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1 2 3

*;..:

:,, S '■

- • r \

THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS.

BY JUSTUS A. GKIFFIN, HAMILTON, CANADA.

(Prepared at the request of Princess Council, Royal Templars of Temperance.)

Having been asked to tell something about the United Em-
pire Loyalists, I am reminded that comparatively few people
even in Canada know anything about them. Educated and
generally well-informed persons ask, "Who were the U. E.
Loyalists ? "

The question is variously answered. A few year*- ago a
teacher in the Hamiltot:: Collegiate Institute, told his class that
the U. E. Loyalists were the curse of Canada, had retarded its
progress in every respect, and were distinguished by their lazi-
ness and general incompetency. He said that in passing through
the country it was easy to tell where they had located by the
dilapidated buildings, miserable fences and general air of dls-
reputability about the farms. The magazines, story-papers,
story-books, and many of the so-called histories supplied to the
readers of Canada, as well as to their own people by the press
of the United States before their civil war of 1861-65, gave the
loyalists a very bad name. The tories, as they caUed them, are
pictured as the most cruel, bloodthirsty, dishonest and inhuman
of mankind, utterly lost to all sense of right and justice. On
the other hand, public documents, private papers and documents
of their enemies and what have been saved of their own writings,
tell a much more favorable story. An English lady, long resi-
dent in this country, Mrs. Traill, in her very useful and interest-
ing book on the wild flowers and plants of Canada, says of the
U. E. L. that they were a remarkable people, distinguished for
their ability and industry, many of them highly educated and re-
fined, and that they endured hardships, labors, privations and
dangers almost unprecedented in the history of the civilized
world.

Among their descendants many believe them to have b<;en
paragons of patriotism, and eminent for piety, industry and in-
telligence. But none of these tell how they earned the name.
Briefly stated, the U. E. Loyalists were those who, in the Revo-
lutionary War of 1774 to 1783, were opposed to the dismember-
ment of the British Empire. In the short time allotted me for
this paper it will not be possible to more than cast a passing
glance at a theme which has tilled volumes and might fill libra-
ries. There is no time to cite all the authorities for my state-
ments, sufiice it to say that they are facts which can be proved
by reliable documents.

The ministry of Lord North, which was in power in England
in 1774, endeavored to take from the American colonists some

tmmi

of their long possessed rights, infringing upon their liberties,
and imposing taxes, while refusing to them a voice regarding
those taxes. The colonists, as freeborn British subjects, were
almost unanimous in opposing these encroachments and impo-
sitions. Through their legislatures they memoralized the
king, asking redress for their grievances. Their petitions, com-
ing from detached legislatures, not receiving satisfactory re-
plies, they elected a Congress to represent the thirteen colonies
and give the force of union to their efforts. The delegates were
instructed to secure the rights of the colonies while maintaining
the integrity of the empire. Nearly two years they continued
their expressions of loyalty and made no move towards indepen-
dence. During this time the colonists took up arms and formed
an army to resist the forces which had been sent to compel their
submission to the unjust measures of the Ministry. The colonists
were successful in almost every encounter in this period. While
Congress, the legislatures and all the people, of both parties,
were unitedly demanding their rights, they had the sympathy of
a majority of the people of England, and of a large minority in
Parliament. So strong was this feeling that the Government
found difficulty in getting men for the army in America; manv
distinguished officers resigned rather than engage in the conflict.
The Government was continually losing friends. Indeed, on a
motion of General Conway, which was favorable to the Ameri-
cans, a majority of Parliament voted against
Notwithstanding this it continued in power ;
caused a modification of its policy, and instructions of
ciliatory character were sent by Lord Howe, in 1776.

the Ministry.

however, this
a con-
In the

meantime there were in America a few separationists or indepen-
dence men, of great ability. These, taking advantage of the
long delay and of the exasperating policy of the British Ministry,
carried on an independence propaganda. By various wiles, b t
known to unscrupulous politicans, in addition to all lawful and
just methods, they succeeded not only in gaining the sympathies
of half the people, but contrived by a trick to get Congress by a
majority of one to vote for "Eternal Separation " and the inde-
pendence of the colonies. Lord Howp arrived one day too late.

In the Declaration of Independence Congress upheld the
doctrine that all men are free and equal, and should be governed
according to the dictates of their own consciences. Having so
declared they immediately proceeded to announce that all
Americans who would not accept the new order of things should
be treated as traitors and outlaws. The independence party
succeeded in getting possession of the machinery of government
in all the colonies and took measures to disfranchise, overawe
and control or expel the loyalists.

