Page:Tupper family records - 1835.djvu/176

 154 SIR ISAAC BROCK.

time, since we became a separate province, have we seen a great public funeral procession of all ranks of people, to the amount of several thousands, bearing the remains of two lamented heroes to their last dwelling on earth, in the vaults of a grand national monument, overtopping the loftiest heights of the most magnificent section of one of the most magnificent countries in the world.

"The 13th of October, being the anniversary of the battle of Queenston, and of the death of Brock, was judiciously chosen as the most proper day for the removal of the remains of the general, together with those of his gallant aid-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donell, to the vaults prepared for their reception on Queenston heights, f

" The weather was remarkably fine, and before ten o'clock a very large concourse of people, from all parts of the country, had assembled on the plains of Niagara, in front of Fort George, in a bastion of which the bodies had been deposited for twelve years. X

" One hearse, covered with black cloth, and drawn by four black horses, each with a leader, contained both the bodies. Soon after ten, a lane was formed by the 1st and 4th regiments of Lincoln militia, with their right on the gate of Fort George, and their left extending along the road towards Queenston, the ranks being about forty paces distant from each other : within this line was formed a guard of honor of the 76th regiment, in parade order, having its left on the fort. As the hearse moved slowly from the fort, to the sound of solemn music, a detachment of royal artillery began to fire the salute of nineteen guns, and the guard of honor presented arms.

" On moving forwards in ordinary time, the guard of honor

of Rome, wherein he immortalizes the death and funeral of the ferocious Attila, in language at once musical and sublime, and which is probably without an equal in the whole range of English literature : " His body was solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain, under a silken pavilion ; and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling round in measured evolutions, chaunted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious in his life, invinci- ble in his death, the father of his people, the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world."

t The monument itself is not yet finished ; we shall therefore defer our description of the edifice until it is completed.

X It is remarkable that, on inspecting the remains, the body of Colonel M'Donell was found to be almost entirely decomposed, — whilst that of the general was still firm and nearly entire ; some of the flesh and lineaments of his martial countenance being yet visible.

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