works would be carried in a few hours, and that the city would then
fall. So, from the deck of the _Surprise_, Key and his companion
watched and listened anxiously all night. Every time a shell was
fired, they waited breathlessly for the explosion they feared might
follow. "While the bombardment continued, it was sufficient proof that
the fort had not surrendered. But it suddenly ceased some time before
day.... They paced the deck for the remainder of the night in fearful
suspense.... As soon as it dawned, and before it was light enough to
see objects at a distance, their glances were turned to the fort,
uncertain what they should see there, the Stars and Stripes, or the
flag of the enemy. At length the light came, and they saw that 'our
flag was still there.'"
A little later they saw the approach of boats loaded with wounded
British soldiers. Then Key took an envelope and wrote many of the
lines of the song, and while he was on the boat that carried him to
shore he completed the first rough draft. That night, at the hotel, he
rewrote the poem. Next day he showed it to Judge Nicholson, who was so
delighted with it that the author was encouraged to send it to a
printer, by the hand of Captain Benjamin Eades. Captain Eades took the
first handbill that came from the press and carried it to the old
tavern next the Holliday Street Theatre. There the words were sung for
the first time, to the tune "Anacreon in Heaven," the tune Key had
indicated on his copy.
Long before the author's death in 1843 the song had won its place in
the affections of the people. He wrote many other poems, and some of
them have become popular hymns. At the memorial service conducted for
him in Christ Church, Cincinnati, by his friend and former pastor,
Rev. J. T. Brooke, the congregation was asked to sing Key's own hymn,
beginning:
"Lord, with glowing heart I'd praise thee,
For the bliss thy love bestows;
For the pardoning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows.
Help, O Lord, my weak endeavor;
This dull soul to rapture raise;
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise."
Dr. Scott, in whose Annapolis home Key had spent so many happy days,
died in 1814, the year of the composition of "The Star-Spangled
Banner." Mrs. Scott lived until 1819.
XLIX
THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON
THE BEGINNINGS OF WASHINGTON CITY, AND THE STORY OF THE HOME OF
CONGRESS
The selection of parts of Virginia and Maryland as the site of the
Federal District in which the National Capital was to be located was
made only after many years of discussion.
In 1779 some of the members of Congress talked of buying a few square
miles near Princeton, New Jersey, as a site for the government's
permanent home. Four years later, the trustees of Kingston, New York,
sought to interest Congress in that location. In 1783 Annapolis,
Maryland, offered the State House and public circle to "the Honorable
Congress" for their use. Burlington, New Jersey, also entered the
lists, while in June, 1783, Virginia offered the town of Williamsburg
to Congress and proposed to "present the palace, the capitol, and all
the public buildings and 300 acres of land adjoining the said city,
together with a sum of money not exceeding 100,000 pounds, this state
currency to be expended in erecting thirteen hotels for the use of
the delegates in Congress."
In October, 1784, Congress decided to place the capital near Trenton,
New Jersey. Later it was decided to have a second capital on the
Potomac, Congress to alternate between the two locations.
Neither Congress nor the country was satisfied with this solution of
the difficulty. After years of discussion, in September, 1789, one
house of Congress fixed on the Falls of the Susquehanna in
Pennsylvania as the permanent site. The Senate amended their proposal
by suggesting Germantown, Pennsylvania.
This action was reconsidered and a long dispute followed. Finally, in
1790, the site on the Potomac was selected, and Congress was ready to
provide for the building of "a palace in the woods."
President Washington and Vice-President Adams disagreed as to the
location of the Capitol building. John Adams wished to see it the
centre of a quadrangle of other public buildings, but Washington urged
that Congress should meet in a building at a distance from the
President's house and all other public buildings, that the lawmakers
might not be annoyed by the executive officers.
The invitation to architects to present plans for the Capitol was made
in March, 1792, five hundred dollars being promised for the best plan.
None of the sixteen designs submitted were approved. Later two men,
Stephen L. Hallet and Dr. William Thornton, offered such good plans
that it was not easy to decide between them. The difficulty was solved
by acceptance of Thornton's design and the engagement of Hallet as
supervising architect at a salary of two thousand dollars a year.