A few short extracts from American historians will give a
faint idea of the treatment received by the loyalists in many

I. \

sections where the independence party were In the majority and
where certain lewd fellows of the baser sort were in the ascen-
dency. In Hildreth's History of the United States we read :
"Very serious, too, was the change in the legal position of the
class known as Tories, in many of the States a large minority,
and in all respectable for wealth and social position. This loyal
minority, especially its more conspicuous members, as the
warmth of political feeling increased, had been exposed to the
violence of mobs and to all sorts of personal indignities, in which
private malice or a wanton and insolent spirit of mischief had
been too often gratified under the disguise of patriotism. The
barbarous and disgraceful practice of tarring and feathering and
carting Tories — placing them in a cart and carrying them about
as a sort of spectacle- had become in some places a favorite
amusement. Having boldly seized the reigns of government,
the new state authorities claimed the allegiance of all residents
within their limits. Those who refused to acknowledge their
authority, or who adhered to their enemies, were exposed to
severe penalties, confiscation of property, imprisonment, banish-
ment, and finally death."

A vivid picture, truly, of the reward of loyalty and granting
equal rights to all men. But listen to some more : The Con-
vention of the State of New York resolved, "That any person
being an adherent to the King of Great Britain shall be guilty
of treason and suffer death." Again, the same Convention re-
solved, "That, as the inhabitants of King's County have deter-
mined not to oppose the enemy, that a committee shall be
appointed to enquire into the authenticity of these reports, and to
disarm and secure the disaffected, to remove or destroy the stock
of grain, and, if necessary, to lay the whole country waste."

The pages of history teem with similar proofs of the harsh-
ness and cruelty with which the loyalists were treated ; their
enemies bearing witness. Need we wonder that some of them
forgot justice and mercy when they had an opportunity to
retaliate? Is it surprising 35,000 native Americans served in the
royal army during the war, or that 100,000 loyalists sailed from
the port of New York alone, for more peaceful homes ? Before
the Declaration of Independence Washington's army numbered
27,000 men ; immediately afterward the loyalists began to leave
it, some returning to their homes and many joining the British
army, so that within a few months Washington's forces had
dwindled to 4000.

For one hundred years the French and the Spaniards had
striven to destroy the English colonies and to drive them into
the sea. They would have succeeded had not England poured
out her blood and her treasure in helping the colonists to defend
themselves. Now, however. Congress allied itself with those
powers who were eager to break up the British Empire, and

with their very substantial aid the royal armies were overcome.
This but intensified the feeling of the loyalists, who looked on
these foreigners as their hereditary enemies.

The Treaty of Ghent, in 1783, terminated the war. Here the
American Commissioner was more astute than his British
confrere, and among other things in which he gained the advan-
tage, he maintained that Congress had no power to reinstate or
indemnify the loyalists. This, too, in spite of the fact that Con-
gress controlled millions of acres of wild lands outside the
State boundaries. He held that upon the separate States
devolved the work of dealing with the loyalists ; but undertook
to urge upon the States to restore their rights and their property.
Of the thirteen States North Carolina was the only one to do
this act of justice. The others continued their persecutions.
Yet even from that State many came to Canada.

The States now being at peace with England, many of the
loyalists decided to accept the situation ; some whose property
had been confiscated set about making new homes for themselves.
Many residing in largo communities of their own way of thinking,
or among neighbors whose anti-British views were not extreme,
had been unmolested and r*^tained their property. But even
among these were some w^.ose love of freedom was stronger
than the desire for ease and comfort, and for fifteen years after
the war ceased there was a constant stream of loyalists emigrat-
ing to Canada. 10,000 are said to have located in this Province,
all passing through what was then the wilderness of Western
New York. The journey from the Hudson River to this country
was not then a pleasant holiday trip of a day, but occupied as
manv weeks as it now takes hours to traverse. There were no
roads, no settlers, no shelter except what the travellers carried
with them. The women and children rode horseback, in most
cases the men walked, driving the cattle, when they had any.
There being no roads, no wagons could come and only .-^uch
things as could be packed on horses were brought. Through
hundreds of miles of a howling wilderness, surrounded by wild
beasts and often still more savage Indians, refined and delicate
women, and children of tender years, as well as the strong, the
healthy and the hardy, had to toil through mud and through
forest, frequently suffering hunger in addition to their other dis-
comforts. After all their toil, suffering and danger in reaching
Canada it was a wilderness, without homes, roads, churches,
schools or mills. First, then, they must cut trees and build log
cabins to shelter them, living meanwhile in bark huts or in tents.
The log houses when built often went for months without doors
or windows, until the glass and the lumber could be obtained.
I once heard an aged lady tell of the time when she, a bride of
eighteen summers, settled in what is now Hamilton, in the year
1788. She said ; *' We had a blanket to close the opening where

