.
When the jurists had taken their seats on the bench on
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
59
20th, the Chief Justice asked whether the lawyers
"** found any authorities on the points he had mentioned.
I N Attorney General < replied that he had not been able to
I anything on the questions. Francis Scott Key then arose,
bsaid he could present an English-case that would assist the
; in reaching a decision. He cited the case of The King
}The Inhabitants of Eristvell, in the Court of Kings Bench,
wein the question was whether an ex parte examination of
Ipauper before two justices could be accepted as evidence by
other justices five years later, upon an application for
val after the pauper had become insane. One of the
upheld the principle of Common Law that no person
with a crime can be bound by an examination taken
l his absence. And the Chief Judge, Lord Kenyon, held that
: ex parte examination of the pauper before the first two
tices had not been made for the purpose of securing an
irder of removal, and it was consequently extrajudicial. MarIjhall and the Associate Justices gave close attention to the
ng lawyer from Western Maryland as he expounded Lord
nyon's opinion and strove to show the analogy between the
lish case and the case at the bar.
"So in this case," said young Key, "we say that as Gen. Wilkinson did not apply to Justices Carrick and Pollock
|for a warrant to arrest Dr. Bollman and Mr. Swartwout and
|as he did not make the affidavit for the purpose of obtaining
prom them such warrants, the whole proceedings before those
tices were extrajudicial. . . . In the language of Lord Kenfjon, 'they deserve no more credit than i f they had been made
^before the parish clerk.' I f the affidavit be a judicial pro-
�61
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
ceeding, it ought to be authenticated according to the act i
Congress. I f it be not a judicial proceeding, it is not ew|
dence."
treason. So the long-suffering despatch-bearers were discharged. The Chief Justice explained, however, that the discharge of the prisoners did not acquit them of treason, for, he
said, fresh proceedings could be instituted against them.
But since the alleged crime had not been committed in the
District of Columbia, the Court believed the accused could
not be tried in this District.
60
Perhaps Key had received some assistance from Wf
Uncle Philip; but in any event he made a favorable imprei-j
sion.
At noon on February 21, 1807, the Court was ready to"
render its decision. Was the evidence sufficient to hold BoB^
man and Swartwout, the despatch-bearers of Aaron Burr, for
treason against the Government of the United States? Or
should they be discharged? On the bench with the gentle-'
mannered John Marshall sat Bushrod Washington, Samud
Chase, and William Johnson. The decision which these
judges were now about to make was to be one of the larii
marks in American jurisprudence. The Court proceeded to
analyze the message that Aaron Burr had written. BurrV
scheme, it appeared, was to move down the Mississippi River
to Natchez, there to confer with General Wilkinson to d^ter.
mine whether it was expedient to seize Baton Rouge or to pass'
on. It was plain, said Marshall, that there was not a single'i
word in the message to indicate that any part of the United;
States was the objective of a military expedition. Rather, he
said, the language seemed to point to an expedition againtf
Mexico. Nor, said the Court, had a single word been uttered
by Bollman and Swartwout to support an accusation that they
were engaged in a treasonable enterprise. Therefore, said
Marshall, the Court held that there was not sufficient evidence
of a levying of war by Bollman and Swartwout against the
United States to justify their commitment on the charge of
The case of Bollman and Swartwout caused Jefferson's
anger to blaze against John Marshall. But the decision was
heralded by the Federalists as a noble example of the judicial
safeguard of individual liberty. Judge Cranch, gratified by
the confirmation of his decision, exclaimed: " I congratulate
my country upon this triumph of reason and law over popular passion and injustice — upon the final triumph of civil
over the military authority." And General Lafayette, worried because Bollman, who had rescued him from the dungeon of Olmutz, had been charged with the crime of treason,
was greatly relieved when he heard that the Supreme Court
bad ordered his release.
?
i
The experience of the couriers had been a dear lesson
to them; but no war with Spain developed and the West soon
tumed away from the adventure. President Jefferson's suspicions were now to cause him to use all the influence of the
Administration to urge the punishment of Aaron Burr. Burr
was brought before the Circuit Court in Richmond, but Chief
Justice Marshall held him merely on the charge of violating
tbe neutrality laws. Jefferson was inclined to believe that the
Federalists were trying to shield Burr from punishment; it
was unfortunate, he said, that Federalism was "still predom-
�62
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
AARON BURR'S MESSENGERS
inant in our Judiciary Department" and thwarting the Executive and Congress. Indeed, Jefferson suggested that Luther
Martin be arrested as particeps criminis with Aaron Burr.
He declared that this "unprincipled and impudent federal
bull-dog" and the other "clamorous defenders" of Burr were
his accomplices.
At the time the grand jury was in session, Swartwout
and General Wilkinson happened to meet in Richmond.
Swartwout, then about twenty-four flew into a rage and
shoved the bulky officer into the street. General Wilkinson .
ignored the attack. Swartwout then challenged him to a duel;
but Wilkinson declined. Whereupon Swartwout branded the
commander of the United States Army as guilty of treachery,
perjury, forgery, and cowardice!
Swartwout was possessed of a frank and engaging manner, which brought him many friends. His courage in facing
General Wilkinson endeared him to Andrew Jackson, who
had been summoned to Richmond to appear as a witness
against Burr but was not called to the stand because he was
found to be on Burr's side. This man whom Key represented
in the Supreme Court was basely dishonest; thirty years later
he embezzled more than a million dollars of public funds
while Collector of the Port of New York.
On the grand jury in Richmond were some of Aaron
Burr's most bitter political adversaries. And so when he was
indicted, no one was surprised. Jefferson had been convinced
by General Wilkinson that Burr was guilty of treason. And
Jefferson was now at the height of his popularity.
When the great trial of Aaron Burr was held in Rich-
63
mond, the habeas corpus case of Justus Erich Bollman and
Samuel Swartwout was discussed, and Francis Scott Key's
views regarding constructive treason were given consideration
hy the Court. The penetrating mind of John Marshall saw
that the prosecution had failed to prove any overt act of levying war. And Marshall held that, irrespective of the English
doctrine of accessories, no person could be found guilty of
treason under the Constitution of the United States except for
Ac performance of an overt act of levying war. The case
went to the jury, but in less than thirty minutes the jury
brought in the "Scotch verdict" — that Burr was not proved
guilty by any evidence submitted to them.
Along with other Federalists of his day, Francis Scott
Key approved Marshall's ruling and the verdict of the jury.
He looked upon Burr's acquittal as an example of the justice of the law, which does not relax the safeguards of human
liberty even in times of political rancor. But he was nause-ated by the burst of fury from the followers of Jefferson;
! accusations that Marshall had connived at the escape of a
traitor; the cries of politicians for Marshall's impeachment;
and the reports that the expounder of the Constitution and
Aaron Burr had been hung in effigy.
(
t
More than a century later a Missouri lawyer addressed
the Bar Association of his State on the conspiracy of Aaron
Burr. "It is now known," he said of Burr, "that he was never
actuated with a traitorous intent, but wanted to conquer Mexico in order to attach it to American soil. His fight was for
Texas, but he fought too early. What he tried to do was called
treason, but less than fifty years afterwards when Texas was
�64
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
taken from Mexico, the act was applauded. . . . That Bi
never intended to assault a city of his country cannot now be|
questioned; that he never intended to invade Mexico unless^
and in the event war was declared is now fully understood^:
that the entire southwest was with hirii is admitted. The only:]
trouble was that he was forty years ahead of his time, but ho|
lived to see his friend and associate, General Jackson, elected!
President of the United States. . . . Jefferson was honest, but|
imposed upon by the greatest traitor of all times, General*
Wilkinson. . . . How tragic that Jefferson did not know the^
truth!"
CHAPTER V I I
Fruits of Character
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY inherited a deeply spiritual soul.
' When he came under the influence of Rev. Johannes J. Sayrs,
a man of uncommon piety, his spirit burst forth into a fervent
religious conviction. There was no communicant in St. John's
parish more devoted and enthusiastic than Key. For hours at
a time he poured over the Scriptures; and he regretted that
he had not been more zealous in church work at Frederick.
In November, 1808, the young man opened his soul in
a letter to his cousin, George William Murdoch of Frederick.
The letter was inspired by the news of the death of Murdoch's
brother-in-law, Judge Richard Potts. Murdoch and Judge
Pott's second wife, Eleanor, were children of George and
Eleanor Charlton Murdoch; and Eleanor Charlton Murdoch
was a sister of Key's mother. Key reminded his Cousin
George that they both had been blessed with mothers of unusual piety. He also disclosed a feeling which clung to him
all the rest of his life — that he was polluted with sin but that
he was battling courageously with' his temptations. This is
his letter:
65
�66
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
FRUITS OF CHARACTER
Key to George William Murdoch
to believe, will excuse us before the Searcher of all
hearts for the defectiveness of our practice & the sinfulness of our lives.—
As I am a few years before you in life, I would wish
you to have the benefit of my experience —Take then
my word for it. Until a man becomes seriously & strongly impressed with religious sentiments, until he believes in his heart that Jesus Christ is his Lord & Master, & joins in the earnest & eloquent application of the
converted Paul, "Lord! what would'st Thou have me
to do?" his course through life will neither be safe nor
pleasant—The thousands around you who are careless & indifferent upon this subject may seem happy,
but they are not s o — I had once no more religious
concern than they & full as much right to be happy
without it as most of them.— My only regret now is
that I was so long blinded by my pleasures, my vices
& pursuits & the examples of others from seeing, admiring & adoring the "marvellous light of the Gospel."
G Town —
r
Nov 29, —06
r
My D George
d
I have rec your letter confirming the accounts I had
before received. Indeed I sincerely share in the feelings
which this loss must have excited in you all. If I did
not know the piety of your dear good mother & sister,
I might well suppose them inconsolable; but I am sure
their trust in Heaven is proof against all affliction; &
that they have borne this trial (as they have many
others) with all the fortitude and submission of Christians, & will receive their reward in another world
where there is no sorrow or weeping.—
This event, my Dear George, calls upon you for the
most vigorous & persevering exertions — In Mr. Potts
your mother & indeed all your family have lost the
most invaluable friend; whose kindness, advice & assistance were ever at their command — I t is therefore
more than ever your duty to become useful, respected
& beloved, to be the stay of your mother & the comfort
& joy of your sisters.
Higher duties than these cannot be conceived — And
while your heart is warmed by considering them, resolve, with an humble hope in God's assistance, piously
& faithfully to perform them. You are young & surrounded with the most dangerous temptations — Restraint, self-denial & an inflexible adherence to duty
are not so easy as you may imagine. Nothing but
Christianity will give you the victory — Fix the firmest conviction of its truth in your understanding,
study it's evidences, establish it's principles in your
heart & keep it's most glorious rewards forever in your
view. Never suppose that it is enough for you to equal
the bulk of professed Christians in your devotion to
it — I t is inconsistency more stupid even than infidelity
to imagine that merely believing, or rather professing
67
r
I hope you, my D George, will be able to commence
a religious life at an earlier period, with a resolution
less weakened & a heart less polluted.—We have both
been blessed with mothers of rare & fervent piety;
a signal advantage in these degenerate times. Never
should we be unmindful of it —That alone entitles
them to the gratitude & devotion of our hearts.
I wish, George, you would now & then write to me
let me know what you are about. I will not undertake
to be a very punctual correspondent as I am generally
a good deal engaged. But I shall always read your
letters with pleasure —
Present me most affectionately to my Dear Aunt
Cousm Nelly & the Girls. — & believe me
Sincerely yrs
F. S. K E Y
In 1809 Key heard the sad news of the death of another
friend, Rev. Sayrs, the rector of St. John's Church. Key wrote
�FRUITS OF CHARACTER
68
69
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
strengthening Key's character was deep and lasting. Many
years afterwards one of the chroniclers of Georgetown recalled how Rev. Sayrs had impressed Key with "a deep respect for his memory."
an epitaph in which he referred to the beloved rector as one
who had tumed aside from worldly pleasures to the career
of "an humble minister" and whose exemplary life was an
inspiration for "a life of peace," "a death of hope," and "endless bliss" in the world to come. The epitaph is inscribed on
a tablet in the church and it reads:
JOH. J. SAYRS
hu. eel.
Rector
primus
Hie,
(quo, christi servus
Fideliter ministravit,)
Sep. jac:
Ob: 6 jan: A : D: MDCCCIX.
AEt: XXXV.
Here once stood forth a Man, who from the world
Though bright it's aspect to his youthful eye,
Turn'd with affection ardent to his God,
And liv'd & died an humble minister
Of his benignant purposes to Man.
Here lies he now —yet grieve not thou for him,
READER! he trusted in that love where none
Have ever vainly trusted — Rather let
His marble speak to thee, and should'st thou feel
The rising of a new & solemn thought,
Wak'd by this sacred place & sad memorial,
O listen to it's impulse! —'tis divine —
And it shall guide thee to a life of joy,
A death of hope & endless bliss hereafter.
t.
The influence exerted by the pious Rev. Sayrs ia
Key was thirty years old when he made hisfirstappearance in a slavery case before John Marshall. A Negro named
Ben was seeking his freedom from bondage. Maryland had a
law intended to stop the influx of slaves: it provided that the
importation of any slave into the State operated to give that
alave his freedom, except a slave living in this country not
less than three years, whose owner intended to settle in the
State. In the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia it was
Aown that the slave owner on coming into Maryland had failed
to prove Negro Ben's residence of at least three years in the
United States to the satisfaction of "the naval officer, or collector of the tax," as the law prescribed. An effort was made
at the trial to introduce evidence to show that Ben had nevertkeless been living in this country at least three years before
ke was brought into Maryland. But the Circuit Court refused
to admit this testimony; and the jury awarded the Negro his
freedom. The master, Sabrett Scott, took an appeal. His lawyers contended that it was necessary for them only to prove
i;4e residence of three years to the satisfaction of the jury.
IWfcat should prevail — property rights or human rights? A
i tfanOar question was destined to come before the Court many
rjtars later when Key's brother-in-law as an aged jurist was
tolled on to write the opinion that was to precipitate the Civil
^ War. But the time had not yet come for thefiresof secession.
•Ikerightsof human beings under the Federal Constitution
�70
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
FRUITS OF CHARACTER
were not raised before Marshall. Key, as counsel for the
slave, based his argument merely on the construction of the
statute. There was a difference of opinion among the members of the Bench, but Chief Justice Marshall, handing down
the majority opinion on February 7, 1810, held that since
the purpose of the law was to break up the traffic in slavesnot to prevent slave owners from bringing their own slave!
with them — Mr. Scott should have been allowed to show that
his slave had in point of fact lived in this country at leajt
three years, even though the technical requirements of the
statute had not been complied with.
a similar power resided in the courts of America. But Marshall disagreed. He held that, under the act of Congress prondtng for the turnpike, the inquisition was returnable to the
derk, not to the Court; the recording was merely a ministerial act; and hence the Circuit Court should not have prevented the clerk from recording the inquisition.
As an accompaniment of Key's love of country, there
appeared as early as thirty a genuine public spirit. An illustration of this was his interest in public education. He regarded education as an important factor in promoting the
happiness and the general welfare of the people. And he was
one of a group of men who organized a Lancaster Society in
Georgetown to give free education to all children whose pareots could not aflford to pay tuition fees. The Mayor of
Georgetown was president ex officio of the Society. This plan,
said to have been originated by Dr. Andrew Bell, a Scotch
priest, was named after Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker of unusual executive ability, who had established throughout England and Ireland upwards of one hundred schools that accommodated about thirty thousand children. The members of
die Georgetown Lancaster Society agreed to contribute annually toward the expenses of the school. Key, who was now the
recorder, or legal adviser, of the municipality of Georgetown,
was one of the first citizens to join the Society, and was placed
on a committee to supervise the building of the school house.
The young lawyer and his colleagues conferred regarding the
plans and specifications; the directions sent from England by
Mr. Lancaster suggested a school building with one room
At the same term of the Supreme Court, Key appeared
in one case as a colleague of his Uncle Philip. In three other
cases he assisted Charles Lee, with whom he had been associated in the defense of Bollman and Swartwout. One wai
an appeal from Georgia over an audit of a sheriff's sale;
another was a suit to rescind a contract for the sale of land
on the ground that one of the parties was not an American
citizen. The third was an appeal from an inquisition taken to
ascertain the value of a parcel of land needed by the Georg©.
town and Alexandria Turnpike Company. Before the finding
of the jury was recorded, the turnpike company succeeded in
having the inquisition quashed by the Circuit Court of thcl
District of Columbia at Alexandria. Curtiss, the land ownoJl
was satisfied with the valuation that had been placed on hill
land and took an appeal. Before the Supreme Court, Key,
counsel for the turnpike company, made the argument that
court must, of necessity, possess control over its own record*!
Such jurisdiction was exercised in England and, he contended,:
71
1
fc—Elected recorder January 4, 1808.
and 1816.
