Francis Scott Key

“ I was yet in suspense, when Andrew, who mistook my hesitation for bashfulness, proceeded to exhort me to lay it aside. “Speak till him—speak till him, Mr. Francis—he's no provost yet, though they say he'll be my lord neist year. Speak till him, then—he'll gie ye a decent answer for as rich as he is, unless ye were wanting siller frae him—they say he's dour to draw his purse.” ”

“ Had he been Christian turned heathen, I grant you the hottest corner had been good winter quarters for him.”
“Hold thy peace, Long Allen,” said Henry Woodstall. “I tell thee that tongue of thine is not the shortest limb about thee, and I prophesy that it will bring thee into disgrace with Father Francis, as once about the black-eyed Syrian wench. But here comes the horn. Be active a bit, man, wilt thou, and just force open his teeth with the haft of thy dudgeon-dagger.” ”

“ Mr. Francis P. Blair, the editor to whom the letter was addressed, showed it to President Jackson, who indorsed on it an order to the Secretary of War to recall General Scott to Washington, and that an inquiry be held as to his delay in prosecuting the Creek War and the failure of the Florida campaign. On Scott's arrival in Washington he asked for a court of inquiry, which was ordered on October 3d, composed of Major-General{123} Alexander Macomb and Brigadier-Generals Henry Atkinson and Hugh Brady, with Colonel Cooper, General Macomb's aid-de-camp, as judge advocate. ”

“ At the end of 1853, owing to the continued friction produced by the contest, Scott resigned his appointments under the corporation, and a year later became secretary of the new bank of London, which he had taken part in establishing. In July 1858, on the death of Sir John Key, he again became a candidate for the office of chamberlain, and was elected without opposition.
His knowledge of finance made him especially useful to the corporation. On Black Friday 1866, through his judgment in investments, the corporation lost not a penny, although they had at the time 700,000l. out on loan. ”

“ Accordingly, the present publishers resolved to issue an edition which should repair the damage which Time had wrought, and they entrusted the editing to Miss Susan M. Francis, who through her long conversance with the original work, and her familiarity with the literature which has grown up about Scott, as well as her knowledge of the more or less obscure sources of information, was peculiarly competent not only to do the service of Old Mortality, but to set in order the inscriptions still to be added to the stones of Scott's associates. ”

“ Francis Scott's grandson, John Ross, artist, b. in Baltimore, Md., 16 July, 1837, studied art in Munich and Paris for several years, after which he removed to Chicago, and then to Boston, where he exhibited about one hundred of his pictures, in- cluding " Marblehead Beach," "Ochre Point, Newport," " Morning Stroll," and a view of " The Golden Gate, San Francisco," for which he received a medal at the Centennial exhibition of 1876. His " Cloudy Morning, Mount Lafayette," was at the National academy, New York, in 1878. He has been successful in his works in black and white. ”

“ There were also two friends of Charles's, by name Paley (a nephew of the archdeacon) and Ashworth. They seem nice young men, with modesty and good-breeding. I am glad, as my mother used to say, that his friends are so presentable. Moreover, there came my old, right trusty, and well-beloved friend, John Richardson, so we were a full party. Lady Anna Maria returned in the evening. Francis Scott also dined with us.
August 30.—Disposed of my party as I best might, and worked at my review. Walked out at one, and remained till near five. Mr. Scott of Harden and David Thomson, W.S., dined with us. ”

“ I answered—rather, I fear, with more sullen indifference than respect, “with what is your own.”
“Yes, Frank, what I have is my own, if labour in getting, and care in augmenting, can make a right of property; and no drone shall feed on my honeycomb. Think on it well: what I have said is not without reflection, and what I resolve upon I will execute.”
“Honoured sir!—dear sir!” exclaimed Owen, tears rushing into his eyes, “you are not wont to be in such a hurry in transacting business of importance. Let Mr. Francis run up the balance before you shut the account; he loves you, I am sure ”

