American Minute for May 3rd:
He was a physician in the Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Constitution. He was Secretary of War under Washington and Adams, helping to plan the Military Academy at West Point. The Star-Spangled Banner was written while the British bombed the fort named for him. This was James McHenry, who died MAY 3, 1816. As president of the first Bible Society in Baltimore, James McHenry stated in 1813: "Neither let it be overlooked, that public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness." James McHenry continued: "In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw intrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong intrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience...It is a book...fitted to every situation."
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