II
:i

the door should have been. At night we climbed up a ladder to
the loft where we slept. Then the wolves would push aside the
blanket, enter the house and howl." A pleasant lullaby, wasn't
it ? The same lady related how, when she was a child of seven
or eight years, living in the beautiful and fertile valley of the
Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania, the rebels drove them from their
home. The mother and older girls were busy cooking dinner,
the men and boys about their out-door employment, and the
little ones at play. Suddenly one of the boys ran in, shouting
'* The rebels are coming ! " There was only time to gather up a
few articles, the dinner was left cooking, and all hurried to the
forest, where they were joined by other refugees and whence
they saw their comfort.ible homes pillaged and burned. Then "
followed weeks of wandering in the forest, nearly starving, sub-
sisting on roots, v/ild fruits and herbs, and even eating their dogs
in their extremity. Fmally they reached Canada, where they
were at peace, though hardships were to be encountered.

In the same rich valley dwelt a quiet, inoffensive loyalist
Quaker who volunteered to guide Mr. Land, who was escaping
from his enemies. They were intercepted by the enemy, and
though Land escaped, reached Niagara and became the first
settler in Hamilton, Morden made no attempt to fly, being bold
in his conscious innocence. He was captured and hanged, being
tried afterwards, according to a custom which has not yet died
out in some parts of the great republic. The widow and six
small children driven from their home, found their way, after
innumerable hardships, to this Province and settled in West
Flamboro Township. ,

A young lady in Vermont assisted her brother and her lover
in their escape to Canada. For this dreadful crime she was
sentenced to receive a flogging in the public market place, forty
lashes on the bare back. With such true tales might volumes
be filled, all showing the injustice and hardship endured by these
people.

How can we summarise the character of the loyalists ? They
were of all classes and characters ; there were the educated and
the ignorant, the rude and the cultured, the pious and the irre-
ligious. Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catho-
lics and Quakers. But how is it that such adverse opinions re-
garding them have so widely prevailed ? Those who remained
in the States could tell the truth only at the risk of their lives,
and those who emigrated did so under the most adverse circum-
stances, and in the majority of cases left behind their books and
their family records. In many cases these had already been de-
stroyed by their enemies ; arrived in this country they had to
struggle so toilsomely that there was little or no opportunity for
literary work, yet some of their documents, papers and public
records relating to them were preserved for a time in the govern-

ment buildings at Niagara, others in the homes of the more
careful and the prosperous. But in 1812, when the lo^ cabins
were g'ivinjj place to comfortable frame and stone houses,
orchards were becominj^ prolific, and a g^encral state of prosperi-
ty was blessing the people, the United States sent armies to in-
vade and capture Canada, and when the forces approached the
border, war was declared. The population of Ontario now
numbered about 70,000, the majority of them U. K. Loyalists and
their descendants. The Canadians flew to arms, resisted and
finally repelled the invaders. Not, however, till the town of
Niagara and various hamlets had been destroyed by fire. Thus
perished many valuable records or" historical importance.

Consequently the greater part of what has been written re-
garding the U. K. Loyalists came from the pensof their enemies,
and the records o( a favorable character are but few. The un-
favorable reports and stories on the contrary have been sown
broadcast, and as Canada has depended in a great measure upon
the United States for its literature, our people have been indoc-
trinated with those tales.

But was there no foundation for these adverse stories and
opinions ? Undoubtedly there was, and it could not well be
otherwise. We have all heard the old saying, "There is a
black sheep in every flock," and there is no nation, community
or party in which there are not hot-headed enthusiasts, impru-
dent characters and even criminals. Is it not related in the ve-
racious chronicles of New England that among those paragons,
the Puritans, there were found young people who were guilty of
courting on the Sabbath ? Yea, verily, and it is even reported that
married men were convicted of and punished for the atrocious
crime of kissing - their own wives on the holy day.

Joking aside, it is certain that political parties, even in the
extreme case of civil war, do not divide on such lines as to in-
clude all the good on one side and all the bad on the other. Yet
I have heard a Reformer say, "Of course, all the Tories are not
bad, but all the liquor dealers and criminals are Tories." And
he sincerely believed what he said, as did the Conservatives who
asserted, ** All the mean men are Grits."

