ory which should inspire us to yet nobler deeds.

BATTLE OF FORT GEORGE.

27TH MAY, 1813.

For about a quarter of a century Niagara was the principal town and
commercial capital of Western Canada, and for a brief period was
actually the seat of government for the Upper Province. The removal of
the provincial officers to York in 1796 struck the first blow at its
supremacy, but its material prosperity continued until the beginning of
the war with the United States when its exposed situation subjected it
to a series of calamities which culminated in its total destruction on
the 10th of December, 1813.

During that time many travellers of more or less note visited the place
at short intervals on their way to or from the Falls, and a considerable
number of them have recorded their observations. Patrick Campbell in
1791, D'Arcy Bolton in 1794, the Duke de Rochefoucauld Liancourt in
1795, Isaac Weld and J. C. Ogden in 1796, John Maude in 1800, George
Heriot in 1806, Christian Schultz in 1807, John Melish in 1810 and
Michael Smith in 1812 have described the town and adjacent country at
considerable length from various points of view. Other accounts are to
be found in the _National Intelligencer_ newspaper published at
Washington, D. C., in 1812, and in Smith's Gazetteer of Upper Canada for
1813. From these numerous sources it would seem an easy task to form a
fairly correct estimate of the appearance of the town, its commercial
importance and the character of the inhabitants.

[Illustration: THE TAKING OF FORT GEORGE.]

It is described as being nearly a mile square, sparsely built, with many
pasture fields, gardens, orchards and open spaces interspersed among the
houses. Smith, an American resident of the province now was expelled in
1812 for having declined to take oath of allegiance, states that there
were "several squares of ground in the village adorned with almost every
kind of precious fruit." According to the same authority it contained
two churches--one of them built of stone, a court house and jail, an
Indian council house, an academy in which Latin and Greek were taught by
the Rev. John Burns a Presbyterian minister, a printing house, six
taverns, twenty stores and about a hundred dwelling houses, many of them
described as "handsome buildings of brick or stone, the rest being of
wood, neatly painted." From the lake the town is said to have made an
"imposing appearance" as most of the buildings fronted th