MAJOR-GENERAL BROCK, GOVERNOR OF UPPER CANADA.
The appointment of Brock--with his exceptional military attainments--to
the chief command in Upper Canada, at the point of greatest danger, was
a rare piece of good fortune for the colony. Of the American military
leaders, Generals Howe, Dearborn and Wadsworth were all examples of a
common standard; even Sir George Prevost, the new Governor-General of
Canada and Commander-in-Chief, was tuned in a minor key.
Isaac Brock was the man of the hour. His star was in the ascendant.
Queen Victoria's father, the Duke of Kent, was anxious to meet the
soldier whose despatches had stirred the War Office. The Duke of York
was ready to give him a brigade under Wellington, while the Governor of
Jamaica, the Duke of Manchester, then touring Canada, begged Brock, whom
he looked upon as a "universal provider," to equip him with canoes and
guides for a western pilgrimage. If Brock's promotion brought him
distinction it also brought him work--Executive Councils,
court-martials, reorganization of militia, reconstruction of the ruined
forts on the Niagara frontier, the building of gunboats, the making of
roads. Never idle. To-day he was inspecting a camp of the 49th at Three
Rivers, near Montreal; next week at Fort Erie. Ever busy, ever buoyant.
Whether perusing documents, scouring the muddy roads at Queenston,
surveying the boundaries of the dreaded Black Swamp, or visiting the
points between Fort George and Vrooman's battery on his slashing gray
charger, he had a smile and cheery word for everyone. As for Dobson, his
profound awe at his master's progress was only equalled by his devotion,
that increased with the illness that threatened his life; while the
faithful sergeant-major, now Captain FitzGibbon, in command of a company
of the 49th, was reflecting great credit on his patron. But no matter
what the tax on his time, Isaac never neglected the "beloved brothers."
In New York there had been financial failures. Brock predicted a
dreadful crash, and had so written to his brother Irving, who with
William had a bank in London. He hoped they "had withheld their
confidence in public stocks." Providence ruled otherwise. While Isaac in
the solitude of his quarters was writing this warning, the banking house
in London, whose vessels in the Baltic Sea had been seized by
Bonaparte's privateers, closed its doors. The news reached him on his
birthday. He learned that a private advance made to him by William for
the purchase of his commissions had been entered in the bank's books by
mistake. He was a debtor to the extent of £3,000.
Brock rose to the occasion. He proved himself not only a soldier but,
best of all, a just man with the highest sense of personal honour. His
distress was all for his brothers. He would sell his commission, turn
over his income as governor and surrender everything, if by doing so he
could save the fortunes of his family. Anything that not only the law
but the right might demand. This failure impaired the former good
fellowship between William and Irving Brock. Isaac wrote Irving,
beseeching him to repair the breach. "Hang the world," said he; "it is
not worth a thought. Be generous, and find silent comfort in being so.
Oh, my dear brother, forget the past and let us all unite in soothing
the grief of one of the best hearts that heaven ever formed, whose wish
was to place us all in affluence. Could tears restore him he would be
happy."
But Isaac was not permitted to know that reconciliation followed his
prayers. While William and Irving were shaking hands, but before they
had even heard of the capture of Detroit, Isaac, unknown to them, was at
that moment lying cold in death within the cavalier bastion at Fort
George.
Little York was now Brock's headquarters. He built dockyards to shelter
His Majesty's navy, which consisted of two small vessels! He planned new
Parliament Buildings and an arsenal, prepared township maps showing
roads and trails, fords and bridges, all of which latter were in a
shocking condition. At York the timber and brushwood was so dense that
travel between the garrison and town was actually by water. His mind
made up that war with the United States was inevitable, he was
confronted with crucial questions demanding instant solution. Chief of
these was the defence of the frontier, 1,300 miles in length, which
entailed repairs of the boundary forts, the raising of a reliable
militia, the increase of the regular troops, the building of more
gunboats, and the solving of the Indian problem.
[Illustration: BUTLER'S BARRACKS (OFFICERS' QUARTERS), NIAGARA COMMON]