In the old colonies were many ignorant, lazy, shiftless and
ne'er-do-well characters. Readers of current American litera-
ture are familiar with descriptions of the poor white trash of the
south, the ignorant, degraded and rude mountaineers of the
middle and Northern States, and the half savage frontiersmen of
Arkansas. When the Declaration of independence divided the
people, some of these characters went with each party. On each
side were some ready to commit excesses and to treat opponents
with cruelty. On the loyalist side, at least, perhaps on both
sides, many who ordinarily would be kind and merciful, were so
exasperated by the outrages committed upon themselves and

their friends, that they lent their aid to their ruder compatriots in
acts of retaliation which they must have rej,'rctted afterwards.

" Birds of a feather flock together," and when this province
was settled, the rough, ignorant and half-savage characters
naturally formed settlements of their own, and their descendants
still keep togethc* to some extent, their neighborhoods always
being some degrees lower in material prosperity, morals and edu-
cation, than other sections. But in justice to them let it be said
that they are much in advance o( the rudo, uncultivated classes
described in the American publications as occupying sections of
the United States. One of these communities may have inspired
the school teacher before referred to.

Notwithstanding all these things, it is asserted that our
loyalists were the curse of Canada. How did they curse it?
Having rarved out in the wilderness homes for their families,
they next set about making roads, building schools, mills, fac-
tories, ships, and churches. They brought with them their love
of freedom and of representative institutions. In the year 1792,
just one hundred years ago, and only nine years after the revo-
lutionary war, when the population of this Province was probab-
ly not more than 30,000, they elected a legislature. This body
held its first session in the Town of Niagara, commencing Sept.
17th, 1792. One of their first acts was to provide for the
abolition of slavery in the Province of Upper Canada. This was
nearly forty years in advance of the British Parliament, and
seventy years before the great republic reached that degree of
freedom. Yet many of these men were slave-owners, some of
them from the South. It would take long to tell of the dis-
tinguished men the loyalists have given the country. But they
have been and are among all classes and in every employment.
Legislators, judges, clergymen, farmers, physicians, merchants,
manufacturers and mechanics, they are everywhere among you.
Dilapidated buildings and miserable fences, did you say?
Would that I could take you for a trip through this Province
from end to end and show you the thousands of comfortable
homes with well tilled, well-stocked and well fenced farms owned
and occupied by the descendants of the U. E. L.

After these people had so improved the country that emi-
grants from Europe could settle wi<:h a tithe of the hardships
and privations they had endured, these new-comers and their
children say : "These men retarded Canada in every respect."
Shall such things be taught in our schools ? Or, shall we not
rather insist that our schools be taught by men and women so
versed in the history of our land that they shall recognize and
teach the fact that these people laid broad and deep the founda-
tions for the comforts, the educational advantages and the civil
and religious liberty we enjoy to a degree unsurpassed in any
land. Let us also encourage a truly Canadian literature

and ce.'ise to ilepeinl so much upon foreigfners for our mental
food.

Poetry somotinios tells in few words that which prose Hnds
it hard to relate, and it would be difficult to find a more graphic
description of the L'. K. Loyalists than in the following" lines by
Rev. LeRoy Hooker :

Dear were the homes where they were burn,
When* slept thtlr liunoured dead ;

• ' ••; . And r'u'h and wide on every side.

Their fniitCul atM-ps spread;
Hilt dearer to their faithful hearts,
' ' Than home and )(old and lands.

Were Kritain's laws, and Britain's crown,

• .•_ " And Kritain's Ha)|f of lon)j; renown,

,, , , And jf rip of British hands.

•^ With hi)(h resolve they looked their last

On ho-ne and native land, '
And sore they wept o'er those that slept
In honoured f^raves that must be kept '

By jf r:ice of stranger's hand.
They looked their last and got them out
Into the wilderness ;
> The stern old wilderness.

All dark, and rude, and unsubdued ;

The savage wilderness,
Where wild beasts howled, and Indians prowled ;

The lonely wilderness.
Where social joys must be forgot.
And budding childhood grow untaught ;
Where hopeless hunger might assail
" Should autumn's promised fruitage fail ;
Where sickness, unrestrained by skill.
Might slay some dear one at its will ;
Where they might lay their dead away
Without a man of God to say
The solemn words that Christian men
Have learned to love so well ; — but then,

'Twas British wilderness ! I

Where they might sing " God save the King,"
, ^ And live protected by his laws,
And loyally uphold his cause ;

O, welcome wilderness!

. , These be thy heroes, Canada !

• ' These men who stood when pressed,

,, Not in the fevered pulse of strife

When foeman thrusts at foeman's life,
, „ ■. ■ . But in that sterner test

* • , When wrong on sumptuous fare is fed.
And right must toil for daily bread,

And men must choose between ;
When wrong in lordly mansion lies,
And right must shelter 'neath the skies,

And men must choose between.
When wrong is cheered on every side,

• * And right is cursed and crucified,

And men must choose between.