LAURA SECORD,

AND OTHER POEMS

BY

SARAH ANNE CURZON

NOTES.

———

LAURA SECORD, THE HEROINE OF 1812.

A DRAMA.

———

NOTE I, page II.

THE simple heroic story thus enlarged into dramatic form is not unknown to the Canadian muse, but has been sung by several of her votaries, notably by Miss Machar, of Kingston; Mr. John Reade, of Montreal; and Dr. Jakeway, of Stayner.
Dr. Jakeway’s verse is not so well known as it deserves to be, not only for its literary merit, but also for its patriotic fervour, the fervour of a true and loyal Canadian: I shall therefore be pardoned if I quote the closing stanzas of his “Laura Secord”:

“Braver deeds are not recorded,
In historic treasures hoarded,
     Than the march of Laura Secord through the forest, long ago.
And no nobler deed of daring
Than the cool and crafty snaring,
     By that band at Beaver Dam, of all the well-appointed foe.

But we know if war should ever
Boom again o’er field and river,
     And the hordes of the invader should appear within our land,
Far and wide the trumpets pealing
Would awake the same old feeling,
     And again would deeds of daring sparkle out on every hand.” [back]

NOTE 2, page 12.

And Stony Creek was ours.

A 49th man thus writes to Auchinleck, p. 178:—“Sir, To your account of the battle of Stony Creek I would like to add a few particulars….At eleven o’clock at night the Light Company and Grenadiers of the 49th were under arms; every flint was taken out and every charge was drawn. Shortly after we moved on in sections, left in front, the Light Company leading the way towards the enemy’s camp. I had been driven in that afternoon from Stony Creek, and was well acquainted with the ground. The cautious silence observed was most painful; not a whisper was permitted; even our [page 175] footsteps were not allowed to be heard. I shall never forget the agony caused to the senses by the stealthiness with which we proceeded to the midnight slaughter. I was not aware that any other force accompanied us than the Grenadiers, and when we approached near the Creek, I ventured to whisper to Col. Harvey, ‘We are close to the enemy’s camp, sir.’ ‘Hush! I know it,’ was his reply. Shortly after a sentry challenged sharply; Lieutenant Danford and the leading section rushed forward and killed him with their bayonets; his bleeding corpse was cast aside, and we moved on with breathless caution. A second challenge—who comes there?—another rush and the poor sentinel is transfixed, but his agonized dying groans alarmed a third who stood near the watch fire; he challenged, and immediately fired and fled. We all rushed forward upon the sleeping guard; few escaped; many awoke in another world. The excitement now became intense; the few who had escaped fired as they ran and aroused the sleeping army. All fled precipitately beyond the Creek, leaving their blankets and knapsacks behind.
“Our troops deployed into line and halted in the midst of the camp fires, and immediately began to replace their flints. This, though not a very lengthy operation, was one of intense anxiety, for the enemy now opened a most terrific fire, and many a brave fellow was laid low. We could only see the flash of the enemy’s firelocks while we were perfectly visible to them, standing as we did in the midst of their camp fires. It was a grand and beautiful sight. No one who has not witnessed a night engagement can form any idea of the awful sublimity of the scene. The first volley from the enemy, coming from a spot as ‘dark as Erebus,’ seemed like the bursting forth of a volcano. Then again all was dark and still, save the moans of the wounded, the confused click! click!—noise made by our men in adjusting their flints, and the ring of the enemy’s ramrods in reloading. Again the flash and roar of the musketry, the whistling of the bullets, and the crash of the cannon. ‘Chaos has come again.’ The anxious moments (hours in imagination) have passed; the trembling excited hands of our men have at last fastened their flints; the comparatively merry sound of the ramrod tells that the charge is driven home; soon the fire is returned with animation; the sky is illumined with continued flashes; after a sharp contest and some changes of position, our men advance in a body and the enemy’s troops retire. There were many mistakes made in this action, the two greatest were removing the men’s flints, and halting in the midst of the camp fires; this is the reason why the loss of the enemy was less than ours, their wounds were mostly made by our bayonets. The changes of position by different portions of each army in the dark accounts for the fact of prisoners having been made by both parties. I must give the enemy’s troops great credit for having recovered from their confusion, and for having shown a bold front so very soon after their having been so suddenly and completely surprised.

“Yours, A 49th MAN.” [page 176] [back]

NOTE 3, page 13.

Friend Penn.

Of this character, of whom the writer has made a somewhat free use, Col. Coffin says: “There is a tradition in the neighbourhood that Harvey himself having borrowed the garb and waggon of a Quaker”—of which sect there were many settled in Upper Canada at the time—“penetrated into the American lines, selling potatoes and ‘taking notes.’ Those who can recall the commanding stature and bearing of the gallant officer maintain that this was the very last disguise in which he was likely to succeed. It is not impossible that some patriotic ‘Friend’ really found a good market for his produce and valuable information for Harvey.” [back]

NOTE 4, page 15.

Hymn.

An air to this hymn has been composed. [back]

Note 5, page 16.

Pete and Flos.

That the rights of the slave-holder had legal recognition in 1812 is not to be doubted, and that nearly every family of any means or repute held slaves is certain. The Bill abolishing slavery in the British Dominions did not pass until 1832, when it was introduced by Lord Stanley (the late Earl of Derby). A strong feeling in favour of its abolition had however permeated society, in consequence of the powerful representations made on the subject, both in and out of the British Parliament, by Wilberforce and Clarkson, “who had successfully shown,” says Hamilton in his “Outlines of the History of England,” “that the effect of this iniquitous system was no less injurious to the moral condition of the people of England than it was to the physical well-being of the African race.” That no ill-feeling towards their masters generally existed in Canada in the minds of the slaves may be fairly inferred from the fact that, at their own request, a coloured regiment was formed to assist in the defence of the country in 1812, and under Captain Runchey did good service at the Battle of Queenston Heights. In this connection it is also to be remembered that large numbers of freedmen were to be found both in England and Canada—men who for faithful or special services had received the gift of freedom from their grateful and generous masters.
That the Legislature of Upper Canada was free even at that early period to deal with its domestic questions is shown by the fact that in 1793 an Act was passed at Newark, “forbidding the further introduction of slaves into the province, and ordering that ‘all slave children born after the 9th of July in that year should be free on attaining the age of twenty-five.’” To this Act is due the fact that Canada was as early as 1800 a city of refuge for escaped slaves, numbers of whom found their way hither from Baltimore and Maryland. (See also Appendix.) [page 177] [back]

NOTE 6, page 18.

We’ll have it though, and more, if Bœrstler.

