Astonished ocean feels the wild uproar, In bright array they seek the work of war, Where high unfurled the ensign waves in air. Shall I to Washington their praise recite? Enough thou know'st them in the fields of fight. Thee, first in peace and honors, we demand One century scarce performed its destined round, Fixed are the eyes of nations on the scales, For in their hopes Columbia's arm prevails, Anon Britannia droops the pensive head, While round increase the rising hills of dead. Ah! cruel blindness to Columbia's state; Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late. Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side Thy every action let the goddess guide, A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine XIX BENJAMIN BANNEKER A LITTLE more than one hundred years ago a black prince arrived on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. He came by compulsion, not by choice; he was brought here a slave. That he was no ordinary black is attested by the fact that he clung to his heathen gods and refused to work for those who had him in control; yet, he was of noble mien, dignified and possessed rare intelligence, even retaining to the last the name which he brought with him from Africa-Banneker.1 In the same year in which William Penn established his colony on the banks of the Delaware, an English peasant woman having accidentally spilled a can of milk-so the story goes-was charged with and found guilty of stealing. As her punishment she was transported to Maryland where she was bound to service for seven years, a mild sentence for the offense, because she could read. A thrifty woman she was and bought a small farm on which she subsequently placed Banneker, the exiled black African prince. Though he would not work, Banneker touched the heart of Molly Welsh who liberated and married him. Four children was the result of this union, one of whom, Mary Banneker, was married about the year 1730 to Robert, a native African who on being baptized in the Episcopal faith, was formally given his freedom. Robert, like many a one of his race of whom there is unfortunately no record, did not take the name of the white people who had claimed him a slave, but called himself Banneker, after his wife, the daughter of the African prince. 1 Banaky. acres. Their oldest offspring, Benjamin Banneker, was born November 9, 1731, just about three months before George Washington. In the year 1737 Robert Banneker, his father, purchased for the sum of seventeen thousand pounds of tobacco a farm of one hundred It was in a primeval wilderness, though only ten miles from Baltimore, then a village of less than thirty houses. Roads were few, houses were miles and miles apart, schools and churches were exceedingly scarce, the steam whistle had not yet echoed through the valleys nor across the plains of that primitive country, yet there were a few private schools, and to one of these the lad Benjamin was sent. Here he was a most apt student and had received instruction as far as "double position," as it was then called, proficiency in which even a century later, was regarded as a test of arithmetical skill, and to-day, as compound proportion, by which name it is now known, it is a source of great perplexity to pupils in our advanced grammar schools. This was the limit of the educational advantages which Banneker received, but it must have been most thorough, for as the sequel proved, it was the foundation upon which he built so well as to take rank with the greatest scientific men of his times, to achieve a world-wide distinction for skill as mathematician and astronomer that one hundred years have not obliterated. Apart from his studies, his life was not eventful, yet it is deserving of all emulation. The oldest and only son among four children, he assiduously gave his service on his farm even after he had attained his majority. Upon the death of the father, in 1757 (which fact is learned from an entry in Benjamin's Bible), the full responsibility of the management of the farm fell upon him, the household duties being performed by Benjamin's mother whose vigor of body remained until she was quite advanced in years. It is said of her agility that even when over seventy years of age it was a common thing for her to run down the barn yard fowls which were desired for the table or for market. In those days the country stores were the centers of information and social contact. Here the planters brought their corn, their wheat, their tobacco, for sale or for exchange; here the latest intelligence from London, Boston or Philadelphia was obtained. The country store also contained the post-office at which letters were received or dispatched at the weekly or monthly mail. Here the weekly newspaper, of which there were only two at that time in the colony, was read by the most intelligent and the affairs of the day discussed. Banneker, himself a landed proprietor, was frequently at the store during these gatherings at which his intelligent conversation, his quiet and dignified manner, and his accurate information on current affairs made him a unique but welcome visitor. He did not resort there to the neglect of his farm, for it was thoroughly well-kept, his orchards abounded in fruit, his cattle were sleek and fat, his storehouse was well filled with grain and tobacco. It was in his early manhood about 1753 that Banneker having only seen a watch, with it for a model constructed a wooden clock all the parts of which-the wheels, the springs, the balances were the result of his own ingenuity, skill, patience and perseverance. This is said to be the first clock ever constructed in America all the parts of which were made in this country. For more than twenty years it kept good time, an example of the cunning workmanship of the sable artificer. An event of very great significance in the quiet neighborhood of Banneker's home was the erection in 1772 of the flour mills at what is now Ellicott City. The machinery, so crude and antiquated by present standards, was more than a nine days' wonder in these far-off days. Among others, Banneker, delighted even after the novelty had worn off, lingered to study it, to understand its philosophy and to enlarge the sphere of his knowledge of mechanics. The establishment of these mills was not only an event deigned to advance the material interests of this neighborhood. It was a means to him of great intellectual development. The proprietors, the Ellicotts, became warmly attached to him, especially because of the strong personal friendship that grew up between him and George Ellicott. Mr. Ellicott saw in Banneker an intellect that not only was ever grasping after the truth, but one capable of an almost infinite development. Though Banneker was black he was to Ellicott, to use a favorite expression of Frederick Douglass-"a kinsman, a clansman, a brother beloved." One day in 1787 Mr. George Ellicott loaned Banneker Mayer's Tables, Ferguson's Astronomy, Leadbeater's Lunar Tables and some astronomical instruments, which only those far advanced in mathematics could comprehend-telling Banneker at the time that at the earliest opportunity he (Ellicott) would explain them to him. Banneker took them and retired to the seclusion of his cottage where without any aid save that which God had given, he made himself so familiar with the contents of the volumes as to detect errors in their calculations. You can imagine Mr. Ellicott's surprise to find on next meeting the philosopher that his services as instructor were not needed. Banneker possessing "the cunning-warded keys" that open every door in one's pursuit of knowledge, at the mature age of fifty-six entered zealously upon the study of astronomy, closely observing all the natural phenomena of his neighborhood, as well as the movement of the heavenly bodies, making records, still in existence, that spread his fame far and wide. The time required for his study and investigations so trenched upon that required for the work of the farm that the necessity of utilizing his scientific knowledge led him in part to consider the feasibility of compiling an ephemeris or almanac for the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. For this work he had advanced far towards the construction of tables of logarithms for the necessary calculations when Mr. Ellicott presented him with a set. Many observers who saw Banneker asleep during the day in his |