[The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock by Ferdinand Brock Tupper]@TWC D-Link bookThe Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock CHAPTER XIV 37/42
He had been more than a father to me in that regiment which he ruled like a father, and I alone of his old friends in that regiment was present to embalm with a tear his last honored retreat.
What I witnessed on this day would have fully confirmed me in the opinion, had confirmation been wanting, that the public feeling in this province has been permanently improved and elevated by Sir Isaac Brock's conduct and actions while governing its inhabitants.
These, together with his dying in their defence, have done more towards cementing our union with the mother country than any event or circumstance since the existence of the province.
Of this our leading men are aware, and are careful to seize every opportunity of preserving recollections so productive of good effects." The height of the column,[115] which commanded a view of the surrounding country for about fifty miles, was from the base to the summit 135 feet, and from the level of the Niagara river, which runs nearly under it, 485 feet.
The following inscription was engraven on this splendid tribute to the unfading remembrance of a grateful people:[116] UPPER CANADA HAS DEDICATED THIS MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B. PROVISIONAL LIEUT.-GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER OF THE FORCES IN THIS PROVINCE, WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT BENEATH. OPPOSING THE INVADING ENEMY, HE FELL IN ACTION NEAR THESE HEIGHTS, ON THE 13th OCTOBER, 1812, IN THE 43rd YEAR OF HIS AGE, REVERED AND LAMENTED BY THE PEOPLE WHOM HE GOVERNED, AND DEPLORED BY THE SOVEREIGN TO WHOSE SERVICE HIS LIFE HAD BEEN DEVOTED. The cataract of Niagara is supposed to have commenced on the heights of Queenstown, and to have gradually receded, or worn its way backwards to its present site, seven miles above, near Chippewa, the banks of the river on both sides between the two spots being perpendicular, 2 to 300 feet in height, chiefly of solid rock, and of the same level as the fall. "The village of Queenstown is beautifully situated at the foot of a hill, and upon the side of the Niagara river, the bank of which is high and precipitous.
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