It has generally been stated that Mr. Secord heard of the intended surprise of Fitzgibbon by accident. The facts of the case are, however, as related in the poem, Mrs. Smith, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Secord, who yet survives, being the authority.
Mrs. Smith states that with the insolence of the victorious invader, Dearborn’s men came and went, ordered, or possessed themselves of, whatever they chose, and took every form of familiarity in the homes of the residents within their lines, and that it was fast becoming an anxious question with the farmers and others, what they should do for supplies if Dearborn were not ousted within the season. [back]

NOTE 7, page 19.

                                             —and fell a-talking loud,
                                             As in defiance, of some private plan
                                             To make the British wince.

The ill-feeling of the Americans towards British subjects can scarcely be too strongly represented for the facts. A bitter antagonism was naturally the feeling of each side so lately in the deadly struggle of a civil war. To gloss over this state of things, deplorable as it was, and as its results have often been, is to belie history, and to no good or useful end. Had the contention been akin to a mere friendly tug-of-war, as some would have it represented now, lest a growing friendliness should be endangered, it would be necessary for the historian to re-write all that has been written, for otherwise the arguments of contention would have no meaning, no raison d’être; in fact, they could never have been formulated, for the premisses would have been wanting. “He is the best cosmopolite, who for his country lives,” says some one, and it is to this truth that the peace of the world, which we all wish to see established, will be owing, not to any false representations in place of facts. [back]

NOTE 8, page 25.

                                       That hate to England, not our country’s name
                                       And weal, impelled mad Madison upon this war,
                                       And shut the mouths of thousand higher men than he.

     “The Democratic Party,” says Col. Coffin (see “Chronicle of the War,” pp. 30-I-3), “eager to humble Britain, accepted any humiliation rather than quarrel with France. They submitted to the capture of ships, the sequestration of cargoes, the ransom of merchandise, with a faint remonstrance. French war ships seized American merchantmen at sea—plundered and burnt them. They consoled themselves with the belief that the anticipated triumph of the French Emperor in Europe would ensure their supremacy on this continent. They were prepared to divide the world between them….” In the words of the historian Alison, “the ostensible object of the war was to establish the principle that the flag covers the merchandise, [page 178] and that the right of search for seamen who have deserted is inadmissible; the real object was to wrest from Great Britain the Canadas, and, in conjunction with Napoleon, extinguish its maritime and colonial empire. Politicians, too, of this early American school had a notion that French connection and the conquest of Canada were synonymous terms. This was a great mistake…but…it had an unexpected good effect, for the very suggestion of a French policy, or the exercise of French influence, tested the British feeling still latent in the hearts of thousands of Americans. In the New England States a war with England was denounced….Citizens of these States expressed an abhorrence of France, and of its rule, and protested against the contemplated introduction of French troops on this continent, which, under the pretext of subduing or seducing the French-Canadians, might prove to be subversive of their own liberties.
     “It is probable that to this spirit of truthful independence may be ascribed the fact that during the whole of the ensuing war (1812-15) the immense extent of frontier between Lower Canada and the States of Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine was unassailed by an enemy….No hostile irruption was attempted upon the Province from Lake Champlain to the ocean….War was declared on the 18th June, 1812, by Act of Congress. Mr. Madison, then President, who had done all in his power to exasperate the existing ill-will, and to lash the popular mind to frenzy, eluded the responsibility of the fatal act, and made a cat’s paw of the Legislature.”
     The people of the United States were disunited on the subject of the war….The Legislature of Maryland openly denounced the war. The Governments of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island had refused the quota of militia demanded of these States respectively. Such men as Quincey declared in the House of Representatives at Washington that “since the invasion of the Buccaneers, there was nothing in history more disgraceful than this war.” The same view of President Madison’s action is also held by Auchinleck, Christie, and, indeed, by every trustworthy historian of the time. [back]

NOTE 9, page 25.

In opening up a road to reach the great Pacific.

In 1812 the vast promise of the West had begun to attract public interest. The discovery of the Columbia River in Oregon, including what is now Washington Territory, was made by Captain Gray, of Boston, in 1792, and upon this was based the general claim of the United States to the Territory. The British, however, held a prior claim of occupation and discovery. In 1804-6 Captains Lewis and Clarke explored the whole country from the mouth of the Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia, and in 1811 Fort Astoria was built. The Treaty of 1845 settled the question of claim to this Territory in common with other Western lands in favour of the United States. Although California was not largely settled by United States subjects until the Treaty of 1844, yet its reputation for being a gold-bearing [page 179] country was well established, and had been increasing in public regard from the time of its first exploration by Sir Francis Drake in 1570, who expressed a strong opinion as to its auriferous character. Long before the famous expedition of Colonel Fremont across “the plains,” numerous trails, too often marked by the white bones of their victims, bore testimony to the dauntless courage and sanguine enterprise that has opened up the great empire of the West. [back]

NOTE 10, page 26.

Brock! MacDonnell! Dennis!

