[74] 'Twas thus Apelles.—Prior is very elegant upon this circumstance in an Ode to his Friend, Mr. Howard the Painter.
[75] Hov'ring Rumour.—The tidings of Honora's Marriage. Upon that event Mr. André quitted his Profession as a Merchant and join'd our Army in America.
[76] Tuneful Anna.—Miss Anna André has a poetical talent.
[77] Last dear record.—"I have a Mother, and three Sisters, to whom the value of my commission wou'd be an object, as the loss of Grenada has much affected their income. It is needless to be more explicit on this subject, I know your Excellency's goodness."—See Major André's last letter to General Clinton, publish'd in the Gazette.
[78] Impetuous André.—It is in this passage only that fiction has been employ'd thro' the narrative of the poem. Mr. André was a prisoner in America, soon after his arrival there, but the Author is unacquainted with the circumstances of the action in which he was taken.
[79] Shade of my Love.—The miniature of Honora. A letter from Major André to one of his Friends, written a few years ago, contained the following sentence: "I have been taken prisoner by the Americans and stript of everything except the picture of Honora, which I concealed in my mouth. Preserving that, I yet think myself fortunate."
Intrepid Portia.—"Brutus. Impatient of my absence,
"And grieved that young Octavius with Mark Antony
"Had made themselves so strong, she grew distracted,
"And, her Attendants absent, swallow'd fire.
"Cassius.] And dy'd so?
"Brutus.] Even so!"
See Shakespear's Play of Julius Cæsar, Act IV., Scene IV.]
[81] Hudson's tide.—Major André came up the Hudson River to meet General Arnold. On his return by Land he fell into the hands of the Enemy.