“ Francis Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh Review, complained of anti-Scottish feeling, and otherwise criticised his friend’s work in a way that alienated Scott, not from Jeffrey, but from the Review, and opened to John Murray a prospect of securing Scott for a contributor to another Review, the Quarterly, which he would found as a representative of other political opinions with which Scott would be more in accord. ”

“ He was like a man awa frae himsell for mony minutes, and I thought he wad hae swarv't a'thegither,—and fan he cam to himsell, he asked fae brought the packet—and fat trow ye I said?"
"An auld soger," says Edie—"that does likeliest at a gentle's door; at a farmer's it's best to say ye're an auld tinkler, if ye need ony quarters, for maybe the gudewife will hae something to souther."
"But I said neer ane o' the twa," answered Francis; "my lord cares as little about the tane as the tother—for he's best to them that can souther up our sins. ”

“ I wad heartily wish, Maister Francis, there suld be as little said as possible about the queer things we saw up yonder awa. There's nae gude, unless ane were judicially examinate, to say onything about that awfu' job o' Morris—and the members o' the council wadna think it creditable in ane of their body to be fighting wi' a wheen Hielandmen, and singeing their plaidens—And abune a', though I am a decent sponsible man, when I am on my right end, I canna but think I maun hae made a queer figure without my hat and my periwig, hinging by the middle like bawdrons, or a cloak flung ower a cloak-pin. ”

“ But, speaking of Frank Kennedy, I daresay he'll be here the day, for he was away round to Wigton to warn a king's ship that's lying in the bay about Dirk Hatteraick's lugger being on the coast again, and he'll be back this day; so we'll have a bottle of claret and drink little Harry's health.'
'I wish,' replied the lady, 'Frank Kennedy would let Dirk Hatteraick alane. What needs he make himself mair busy than other folk? Cannot he sing his sang, and take his drink, and draw his salary, like Collector Snail, honest man, that never fashes ony body? ”

“ The King shook his head as he took the packet reluctantly. “It is no safe office you have undertaken, young man. A messenger has sometimes his throat cut for the sake of his despatches—But give them to me; and, Chiffinch, give me wax and a taper.” He employed himself in folding the Countess’s packet in another envelope. “Buckingham,” he said, “you are evidence that I do not read them till the Council shall see them.”
Buckingham approached, and offered his services in folding the parcel, but Charles rejected his assistance ”

“ Let me please my own generation, and let those who come after us judge of their facts and my performances as they please; the anticipation of their neglect or censure will affect me very little."
In 1812 the poet-lawyer was rewarded with the salary of a place whose duties he had for some years performed without pay,--that of Clerk of Sessions, worth £800 per annum. Thus having now about £1500 as an income, independently of his earnings by the pen, Scott gave up his practice as an advocate, and devoted himself entirely to literature. ”

“ Vol. 1, No. 1, of the daily issue, came out April 23, 1882, as an independent publication, in the interest of the race. Mr. Scott was a prominent man, and as popular with the whites as with the blacks; a proof of the fact being that his job office did all the city's printing. Four-fifths of the circulation of his paper was among the whites. It was a readable sheet, all original matter, and had a good force of reporters. Mr. Scott's politics do not meet the approval of many; but his ability is never questioned. ”

“ The lady entered into his agitation with tact, and on her departure, he told his mother that he liked their visitor, because "she was a virtuoso, like himself." To her amused inquiry as to what a virtuoso might be, he replied: "Don't ye know? why, 'tis one who wishes to and will know everything."
As a boy at school in Edinburgh and in Kelso, and afterwards as a student at the University and apprentice in his father's law office, Scott took his own way to become a "virtuoso" ”

“ A most flourishing House of Peers, I confess, and would find Westminster Hall something too narrow for them.”
“Hush, De Vaux,” said Richard, “I command thee.—Noble Saladin,” he said, “suspicion and thou cannot exist on the same ground. Seest thou,” pointing to the litters, “I too have brought some champions with me, though armed, perhaps, in breach of agreement; for bright eyes and fair features are weapons which cannot be left behind.”
The Soldan, turning to the litters, made an obeisance as lowly as if looking towards Mecca, and kissed the sand in token of respect. ”

