New International Encyclopaedia claimed that it was the "dramatic quality of his . . . books [which] won for them [their] considerable popularity, despite their disregard of truth in local color." Sir Gilbert Parker is also known for his poetry, in particular the sonnet Reunited. The English composer Sir Edward Elgar set to music three of Parker's romantic poems: Oh, soft was the song, Twilight, Was it some Golden Star? in 1910, as part of an uncompleted song-cycle, his Op. 59. Elgar also set to music his little poem Inside the Bar, written in 1917 as a sequel to his setting of Kipling's wartime nautical poems in The Fringes of the Fleet. Other activities In December 1895 he married Miss Amy VanTine of New York City, a wealthy heiress, daughter of Ashley VanTine. His Canadian connection and his experience in Australia and elsewhere had made him a strong Imperialist in politics, and from that time he began to devote himself in large measure to a political career. He still kept up his literary work, but some of the books last mentioned cannot compare with those by which he made his name. He was elected to the British House of Commons as a Conservative member for Gravesend in 1900 and remained MP until 1918. He was knighted in the 1902 Coronation Honours for his service to Canadian literature, receiving the accolade from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 24 October that year. In the succeeding years he continually strengthened his position in the party, particularly by his energetic work on behalf of Tariff Reform and Imperial Preference. During World War I he organized British publicity toward the United States. He was created a baronet on 21 June 1915 and appointed as a Privy Councillor in 1916. In May 1905, Parker publicly claimed to have seen a "vision" of fellow house member, Frederic Carne Rasch, despite the fact that Rasch was known to be bedridden at home with influenza. He died in London (England) on 6 September 1932 and on 26 September he was buried in Belleville, Ontario. One of the honorary pallbearers was then Prime Minister of Canada, Richard Bedford Bennett. World War I propagandist The British put forth a large effort to find an able and persuasive writer to effectively communicate with the Americans. They decided to use Sir Gilbert Parker. The British supplied Parker with a "large propaganda