of the 49th, was reflecting great credit on his patron. But no matter
what the tax on his time, Isaac never neglected the "beloved brothers."

In New York there had been financial failures. Brock predicted a
dreadful crash, and had so written to his brother Irving, who with
William had a bank in London. He hoped they "had withheld their
confidence in public stocks." Providence ruled otherwise. While Isaac in
the solitude of his quarters was writing this warning, the banking house
in London, whose vessels in the Baltic Sea had been seized by
Bonaparte's privateers, closed its doors. The news reached him on his
birthday. He learned that a private advance made to him by William for
the purchase of his commissions had been entered in the bank's books by
mistake. He was a debtor to the extent of £3,000.

Brock rose to the occasion. He proved himself not only a soldier but,
best of all, a just man with the highest sense of personal honour. His
distress was all for his brothers. He would sell his commission, turn
over his income as governor and surrender everything, if by doing so he
could save the fortunes of his family. Anything that not only the law
but the right might demand. This failure impaired the former good
fellowship between William and Irving Brock. Isaac wrote Irving,
beseeching him to repair the breach. "Hang the world," said he; "it is
not worth a thought. Be generous, and find silent comfort in being so.
Oh, my dear brother, forget the past and let us all unite in soothing
the grief of one of the best hearts that heaven ever formed, whose wish
was to place us all in affluence. Could tears restore him he would be
happy."

But Isaac was not permitted to know that reconciliation followed his
prayers. While William and Irving were shaking hands, but before they