The Story of Isaac Brock | Page 3

authorized protection to "a distance on the ocean as
far as the eye of man could reach." This act of grace was cancelled by
George the Third, who regarded it as a premium on piracy. In
Cromwell's time Admiral Blake had been instructed to raise the siege
of Castle Cornet. He brought its commander to his senses, but only
after nine years of assault, and not before 30,000 cannon-balls had been
hurled into the town.
Late in the fourteenth century, when the English were driven out of
France, not a few of those deported, who had the fighting propensity
well developed, made haste for the Channel Islands, where rare chances
offered to handle an arquebus for the King. Among those who sought
refuge in Guernsey there landed, not far from the Lion's Rock at Cobo,
an English knight, Sir Hugh Brock, lately the keeper of the Castle of
Derval in Brittany, a man "stout of figure and valiant of heart." This
harbour of refuge was St. Peter's Port.
"Within a long recess there lies a bay, An island shades it from the
rolling sea, And forms a port."
The islet that broke the Atlantic rollers was Castle Cornet. Sir Hugh
Brock, or Badger in the ancient Saxon time--an apt name for a
tenacious fighter--shook hands with fate. He espied the rocky cape of
St. Jerbourg, and ofttimes from its summit he would shape bold plans
for the future, the maturing of which meant much to those of his race
destined to follow.
The commercial growth of the Channel Islands has been divided into
five periods, those of fishing, knitting (the age of the garments known
as "jerseys" and "guernseys"), privateering, smuggling, and agriculture

and commerce. To the third period belong these records. The prosperity
of the islands was greatest from the middle of the seventeenth century
up to the overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo and the close of Canada's
successful fight against invasion in 1815. During this period the
building of ships for the North Atlantic and Newfoundland trade
opened new highways for commerce, but the greatest factor in this
development was the "reputable business" of privateering, which must
not be confounded either with buccaneering or yard-arm piracy. It was
only permitted under regular letters of marque, was ranked as an
honorable occupation, and those bold spirits, the wild "beggars of the
sea"--who preferred the cutlass and a roving commission in high
latitudes to ploughing up the cowslips in the Guernsey valleys, or
knitting striped shirts at home--were recognized as good fighting men
and acceptable enemies.
Trade in the islands, consequent upon the smuggling that followed and
the building of many ships, produced much wealth, creating a class of
newly rich and with it some "social disruption."
Notable in the "exclusive set," not only on account of his athletic figure
and handsome face, but for his winning manners and ability to dance,
though but a boy, was Isaac Brock. Isaac--a distant descendant of bold
Sir Hugh--was the eighth son of John Brock, formerly a midshipman in
the Royal Navy, a man of much talent and, like his son, of great
activity. Brock, the father, did not enjoy the fruit of his industry long,
for in 1777, in his 49th year, he died in Brittany, leaving a family of
fourteen children. Of ten sons, Isaac, destined to become "the hero and
defender of Upper Canada," was then a flaxen-haired boy of eight.
Anno Domini 1769 will remain a memorable one in the history of the
empire. Napoleon, the conqueror of Europe, and Wellington, the
conqueror of Napoleon, were both sons of 1769. This same year
Elizabeth de Lisle, wife of John Brock, of St. Peter's Port, bore him his
eighth son, the Isaac referred to, also ordained to become "a man of
destiny." Isaac's future domain was that greater, though then but little
known, dominion beyond the seas, Canada--a territory of imperial
extent, whose resources at that time came within the range of few men's

understanding. Isaac Brock, as has been shown, came of good fighting
stock, was of clean repute and connected with most of the families of
high degree on the Island. The de Beauvoirs, Saumarez, de Lisles, Le
Marchants, Careys, Tuppers and many others distinguished in arms or
diplomacy, were his kith and kin. His mind saturated with the stories of
the deeds of his ancestors, and possessed of a spirit of adventure
developed by constant contact with soldiers and sailors, it was but
natural that he became cast in a fighting mould and that "to be a
soldier" was the height of his ambition.
Perhaps Isaac Brock's chief charm, which he retained in a marked
degree in after life--apart from his wonderful thews and sinews, his
stature and athletic skill--was his extreme modesty and gentleness. The
fine old maxim