Re-elected 1809, 1810, 1813, 1815,
�72
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
large enough to accommodate three hundred and fifty schol-^
ars. Early in June, 1811, the building committee was ready|
receive proposals for the construction of the school housed
In their advertisements for bids, the committee announced!
that they would gladly accept any "donation of materials"
or any other assistance "which benevolent persons may be iri-j
clined to render." Very soon the comer stone was laid by the|
Mayor in the presence of the trustees and members of thei
Society, members of a lodge of Masons, the Marshal and]
deputies of the District of Columbia, and clergymen o f j
Georgetown and Washington. In November, 1811, the Lan-|
caster School of Georgetown opened its doors — the first free|
school in the District of Columbia. Before long a bill wasij
passed by Congress incorporating the Lancaster School So-'ciety, with Key as one of the incorporators.
CHAPTER V I I I
Clamor f o r War
CONGRESS convened in November, 1811, there
[nt in the House of Representatives a number of aggressive
ppoung members from the West and the South in whose breasts
[dwelt the spirit of American Nationalism. Among these fiery
ijoang Congressmen were Henry Clay of Kentucky, aged
|lhirty-four, who was chosen Speaker of the House; Felix
|jCnmdy of Tennessee, thirty-four; and Jphn C. Calhoun of
j|Soath Carolina, twenty-nine.
The Congress had been in session but a short time before
[die young frontiersmen began their clamor for war with Great
[Britain. War was necessary, they said, to make the British
filop taking seamen from American ships and forcing them
ifato the British service. Strangely enough, while the fireIfcands from the frontier were eager to defend maritime rights,
|.dtt Eastern States — the location of maritime interests — had
fwo desire for war. The reason for this paradox was the fact
• that the people of New England had been prospering from
LAeir commerce and they did not want it blockaded by the
[British Navy.
| W H E N
As a matter of fact, the War Hawks, as the jingoes were
[edled, were being urged by the fur traders of the frontier to
^'declare war against the Nation whose trappers were making
' mroads into their fur trade. The Northwest was anxious to
73
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
CLAMOR FOR WAR
wrest Canada from the British in order to monopolize the^
Indian trade and otherwise exploit the vast area of the fron-.
tier. The South meanwhile dreamed of a conquest of Florida
from Spain.
Francis Scott Key, always an apostle of peace, was de-'
pressed when he heard the shouts for war. He was wholly our
of sympathy with the movement. Looking back on the greats
drama of history, he saw what a scourge wars had been to.,
mankind. He was not a conscientious objector: it was necefrij
sary sometimes, he knew, to fight for self-preservation, as hisl
father had done during the years of the Revolution. But the
saturnalia of crime that passed under the name of war —
legalized murder —human life sacrificed to please the whims
of rulers — brought a shudder to his sensitive soul. Dipping
into Ovid he had been impressed by the warning of Ajax to
Ulysses: he translated into English the speech of the "master
of the sevenfold shield" to the "warrior of the tongue." His.
imagination was stirred when he read of the siege of Troy;and his translation includes these lines:
\, Hawks rang in the halls of Congress. Key kept in touch with
die combat through his Uncle Philip, who had been reelected
to the House in 1808 and again in 1810. The partisan feeling
that prevailed in Washington and Georgetown was at white
heat. Washington Irving, for instance, while on a visit to the
Capital dined with a group of Federalists and heard them
"damning all their opponents as a set of consummate scoundrels, panderers to Bonaparte," but when he dined with the
Republicans he heard them condemn the Federalists as "the
greatest knaves in the Nation, men absolutely suborned by
the British Government."
74
Lo! Troy pours forth again the storm of war,
And sword and spear and torch commingled glare
From her thick ranks — the angry gods are there,
Guiding the fiery tempest to the fleet.
A description quite similar Key was destined soon to
write in his immortal anthem of American patriotism — the
only difference being the substitution of the "rockets' red
glare" and the "bombs bursting in air" for the sword and the
spear and the torch.
All through the Winter of 1811-12 the shouts of the War
75
While the question of war was pending in Congress, Key
came to the Capital to engage in the argument of cases before
the United States Supreme Court. It was the day of prolix
pleaders; and Key was one of the most prolix of them all.
In one of his cases at the 1812 term of the Supreme Court so
tedious were he and his associate, Charles Lee, that the bored
and weary Justices were hopelessly lost in the "cloud of
pleading." Key had instituted the suit for James and John
Dunlop against Postmaster Thomas Munroe of Washington.
The plaintiffs alleged that a letter containing two thousand
dollars had been mailed at Philadelphia to them at Petersburg, Virginia. They claimed that the letter reached Washington and then vanished. They lost their case; and when
their appeal was brought before the Supreme Court their
counsel. Key and Lee, wandered for hours through a labyrinth of technicalities. It is no wonder that the solemn men
on the Bench were confused, i f not exasperated. " I t is necessary," said Justice William Johnson in his opinion, "to dis-
�76
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
sipate the cloud of pleading in which this case is enveloped,!
in order to form a distinct idea of the questions intended tol
be brought to the view of the court below." The object ofl
the suit, said the Associate Justice, was to hold the postmasterl
liable for the loss of two thousand dollars as a result of hip
negligence or the negligence of his assistants. "But," he declared, "unfortunately, as not unfrequently happens in
complex and injudicious mode of conducting a suit, with
the clerical skill displayed by counsel in multiplying the
counts and pointing their bills of exceptions, the principal
questions are really, at last, not brought to the view of
court." But after finding their way out of the smoke-scr
of confusion, the Justice clarified the atmosphere by laying
down the law that in order to hold a postmaster liable for
loss in the mails it must be shown that the loss was the result!
of negligence. And in spite of the maze of arguments pre?!
sented by Key and Lee, the Court saw no evidence of neglij
gence on the part of Postmaster Munroe. Accordingly Key|
and Lee lost their case.
In another case at the 1812 term, Key represented Hea
kiah Wood, a slave owner, in opposing the freedom of thej
children of a free mulatto woman. The Circuit Court for thej
District instructed the jury that the evidence was conclusive
in favor of the freedom of the children. Key appealed; andl
in this case he was opposed by Mr. Lee. Kfey, relying <m
technicalities, advanced the argument that there had been nil
evidence to show that the mulatto woman had been born freip
but only that she was free at the time of a judgment priori
to the case at the bar. Therefore, he pointed out, it had notj
CLAMOR FOR WAR
77
shown that she was free at the time of the birth of her
fchildren. "She might have been manumitted after the birth
lof her children," Key explained, "and so entitled to her free|jom at the time of the judgment, ind yet the petitioners might
un slaves." Chief Justice Marshall accepted Key's condon and reversed the decision of the Circuit Court.
In the midst of his professional duties, Key continued
i ponder over the jingoism of man. He shared the opinion
; (he Federalist leaders that war was unnecessary, unwise,
unrighteous. He followed with particular interest the
I taken against war by the Virginia aristocrat, John RanJph of Roanoke. Opposed to Federalism because he loved
ilhe Commonwealth of Virginia more than a strong Central
fCoverament, he became one of the followers of Thomas
pefferson. Then, falling into a quarrel with Jefferson, he
ffcund himself deserted by the Republicans: but he could
pwer be a Federalist. Later he developed a hatred for Mr.
lUadison and fought him whenever he could. Now in his
jfttirty-ninth year he looked upon himself as a crusader battflmg to save the Nation from destruction.
In spite of his eccentricities, Randolph's extraordinary
fdoquence fashioned the attention of the Nation upon him.
tSx feet tall, with small head, elevated shoulders, and long
ilegs that resembled canes, he made a ludicrous appearance.
I lips were thin, compressed; his dark hair lay close to his
[lead; his eyes had a piercing brightness. He wore a swallowflailed coat with a great array of buttons on his breast and
sdown his back. He usually wore a large white cravat, in
which he sometimes buried his chin as he moved his head
�L.
78
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
in conversation. His waist was so slender that he could j
most span it with his long, bony fingers. His thin legs we
encased in tight breeches and white stockings fastened at I
knees by gold buckles. When he walked he planked his 1
buckled shoes straight ahead like an Indian. The Housej
Representatives looked upon this strange character with all
nate astonishment, disgust, and delight. His high-pit
voice often ended in a shriek; but he was able to modo
the tones so as to charm his audience. He was the most i
ing speaker in American politics.
When Randolph shouted a shrill call to the SpeakerTJ
recognition and leveled his bony finger at one of the me
of the House, it was the signal for an attack of scathing")
nunciation. The scourge he used has been described al
lash made of "thongs that cut deeply and left corroding |
grene in the wounds they made" leaving his victim to
under his merciless attack. Francis Scott Key saw and:
preciated the finer elements in this venemous soul and
stood that they were thwarted by a defect of temper di
soured ambition into petty vanity and arrogance. He <m
looked Randolph's eccentricities; and admired him fori
wonderful intellect, the courage of his convictions, and!
freedom from party spirit. "The temper in his case,"
one of Randolph's biographers, "was not so much an in
able anger, which burst out in self-forgetful fury, as a i
stant, irritable sensitiveness, which stung right and left,]
wasps or scorpions, yet was always under the guidance (
fierce clear vision, planting the dart in the most vulnenl
spot. It had something of the instinct of vindictive tonM
CLAMOR FOR WAR
79
pAieh had come to him through Pocahontas from the Indian
pBCestors in whom he took such pride." Randolph's quick
llanper and stinging sarcasm brought him many enemies. He
riwde the homes of Congressman Key and Francis Scott Key
Jfhces of refuge from the turmoil and bitterness of the
1
I&pitBl.
fe^ Randolph helped the Federalists to oppose the clamor
• war. When the War Hawks contended that it would be
j to accomplish the conquest of Canada as one of the prinaims of the war, Randolph olfered a resolution in the
declaring that under all the circumstances it was ingpedient to resort to war against Great Britain. Key admired
pfe strange man, venomous though he was, for his attitude
war. Like Randolph, he kept hoping until the end
1 America could remain in peace. He recoiled from the
bt of human butchery; it was a disgusting method of
Ittlmg a dispute.
|.
But the noisy War Hawks insisted that the United States
i called on to fight. The mild Mr. Madison, who was a
an of peace like Jefferson, was reluctant to lead the country
pNo war, and delayed committing himself as long as he could.
Ifclbe was ambitious to be renominated by the Republicans;
f a d be was afraid to ignore the young jingoes of his party.
|jR»Dy a delegation from Congress headed by Mr. Clay vis| W the President. Whether or not the President yielded un• r pressure and made a secret bargain with the War Hawks,
fc fact remains that on the 1st of June, 1812, he sent a comstion to the Senate and House recommending that the
:
Bradford, Damaged Souls, 127.
�80
f
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
question of war be given prompt deliberation. He refi
to the "crying enormity" of the insults heaped upon I
United States by Great Britain and declared that "exhai
remonstrances and expostulations" from the United Sl
had been futile. Whether the United States should conl
passive under "these progressive usurpations and these
cumulating wrongs," or should commit the cause into
hands of God by "opposing force to force in defense of
national rights," was a question, Madison said, which
confided by the Constitution to the legislative department
the Government. Mr. Madison, still timidly fearing to
directly for a declaration of war, made the statement that!
felt sure the decision of Congress would be "worthy the
lightened and patriotic councils of a virtuous, a free, andj
powerful nation."
So anxious were the War Hawks for the call to
that, when the Message to Congress came from the
House, they were thrilled with delight. Six of the
Congressmen who sat together at their meals and were
larly known as the "war mess" — Clay and Calhoun, G:
and Langdon Cheves, William Lowndes and Bibb —joi
hands and danced around the room ring-around-the-rosy. j
The question was referred to a committee composed
six Republicans — Calhoun, Grundy, Smilie, Harper,
and Seaver — and two Federalists — Philip Barton Key
Peter B. Porter — and John Randolph of Roanoke, an i
pendent. Mr. Porter was kept home on account of si
The committee presented its report on the 3rd of June;
on the following day the House was prepared to vote for
CLAMOR FOR WAR
81
I of the Federalists except three cast their votes against the
D; but it was passed 79 to 49, the House being overwhelm' Republican.
The bill now went to the Senate. Six Republican Seni voted against it, but it was approved by the vote of
Ho 13.
Thus was America, with but seven vessels in her Navy
I about five thousand men in her Army, brought by jingoi into armed conflict with the greatest Naval power in the
-a conflict which was not wanted by the President
I not wanted by the majority of the American people. The
of the War Hawks had now become the cause of a
party. On June 19, 1812, James Madison signed
^Proclamation formally proclaiming war against Great
In Francis Scott Key's sensitive soul there surged grave
ling. He realized that Mr. Madison and the people
[the country were entirely unprepared for war. And somebe was obsessed by a strange feeling of dread, a prent that grave disaster would befall the Nation.
Then, too, could a follower of the Prince of Peace justify
i most hideous crime against Civilization?
�CHAPTER IX
If This Be Treason
iS SOON AS Congress voted for war, the minority meml—including Key's Uncle Philip — issued a warning to
1 country that the conquest of Canada was problematical,
yiew of the smallness of American military and naval
5; that Great Britain was in a position to devastate the
pAdantic seaboard; and that she would do so, if American
gtroops invaded Canada.
i
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
At the ape of 3S
On June 20, 1812 —just two days after war was deftbred- the Federal Republican, a newspaper published in
iMtunore by Alexander C. Hanson and Jacob Wagner,
|printed an editorial denouncing the National Administration.
Ill was like a spark set to dynamite. Two days after the publi^odon of the editorial, a mob wrecked the printing office,
[ikis, however, did not daunt the publishers: they soon made
; arrangements to have their newspaper printed in Georgetown. Before the close of July, Hanson mustered courage
' enough tc return to Baltimore and to distribute his papers
from a house on Charles Street. A short while after, Key
kard that another mob had gathered, broken into the house,
pillaged it, seized Hanson and a group of his friends and
? locked them in jail. Key further learned that the jail was
tformed at night, and the prisoners brutally attacked. General
James M. Lingan, an intimate friend of Key, who was mixed
83
�84
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
up in the affair, died as a result of that brutality. The
der of the General came as a severe shock to Key. It 1
in his heart a deep abhorrence for party spirit. Along
Taney and Arthur Shaaff, he served as trustee, under
General's will, for the settlement of his estate.
It was not long before opposition to the war began
blaze in open defiance in New England. Pamphlets, cond
ing the Administration, were widely circulated. One of
entitled Mr. Madison s War, was written pseudonymouslyj
John Lowell of Boston, who took the position that
Britain deserved to be excused for any objectionable
ures on the sea, since she was in the throes of combat
Napoleon. Even the Pulpit indulged in vitriolic haran
some even proposing Secession!
Moreover, Great Britain was not eager for war with
United States. Preoccupied with her colossal struggle
Napoleon, then at the zenith of his power, the Britishgarded the American declaration of war like the feeble.!
of an infant; nevertheless, the British Government anno
that all rights of American seamen would be protected
United States would take measures to prevent British
from enlisting on American ships. But the American
felt that they were obliged to wage war in order to upj
the position of the Republican party in favor of war.
gress authorized President Madison to issue a call to
the Army and to hold the Militia in readiness to defi
seacoast and the frontier.
As the months went by, the Federalist resistance
war grew more determined. The bolder Federalist 1
IF THIS BE TREASON
85
luisted that the Republicans had led the country into war
without just cause; that the American people had never fawed it; and that they had a right to refuse to engage in hostilities that were unjustifiable.
In Key's native State of Maryland, as in most of the
Eastern States, there was widespread sentiment against the
Many of the political leaders recommended that militory operations should be limited to defensive measures.
Benjamin Stoddert, a veteran of the Revolution, and the first
Seetetary of the Navy, and a friend of Key, started a boom
fer Chief Justice Marshall, as a candidate to oppose Madison
fcr President, as the Chief Justice was known to have opposed
I K declaration of war.
In Frederick County the Federalist party split into two
hoitSc camps: one accused Madison of going to war to keep
Republican party in power and swore vengeance upon
; the other, while regretting the declaration of war as a
blunder, decided to subordinate party to country and
by the President. The Federalist supporters of the war
nicknamed Goodies; and Taney, because he was one of
leaders, was called King Coody. The schism in the
ist party at Frederick Town led to a rupture between
and John Hanson Thomas, which was not healed until
Thomas lay on his death-bed in 1815.
^ Key was in a quandary. He was not absolutely a conMdous objector to war; he was willing to don the uniform
Aoulder a musket, i f necessary, to help defend the counfrom invasion. But he was essentially a man of peace.
I U D war was abhorrent: it was brutal, un-Christian, and
�FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
86
absurd. He was sorry that political leaders were so eager i
rush into hostilities, instead of settling their disputes by me
of arbitration.