     It would be a work of supererogation to say anything of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock here, so completely is his name enshrined in Canadian history, literature, and tradition. I may, however, be pardoned if I quote a few descriptive sentences to be found in “A Chapter of the War of 1812,” by Col. William Stanley Hatch, Acting Assistant Quartermaster-General of the army with Hull at Detroit.
     “General Brock was an officer of distinction. His personal appearance was commanding; he must have been six feet three or four inches in height, very massive and large boned, though not fleshy, and apparently of immense muscular power. His Aides were elegant young men, very near, if not quite six feet in height, and in their splendid uniforms all three presented a brilliant appearance. But how transitory and evanescent the gratification of that day and that event!” [the taking of Detroit]. “In a few short weeks—less than two months—on the 13th October, 1812, two of these noble men and gentlemanly officers had fallen. At this distant day I feel it due to myself and to them to record the sentiment of regret which impressed itself upon my mind when the announcement came that General Brock and Colonel MacDonnell, public enemies as they were, had terminated their earthly career at Queenston.”
     Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonnell, A.D.C. to General Brock, was “one of five sons of a brother of MacDonell, Laird of Glengarry, who bore a prominent part in supporting Prince Charles, called the Pretender….The family came out to this country shortly after the American Revolution, and settled in the County of Glengarry among other Scotch settlers, who had been located on lands in that county upon the disbanding of the regiment known as the Royal Highland Emigrants. Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonell came up to Toronto (then York) and studied law, and was appointed Attorney-General of the Province when a very young man, and afterwards accompanied, as aide-de-camp, General Brock at Detroit and Queenston,” where he gloriously fell in the gallant charge that followed the fall of Brock.—Extract of private letter. (See also Appendix.)
     “I have heard that he (Lieut.-Col. MacDonell) was brought up by the late Hon. Alexander MacDonell, who gave him a valuable piece of property in the then Town of York to start him in the legal profession. On his way up the Niagara River with General Brock, having a kind of presentiment of [page 180] what might happen, the Colonel made his will, and bequeathed the land referred to, to James MacDonell, eldest son of the Hon. Alexander MacDonell. The land is now owned by the widow of James (Mrs. M. S. MacDonell, living at 305 Bathurst Street). It comprised the west side of Church Street, from Wellington Street to King Street, and went some distance west.”—Extract of private letter.
     Beside the lady above mentioned, several connections of Lieut.-Col. MacDonell reside in Toronto, among them W. J. MacDonell, Esq., French Vice-Consul; Angus D. MacDonell, Inland Revenue Department; and Alex. MacDonell, Esq., Osgoode Hall. The late Bishop MacDonell was also of this family, as were most of the MacDonells who grace the pages of Canadian histories of the War of 1812.
     Captain James Dennis—the third of the trio whom Mr. Secord apostrophises—then Lieutenant, had been among the wounded on board the Monarch man-of-war at Copenhagen, but recovered so as to accompany his regiment to Canada. In 1812 he was in charge of one of the two flank companies of the 49th, stationed at Queenston, and gallantly led the defence, directing the one-gun battery and holding the enemy completely in check until their discovery of a path to the summit of the Height turned the scale on the wrong side, where it stood until the arrival of General Brock. In the splendid charge up-hill Captain Dennis was wounded, and, it was supposed, killed; he, however, bravely kept the field until the day was won, despite pain and weakness. He was not related to the Dennises of York, and Buttonwood, near Weston; but two members of this family were in the York militia, and served at Queenston. The late Bishop Richardson, an uncle of theirs, also served in the navy on the lakes, where he lost an arm. [back]

NOTE 11, page 27.

The Widow, Stephen Secord.

This lady was the widow of Stephen, an elder brother of James Secord, who, in conjunction with another brother, David, a major in the militia, and after whom the village was named, built and owned the grist mill at St. David’s. Stephen Secord appears to have died some years previous to the war, leaving a family of several sons. With the wisdom and spirit of a sensible woman the widow carried on the business, and thereby brought up her family. During the war all her sons were variously engaged in it with the exception of the youngest, and in the absence of sufficient help the widow worked with her own hands, turning out flour for which the Government paid her twenty dollars a barrel. Many of the Secords who are to be found scattered through the Province at the present time are children of her sons. [back]

NOTE 12, page 27.

Sergeant George Mosier.

This character is singular in being the only pure invention in the poem; and the name was chosen as being most unlikely to be borne by any one in the neighbourhood of Queenston. By one of those coincidences, however, [page 181] that are not unknown, it appears that there was a Captain Mosier living at Newark in 1812, and commanding a vessel on Lake Ontario. Captain Mosier was of some service to the British Government, and on one occasion was able to be of special use in carrying off and concealing, until the mischievous effect was over, a somewhat hot-headed gentleman who in the ardour of his loyalty had thought it his solemn duty to cross the river and bayonet the sentinel at Fort Niagara. [back]

NOTE 13, page 27.

                                                            —all is pretty quiet still
                           Since Harvey struck them dumb at Stony Creek.
                           Along the Lake bold Yeo holds them fast,
                           And Erie-way, Bishopp and Evans back him….

“On the withdrawal of the British troops, the battlefield of Stony Creek was, as before said, for a short space re-occupied by the Americans under Colonel Burns, a cavalry officer, upon whom the command had devolved. He merely remained long enough to destroy the tents…and stores. He then rapidly retired to the protection of the lines of Fort George, though in executing this manœuvre he was intercepted and suffered much. On their advance the Americans had been accompanied all along the lake shore by a flotilla of boats and batteaux. Burns fell back upon this support, and embarked his wounded, and such of his men as had not yet got under cover, and was slowly creeping down the coast to the place from whence he came, when, on the 8th June, Sir James Yeo, who by this time had become master of his own movements, and had got out of Kingston, appeared in the offing; intelligence from the shore had apprised him of the state of things, and of the position of the enemy; and Richardson (the late James Richardson, D.D.) dwells with sailorly impatience on the perversity of a calm…A breeze sprung up and the squadron closed in with the shore, cutting off the twelve rearmost boats of the American flotilla, laden with valuable supplies and stores. Perceiving an encampment in the woods on the beach, the Commodore disembarked in the ship’s boats two companies of regulars under Major Evans of the 8th Regiment. This active officer landed, and in the evening having been reinforced by two companies from Burlington Heights under Colonel Bishopp, the second deserted American camp was entered. It was in a state of conflagration,…but the captors saved from the flames 500 tents, 140 barrels of flour, 100 stand of arms….Thus did this exploit of Harvey free the whole Peninsula from the invaders, and threw them back upon the mere edge of the frontier with a deep and dangerous river in their rear, between them and their supports and supplies.”—Col. Coffin’s Chronicles of the War of 1812. (See also Appendix.) [back]

NOTE 14, page 29.

She, our neighbour there
At Queenston.

This brave woman was Mrs. Maria Hill, a soldier’s wife, who pitying the hungry condition of men who had been called out before day-break on a cold [page 182] October morning, to meet a foe already in partial occupation and temporarily victorious, had no means of procuring or cooking supplies, and indeed could not even break their fast, except by the intervention of those whose property they, for the time, had been unable to defend. Mrs. Hill carried her little stores on to the field, and leaving her babe, who crowed and cheered, it is said, as though mightily diverted by the sight of the red-coats, under the shelter of a wood-pile, lighted fires, boiled water, and carried tea and food to as many of the men on the field as she could supply. [back]

NOTE 15, page 30.

Save perhaps the Baroness.

The Baroness Reidessel, the wife of one of the officers of the Hessians. This lady, together with the wives of Major Harnage and Lieutenant Reynell, was with Lady Acland during the painful march that preceded the action of the 19th September, 1777. They had followed the route of the artillery and baggage as being less likely of attack on the road, and when the engagement begun found themselves at a little uninhabited hut, from whence they could hear the roll of the guns that were carrying death to scores of brave men. Here they had to endure a great trial, for their only refuge was also the only place to which the wounded, who soon began to arrive in great numbers, could be brought for first care. Soon Major Harnage was brought in desperately wounded. Not long after the news arrived that Lieutenant Reynell was shot dead, and before the day was done Major Acland was a prisoner dangerously wounded. Herself saved for the present such terrible [page 183] trials, Baroness Reidessel distinguished herself by her ministrations to her suffering companions, and to the dying and wounded around, thus gaining the affectionate remembrance of many a poor fellow who had no other ray of comfort in his anguish. [back]

NOTE 16, page 30.

