affairs in the United States, and the possibility of an invasion of Canada, he determined not to take full advantage of his year's leave of absence, but to return at once to where his services might ere long be urgently needed. On the 26th of June, 1806, he bade farewell to his friends, and sailed for Quebec. He was destined never to see them again.
Oft the 27th September, upon the resignation of Colonel Bowes, the command of the military forces in Canada devolved upon Colonel Brock, who took up his quarters at Quebec. He erected a battery there which for some time bore his name, but which was subsequently called "The King's Battery." Upon the arrival of Sir James Craig, the Governor-General, in October, 1807, Brock was appointed to act as Brigadier, and the appointment was subsequently confirmed by the King, to date from July 2nd, 1808. In August, 1810, he was succeeded as commander at Quebec by the Baron de Rottenburg, and within a fortnight thereafter Brock proceeded to the Upper Province, where he took up his quarters at Fort George, but spent a considerable part of his time at York, the capital of the Province. Meanwile the prospect across the line had grown more and more threatening, and there was constant expectation of aggressive measures on the part of the United States. The whole course of President Madison's Administration was hostile to Great Britain. That Administration had been in treaty with Bonaparte's Government for some time back; and Madison was desirous of rendering his term of office specially conspicuous by the conquest of Canada. It was sufficiently evident that war must come sooner or later. This war it was the policy of Great Britain to avoid, or at all events to postpone, as her warlike enterprises on the continent of Europe demanded all the armaments and money at her disposal. The instruction to all Canadian officials of whatsoever degree were to studiously avoid giving the Republic any good ground of offence. The military forces in the Province were very small—too small, it might be supposed, to offer any effective resistance to foreign invasion by a powerful nation. The loyalty of many Upper Canadians was matter of grave question, and the Administration of Sir James Craig was decidedly unpopular with the French Canadians in the Lower Province, who were by no means to be depended upon in the event of a struggle. Such was the position of affairs when, on the 4tb of June, 1811, Brock was promoted to a Major-Generalship. On the l9th of the same month Sir James Craig embarked for England, leaving the military forces
