The Loyalists of America and Their Times Volume II Part 44

City of Montreal " 3,000

Quebec " 1,500

"The amount raised in the first year was 10,000.

"Eight hundred and sixty-four (864) families were relieved from starvation by this timely aid.

"The following summer a large meeting was held in London (England), at which the Duke of Kent, who had visited Canada twenty years before, presided. By his influence a very large sum was subscribed. The Bank of England graced the list with 1,000. This effort produced another 10,000.

Kingston in Jamaica sent 2,000

Nova Scotia " 2,500

"Indeed, the liberality evinced in all quarters was of the greatest service to the sufferers, and gladdened many bowed down by sorrow and indigence."

The whole of these interesting particulars may be seen in the Transactions of the Society, published in Toronto, 1814.

It may be interesting to the reader if I subjoin the address of the President, explanatory of the origin, character, and objects of this n.o.ble Society, the former existence of which is now scarcely known:

"AN ADDRESS

"_Copied from the Proceedings of the Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, who, by their funds, relieved much real distress to families in the war of 1812, '13, '14._

"Gentlemen,--In the unprovoked war waged against us by the American Government, Providence hath evidently smiled on the justice of our cause.

"But our exertions have been attended with many privations and sacrifices hard to be borne, and should hostilities continue many more will be required.

"In order to mitigate some of these, the inhabitants of York came forward to contribute toward the comforts of the flank companies; and a large sum of money was raised for that purpose, of which the greater part is expended.

"But, on reflection, it appeared that something more might be done of a permanent nature, and that portion of the inhabitants who are not liable to military duty, eager to prove that their zeal in the cause is not inferior to that of those in actual service, formed themselves into a Society, named '_The Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada_,' for the following distinct purposes:

"1st. To afford aid and relief to such families of the militia, in all parts of the Province, as shall be made to appear to experience particular distress, in consequence of the death or absence of some of their friends and relations.

"2nd. To afford like aid and relief to such militiamen as have been or shall be disabled from labour by their wounds or otherwise in course of the service aforesaid.

"3rd. To reward merit, excite and commemorate glorious events, by bestowing medals or other honorary marks of public approbation or distinction for extraordinary instances of personal courage or fidelity in defence of the Province by individuals, either of his Majesty's regular troops or militia forces.

"4th. Also the seamen on the lakes.

"This Society, so honourable in its nature, and which we hope will prove most important in its consequences, was first suggested by the Honourable Mr. Selby, and was received with acclamation.

"In a public meeting of the gentlemen of York and its vicinity, the Chief explained the great advantages likely to result from it, if generally supported; and, a.s.sisted by his most respectable colleagues, prepared views for its management. To these the meeting gave their cordial a.s.sent, and in a few minutes nearly $2,000 per annum was subscribed. There are some who have given during the continuance of the war one-tenth of their income.

"General Sheaffe, in a letter to the Chief Justice, our chairman, not only extols, in earnest language, the objects of the Society, but, far exceeding our expectations, presents us with 200. Colonel Bishop, a stranger [who was afterwards mortally wounded at Black Rock], and not an inhabitant of the Province, with a liberality above all praise, subscribes 100.

"Now, gentlemen, our object in addressing you is to procure your co-operation. Foremost in deeds of warlike glory, we desire that you should become sharers in the work of benevolence.

"Let your contributions be as small as you please--a halfpenny, a farthing per day--anything to show your good-will.

"It is not the value of what you give; it is your countenance that we mainly desire.

"We know that your means are narrow, but your example is inestimable; and we shall be proud of having you for our companions and supporters in mitigating the distress incident to the war.

"And when it is heard that the York Volunteers and their comrades, among the first in danger, have patronized this Society, the militia of other districts will be anxious to emulate the military glory of the conquerors of Detroit and Queenston, and will hasten to emulate you in contributing to the support of our benevolent design.

"Those that join will intimate to the captains what they are willing to give, while they are in active service, that it may be paid over monthly to the treasurer.

"And they will remember that they are soothing the sick and the wounded in war, protecting aged parents and helpless children, and doing all they can to comfort those whom they love and revere, who suffer during the horrors of war."

(Signed) CHIEF JUSTICE SCOTT, _President_.

ALEX. WOOD, _Secretary_.

The above excellent address is understood to have been written by the late Dr. Strachan, first Bishop of the Church of England of Toronto, and who acted the part of a true, a bold, and generous patriot during the war of 1812-15.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 224: Yet while the American Government professed to declare a _defensive_ war--a war in defence of their rights at sea--the first act was _the invasion of Canada_, for which they had been collecting men and arms for several months before the declaration of the war; and thus the first acts of the Canadians were to provide for the defence of their country and their homes against the American invasions. The facts show that the real object of the American Government was to take Canada, and their invaded rights at sea was a mere pretext.]

