George, on the Niagara, under the command of the junior lieutenant-colonel, the head quarters being, we believe, at York, the capital.  This officer, it seems, more by useless annoyance than by actual severity, had exasperated the men under his command to that degree that they formed a plot to murder all the officers present, with the exception of a young man who had recently joined; and then to cross over to the United States.  Far be it from us to justify the intention, which indeed was highly criminal; but in all such extreme cases we hold that a sad abuse of power, or a gross want of tact, must be the exciting cause, and that even in the passive obedience of a military life, there may be a limit to human endurance.  The proximity of the United States rendered this plot a very feasible one, as the men in a body could have crossed the river Niagara without molestation or difficulty.  The suspicions of the officer in command having been aroused, he hastily wrote to Lieut.-Colonel Brock on the subject, and sent his letter by one of the men, who delivered it as the latter officer was shooting, or on his return from a shooting excursion.  On reading the letter, and knowing from the character of the man that he must be engaged in the conspiracy, if there were any, he threatened to shoot him on the spot, if he did not instantly divulge the names of the ringleaders.  The man, thus taken by surprise, did as he was ordered, and Lieut.-Colonel Brock hurried off to Fort George.  On his arrival he found the men at dinner, and placing the officers with their drawn swords at the doors, he went into the rooms with handcuffs, and secured the most culpable, among whom was a sergeant, none offering the slightest resistance.  The ringleaders were immediately embarked, so as to prevent any attempt at their rescue.[18] On being tried by a court martial, four were condemned to suffer death, and, with three deserters, were shot at Quebec, in presence of the garrison, early in the month of March, 1804.  A most awful and affecting sight it was:  the wind was easterly, strong, and cold,—­a thick drift of snow added to the gloom,—­and, as if to increase the horror of the scene, a few of the firing party, fifty-six in number, instead of advancing to within eight yards of the prisoners, as was intended, owing to some mistake commenced firing at the distance of at least fifty yards.  The consequence was, that the unhappy wretches were only partially wounded, and dropped one after another.  Nearly forty shots were fired before one poor fellow in the centre fell, although he was wounded through the abdomen at the first discharge.  The men who had reserved their fire, were at length ordered up, and, lodging the contents of their muskets in the breasts of the culprits, by that means put them out of torture.  The unfortunate sufferers declared publicly that, had they continued under the command of Colonel Brock, they would have escaped their melancholy end; and, as may be easily conceived, he felt no little anguish that they, who had so recently and so bravely fought under him in Holland and at Copenhagen, were thus doomed to end their lives, the victims of unruly passions inflamed by vexatious authority.  He was now directed to assume the command at Fort George, and all complaint and desertion instantly ceased.