The Lady Harriet Acland.

     This lady was the daughter of Stephen, first Earl of Ilchester, and accompanied her husband, Major John Dyke-Acland, to Canada in 1776.
     The story put into the mouth of Sergeant George Mosier may be found in the Saturday Magazine for May, 1835, and also in Burke’s “Romance of the Aristocracy.” Her beauty, bravery and tender love for her husband made the name of Lady Harriet Acland an honour and delight among the men of her husband’s regiment, and thus it is that Sergeant Mosier is made her historian with great propriety.
     In the Gentleman’s Magazine for February, 1778, I also find the following note, p. 69, in “Extracts from the Congress Accounts of the Northern Expeditions”:
     “Oct.II.—Some letters passed between the Generals, the first from Gen. Burgoyne, by Lady Acland, whose husband was dangerously wounded, recommending her Ladyship to the care and protection of Gen. Gates. Gen. Gates’s answer, in which he expresses his surprise that his Excellency, after considering his preceding conduct, should think that he could consider the greatest attention to Lady Acland in the light of an obligation.” [back]

NOTE 17, page 37.

Can you wonder?...shot at, etc.

     The cruel treatment of the Loyalists, or King’s Men, by the Continentals, as they called themselves, is one of the features of this painful time, records of which abound: the story of Moody is well known: another as authentic may be here quoted. The Rev. G.A. Anderson, late Chaplain to the Reformatory at Penetanguishene, in writing to the press with reference to the U.E.L. Celebration in 1884, says:
     “My grandfather, Samuel Anderson, was born of Irish parents, near Boston, 4th May, 1736….He joined the King’s forces, serving under General Abercrombie…then under General Amherst,…and was at the taking of Ticonderoga….In 1775 he was offered a captaincy in the Continental service which he peremptorily refused. Some time after he was offered the command of a regiment; this he also refused. He was at once suspected of being a King’s Man, taken prisoner, and, with several others, confined in Litchfield gaol, where he suffered almost death for two years. One morning, having heard that he and his fellow-prisoners were to be shot the following day, being a powerful man he wrenched the iron bars from the windows, and, with his companions, escaped to Canada….”
     A quotation from the “Boston Confiscation Act,” Sept., 1778, ch. 48, speaks volumes as to the attitude of the new Republic towards the Loyalists: “In Massachusetts a person suspected of enmity to the Whig cause could be arrested under a magistrate’s warrant, and banished, unless he would swear fealty to the friends of liberty; and the select-men of towns could prefer charges of political treachery in town meetings, and the individual thus accused, if convicted by a jury, could be sent into the enemy’s jurisdiction. Massachusetts also designated by name, and generally by occupation and residence, three hundred and eight of her people, of whom seventeen had been inhabitants of Maine who had fled from their houses, and denounced against any one of them who should return apprehension, imprisonment and [page 185] transportation to a place possessed by the British, and for a second voluntary return, without leave, death, without the benefit of clergy. By another law the property of twenty-nine persons, who were denominated ‘notorious conspirators,’ was confiscated; of these fifteen had been appointed ‘Mandamus Councillors,’ two had been Governors, one Lieutenant-Governor, one Treasurer, one Attorney-General, one Chief Justice and four Commissioners of Customs.”—Lorenzo Sabine, Historical Essay prefixed to Biographical Sketches of the American Loyalists. (See further, chapters 39 and 41, vol. 2, Ryerson’s Loyalists of America and Their Times. See also Appendix.) [back]

NOTE 18, page 37.

“Rule Britannia.”

This, together with “The King: God bless him,” and “The Duke of York’s March” were at this period new and favourite tunes all over the British Empire. In the Times, Oct. 3, 1798, under the heading “Drury Lane Theatre,” it is reported that “after the play the news of Admiral Nelson’s victory (over the French under Admiral Brueys at Rosetta) produced a burst of patriotic exultation that has been rarely witnessed in a theatre. ‘Rule Britannia’ was lustily called for from every part of the house, and Messrs. Kelly, Dignum, Sedgwick, Miss Leak and Mrs. Bland came forward and sang it, accompanied by numbers of the audience. It was called for and sung a second time. The acclamations were the loudest and most fervent we have ever witnessed. The following lines, written for the occasion, were introduced by Mr. Dignum and Mr. Sedgwick:

“‘Again the tributary strain
     Of grateful Britons, let us raise;
And to the heroes on the main,
     Triumphant add a Nelson’s praise.
Though the “Great Nation” proudly boasts
     Herself invincible to be,
Yet oft brave Nelson still can prove
     Britannia Mistress of the Sea.’”

     “The audience was not satisfied with this repeated mark of exultation, but in the effusion of enthusiastic loyalty called for ‘God Save the King,’ which was received with reiterated plaudits.”
     In another column of the same issue it is told that, “A person last night in the gallery of Drury Lane House calling frequently in a boisterous manner for the tune of ‘Britons, Strike Home!’ was immediately silenced by the appropriate observation of another at some distance from him, ‘Why, damn it, they have, haven’t they?’”
     The great popularity of “Rule Britannia” was owing to its entire consonance with the spirit of the nation, a popularity not even yet diminished. A further instance of its use in the celebration of a great national event is given in the Times, Nov. 7, 1805, in which is recorded the official account of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson. At Covent Garden, where both the Kembles were then playing together with Mrs. Siddons, a “hasty but elegant compliment to the memory of Lord Nelson” was presented. It “consisted of columns in the foreground decorated with medallions of the naval heroes of Britain. In the distance a number of ships were seen, and the front of the picture was filled by Mr. Taylor and the principal singers of the theatre. [page 184] They were grouped in an interesting manner with their eyes turned toward the clouds, from whence a half-length portrait of Lord Nelson descended with the following words underwritten, ‘Horatio Nelson, Ob. 21st Oct.’” Mr. Taylor and the other performers then sang “Rule Britannia,” verse and chorus. The following additional verse, written by Mr. Ashley, of Bath, was introduced and sung by Mr. Taylor with the most affecting expression. It was universally encored:—

“Again the loud-toned trump of fame,
     Proclaims Britannia rules the main;
While sorrow whispers Nelson’s name,
     And mourns the gallant hero slain.
            Rule, brave Britons, rule the main,
            Revenge the God-like hero slain.” [back]

NOTE 19, page 38.

“James Coffin’s good.”

