tioned, a devoted personal and political friend of General Jackson, but, in the con scientious discharge of his duty, as United States District Attorney, he saw that the would-be assassin, Lawrence, had the protec tion of the law which he had violated. In a recent conversation with General James Howard, grandson of Francis Scott Key, and of Colonel John Eager Howard, (an illustrious ancestry), he said he remem bered his grandfather Key very well, and in the most interesting manner recalled his youthful recollections of Mr. Key's last visit and death. He had not long before returned from a professional visit to Fond du Lac, and he spoke of the case which took him there, and of the fee which consisted of sev eral lots in that town. General Howard in herited the original portrait on wood which is reproduced in this article. Major McHenry Howard, another grandson, who has successfully practised the profession which his grandfather adorned, has been most kind and obliging in furnishing material for this article, and has taken pains to verify dates by referring to family papers. Mr. Edwin Higgins, of the Baltimore bar, who has been engaged for several years in collecting the facts for an elaborate life of Francis Scott Key, has naturally been deep ly interested in an article on Key as a lawyer, and he has permitted the use of a succinct, striking, and remarkable grouping of inci dents, each of which has some bearing upon the author of the "Star-Spangled Banner." This interesting paragraph will be a fitting conclusion to this article. As it is one of those rare pieces of writing that cannot be abridged without being spoiled, and cannot be changed without being deformed, it is given in Mr. Higgins' own language: "I stood at the close of the day upon the portico of the Peabody Institute, in Balti more. The deepening shadows were gath ering about the Mount Vernon Place Meth
odist Episcopal Church, and it appears to me an exquisite monument to the memory of Francis Scott Key, for it was upon its site he fell asleep January n, 1843. I*1 the square to the left stands the effigy in bronze of Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He married Mr. Key's sis ter. To the east, George Peabody, the benefactor of two worlds, adorns the square. He was a member of the same rifle corps with Mr. Key in the War of 1212. The In stitute stands upon the site of the old resi dence of John P. Kennedy, author and statesman. He gave the first place to the 'Star-Spangled Banner' in his Autograph Leaves of American Writers. I looked up on the monument to Washington, the first erected to his memory, and I recalled the fact that General John Ross Key, the father of Francis Scott Key, was a friend of Wash ington; that he marched to. Boston and parti cipated in the organization of the Revolu tionary Army; that Washington, when President, visited General Key's home and doubtless placed his hand in blessing upon the head of the boy whose song has thrilled the hearts of millions and inspired them with love of country. The site of the monument was a gift from John Eager Howard, hero and benefactor, and one of his sons married the daughter of Francis Scott Key." Baltimore has recently erected an eques trian statue of John Eager Howard in one of the squares which he gave the city. This tardy honor to the most gallant soldier that Maryland gave to the Continental Army shows that this one of the original Thirteen States does not altogether forget her worthy sons. Let her remember Francis Scott Key, another of her sons deserving of monumen tal honor. There is a vacant place in Wash ington Square between the sitting figure of Taney and the equestrian figure of Howard. Let it be filled by the standing figure of the author of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