By this time Key had won the admiration as well as I
friendship of Congressman John Randolph. This strange i
often visited at the Key home, and he became very fond j
Mrs. Key and the children. Randolph used to chat by
hour on politics, literature, and religion. He possessed!
rich vocabulary and a ready wit, could quote with ease
the Latin, and had a keen grasp of affairs. So thorou
had the War Hawks exasperated him that he thought of i
dining to run again for Congress. Key, however, consot
him; flattered him for his unselfish public service; and urg
him to run for reelection. So Randolph did run again,
he met with defeat.
In sheer disgust the defeated Congressman retired i
his log cabin in the woods, which he gave the name
Roanoke. On May 10, 1813, he sat down in his cabin
addressed a letter to his friend at Georgetown.
Dear Frank: For so, without ceremony, permit me J
to call you. — he began.—Among the few causes that
I find for regret at my dismissal from public life there -l
is none in comparison with the reflection that it has
separated me — perhaps forever — from some who J
have a strong hold on my esteem and on my affections . . . on every other account, I have cause of selfcongratulation at being disenthralled from a servitude . j
at once irksome and degrading. The grapes are not ' ^
sour — you know the manner in which you always
combated my wish to retire. Although I have not,
like you, the spirit of a martyr, yet I could not but
allow great force to your representations. To say the
I F THIS BE TREASON
87
Sr. truth, a mere sense of duty alone might have been insufficient to restrain me from indulging the very strong
inclination which I have felt for many years to return
ir'- to private life. I t is now gratified in a way that takes
from me every shadow of blame. No man can reproach me with the desertion of my friends, or the
abandonment of my post in a time of danger and of
^ trial
I am again free, as it respects the public at
| least, and have but one more victory to achieve — to
jF- be so in the true sense of the word. Like yourself and
F' Mr. Meade, I cannot be contented to do good for goodness' sake, or rather for the sake of the Author of all
goodness. In spite of me, I cannot help feeling something very like contempt for my poor foolish fellowjjp. mortals, and would often consign them to Bonaparte
in this world, and the Devil, his master, in the next;
but these are but temporary fits of misanthropy, which
soon give way to better and juster feelings.
Randolph closed his letter by asking Key to look after
; gun, flask, and shot-belt, and a trunk f u l l of books and
which he had carelessly left at his hotel in GeorgeKey had already found Randolph's rifle and trunk of
ijppers and had anticipated the request to care for them. I n
Sktbe had already written about them; but as he directed his
Ifcter to Farmville instead of Charlotte Court House, Ranglolph's postoffice address, the letter was not delivered into
|Bindolph's hands until the 21st of May. At the same time
iKqr tried to console his friend, tried to show him the philjjjMphy of defeat; and moreover ventured the belief that the
fpeople of Virginia were growing fonder of the war as the
||Rparations advanced.
Penning a reply on the following day, Randolph said:
�88
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
IF THIS BE TREASON
89
" I have read your letter again and again, and cannot expr
' tcquentes. To me it seemed just such a shelter as I should
to you how much pleasure the perusal has given me."
:wish to creep under,
reiterated that he had been nauseated by the members of
House of Representatives.
"To be under the dominion
such wretches as (with a few exceptions) composed
A boundless contiguity of shade,
Where rumor of oppression and deceit
Might never reach me more.
majority," he said, "was intolerably irksome to my feelings;
and although my present situation is far from enviable, 1^
feel the value of the exchange." He had fought the good fightjj
he acquiesced in the decision; but he would now stand ale
from the bedside of his delirious country. But did the peoplef
really want war? No! "You are mistaken," he assured Kej;-§
"in supposing that 'we Virginians like the war better the]
nearer it approaches us'; so far from it, there is a great]
change in the temper of this State, and even in this District,!
paradoxical as it may seem, against the war. More than halfj
of those who voted against me, were persuaded that I waij
the cause of the war; that the Government wished for peace."
Randolph explained in conclusion that his young relative,
i
r;
'i
Theodore B. Dudley, who had just received his M.D. degree.
in Philadelphia, and had come down to visit him, served to
cheer the solitude in which he was plunged. "He desires to
be remembered to you," said the gloomy man. "Present ray
best love to Mrs. Key and the little folks."
From this time on a constant flow of letters passed between the Georgetown advocate and the lonely man at Roan-'
oke. Francis Scott Key was tireless in his effort to cheer the
discouraged Virginian: "I could not help smiling at thei
painting you have given me of Roanoke — laudat diverse
After all, was not Randolph in his rustic retreat better off
than most people? Especially now, when the demons of hate
were abroad in the land. Key had just been reading about
the invasion of Canada by the United States troops. As the
Americans were advancing on York (then a town of eight
hundred people; now the city of Toronto) a magazine exploded killing more than two hundred American soldiers, including General Zebulon Montgomery Pike. But the invading
army, undaunted by the disaster, continued their attack and
finally captured and pillaged the town of York and burned
the Parliament House there.
How often it happens in life that two men think they
would like to trade places with each other! Randolph envying Key, and Key envying Randolph! " I do not wish you so
ill as to see you banished to this Sinope; and yet," said Randolph, "to see you here would give me exceeding great pleasure. Every blessing attend you."
As the troops were waging their campaign along the
Niagara frontier, Key was passing through the gloomiest and
most discouraging period of his career. Many of his friends
were entering the Army and the Navy. Activity in most lines
of business was retarded. Litigation was greatly reduced.
Key's income had fallen away. It was during the gloom of
�91
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
IF THIS BE TREASON
the Summer of 1813 that he gave serious consideration to thei
plan of foresaking the legal profession for the ministry. Or,^
if this course was impractical, he thought of seeking a posi-l
tion as teacher. Or, if there appeared no opening in a faculty,^
he might even resort to politics. Never in all his life had he A
sunk so far into the slough of discouragement.
ion Randolph received his letter —Key, still pondering over
the comparative prospects of the pulpit, the school room,
and the political arena, volunteered to join the District of
Columbia militia. He still felt, like the majority of the
Federalist leaders, that the War Hawks should not have
plunged the Nation into war; but a British squadron commanded by Admiral Cockburn had been plundering a number of towns along the Chesapeake, and the marauders were
already repulsed in their attacks on Norfolk and Portsmouth;
be saw the expediency of doing what he could to defend
Washington and Georgetown from the possibility of invasion.
Tbe Georgetown Field Artillery, which had been organized
by his friend George Peter as a part of the District Militia,
.wasnow practising. In this company Key enlisted as matross.
90
It was a pity that Key's God was a God of Wrath — not f!
a God of Love. He was steeped in superstition. And this ex-M
plains why at times he was a man of faltering courage. He|
had no need to fear the wolf at the door; the Keys were!
people of means; and his wife came of a family of wealthand influence. Besides, just before the close of 1813 Keyf
took possession of an estate of more than 700 acres of fertile 1
Maryland soil. It was composed of portions of four tracts^
one of them known as Terra Rubra —the name by whictl
Key's farm became popularly known. He paid for it $8,500;^
and in order to conclude the transaction he borrowed $5,000J
from his Uncle Philip. Yet when he saw the ominous clouds^
of war he threw up his hands in despair. Other men, withl
fewer opportunities, and with prospects just as gloomy, were]
courageously fighting their battles; but Key could see no^
silver lining to the cloud on the horizon. His faith failed him
when he needed it most. Physically and morally courageous,^
he fell a victim to discouragement when it seemed that Fate"t
was against him. He did not radiate optimism in days del
darkness. He was too sanctimonious, too depressed, to be'
happy.
1
So the despondent Georgetown lawyer wrote to Ran-^
dolph for his advice. But on July 15, 1813 —two days be- ^
John Randolph was reluctant to offer advice to his diseouraged friend. He did think, however, that Frank was
Aoroughly qualified either for the school room or the pulpit.
"I heartily wish," said the former Congressman, "that I were
qualified in any shape to advise you'on the subject of a new
I calling in life. Were I Premier, I should certainly translate
' you to the see of Canterbury; and if I were not too conscious
of my utter incompetency, I should like to take a professordiip in some college where you were principal; for, like you,
my occupation (tobacco-making) is also gone. Some sort
of employment is absolutely necessary to keep me from expiring with ennui...
In fact, this business of living is, like
Mr. Barlow's reclamations on the French Government, dull
1
Ij—Jod Barlow, a native of Connecticut, was appointed Minister to France'
in 1811. He was one of the few men of letters of his day to receive
diplomatic posts. He died in Poland in 1812.
�fr
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
IF THIS BE TREASON
work; and I possess so little of pagan philosophy, or
Christian patience, as frequently to be driven to the b:
of despair. 'The uses of this world have long seemed to
stale, flat, and unprofitable'; but I have worried along,
a worn-out horse in a mail coach, by dint of habit and wl
cord, and shall at last die in the traces, running the same du
stage day after day." Referring to the deplorable conditi
of the country, Randolph declared he was happy to n
that never, during a period of eight years, had he faltered n
his opposition to the National Administration. " I predicted;
he said, "the result which has ensued. The length of tinS
and vast efforts which were required to hunt me down, coihj
vince me that the cordial co-operation of a few friends wouldj
have saved the Republic. Sallust, I think, says, speaking
the exploits of Rome, 'Egregiam virtutem paucorum civium
cuncta pairavisse'; and if those who ought to have put theirj
shoulders to the work, had not made a vain parade of d»l
interestedness in returning to private life, all might have been <
saved. But the delicacy and timidity of some, and the ver^
satility of others, insured the triumph of the court and the
ruin of the country."
Another month of anxiety passed. Key was in the depths
[ of melancholy. He thought that i f the war dragged on much
longer he would have to seek some employment in a church
or a school or probably join the Regular Army. But there
was one thing of which he was sure: he would most certainly
not run for public office. The trenchant, often scurrilous attacks of politicians were exceedingly distasteful to him; electioneering was anything but pleasant; and politics in general
was permeated with corruption. Coincident with his decision
to keep aloof from politics there burst into his soul a ray
of hope: he would trust in the guidance of Providence; he
would "take no thought of the morrow." In an hour of gloom
be had found courage. This is how he unburdened his soul
to the lonely man at Roanoke:
92
1
Key might have been qualified to teach or preach; but he
was not fit for the life of a soldier. While he was but thirtyfour, vigorous and active, he was unfamiliar with military
tactics and unaccustomed to military discipline. He had
scarcely joined the Georgetown Field Artillery before he was
ready to withdraw. He retired from the company on the 26th
of July. His military service in 1813 covered a period of
twelve days!
93
I suppose Stanford told you that I was half inclined to turn politician. I did feel something like it —
but the fit is over. I shall, I hope, stay quietly here,
and mind my business as long as it lasts. I have
troubled myself enough with thinking what I should
do — so I shall try to prepare myself for whatever may
appear plainly to be my duty. That I must make some
change, if the war lasts much longer (as I think it
will), is very probable; but whether it shall be for a
station civil, military, or clerical, I will not yet determine. To be serious, I believe that a man who does not
follow his own inclinations, and choose his own ways,
but is willing to do whatever may be appointed for
him, will have his path of life chosen for him and
shown to him, and I trust this is not enthusiasm....
In September, 1813, came Commodore Oliver H. Perry's
victory on Lake Erie, followed by his memorable despatch
to General William Henry Harrison: "We have met the enemy
�FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
I F THIS BE TREASON
and they are ours." Perry's victory brought great rejoicing
as much as has ever fallen to the life of one man? There
seems to be a law of the Muses for it. I was always provoked with him for writing more than his first. The
top of Parnassus is a point, and there he was, and
should have been content. There was no room to
saunter about on i t ; if he moved, he must descend;
and so it has turned out, and he is now (as the Edinburgh Reviewers say of poor Montgomery) "wandering
about oh the lower slopes of i t . "
94
in the United States; bonfires and illuminations lighted up
the country as a tribute to the hero of the hour. But neither
Francis Scott Key nor John Randolph of Roanoke was able
to derive any consolation from the news of victory. Randolph
insisted that nothing could change his conviction that thei
Nation was steadily heading toward destruction.
He told'
Key that Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie would
have no effect except to "add another year to the life of thes
But the Muses did not hold his attention completely. The
war was now upon his mind. He writes:
war."
Replying to one of Randolph's letters Key announced]
the latest arrival in the rapidly growing family. Mrs. Keyi
gave birth in September, 1813, to another child, a boy, named ' |
Edward Lloyd Key. He was the sixth. The eldest child,
Elizabeth, was now nearly ten years old. On this occasion I
Key discussed the merits of Sir Walter Scott, and indirecdy |
reverted to the "law of the Muses" — as i f he were lifting the
veil of the future and predicting the legacy of his own Muse i
to his country — that a poet never writes more than one great ]
epic poem.
His letter reveals his apprehensions for thej
future:
As to Sir Walter Scott, I have always thought
he was sinking in every successive work. He is sometimes himself again in Marmion and the Lady of the
Lake; but when I read these, and thought of the Lay
of the Last Minstrel, it always seemed to me that "hushed
was the harp—the
minstrel gone." I believe I am
singular in this preference, and it may be that I was
so "spell-bound" by the "witch notes" of the first, that
I could never listen to the others. . . . But does it not
appear that to produce one transcendently fine epic poem is
95
The opposition making to the Administration
may succeed (though I do not think it can); but if it
did I should hope but little from i t ; and that, because
party, it would be beaten again immediately; for of two
it is the opposition of a party. I f it is the honestest
contending factions, the worst must be, generally, successful. This is just as plain to me as that of two
gamesters; he who cheats most will commonly win the
game. We should therefore, I think, burn the cards, or
give up the game of party, and then, I believe, the
knaves might be made the losers. "Keep up party and
party spirit" should be (if they have any sense) the
first and great commandment of the Administration
to its followers. . . . Suppose some ruinous and abominable measure, such as a French Alliance, is proposed
by the Government; will the scolding of the Federalists in Congress gain any of the well-meaning but mistaken and prejudiced friends of the Administration,
and induce them to oppose it? W i l l not such persons,
on the contrary, be driven to consider it a party question, and the clamor and opposition of these persons,
as a matter of course? W i l l men listen to reasonings
against it, judge of it impartially, and see its enormity,
who are blinded by party spirit? But let such men as
Cheves or Lowndes, men who are not party men, or
who will leave their party when they think them
�97
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
IF THIS BE TREASON
wrong; let them try if conciliation, and a plain and
temperate exposure of the measure, will not be effectual ; and it is certainly reasonable to expect it would.
I am, besides, inclined to think that the worst men of
a party will be uppermost in i t : and if so, there would,
perhaps, be no great gain from a change. If every man
would set himself to work to abate, as far as possible,
this party spirit; if the people could be once brought
to require from every candidate a solemn declaration,
that he would act constitutionally according to his own
judgment, upon every measure opposed, without considering what party advocated or opposed it (and I :
cannot think that such a ground would be unpopular),
its effect woud be, at least, greatly diminished. This
course might not, it is possible, succeed in ordinary
times, and when this spirit is so universally diffused
and inflamed; but we are approaching to extraordinary
times, when serious national affliction will appease this
spirit, and give the people leistire and temper to reflect.
Something too might then be done towards promoting a reformation of habits and morals, without which
nothing of any lasting advantage can be expected.
Could such an Administration as this preserve its
power, if party spirit was even considerably lessened?
And is it too much to expect? If so, there is nothing,
I think, to be done but to submit to the punishment
that Providence will bring upon us, and to hope that
that will cure us. I am, you will think, full of this
subject.
96
iHidison, was a chastisement sent by a God of Wrath upon
fAe American people for their wickedness.
It was obvious to Key that i f righteousness exalts t l
Nation then its corollary must be true that divine punishmeatj
is speedily inflicted upon a sinful Nation. Key had read ia
the Old Testament that when the Israelites became disobediatfl
they were visited with plagues. Accordingly he believed tht*
depression, which set in after the War Proclamation of Mt*
Mr. Randolph thoroughly agreed with Key that America
fwia approaching a crisis; that the only hope of salvation
i Was the suppression of partisanship and the reform of morals.
1*1 have a great mind to publish your letter," Randolph de|<lared. " I f any thing could do good, that, I am certain, would
lopen the eyes of many, as many, at least, as would read it.
fBtt I have no faith, and cannot be saved
How can a fooliVtk spendthrift young man be prevented from ruining himjftdf? How can you appoint a guardian to a people bent on
•'«If>destruction? The state of society is radically vicious.
It is there, if at all, that the remedy should be applied."
Randolph had read in the press that Charles Sterritt
[Ridgely had gone down to defeat, although he had made the
lU^test run on his own ticket. Randolph regretted Ridgely's
: defeat from the standpoint of his need by his party in the
slegislature; but for Ridgely's own sake he was gratified be|caase he was better off out of the maelstrom of politics. " I
i convinced," Randolph repeated to Key, "that it is best
for him and his; and I am inclined to think no worse for the
; wantry."
r
And so the views of the gloomy lawyer at Georgetown
| | n d the still gloomier politician at Roanoke coincided ref j n d i n g the vicious condition of society. But Key still held
rftihope that the people would reform, would thereby appease
[Cod, and ultimately save the country from annihilation.
