Laura Secord, the heroine of 1812 Part 37

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.

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.

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. G.o.d 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_.

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 took 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 doc.u.ment.

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 circ.u.mstance 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 sh.o.r.e 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 ma.s.s 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.)

LIVINGSTONE.

Note 1, page 101.

s.n.a.t.c.hed by the hand of G.o.d 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."

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 s.e.x in compet.i.tive examinations.

Note 2, page 127.

To think that down in Canterbury, girls.

The circ.u.mstance 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_.

NOTE 3, page 136.

Who in this city form a ladies' club.