This arrangement was not satisfactory; it became necessary to replace
Hallet first by George Hadfield, then by James Hoban, the architect of
the White House. Under his charge the north wing was completed in
1800.
The proceeds from the sale of lots in the new city proved woefully
inadequate for the expenses of the building. Congress authorized a
loan of eight hundred thousand dollars, but this loan could not be
disposed of until Maryland agreed to take two-thirds of the amount, on
condition that the commissioners in charge of the work add their
personal guarantee to the government's promise to pay.
Congress was called to hold its first meeting in the Capitol north
wing on November 17, 1800. A few months earlier the government
archives had been moved from New York. These were packed in ten or
twelve boxes, and were shipped on a packet boat, by sea. The arrival
of the vessel was greeted by the three thousand citizens of
Washington, who rang bells, cheered, and fired an old cannon in
celebration of the event.
At that time the foundation for the dome had been laid, and the walls
of the south wing had been begun. Later a temporary brick building was
erected for the House, on a portion of the site of the south wing. The
legislators called the building "The Oven."
The south wing was completed under the guidance of Benjamin Henry
Latrobe, who also reconstructed the north wing and connected the two
wings by a wooden bridge. That the building was far from satisfactory
is evident from an article in the _National Intelligencer_ of December
2, 1813, which spoke with disgust of the wooden passageway as well as
of the piles of debris on every hand.
In less than a year after the printing of the criticism, conditions
were far worse, for the British troops came to Washington on August
24, 1814. They piled furniture in the hall of the House, and set fire
to it. The wooden bridge that connected the wings burned like tinder.
In a little while nothing was left but the walls. "The appearance of
the ruins was perfectly terrifying," Architect Latrobe wrote.
Thus was fulfilled in a striking way the prophecy made by John
Randolph when he pleaded with Congress not to make war on Great
Britain, "All the causes urged for this war will be forgotten in your
treaty of peace, and possibly this Capitol may be reduced to ashes."
The next session of Congress was held in the Union Pacific Hotel, but
by December, 1815, there was ready a three-story building, erected by
popular subscription, which Congress used for three years, paying for
it an annual rental of $1,650. This was called "The Brick Capitol."
Of course efforts were made to remove the Capital to another location,
but Congress made appropriation for the reconstruction of the Capitol
on the old site. Work was begun almost at once, and was continued
until 1830, when the wings had been rebuilt as well as the rotunda and
centre structure. In general appearance the building was the same as
before the fire, but marble instead of sandstone was used for
colonnades and staircases and floors. The beautiful capitals of the
marble pillars were carved in Italy or prepared by workmen brought
from Italy.
During the latter part of this period the rotunda was used for all
sorts of exhibitions. Once a panorama of Paris was shown there, an
admission fee of fifty cents being charged. Exhibits of manufactured
goods were made in this "no man's land," over which nobody seemed to
have jurisdiction. In 1827 a congressman spoke in the House of the
fact that "triangles of steel to take the place of bells, stoves, stew
pans, pianos, mouse traps, and watch ribbons were marked with prices
and sundry good bargains were driven." The general public felt that
they had a right even to the hall of the House; frequently popular
meetings were held there.
The present dome surmounting the rotunda is not the dome first
planned. For Latrobe's dome, which he did not build, a higher dome was
substituted by Bulfinch. The present dome is the work of Thomas U.
Walter, the designer of Girard College, Philadelphia, whose plans for
the completion of the Capitol were approved in 1851. The burning of
the western front of the centre building in December, 1851, proved a
blessing in disguise, for Walter was able to rebuild the section in
perfect harmony with the other portions. The House first occupied its
present quarters on December 16, 1857, but the Senate was not able to
take possession of its new hall until January 4, 1859.
The great structure was finished in 1865, work having been carried on
throughout the Civil War. Though they knew that there would be delay
in receiving payment for their work, the contractors insisted on
continuing and completing what is one of the most harmonious public
buildings in the world.
