A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time. Various

guard a frontier of a thousand miles;

      Of volunteers what aidance we can draw

      From seventy thousand widely scattered souls.

      A meagre showing ’gainst the enemy’s,

      If numbers be the test. But odds lie not

      In numbers only, but in spirit too—

      Witness the might of England’s little isle!

      And what made England great will keep her so—

      The free soul and the valour of her sons;

      And what exalts her will sustain you now,

      If you contain her courage and her faith.

      So not the odds so much are to be feared

      As private disaffection, treachery—

      Those openers of the door to enemies—

      And the poor crouching spirit that gives way

      Ere it is forced to yield.”

      Brock’s first step on the outbreak of the war was to ask the House of Assembly to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, which they refused to do by a majority of two votes. He therefore prorogued the House and took prompt measures to resist General Hull, who, with an army of two thousand five hundred men, had invaded the province at Sandwich. The militia were called out, a few disaffected people were ordered out of the country, and at the head of a small force of regulars and Canadian volunteers, only seven hundred in all, with a force of nine hundred Indians under the celebrated chieftain, Tecumseh, Brock crossed the Detroit river and captured Detroit with General Hull’s whole force. His movements were wonderfully rapid. He left York on the 6th of August, 1812, embarked at Long Point on the 8th in small boats for Amherstburg, a distance of two hundred miles, where he arrived on the 13th at midnight. On the 14th he moved to Sandwich; on the 15th demanded Hull’s surrender; opened fire from batteries erected that day; crossed the river during the night, and before mid-day on the 16th Hull surrendered with two thousand five hundred men, thirty-three cannon, a brig-of-war, and immense military stores. This prompt and vigorous action of General Brock was the turning point of our Canadian fortunes. The success was so complete, so brilliant, that it produced an electrical effect throughout Canada. It was the first enterprise in which our militia were engaged, and it aroused the enthusiasm of the loyal, inspired the timid, fired the wavering, and over-awed the disaffected. From that moment Brock became the idol of the Canadian people, and on his return to York, which he reached after an absence of only nineteen days, he was received with heartfelt acclamations. Shortly after, Brock went to Fort George, on the Niagara frontier, where a large hostile force was being gathered to invade the province. On the morning of the 13th of October, 1812, the enemy effected a landing at Queenston Heights. Brock hurried at once to the spot with a very small force he had hurriedly gathered, and with that impetuous and indomitable energy which was his most striking characteristic, made a vigorous attack upon the enemy without waiting for the reinforcements which were hurrying up to his support. He was killed while gallantly leading a charge up the heights. Although this for the moment checked the advance, the loss so roused the feelings of his troops that in a few hours a second attack was made, and one of our most glorious victories won, the whole force of the enemy being killed, wounded, or captured. This ended the campaign in the west, and still further encouraged our people and made possible the final result of the war. No man was ever so mourned by the Upper Canadians as General Brock. A handsome monument was erected to his memory on the field where he gave up his life for Canada. This was destroyed by an act of vandalism on the 17th of April, 1840, but has been replaced by a far more imposing and stately monument which was completed in 1859, and now stands one of the most striking features of the Niagara frontier. General Brock was forty-three years old when he died. He was tall, erect, and well proportioned. In height about six feet two inches. His fine and benevolent countenance was a perfect index of his mind, and his manners were courteous, frank, and engaging, although both denoted a fixedness of purpose which could not be mistaken. As an evidence of the high opinion formed of him by the Canadians, the following extract is quoted from a letter of the late Chief Justice Robinson, who knew the general personally, and served under him at Detroit and Queenston:—

      “I do most sincerely believe that no person whom I have ever seen could so instantly have infused, under such discouraging circumstances, into the minds of a whole people the spirit which, though it endured long after his fall, was really caught from him. His honesty, firmness, frankness, benevolence, his earnest warmth of feeling, combined with dignity of manner, and his soldier-like appearance and bearing, all united to give him the ascendancy which he held from the first moment to the last of his command. It seemed to be impressed upon all, and at once, that there could be no hesitation in obeying his call, and that while he lived all was safe. The affection with which the memory of General Brock has ever been regarded in this province is as strong as the feeling of admiration, and these feelings still pervade the whole population.”

Johnson, Hon. Francis Godschall, Judge of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, and senior Judge for the district of Montreal, with duties of Chief Justice at the court in Montreal, was born at Oakley House, in Bedfordshire, England, on the 1st of January, 1817. His father, Godschall Johnson, was an officer in the 10th Royal Hussars (then known as the Prince of Wales regiment), and his mother Lucy Bisshopp, was a daughter of Sir Cecil Bisshopp, a prominent man in his day, and a sister of Colonel Cecil Bisshopp, who lost his life in the war with the United States in 1812–14, and was buried at Niagara, Ontario, where his grave can now be seen. The Hon. Judge Johnson received his education at St. Omer, in France, and at Bruges, in Belgium, and came to Canada in 1834. He studied law in the office of the Hon. Justice Day, and was called to the bar in 1839. He began the practice of his profession in Montreal, and in 1846, before he was thirty years of age, was appointed a Queen’s counsel. While practising at the bar this learned judge was noted for his eloquence, and while acting as Crown prosecutor, his splendid talents showed to the best advantage. In 1854, he was appointed recorder of Rupert’s Land, and governor of Assiniboine (now Manitoba), and took up his residence at Fort Garry, where he resided until 1858, when he returned to Montreal. Here he resumed the practice of his profession and continued until 1865, when he received the appointment of judge of the Superior Court, in which position his fine abilities continue to be shown. Being peculiarly fitted for the task in consequence of his previous acquaintance with the country, he was, in 1870, selected by the Dominion government to go to Manitoba, to assist in the organization and establishment of a regular system of government there. He did good service to the state, and remained for about two years—special leave of absence from Quebec province having been given him—acting as recorder of Rupert’s Land, until new courts were established, and as commissioner in hearing and determining the claims made for losses caused during the Riel rebellion of 1869–70. He returned in 1872, and was appointed lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, but declined the honour, considering the position incompatible with the retention of the office of judge. During the time Judge Johnson was practising in Montreal, he held several offices, and was secretary of the commission that revised the Statutes of Lower Canada. He is a member of the Church of England; and was married in September, 1840, to Mary Gates Jones, daughter of Nathaniel Jones, of Montreal. This lady died in July, 1853, and left three children. His second marriage was in March, 1857, to Mary Mills, daughter of John Melliken Mills, of Somersetshire, England, by whom he has also a family of three children. Judge Johnson resides in Montreal.

Desjardins, Dr. Louis Edouard, Montreal, was born at Terrebonne, on the 10th of September, 1837. According to the “Dictionnaire Généalogique” of l’Abbé Tanguay, his ancestors came to the country more than two hundred years ago. He married Mademoiselle Emilie Zaïde Paré, second daughter of Hubert Paré, a partner in the large commercial firm founded by F. Souligny, one of the most important firms of Montreal at that period. Dr. Desjardins entered upon his classical studies at the College Masson, Terrebonne, and terminated them at the Seminary of Nicolet. After practising medicine in Montreal during seven or eight years, he took a first trip to Europe to study ophthalmology. On his return, a year after, he established at the Hôtel-Dieu, of Montreal, a special department for the treatment of eye diseases. In 1872, he made a second voyage to Europe