The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-08-19

Yet II was reserved for this constant and
modest gentleman 70 leave behind him a price
less iefs y To ms country men and 10 ~identif,
his name Tor All iimc with his c0untry's dag.
freea".n's Gloria Ia ExceIsiz.
The star s~pangled Banner owed very little "a
chance IL was the emanation Of a patriot,
feryor a. sincere and natural a. IL was simpi,
and noble II sprang from one OF those gloriou,
Inspirations which. coming 10 an author unbid.
uen, selves at once upon the hearts ana minds OF
men. The occasion seemed 10 have been ere.
hted Tor the very purpose. The man and the
hour were met, and the song came: and trul,
was song never yet born amid such scenes. we
explore the pages OF folk lore. We read the
story OF popular music, In vain. 10 find the
IKE. Even the authorship Of the En-
silsh national anthem j. In dispute. The
"Marsellaise" did indeed owe It's be-
ing 10 the passions OF war and burst forth in
profuse strains ana melody above the clang OF
arms; but II was attended by those theatrical
accessories which preside over and minister To
Latin emotion. and seem Indispensable 10 It's
development, and II Il believed 10 have derived
as much OF is enthusiasm from the wine Gun
as from the drun-beat Keys song was the
very child Of battle. IL was rocked by cannon
In the cradle OF the deep Its swaddling clothes
We're the stars and Stripes IL, birth proclaimed
us coming was heralded by shot and shell. and,
from It's baptism OF lire. "a nation OF freemen
clasped il to It's bosom. 1t was to be thence
forth and forever freedom Gloria In Exceisis.
The story of the song.
The circumstance which ushered IL into the
world. hardly less than the words Of the poem.
are full OF patriotic, exhilaration. II was dur
ing the darkest days OF our second war OF inde-
pendence. An English army had invaded and
occupied the seat Of the national government.
and had burned the capitol OF the nation. An
English squadron was in undisputed possession
OF the Chesapeake bay. There being nothing
OF interest, or value left within the vicinity OF
Washington to detain them. the British
were massing their land ana naval forces
Tor other conquests. and, as their
ships sailed down the Potomac. DIR.
william Beanes, a prominent citizen OF Mary
land, who had been arrested at his home Ia Up
per Marlboro charged with some onense, real
or fancicd, was carried OF a prisoner.
IL was to secure the liberation OF this GENTLE
man, his neighbor and friend. that Francis
Scott Key obtained leave Of the presiicnt 10
90 TO the British admiral under a flag OF truce.
lie was conveyed by the cartel boat used for
the exchange Of prisoners and accompanied by
the nag officer OF the government. They pro-
ceeded down the bay from Baltimore and found
the British fleet at the mouth ~ the Potomac.
Mr.. Key was courtcously received by Admiral
Cochranc. but he was not encouraged as to the
success OF his mission until letters from the
English Officers wounded at IlanienNburg and
left IN the care OF the Americans were de-
livcred 10 the friends on the fleet TO whom they
had been written These bore such Testimony
TO the kindness with which they had been
treated that IL was finally agreed that DIR.
Bcanes should be released, but. as an advance
upon Baltimore wa, about 70 IT, made. il was
required that the party Of Americans should |
remain under guard on board their
own vessel until these operations
were concluded Thus it was that.
the night OF the iith OF September. 1874 KEY
the bombardment OF Fort McIIenry
which his song was TO render illustriouS.
He did not quit the deck the long nigbi
through. With his single companion. the flag |
oncer. he watched every shell from the mo
meut II was fired until 1t fell. listening with
interest to hear il an Explosion fol-
Whilst the cannonading continued
they needed no further assurance that their
countrymen had not capituiated. But" |
quote the words OF Chief Justice fancy. repeat
Ing the account given him by Key Immediately
after, III suddcnly ceased some time before day: |
and, as they had no communication with /
OF the cncmy's ships, they did not know
the fort had ~urrend cred. or the attack
upon II had been abandoned. They paced the
leck the residue OF the night in painful sus-
pense, watching with intense anxiety for tho
-eturn OF day. and looking every few minutes
III their watches 10 see how long they must
wait for II. and. as soon as II dawned and be-
II was light enough to see objects at a dis
.ance. their glasses were turned TO the fort.
Uncertain whether they should see there the
stars and stripes. or the flag Of the enemy "
Blessed vigil that its prayers were not in
iain' glorious vigil that 1t gave Us the Star
Banner,
During the night the conce ption Of the poem
,cgan 10 form itself in Key mind With the
'arly glow OF the morning, when the long agony
suspense had been turned into the rapture OF
his feeling found expression IN com
'leted lines Of verse, which he wrote upon the
Jack OF a letter he happened TO have in his pos
ession- lie finished the piece ON the boat that
arried him ashore. and wrote out a clear copy
hat same evening at his hotel In Baltimore.
Sext day he read this TO his friend and kins-
nan, Judge Nicholson. who was so pleased witt
I that he carried 10 to the onice Of the Baltimore
where II was put in type by a
'oung apprentice. Samuel Sands by name.
nd thence issued as a broadside Within an
after. IL was circulating all over the city.
Ianed with delight by the excited people. Pub
ished IN the succeeding sue OF the American.
nd elsewhere reprinted. It went straight to the
'opular heart IL was quickly seized for mu-
adaptation. First sung in a tavern adj
dining the Holiday Street theater in Baiti-
norc, by Charles Durang, an actor. whose
rotheS, Ferdinand Durang, had set it to an old
ir. its production on the stage OF that theater
fas the occasion of spontaneous and unbound
d enthusiasm Wherever II was heard its effect
ias electrical. and thcnceforward it was uni
ersally accepted as the national anthem.
Its Expression of Patriotic Feeling.
The poem tells its own story. and never
ruer, for every word comes direct from "A
reat heroic soul. powder-stained and dipped.
5 1t were. in sacred blood
say, can you see by the dawn's early light
What 80 proudly we hailed at the twilight
last cleaning.
whose broad stripes and bright stars through
the perilous fight,
Ger the ramparts We watched, we're so gall
lantly streaming"
The two that walked the deck OF the cartel
oat had waited long. They had counted the
ours as they watched the course OF the battle.
ut a deeper anxiety yet Is TO possess them.
he firing has ceased Ominous silence Whilst
lnnon roarcd they knew that the fort held out
Whilst the sky was lit by messengers Of death
rev could see the national colors flying
bovc IT,
rockets red glare and bombs bursting
in air
ave proof through the night that our flag was
still there"
But there comes an end at last 10 waiting and 1
and as the first rays OF the sun shoot
Dove the horizon and gild to the eastern shore.
L-fI -. -. 40