CHAPTER LX.

CLOSE OF THE WAR AND OF THE HISTORY OF THE U.E. LOYALISTS--DEFEAT AND DISGRACE OF THE DEMOCRATIC INVADERS OF CANADA--HONOUR AND SUCCESS OF ITS DEFENDERS--COMPARATIVE STATE OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR--MUTUAL RESPECT AND FRIENDs.h.i.+P BETWEEN AMERICANS AND CANADIANS--CONCLUDING REMARKS.

Thus closed the war of the United States against Great Britain, in 1812-15--a war undertaken at the prompting of the scourge of Europe, Napoleon, but upon pretexts which were never so much as mentioned, much less reiterated, by the United States Commissioners when peace was proposed between Great Britain and America in 1815--a war in which the democratic rulers of the United States suffered both defeat and disgrace, while the loyal inhabitants of Canada maintained inviolate their honour and independence.

With the close of that war terminates the history of the United Empire Loyalists of Canada as a distinct and controlling cla.s.s of the inhabitants; for their numbers had become so reduced by the ravages of time and war, and other cla.s.ses of immigrants had become so numerous, between whom and the families of old Loyalists so many intermarriages had taken and were taking place, that the latter became merged in the ma.s.s of the population; and therefore my history of them as a distinct cla.s.s comes to an end. All cla.s.ses were Loyalists, and all had fought as one man in defence of their country during the recent war, although all had not fought for the life of the nation and the unity of the empire from 1776 to 1783, or been driven from their homes to Canada, to become the fathers of the inhabitants and founders of the inst.i.tutions of our country. It would be out of place, and at variance with the t.i.tle of my book, did I proceed to narrate and discuss the history of Upper Canada after the close of the war; but I may properly conclude my work by referring to a few facts leading to and arising out of the war, and the state of our country at its close.

The democratic party in the United States, which had confiscated the property of our forefathers, and exiled them from their homes, and compelled them to seek a home in the wilderness of Canada, had followed them with their enmities into their new place of refuge, and, by their emissaries, in conjunction with those of the French revolutionists, sought to insinuate a disturbing element into Canadian peace and safety from the commencement of the b.l.o.o.d.y French revolution to 1812, when it culminated, under the promptings of Napoleon and his obsequious tools, in the war of 1812-15, with a view to wrest Canada from Great Britain, and to divide the commerce of Europe between France and the United States. But how vain are the devices of men against the laws of G.o.d and of human society! The Gideon hundreds of loyal Canadians repelled and scattered, for more than two years, the Midian and Amalekite thousands of democratic invaders, until Great Britain, having chained the marauding tiger of Europe to the rock of St. Helena, despatched her thousands of soldiers to the aid of Canada, and sent her fleets across the Atlantic--sweeping the American coasts from Maine to Georgia--taking and burning their capital in retaliation for the American raid upon the capital of Upper Canada, and soon compelling the heretofore boasting Madison partizans to seek for peace without even the mention of their alleged causes of war with England. If the American armies were defeated and driven back in their repeated invasions of Canada, their commerce and commercial men suffered not less before the end of the war. Their annual exports declined, between 1811 and 1814, from 22,000,000 sterling to 1,500,000; their vessels to the number of 3,000 were captured; two-thirds of their commercial cla.s.s were reduced to bankruptcy; an immense war tax was incurred; many thousands of lives had been sacrificed, and the Union itself imperilled by the threatened secession of the New England States.

On the other hand, Canada had felt deeply the calamities of war, it being the seat of the conflict, a large portion of its revenue and inhabitants having been diverted from their ordinary employments--having themselves chiefly to depend upon for their defence, while England was engaged in a twenty years' conflict for law and liberty in Europe. In the extremity of this contest, the democratic President of the United States combined with the tyrant despot of Europe to seduce and sever the Canadians from their British connection; but the Canadians n.o.bly maintained their fidelity and triumphantly vindicated their honour and independence, though, in doing so, they suffered the desolation of many of their homes, shed many bitter tears for sires, and sons, and brothers, who had poured out their life's blood in defence of their country on the battle fields of both Upper and Lower Canada. Yet, upon the whole, the war did much good to Canada, apart from the success of its arms; it tended to cement the people together as one family; English, French, Scotch, Irish, and Americans had forgotten former distinctions and jealousies, and had all become Canadians, with increased devotion not only to the land of their nativity or adoption, but to the glorious mother country which had become the victorious champion of the liberties of Europe, and leader in the civilization of mankind.