The patriotic contractors had their reward, for the building was
ready to receive the body of President Lincoln when, on April 19,
1865, after the services in the White House, the casket was placed on
a catafalque under the dome of the rotunda, that the people of the
country whose destinies he had guided through four years of civil war
might gather there to do him honor.
L
THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON
THE HOME OF EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE WASHINGTON
When, in 1792, James Hoban suggested to the commission appointed to
supervise the erection of public buildings at Washington that the
Executive Mansion be modelled after the palace of the Duke of Leinster
in Dublin, his proposition was accepted, and he was given a premium of
five hundred dollars for the plan. More, he was engaged, at the same
amount per year, to take charge of the builders.
No time was lost in laying the corner stone. The ceremony was
performed on October 13, 1792, and operations were pushed with such
speed that the building was completed ten years later!
In November, 1800, six months after the transfer of the government
offices from Philadelphia to Washington, Mrs. Adams joined President
Adams at the White House. She had a hard time getting there. A few
days after her arrival she wrote to her daughter:
"I arrived here on Sunday last, and without meeting any
accident worth noticing, except losing ourselves when we
left Baltimore, and going eight or nine miles on the
Frederick road, by which means we were obliged to go the
other eight miles through woods, where we wandered for two
hours, without finding a guide, or the path. Fortunately, a
straggling black came up with us, and we engaged him as a
guide to extricate us out of our difficulty; but woods are
all you see, from Baltimore until you reach the city, which
is only so in name. Here and there is a small cot, without a
glass window, interspersed amongst the forests, through which
you travel miles without seeing any human being. In the city
there are buildings enough, if they were compact and
furnished, to accommodate Congress and those attached to it;
but as they are, and scattered as they are, I see no great
comfort for them."
Mrs. Adams found no great comfort in the White House, either. "To
assist us in this great castle," she wrote, "and render less
attendance necessary, bells are wholly wanting, not one single one
being hung through the whole house, and promises are all you can
obtain.... If they will put me up some bells, and let me have wood
enough to keep fires, I design to be pleased.... But, surrounded with
forests, can you believe that wood is not to be had, because people
cannot be found to cut and cart it.... The house is made habitable,
but there is not a single apartment finished.... We have not the least
fence, yard, or other convenience, without, and the great, unfinished
audience-room I make a drying room of, to hang up the clothes in. The
principal stairs are not up, and will not be this winter."
The building itself was in good condition, though the surroundings
were far from prepossessing, when it was burned by the British in
1814. President and Mrs. Madison moved to the Octagon House, and spent
more than a year in this comfortable winter home of Colonel John
Tayloe.
The cost of rebuilding and refurnishing the Executive Mansion was
about three hundred thousand dollars. The work was begun in 1814, and
in September, 1817, the building was so far completed that President
Monroe was able to take up his quarters there in some degree of
comfort, though the floor in the East Room had not yet been laid and
some of the walls were still without plastering. On January 1, 1818,
the first New Year's reception was held there. "It was gratifying to
be able to salute the President of the United States with the
compliments of the season in his appropriate residence," the _National
Intelligencer_ said. It may be added that the editor called the
building "the President's House." The title, "the White House," was
not yet in common use.
For many years the successive occupants of the building were subject
to all sorts of criticism. Mrs. Monroe refused both to make first
calls and to return calls. President Monroe bought foreign-made
furnishings! John Quincy Adams actually introduced a billiard table,
and the use of public money to buy "a gaming table" was bitterly
attacked! (Of course the purchase was made with personal funds.) Mrs.
Adams was cold and haughty! When President Van Buren left Washington
he took with him the gold spoons and the gilt dessert service that had
attracted attention! But these were private property.
However, most criticisms like these have been inspired by pride in the
President and his household, and a pardonable feeling of possession in
them and the White House.
