his brother to act as lieutenant; and on Friday, the twentysecond of November (1633), with a small but favoring gale, Leonard Calvert and about two hundred people, most of them Roman Catholic gentlemen and their servants, in the Ark and the Dove, a ship of large burden, and a pin'nace, set sail for the northern bank of the Poto'mac. Having staid by the way in Barba'doeş and St. Christopher, it was not till February of the following year that they arrived at Point Comfort, in Virginia. 3. Leaving Point Comfort, Calvert sailed into the Potomac, and with the pinnace ascended the stream. A cross was planted on an island, and the country claimed for Christ and for England. At about forty-seven leagues above the mouth of the river he found the village of Piscăt'aqua, an Indian settlement nearly opposite Mount Vernon. The chieftain of the tribe would neither bid him go nor stay; "he might use his own discretion." It did not seem safe for the English to plant the first settlement so high up the river. 4. Calvert descended the stream, examining in his barge the creeks and estuaries 1 nearer the Ches'apeake he entered the river which is now called St. Mary's, and which he named St. George's; and, about four leagues from its junction with the Potomac, he anchored at the Indian towr of Yo-a-com'-a-co. The native inhabitants, having suffered from the superior power of the Susquehanʼnahs, who occupied the district between the bays, had already resolved to remove to places of more security in the interior; and many of them had begun to migrate before the English arrived. 5. To Calvert the spot seemed convenient for a plantation; it was easy, by presents of cloth and axes, of hoes and knives, to gain the good-will of the natives, and to purchase their rights to the soil which they were preparing to abandon. They readily gave consent that the English should immediately occupy one-hälf of their town, and after the harvest should become the exclusive tenants of the whole. Mutual promises of friendship and peace were made; so that, upon the twentyseventh day of March, the Catholics took quiet possession of the place; and religious liberty obtained a home, its only home 1 Est'ū a ry, a narrow passage, as the mouth of a river or lake, where the tide meets the current, in the wide world, at the humble village which bōre the name of St. Mary's. 1 6. Three days after the landing of Calvert, the Ark and the Dove anchored in the harbor. The native chiefs soon came to welcome or to watch the immigrants, and were so well received, that they resolved to give perpetuity to their league of amity with the English. The Indian women taught the wives of the new-comers to make bread of maize; the warriors of the tribe instructed the huntsmen how rich were the forests of America in game, and joined them in the chase. 7. And, as the season of the year invited to the pursuits of agriculture, and the English had come into possession of ground already subdued, they were able at once to possess corn-fields and gardens, and prepare the wealth of successful husbandry. Virginia, from its surplus produce, could furnish a temporary supply of food and all kinds of domestic cattle. No sufferings were endured; no fears of want were excited; the foundation of the colony of Maryland was peacefully and happily laid. Within six months it had advanced more than Virginia had done in as many years. 8. The proprietary continued with great liberality to provide everything that was necessary for its comfort and protection, and spared no cost to promote its interests, expending in the first two years upward of forty thousand pounds sterling. But far more memorable was the character of the Maryland institutions. Every other country in the world had persecuting laws. "I will not "-such was the oath for the governor of Maryland -"I will not, by myself or any other, directly or indirectly, molest any person professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of religion." 9. Under the mild institutions and munificence of Baltimore, the dreary wilderness soon bloomed with the swarming life and activity of prosperous settlements; and the Roman Catholics, who were oppressed by the laws of England, were sure to find a peaceful asylum in the quiet harbors of the Chesapeake; and there, too, Protestants were sheltered against Protestant intolerance. Such were the beautiful auspices under which the province of Maryland started into being; its prosperity and its 'Per pe tu'i ty, endless duration. peace seemed assured; the interests of its people and its proprietary 1 were united; and for some years its internal peace and harmony were undisturbed. Its history is the history of benevolence, gratitude, and toleration. II. BANCROFT.2 90. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. IN N the month of September, 1814, the city of Baltimore was threatened by the approach of a British fleet. The chief defence of the city was Fort McHenry, which on the 13th became the object of a powerful attack. 3 To 2. This attack was witnessed, under most remarkable circumstances, by Francis S. Key, the author of the following song. A friend was held prisoner in the hands of the British. effect his release, Mr. Key visited the squadron in a cartel, or vessel sent for the exchange of prisoners, and was detained by the admiral till the termination of the attack. 3. Placed on board a small vessel, he remained for a whōle day a spectator of the tremendous cannonading to which the fort was subjected. On its successful resistance depended the fate of his home and friends. All day his eyes watched that low fortification. 4. Night came, and in spite of all the efforts of the enemy, the flag of his country was still flying defiantly in the rays of the setting sun. The bombardment continued through the night, and all the while the sleepless watcher paced the deck, straining his eyes to discern, through the smoke and darkness, if the flag was still there. 5. By the fitful and lurid gleams of exploding shells, the Stars and Stripes were from time to time revealed to his eager 1 Pro prï'e ta ry, the owner. 2 George Bancroft, an American historian, was born in Worcester, Mass., in 1810. The fine extract given above was abridged from his great work, "The History of the United States." 3 Francis Scott Key, son of an army officer of the Revolution, was born in Frederick County, Mary land, in 1779. He began the practice of law at Fredericktown in 1801, but soon removed to Washington, D. C., where he became District Attorney for the city. He died January 11, 1843. A small volume of his poems was published in 1857. gaze, and gave cheer to the anxious hours. Morning came. It found him with eyes still fastened on the fort. The starspangled banner floated proudly in the morning breeze, and the echoes of defiant cheers were borne from the fort to his ears. III. 91. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. 1. 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 streaming? 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? 2. On the shōre, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, As it fitfully blows, hälf conceals, half discloses ? 3. And where is the band who so väuntingly 1 swore, 'Mid the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, A home and a country they'd leave us no more? Their blood hath 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; 4. Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 1 Vaunt'ing ly, boastfully; in an ostentatious manner. Blessed 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 F. S. KEY. IV. 92. THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. ON N the afternoon of the day on which the provincial congress of Massachusetts adjourned [April 15, 1775], Gage took the light infantry and grenadiers off duty, and secretly prepared an expedition to destroy the colony's stores at Concord. But the attempt had for several weeks been expected; a strict watch had been kept; and signals were concerted to announce the first movement of troops for the country. Samuel Adams 1 and Hancock, who had not yet left Lexington for Philadelphiä, received a timely message from Warren, and in consequence, the committee of safety removed a part of the public stōres, and secreted the cannon. 2. On Tuesday, the eighteenth, ten or more sergeants in disguise dispersed themselves through Cambridge and further west, to intercept all communication. In the following night, the grenadiers and light infantry, not less than eight hundred in number, the flower of the army at Boston, crossed in the boats of the transport-ships from the foot of the common to East Cambridge. Thêre they received a day's provisions, and near midnight, after wading through wet marshes, that are now covered by a stately town, they took the road through West Cambridge to Concord. 1 Samuel Adams, a leading actor in the American revolution, was born in Boston, Sept. 27, 1722, of a family long settled there, where he died, Oct. 2, 1803. He was eight years a member of the Continental Congress. "John Hancock, an American statesman, first president of the Con tinental Congress, was born in Quincy, Mass., Jan. 12, 1737, and died there, Oct. 8, 1793. He was eleven years governor of Massachusetts. 3 Joseph Warren, an American patriot, was born in Roxbury, Mass., in 1741, and killed in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. |