Though, in the course of the war, Canada--especially Upper Canada, which had to bear the brunt of it--was greatly exhausted, emigration being checked, agriculture partially neglected, by the embodiments of militia and frequent mobilization of sedentary corps,--requiring some time after the war for the inhabitants to return to their old habits and resume their peaceful pursuits; yet Canada flourished financially during the war. Owing to England's supremacy on the ocean, Canadian trade and commerce were not seriously affected; taxes were light; not a few fortunes were made; money was plentiful, as the mother country paid most of the expenses of the war.

It is worthy of remark, as one of the notable features of the war, that no cla.s.s of Canadians were more loyal, none more brave and devoted to the defence of the Government and inst.i.tutions of the country, than were the Americans who had become settlers in Canada--not the United Empire Loyalists alone, but those who had from time to time emigrated from the United States of their own accord, and not on account of political persecution, as was the case with the old Loyalists.

The unfriendly feelings and even enmities which had been excited by the war between Canadians and Americans, soon changed into mutual respect and friends.h.i.+p; trade and commerce between the two countries were renewed and increased; intermarriages multiplied, with all the amenities and intimacies of social life. Though there has always been a democratic mob faction--latterly mostly Fenian--in the United States, which has seized every opportunity to invade and disturb the peace of Canada, yet it is well understood that this freebooting faction does not represent the sentiments or feelings of the industrious, business, commercial, intelligent, and Christian people of the United States, who, with few exceptions, are, as most of them were when Madison declared war against England in June, 1812, lovers of peace, law, and order, and friends of England and Canada, as well as of mankind; and we believe there are no more ardent well-wishers on the continent of America for the happiness and prosperity of the citizens of the American Republic than the loyal and patriotic inhabitants of Canada.

I may perhaps be expected to add a few words on the chief public occurrences which took place in Upper Canada after the war, but without discussing any of the questions which they involved.

From 1791 to the close of the war in 1815, and for some years afterwards, the Executive Government of the day commanded the votes of a majority of the House of a.s.sembly. Public questions and measures were freely discussed; but no organized opposition appeared in the a.s.sembly against the Administration. Shortly after the close of the war, however, the elements of discord began to be developed in the country. Many discharged officers of the British army, at the termination of the long European war, came to Canada with instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (himself an English officer), to provide for them; and they were appointed to all offices of emolument (with few exceptions), to the exclusion of the old Loyalists and their descendants and other inhabitants who had felled the wilderness, and made the country valuable, and had borne the burden and heat of the war in its defence.

The administration of the Crown or Public Lands was sadly defective and partial, giving whole blocks to friends and speculators, while the applications of the legitimate settler were often rejected. It also began to be complained of that these large blocks of land given to individuals, and the one-seventh of the lands set apart as Clergy Reserves, greatly impeded the settlement and improvement of the country; that those who had occupied the Clergy Reserves on _leases_ were required to pay higher rents on the renewal of their leases, or the purchase of the Reserves, on account of their increased value created by the labour of the tenants and their neighbours. A special Board of Management was appointed for these Reserves in the interest of the clerical claimants of them. The representatives of the Church of Scotland claimed to share in the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves, and a co-ordinate standing with the Church of England, as the endowed Church establishment of Upper Canada. The other religious persuasions had not the privilege of having matrimony solemnized by their own ministers, or the right of holding a bit of ground on which to wors.h.i.+p G.o.d, or in which to bury their dead. It soon began to be claimed by the leaders of the Church of England that their Church had the sole right to the Clergy Reserves and to all the prerogatives of _the_ Established Church, whose supremacy and endowments, it was now pretended, were essential to the loyalty of the people; notwithstanding, no people could have been more loyal than the Canadian people during the then recent war in defence of British supremacy, and who were as brave as they were loyal, though there were not then three settled Episcopal clergymen in all Upper Canada.

These, with various co-ordinate and minor causes, lost to the Lieutenant-Governor and his Executive Council the control and confidence of the representatives of the people, and in less than ten years after the war, the Governor and Council fell into a hopeless minority in the House of a.s.sembly, but in opposition to it actually governed the country for fifteen years, until the dissatisfaction of the people became so general and strong that Commissions of Inquiry were sent out from England, which resulted in placing all religious persuasions on an equal footing before the law, in applying the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves to the general purposes of the education and improvement of the country, in making the heads of public departments (who were to be Executive Councillors) responsible to the House of a.s.sembly, and holding their offices no longer than they enjoyed its confidence. From that time forward the Government became strong, the people contented, and the country prosperous and rapidly increasing in wealth, education, and intelligence--rendering, at this day, the inhabitants of the vast Dominion of Canada the lightest-taxed and the freest people on the American continent.