: His next letter to Randolph contained his formula for the
Ration's salvation:
�98
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
IF THIS BE TREASON
Key to Randolph
I believe, nay, I am sure, that such a course, if honestly attempted, would succeed and save us. God bless
you.
Georgetown,
November 27, 1813.
My dear Friend —
I have heard indirectly that you are still sick. I hope
this attack will not be such an one as you had at my
uncle's. Pain and sickness are sad companions any
where, but particularly in the country. It is hard to
feel them and think them the trifles that (compared
to other things) they certainly are. He alone who
sends them can give us strength and faith to bear them
as we ought. I wish you every relief — but above all,
this.
Let me hear from you as often as you can. Your
letters may be short, but I shall not find them "meagre"
Maryland is in great agitation about the Allegany election. The returned members will take their
seats, and when they have elected the Governor and
Council, then their right to their seats will be tried.
This piece of jockeyship will degrade and ruin the party for ever. Perhaps it is well it should be so; the
more each party disgraces itself the better.
I agree exactly with you, that "the state of society
is radically vicious," and that it is there that the remedy is to be applied. Put down party spirit; stop the
corruption of party elections; legislate not for the next
elections, but for the next century; build Lancaster
schools in every hundred, and repair our ruined
churches; let every country gentleman of worth become a justice of the peace, and show his neighbors
what a blessing a benevolent, religious man is; and let
the retired patriot, who can do nothing else, give his
country his prayers, and often in his meditations "think
on her who thinks not for herself" — "egregia virtus
paucorum," &c. I often think of your apt quotation.
99
Your friend,
F. S. KEY
Before the end of the Summer of 1813 the American
commanders had formulated plans for an expedition to
Montreal. It was believed that i f they could secure control
of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, they could wrest Canada
from the British Empire. In October, General William Henry
Harrison won undisputed control of Lake Erie; but the
Americans never won supremacy on Lake Ontario. The population of the United States was more than 7,000,000, while
that of Canada was scarcely 400,000; but the United States
had gone to war with incompetent leaders and was largely
dependent upon the Militia, always an undependable force
in time of war. Then, too, the divergence of views of the
political leaders confused the minds of the people. Thoulands of American citizens opposed recruiting, refused to
wbscribe to the war loans, and indeed took steps that were
little less than treason. There was confusion in the minds of
the soldiers; and inefficiency in the military forces resulted.
Francis Scott Key heard with disgust the news of the proposal
to send troops across the Canadian border to capture Montreal. He regarded a punitive expedition as altogether unnecessary and villainous.
As Winter approached, the American troops abandoned
the invasion. Key was overjoyed. He wrote Randolph that
be would rather see the American flag, which he had always
�100
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
looked upon as an ensign of Liberty, lowered in disgrace than
have it stand for persecution and dishonor. "The people ofj
Montreal," exclaimed Key, "will enjoy their firesides for this,'
and I trust for many a winter. This I suppose is treason, but,
as your Patrick Henry said, ' I f it be treason, I glory in the.
name of traitor.' I have never thought of those poor creature^
without being reconciled to any disgrace or defeat of o
arms."
In bold language did Francis Scott Key enter his pro*!
test against war of aggression. And it struck a responsive!
chord in the heart of John Randolph, who in November had!
left his retreat at Roanoke to spend the Winter in Richmond.]
So delighted was he with Key's attitude concerning the ex-|
pedition into Canada that he wrote Congressman JosiahJ
Quincy of Massachusetts, who had opposed the war, that he!
was glad to find "one righteous man" on their side. He re-i
ferred to the pious lawyer at Georgetown. It is obvious, there-;
fore, that Key was still disgusted with the war policies of the"
Madison Administration. He did not want to embarrass the
Government; but he was reluctant to aid a cause that appeared
to him vicious and absurd. John Randolph continued to insist, as he stated to Mr. Quincy, that the motives of the War
Hawks in plunging the United States into war were more contemptible than the stand taken by North's Administration
against the American Colonies at the time of the Revolution.
CHAPTER X
The Voice of Washington
:
? A T THE beginning of the year 1813, as the war clouds
grew blacker and more ominous, Francis Scott Key was writ' ing an oration for Washington's Birthday. The invitation to
speak on this anniversary came to him from the Washington
Society of Alexandria. This Society had been organized on
January 14, 1800, one month after Washington's death, by
his neighbors and friends who wished to perpetuate the memory of the Nation's hero, whom they loved.
J
It was a distinction to deliver the anniversary oration
-before this Society, whose members were very prominent
men, including Chief Justice Marshall. The list of orators
in previous years included George Washington Parke Custis,
Charles Fenton Mercer, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Robert Goodlow Harper, and others well known for their forensic ability.
When Key received the invitation to address the Washington Society, he realized that his audience would include
many of the neighbors and friends who had intimately known
the Father of his Country, and he felt his lack of ability to
do justice to a eulogy of Washington. Nevertheless he decided
to use the invitation as an opportunity to proclaim his convictions regarding the deplorable condition into which the
American people had fallen as a result of their vice and
stupidity.
101
�102
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
And so it was natural that Key fell upon Washington'!
Farewell Address as the subject for his oration. This legaef|
of advice had been issued to the people of the United StateSI
just a few weeks after Key was graduated from St. John'Si
College; and, in the years that followed, the young lav
drew from it inspiration that guided him in the compositifl
of his anthems and other utterances of American patriotism|
It was too lengthy to analyze and interpret in its entir
All he would undertake would be to discuss Washington^
observations on Religion and Morality — "these great Pill
of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of ]
and Citizens."
As Key studied the great document of Americanisn^
which had been issued to the people after years of deliben>j
tion, he realized more than ever what sage truths it contained,!
and how it served as a beacon light in times of deepest gloonya
such as the period through which the people were than pasKj
ing. How true was Washington's unheeded warning agaimt]
the fury of party spirit! No wiser words of advice have been]
given to the people of the new generation, even if Washing?!
ton could have stepped from his tomb and uttered them i i
person. Was not his denunciation of party spirit borne O t
O?
by the events of the past year? " I t serves always to distradj
the Public Councils, and enfeebles the Public administratioa.J
— It agitates the community with i l l founded jealousies
false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part again
another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection."
Francis Scott Key agreed also with Washington that t t i j
true policy of the United States was "to steer clear of pef»3i
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
103
•anent alliances, 'with any portion of the foreign world."
Be saw the wisdom of avoiding anything that might "entangle
ear peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition,
tmlship, interest, humour, or caprice." But his time was so
limited, that he determined not to amplify this part of the
Tarewell Address but simply to repeat the great chieftain's
«vn words of warning against "the mischiefs of foreign intrigue." The young lawyer believed that this solemn warning
was "inestimable," but he realized that to do justice to a discassion of it was a task too great for the limited time available for his speech. He did take the occasion, however, to
opress his belief that Washington's Farewell Address was
prophetic in its vision of the perils of the future. He believed
that the solemn warning against entangling alliances with
foreign countries would be just as applicable a century in
tbe future as when it was written. And so he hoped that the
admonitions of the Farewell Address would continue to be
"at all times and under all dangers" the guide and the refuge
and the preservation of "the remotest of our descendants."
The gist of Key's oration was the belief held by Washfegton that the only salvation of the people lay in themselves:
any form of government was but a means to an end; it could
•ever be better than the ethos of the people.
The building where the oration was to be delivered on
tbe 22nd day of February, 1814, was the Presbyterian Meetfeg House, whose thick brick walls and heavy hand-hewn
roof timbers had been erected forty years before by the hardy
Scotch-Irish pioneers of Alexandria. It was large enough to
accommodate several hundred people.
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
The audience saw a youthful orator of slender and*
medium height. He had a mass of heavy dark brown cuilji
hair. His large eyes were expressive of earnestness. His voice*!
was pleasing, his gestures graceful.
[the iniquity that had brought down the chastisement from the
Ifcooe in Heaven.
104
i-
The speaker began with a few introductory remarbj
about the appalling condition of the country; and he gave al
hint of a presentiment — "the still more awful anticipation!
of approaching calamity" — declaring his conviction that the]
American people would need "patient courage, pious sub-lj
mission, and humble enquiry into the means of preservation."
Key came by this notion naturally. It was the faith of hi»|
father and mother. His mother said in one of her letters:]
"When I reflect how much we deserve and require chastise-1
ment, I cannot but see impending judgments greater than has *
yet befallen us." He now expressed in public his belief that
"the common guilt" had brought down "the common punish-1
ment" as a scourge from the God of Wrath.
He then proceeded to eulogize the immortal Virginian,"
whom he called "the Deliverer and the Father of his Coun-1
try." But he soon turned to the Farewell Address and, in a^
few moments, to that special injunction which Key picked
out as the most vital of all— the maintenance of Religion :
and Morality. Here he emphasized again his opinion in re-:
gard to the Nation's affliction. With serious countenance and i
a voice that gave evidence of deep emotion, he said that thei
arm of the Almighty had been raised in wrath against the^
people of the United States and that accordingly they were"
now suffering "under Divine correction." The imperative !
duty of the Republic, therefore, was to repent and to banish
105
The oration closed with a discussion of the relationship
llrtween Religion and Patriotism. "Love of country," said
j , "springs from religion.... and is ever nourished by
• influence." The true patriot like George Washington serves
lcountry and his God; the politician all too often is a seeker
power and fame rather than the welfare of his native
But quotations hardly do justice to Key's classic oraHere is the full text:
The return of this day, in times like these, presents
ns with a new and affecting proof of the uncertainty
of all human expectations, of the vanity stamped upon
every work and purpose and device of man.
A nation in the pride of its triumph, in the exultation of prosperity, sets apart the birth day of its deliverer as a day of national festivity, and decrees that its
annual return shall be welcomed by acclamations of
joy, and be the signal of universal gladness. But alas!
a few short years pass away, and the pride of triumph
and the exultation of prosperity are gone. The feelings
that once prompted the song of deliverance and the
voice of thanksgiving are dead.
In the gloom of present distress, in the still more
awful anticipation of approaching calamity, the usual
exhibition of national rejoicing would be impossible.
A period arrives in which patient courage, pious submission, and humble enquiry into the means of preservation, are the virtues demanded of us.
That all the vicissitudes of human affairs are ordered and controlled by the Almighty Governor of the
world, who means, in all his dispensations, mercy to
man, is a truth we coldly acknowledge; but how faintly
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
do we feel it? How little do we manifest by our conduct the influence upon our hearts?
Hence, when affliction is sent among a people, we
are all too ready to charge it exclusively upon those to
whose fault or folly we choose to impute it, and each
man deems himself an innocent sufferer for the offence
of others. And hence those mutual revilings and reproaches which shew a spirit unsoftened by adversity,
which present neither remedy nor alleviation, but serve
to aggravate the common guilt and the common punishment.
If, then, in the dark and evil times that have come
upon us, this day must lose its brightness; if the sad
and dispirited heart seeks in vain to be revived by the
recollections it excites, it will become us to observe it
with a solemnity, suited to the circumstances in which
it finds. I f it may no longer give unmixed delight it
may teach us wisdom, may prompt u^ to timely consideration, and prepare us for the trials we may be
called on to endure.
I shall not endeavor to distress you by a display of
the fall of our national prosperity, the causes which
produced, or the consequences to be expected from i t ;
nor shall I enter into a discussion of the many questions that occupy and disturb the public mind.
Was I to speak of these things, I should speak of
them as they are, and it would be a task, I hope, as repugnant to the feelings of those, by whose request I
have the honor to address you, as to my own, to excite
in your minds those portentous forebodings, which at
times fill and agitate my own bosom, which I feel to
be adverse to my own peace, and the discharge of my
own duties, and which I therefore strive to repress.
This day is here celebrated by a Society formed for
no low or ordinary purpose, seeking no political distinction or emolument, seeking nothing for itself, but
aiming with a substantial and devoted patriotism, to
promote the good of all our country, by actual works
of beneficence. A Society, which, if these were not its
motives and its views, would be put to shame by the
name which it has assumed.
I have thought that he who speaks to you at such a
time, under such a sanction, should not be emulous of
that distinction which is to be obtained by sounding the
praises of one sect of politicians-and denouncing another; that the speaker of a Society bearing the name
of your Washington, a Society loving that name to
enthusiasm, professing and cherishing his principles,
imitating his example, should not be so unmindful of
that name, of those principles, of that example, as to
minister, at such a time, and in such a place, to the
pride or passion of party-feeling, and avow allegiance
to any thing less than his country? And I have the
gratification of believing that such a discharge of the
duty I have undertaken is neither expected nor desired
by those who have condescended to call me here.
To give due honor to the illustrious object of our
regard; to call up his image before you; to awaken
your recollections of his worth, of his zeal and devotion to your service; to select, from the innumerable
proofs of his affection, some signal and useful token of
his love; and to make the memory of what he was,
even now that he is no more, a continual defence and
blessing to us; these are subjects well suited to the
proper commemoration of this day; to these considerations I would lead you.
To do honor to the name of Washington; to awaken
the glowing recollections of his countrymen; to warm,
with those recollections, the hearts of those who were
not only his countrymen, but his neighbors and associates — Is this the task I have undertaken ? and can
I hope to fulfill these expectations? Where is the human eloquence that shall be found equal to such a
subject? Shall it be displayed in exhibiting to your
view the bright course of a long and honorable life,
the assemblage of all the varieties of virtue which have
constituted him your hero, your patriot, the Deliverer
and the Father of his Country!
106
107
�108
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
Is his worth to be thus sought after, are his services
to be thus enumerated? No, my friends! the excellence
of your Washington is of no common character: I t is
that excellence that makes panegyric poor, that defies
description, that overpowers eloquence.
This part of my duty is done—I call the feelings
that are now glowing in your bosoms to witness that
it is done, and "bid them speak for me." They have
paid a ready tribute of affection and of reverence that
I should be ashamed to attempt to express. The name
of Washington has been sounded in your ears—at
that sound where is the heart that is not kindled into
rapture, where is the eye whose glance does not confess it? Can words, poor words, do justice to these
feelings? Can I give language to that which the coldest bosom must feel to be too big for utterance? The
memory of man can receive no higher homage, a mortal name cannot be more ennobled than when at the
mere utterance of that name, as if a magic spell had
been pronounced, the tide of transport rushes from every heart, and throbs through every vein of all who hear
it. Let the advocate of false greatness, the asserter of
a doubtful fame, the encomiast of successful ambition,
let him exhaust the embellishments of rhetoric to blazen forth a worth which is neither seen nor felt, and
to warm with some artificial heat the unaffected minds
of his hearers; but let him who speaks to you of your
departed chief remember that he cannot be exalted in
your affections, let him name the name of Washington,
and catching the contagious impulse it has excited,
join you in the reverential homage of the heart.
In the midst of these contemplations, I trust, we
shall all remember the high and solemn duty they so
obviously suggest to us. That in a time of great national calamity a deliverer was appointed to us, that
he was gifted with every quality required by every
emergency, guarded for our sakes in the midst of danger, and preserved to establish us in peaceful security.
That we have even yet left to us the benefit of his ex-
ample, the deathless glory of his name and the inestimable excellency of his principles—these are blessings which a kind providence has bestowed upon us,
and for which gratitude and praise cannot be withheld without impiety.
Let us then not be unmindful of this national duty,
let us sanctify the commemoration of this day by this
"reasonable and acceptable service."
It is not merely for some temporary purpose and
only for the benefit of the age in which he lives, that
Heaven in compassion to the necessities of a people,
vouchsafes to raise up a great and favored man in their
defence. The good as well as "the evil men do, lives
after them," — and never was richer inheritance bequeathed by expiring Patriot to his country than we
have received from ours. Lasting as his name will be
the blessings achieved for us by his life if we are not
wanting to ourselves — in that name alone he has left
a defence and a perpetual excitement to the highest efforts of patriotism. I f the native of England may justly boast that —
"Chatham's language was his mother tongue,
And Wolfe's great name compatriot with his own"
what should be his exultation who remembers that,
in the name of American, he bears a title ennobled by
the deeds of Washington? Deeds which asserted and
established his country's pre-eminence over the proudest and greatest nation upon earth, in that conflict,
when
— " A l l the budding honors on her crest,
Were cropt to make a garland for our own."
Nor has he left us only his name: I trust he never
felt the chilling thought that that name would be forgotten or disregarded; but he well knew that even
those who might feel the sincerest veneration for it
would be frail and fallible, subject to the assaults of
passion, the arts of prejudice, and all the various
sources of error which might make their efforts, how-
109
�110
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
ever well intended, worse than useless. He has provided for this, and I have chosen a subject for our re-i
flections this day from that instance of anxiety for our"
welfare, which I consider the consummation of his ^
character.