“ He stood up, smiling again. "I won't argue with you; it's bigger than anything you ever pulled off—so big, I guess it stuns you; I'll just let the matter soak in, and put up its own argument. You'll come in, all right," he continued confidently, "for you need money, and I'm the party that can supply you. And to make certain that you don't get the money elsewhere, I'll just take along this vault of the First National Bank as security"—with which he slipped Mrs. De Peyster's pearl pendant into his pocket. ”

“ He, as well as other men of sense and observation, began to despair of making their fortune in the party which they had chosen. It was indeed sufficiently dangerous; for, during the short visit just described, one of Dr. King’s servants remarked the stranger’s likeness to Prince Charles, whom he recognized from the common busts.
The occasion taken for breaking up the Stuart interest we shall tell in Dr. King’s own words:—‘When he (Charles Edward) was in Scotland, he had a mistress whose name was Walkinshaw, and whose sister was at that time, and is still, housekeeper at Leicester House. ”

“ I shrugged my shoulders. "The lady does not interest me," I said; "let us talk of something else."
"Of the American Archduke, then," she suggested.
"Why not of yourself?" I urged.
"I am only a Masque—the American may be a King."
"Not likely," I scoffed.
"Are you for Lotzen?" she demanded.
"Diplomats are neutral," said I; "but, entre nous, I have become rather interested in the American."
"So have I," said she. "He is very handsome."
"Thank you," I said, involuntarily.
She stopped and looked at me. I was glad, indeed, for the mask. ”

“ General Scott received great attention from prominent military men in Europe. He was also treated with much respect by men of letters and science. On his return home, in 1816, he was assigned to the command of the seaboard, and established his headquarters in the city of New York. On March 11, 1817, he was married to Miss Maria D. Mayo, of Richmond, Va., daughter of Colonel John Mayo. She was a lady of many accomplishments and a belle in Virginia society. The issue of this marriage who lived to maturity were Virginia, who died unmarried ”

“ I have skill enough to know that the law is mightier than any lord in Britain—I have learned so much at the Temple, if I have learned nothing else. And see that you trifle not with it, lest it make your long ears an inch shorter, Master Skurliewhitter.”
“Nay, gentlemen, if you threaten me,” said the scrivener, “I cannot resist compulsion.”
“No threats—no threats at all, my little Andrew,” said Lowestoffe; “a little friendly advice only—forget not, honest Andrew, I have seen you in Alsatia.” ”

“ He was appointed School Commissioner in 1882, which office he filled with great acceptability to the public until incapacitated by the disease which terminated his life.
Mr. Scott, though one of the most amiable of men, was fond of argument when properly conducted, and from the time he was twenty years of age until nearly the close of his life was always ready to participate in a debate if he could find any person to oppose him; and thought it no hardship to walk any where within a radius of four or five miles, in the coldest weather, in order to attend a debating society. ”

“ Then—hurrah! Strike up the band, boys! When I think how that old party has been quietly studying typhoid fever and water supply all these years, with you bunch of hayseeds looking down on him as a crank—I get so blamed sore at the place that I wish I’d chucked your letter into the waste-basket when you wrote me to come!”
“It may have been a dub of a town, Billy, but it’ll be the best place in Indiana before we get through with it,” returned the editor confidently. “But whom else did you see?”
“Ran into the Honourable Hiram Cogshell on Main Street, and he slipped me this precious gem.” ”

“ In 1841, on the death of his father, he succeeded him as chief clerk, and remained in the service of the corporation in that capacity during the chamberlainship of Sir James Shaw, Sir William Heygate, and Anthony Brown. On the death of Brown early in 1853, Scott received a requisition, as a liveryman of the Wheelwrights' Company, to stand for chamberlain, the office being in the gift of the liverymen of the various companies. ”