Until within recent years the President's offices were in the east end
of the White House. A pleasing description of these offices has come
down from Isaac N. Arnold, who thus spoke of the quarters of President
Lincoln:
"The furniture of the room consisted of a large oak table,
covered with cloth extending north and south, and it was
round this table that the Cabinet sat when it held its
meetings. Near the end of the table and between the windows
was another table, on the west side of which the President
sat, in a large arm-chair, and at this table he wrote. A tall
desk, with pigeon holes for paper, stood against the south
wall. The only books usually found in this room were the
Bible, the United States Statutes, and a copy of Shakespeare.
There were a few chairs and two plain hair-covered sofas.
There were two or three map frames, from which hung military
maps, on which the positions and movements of the armies were
traced. There was an old and discolored engraving of General
Jackson over the mantel and a later photograph of John
Bright. Doors open into this room from the room of the
secretary and from the outside hall, running east and west
across the house. A bell-cord within reach of his hand
extended to the secretary's office. A messenger sat at the
door opening from the hall, and took in the cards and names
of visitors."
During the time of President Roosevelt, outside Executive offices were
built, and rooms that had long been needed for the personal uses of
the President's household were released. The change has increased
patriotic pride in the White House, one of the simplest mansions
provided for the rulers of the nations.
[Illustration: THE STAIRWAY, OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
_From the Monograph on the Octagon House,
Issued by the American Institute of Architects_]
LI
THE OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON
IN WHICH DOLLY MADISON LAVISHED HOSPITALITY IN 1814
John Tayloe, the wealthiest man in the Virginia of the late eighteenth
century, had his summer home at Mt. Airy. His plantation, the largest
in the State, was worked by more than five hundred slaves.
When he wanted a winter home, he thought of building at Philadelphia.
But George Washington, eager to secure him as a resident of the young
Federal City on the Potomac, asked him to consider the erection of a
house there. So Mr. Tayloe made an investigation of Washington as a
site for a residence, bought a lot for one thousand dollars, and in
1798 commissioned Dr. William Thornton to make the plans for a
palatial house. During the construction of the building Washington
several times rode by and from the saddle inspected the progress of
the work.
Thornton was at the time a well-known man, though he had been born in
the West Indies and was for many years a resident there. After
receiving his education in Europe, he lived for several years in the
United States. During this period he was a partner of John Fitch in
the building and trial of the steamboat that for a time ran
successfully on the Delaware River, more than twenty years before
Fulton built the _Clermont_. He was himself something of an inventor;
he secured a number of patents for a device to move a vessel by
applying steam to a wheel at the side of the hull.
He had returned to the West Indies when he read that a prize was to be
given for the best plan submitted for the Capitol to be built at
Washington. At once he wrote for particulars, and in due time he
presented his plans. He was then living in the United States. The
plans were considered the best that had been offered. Jefferson said
that they "captivated the eyes and judgment of all," while Washington
spoke of their "grandeur, simplicity, and convenience." While these
plans were later modified by others, certain features of the Capitol
as it appears to-day are to be traced directly to Dr. Thornton's
plans.
At the time of the award he was but thirty-one years old, and had
already won a place as a physician, an inventor, and a man of science.
He was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, and had received the prize
offered for the design for the new building of the Library Company of
Philadelphia, in which Franklin was especially interested. Later he
was awarded a gold medal by the American Philosophical Society for a
paper in which he outlined the method of the oral teaching of deaf and
dumb children which is still in use in many institutions.
[Illustration: OCTAGON HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
_Photo by Frank Cousins Art Company
from the Monograph on the Octagon House
by the American Institute of Architects_
See page 234]
The building planned by Dr. Thornton for Mr. Tayloe, at the northeast
corner of New York Avenue and Eighteenth Street, was completed in
1801. At the time it was the best house in Washington. At once, as the
Octagon House, it became famous for the lavish hospitality of its
owner.
The next stirring period in the history of the Octagon House was the
later years of the second war with Great Britain. On the night of
August 24, 1814, when the British Army entered the city, the French
minister, M. Serurier, looked from his window and saw soldiers
bearing torches going toward the White House. Quickly he sent a
messenger to General Ross and asked that his residence be spared. The
messenger found General Ross in the Blue Room, where he was collecting
furniture for a bonfire. Assured that "the king's house" would be
respected, he returned to the minister.