I allude to that last and most interesting act of his •
official life, when, on his retirement from the govern-|
ment, to the humbler duties of a private station, hemade his parting address to his lamenting country- ^
men. That concern for your interest, which had ani-j
mated all his labours, was still working at his heartj
and would not suffer him to take his final leave of the^
nation he had saved, without adding to his prayers for]
his country, those maxims of political wisdom, which ;
I trust will never be forgotten, and which at this timeparticularly becomes us to call to mind. I n selecting;
any of the last words of our beloved chief, I need not?
fear that I have chosen an unwelcome topic. In our
recollections of a departed friend, the mind naturally
turns to the last acts of kindness, to the dying declarations of attachment — advice offered under such circumstances is received with peculiar regard, and J
though often neglected in the wantonness of pros- ^
perity, it recurs in the day of trouble with more than
its original influence.
In this address we have every thing to excite our veneration and affection. I t evinces a disinterested devotion to our good, which no folly can be preposterous
enough to deny; and it will ever be our own miserable
neglect if the wisdom and patriotism of the counsels
it contains, do not continue to be at all times and un-. <
der all dangers our guide, our refuge and preservation. He has here laid down for us a course, which in
every situation in which we may be placed, will lead
us safely and honorably, through all the difficulties,
that may oppose us. No evil can befall us against
which he has not guarded us, no temptation can come
upon us, where his monitory voice has not supplied
us with a caution. The remotest of our descendants,
to whom the political blessings we have received may
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
be allowed to be transmitted, will find these parental
counsels sanctified by experience, and the impartial
historian will note the invariable connection between
the happiness of the nation, and the observance of these
hallowed precepts — and if the day shall ever come
(which may Heaven be propitiated to avert!) that shall
cast us down from our greatness, when civil discord,
corruption or usurpation shall bend the necks of freemen to a miserable and hopeless bondage, then shall
the sorrowing patriot who may survive the horrors of
that day, point to the disregarded admonition of your
Washington, and the tear, that he drops upon the ruins
of his country, will be embittered by the recollection
of her follies and her crimes.
The feelings which prompted him to endeavor to
perpetuate our blessings are thus affectingly displayed
in his own words in the conclusion of his address:
"In offering to you, my Countrymen, these
counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare
not hope they will make the strong and lasting
impression, I could wish — that they will controull the usual current of the passions, or prevent
our Nation from running the course which has
hitherto marked the destiny of Nations. — But
if I may even flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit; some occasional
good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the
mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the
impostures of pretended patriotism, this hope will
be a full recompense for the solicitude for your
welfare, by which they have been dedicated.'"
To do full justice to this inestimable warning, to
point out to your view the various excellencies that distinguish it, is a task far too great for the present occasion. I intend, therefore, only to offer to your consideration its most essential of solemn injunctions:
one of which no individual of any nation should ever
111
�112
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
be unmindful, which, without exception or excuse, is -1
the bounden duty of every citizen, the indispensable
obligation upon the conscience of a patriot. I t is that "
admonition of your Washington which recommends
to your regard the religion to which he bore his hon-:
orable testimony. Hear then the important words
which he addressed to you upon this all important subject.
"Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead
to political prosperity, Religion and morality are
indispensable supports. — I n vain would that man
claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour
to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness,
these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. — The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.—
A volume could not trace all their connexions
with private and public felicity."
I cannot avoid remarking that there is scarcely a
memorable incident or official act of his life in which
the strong and just impressions of his mind upon this
subject were not manifested. In all our national deliverances we see him ascribing all the glory to their
true and Almighty Cause, and calling upon his countrymen to acknowledge and praise the Power that
defended them.
I hope I shall be pardoned for presuming to address
you on such a subject. I have felt how little I was qualified for such an office, and I have undertaken it relying, for all claim to your attention, upon the influence
of that name in which we are assembled; and believing
that nothing could be presented to you more worthy
of your thoughts, or more applicable to our present , |
situation. When a people are suffering, under divine J
correction, when the arm of the Almighty is raised in
wrath against them, surely it is not unreasonable to. "
expect that they will "call their ways to remem-brance," and endeavor to ascertain the iniquity that
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
113
has provoked chastisement. I f we do this faithfully,
it will lead us to the only remedy for all the evils we
dther endure or anticipate, and affliction will have
"done its errand." But if we are hardened against such
jaggestions, we need not look to the history of past
ages, or the speculations of fancy, to learn the nature
and extent of the visitation we may expect. The fall,
in our own view, of many of the proudest nations of
the earth, once peaceful and prosperous as our own,
now groaning in unutterable wretchedness, gives awfnl warnings of the fate that may await us.
Let us then endeavor to ascertain what those duties are, which the religion we profess demands of us
in relation to our country, and how they have been discharged.
It has been said that the exalted virtues of patriotism finds no place in this religion, and is incompatible
with its tenets. So strangely erroneous is this opinion,
that a just and disinterested love of country springs
from religion as from its natural and proper source,
and is ever nourished by its influence. Let the men of
other principles tell us, whether that boasted divinity,
the work of man's corrupt imagination, which they
have set up, and which they worship, can supply the
patriot with that armour of proof which religion furnishes; and if deluded by the error they have loved,
they tell us that it can, let us look among the lives of
those who live only for this world and in obedience to
its rules, for instances to prove it. I f we are dazzled
by a few shining exceptions, how are they out-numbered by thousands of the fairest promise, whose lamentable fall shews us the weakness of the power that
upholds their virtue?
A man may wear out his life in the toils of the cab|; inet, or hazard it by his daring in the field, yet i f he is
jr prompted to this from the love of power, the dream of
| ambition, the glory of a name, if these are his motives,
who can doubt but that it is his own power, his own
ambition, his own glory, that he seeks, that it is him-
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
THE VOICE OF WASHINGTON
self, and neither his country, nor his God, that he lovesi
and serves.
A man may offer himself to death, may fall exulting*^
in the trappings and decorations with which honors
adorns its victim; but if unimpelled by that love to"1
God and man, which is the only incense that can sane-;!
tify such an offering, it is a sacrifice unacceptable to^
Heaven, it is a sacrifice to self.
Look at the efficacy of these principles in the day of
trial. Let temptation come upon him; let his evil pas-1
sions solicit indulgence; let the pomp and glory of the g
world spread their allurements before him ; let a secret!
path of crooked policy seem to lead to the eminencej
for which his heart pants; and what shall stop him in*
his way? Alasl feeble are the barriers which the wisj
dom of this world can present to the madness of ambi^
tion!
He who submits to be guided by the divine light ofl
revelation has learned the nature and condition of;
the engagements to which he is called, and the dangenl
that oppose him. He has heard of his high original, ofl
his wretched fall, of his glorious redemption, of the aw?|
ful and everlasting destiny which awaits him. Gratefulg
for his deliverance, thankful for all the blessings of life, ^
and exulting in the hopes of eternity, he has acknowl-i
edged the Almighty as his Lord, and devoted himself j l
to His service. Anxious to manifest the warmth of hiss
gratitude by the fidelity of his obedience, he has hum-!
bly enquired into his will. Finding himself associated
with numberless fellow-creatures, "framed with like H
miracle, the work of God," he has been solicitous to [
learn his relation to them. He is told they are his |
brethern, that he is to love them, and that it is to be his
business to fill up the short measure of his life by doing s
g
good to them. Engaged in this work, he has perceived
himself peculiarly connected with some, who are
brought nearer to him, and therefore more within the
reach of his beneficence. He has observed that he is a
member of a particular social community, governed by
W" the same laws, exercising the same privileges, and
bound to the same duties. His obligations therefore to
• this community, are more obvious and distinct. His
Own country, to which he is immediately responsible,
by whose institutions he has been cherished and pro£ tected, has therefore a peculiar claim upon him. That
>. be may acknowledge this claim, that his zeal may want
1 no excitement to rouse him, it is there that his bless£ ings are fixed, that the charities of life have been exerjf dsed, and an impulse of filial affection is awakened
within him, that binds him unalienably to the land of
bis birth.
114
;
115
When Key closed his address, a motion was made that
thanks of the Society be presented to the speaker "for
I elegant and appropriate Oration" and that he be requested
jjamish a copy of it for publication by the Society. The
i was unanimously adopted. Thus was Key's first oraIfim preserved for posterity. And it is fortunate that it was.
• not only does it show Key's admiration for Washington
I die foremost of his heroes, but it also reveals the tranJent influence exerted by Washington upon the life of
|
;
And, besides, it shows the well-springs of thought which
to be given expression by Key in his anthem of patriIt shows that although the anthem was to be dashed
[ in a moment of exultation its theme was the result of a
Ifcep-rooted conviction gathered from long hours of meditai and study.
Here in the old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexria the young orator recalled that in all our National deaces Washington had ascribed all the glory to the "true
�116
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
and Almighty Cause" and had urged his fellow countrymm
to "praise the Power that defended them." In a few months
more Key would give the same thought in a poetic outbuntf
destined to inspire patriotism through endless generations: "
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued
land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a
nation!
CHAPTER X I
At the Crossroads
r W H I L E KEY'S faith in his fellow men had been shaken,
his faith in God remained steadfast. A l l of the troubles of
pf America, indeed of the whole world, were the result, he beBeved, of man's misconduct. Herein he differed from John
| Randolph of Roanoke. Early in life Randolph had become
| • believer in Mohammedanism. "The Crescent," he said,
| liad a talismanic effect on my imagination, and I rejoiced
! • all its triumphs over the Cross (which I despised) as I
•oomed over its defeats: and Mohamet I I himself did not
; sore exult than I did, when the Crescent was planted on the
dome of St. Sophia, and the Cathedral of the Constantines
was converted into a Turkish mosque." This skepticism was
&e result of his perusal of Voltaire and other French phil, wophers.
s
But Key's faith had been strengthened, rather than
I weakened, by the books of infidel writers. "Our Church," he
mformed Randolph in 1814, "recommends their perusal to
students of divinity, which shows she is not afraid of them."
ley did not believe that any new objections could be found
to the truth of Christianity, although it was to be admitted
that old ones might be cleverly presented in a new dress.
"Men may argue ingeniously against our faith —as indeed
Aey may against any thing —but what can they say in de117
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
AT THE CROSSROADS
fence of their own? I would carry the war into their own|
territories. I would ask them what they believed." He had nol
patience with agnostics. " I f they said they believed nothing,]
you could not, to be sure, have any thing further to say toj
them. In that case they would be insane, or, at best, iUjjj
qualified to teach others what they ought to believe or dis^
believe." He could not understand how anyone, who inquired]
into the subject earnestly, could become an atheist. One
the theological books he had read was de Veritate by Hug(j|
Grotius, the celebrated Dutch writer. " I should like to
an infidel," said Key, "attempt an answer to that book."
; tad he had "lost his grinders"; but he objected to being classed
Ewith "the servile herd of imitators." He regarded the article
[tta foul attack. To Key he explained his resentment: "Any
jadter man but yourself (or perhaps Meade) would take this
[long paragraph as proof that I am insincere, or self-deceived.
i'T© tell you the truth, I am sensible of the gross injustice that
| l u been done me in the paragraph in question. I had as
pfef be accused of any crime, not forbidden by the Decalogue,
of imitation. I f these articles choose to say that I have
or thrown away, or buried my talent, I will
liesce in the censure; but amongst the herd of imitators
i l will not be ranked, because I feel that I could not descend
»imitate any human being."
118
John Randolph was impressed with Francis Scott K e / j
child-like faith in every line of the Scripture. He was
ginning to see that his own soul had been warped, that
of his troubles emanated from within. Indeed, he wrote
he had been living in a "world without souls," until his he
was "as dry as a chip," and "as cold as a dog's nose.'
the city of Richmond, as well as at his home in the wild
ness, he found a certain amount of comfort in literature,
of the poems which he enjoyed was The Giaour, which
Byron had written in 1813. He read the posthumous wor
of Edmund Burke, whom he greatly admired. He also
tinued to find pleasure and instruction in many of the artic
in the reviews. Occasionally he would come across some
in the newspapers about himself. Once his eyes came uj
a paragraph in a newspaper which accused him of being i
obvious imitator of Lord Chatham." Randolph burst intol
rage. He knew that Lord Chatham occupied an exalted
tion; whereas his own face had become prematurely wrir
u
119
Toward the close of February John Randolph was
at Richmond with severe illness —a "gouty affecof the alimentary canal." He grew more despondent
i ever. But there were two rays of sunshine: one a cheerI letter from his friend, the poet lawyer; the other, a copy
[Key's oration delivered on Washington's Birthday. Prop; himself up in bed, the sick man read with delight every
of the oration. I t was like a tonic to peruse his young
d's denunciation of the American people and his reation of the principles in Washington's Farewell Ad"Your letter found me in bed," Randolph replied to
' on March 2,1814. " I t was, I believe, the best medicine
could have been administered to me, but, aided by an
niversary discourse, which Joe Lewis was considerate
to send me, and which came also in the nick of time,
i effect was wonderful. I am half disposed to be angry
�120
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
with you for passing over the said discourse, as i f it ne
had existed, and especially for leaving me to the charity ofl
Joe Lewis, but for whose contribution I might have been dbj
prived of the pleasure of seeing it at all; for you need am
flatter yourself that the newspapers generally will republiAj
it." Randolph was overjoyed to read Key's rebuke of
political leaders; but Randolph had surrendered all hopl
that the politicians would ever put aside their selfish an
tions, their greed for power and gold, for true patriotis
"You are right, my friend," he said, "but who will folloi
you? Who will abajidon the expedient to adopt the cou
of self-denial, of mortification, of duty? For my part, niue»|
as I abhor the factious motive and manner of the Opposition
prints, and many of its leaders, if I could find as many me^
of my way of thinking as drubbed the French at AgincouiVi
I would throw off the yoke, or perish in the attempt." Nevef^
theless, the morbid Randolph was certain that Key's oratMTj
would produce "a most happy and beneficial effect on all§
ranks of the people" — if they would read it. "But," he
"the people will not hear, cannot read, and i f they coo
cannot understand, until the paroxysm of drunkenness • !
over. Wanting your faith I cannot repress my forebodin^ij
They weigh me down and immerse body and soul. I nererl
stood more in need of your society. In this world without I
souls, everybody is taken up with 'the one thing needful'
what that is you must not consult St. Paul, but the Jewiifcl
doctors, to discover."
In the melancholy days of 1814, dark and uneventMl
though they appeared, Francis Scott Key was preparing lu» |
AT THE CROSSROADS
121
imtli for a dramatic event and an immortal fame. Finding
^Kule to do in his office, he occupied many hours with the
^Muse. Day after day he immersed himself in the rhymes of
J.English and American men of letters. His favorite of all
^eontemporary poets was Sir Walter Scott; his poems had a
>melody and a charm that appealed to Key's love of the beauitiful; Mr. Randolph's favorite was Byron, whose romantic
-poems contained rugged strength and vigor, and who was
^ihreatening to surpass the Wizard of the North in literary
|supremacy. The Bride of Abydos was one of the productions
|Aat Byron hurled from his pen within a few days in 1813;
r k t the poet lawyer at Georgetown was not particularly
* pleased with it. In a letter to Randolph, Key thus explained
bis preference for Sir Walter Scott over Byron: " I have not
jet seen The Giaour, but have looked over The Bride of
Abydos. It has some fine passages in it, but it is too full of
Aose crooked-named out-of-the-way East Indian things. I
have long ago, however, resolved that there shall be no such
poet as Walter Scott as long as he lives, and I can admire
; Bobody that pretends to rival him." Mr. Randolph could not
agree with him; his poetic taste was different. " I cannot yield
die precedence of Lord Byron to Walter Scott," he wrote to
Key in reply. " I admit your objection to the 'crooked-named
out-of-the-way Turkish things.' But this must be pardoned in
a traveller, who has explored the woods that wave o'er
Delphi's steep, and swam across the Hellespont. No poet in
ear language (the exception is unnecessary), Shakespeare
ad Milton apart, has the same power over my feelings as
Byron. He is, like Scott, careless, and indulges himself in
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
AT THE CROSSROADS
great license; but he does not, like your favorite, write bjy
the piece. I am persuaded that his fragments are thrown out
by the true spirit of inspiration, and that he never goads his
pen to work. When you have read The Giaour — the first, I
think, of his poems — I am persuaded that you will changB
your opinion of this singular author, and yet more singular,
man. His feelings are too strong to endure the privation ol*
religious sentiment. His time is not yet come, but he cannot'
continue to exist in the chill and gloom of skepticism." RaiK
dolph's prediction that Lord Byron was eclipsing Scott as «
poet was correct: Scott had already tumed from poetry toj
prose; and the publication of Waverly in 1814 not onl^
served to make Scott the king of romancers but also marked,
the beginning of the ascendancy of the novel as one of thai
most popular forms of literature.
•ore than pore over the works of the poets; he actually made
• study of song-writing. Here is an illustration of the truth
Aat nothing is ever done without practice and preparation,
(tee day, picking up a copy of Branson's Select Review, he
snr an article on American song-writing. Needless to say,
ke read it with keen interest. Was he aspiring even then to
write a song that would breathe the spirit of true patriotism?
An anthem that would praise the Divine Power that had
frided the fathers in founding the Nation? Key did not know
!lko wrote the review on American song-writing; but certain
ft is that it produced a profound effect upon him. He even
vent so far as to recommend that the author, whoever he was,
Aould start a new magazine and become editor of it; for
k felt that a new publication, preferably an American pubBeadon, was needed to take the place of the Edinburgh Reline, which he thought had undergone a "great and shameful
change of principle." "Is it not desirable," he asked Randolph, "that there should be a good American Literary Renew? One inculcating the sound principles of the Quarterly
taiewers, and exposing our book-makers, would perhaps
Improve both our taste and habits. Have you seen an article
i i Branson's Select Review on American song-writing? I do
B t know who the author is, but I think he could conduct such
O
B work with much spirit. I have seldom, I think, seen a better
fiece of criticism." Randolph endorsed Key's suggestion for
a aew American periodical. " I do think a review on the plan
joo mention would be highly beneficial, and i f I was fit for
f thing, I should like to engage in a work of the sort. But
farteen years of Congressional life have rendered me good
122
But there was one writer upon whom Key devoted very;
little time. That man was Thomas Moore. John Randolph',
was delighted with Moore's polished satire and sometimei
licentious verse. One of Moore's works that Randolph ea*.
joyed was The Twopenny Post-Bag, which, in a letter to Key,:
he said was one of the "literary sweets" in which he had
been revelling. But Key turned a deaf ear to any praise of
Moore's verses. In the Key family there has long been
tradition that Francis Scott Key found the poems of
sentimental Tom Moore" so distasteful that on one occasi
he picked up a volume of these poems in the library of
home, handed it to Mrs. Key, and told her to burn it up.
But Key, in preparing himself — whether wittingly
unwittingly — for the writing of the National Anthem,
123
�Ir
124
AT THE CROSSROADS
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Key to Rev. Dr. James Kemp
for nothing. It may be an excuse for idleness, for this de
attacks me in every shape.... I have not seen the article ;
Geo. Town —
mention in Branson's Select Review. In its new form I
that a respectable and useful publication. To be sure, it af
made of scissors; but it is so far beyond the Port-Folio al
to be comparatively good. The last is the most contemptibly
thing ever imposed on the public in the shape of a magazine-^1
and that is going very far."
It was early in April, 1814, while regretting that h j | |
law practice was far from lucrative, and musing over thej
songs of the Nation, that Key arrived at the crossroads o f j
life. He had just received an invitation to become assistant"^
rector of St. Paul's parish in Baltimore, the call coming nil
a letter from Rev. Dr. James Kemp, the rector of St. Paul'i^
and Christ Churches. Dr. Kemp believed that the George-f
town lawyer was already thoroughly qualified to enter the|
ministry.
Key was in a quandary. The ministry was attractive to|
him in many respects; but in his path there were manyj
obstacles. For one thing, he had become heavily involved in|
debt and other complications, which seemed to make it altogether impossible to abandon his profession for the pulpit,.
which paid just enough to provide shelter and food for his
family, but little more. So he wrote back to Dr. Kemp that
he would pray for Divine guidance as to the course to pursue
— and, i f he failed to receive it, he would consult two or?
three friends for advice. His letter indicates his perplexity^
and vacillation:
125
April 4, 1814.
d
r
Rev & D Sir: —
Your letter should have been sooner answered, but
it came while I was in Charles County whence I returned home the night before the last very much indisposed.
When I thought a few years ago of preparing myself for the ministry, it seemed to me, from all the consideration I could give it, that I was peculiarly situated,
& had entered, almost necessarily, into engagements
that made such a step impossible.—At the same time
I hoped (as I still do) that if the path of duty would
lead me to this change of life, I should be enabled to
see it, & that my present course should be stopped if I
could serve God more acceptably in the ministry. — I
did not to be sure ever think of such a situation as you
have suggested; but I have doubts how far, even in
this way, an abandonment of my profession could be
reconciled with the necessities of my present arrangements. — I have been obliged to contract (not on account of any concern of my own) a very considerable
debt — and the relinquishment of my present pursuits
would materially affect others (some even out of my
own family) to whom I seem to have become bound.
— Under these circumstances you will perceive I ought
not lightly nor without mature consideration, to make
so important a change in my situation; and I should
be very glad of your thoughts upon the subject. —That
I could support my family upon the terms you have
mentioned I think probable: But I should find it difficult (if not impossible) to do more; and to do more I
seem to be necessarily bound. Would it be practicable
to make anything as an author of religious & Literary publications ? And would I have any leisure for
such engagements? —
�126
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
A T T H E CROSSROADS
The great advantage of entering the Church under
an association with you I am fully sensible of, & this
more than anything else inclines me to think it may
perhaps be my duty. — A t least it will induce me to
give the subject a full deliberation & to endeavor to
ascertain if the nature of the engagements I have intimated can justifiably allow of it.
I believe we differ upon the subject of Episcopacy
— you consider it as the divinely established & only
form of Church government & that there is no valid
ordination elsewhere. I have never seen anything to
satisfy me of this, but though I have been led to
think it a form, I still think it the best form.— And
this difference is, I believe, no more than has always
existed among the members of our Church of whom
many respectable names are on each side of the question.— As to our Church service, few persons can be
more attached to it than I am. — I lament that any of
our ministers should substantially depart from it,
though I love and esteem some who occasionally do
so. I regret also that others should insist upon a literal
and universal compliance as absolutely essential to be
enforced by strict Church discipline; and though I
think such a design would introduce a spirit of controversy & persecution, and that it would perhaps make
an irreconcilable schism in the Church, about things,
that, if they were not disputed about, would create no
differences, yet I have an equal affection & regard for
some who I believe hold this opinion. — I have been
remarkably influenced by the conviction of many most
erroneous opinions of my own, to allow for those of
others — & have been led to see great merit among
the advocates of each side of a controversy. — I believe
that God will sufficiently enlighten every man who
hungers and thirsts after righteousness, & prays to be
led into the truth, & that it may be consistent with HU
wisdom & goodness to leave us for a time under the
influence of some errors. —
However we might differ in opinion I feel gratified
127
in believing that our hearts would be united in one
great purpose, & our labours directed to the same end:
& I am not so vain & self-confident as not to be fully
persuaded of the importance of entering upon so solemn a calling with such a connection as you suggest.
— I am obliged to leave home again for a week or a
fortnight, & will not fail to think of this subject &
write to you.—
Allow me to hope that I may have your candid advice and your prayers that I may be rightly directed.—
truly & resply
Yrs
,F. S. K E Y
P. S.— May I be allowed to mention this subject to
two or three friends, whose counsel I should wish? —
that is, if, on reflection, I find a difficulty in determining.— As far as I have been able to think at present,
I do not see how I can extricate myself from my engagements.—
So for about four weeks the poet lawyer wrapped himhdd in solitude to ponder and pray. Finally, on A p r i l 28,
p S l i , the decision was reached. On this day he determined
and for all that he would continue in the path he had
[ ken following — the law. I n the first place, the complications
^fa which he had become involved apparently made i t im[fMrible for him to enter the ministry. These difficulties,
p A k h had occurred to him f r o m the first, appeared, he told
|ftr. Kemp, insurmountable. I n the second place, he was
that i f he entered the ministry he would be accused
^ 1 acting "under the influence of unworthy inducements" and
' might injure "the cause of religion." I t was not only
l important decision f o r the man himself and the members
�128
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
of his household but also, so it tumed out, a decision that ;
was destined to have a part in preparing the way for the'
writing of the American Anthem, a song which was to have a l
profound influence on the soul of the Nation throughout all;
future generations.
When he had penned his answer to Dr. Kemp, Key fe
relieved. Now he took on a new stature in courage. He hadf
prayed for guidance; and he felt confident that his path hadl
been charted. " I trust," he declared, "that i f I have beeBj
incorrect in this determination, I shall be brought to see it,
& that God will make plain to me his will and my duty & gniy
me strength to perform it."
One of the battles of life had been fought and won!
�r
9
CHAPTER XII
I
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
I N THE Spring of 1814 the fleet commanded by Sir George
Cockburn reappeared along the Atlantic coast and in June
tbe vessels were ascending the Patuxent. The design of the
Enemy was obvious: they were preparing for a punitive expedition. The volunteers in the District of Columbia Militia
aisembled and made plans to hurry to the Patuxent.
THE FORT McHENRY BATTLE FLAG
The original flag which inspired Francis Scott Key
to write "The Star-Spangled Banner"
The courts had adjourned because of the impending
danger; and Attorney Key, with his practice at a standstill,
lolunteered his services to the Georgetown Light Artillery.
Major Peter, the commander, was glad to have him join, and
m the 19th of June he entered the Militia with the rank of
lieutenant and quartermaster. There was no time to lose.
Key dashed off a letter to his mother at Pipe Creek; gave
good-bye to his wife and children; and off he went with the
company in the direction of the Patuxent.
When the militiamen from Georgetown arrived at their
destination, however, they found, much to their relief, that
Bis Majesty's fleet had turned around and started down the
lifer. The members of the Artillery bivouacked near BenejBct, a settlement in Charles County, and decided to keep
Jttrd for any further appearance of the enemy. Lieutenant
ley, in another letter to his mother, proudly announced that
& British had been driven off and predicted that, as long as
129
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FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
the Militia were stationed along the shore, the invaders wi
not likely return. The letter, like many others Key
shows how intimately he kept in touch all through life wi4
his mother:
Key to His Mother
Camp near Benedict —
June 23, 1814 —
My Dear Mother —
I wrote you a few lines from Geo. Town just before
we marched.—And I have now an opportunity to
Town and only time to tell you that I am well.—
We came to this place on Monday night and after
the Enemy had left it — a few of them, who had landed, being driven off that evening with some little loss
of which I suppose you have seen the account. — They
have now gone down the river — and nobody seems to.
think there is any chance of their coming back again,
at least, while the troops are in the neighborhood —
How long they will keep us here I cannot tell, but I
trust not long—And as soon as we are discharged
shall try to be with you
I will write you a line occasionally as I can — and
hope to be able to be on the way to Pipe Creek. — With
love to my Father, Anne and Taney, I am,
r
My D Mother
r
Y Most affec'
F. S. KEY
Key's hope for a speedy end of guard duty was reali
since there was no indication of an immediate return of
British, Major Peter ordered the Light Artillery back!
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
131
[Ceorgetown. And on the 1st day of July Lieutenant Key was
pbcharged from further attendance.
On returning to his law office within a fortnight, Key
off a number of letters to relatives and friends. One
went to John Randolph of Roanoke. He told of the
jopedition to Benedict, but admitted that the most thrilling
pdrenture which he had on the trip was when he was knocked
pnm by "a bone of bacon" and pitched over his horse's head
the river. The camp life had been irksome: the poet
hoped that he had seen the last of warfare for the
tinder of his life.
By this time efforts were being made to bring about a
of peace between England and the United States; and
lolph, in a letter to Francis Scott Key, July 14th, said:
saw some account of your campaigns in the newspapers....
Jpur labors, my good friend, are drawing to a close. Rely
it, we have peace forthwith." What Randolph was now
id of was that the treaty of peace would be unfair to the
* States. He looked with suspicion on the assertions of
ican officials, that the matters in dispute had been rered by the termination of hostilities in Europe. "Poor
" " he exclaimed to Key concerning the Republican
"what a figure they do cut! Yet they will look as
lential as ever, and even carry the people with them."
£• Randolph was back at Roanoke again. St. George Ranhis deaf mute nephew, was now with him and added to
despondency. This unfortunate young man of twenty-two,
6 proposals of marriage rejected, had developed into a
ic maniac; he had quieted down considerably so as to
�FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
132
become manageable with little difficulty; and although'
was quite irrational, his memory seemed to be unimpai
The affairs of the plantation had been a great source of woi
too. Fortunately he had not been having any trouble
his slaves. Not one of his two hundred Negroes had been si
since his return from Richmond. But there had been a ni
ber of heavy rains, and his crops, he said, had "drowni
and then, when hot weather came in July, the c:
"burned up."
Francis Scott Key felt sorry for the morbid man.
listened with infinite patience to the recital of all his vie:
tudes. But their correspondence was now to be interru;
by events of transcendent importance.
The surrender of Napolean in 1814 enabled England'!
release a squadron of Lord Nelson's Marines and a divii
of Wellington's Invincibles for duty along the American
Several brigades were sent to Canada, one brigade was fil
out for service in the Chesapeake. The latter was pi
under the command of Sir Robert Ross, of County Do
Ireland. This gallant officer, 48 years of age, had served
Egypt and in the Peninsular campaigns, had been wo
in the Battle of Orthes, and was made a Major-General
the Battle of Victoria.
On July 24th the squadron reached Bermuda, the Bi
ish base for the Chesapeake operations, and joined the
commanded by Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane. Gem
Ross and his staff went on board the Tonnant, Admiral CocM
rane's flagship. The reenforced fleet now sailed for
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
133
ipeake, and on the 14th of August joined Rear Admiral
mm off the mouth of the Potomac.
The thousands of redcoats were welcomed ashore on the
of Tangier Island by Joshua Thomas, "the Parson of
Isles," who preached to the veterans of the Peninsular
ign, warned them of their sins, and advised them not
pry to capture Baltimore.
But the Parson's advice to them to return to England
no impression. The Royal vessels spread their sails
sailed up the Chesapeake and entered the Patuxent.
British officers had decided to land their troops: their
ive was Washington, the Capital of the United States,
did they make any effort to conceal their intention. Inthey wanted it to be known that they were making ready
retaliate for the burning of the Parliament House at York
the American troops. Admiral Cochrane, in a letter to
ry of State Monroe, wrote that he had been called
by the Governor-General of Canada to retaliate upon
United States for the wanton destruction committed by
e American soldiers in Upper Canada and announced that
was his duty to issue to his naval force "an order to deiy and lay waste such towns and districts as may be found
le."
President Madison had chosen Brigadier General WilH. Winder to command the Tenth Military District, comising Maryland, the District of Columbia, and that part of
jnia lying between the Potomac and the Rappahannock,
afford military protection to the Capital. General John
trong, Secretary of War, preferred someone else to com-
I
&
•
:i
It
-«:
�134
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER'
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
mand this district; and when he was overruled by the
ident, he became indifferent and left further defense meas
to President Madison, Mr. Monroe, and General Winder. ;
General Winder recommended that the President
out four thousand militia to guard the Capital; leading'.
ness men called at the President's Mansion and urged
the city be fortified. But although the British had long
ravaging the shores of the Chesapeake, Armstrong rema
passive, arguing that fortifications would exhaust the Tr
ury and that bayonets would be "the most efficient barrierif
But there were only about four hundred regular troops
pared to defend the capital from invasion. The people of tblf
District of Columbia were alarmed. But the Secretary ofl
War waived aside warnings and neglected to take ade
steps to fortify the Capital. He believed that Baltimore, andl
not Washington, was the Enemy's objective. It was not
August 20th that General Winder's recommendation was.
proved.
But imminent danger threatened the Capital. On An
ust 19th upwards of five thousand British troops landed^
Charles County about eight miles below Benedict, near.t!
spot where Key and his comrades had camped in June,
started their march in the direction of Washington.
Monroe advised that the Government records ought to b
moved and suggested that explosives be in readiness for !
destruction of the bridges. -The frightened Secretary of Wl
put General Winder at the head of the militia and urged ]
to do all he could to save the city. But General Winder i
muster but four thousand militia and several hundred
1
135
The Virginia militia had been called, but they had no
for their firelocks.
General Ross said he "didn't care i f it rained militia."
l i b and Admiral Cockburn had the joint command of the
gmops. At daybreak on August 21st General Ross ordered
i soldiers to march to Nottingham, a village on the Patuxt within forty miles of Washington. Here they bivouacked
i the night of the 21st. Early on the morning of the 22nd
Ijjbey resumed their march by advancing along the shady road
|iloog the Patuxent toward Upper Marlborough. After the
confinement on the transports, the soldiers enjoyed
i leisurely march through the country.
It was one o'clock on the 22nd when the houses of Upper
ijlarlborough, sixteen miles from Washington, came into view.
|Jio one in the invading army appreciated the scenery more
fjfcan did Rev. George R. Gleig, the literary chaplain who acleompanied the expedition. He gave a glowing description of
||fce countryside around Upper Marlborough: "The gentle
hills which on either hand enclosed the village, tufted
and there with magnificent trees, the village itself,
ling and wide, each cottage being far apart from its
bors and each ornamented with flower beds and shrubs; these with a lovely stream which wound through the
ey, formed, as far as my memory may be trusted, one of
AM most exquisite panoramas, on which it has ever been my
fortune to gaze."
On arriving in Upper Marlborough, General Ross sethe mansion of Dr. William Beanes for his Headffoarters. Dr. Beanes was a leading physician of Prince
�136
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
George's county. His ancestors had lived in Scotland, hut ]
himself was a native of Maryland. At the outbreak of
Revolution he had espoused the patriot cause, having ser
on the county committee to carry out the resolutions of
Continental Congress. At Philadelphia during the war he hajj
helped to bandage the wounds of the Continentals wounded'j
Long Island and Brandywine. But now, at sixty-five, he;
sured the British officers that he was a Federalist, and that]
had been opposed to the war with Great Britain. "Andji
believed him the more readily," said Rev. Gleig, "thati
seemed really disposed to treat us as friends." On accou
of his hospitable attitude, his slaves, horses, and catde
unmolested.
Upper Marlborough was about thirty miles from
more; and about sixteen miles from Washington. Gen
Ross was undecided about what to do next. On August
Ross held a council of war with Admiral Cockburn in
Beanes home. Here it was decided to move on toward Wa
ington. That afternoon the British troops evacuated Up
Marlborough. At daybreak on the 24th they advanced towanj
Bladensburg, a village located about five miles from Wa
ington on the Eastern Branch of the Potomac.
The approach of the British was the signal for alarm]
Washington. General Winder had been mobilizing his tr
around Bladensburg. One of the Washington newspaj
tried to calm the people: "In a few hours thousands of brii
men will be prepared to resist the host of mercenaries
now threaten us. Arrayed in defense of all that renders lif
a blessing, and for protecting from insult and desolation i
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
137
Metropolis of their country, hallowed by the venerable name
jyol Washington, every arm will be nerved with valour irre-
Skible!"
The agitated General Winder, bewildered by a myriad
, reported at the President's Mansion for a conference
t lhiesday night. On Wednesday morning at ten o'clock he
ieeived the news that the British were advancing toward
denshurg. Secretary of State Monroe had already started
Bladensburg; General Winder now rushed to the
B; the President and members of the Cabinet followed.
Francis Scott Key, while he did not favor the war, was
dy to give himself to the defense of the Capital. The firei were approaching. The Government buildings and his
in home were in peril. He had volunteered to act as aide to
Walter Smith, whom General Winder had placed in
nand of a reserve force of Washington and Georgetown
|
The poet lawyer was given the duty of locating the regii to their assigned positions as they arrived on the field,
a stifling hot day —this 24th of August, 1814, when
jSy swung his horse up and down the dusty roads and across
k fields in the vicinity of Bladensburg, helping to make
1 efforts to get the raw militia ready to stem the advance
f die seasoned Invincibles.
Here too were President Madison and Secretary Monroe
Secretary Armstrong. It was a cruel fate which cast
n, peace-loving and mild-mannered, into the vortex of
IT. And, like Mr. Madison, Key abhorred war and was unit lo cope with fire and sword.
�138
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
Monroe and Key were posting General Stansbury's '
itia with all possible haste. Stansbury commanded about t w j
thousand Maryland Militia; General Winder comma
the Georgetown and Washington Militia under General Smitl^
a few Maryland Militia, and Barney's seamen, aggregatili
in all more than three thousand men.
1
As General Winder arrived in the field about noon,|
long column of British soldiers with scarlet tunics and shiniB
bayonets were advancing, six abreast, about a mile awg|
They marched with the regularity and the easy swing of I
soned veterans.
As the Enemy came marching into Bladensburg, Pfi
ident Madison said to Mr. Monroe that it was about time I
them to go and leave the rest to the soldiers. So the two 1
— the President frail in body but of powerful intellect; Moaj
six feet tall, broad-shouldered and of powerful physii]
hurried to the rear. After the battle was over the Preskfi
was the target for ridicule. Characterized in a doggerel ]
as "a citizen of courage and renown," Mr. Madison was <
as saying to the Secretary of War and -the Attorney
Armstrong and Rush, stay here in camp,
I'm sure you're not afraid —
Ourself will now return; and you,
Monroe, shall be our aid.
And, Winder, do not fire your guns,
Nor let your trumpets play
'Till we are out of sight — forsooth,
My horse will run away
I.—"Winder, pushing fonvard Smith's brpade, arrived in time to
on dispositions, not made by himself but by Stansbury and
their assistants, Colonel Monroe and F. S. Key. Of these
we need say nothing, as the gentlemen to whom they have
pally imputed were both ashamed of them." — Inquiry Resptetmf I
ture of Washington by the British. Rare Book Room, Library of (
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
139
Shortly before 1 o'clock the invaders appeared - battle•earred soldiers who had gone through the campaigns of the
; M e of Wellington on the Peninsula, veterans who had served
•nder Lord Nelson at Trafalgar and on the Nile.
A few of the Yankee companies were dressed in blue
;*ckets. But all the rest looked like "country people who
| | irodd have been much more appropriately employed in at^lending to their agricultural occupations than in standing
^mth muskets in their hands on the brow of a bare, green hill."
|fttt there they stood! General Winder had not provided any
|kltniction to the road to Washington - not a single breastor ditch.
After a few voUeys the front ranks of the British charged
1 the bayonet. The militia were panic-stricken. Most of the
^
s had seen about as much experience as
||«ncis Scott Key in military affairs; some had less. Formaafter formation wavered, broke, turned, andfled.General
^ ' x's artillery set up stiff resistance, shooting down quite
gmnber of the British vanguard with grape-shot; but the
' British campaigners, inured to hardships on the
fields of Spain, closed the gaps in their ranks and
' through the American line. The redcoats also dis! a number of rockets: the glare from these caused a
de among the battery mules.
jTrancis Scott Key was overcome with despair when he
Jlliat the militiamen were fleeing with great rapidity in
gieorching heat-exhausted, terrified, as if chased by
I hideous beast. But there came a ray of hope with the
-1 of Commodore Joshua Barney on the scene. Barney,
e e
| i L
d e f e n d e r
�140
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
a 55-year-old Maryland hero, had been striving to protect thep
Chesapeake and its tributaries with a flotilla of gunboats buil|
and manned at Baltimore, and had kept back the British fled
as long as he could. He came ashore with about four hund
of his seamen when he heard that the British had landed,
he ordered his barges to be blown up along the wooded b
of the Patuxent, whence he had been chased, to keep theii
from being taken by the British. When the British troops we
resting at Upper Marlborough, Commodore Barney and
bluejackets were at the Woodyard, the home of Mr. and
Richard W. West. Mrs. West, one of the Lloyds of W]
House and Annapolis, was an elder sister of Mrs. Key. It
here that Commodore Barney offered to come to the aid
General Winder and his Militia, then on the way to Blad
burg. As soon as it was learned that the British army
proceeding from Upper Marlborough in the direction
Washington, General Smith ordered his District Militia fi
ward, while Commodore Barney took a position along
Eastern Branch of the Potomac. And when word came
the fight was about to take place at Bladensburg, Barney
his men hastened to the scene: on the way they found
militiamen running toward Washington.
pod men totalled 583. Less than six hundred men against
ppproximately 4,500 hardened British soldiers! The sailors
The courageous defense made by Joshua Barney and higj
men was a dramatic and inspiring story that made Fra:
Scott Key believe that America was "the home of the bra'
Mi
|ad a few cannon; they fought also with muskets, handspikes,
i«nd cutlasses. Barney's horse was killed under him. The galjkit Commodore himself was shot in the thigh by a musketJ d l ; but he remained in active command. In the confusion
the retreat of the militia, the ammunition wagons were
)t away. The supply of powder and balls for cannon and
lets was nearly exhausted. Barney did not want to reSeat; but he saw the futility of prolonging the fight. To stand
•Iheir ground any longer would be futile butchery. So the
^mmodore ordered his men to save themselves.
Thus came to an end, after a couple of hours, the Battle
if Bladensburg. As the brave flotilla men, blackened with
rder and dirt and drenched with sweat and blood, fell back
fore the British onslaught, the wounded Commodore, weakmed * by the loss of blood from his bullet wound, and in inpain, lay down to rest. Three of his officers tried to
geany.him away. But he bid them to leave him where he lay.
did not want to leave him to the mercy of the Enemy.
;Barney commanded two of the comrades to go; one he perjptted to remain. The Commodore was taken prisoner but
f
' was treated witth "the most marked attention, respect and
fpolii
liteness" at the British hospital at Bladensburg.
— in spite of the derision of the militia for running in wl
The casualties on the battlefield of Bladensburg were
many people facetiously dubbed "the Bladensburg races.]
iparatively slight. Only a few score men were killed on
In addition to his bluejackets the Commodore had charge
side. But several thousand members of the militia were
78 marines from the Barracks. His entire force of offii
ling: they had scattered to their homes. Barney's artil-
�142
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
lery fell into the hands of the British, and General Ross
dered it to be destroyed.
It was now the middle of the afternoon, and the sun
sizzling hot. General Ross thought that it was now best
his troops to rest. After the long march and the battle in
intense heat, a chance for refreshment in the shade was
corned by the men. When the shadows lengthened sevi
hours later, General Ross ordered his men to resume
march upon Washington. The British army now had an
obstructed path to the American Capital. Mr. Monroe
General Winder had hurried back to the Capital and had
cided to flee for their lives.
All during the day the excitement in the Presid
Mansion had been intense. A dust-covered messenger ru
into the mansion to bid Mrs. Madison seek a safer plao^
Then another. He too had panic in his eye. But Dolly
fused to go. The President had been in the saddle since
o'clock in the morning. She would not leave until she
he was safe.
"Since sunrise," Dolly wrote to her sister while anxi
ly waiting for her husband, " I have been turning my
glass in every direction. . . . Three o'clock —Will you
lieve it, my sister, we have had a battle, or a skirmish
Bladensburg, and here I am still within sound of the ca:
Mr. Madison comes not! May God protect us!"
In those last moments the Chief Executive's wife Ir
a lifetime "in an agony of fear lest he might have been
prisoner." He finally arrived about three o'clock. Do!
prayers were answered. She gathered together the silver,
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER'
143
ration of Independence, and everything else she could
le, pressing the Cabinet papers into trunks and loading
on a carriage. On one of the walls of the mansion was
:rt Stuart's oil painting of Gporge Washington. The
it hung so high that a step-ladder was required to
it. It was screwed fast to the wall. The process of lining it was found to be too tedious in such a perilous
it. So Mrs. Madison ordered Jean Sioussat, the French
•, to break the frame and take out the canvas. Sioussat
the last person to leave the mansion. He handed the key
ibe Russian Minister, who was hurrying off to Philadelphia.
The President and Mrs. Madison fled into Virginia.
About sundown General Ross and Admiral Cockburn
approaching Washington. Into the Capital they rode at
head of their troops like conquering heroes. It was about
ICfeht o'clock when Ross and Cockburn and several other
came galloping into Capital Square. A shot was fired
«ome one from a house on the northeast comer of the
i. The bullet killed General Ross's horse. General Ross
his men to bum the house from which the shot was
Admiral Cockburn rode through the streets looking for
(office of the National Intelligencer, the organ of the Madi Administration; his "friend Gales" had given him "some
! rubs" and he wanted to "pay his respects." Next to the
aper office lived two women who nearly went into hysi when the Admiral ordered the office set on fire. They
the Admiral not to do it, screaming that their home
catch fire and be destroyed too.
�144
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
"Be quiet, ladies!" Cockburn said. "You'll be just
safe under my administration as under Mr. Madison!"
The troops now swarmed into the halls of the Capil
prepared to carry out the request of the Governor General
Canada to retaliate for the burning of the Canadian Go
ment buildings. Admiral Cockburn ascended the rostrum
the House chamber and took the Speaker's chair. Calling
mob together in mock session, he put the motion:
" A l l in favor of setting fire to this harbor of Y
democracy, say Aye!"
The vote was unanimous in favor of the affirmative,
the order was given amid the lusty cheers and jeers of
soldiers. Furniture and books were thrown in huge piles
set on fire. Soon smoke was arising from the Capitol, and
fore long the stately building was in flames.
'THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER'
145
the scene with a request that a guard be supplied so that
house might not be pillaged, he found "General Ross in
act of piling up the furniture in the White House drawroom preparatory to setting it on fire." This too was soon
UUaze. M. Serrurier, who lived nearby in John Tayloe's Ocm House, reported in a letter to Talleyrand that he had
beheld a scene "at once more terrible and more magBficent."
The fires lighted up the sky for many miles round
it. For Francis Scott Key it was a weird and tragic night,
lifter a sweltering and hectic day, as he gazed with his wife
pod children toward the illuminated eastern horizon. It was
gmother visitation, he thought, sent down by the God of Wrath
a wicked people. There were many who threw the blame
President Madison; others blamed the Secretary of War;
General Ross and Admiral Cockburn now marched
jjidiers General Winder. One writer says: "Of the American
several hundred men to the President's Mansion. Bre
'jpierals whose colossal incapacities had brought disaster in
into the mansion they found plenty of good things to eat
[ibe War of 1812, William Hull, Alexander Smyth, Dearborn,
drink. The table in the dining room had been laid for
pfilkinson, none had equaled the blunders and sloth of Winper; the hastily prepared meal had been left when Mr.
•." But Key looked upon General Ross and Admiral Cockison and Dolly hurriedly took their departure. The sol
as instrumentalities of the Deity carrying out the Divine
found "a fine dessert set out on the sideboards" and Mr. Mai^B^nlan of retribution. On that terrifying night of August 24,
ison's champagne "in coolers." So the British officers ordei
4, there were put to the torch "the Capitol, the arsenal, the
everything appetizing that could be found; and General Ri
Hock-yard, Treasury, War Office, President's palace, rope-walk,
standing at the head of the table, drank to the health of
the great bridge across the Potowmack, in the dock-yard
Majesty King George I I I with the President's wine.
lirigate nearly ready to be launched, and a sloop of war."
Americans themselves had set fire to the Navy Yard and
After the marauders had finished their dinner and
al, resulting in the destruction of immense quantities
sacked all the rooms, they made ready to set fire to the
f«f stores. General Ross seized more than 200 cannon, 500
sion. When a messenger from the French Minister ani
�146
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
barrels of powder, 100,000 pounds of musket-ball cartrid
and other ammunition.
To cap the climax a terrific thunder storm early;!
next day finished the work of the flames. It was a "tremflgjl
dous hurricane." Key heard the voice of God in the howliij
of the tempest. And yet, with it all, he did not bear up i
bravely under the humiliation as a godly man such asj
might have done. He looked on the spectacle as a prodigw
disgrace. So unnerved was he that for several days after
he "had neither time or mind to do anything."
The Nation was at the nadir of its existence. The
ident and the members of his Cabinet had fled. The Capit
had been captured and overrun by the Enemy. The only ]
lie building saved from the torch was that occupied byl
Patent Office and the Postoffice Department.
The seizure and burning of Washington had caused <
anxiety to Key's father and mother at Pipe Creek and l
Taney and Anne and other relatives at Frederick. But
people of Georgetown were safe, temporarily, at least, fnigf
the torch.
The remnant of General Winder's forlorn forces,
burning the bridges over Rock Creek, retreated to the heig
of Georgetown and were reenforced by some militia
Virginia. Nor did General Ross and Admiral Cockbuni i
tend to take the risk of having their troops trapped in Wi
ington and cut off from the fleet. They destroyed the Gov
ment buildings "with the least possible delay, so that
army might retire without loss of time." Having ac
plished their task they ordered their troops to start back ]
'THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
147
il ships in the Patuxent. They went back by way of Bladenswhere General Ross left his wounded soldiers, and
Marlborough.
Meanwhile Frank and Polly had been urged by Taney
| i d Anne to take refuge at Frederick; but the poet lawyer
I declined the invitation, for, since he had enlisted in the
rict of Columbia militia, he felt it would not be honort to leave home while the surrounding country was threatI by the British marauders. And Polly Key was like Dolly
lison: she refused to leave home as long as her husband
i exposed to danger.
So the Taneys and the old folks from Pipe Creek had a
pBuily conference to determine what they ought to do. Taney
sijreed to journey to Georgetown and make a personal appeal
Ito Polly. They all thought it would be prudent to bring Polly
[nd the children to Frederick to take refuge there or at the
||Ktntal home at Pipe Creek until the danger was over.
^Tor," as Taney pointed out, " i f the attack was made, Key
Ivoold be with the troops engaged in the defense. As it was
Stiapossible to foresee what would be the issue of the conflict,
iVa family, by remaining in George Town, might be placed in
[peat and useless peril."
When Taney arrived on the scene, the Capitol and the
sident's home were in ashes, and he heard that a British
on was anchored off Alexandria. This squadron had
up the Potomac at the time Ross and Cockburn were
pdring their invasion. The people of Alexandria, having
the reflection from the fires in Washington but a few
Ifcys before, were terrified and in humble submission they
�148
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
asked for terms of capitulation. They gave a ransom of i
hundred thousand dollars worth of flour and tobacco in addi^
tion to ships and their cargoes in the harbor. A few days laUr|
the squadron moved down the Potomac and joined the maB;
fleet under Cochrane, which was preparing to make an attack.^
on Baltimore.
