colonel of the 49th regiment since 1 797. During the campaign in Holland in 1799, he distinguished himself at the head of his regi- ment, and was second in command of the land forces at the battle of Copenhagen. He was gallant and undaunted, yet prudent and calculating ; devoted to his sovereign, and romantically fond of his country ; but gentle and persuasive to those whose feelings were less ardent than his own. Elevated to the government of Upper Canada, he reclaimed the disaffected by mildness, and fixed the wavering by argument : all hearts were conciliated ; and, in the trying moment of invasion, the whole province displayed a zealous and an enthusiastic loyalty.
" Over the minds of the Indians General Brock had acquired an ascendency, which he judiciously exercised for purposes conducive no less to the cause of humanity, than to the interests of his coun- try. He engaged them to throw aside the scalping knife ; endea- voured to implant in their breasts the virtues of clemency and forbearance j and taught them to feel pleasure and pride in the compassion extended to a vanquished enemy. Circumscribed in his means of repelling invasion, he studied to fix the attachment of that rude and wavering people ; and, by reducing their military opera- tions to the known rules of war and discipline, to improve the value of their alliance.
"His strong attachment to the service, and particularly to his regiment, formed a distinguishing feature in his character. There was a correspondence of regard between him and his officers, and even the non-commissioned officers and privates, with an addition of reverence on the part of the latter, that produced the picture of a happy family. Those movements of feeling which the exertions of discipline will sometimes occasion, rarely reached his men. He governed them by a sentiment of esteem which he himself had created ; and the consolation was given him, to terminate a useful and brilliant course in the midst of his professional family." — Ibid, pp. 103, 104.
Note. — There is some discrepancy between the text, (p. 18,) and 'James,' as to the circumstances of the fall of Lieut. -Colonel M'Donell ; but from Major Glegg's letters, written at the time and on the spot, he appears to have accompanied Sir Isaac Brock from Fort George, — to have remained near him at Queenston, — and to have been mortally wounded immediately after the death of the general. — Ed.
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