Volunteering was going on with spirit as the following letter from Brock to his friend James Cuthbert, of Berthier,[2] shows. He writes October 12th, 1807:—"You may well suppose that the principal subject of conversation at headquarters is the military state of the country. I have been careful, in justice to you, to mention to Sir James Craig the public spirit you have manifested in forming a company from among the inhabitants of your seigniory, without the least pecuniary or other assistance from government. You must be aware that in any future general arrangement it will become an essential object with government to secure a more substantial hold on the service of the men than their mere promise, and as it is intended to give every possible latitude to their prejudices, and to study in everything their convenience, it is thought no regulation to that effect can operate to diminish the number of voluntary offers. As you have been the first to set such a laudable example, Sir James thinks it but just that Berthier should take the lead in any new project he may adopt, and he desires me to ask your opinion in regard to the following points." Then followed the proposals of government with regard to arms, clothing and pay, and the rank of the officers.
Before the arrival of Sir James Craig, Brock wrote that voluntary offers of service had been made by numbers of the inhabitants to form themselves into corps of cavalry, artillery and infantry, at little or no expense to government if they were furnished with arms, but these offers had not been encouraged by President Dunn. The fact was, as the minutes of council show, there were no means at the disposal of the executive for equipping, arming, and paying troops. The militia, when embodied, were entitled to receive the same pay and allowance as the king's troops. The minute of council reads:—"No funds for this purpose are at the disposal of the civil government, but have invariably been provided by the commander-in-chief of the forces. The civil government is not by law authorized to provide for the furnishing of carts or horses for works as proposed."
At this time Lieutenant-Governor Gore had been supplied with four thousand muskets from the king's arsenal at Quebec, and with various military stores. This left at Quebec only seven thousand muskets for the militia of Lower Canada. As to the temper of the militia of the province, Brock says in a letter to his friend, Colonel Gordon: "The Canadians have unquestionably shown a great willingness upon this occasion to be trained, and I make not the least doubt, would oppose with vigour any invasion of the Americans. How far the same sentiments would actuate them were a French force to join I will not undertake to say; at any rate I feel that every consideration of prudence and policy ought to determine me to keep in Quebec a sufficient force to secure its safety. The number of troops that could be detached would be small, notwithstanding a great deal might be done, in conjunction with the militia, in a country intersected in every direction by rivers, deep ravines, and lined at intervals on both sides of the roads by thick woods."
Volunteers of Glengarry
Another proposal to raise a volunteer corps among the Scottish settlers of Glengarry had been made by Colonel John Macdonell. This was forwarded by Brock to the secretary of state. Brock strongly advocated the formation of the corps, as he said at that time there were only three hundred militia trained to arms in both the Canadas. He also advocated the appointment of the Rev. Alexander Macdonell as chaplain of the corps. The men were all Highland Catholics, and were very much attached to him. He had acted as the chaplain of the Glengarry Fencibles during the rebellion in Ireland in 1796, who had emigrated to Canada under his leadership in 1803, and had settled in the eastern district of Upper Canada. Brock thought the corps would be soon completed and would form a nursery from which the army might draw a number of hardy recruits. It was some time, however, before this was done.
At the close of the year 1807, there was a feeling of greater security in Canada, for public feeling in the states had calmed. Brock writes on December 13th, to his friend Ross Cuthbert:—"You will do me the justice to believe that I did not lose a moment in laying the clear and satisfactory statement you sent me of the constitution and character of the volunteer company under your command before the governor. That something will shortly be done there is no doubt, although the prevailing idea here is against a war with our neighbours. People imagine the Americans will not dare to engage in the contest, but as I consider their councils to be directed solely by French influence, it is impossible to say where it will lead them."
The French influence feared by Brock was still further to be exercised the following year, when Napoleon, by every means in his power, endeavoured to force on a war between the United States and Great Britain.
[1] Bouchette's "Topography of Canada."
[2] The James Ross Cuthbert of this letter was the son of the Hon. James Cuthbert who had served in the navy as lieutenant of the flagship at the siege of Carthagena, in 1721. He afterwards entered the 42nd Regiment on its formation. He was present in the 15th Regiment at the capture of Louisbourg and served under Wolfe at Quebec, carrying to England the despatches of Brigadier-General Murray to whom he was aide-de-camp.
After the conquest, having left the army and become a settler in Canada, he was appointed by Lord Dorchester one of the members of the first legislative council. In the invasion of 1775, he was particularly active in visiting the American camp at Sorel, was taken prisoner by the Americans and sent in irons to Albany. During his absence they burned his manor house and destroyed his property. His son, James Ross Cuthbert, married an American, a daughter of Doctor Rush, of Philadelphia. A sister of this lady was married to a Captain Manners of the 49th.
Brock writes of them both to his sister-in-law in England, begging her to call on Mrs. Manners, who was then living at Barnet. He says, "Her sister Mrs. Ross Cuthbert, a charming little creature, makes her husband, (my most intimate friend and with whom I pass a great part of my leisure hours) a most happy man."
CHAPTER IX
AFFAIRS IN EUROPE, 1808
Early in 1808, Colonel Brock left Quebec to take command in Montreal. Shortly afterwards he was appointed acting brigadier-general by Sir James Craig, an appointment which was confirmed in September. In a letter to his brother, Brock wrote that, although General Ferguson had been newly appointed major-general, he thought he would not likely come, as was intended, to Canada, but that he (Brock) would succeed him both in rank and command at Quebec. Montreal, in 1808, was both a lively and a hospitable place. The magnates of the North-West Company were established there, and entertained with a lavishness that was not to be found elsewhere. The fame of the Beaver Club has remained unrivalled in Canada.
Montreal, the old Ville Marie, once the fortified Indian stronghold of Hochelaga, was founded in 1642 by Maisonneuve. Soon afterwards the hospital or Hôtel Dieu was established by Madame de Bouillon, and in 1650, the cathedral of Notre Dame was founded by Marguerite de Bourgeois. Montreal can therefore claim an antiquity almost equal to that of Quebec.
For more than fifty years a struggle continued between the French settlers and their Indian foes. At one most critical time in 1660, the whole island, up to the palisades that surrounded the town, was swept by war parties, and only the sacrifice of Dollard (sometimes called Daulac) and his seventeen associates, saved the place. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy arrived with the Carignan Regiment and established forts at Ste. Thérèse, Sorel, and Chambly, naming the two latter places after officers in his regiment.
Montreal soon became the centre of the great fur trade with the North-West. Unlike its sister city, Quebec, whose narrow, steep streets with the bristling fortifications that towered above, kept the characteristics of a century before, Montreal, by 1808, had already put on the appearance of a modern town. The old wall that had once surrounded it had been removed in 1801. On the banks of the river St. Lawrence, which flowed around it, were fine warehouses in which were stored the costly skins destined for the markets of Frankfort and St. Petersburg. There were colleges and churches and taverns, too, of no mean repute, and scattered here and there were the fine mansions and spacious gardens of the "Lords of the North."
