"'Follow the seal' exclaimed my father; 'yes, be a poor, miserable, drunken sailor before the mast, kicked and cuffed about the world, and die in some fever hospital in a foreign clime?'
"'No, father,' I replied, 'I will tread the quarter-deck, and command as you do!'
"'No, David; no boy ever trod the quarter-deck with such principles as you have, and such habits as you exhibit. You will have to change your whole course of life if you ever become a man/'
"My father left me and went on deck. I was stunned by the rebuke, and overwhelmed with mortification. 'A poor, miserable, drunken sailor before the mast, kicked and cuffed about the world, and die in some fever hospital!' That's my fate is it? I'll change my life, and I will change it at once. I will never utter another oath, never drink another drop of intoxicating liquor, never gamble, and as God is my witness I have kept these three vows to this hour."
The Star Spangled Banner
The sun is slowly sinking in the west. The men of the army and navy are drawn up at attention. At every fort, army post, and navy yard, and on every American battle-ship at home or abroad, the flag of our country is flying at full mast. The sunset gun will soon be fired, and night will follow the day as darkness follows the light. All is ready, the signal is given, the men salute, and the flag to the band's accompaniment of "The Star Spangled Banner" slowly descends for the night to be folded and kept for the morning's hoisting.
"And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave."
In the cemetery of Mr. Olivet, near Frederick, Md., there is a spot where the flag of our country is never lowered. It is keeping watch by night as by day over the grave of Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner." He was born in Frederick County, Md., August 1, 1779, and died in Baltimore, January 11, 1843.
The Congress of the United States has never formally adopted "The Star Spangled Banner" as anthem, but it has become such through through recognition