On the evening after the departure of the British squad-J
ron, a visitor called at the Key home on an important erranij
It was Polly's brother-in-law, Richard W. West. He had cornel
to relate about the unfortunate experience of his family phytt-j
cian, Dr. William Beanes of Upper Marlborough. For
Beanes had been taken prisoner by the British! Mr. Weit|
explained that on the afternoon following the burning
Washington the old doctor was entertaining Dr. William
and Philip Weems in his garden with some punch. They w a i |
jubilant because Upper Marlborough was finally free of I
British, who had passed through the town on the way
to their ships. As Dr. Beanes and his guests were removin
their inhibitions with potent beverage, three stragglers whg|
had dropped out of the ranks and were lagging behind A
British army wandered into the garden. They saw Dr.
and his guests enjoying themselves at the spring, intmd
upon the party, and demanded something to drink. The doctor, his inhibitions removed by this time, ordered the
truders out of his garden. They became insolent and thr
ening, whereupon he had them arrested for disorderly
duct and lodged in jail. One of the soldiers escaped an
hurried to the British camp and reported to the officers
had happened. Admiral Cockburn sent a detachment *
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER'
149
:Biarines back to Upper Marlborough with orders to release
tbe prisoners from jail and seize Dr. Beanes. The marines
arrived about midnight, broke into his home, dragged hin.
from his bed, and allowed him but a few minutes to remove
bis nightclothes, and put on some other clothing. The 65-year,
ok) doctor was put on a rough-gaited horse and hurried off
en a midnight ride of thirty-five miles toward Benedict. Some
of the old doctor's friends visited the British Headquarters
to plead for his release; but the commanding officers maintoined that he deserved no clemency. The officers considered
Dr. Beanes not as a prisoner of war, but as a noncombatant
rwbo had feigned friendship for the British when the army
first appeared and then broke faith. He was closely guarded,
and his friends were not allowed to see him.
Francis Scott Key listened to the details of the story
fvith intense interest. He knew Dr. Beanes intimately. The
Idoctor was one of the most popular men in Prince George's
^County, as well as one of the most successful. In addition to
ihis professional work, he had made a success with his farms
m i grist mill; he had also been one of the founders of the
jlpiscopal Church at Upper Marlborough. As Key pictured
the old physician in chains, surrounded by the Enemy sol'diers on the ship, he decided to go immediately in search of
thefleetin order to intercede for his release.
The poet lawyer decided to confer first with President
ison on the subject. The President had returned on the
icon of the 27th from his hiding-place in Virginia and
i d established a temporary home in Washington. The prim
man was nearly prostrate from fright. The President
�150
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
upon whom Key called wore powder on his hair, which waij
dressed full over the ears, tied behind and brought to a poin
above the forehead to cover some of his baldness. He wo
a black dress coat; his breeches were short, with black
stockings and buckles at the knee. Key explained the obje
of his mission: he wanted the sanction of the Govemme
The gentle little man gave Key permission to proceed as
official emissary under a flag of truce. Armstrong had
yet returned to Washington; indeed at the insistence of
Monroe he was to be driven from the Cabinet. Monroe
acting as Secretary of War ad interim as well as Seer
of State. The President requested John Mason, the Cor
sary General of Prisoners, to authorize Key to visit the He
quarters of General Ross in company with John S. Skinne^|
General Mason's agent and flag officer.
from the known usages of civilized warfare — and to
request the release of Dr. Beanes.
To this end John S. Skinner agent and Flag officer
for this office and Francis S. Key Esqr. a citizen of
the highest respectability have been authorized to wait
upon you and to express to you the views and expectations of the Government.
It is hoped that the seizure and detention of the
person of the aged and respectable Dr. Beanes have
been unauthorized by you — and I confidently trust Sir
that when you shall have been more acquainted with
the facts in the case you will order the immediate restoration to his family of that gentleman. He is far
advanced in life, infirm, and unaccustomed to privations from which he must now suffer severely.
I beg leave to assure you that the utmost attention
has been and will be paid to your wounded officers and
men left in our possession. It was directed the Flag
officer to take any letters they may wish to convey to
the British army — and on his return to take charge
of such articles of Supplies &c. as it may be desired
to send them.
General Mason wrote the following letter to Gene
Ross:
Office Comm. Gen. Pris.
Wash. Sept. 2, 1814. ^
Sir:
Having understood from sources not to be doubted
that a detachment of the army under your command on
its retreat from Washington — seized and carried off
from their houses several of our most respectable citizens in the vicinity of Marlbro', unarmed and entirely
of non-combattant character—and that one of them,
Dr. William Beanes—sixty five years of age taken
from his bed, in the midst of his family and hurried off
almost without clothes is yet retained—I have been
instructed to enquire into the causes of this Departure
151
I have the honor
to be Sir
j . MASON
Major General Robert Ross,
Commander of the British Army.
In addition to this letter directed to General Ross, Key
pibo received a letter from the Commissary General of
^Prisoners, addressed to Mr. Skinner and himself. This was
iff confidential letter of instructions. It mentioned the attitude
jtokenby the British in justification of the arrest of Dr.
piBeanes— "that he was hostilely engaged against them in
r violation of propriety, inasmuch as he was one of the citizens
�152
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
who met them under a flag on their first approach and
under engagement tacitly at least to refrain from acts h
to them." The letter went on to say that there was no jl
reason for Dr. Beanes's detention because the hostile act
merely that of picking up some stragglers of the B:
army — "was performed when he was absolved from any
gagement he might have been before under expressed
understood, since at that time the British army had withdrai
and given up the country." Skinner and Key were authori
to endeavor "by all proper means" to get Dr. Beanes rel
as a noncombatant. But if the British officers refused to
lease him as a noncombatant, then Skinner and Key were
structed as a last resort to give a receipt for the doctor
behalf of the United States Government together with a
ment of the facts of the case. This precaution was to be
because of the fact that the bounty law had been accq
by the warring countries: no persons were to be captured
imprisoned by either country other than those designated
prisoners of war by the provisions of the Cartel; and
bounty was intended only for prisoners recognized acco:
to the usage of war. Noncombatants captured at sea
real prisoners of war, for example, had always been
off the bounty list before the bounties were paid. "It is il
possible," General Mason's instructions concluded, "that
Government can yield a point of so much National impo:
involved in this case, as to admit that he [Dr. Beanes] i f j
exchangeable prisoner of War — since it would at once
the Enemy to seize and carry off every unarmed ciriaaijj
whatever age they may have in their power."
153
General Mason also gave to Key a brief personal letter
addressed to Mr. Skinner, which directed him to embark with
Key at Baltimore and proceed down the Chesapeake Bay in
search of the British Army. "Instructions," said General
Mason, "are made out to you jointly which are in the hands
of Mr. Key. They are shorter than they might have been, but
you are as I have told Mr. Key so well possessed of all the
general arrangements on our side and pleas on the side of
the Enemy — it is unnecessary to be longer. I pray your utmost zeal and earnestness in endeavoring to withdraw the
worthy Dr. Beanes."
Polly agreed to go to Frederick with Taney. They took
die six children — Elizabeth, now nearly eleven; Maria, nine;
Francis, eight; John Ross, five; Anna, three; and Edward,
who was less than a year old.
That night the poet lawyer penned a farewell to his
mother, telling her he was ready to start out on his mission
to the British fleet. Once more he uttered his belief that the
calamities of the Nation had been brought upon the people
Arough their own folly and wickedness, and the American
people wandered so far from the path of righteousness that
their chastisement from the Divine Ruler, so he told his
Bother, was much lighter than they deserved. In his letter
.10his mother, dated September 2, 1814, he said:
Key to His Mother
r
My D Mother. —
You have made allowances, I hope, for our confusion & anxiety- here, &: have therefore excused my not
& writing sooner. Indeed {or two or three days after oar
�154
'THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER'
FRANCIS SCOTT K E Y
disgrace I had neither time or mind to do anything.—
And since then I have been much engaged. — I had
however a promise from Mr. Munro that he would
write to Taney often & soon, so that you might know '
I was well. — You have since no doubt heard how mercifully we have all been spared here, the Enemy not
even entering our Town, which I am sure they would
have done, had they not gone off with such unnecessary precipitation — They have to-day left Alexandria,
& I trust we shall see no more of them. — I hope we
shall be grateful to God for this deliverance, & remember how much more light our chastisement has been
than we expected or deserved.—
I am going in the morning to Balt . to proceed in a
flag-vessel to Genl Ross. Old D Beanes of Marlbro'
is taken prisoner by the Enemy, who threaten to carry
him off — Some of his friends have urged me to apply
for a flag & go & try to procure his release. I hope to
return in about 8 or 10 days, though it is uncertain, as
I do not know where to find the fleet. — As soon as I j
get back I hope I shall be able to set out for Fred .
The children will be delighted to see their mother. — ^
Give my love to them & to Papa.—
v
e
r
k
r
God bless you my D Mother
Ever yr most affec* Son
F. S. KEY
i
Early the next morning the poet lawyer rode out'
Georgetown with the letter to General Ross and the co
dential instructions from the Commissary General of
soners.
Arriving in Baltimore on the morning of September *
Key called on Skinner and handed him the instructions.
Key, Skinner was a native of Maryland and a son of a
lutionary veteran. Skinner was the younger of the two:
155
. 35, Skinner only 26. Like Key, too, Skinner had taken
|ip the study of law in Annapolis; but when war was declared
I k gave up his practice to become the Government's agent
[fer the foreign mails and the exchange of prisoners. He was
daring young man, patriotic, energetic; but he did not
IfOtsess the polished, gracious manner of the poet lawyer
i was to accompany him in quest of the British fleet.
The vessel on which Key and Skinner embarked was a
1 ship used for communicating with the Enemy and flying
: white flag of peace. Just as they were setting sail down
i Patapsco River on September 5th, Skinner acknowledged
letter of instructions from the Commissary General by
laying that he and Key were on their way. Skinner believed,
ver, that to obtain the release of Dr. Beanes by giving a
sipt was, under the circumstances, as much as could be
pipected. "Making allowance for the opinion and feelings
' an Enemy," said Skinner, "they will no doubt consider
.
as having waived all 'benefit of exception' from the
rule of combatant persons. The best however shall
I done with the most ardent desire to accomplish your views
wishes."
For two days the little ship sailed down the Chesapeake
I the two young lawyers scanned the horizon for the British
Finally on September 7th the British sails came into
• near the mouth of the Potomac. Key and Skinner were
i on board the Tonnant, Vice Admiral Cochrane's eightyflagship. After a few exchanges of civilities, Francis
: Key mentioned the purpose of their visit and presented
I letter from the American Commissary General of Prison-
�156
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
ers to General Ross. Rear Admiral Cockburn and
Admiral Cochrane also heard the plea. The situation did ni
look encouraging. Cockburn spoke of Dr. Beanes with ban
words, exclaimed that the old man deserved no consideration
from the British, that they saw no reason for his release,
that they had decided to take him to Halifax for punishme
The hearts of Key and Skinner sank within them as thejlj
heard the denunciation. Skinner handed over a package d i
letters written by British officers who had been wounded dup|
ing the battle at Bladensburg: the letters were directed tea
certain friends in the British fleet and spoke in complimentaijl
terms of the medical attention and kind treatment given to~|
the wounded Britons by Dr. Beanes. It was at this point
Key made his plea to the British commanders. He said
Dr. Beanes was a scholar and a gentleman of unimpeachable^
character and was esteemed most highly by the people
Maryland. He said he felt sure that when Dr. Beanes ordered**
the arrest of the soldiers after the main body of the Britidk|
Army had passed through Upper Marlborough, he did
have the slightest idea that he was violating any obligatioi |
or faith. General Ross was impressed with the earnestnea;
of the young attorneys. Seemingly less vindictive than thei
two Admirals, he said that while it was probably true thii||
Dr. Beanes deserved punishment, yet the letters from tbej
British soldiers wounded at Bladensburg showed that
doctor had been kind and generous to them; and as far'jj
he was concerned he was willing to let him go. At le
Cockburn and Cochrane gave their approval; and Gene
Ross rendered the decision in reply to General Mason:
?
157
H. M. S. Tonnant
Sept. 7, 1814.
Sir:
Dr. Beanes having acted hostilely towards certain
soldiers of the British army under my command, by
making them prisoners when proceeding to join the
army, & having attempted to justify his conduct when
I spoke to him on the subject, I conceived myself authorized & called upon to cause his being detained as
a prisoner. Mr. Skinner to whom I have imparted the
circumstances will detail them more fully.
The friendly treatment, however, experienced by
the wounded officers & men of the British army left at
Bladensburg^ enables me to meet your wishes regarding that gentleman; I shall accordingly give directions
for his being released, not from an opinion of his not
being justifiably detained, nor from any favorable sentiment of his merit, as far as the cause of his detention
is to be considered, but purely in proof of the obligation which I feel for the attention with which the
wounded have been treated.
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your Most Obedient
Humble servant
ROB. ROSS Major Genl.
Key and Skinner were given permission to see Dr.
[Beanes at once. They found him imprisoned in the prow of
| j k ship, surrounded by a crowd of soldiers and sailors. Imi the joy of the old man when he caught sight of the two
ylanders who had come to rescue him! He told them of
I t s harrowing experiences and the rough way he had been
|kndled by the soldiers; said he had been treated not as a
�158
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
prisoner of war — for he was not a combatant — but as a dangerous criminal; and that the commanding officers had
ignored him completely. And, in addition, wild stories had
been circulated on the ship that he had inflicted grievous injuries upon British soldiers. As a result he had a lurking
dread that some of the men might grab him at any time and
throw him overboard. And then unexpectedly the glorious
news that he was to be released!
the smaller ship and thus be enabled to superintend personally the bombardment of Fort McHenry. Accordingly, on
Saturday, September 10th, before starting up the Patapsco,
Cochrane moved Key and Skinner again, this time from the
Surprize to their own cartel ship, and allowed them to take
Dr. Beanes with them. But to prevent them from returning
to Baltimore until after the attack he placed them under a
guard of marines.
But the British officers were not ready to release him
yet. They were just getting ready to attack Baltimore — the
"hornets' nest" which had equipped and sent to sea on President Madison's request more privateers than any other city
in America. They told Key and Skinner that they would not
allow any one to leave the fleet until the attack was over.*
However, the two lawyers were treated with courtesy by thei
British officers: they were assured that they would be made
as comfortable as possible during the time they were detained
with the fleet. On the day they came on board the Tonnanti
they were given an invitation to dine at Vice Admiral CoclH
rane's table; but Cochrane said that he was unable to accom-;
modate them any longer on hisflagshipbecause it was alreadycrowded with officers. However, he told them that they would
be taken care of by his son, Sir Thomas Cochrane, who com-ij
manded the frigate Surprize. So the Marylanders were trans-J
ferred to the smaller vessel, on which they were entertained;
by young Sir Thomas until the Royal fleet arrived at the
mouth of the Patapsco. The Vice Admiral decided now to
shift his flag to the Surprize: the reason for this change was'
that he believed he could move further up the Patapsco in
In the meantime, with the disaster at Bladensburg and
the burning of Washington fresh in everybody's mind, Brigadier General John Strieker and Commodore Barney had
asked a widow, Mary Young Pickersgill, to make a flag for
Fort McHenry, her mother having made flags during the
Revolutionary War. She was related to both Strieker and
Barney. Mrs. Pickersgill went to work with a will. She was
given help by her little 14-year-old daughter Caroline. First
" they had to cut pieces of red and white and blue from four
hundred yards of bunting. It was a mammoth flag which the
officers asked the woman to make — 29 feet from top to bot. torn and 36 feet in width. "The flag being so very large,"
Caroline recalled when she was 75 years old, "my mother
was obliged to obtain permission from the proprietor of
"Qaggett's Brewery,' which was in our neighborhood, to
spread it out in their malt-house, and I remember seeing my
f mother down on the floor placing the stars
159
The flag I
think contained four hundred yards of bunting, and my
| mother worked many nights until 12 o'clock to complete it in a
[given time." Night after night through the hot weather the
widow and her daughter Caroline crawled over the big flag,
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Michael Waldman
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Michael Waldman was Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting from 1995-1999. His responsibilities were writing and editing nearly 2,000 speeches, which included four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. From 1993 -1995 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination.</p>
<p>The collection generally consists of copies of speeches and speech drafts, talking points, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, articles, clippings, and presidential schedules. A large volume of this collection was for the State of the Union speeches. Many of the speech drafts are heavily annotated with additions or deletions. There are a lot of articles and clippings in this collection.</p>
<p>Due to the size of this collection it has been divided into two segments. Use links below for access to the individual segments:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+1">Segment One</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+2">Segment Two</a></p>
Creator
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Michael Waldman
Office of Speechwriting
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-1999
Identifier
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2006-0469-F
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
MW [ Michael Waldman] - Personal: [Francis Scott Key , Life and Times] [Binder] [1]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
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Box 39
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36404"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F Segment 2
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
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Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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6/3/2015
Source
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7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg2-039-008-2015