The name of Coffin is famous in the annals, military, naval and civil, of Canada, and is scarcely less marked in the history of the earlier United States of America. Two branches of the family came, U.E. Loyalists, to Canada in 1775-78. One established itself on the St. John, New Brunswick, the other in Quebec. “Twenty years after the landing from the Mayflower, the first of the name put in an appearance from Brixton, near Plymouth, South Devon, England, at Newbury Port, in New Hampshire.” James Coffin, mentioned above, was the sixth son of John Coffin, who settled in Quebec, and did such good service at the Près-de-ville, when Montgomery and Arnold invaded the Province. Like all the Coffins, James was of a genial and kindly disposition, and his appointment as a Commissary Officer permitted opportunities for consideration and courtesy to people of all ranks, which he did not fail to avail himself of. He died Assistant Commissary-General in 1835, at Quebec. [back]

NOTE 20, page 40.

From proffered gifts, or gold.

“To the soldiers of this regiment (the 41st), as indeed to all others, every temptation had been presented to induce them to desert and enlist in their service, by money, land, etc. After it was found impossible to persuade any number of them to do so the American Government encamped them, for nearly two months, in a pestilential marsh near Sandusky without covering.” (See Dr. Strachan’s letter, as Treasurer of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, to Thomas Jefferson, Esq., Ex-Present of the United States of America.) [back]

NOTE 21, page 41.

The beech-ridge.

This was a ridge of high land clad with beeches which overhung a hollow in the road to Beaver Dam, and now forms the basin of the Welland Canal. “The spot,” says Colonel Coffin, “which then rang with the outcries of the combatants now resounds with the hum of industry and the working-chant of the sailor.” [page 186] [back]

NOTE 22, page 47.

The small, neglectful bird.

This is Tengmalm’s Owl, or Death-bird. “The Indians of North America,” says Rev. J. G. Wood, “have a superstition that whoever hears the note of this bird must whistle in reply, and if the bird returns no answer the person will die within the year.” [back]

NOTE 23, page 50.

Beaver Dam—Decau’s house.

     Decau’s farm house at the Beaver Dam was British headquarters more than once during the War of 1812. Close to this famous spot the town of Thorold now stands, and the interested visitor may reach it by tram-car from St. Catherines. Decau’s Falls, near by, preserve the memory of the ancient settler on the spot in less correct orthography, Decew, and less euphonious form than the original, which is said to have been also, Decamps.
     Another form of it may be found in “Loyalists of America,” p. 243:
     “In the summer of 1800 my mother had a very nice help as nurse. Jenny Decow had been apprenticed to a relative, and at the age of eighteen, she received her bed, her cow, and two or three suits of clothing (those articles it was customary to give to a bound girl) and she was considered legally of age, with the right to earn her own living as best she could….Jenny had a wooer,…young Daniel McCall made his appearance.” [back]

NOTE 24, page 50.

Fitzgibbon.

This brave officer is thus describe in the letter of “A Green ’Un,” I have elsewhere quoted, and which was written in 1852, at which date Colonel Fitzgibbon was yet alive:— “Colonel Fitzgibbon has long been known in Canada, in both a civil and a military capacity, and if he was now present he would be able to give you much more interesting and valuable information. At the time of this attack” (Black Rock, July 12th, 1813), “he was a Lieutenant in the 49th, and his daring spirit and energy of character were well known to the whole army. General Vincent had placed him in command of a sort of independent company of Rangers. Volunteers from the different regiments were asked for, and strange to say so many men offered that it was difficult to decide who should be permitted to go. From the numerous young subs. desirous of joining him he selected his friend Lieutenant Winder of the 49th (now Dr. Winder, Librarian to the House of Assembly at Quebec), Volunteer D. A. McDonnell of the 8th, Volunteer Augustus Thompson of the 49th; and another youngster of the 49th (the late Judge Jarvis, of Cornwall) who were permitted as a great favour to join his corps.” Colonel Coffin in his “Chronicles of the War of 1812,” gives a very full account of Colonel Fitzgibbon’s career, of which only a brief outline is proper here. Colonel James Fitzgibbon was the son of an English farmer, had a little early education, and acquired a [page 187] fondness for reading; his passion for arms was irresistible. At seventeen he enlisted, and the same day, 25th October, 1798, was made a sergeant. At twenty-one he was made Sergeant-Major. He served in Ireland and before Copenhagen, where the 49th acted as marines. He was appointed to an ensigncy and adjutancy, and came to Canada. In 1809 he succeeded to a lieutenancy; and resigned the adjutancy to command a small detachment in the field. His exploits at the Beaver Dam gave him his company. He thus rose by dint of meritorious service, at a time when commissions and promotions were not so freely given to deserving men as they are now. On this, and on all other occasions, during the war, Fitzgibbon made his mark.
“At the close of the war, he settled in Canada, and filled many offices of honour and emolument under the Government. His last appointment was that of Clerk to the Legislative Council. He retired on a pension, and returned to his native land, when, in just appreciation of his services, he was made a Military Knight of Windsor.” [back]

NOTE 25, page 50.

“The Times.” A newspaper of four pages.

The first name of this great newspaper was The Daily Universal Register, but it had taken its latest title as early as 1801. An issue of that date containing the official accounts of the Battle of Copenhagen is in the writer’s possession. [back]

NOTE 26, page 55.

And gray the dawn, and cold the morn of Rensellaer’s attack.

The 11th October had been first decided upon for the invasion of Queenston, but it proved one of those fierce October days that drench the earth with a cold rain, making roads into quagmires, and rivers into torrents, stripping the trees of their leafy honours, and not unfrequently tearing them up by the roots. The 13th opened cold and gray, but developed into a fine fall day, much to the convenience of the invaders. (See also Appendix.) [back]

NOTE 27, page 55.

Though sad to me, who caught Brock’s latest breath.

“And our gallant General fell on his left side within a few feet of where I stood. Running up to him, I enquired, ‘Are you much hurt, sir?’ He placed his hand on his breast but made no reply, and sunk slowly down.”—Mr. G. S. Jarvis (the late Judge Jarvis, of Cornwall), in Auchinleck’s History of the War of 1812, p. 105.
Mr. Jarvis was taken prisoner at Queenston, but was exchanged for a Captain of militia within a week. [back]

NOTE 28, page 59.

Of whom some fought for him at Copenhagen.