Here lived James McGill, to whom the Montreal of to-day owes its famous university. He had a beautiful house on the slope of Mount Royal, which he bequeathed with an endowment of ten thousand pounds to trustees for the purpose of establishing an English college—the first in Canada. Here also lived William McGillivray and Simon McTavish, whose names are familiar in the annals of the "great company."
Brock at Montreal
Brock was quartered at the Château de Ramezay, then much out of repair. When Montreal was occupied by the Americans in 1776, this had been the headquarters of the leaders of the invasion. Benjamin Franklin, Bishop Carroll, and Mr. Chase, when they came from congress on their mission to the French Canadians, had also been sheltered by its walls.
General Brock, with the bonhomie that was natural to him, seems to have entered very heartily into the gaieties of the place. His friend, Colonel Thornton, writes to him from Quebec, "You ought never to feel uneasy about your friends, for in your kindness and hospitality no want of comfort can ever be felt by them; in this I am fully supported by all the accounts from Montreal."
News came at this time that Sir George Prevost had been appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, and had also been made second in command to Sir James Craig in North America. He arrived in Halifax in January, 1808, bringing with him the 7th, 8th, and 23rd Regiments of Foot.
During this year there seems to have been very little correspondence between General Brock and his family. He complains to one of his brothers that although he had written to all of them since navigation opened, he had heard only from Irving, "who, to do him justice, is the most attentive and regular correspondent amongst you." It was not always the fault of the correspondents that letters from England were so few and far between, for each vessel now on the high seas was liable to capture, and sometimes even when the coveted mail did arrive, an accident, such as the upsetting of a canoe, would deprive the colony of the longed-for home news. Official letters from England by way of Halifax and Quebec took four and sometimes six months to reach Toronto. There was only irregular communication between that place and Montreal, and it took a month—sometimes longer—for the carriage of letters.
Brock, in his letter, tells his brother that he is getting on pretty well at Montreal, although "the place in summer loses the advantage it had over Quebec in winter." One thing he rejoices in—"not a desertion for sixteen months in the 49th, except Hogan, Savery's former servant. He was servant to Major Glegg, at Niagara, when a fair damsel persuaded him to this act of madness."
Brock writes in July from Montreal to his friend Cuthbert as to the equipment of the volunteer force he had raised: "Be assured the general has very substantial reasons for objecting to any issue of arms at this time. Were your corps the sole consideration, be satisfied he would not hesitate a moment, but he cannot show you such marked preference without exciting a degree of jealousy which might occasion unpleasant discussions. I am sorry you have deprived yourself of the very handsome dagger your partiality induced you to send me. No such proof was needed to convince me of your friendship. We have not a word of intelligence here more than what the Quebec papers give. The Americans appear to me to be placed in a curious and ridiculous predicament. War with that republic is now out of the question, and I trust we shall consider well before we admit them as allies."
Sir James Craig
A letter from Sir James Craig to Lord Castlereagh, of August 4th, gives the possible reason why he delayed equipping Cuthbert's company, and shows that the prejudices he had formed thirty years before were still strong. He says: "The militia have hitherto been only contemplated in theory, except in the town of Quebec. Lord Dorchester could not assemble any in 1775. In the following year I commanded the largest body ever brought together, but I was then in pursuit of a flying enemy. Since then no attempt to assemble them has been made. The Canadians of to-day are not warlike; they like to make a boast of their militia service, but all dislike the subordination and constraint. If the seigneurs possessed their old influence it might be different. Lawyers and notaries have now sprung into notice, and with them insubordination. The members returned to the new House consist of fifteen lawyers, fourteen farmers, and only seven seigneurs. In the event of having to contend with a French force no help is to be expected from this province. On the contrary, arms in their hands would be dangerous. They are French at heart yet."
From the time of his arrival Sir James Craig was possessed with the idea that the French Canadians, their leaders especially, were hostile to British suzerainty, and were to be distrusted in all things. At his elbow was the partisan secretary, always magnifying local disputes, and increasing his suspicion of hidden conspiracies. However, at the opening of parliament in January, 1808, the governor's address was conciliatory. He spoke warmly of the zeal and the loyalty of the militia, and said that all appearances gave promise that if the colony were attacked it would be defended in such a manner "as was to be expected of a brave race who fight for all that is dear to it." The session was taken up with the question of Jews and judges sitting in parliament. A resolution was passed excluding the former, and by a vote of twenty-two to two the assembly passed a bill excluding judges as well. This bill was rejected by the legislative council, and a hostile feeling arose between the governor and the assembly, whose speaker, M. Panet, he looked on with special aversion as a shareholder in Le Canadien.
The dismissals
The first session of Sir James Craig's administration was the last of the fourth parliament, and a new election took place in May. Shortly afterwards the governor took the impolitic step of dismissing from the militia Lieutenant-Colonel Panet (the speaker), Captains Bédard and Taschereau, Lieutenant Borgia and Surgeon Blanchet. The letter of dismissal to each, signed by H. W. Ryland, stated that the reason of the dismissal was that His Excellency could place no confidence in the services of a person whom he had good ground for considering as one of the proprietors of a seditious and libellous publication.
As to the opinion expressed by Brock in his letter of July, 1808, that war with the United States was now out of the question, it may be well to glance at the condition of affairs in Europe, and to find out what had produced the change of feeling in America. Russia, in 1807, had vainly struggled to free herself from the power of France, but after an unsuccessful campaign had concluded the Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon. By its secret articles France allowed Russia to take Finland from Sweden, and Russia, on her part, promised to close her ports against British vessels. Napoleon's Berlin decrees had not really gone into force until the summer of 1807, when he ordered them to be executed in Holland, and in August a general seizure of neutrals took place at Amsterdam. From that time trade with the continent ceased. The seizure of their vessels had been a severe blow to the United States, and had roused in that country a feeling of distrust in Napoleon's friendship. Then followed the British orders-in-council, by which all neutral trade was prohibited from Copenhagen to Trieste. No American vessel was to enter any port of Europe from which the British were excluded, unless it had first cleared from a British port. Truly, neutrals were in a very difficult position.
In July, 1807, England sent a large naval expedition to Copenhagen under command of Lord Gambier, with transports containing twenty-seven thousand troops under Lord Cathcart. This expedition was sent with a peremptory request to the Prince Regent to deliver up the Danish fleet. From September 1st to the 5th, Copenhagen was bombarded. Scarcely any resistance was offered, and the fleet was surrendered, while Danish merchant vessels worth ten millions of dollars were confiscated. These arbitrary measures were taken in order to protect British trade and to defeat the designs of Napoleon to form a powerful navy. In consequence, the Russian fleet was shut up at Cronstadt, and the Baltic remained under the control of Great Britain. The naval combination carefully prepared by Napoleon in the Treaty of Tilsit utterly failed.
Napoleon's activity
Late in 1807, Napoleon had stripped the elector of Hesse Cassel of his dominions on the plea that he had not joined him in the war against Prussia, and had done the same to the Duke of Brunswick on the ground that the duke had joined Prussia against him. Out of these domains the arch dictator had created the kingdom of Westphalia, and had bestowed it upon his brother, Jerome Bonaparte. Soon after, because the Prince Regent of Portugal had refused to enforce the Berlin decrees against England, Napoleon sent Junot with thirty thousand men to take possession of Portugal, and announced in the Moniteur that the House of Braganza had ceased to reign in Europe. Junot entered Lisbon without opposition, to find that the Prince Regent and the court had embarked for Brazil, taking with them the ships that Napoleon coveted.
Then Tuscany was seized and added to France, and the Pope was ordered to declare war against England. Having refused to do this on the plea that he was a sovereign of peace, the French general, by Napoleon's orders, entered Rome in February, 1808, occupied the Castle St. Angelo, and took the papal troops under his own command.
Napoleon's next move was against Spain. The government there was in a most corrupt state, but up to this time the country had been the humble and submissive ally of France. Napoleon, still in the guise of friendship, took possession of her strongest fortresses, and having by a ruse got the king and queen and the heir Ferdinand into his power at Bayonne, he induced the old King Carlos IV. to resign his Crown in favour "of his friend and ally the Emperor of the French."
Napoleon then issued a decree appointing "his dearly beloved brother Joseph, King of Naples and Sicily, to the Crowns of Spain and the Indies." By another decree he bestowed the vacant Crown of Naples and Sicily on his "dearly beloved cousin, Joachim Murat." Thus having distributed the Crowns of Europe he turned his attention with redoubled energy to the humbling of his great enemy, England. "Great Britain shall be destroyed," he said at Fontainebleau, "I have the means of doing it and they shall be employed."
In the United States, President Jefferson had determined on a scheme of non-intercourse and had laid an embargo on American shipping. "The whole world," he said, "is laid under an interdict by these two nations (England and France) and our vessels, their cargoes and crews, are to be taken by one or the other, for whatever place they may be destined out of our limits. If, therefore, on leaving our harbours we are certain to lose them, is it not better for vessels, cargoes and seamen to keep them at home?" Gallatin, secretary of the navy, wished to limit the duration of the embargo, as he said he preferred war to a permanent embargo, but Jefferson was obstinate and said it should continue until the return of peace in Europe. He had not counted the cost.
Effect of embargo
The embargo continued in force all through 1808 in spite of its extreme unpopularity throughout the United States. As a substitute for war it proved a failure. By it every citizen was tempted to evade or defy the law. "It made men smugglers or traitors but not a single hero."
The embargo reacted in favour of the British provinces in America, partly by calling forth the energies of the population and making them acquainted with their own resources, and partly by means of the indirect trade that was carried on from Eastport in Maine, across the border, and by way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence. In order to avoid the embargo on the coasts, goods were smuggled over the frontier to be sent to the West Indies and Halifax. In spite of new regulations and restrictions put forth by the American government, smuggling flourished. Craft of all sorts and sizes crowded the river St. Lawrence, and Canadian merchants prospered. Immense rafts were collected near the boundary line on Lake Champlain. These rafts were said to be loaded with the surplus products of Vermont for a year, consisting of wheat, potash, pork and beef. The coasting vessels, which were the means of commerce between the states, used to try to evade the law by putting into some port in Nova Scotia or the West Indies on pretence of stress of weather, and then leaving their cargo.
Fresh and stricter regulations were now made. At first the embargo was not felt in the United States, but when supplies were consumed the outcry against it became violent. As the year went on it was found to have paralyzed the country. A reign of idleness was established, demoralizing to everybody. A traveller (Lambert) writes that the harbour of New York was full of shipping, but the ships were dismantled and laid up. "Not a box or a bale to be seen on the wharves. Counting-houses all shut up, and merchants, clerks, porters and labourers walking about with their hands in their pockets."
New England was in a worse plight. The people believed that Jefferson was sold to France. Wheat in the Middle States fell from two dollars to seventy-five cents a bushel. The chief burden however fell on the Southern States, especially on Jefferson's own state—Virginia. Tobacco there was worthless. Planters were beggared. The country was deprived of tea, coffee, sugar, salt, molasses and rum.
During 1808, the feeling in the country against France became stronger. By Napoleon's Milan decree, which reached America in March, "every ship which should have been searched by a British vessel, or should have paid any duty to the British government, or should come from or be destined to any port in the British possessions in any part of the world should be good prize." It was after the Milan decree that the question was mooted in the United States of an alliance with England, and it was announced by Secretary Madison that an order had been issued to discharge all British subjects from national ships. The non-intercourse and embargo had done England immense harm and were working havoc among certain classes of the population. The artizans of Staffordshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire were reduced to the verge of famine, while quantities of sugar, coffee, etc., overfilled the warehouses of London. Under the orders-in-council the whole produce of the West Indies, shut out from Europe by Napoleon's decrees, and from America by the embargo, came to England, until the market was overstocked. English merchants sent their goods to Brazil until the beach at Rio de Janeiro was covered with property perishing for want of buyers and warehouses.
The war of trade
While this war of trade was going on, Napoleon, by every means in his power, by taunts, and threats, and cajolery, was trying to force America into a declaration of war against England. He said, "The United States, more than any other power, have to complain of the aggressions of England. In the situation in which England has placed the continent, His Majesty has no doubt of a declaration of war against her by the United States." He wrote to his secretary of war, Champagny, "In my mind, I regard war as declared between England and America from the day when England published her decrees." Again he wrote, "Let the American minister know verbally that whenever war shall be declared with England, and whenever, in consequence, the Americans shall send troops into the Floridas to help the Spaniards and repulse the English, I shall much approve of it. You will even let him perceive that in case America shall be disposed to enter into a treaty of alliance and make common cause with me, I shall not be unwilling to intercede with the court of Spain to obtain the cession of these same Floridas in favour of the Americans." So the tempting bait of Florida was held dangling before Jefferson, whose cherished hope it was to see that territory added to the United States.
General Armstrong, the American minister in Paris, does not seem to have been deceived by Napoleon's manoeuvres. He writes: "With one hand they offer us the blessing of equal alliance, with the other they menace us with war if we do not accept the kindness, and with both they pick our pockets with all imaginable dexterity, diligence, and impudence."
Napoleon during this year (1808) was not having the success in Spain that he had expected. A patriot party had arisen there, aided by English troops and gold, and had driven Joseph Bonaparte from his ill-gotten throne. Arthur Wellesley had landed, and at the battle of Vimiera, on August 21st, had defeated Junot, who at Cintra consented to evacuate Portugal on the consideration that his army of twenty-two thousand men should be conveyed by sea to France. In August, also, news came to the emperor that General Dupont's army had been captured by the Spaniards, and eighty thousand French troops were thrown back on the Pyrenees. Napoleon was stung to anger at this ill-success, and in September sent a fresh army of two hundred and fifty thousand men across the mountains, and announced that he himself was departing in a few days in order to crown Joseph as king of Spain in Madrid, and to plant his eagles on the fort of Lisbon. It was not the probable loss of Spain and Portugal that he cared for then, but the loss of their fleets that were to have given France the supremacy of the ocean.
Napoleon left Paris October 29th, 1808, and in November began his campaign. He occupied Madrid on December 4th, and learned that Sir John Moore had marched from Portugal to the north of Spain. He then hurried over the mountains to cut off his retreat, but was out-generalled. Moore escaped to his fleet, and Napoleon, in January, 1809, leaving Soult to march to Corunna, abandoned Spain forever.
The repeal of embargo
England at this time was defiant, and fondly hoped that the power of the devastator of Europe was on the wane. She passed a new order-in-council in December, doing away with export duties on foreign articles passing through England. It was her object now to encourage Americans to evade the embargo by running produce to the West Indies or South America. England had to feed her own armies in Spain, and the Spanish patriots also, and did not want to tax American wheat or salt pork on their way there. By the end of 1808 the embargo was so unpopular in America that its repeal was decided on. Jefferson wished to be spared the humiliation of signing the repeal, and hoped that it would continue in force until June, 1809, when the new president, James Madison, would be in power, but public opinion was too strong, and its withdrawal was signed as the last act of his administration.
CHAPTER X
POLITICS IN QUEBEC
In September, 1808, Brock was superseded in his command at Montreal by Major-General Drummond, and returned to Quebec. He did not like being separated from the 49th, but, as he remarks, "soldiers must accustom themselves to frequent movements, and as they have no choice it often happens they are placed in situations little agreeing with their inclinations." His appointment as brigadier was confirmed, but he writes, "if the 49th are ordered away my rank will not be an inducement to keep me in the Canadas." As to the embargo, he says, "it has proved a famous harvest to merchants. It was evidently adopted with the idea of pleasing France, but no half measures can satisfy Napoleon, and this colony has been raised by it to a degree of importance that ensures its future prosperity." Sir James Craig, in his speech at the opening of parliament, referred to the embargo as having had the effect of calling forth the energies of the population of Canada, adding that it had made the country acquainted with its resources.
It was in April, 1809, that the new House met, and the speaker was again M. Panet, who, although defeated for Quebec, had been elected member for Huntingdon. Much to everybody's surprise, the governor ratified the appointment. There were fourteen members of British origin in the assembly, while thirty-six were French Canadians, and again the question of judges and Jews having seats in the assembly was discussed with much warmth. In the midst of the debate, when a resolution had been passed excluding Jews, and a bill for the disqualification of judges had been read a first time, the governor suddenly appeared upon the scene, and stated his intention of proroguing and dissolving the House. He reproved the members for having wasted their time in frivolous debates, and while reproving them he took occasion to thank the legislative council for their zeal and unanimity. The session had lasted just thirty-six days.
The Quebec Assembly
The governor afterwards visited several of the principal places in the province, where he was received with effusion by the anti-Canadian party. The Quebec Mercury, alluding to the conduct of the assembly in persisting in its action against the judges, said: "The conduct of a conquered people, lifted by their victors from the depths of misery to the height of prosperity, and to whom has been extended every species of indulgence, is not such as might have been expected at their hands." Le Canadien naturally justified the opinion of the majority of the House, and quoted Blackstone, Locke, and other British authorities as to the rights of parliament. The editor of the Journal wrote: "The king's representative has power by law to dissolve the House when he thinks fit to do so, but he has no right whatever to make abusive remarks such as his harangue contained upon the action of the legislature—a body which is absolutely independent of his authority." So the little rift grew wider every day. The governor fondly hoped that the new elections would give a different complexion to the House, but in this he was disappointed. It was even more strongly opposed to his party than the former one, and included among the new members M. Louis-Joseph Papineau, then a student of twenty, who, in after years, was destined to take a very prominent part in the long struggle between the assembly and the legislative council.
In the meantime, before the new House met, the British ministry had sent instructions to Sir James Craig as to the ineligibility of judges to sit in parliament, and directed him to sanction the bill excluding them.
The year 1809 saw Napoleon's waning star once more in the ascendant. Austria had risen against him, only to be defeated, and on May 10th the victor had entered Vienna in triumph. Then followed the battle of Wagram on July 6th, which was a crushing blow to the Austrian army under the command of the Archduke Charles. An armistice was signed on the 12th, and on October 24th, by a treaty of peace, Austria ceded all her sea-coast to France. The news of Napoleon's successes aroused England to fresh exertions. Canning, the war minister, increased the army to five hundred thousand men. The regulars were fed by volunteers from the militia. The militia was kept up by voluntary recruiting and by ballot. Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had returned to England after Cintra, was again sent out after the death of Moore at Corunna, at the head of a much better army than he had had the year before, to match his strength against Generals Soult and Massena. There was a scarcity, though, of transport, supplies, and specie. England was drained of gold to supply the needs of her army in the Peninsula, and to assist the Spanish patriots in their struggle against France.
Walcheren, Talavera
There was little chance for Canada's needs to be attended to in this great crisis. Sir James Craig in February asked the home government for a reinforcement of twelve thousand troops, with the necessary camp equipage, two thousand to be stationed in the citadel at Quebec, two thousand in Upper Canada, and eight thousand for an active field force. This was his estimate of what he considered necessary for the proper defence of the country. His request arrived at a time when the cabinet was rent asunder by dissensions. The Duke of Portland, the nominal leader, was powerless. Castlereagh and Canning were at war. Both hated Perceval. Castlereagh was bent on sending troops to the Scheldt to take Flushing and Antwerp, where Napoleon was building a fleet. Canning wanted troops only for the Peninsula. The former had his way, and the ill-fated Walcheren expedition was undertaken. Forty thousand troops were sent against Antwerp, with thirty-three sail of the line, besides frigates. Flushing was besieged, but Antwerp, being reinforced and strengthened, was impregnable. Disputes arose between Lord Chatham, who was the commander-in-chief, and Admiral Sir Richard Strachan. By September the siege was given up, and fifteen thousand men were sent to the island of Walcheren. A plague of fever attacked them there, and the whole expedition turned out a failure. The result was the breaking up of the Portland ministry, and the retirement of Castlereagh under a cloud. No wonder was it under these circumstances that Sir James Craig's request was ignored, and no troops were available for Canada. Sir Arthur Wellesley alone was holding up abroad the honour and fame of England. He drove Marshal Soult out of Portugal, marched up the valley of the Tagus, caused Joseph Bonaparte to fly a second time from Madrid, and, on July 28th, 1809, fought and won the desperate battle of Talavera. For these services the brilliant soldier was rewarded by the title of Viscount Wellington of Talavera.
Public opinion in England was so occupied with affairs in the Peninsula and political dissensions at home that it did not concern itself with distant Canada, or even with the standing quarrel with the United States. The new president, James Madison, while removing the embargo, still held to non-intercourse with France and England, their colonies or dependencies. The Non-Intercourse Bill, brought in by the committee on foreign relations and passed by congress, excluded all public and private vessels of France and England from American waters, and forbade, under severe penalties, the importation of British or French goods. It was at this time that one John Henry, was sent by Ryland, on behalf of the governor-general of Canada, into the New England States to report on the state of public opinion there with regard to internal politics and the probability of war. It was supposed then that the Federalists of Massachusetts, rather than submit to the difficulties they were subjected to, would bring about a separation from the union. Henry's letters, unimportant in themselves, afterwards came into the possession of the government of the United States, and were made use of to foment the war feeling of 1812.
New order-in-council
Early in 1809 Canning had sent instructions to the British minister in Washington, Mr. Erskine, to offer to withdraw the orders-in-council on certain conditions. The minister exceeded his instructions, and announced in April that the orders of 1807 would be withdrawn, in respect to the United States, on June 10th. There was universal joy and satisfaction throughout that country at the resumption of trade. A thousand ships hurried out of the harbours laden with merchandise for British ports. The French minister at Washington remonstrated at the hasty belief in promises, and it was soon found that the announcement was premature. The conditions attached to the withdrawal had not been insisted upon by the English envoy, and on the very day, June 10th, that the revocation of the order was arranged for, it was learned in America that on April 26th another order-in-council had been passed by England establishing a strict blockade of the ports of Holland, France, and Italy.[1] British merchants, frightened at the prospect of free entrance of American ships to the Baltic, had crowded the board of trade protesting that if American vessels with cheaper sugar, cotton, and coffee were allowed into Amsterdam and Antwerp, British trade was at an end. Their warehouses were stuffed full, and they could not stand American competition and the resulting fall in prices. Relations with the United States were more strained than ever. Smuggling during these years of restriction seems to have flourished everywhere, and the island of Heligoland was the chief depot for English traders in the Baltic.
Much as they hated the English orders-in-council, Americans, on the other hand, were awaking to the knowledge that Napoleon's friendship was a hollow mockery. He was no longer the champion of republics, for he was an emperor surrounded by an aristocracy on whom he had conferred hereditary titles. He had seized American ships on the high seas on the pretext that they had British merchandise on board. By his Bayonne decree, he had sequestered all American vessels arriving in France, or in any port within the military contest, subsequent to the embargo, as British property or under British protection. When Louis of Holland refused to seize American ships at Amsterdam, Napoleon came to the conclusion that the former must abdicate and Holland be annexed to France. It was calculated that by the seizures in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Spain, France, Denmark, Hamburg, Italy and Naples, more than ten millions of dollars had been added to the revenues of France. Twenty years afterwards the United States received five million dollars as indemnity.
Mr. Erskine, after his indiscreet proclamation, had been recalled from Washington, and Mr. Francis Jackson had been sent there instead, but was but coolly received in Washington. In England this year, chaos reigned in politics. Mr. Perceval had succeeded the Duke of Portland, while Canning's place at the foreign office had been taken by the Marquis of Wellesley, who was scarcely on speaking terms with the first minister. Lords Liverpool, Bathurst, and Eldon were the other prominent members of the cabinet, and the young Viscount Palmerston became secretary of war. News from the Peninsula was not encouraging. Napoleon's armies were subduing Spain, while Wellington had retreated into Portugal. With defeat abroad and ruin at home, the prospects of England were extremely dark.
Dull days
To return to Canada and General Brock—the letters of 1808-9 that have been preserved show his intense longing for service in Europe. His younger brother, Savery, had been with Moore in Spain, and his letters from there were eagerly looked forward to by his brother Isaac, who could scarcely bear in patience the inactive life he was forced to lead. He was ill and out of sorts. He writes of bad weather and heavy gales, that the frigate Iphigenie could scarcely have cleared the land, and that there were apprehensions for her safety. Her commander, Captain Lambert, had been in Quebec, and Brock writes: "I found him an exceedingly good fellow, and I have reason to think he is well satisfied with the attention he received from me." This was the Captain Lambert who was mortally wounded in December, 1812, while in command of the Java when it was captured by the American frigate Constitution.
Colonel Baron de Rottenburg, of the 60th, was now expected in Canada as a brigadier, and Brock thought his appointment would mean a change for him, as one or the other would have to go to the Upper Province, and de Rottenburg, being the senior, would have the choice. There seemed but little chance for Brock, much as he wished it, to return to Europe, while affairs with the United States were so unsettled. In his letter to his brother, he says: "I rejoice Savery has begun to exert himself to get me appointed to a more active situation. I must see service, or I may as well, or indeed much better, quit the army at once, for not one advantage can I reasonably look for hereafter if I remain buried in this inactive remote corner. Should Sir James Saumarez return from the Baltic crowned with success, he could, I should think, say a good word for me to some purpose." Sir Thomas Saumarez, a brother of Sir James (Admiral Lord de Saumarez), had, in 1787, married Harriet, daughter of William Brock of Guernsey. One of Brock's confrères is mentioned in this letter as having just recovered from a severe illness. This was Colonel Vincent of the 49th, a soldier who was destined to take a very active part in the coming war. Vincent entered the army in 1781, served like Brock in the West Indies, and was also with him in the expedition to Copenhagen under Sir Hyde Parker.
In December, 1809, Brock writes to his brother William of the imminence of the war with the United States, and says: "Whatever steps England may adopt, I think she cannot in prudence avoid sending a strong military force to these provinces, as they are now become of infinite importance to her. You cannot conceive the quantities of timber and spars of all kinds which are lying on the beach ready for shipment to England in the spring. Four hundred vessels would not be sufficient to take all away. Whence will England be supplied with these essential articles but from the Canadas?"
Progress of Canada
Brock had now been seven years in Canada, and had had an opportunity of witnessing the wonderful progress the country had made during those years. Formerly lumber for the use of the province had come chiefly from Vermont, but from 1806 the lumber trade in Canada had immensely increased, and attention was being given to its development. The condition of the Baltic had stopped supplies being sent from there, and had given an impetus to the trade in Canada. No one realized then the dimensions to which it was to grow. Shipbuilding, too, had increased. Hitherto the fur trade with the Indians had been the principal source of wealth in Canada, but now its illimitable forests were to be utilized. One evidence of its prosperity was the increased importation of British manufactures. Comforts and luxuries were finding their way into the homes of the settlers. Roads were being built in all directions, and Sir James Craig made use of military labour in their construction. By the building of these roads provisions in the towns became more plentiful and cheaper.
As to the French question in Canada, which was just then troubling the minds of the governor and his council, Brock believed that Napoleon coveted the ancient possessions of France, and that he could, with a small French force of four or five thousand men, with plenty of muskets, conquer the province. He thought the French Canadians would join them almost to a man, and he believed that if Englishmen were placed in the same situation they would show even more impatience to escape from French rule. He wrote in December: "The idea prevails that Napoleon must succeed, and ultimately get possession of these provinces. The bold and violent are becoming more audacious. The timid think it prudent to withdraw from the society of the English. Little intercourse exists between the two races. The governor, next month, will have a difficult card to play with the assembly, which is really getting too daring and arrogant."
A wrathful governor
It was in January, 1810, that the new House met, and the governor opened it with a long address, referring to European affairs, to the capture of Martinique, in which Sir George Prevost had taken part, and to the threatened war with the United States. He also announced that he was ready by His Majesty's pleasure to give his assent to the bill as to the inelegibility of judges having seats in the assembly. At that time Judge de Bonne was the member for the Upper Town of Quebec. The assembly brought in the bill, but it was amended by the Upper House by a clause that it should only come into effect at the end of the session. The assembly was defiant, and passed a resolution that de Bonne, being a judge, should not vote. This was carried. The governor, accustomed to camps and ready obedience to his orders, could not brook the insubordination of his members, and with soldier-like promptness came down and prorogued the House, and told the members he meant to appeal to the people and have a new election. In dismissing them Sir James Craig lamented the measure that excluded men from the House who were so eminently fitted for it as were the judges. The governor was well received at his entrance and departure from the council chamber, and addresses of approval were sent him from many places. It was thought that the assembly was trying to assume too much power.
If Sir James Craig had done no more than this, the flame that he had kindled among the French Canadians might soon have been extinguished. He, however, proceeded to stronger measures. Because Le Canadien continued to publish what he considered inflammatory articles, criticizing his conduct and that of the executive, he sent, on March 17th, a party of troops with a magistrate and two constables to its office, seized the press, and committed the printers to gaol. The city was then put under military patrol, as if a rising were contemplated. After an examination of the papers found on the premises, Messrs. Bédard, Blanchet, and Taschereau were arrested on a warrant under the act for the better preservation of His Majesty's government. There were three other arrests made in the Montreal district—Laforce, Pierre Papineau (of Chambly), and Corbeil. Then the governor issued a long proclamation, which ended with a caution not to listen to the artful suggestions of designing and wicked men, who, by the spreading of false reports and by seditious and traitorous writing, ascribed to His Majesty's government evil and malicious purposes. There was a pathetic touch given to this proclamation by its closing words: "Is it for myself, then, I should oppress you? For what should I oppress you? Is it from ambition? What can you give me? Alas! my good friends, with a life ebbing not slowly to its close, under the pressure of disease acquired in the service of my country, I look only to pass what it may please God to suffer to remain of it, in the comfort of retirement among my friends. I remain amongst you only in obedience to the command of my king."
Blanchet and Taschereau were discharged from prison in July, as they pleaded ill-health. The printer was also discharged, and the men from Montreal, but Bédard, an influential and eloquent member of the assembly, declined to be liberated without having been brought to trial. He said that he had done nothing wrong, that he did not care how long he was kept in prison, and applied for a writ of habeas corpus. This was all very embarrassing to the government, who would have much preferred to release him. Many petitions were sent in on his behalf, and the governor at last sent for Bédard's brother, a priest, saying that he would consent to his being set free if he would not resume his attempts to disturb public tranquillity. Bédard sent his thanks, and said that if any man could convince him that he had been at fault it was the governor, but as that conviction must arise in his own mind he must be content to submit to his fate. So he remained in gaol.
Le Canadien
Sir James Craig now determined to send an agent to London to propose certain changes in the constitution by which the power of the Crown would be increased. He also wished to obtain the approval of the home government as to the suppression of Le Canadien, and the arrest of the members of its staff. Mr. Ryland was selected as the messenger. He arrived in London in August, 1810.
In the previous May the governor, in his despatch to the home government, said that the French and the English did not hold any intercourse; that among the Canadian community the name of Britain was held in contempt; that the Canadians were sunk in gross ignorance; that they were drunken, saucy to their betters, and cowards in battle; and as for their religion, the Catholic clergy ought to be put under the Anglican hierarchy; their peculiar faith made them enemies of Britain and friendly to France—yes, even to Bonaparte himself, since the Concordat. Sir James then praised his legislative council, whom he described as composed of the most respectable personages in the colony, while, on the contrary, the assembly was made up of very ignorant individuals, incapable of discussing rationally a subject of any import. He also informed the government that the anti-British party was becoming more audacious in consequence of Napoleon's successes in Europe, and that its members were doing all they could to bring about the loss of Canada to Great Britain.
[1] An order-in-council was, however, passed, protecting for a limited time those United States vessels which had sailed, believing the orders were rescinded.
CHAPTER XI
QUEBEC AND NIAGARA
In July, 1810, Brock was still in Quebec. He writes from there to his brother Irving, thanking him for executing some commissions for him in London. All had arrived safely with the exception of "a cocked hat," and not receiving it was a most distressing circumstance, "as," he added, "from the enormity of my head I find the utmost difficulty in getting a substitute in this country."
General Brock was most anxious to go to England, but had almost given up the thought. Several events of a disturbing nature had occurred in the upper country, and it was agreed that he should be sent there, whether temporarily or permanently it was not decided. If a senior brigadier should come out he would certainly himself be fixed in Upper Canada. With a little bitterness, not often noticed in his correspondence, he writes: "Since all my efforts to get more actively employed have failed; since fate decrees that the best portion of my life is to be wasted in inaction in the Canadas, I am rather pleased with the prospect of removing upwards." He writes in his letter of July 10th that three hundred vessels have already arrived in Quebec. A Guernsey vessel had come, bringing, much to his delight, letters from his brother Savery, who, after Sir John Moore's death, had returned home. The May fleet which had arrived from Portsmouth in thirty days (a very quick passage) had brought nothing for him—"not the scrape of a pen." His brother Irving was then in London, writing political pamphlets, which seem to have pleased his brother very much. He writes: "You have taken a very proper view of the political discussions which at this moment disgrace England.... Those to whom I have allowed a perusal, and who are infinitely better judges than I can be, speak of the purity of the language in terms of high approbation. I am all anxiety for your literary fame."
Quebec seems to have been particularly gay at this time, in spite of wrangles with the governor on the part of some of the inhabitants. Two frigates were at anchor in the harbour, and the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Gore and his wife from the Upper Province had given a zest to the gaiety. There were races and country and water parties, a continual round of festivity. Brock remarks: "Such stimulus is necessary to keep our spirits afloat. I wish I could boast a little more patience." We read that General Brock contributed to the festivities by giving a grand dinner in honour of Mrs. Gore, at which Sir James Craig was present; and also a ball to a "vast assemblage" of the beau monde of the place.
In the midst of the gaiety he received his orders to depart for the Upper Province, to remain there if another brigadier should arrive in Quebec. He was puzzled what to do with his possessions. If he left them behind he would be miserably off, as he wrote: "Nothing but eatables can be obtained there, and the expense will be ruinous if I move everything and then am ordered back. But I must submit to all without repining, and since I cannot get to Europe I care little where I am placed. I leave the most delightful garden imaginable, with abundance of melons and other good things."
He found time before he left to do an act of kindness to one of the soldiers of the 49th, an act so natural in him to those who served under him. He writes: "I have prevailed upon Sir James to appoint Sergeant Robinson, master of the band, to a situation in the commissariat at Sorel, worth three and sixpence a day, with subaltern lodging, money and other allowances. He married a Jersey lass, whose relations may enquire for him."
He tells his sister that he means to procure in the autumn handsome skins to make muffs for his two young nieces, Maria and Zelia Potenger. He wants "the two dear little girls" to write to him, and bids them appreciate the advantages they are receiving as to education, so different "from this colony, where the means for education for both sexes are very limited."
Brock at Fort George
By September, 1810, Brigadier-General Brock is settled at Fort George, and a chatty letter from the Adjutant-General, Colonel Baynes, tells him what is happening in Quebec—how Baron de Rottenburg had arrived, and although a year older than Sir James Craig (who was sixty), looked a much younger man; how his wife, Madame de Rottenburg, had made a complete conquest of all hearts. She was remarkably handsome both in face and figure, and her manners were pleasing, graceful and affable. She was much younger than her husband, and they both spoke English very well, with but a slight foreign accent. Sir James Craig was reported as being very well, and his sixtieth birthday had just been celebrated at a very pleasant party at Powell Place. Colonel Baynes told Brock that there had just been a court-martial on some deserters. Two, one of them a Canadian, had been sentenced to be shot; the others, a dozen in number, were to be sentenced to be transported to serve for life in Africa.
Brock writes to his brother in September, from Fort George, a very homesick letter. He says: "At present, Vincent, Glegg, and Williams enliven this lonesome place. They are here on a court-martial, but will soon depart, and I will be left to my own reflections. I hope to obtain leave after Christmas. The arrival of Baron de Rottenburg has, I think, diminished my prospect of advancement in this country. I should stand, evidently, in my own light if I did not court fortune elsewhere."
He had taken a trip to Detroit which he thought had most delightful surroundings, far exceeding anything he had seen on the continent. "As to the manners of the American people, I do not admire them at all. I have met with some whose society was everything one could desire, and at Boston and New York such characters are, I believe, numerous, but these are the exceptions." He had not had a letter from Europe since May. He continues, "I wish you would write to me by way of New York. I avail myself of an unexpected passenger to scribble this in presence of many of the court, who tell me it is time to resume our labours, therefore, my beloved brother, adieu."
Life at Niagara
A list still remains of the books which helped to enliven his solitude at Niagara.[1] Among them one finds Johnson's Works, twelve volumes; Reed's and Bell's Editions of Shakespeare; Plutarch's Lives; Hume's Essays; Arthur on Courts' Martial; Rollins' Ancient History; Marshall's Travels; Life of Condé; Wharton's Virgil; Francis's Horace; Gregory's Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; Pope's Works; Expedition to Holland; Siècle de Louis Quatorze; Guibert's OEuvres Militaires; Réglement de l'Infanterie; Aventures de Telémaque; Voltaire's La Henriade; Walcheren Expedition; Erudition Militaire; King of Prussia's Tactics; European Magazine; Edinburgh Review; Memoirs of Talleyrand; Wolfe's Orders; Réflexions sur les Prégugés Militaires; Hume's Works. He writes to his brother, "I read much, but good books are scarce, and I hate borrowing, I like to read a book quickly and afterwards revert to such passages as have made the deepest impression and which appear to me important to remember, a practice I cannot conveniently pursue unless the book is mine. Should you find that I am likely to remain here I wish you to send me some choice authors in history, particularly ancient history, with maps, and the best translation of ancient works. I read in my youth Pope's translation of Homer, but till lately never discovered its exquisite beauties. I firmly believe the same propensity was always inherent in me, but strange to tell, although many were paid extravagantly, I never had the advantage of a master to guide and encourage me. I rejoice that my nephews are more fortunate."
Letter from Quebec
Brock's application for leave was not favourably received by Sir James Craig, who was strongly impressed with the necessity of having some one like him in the Upper Province to correct the errors and neglect that had crept in there. Baynes writes: "In confidence between ourselves, I do not think he will be more ready to part with you in consequence of the arrival of Colonel Murray, who is not at all to his taste." It seems that Colonel (afterwards the distinguished Major-General Murray), had offended the governor at a dinner by warmly espousing and defending the opinions of Cobbett respecting German troops and foreign officers, although sitting opposite to Baron de Rottenburg.
Baynes writes that Brock's successor, the baron, was a good kind of man and devoted to his profession, "but," he continues, "it would be vain to attempt to describe the genuine admiration and estimation of his cara dolce sposa. Young, only twenty-three—fair, beautiful, lively, discreet, witty, affable—in short, so engaging, or rather, so fascinating that neither my courier nor my paper will admit of my doing her justice. Nevertheless the charms of madame have not effaced you from the recollection of your friends, who very sincerely regret your absence."
He reports that two hundred volunteers for Colonel Zouch, from other veteran battalions, had arrived and landed. The regiment was to be completed in this manner to one thousand.
Baynes writes again about Brock's leave and says that he had talked with the commander-in-chief, who expressed his desire to forward his views, but said that he had been contending so long for the necessity of a third general officer being kept constantly on the staff of the Canadas, that he did not feel at liberty to overset the arrangement which he had been two years soliciting. When he (Baynes), said that Brock regretted inaction, and looked with envy on those employed in Spain and Portugal, the governor replied, "I make no doubt of it; but I can in no shape aid his plans in that respect." "If he liked you less," Baynes continued, "he might perhaps be more readily induced to let you go."
Brock had taken a great interest in an old veteran, formerly in the 8th, or King's, the regiment in which he had begun his military life, and in which his brother John had served. Colonel Baynes writes, "I have not failed to communicate to Sir James your account of and your charity towards the poor old fellow. He has in consequence directed the allowance of the ration to be authorized and continued to him; but I am to remind you of the danger of establishing a precedent of this nature, and to request, in the general's name, that you will refrain as much as possible from indulging the natural benevolence of your disposition in this way, as he has hitherto resisted all applications of this sort."
At this time, early in 1811, Lieutenant-Governor Gore was contemplating a visit to England, and there was some correspondence between him and General Brock about the location of a grant of five thousand acres of land that had been made some years before to Colonel Vesey. Brock had promised the latter to arrange about it before the lieutenant-governor left Canada, and wrote that there were tracts of excellent land on Lake Erie belonging to the Crown, and also that a new township was being surveyed near the head of Lake Ontario, either of which situations would be eligible. The lieutenant-governor replied that it was not in his power to comply with Colonel Vesey's wish in respect of location without a special order from the king, as in the case of Colonel Talbot, and that it was impossible in any township to obtain five thousand acres in a block.
The lieutenant-governor remarked in his letter that he thought President Madison's address very hostile to England, but that congress would hesitate before consenting to go the length he proposes. "Taking forcible possession of West Florida may provoke a war sooner than any other act. It is impossible to foresee how this may be viewed by the Cortez."
West Florida
As to Florida, a convention of American citizens settled near the borders of West Florida, had attacked the Spanish fort at Bâton Rouge, and announced that country to be a free and independent state. The leader of the convention then wrote to the secretary of state, urging that it should be annexed to the United States, but claiming all public lands for themselves. In reply the president sent a sharp message to the revolutionary convention saying that their independence was an impertinence and their design on public lands something worse. He also issued a proclamation announcing that Governor Claiborne would take possession of West Florida. The military occupation of the country was, in fact, an act of war against Spain, but that kingdom which had once held sway over two American continents, from the sources of the Missouri and the Mississippi, to the borders of Patagonia, was powerless to resist.[2]
Letters of this date speak of the awful suspense felt in England while the armies of Wellington and Massena were in such close proximity, and the latter was advancing on the lines of Torres Vedras to drive the English army into the sea. They speak, too, of the sad illness of the old king, who after the death of the Princess Amelia had relapsed into hopeless insanity. Brock writes, "If we are to be governed by a regent I trust that ambition, jealousy or party interests, will not conspire to diminish or circumscribe his regal powers."
He writes to his brother, Irving Brock, that he had seen "Thoughts on Political Transactions," in answer to his admirable pamphlet, and remarks that the author appears to proclaim his servile attachment to Bonaparte without in any way refuting his (Irving's) arguments.
Colonel Kempt
Another notable man among General Brock's friends writes to him in January. This was Colonel Kempt, afterwards General Sir James Kempt, G.C.B., governor-general of British America.
Colonel Kempt was at this time quartermaster-general in Canada, and had, under Sir James Craig, superintended the building of roads and bridges in the Lower Province. In November, 1811, he was made local major-general in Spain and Portugal. He afterwards served on the staff in America and in Flanders. He was made a K.C.B. in January, 1815, was wounded at Waterloo, and was then promoted to be a Grand Cross. The sovereigns of Austria, Russia and the Netherlands also decorated him for his services. In 1820 he was governor of Nova Scotia in place of the Earl of Dalhousie, whom he succeeded as governor-general of Canada. He died in England after a long and glorious career, at the age of ninety.
Colonel Kempt wrote to Brock on the subject of his leave. He assured him that he had no reason to dread being unemployed in any rank while he wished to serve. "This opinion, my dear general," he writes, "is not given rashly or upon slight grounds—before I came to this country I had, you must know, several opportunities of hearing your name mentioned at head-quarters, both by General Calvert and Colonel Gordon, who unquestionably spoke the sentiment of the then commander-in-chief, and in such a way as to impress me with a thorough conviction that few officers of your rank stood higher in their estimation. In short, I have no manner of doubt whatever that you will readily obtain employment upon active service the moment that you do get home, and with this view I recommend you to express, through Baynes, your sense of His Excellency's good intentions and wishes to you in respect to leave of absence, and your hopes that when the circumstances of the country are such as will permit him to grant six months' leave to a general officer, that this indulgence will be extended in the first instance to you.
"I am very happy that you are pleased with Mrs. Murray. I have just received a long letter from her, giving me an account of a splendid ball given by you to the beau monde of Niagara and its vicinity. The manner in which she speaks of your liberality and hospitality reminds me of the many pleasant hours I have passed under your roof. We have no such parties now. Sir James being ill prevents the usual public days at the Castle, and nothing more stupid than Quebec now is can be imagined."
The Mrs. Murray mentioned in this letter was a cousin of Colonel Kempt. Brock, in one of his letters from Fort George, says, "Colonel Murray of the 100th went home last year and brought out a charming little wife, full of good sense and spirit. They dined with me yesterday." A letter from Colonel Baynes also mentions receiving a letter from Murray, and he congratulates General Brock on having found means to enliven the solitary scene that had so long prevailed at Fort George.
Letters from home had cheered the general's heart. "What can I say," he writes, "from this remote corner in return for the pleasure I experience at the receipt of your letters." He speaks of his life as sombre, and yet thinks that the enforced quiet has done his health good. He begs his brother Irving to dispel all fears about him.
A visit to York
He had just returned in February from York, where he had spent ten days with the lieutenant-governor, whom he pronounces "as generous and honest a being as ever existed." He found Mrs. Gore perfectly well and very agreeable. Their society, he said, was ample compensation for travelling over the worst roads he had ever met with. He and the governor, who had formerly been quartered with the 44th in Guernsey, had talked over old days in the Channel Islands, and had recalled with pleasure the simple hospitality that reigned there, and the charming society of Guernsey and Jersey, "where, although there was little communication with England, there were always officers in the garrison to be entertained."
Brock writes of the reports from New York as to the many failures there, and says, "Merchants there are in a state of great confusion and dismay. A dreadful crash is not far off."
The news he had received from Quebec was that Sir James had triumphed completely over the French faction in the Lower Province, and that the House of Assembly had passed every bill required of it, among others, one authorizing the governor-general and three councillors to imprison any one without assigning a cause.
The House of Assembly at Quebec had met on December 10th, 1810, and the inaugural address had been very conciliatory. The governor did not allude to any vexed questions, but protested that he had never doubted the loyalty and zeal of the previous assemblies he had convoked. In reply, the assembly observed, "We shall earnestly concur in all that is done tending to the maintenance of unbroken tranquillity, a state all the more difficult to preserve in this province as those who inhabit it cherish a diversity of ideas, habitudes and prejudices, not easy to reconcile."
The governor justified the acts committed as to imprisonment of members, and said that only those who had too much reason to dread the law inclined to object to its potency, and the united clamour of such might have deceived the assembly as to their real number.
In the meantime the vexatious Bédard still remained in prison. The assembly drew up an address on his behalf, and the elder Papineau had an interview on the subject with the governor at the Castle. The latter in his reply to M. Papineau, said: "It is the common discourse of the assembly that they intend to oblige me to release M. Bédard. I think, therefore, that it is time the people should be made to understand the rightful limits of the several powers in the state, and that the House, while it represents, yet has no right to directly govern the country."