[B] The facts related in the following verses relative to the siege of Quebec and the death of Wolfe have been taken from Dr. Withrow's "History of Canada," and I take this opportunity of acknowledging my indebtedness to the author. The history has been invaluable to me in the composition of this poem. Without its help the "Song" would have been far more incomplete than it now is.—W. S. S.
[C] "Pale and weak with recent illness, Wolfe reclined among his officers, and, in a low tone, blending with the rippling of the river, recited several stanzas of the recent poem, Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.' Perhaps the shadow of his approaching fate stole upon his mind, as in mournful cadence he whispered the strangely pathetic words:
'The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave,
Alike await the inexorable hour,
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.'
"With a prescience of the hollowness of military renown, he exclaimed, 'I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec to-morrow.'"—Withrow's History of Canada, p. 246.
Yet in spite of thy queenly disdain,
Thou art seared by my passion and pain;
Thou shall hear me repeat till I die for it, Sweet,
"I love thee! I dare to love thee."
—Marie Corelli, "The Romance of Two Worlds."
[E] "The Berlin Decree" of Napoleon, issued November 1, 1806, declared a blockade of the entire British coast. * * * Great Britain retaliated by the celebrated "Orders-in-Council," which declared all traffic with France contraband, and the vessels prosecuting it, with their cargoes, were seized. These restrictions pressed heavily on the neutrals, especially the United States, which now engrossed much of the carrying trade of the world.—Withrow's History of Canada, p. 301.
[F] War was precipitately declared June 18, 1812. * * * Almost simultaneously the obnoxious "Orders-in-Council," the chief ostensible cause of the war, were repealed.—Ibid, p. 303.
[G] Another cause conspired to fan the war feeling to a flame. Great Britain, pressed by the difficulty of managing her immense fleets, asserted the "right of search" of American vessels for deserters from her army. The U. S. frigate Chesapeake resisted this right, though sanctioned by international law.—Ibid, p. 302.