darkness, to slip past the fort and up the Patapsco, hoping to effect a landing and attack the garrison in the rear.

Succeeding in evading the guns of the fort, but unmindful of Fort Covington, under whose batteries they next came, their enthusiasm over the supposed success of the venture gave way in a derisive cheer, which, borne by the damp night air to our small party of Americans on the Minden (the ship on which Key was held), must have chilled the blood in their veins and pierced their patriotic hearts like a dagger.

Fort Covington, the lazaretto, and the American barges in the river now simultaneously poured a galling fire upon the unprotected enemy, raking them fore and aft, in horrible slaughter. Disappointed and disheartened, many wounded and dying, they endeavored to regain their ships, which came closer to the fortifications in an endeavor to protect their retreat. A fierce battle ensued. Fort McHenry opened the full force of all her batteries upon them as they repassed, and the fleet responding with entire broadsides made an explosion so terrific that it seemed as though Mother Earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone.

The heavens aglow were a seething sheet of flame, and the waters of the harbor, lashed into an angry sea by the vibrations, the Minden rode and tossed as though in a tempest. It is recorded that the houses in the city of Baltimore, two miles distant, were shaken to their foundations. Above the tempestuous roar, intermingled with its hubbub and confusion, were heard the shrieks and groans of the dying and wounded. But alas! they were from the direction of the fort. What did it mean? For over an hour the pan

demonium reigned. Suddenly it ceased—all was quiet, not a shot fired or sound heard, a deathlike stillness prevailed, as the darkness of night resumed its sway. The awful stillness and suspense were unbearable. With the approach of dawn Mr. Key turned his weary and bloodshot eyes in the .direction of the fort and its flag, but the darkness had given place to a heavy fog of smoke and mist which now enveloped the harbor and hung close down to the surface of the water. . . Some time must yet elapse before anything definite might be ascertained, or the object of his aching heart's desire discerned. At last it came. A bright streak of gold mingled with crimson shot athwart the eastern sky, followed by another and still another, as the morning sun arose in the fulness of his glory, lifting "the mists of the deep," crowning a "Heaven-blest land" with a new victory and grandeur.

Through a vista in the smoke and vapor could now be dimly seen the flag of his country. As it caught “The gleam of the morning's first beam," and "in full glory reflected shone in the stream" his proud and patriotic heart knew no bounds; the wounds inflicted "by the battle's confusion" were healed instantly as if by magic; a new life sprang into every fiber, and his pent-up emotions burst forth with an inspiration in a song of praise, victory, and thanksgiving as he exclaimed:

""Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

The first draft of the words were emotionally scribbled upon the back of a letter which he carried in his pocket and of which he made use to dot down some memoranda of his thoughts and sentiments. . . . Copies of the song

were struck off in handbill form, and promiscuously distributed on the street. Catching with popular favor, like prairie fire it spread in every direction, was read and discussed, until, in less than an hour, the news was all over the city. Picked up by a crowd of soldiers assembled, some accounts put it, about Captain McCauley's tavern, next to the Holiday Street Theater, others have it around their tents on the outskirts of the city, Ferdinand Durang, a musician, adapted the words to the old tune of "Anacreon in Heaven," and, mounting a chair, rendered it in fine style. On the evening of the same day it was again rendered upon the stage of the Holiday Street Theater by an actress, and the theater is said to have gained thereby a national reputation. In about a fortnight it had reached New Orleans and was publicly played by a military band, and shortly thereafter was heard in nearly, if not all, the principal cities and towns throughout the country.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous

fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly stream

ing!

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses ?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:

"Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wawe
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave; And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,

And this be our motto "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

III. MAKERS OF THE FLAG

In Mr. Bennett's poem we found the suggestion that "more than the flag is passing by." Some illustrations of the meaning of this sentence have just been givenAmerican history, in peace and war, is symbolized by the Flag. It gains a deeper meaning for us, therefore, when we call to mind its history.

American soldiers and sailors are now engaged in a

war far greater than any that has preceded, are fighting in battles beside which Chippewa and Lake Erie and Baltimore were minor engagements. They are making new history for the Flag, to give it new sacredness in our own and in future generations. But they are not the only Makers of the Flag.

Carpenters and mechanics who build ships to carry wheat to our Allies, farmers who raise foodstuffs, men and women and boys and girls who co-operate with the Food Administration in saving necessary foods, all who help the Government in the immense task of raising the money necessary to enable us to win the victory, all of us who devote our time and our energies, so far as we can, to thinking and winning victory-all these are Makers of the Flag who are now called to the Colors. Democracy

means co-operation.

In June, 1914, when all the world was still at peace, Mr. Franklin K. Lane spoke to the five thousand officers and employees of the Department of the Interior about the Makers of the Flag.

MAKERS OF THE FLAG

FRANKLIN K. LANE

This morning as I passed into the Land Office, the Flag dropped me a most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: "Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker."

"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said; "aren't you mistaken? I am not the President of the United States nor a member of Congress nor even a general in the army. I am only a Government clerk."