Page:Canadian notabilities 2.djvu/93

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his habits was, during his latter years, so portly aa to be almost corpulent. By his soldiers and brother officers he was beloved, not less for his fine military qualities than for the uniform courtesy and kindness which marked his intercourse with them.

It may not be uninteresting to note that during General Brock's residence in this country he became attached to Miss Sophia Shaw, a daughter of the Honourable Aeneas Shaw, one of the pioneers of Little York, and the great grandfather of Major George A. Shaw, now of Toronto. A marriage engagement was entered into between General Brock and Miss Shaw, the fulfilment of which was only prevented by the death of the former at Queenston Heights, as above recorded. The lady was faithful to her lover's memory, and remained single for his sake until her death, which took place at Toronto a few years since.

On tiie twelfth anniversary of the battle of Queenston Heights, the monument erected there by the Provincial Legislature having been nearly completed, the remains of General Brock and Colonel McDonell were removed (from the bastion where they had been interred at Fort George) to the vaults beneath the column. A great concourse of people, numbering at least 5,000, assembled from all parts of Canada and the adjacent State of New York to witness this second interment. The monument then inaugurated became a conspicuous attraction of the neighbourhood, and so remained for nearly sixteen years, when it was so disfigured by the act of a traitor and a coward as to render necessary the erection of another structure. The ruffian by whom this mutilation was effected was an Irish-Canadian, named Benjamin Lett, who had been compelled to fly from the Province on account of his participation in the rebellion of 1837-8. On Good Friday, the 17th of April, 1840, he contrived, by means of a train, to explode a quantity of gunpowder which he had introduced into the monument. The edifice was shattered and disfigured to such an extent that it was thought desirable to remove it. Of course Lett's dastardly act aroused universal indignation, and on the 30th of July following a meeting was held on the site, and resolutions were adopted for the erection of another monument. Business in Toronto, and in many other cities and towns in the Province, was totally suspended for the day. There were excursions from various points on the lakes, and the number of persons congregated on the heights was not less than 8,000. Sir George Arthur, the Lieutenant-Governor, was present and addressed