     The majority of the men with Fitzgibbon at Beaver Dam belonged to the 49th Regiment, to which Fitzgibbon himself belonged. It was also Brock’s regiment. He had joined it in 1791 at Barbadoes. The regiment being removed to Jamaica, Brock was thence obliged to get leave of absence in 1793 on account of his health. On June 24, 1795, after doing recruiting service both in England and Jersey, he purchased his majority. Next year his regiment returned from Jamaica, and on the 25th October, 1797, he purchased his lieutenant-colonelcy, and soon after became senior lieutenant-colonel. In August, 1799, the 49th Regiment was ordered to Holland as part of the force under Sir Ralph Abercrombie. On the return of the expedition, the 49th was again quartered in Jersey until the spring of 1801, when it was despatched with the fleet for the Baltic under Sir Hyde Parker. The same year the 49th returned to England, and in the next spring was sent to Canada where it took up its quarters at York (Toronto). On the flag of the regiment is inscribed “Egmont-op-Zee,” “Copenhagen,” “Queenstown,” and its colours and appointments bear the word “China” and the device of the Dragon.
     Of the career of the 49th Regiment in Canada during the war of 1812-15, it is impossible to speak too highly. From their brilliancy of attack and energy in action the American soldiers dubbed them “Green Tigers,” and on the fatal day at Queenston, those of the wounded who had passed over “had described the charge of the ‘Green Tigers’ and militia in the morning, and had warned them what they might expect if they came in contact with troops infuriated by the loss of their beloved General” (Auchinleck, p. 106.). That the 49th revelled in the honour conferred by such a soubriquet is clear from the fact that Fitzgibbon’s company dubbed themselves “Fitzgibbon’s Green ’Uns,” and one of them, the late Judge Jarvis, of Cornwall, then a cadet of eighteen, says, over the nom de plume “A Green ‘Un,” in Auchinleck: “We were all dressed in green uniform made from clothing which had been taken from the enemy.” [page 189]
     In a private letter to the writer Judge Jarvis says, under date Cornwall, 7th November, 1876: “The uniform of the 49th was, of course, of a scarlet colour with green facings, rather a light green. Around the edges of the cuffs and collar was a band of gold lace one inch wide, thus (a drawing is given).
     “The militia had no uniform during the War of 1812; they were furnished with a blanket only.” At the taking of Fort Detroit the militia are generally said to have been in uniform, but these were only a few and in the first engagement.
     “The Americans wore coarse grey or blue cloth, mostly the former.” Homespun; in pursuance of the line of action required by the blockade. “One regiment, the Irish Greens, wore dark green cloth, but they were not at either Stony Creek or Beaver Dam.” [back]

NOTE 28a, page 59.

—and the Queen’s too,
Who loves all nobleness.

Queen Charlotte’s intense admiration for all nobility of character is well exemplified by Sir Walter Scott in Jennie Deans (“Heart of Midlothian”), to whom she showed the most marked kindness and sympathy. This was but one instance out of many which were well known and duly appreciated by the British people. [back]

NOTE 29, page 59.

Affliction leaves him in our hands to do him justice.

The noble mind is always alert to see that he who cannot take care of himself shall be tenderly cared for, and that the more fully, the more he is exposed to injury by the prominence or delicacy of his position. [page 188]
In 1812 the King’s malady, which in 1805 is recorded to have affected his eyes to such a degree that “he had to wear a green shade…after candle-light,” and could not “distinguish any person unless he be very near” and by the assistance of a glass, had increased to such an extent that Prince George had to be appointed Regent, and there were not wanting those who chose the opportunity at laugh at and depreciate the King’s character. [back]

NOTE 30, page 60.

You, Cummings, mount.

James Cummings, of Chippewa, was engaged in the Indian trade. He accompanied Clark’s plucky expedition on Black Rock, when they surprised the work, captured the guard together with several stand of arms, one brass six-pounder, and a large store of provisions. On Bishopp hearing of this exploit, he fired up, “Hang the fellow, he has got before me. By Jove, it was well done; we’ll try it again.” And he did, as history tells. [back]

NOTE 31, page 60.

Twelve-Mile Creek.

“The site of St. Catharines, formerly known as the Twelve-Mile Creek or Shipman’s Corners, after the oldest inhabitant of the place, was first selected as a country residence by the Hon. Robert Hamilton, father of the Hamilton who gave his name to the flourishing and rising city which still bears it, so early as the year 1800, at which period he owned the mills afterwards known as the Thomas’s Mills, upon the Twelve-Mile Creek, up to which point boats at that time ascended. But it was not until after the war, viz., in 1816, that the town-plot of St. Catharines was first purchased and laid out as a village by the Hon. W. H. Merritt and Jonathan H. Clendennen, and received the name of St. Catharines, in honour of Mrs. Robert Hamilton, whose name was Catharine.”—Anglo-American Magazine, vol. 3, p. 129. [page 190] [back]

NOTE 32, page 60.

Like dart of Annee-meekee.

Annee-meekee is the Ojibway for the thunder; “dart of” consequently is the lightning. [back]

NOTE 33, page 60.

I have friends beyond.

These were the household of Miss Tourney, an intimate friend of Mrs. Secord, and owner of a large farm some three miles beyond Beaver Dam. To this house Mrs. Secord proceeded, accompanied by an escort furnished by Lieut. Fitzgibbon, but, it need hardly be said, not exactly in the manner described. Here “she slept right off, for she had journeyed on foot twenty miles, and safely, God be praised.” Mrs. Secord returned to her anxious husband on the third day after having started on her perilous undertaking, but neither through the woods, nor on foot, thanks to her brave deed, and the success of British arms. [back]

NOTE 34, page 63.

Ye Yankee rogue! ye coward!

This incident, which Col. Coffin places as preceding the occupation of Beaver Dam by Fitzgibbon, is thus described by Judge Jarvis in a letter subsequent to the one already quoted, and which was apparently dictated by the awakening of old memories by the enquiries that led the former letter:
“Although I write with great labour and pain” [the result of rheumatism] “I cannot refrain from giving you the following incident. Lieut. Fitzgibbon, who always preferred going on any dangerous expedition to sending any other person, on receiving the information of the patriotic woman, went forward to reconnoitre. On approaching a small tavern two American soldiers came out of the door, and immediately presented their rifles. He seized the rifles, and crossed them in front of his person” [Col. Coffin says: ‘He seized the musket of the more advanced man and by main strength threw him upon his fellow, whose musket he also grappled with the other hand’] “so that neither could fire without shooting his fellow-soldier. Here he held them until one of them drew Lieut. Fitzgibbon’s sword, and held it up over his head, of course intending to stab him forthwith. The woman of the house saw the position, and rushed out and seized the sword, and got it from the soldier’s hand. Fitzgibbon then tripped up one of the soldiers and felled the other with a blow, then took them both prisoners and marched them into the line occupied by his company.”
It is a pity this brave woman’s name cannot be discovered in order that it might be added to the roll of those patriotic women whose names adorn Canadian history. [back]

NOTE 35, page 64.

Lieut.-Col. Thomas Clark.

Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, was, says Colonel Coffin, “a Scotchman by birth.” He “was an Indian trader and forwarder of goods to the Western hunting grounds; a member of the firm of Street & Clark….From the first outbreak of the war Clark was foremost in frontier fray. He had acquired the confidence of his men, and obtained the cordial co-operation of those who, like Bishopp, understood volunteers, and could appreciate the merits of the extemporaneous soldier.” [page 191] [back]

NOTE 36, page 64.

“But twenty, sir, all told.”

These were militia. “Old Isaac Kelly,” says Colonel Coffin (Chronicles of the War of 1812), “born and raised on the 48 Thorold, a septuagenarian, hale and hearty, who still [in 1864] lives not a mile from the spot, tells how, when he was a boy of eighteen, and was in the act of ‘hitching up’ his horses for the plough, he heard the firing in the wood, and outcries of the Indians; how he ran to his two brothers, both a-field; how the three got their muskets—they were all militamen—men home to put in a crop; how, led by the sounds, they crossed the country to the beech grove, meeting eight or ten more by the way, suddenly roused, like themselves; how, from behind the trees, they opened fire on the American train, and on the guns which were then unlimbering to the rear, and how the Americans, more worried and bothered than hurt, changed their position, and took up ground in David Millar’s apple orchard.” [back]

NOTE 37, page 64.

Bœrstler’s lost his head.

Not altogether without reason. “We frightened the enemy,” says Judge Jarvis, in a letter before quoted, “with our Indians, and from sounding the bugle on different positions to make them suppose we were numerous, and had them surrounded.” [back]

NOTE 38, page 65.

Terms generous and honourable, sir.

     “Particulars of the capitulation made between Captain McDowell, on the part of Lieutenant-Colonel Bœrstler, of the United States Army, and Major De Haren, of his Britannic Majesty’s Canadian Regiment, on the part of Lieutenant-Colonel Bishopp, commanding the advance of the British, respecting the force under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bœrstler:
     “Article 1.—That Lieutenant-Colonel Bœrstler and the forces under his command shall surrender prisoners of war.
     “Article 2.—That the officers shall retain their arms, horses and baggage.
     “Article 3.—That the non-commissioned officers and soldiers shall lay down their arms at the head of the British column, and shall become prisoners of war.
     “Article 4.—That the militia and volunteers with Lieutenant-Colonel Bœrstler shall be permitted to return to the United States on parole.

“ANDREW McDOWELL,
“Captain of the United States Light Artillery.

“Acceded to and signed,

“P. G. BŒRSTLER,
“Lieut.-Col. commanding detachment United States Army.
“P. V. DE HAREN,
“Major Canadian Regiment.”
—Auchinleck’s History of the War, p. 175. [page 192] [back]

NOTE 39, page 65.

The golden epaulettes.

These were the insignia of a captain’s rank in those days, and as Major De Haren is made to predict, Lieutenant Fitzgibbon won his company by the exploit of Beaver Dam. [back]

———

A BALLAD OF 1812.

——

NOTE 1, page 70.

Irresolution ruled.

Proctor’s irresolution, timidity, or want of promptness, led to many disasters, notably that at Moraviantown, and at length was his own destruction. [back]

NOTE 2, page 70.

Our people, by forced parole held.

James says, “No sooner had the American Army got possession of the Niagara frontier [27th May, 1813] than officers with parties were sent to every farmhouse and hovel in the neighbourhood to exact a parole from the male inhabitants of almost every age. Some were glad of this excuse for remaining peaceably at their houses, and those who made any opposition were threatened to be sent across the river, and thrown into a noisome prison.” [back]

NOTE 3, page 72.

The substance all too poor and sparse
Our stinted fields may grow.

The war was declared on the 18th of June, and at once every able male in the Provinces sprang to arms. The necessary absence from their farms thus forced upon them curtailed the sowing, and lessened the harvest, though the women and children of every rank did their utmost to countervail the losses thus threatened. The next year there was less to sow and less, consequently, to reap, notwithstanding the leave granted to the militia at all possible junctures, to attend to their work; but intermittent farming is not more successful than other occasionally prosecuted labour, and the war laid bare many previously fruitful clearings. [back]

NOTE 4, page 73.

Or many-rattled snake.

An extraordinary danger attended the bite of the rattlesnake in the case of a married woman. The Jenny Decow alluded to in Note 23 had become Mrs. McCall, and while working in the field with her husband was bitten. Her husband killed the snake, thinking, according to the ideas of the time, that by so doing he should save his wife’s life; he also sucked the poison from [page 193] the wound; but before he had carried her to her cottage the foot had burst. An Indian remedy was applied, but it was years before she recovered from the effects of that bite. In the meantime two children were born, each of whom turned spotted and sore, and then died. A third born after her recovery was strong and healthy, and grew to manhood. [back]

NOTE 5, page 73.

Oh, at the mill my brother lies
Just at the point of death.

This was Mr. Charles Ingersoll, after whom Mrs. Secord named her only son. He had been wounded, and lay at St. David’s Mill in a very precarious condition. He recovered, however, to fight again, and to become one of Woodstock’s most prominent citizens. [back]

NOTE 6, page 74.

The fritil’ butterfly.

This is the small fritillary, a beautiful little creature that may be seen flitting from blossom to blossom, or careering in the early summer air in the manner almost of a tumbler pigeon, before any other of its kind has left its winter’s cradle. It is beautifully marked, of a golden brown, and the edges of the wings are bordered with a narrow vandyking of pearly gray. [back]

NOTE 7, page 75.

Doomed St. David’s Mill.

     Auchinleck says, “From the 8th of July” [Chippewa was fought on the 4th] “to the 23rd of the month, General Brown, with his enormous force, was content to remain without striking a blow, unless an occasional demonstration before Forts George and Mississaga, or the wanton conflagration of the village of St. David’s, be considered as such.”
     Of this atrocity an American officer, a Major McFarland, writes:—“The militia and Indians plundered and burnt every thing. The whole population is against us; not a foraging party but is fired on, and not infrequently returns with missing numbers. This state was to be anticipated. The militia have burnt several private dwelling-houses, and, on the 19th instant, burnt the village of St. David, consisting of about thirty or forty houses. This was done within three miles of camp, and my battalion was sent to cover the retreat, as they [the militia] had been sent to scour the country, and it [page 194] was presumed they might be pursued. My God, what a service! I never witnessed such a scene, and had not the commanding officer of the party, Lieutenant-Colonel Stone, been disgraced” [he was dismissed the service by sentence of a court-martial for this deed] “and sent out of the army, I should have resigned my commission.”
     This disgust was not caused by any half-heartedness in the war on the part of Major McFarland, for he says in the same letter that “he desires no better fun than to fight the British troops.” [back]

NOTE 8, page 78.