Dr. Thornton, who was at the time superintendent of the patent office,
succeeded in persuading Colonel Jones to spare that building, on the
ground that it was a museum of the Arts, and that its destruction
would be a loss to all the world.
Among the public buildings destroyed was the White House. Mr. Tayloe
at once offered the Octagon House to President Madison. On September
9, 1814, the _National Intelligencer_ announced, "The President will
occupy Colonel Tayloe's large house, which was lately occupied by the
French minister." For more than a year the house was known as the
Executive Annex.
Rufus Rockwell Wilson, in "Washington, the Capital City," tells how
the mansion looked at this time:
"Its circular entrance hall, marble tiled, was heated by two
picturesque stoves placed in small recesses in the wall.
Another hall beyond opened into a spacious and lovely garden
surrounded by a high brick wall after the English fashion. To
the right was a handsome drawing room with a fine mantel,
before which Mrs. Madison was accustomed to stand to receive
her guests. To the left was a dining-room of equal size and
beauty. A circular room over the hall, with windows to the
floor and a handsome fireplace, was President Madison's
office. Here he received his Cabinet officers and other men
of note, listening to their opinions and reports on the
progress of the war; and here, also, on a quaintly carved
table, he signed, February 18, 1815, the proclamation of the
Treaty of Ghent, which ended the contest with England."
The story of this table's history is interesting. From the Octagon
House it went to John Ogle Ferneaux, of King George County, Virginia.
He kept it until October 30, 1897, when it was sold to Mrs. A. H.
Voorhies, of 2011 California Street, San Francisco. When the fire that
succeeded the earthquake of 1906 approached the house, the table was
taken away hurriedly. Mrs. Voorhies says, "We wrapped sheets around
the circular part of the table, and in part of the journey, it went
turning round as a wheel to a place of safety." The San Francisco
chapter of the Institute of Architects purchased it for $1,000, and
sent it to Washington, December 1, 1911.
It is said that on the day the message came to the Octagon House that
peace had been declared, Miss Sally Coles, who was Mrs. Madison's
cousin, called from the head of the stairs, "Peace! Peace!" One who
was a guest at the time gave a lively account of the scene in the
house:
"Late in the afternoon came thundering down Pennsylvania
Avenue a coach and four foaming steeds, in which was the
bearer of the good news. Cheers followed the carriage as it
sped on its way to the residence of the President. Soon after
nightfall, members of Congress and others deeply interested
in the event presented themselves at the President's House,
the doors of which stood open. When the writer of this
entered the drawing room at about eight o'clock, it was
crowded to its full capacity. Mrs. Madison--(the President
being with the Cabinet)--doing the honors of the occasion;
and what a happy scene it was!"
Mr. Tayloe occupied the Octagon at intervals until his death in 1828.
Mrs. Tayloe lived until 1855. By this time the neighborhood had
changed, and the property deteriorated. In 1865 it was occupied as a
girls' school. From 1866 to 1879 it was the hydrographic office of the
Navy Department. Later it became a dwelling and studio. From 1885 to
1889 it was in the hands of a caretaker, and deteriorated rapidly. At
the last eight or ten families of colored people lived within the
storied walls.
The Institute of American Architects leased the property in 1899 and
later purchased the house for $30,000. It is now one of the sights of
Washington. A tablet fixed to the wall relates the main facts of its
history.
SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS
_I love the stately southern mansions with their tall white
columns,
They look through avenues of trees, over fields where the cotton
is growing;
I can see the flutter of white frocks along their shady porches,
Music and laughter float from the windows, the yards are full of
hounds and horses.
Long since the riders have ridden away, yet the houses have not
forgotten,
They are proud of their name and place, and their doors are always
open,
For the thing they remember best is the pride of their ancient
hospitality._
HENRY VAN DYKE.
SIX: HOMES AND HAUNTS OF THE CAVALIERS
[Illustration: MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA, REAR VIEW
_Photo by E. C. Hall_
See page 241]
LII
MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON