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of the House of Assembly,

We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. By unanimity
and dispatch in our councils, and by vigour in our operations,
we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a country defended by
_free men_ enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their king
and constitution, can never be conquered!

The invasion of the western district by Brigadier-General
Hull, and the artful and threatening language of his
proclamation, were productive at the outset of very
unfavourable effects among a large portion of the inhabitants
of Upper Canada; and so general was the despondency, that the
Norfolk militia, consisting, we believe, chiefly of settlers
of American origin, peremptorily refused to march. The
majority of the members of the house of assembly were
impressed with the same gloomy forebodings, and that body
appeared by its proceedings rather to court the favor of the
enemy than fearlessly to perform its duty. It was therefore
prorogued upon passing the money bills, as no advantage could
result from its remaining longer in session. The state of the
province required the most prompt and decisive measures for
its preservation, and Major-General Brock considered its
situation at this moment as extremely critical. With the
concurrence of his council, to whom he represented his many
difficulties, he is said to have resolved on exercising
martial law whenever he should find it necessary, although the
house of assembly had rejected its enactment, even in a
modified form. Not only among the militia was a disposition
evinced to submit tamely, but five hundred in the western
district sought the protection of the enemy. It is true that
the people then were far removed from the seat of government,
and the more subject to hostile influence, as they were
principally composed of French Canadians and of the natives of
the United States, or their immediate descendants; but even
the Indians, who were located on the Grand River, in the heart
of the province, positively refused, with a few exceptions, to
take up arms; and they announced their intention, after the
return of some of their chiefs from General Hull, to remain
neutral, as if they wished the authorities to believe that
they would remain in peace in the midst of war. Major-General
Brock had not long