this day. Those
leading men who, during the administration of Sir James Craig, had been
considered almost as enemies, were treated with confidence by his
successor, who gradually appointed them to situations of trust, and by
this wise measure secured their aid and influence in the defence of the
province. Certain it is, on the other hand, that Major-General Brock did
not approve of the defensive warfare to which he was restricted, and
subsequent events too truly proved that had he been permitted to pursue
that course which his zeal and foresight dictated, his valuable life
might have been spared, and a very different series of incidents in that
war claimed the attention of the historian. The high-minded soldier
could not brook a state of inaction with such promising prospects before
him. His best feelings revolted at being compelled to languish within
the strict pale of military obedience, when so rich a field for doing
good service presented itself; and in place of becoming the assailant,
he was soon doomed, by awaiting the attacks of his opponents, to
sacrifice not only life, but, what is far dearer, the opening prospects
of honorable ambition.

On the 16th December, 1812, the inhabitants of the Niagara district
addressed a spirited letter to Sir George Prevost, from which we copy
the following extract, as confirming what we have already stated on the
same subject: "Nevertheless, such was the popularity of the general,
such the confidence he had inspired, that he was enabled to carry with
him to Detroit, though under great privations, a large body of
volunteers, which, in addition to the small regular force at
Amherstburg, enabled him to capture an entire army of our invaders, with
the fortress from which they had made their descent into Canada--a
success unparalleled in the annals of war. Here, for the first time, we
got a supply of good arms. The success of this first enterprize, in
which the militia were engaged, acted like an electric shock throughout
the country: it awed the disaffected, of whom there were many; it
confirmed the timid and the wavering; and it induced the Six Nation
Indians, who had until that time kept aloof, to take an active part in
our favor. At that moment such was the energy and confidence that had
been excited by our illustrious chief and the success of his plans, that
had _he_ been permitted, he could, and would, have destroyed and laid
waste the whole American frontier, from Sandusky to S