The reproach has frequently been cast upon us that Canada has no history; it might be said of us with far more justice that we do not know our own history. The various historical societies are, by their efforts, trying to wipe away this reproach, and we feel proud of following in the wake of the Lundy's Lane Historical Society in publishing a paper written by Capt. Cruikshank, who has well earned the title of the historian of the Niagara peninsula. Of the towns of Ontario not one we are sure pos

27TH MAY, 1813. For about a quarter of a century Niagara was the principal town and commercial capital of Western Canada, and for a brief period was actually the seat of government for the Upper Province. The removal of the provincial officers to York in 1796 struck the first blow at its supremacy, but its material prosperity continued until the beginning of the war with the United States when its exposed situation subjected it to a series of calamities which culminated in its total destruction