She hears the wolves’ dread bands.

“Wolves were the pests of the country for many years, and even after they were partially expelled by the settlers, they used to make occasional descents upon the settlements, and many a farmer that counted his sheep by twenties at night would be thankful if he could muster half a score in the morning.”—See Ryerson’s Loyalists, p. 246. [back]

NOTE 9, page 80.

Oh, chief, indeed no spy am I.

So impossible did it appear to the Indian that a woman should be found traversing alone so strongly invested a section of the country, that it was with the greatest difficulty Mrs. Secord persuaded him of the truth of her story. [back]

NOTE 10, page 82.

Nay, five and forty, one by one,
Have borne her from the day.

From 1813 to 1860, seven and forty. Five is, however, used as a division of equality. [back]

NOTE 11, page 83.

And when from o’er the parting seas,
A royal letter came.

“When, in 1860, the Prince of Wales was at Niagara, he went to see the aged lady, and from her own lips heard the tale; and, learning that her fortune did not equal her fame, he sent her, most delicately and most gracefully, the sum of one hundred guineas. God bless him for that, is the aspiration of every true Canadian heart. He is his mother’s true son.”—Col. Coffin’s Chronicles of the War of 1812. [back]

———

JUBILEE POEM.

——

NOTE 1, page 84.

Mercy, whose message bore thy first command.

     The first act of the Crown which Her Majesty was called upon to perform was the signing of the death-warrant of a soldier who had been sentenced to be shot for desertion. The Queen felt it keenly, and asked the Duke of Wellington if there was no possible plea on which the man could be respited: had he no good quality?
     “Your Majesty, he is a very bad soldier, having deserted three times; but I believe he is a good husband.”
     “Oh, thank you,” the Queen replied, and wrote “Pardoned” across the document. [page 195] [back]

THE HERO OF ST. HELEN’S ISLAND.

——

NOTE 1, page 86.

     This touching incident, bright example as it is of that fine sense of duty that has built up the renown of the British Army, is related in his charming volume, “The Emigrant,” by Sir Francis Bond Head. The author, in introducing it, says: “In the different regions of the globe it has been my fortune to visit, I have always experienced great pleasure in pausing for a few minutes at the various spots which have been distinguished by some feat or other of British enterprise, British mercy, British honesty, British generosity or British valour.
     “About the time I was in Canada a trifling circumstance occurred on the breaking up of the ice, which I feel proud to record.
     “In the middle of the great St. Lawrence there is, nearly opposite Montreal, an island called St. Helen’s, between which and the shore the stream, about three quarters of a mile broad, runs with very great rapidity, and yet, notwithstanding this current, the intense cold of winter invariably freezes its surface.
     “The winter which I am speaking of was unusually severe, and the ice on the St. Lawrence particularly thick; however, while the river beneath was rushing towards the sea, the ice was waiting in abeyance in the middle of the stream until the narrow fastness between Montreal and St. Helen’s should burst, and allow the whole mass to break into pieces, and then in stupendous confusion to hurry downwards towards Quebec.” The story follows, and in winding up the account Sir Francis says: “Colour-Sergeant William Delaney, and Private George Morgan, of the 24th Regiment now at Chatham, were eye-witnesses of the above occurrence.”
     The dangers Sergeant Neill so bravely encountered are thus graphically depicted by Sir Francis B. Head on p.42 of the same volume, in describing the breaking up of the ice of the River Humber, a stream not a tenth of the length or breadth of the St. Lawrence, so that the scene bears but a slight comparison to that witnessed on the larger river. “…As soon as the great movement commenced, these trees and the ice were hurried before my eyes in indescribable confusion. Every piece of ice, whatever might be its shape or size, as it proceeded, was either revolving horizontally or rearing up on end until it reeled over; sometimes a tree striking against the bottom would rise slowly up, and for a moment stand erect as if it grew out of the river; at other times it would, apparently for variety’s sake, stand on its head with its roots uppermost and then turn over; sometimes the ice as it proceeded would rise up like a house and chimneys, and then rolling head over heels, sink, leaving in its place clear water.
     “In a few hours the turmoil was completely at an end, the torrent had diminished, the stream had shrunk to its ordinary limits, and nothing remained to tell of the struggle.” (See also Appendix.) [page 196] [back]

———

LIVINGSTONE.

——

NOTE 1, page 101.

Snatched by the hand of God his groaning millions.

The representations by Livingstone of the terrible condition among the inland peoples of Africa by slavery, tribe enslaving tribe, people making war upon people for the sake of prisoners to be sent to the slave market, and the horrors endured by the poor wretches, thus given over to a fate worse than death, by the greed of the Arabian and certain white merchants of the coast, led to action on the part of the British and other Governments, which has done much to break up the inhuman traffic, and will never cease “till that wide wound be healed.” [back]

———

THE SWEET GIRL GRADUATE.

——

NOTE 1, page 122.

This little comedy appeared in Gripsack for 1882, and was written at the request of the editor of Grip, who was, and is, in full sympathy with all efforts to secure the rights of women. At that date the Council of University College had refused to entertain the application of ladies to be admitted to the lectures of University College, and that such an adventure with its denouement did not become a fact is only to be credited to the wisdom that, on further consideration, withdrew the objection, for history affords many instances of woman’s use of a disguise in order to attain her wishes, and the annals of co-education furnish numerous proofs of her equality with, and not unfrequently her superiority to, her rivals of the other sex in competitive examinations. [back]

NOTE 2, page 127.

To think that down in Canterbury, girls.

The circumstance here so mournfully quoted by Kate was a fact. The University of Canterbury, New Zealand, was open alike to men and women. The examination papers used were prepared by Cambridge University (England) on the same standing as their own, and were returned to Cambridge for adjudication thereon. In 1881 a lady took the degree of B.A., the first in the world, and was invested with the hood with some eclat. [page 197] [back]

NOTE 3, page 136.

Who in this city form a ladies’ club.

The Toronto Women’s Literary Club, incepted by Dr. Emily H. Stowe, of Toronto, and meeting at her house from 1876 until its resolution into the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association in 1883, was responsible for the public agitation of the right of women to admission to University College; and also for the circulation of the petition to that end, which, by the kind help of many of members of the Legislature, won from the Provincial Parliament a recommendation to the Senate of the University that women should be admitted. Several of the leading fourth year men of 1882 offered their assistance in circulating the petition among the students; and the greatest sympathy was shown by educators in every part of the Dominion. [page 198] [back]

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